Abstracts available here - Society for Conservation Biology

25th International Congress for Conservation Biology • Auckland, New Zealand • 5-9 December 2011
2011-12-08 18:30 Wildfire effect on an endangered island bird: The
case of the Gran Canaria blue chaffinch (Fringilla teydea polatzeki)
Suárez, NM*, Departamento de Genética, Facultad de Medicina,
Universidad de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, E-35080 Las Palmas,
Gran Canaria, Spain; Betancor, E, Departamento de Genética,
Facultad de Medicina, Universidad de Las Palmas de Gran
Canaria, E-35080 Las Palmas, Gran Canaria, Spain; Fregel, R,
Departamento de Genética, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad de
Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, E-35080 Las Palmas, Gran Canaria,
Spain; Rodríguez, F, Biodiversity Service, Gobierno de Canarias,
Edf. Servicios Múltiples II, 4ª planta, E-35071 Las Palmas, Gran
Canaria, Spain; Pestano, J, Departamento de Genética, Facultad de
Medicina, Universidad de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, E-35080 Las
Palmas, Gran Canaria, Spain;
Habitat destruction is identified as the main threat to biodiversity.
Among all factors causing habitat disturbance, wildfire is recognized as
one of the most important ecological forces that influences not only the
physical environment but also the structure and composition of floral and
faunal communities. These processes are often translated in population
bottlenecks, which occur frequently in threatened species and result
in loss of genetic diversity and evolutionary potential. In this study, we
analyzed the genetic consequences of demographic bottleneck produced by
a forest fire that reduced the population of the endangered blue chaffinch
which inhabits the island of Gran Canaria (Fringilla teydea polatzeki) to
approximately 122 individuals. Analysis of nine microsatellite loci revealed
that, while a decline in census was observed during the bottleneck, there
was no observed excess of heterozygosity nor evidence in decline in allelic
richness, two characteristic bottleneck signatures. On the contrary, we
observed that the Gran Canaria blue chaffinch has retained significant levels
of genetic diversity and show no evidence for inbreeding depression either
before or after the bottleneck. The results from this study have important
implications for the conservation of this endangered subspecies and provide
insight concerning management strategies to prevent its extinction.
2011-12-08 18:30 Mate Choice and Population Structure of the Water
Toad (Bufo stejnegeri) in South Korea
Suk, Chamoon*, Seoul National University;
Water toads (Bufo stejnegeri) are an unusual, peculiar species of toad
that are found in Korea and northeastern China. As their name suggests,
they are highly aquatic, very unlike other species of toads. Although the
species has a wide distribution in Asia, its status within Korea is unclear.
The toads appear rare, confined to limited ranges in eastern Gyeonggi-do
and Gangwon-do. They are found in woodland riparian areas, at elevations
from 200 to 700 metres. The toads form breeding pairs in the autumn, and
overwinter amplexed in streams covered by ice, apparently ready to oviposit
early in the spring. The water toad is typically nocturnal but is also active
during the day during summer rains. I am studying their mate choice,
population structure, and MHC variation in relation to disease resistance.
My research should provide more accurate information about the toad’s
natural history and susceptibility to disease that should contribute to the
development of management strategies that will protect this species.
2011-12-08 10:30 Building an integrated platform for projecting and
monitoring persistence of wildlife populations faced with roads and
traffic
Sunnucks, P*, Monash University; Taylor, AC, Monash University;
Amos, N, Monash University; van der Ree, R, Australian Research
Centre for Urban Ecology, Royal Botanic Gardens Melbourne;
Molecular ecology as a discipline was born around 20 years ago. It makes
contributions to the most effective approaches to tackle some of the most
important and difficult issues in ecology such as population connectivity,
demography and evolutionary change, and is increasingly efficient and
useful. However, it has been surprisingly difficult to achieve substantial
uptake in ecology and environmental management, including in road
ecology. It seems likely that the molecular population biology community
has not managed to make it sufficiently understood what the field has
to offer in terms of outputs, costs and benefits. But we can make a new
start: recent developments in two major areas are causing a second wave of
rapid increase in the utility and cost-effectiveness of molecular population
biology approaches: population modelling, and genomics fuelled by new
DNA sequencing technologies. We consider the example of the challenges
and potential approaches to arguably the most important yet difficult
question in ecological management: how to project and monitor population
persistence, with particular emphasis on wildlife populations faced with
roads and traffic. I conclude that we can and should build an integrated
platform that can deliver rapid, cost-effective solutions to applied problems
in ecology.
2011-12-08 10:30 Ownership, poverty alleviation and conservation:
the dolphin-watching industry in Chilika lagoon, India
Sutaria, D*, Foundation for Ecological Research, Advocacy and
Learning; Marsh, H, James Cook University;
Globally, wildlife tourism is emerging as a significant human-animal
interaction, often directed towards income generation. Transforming such
tourism into a conservation tool is a serious challenge. Chilika lagoon, India
harbors a small population of Irrawaddy dolphins (Orcaella brevirostris).
People (~200,000) from 142 villages, mainly fishers, depend on the lagoon’s
resources for multiple needs. In 1986, local fishers initiated a dolphinwatching
industry in the Outer channel (30sqkm) of the lagoon. The
tourist fleet of 450 boats serves as a source of alternative income. In order
to identify opportunities for conservation, we assessed fishers /’touristboat
operators’ perceptions towards dolphins and their socio-economic
well-being by conducting 400 semi-structured interviews in 44 villages,
analyzed tourist log-book data between 2004 and 2006, and conducted
65 questionnaires. The interviews reveal a direct dependency between local
communities and dolphin tourism that mimics the strength of their linkage
to fishing. We demonstrate that proximity of village to dolphin hotspots;
tourist-boat ownership, and age positively influence individual perceptions
towards dolphins. Interestingly, growth of the local tourism has been selflimiting,
due to conflicts over ownership and access to fishing areas and
dolphin hotspots. Our results underline the importance of understanding
local socio-political processes and incorporating them into conservation
planning of endangered species.
2011-12-07 11:30 Can we construct a comprehensive marine reserve
system just using environmental domains?
Sutcliffe, P.R.*, University of Queensland; Klein, C.J., University of
Queensland; Possingham, H.P., University of Queensland;
In many instances around the world, knowledge of marine systems is
limited and the cost of data is high. Therefore, for the design of systems
of marine reserves, we need to know whether more readily available data
is enough for comprehensive and representative reserve system design.
Here we used environmental data, collated at a 0.01 degree resolution,
to develop environmental domains on the Great Barrier Reef, Australia.
Then we developed a reserve system based on these environmental domains,
using Marxan. We tested the representation of biological features collected
at 1189 sites from the Great Barrier Reef seabed in this reserve system. We
found that 411 out of 842 species reached their conservation target using
this environmental domain approach, and only 152 species were under half
their target. This supports the use of environmental domains to develop
reasonable reserve systems where biological data is limited, that could be
modified later as more data is assembled.
2011-12-08 18:30 Tourist perception of the 2010 coral bleaching event
in Mu Koh Chang, Thailand
Sutthacheep, M*, Ramkhamhaeng University; Pengsakun, S,
Ramkhamhaeng University; Klinthong, W, Ramkhamhaeng
University; Sangmanee, K, Ramkhamhaeng University;
The severe mass coral reef bleaching event in 2010 has led to coral mortality
in the Gulf of Thailand. The present study aimed to assess socio-economic
impacts and tourist perceptions of the 2010 coral bleaching event in Mu
Koh Chang, the eastern Gulf of Thailand, based on questionnaire surveys,
secondary data sources and interviews of key informants. The survey
revealed that 52% of Thai tourists interviewed were aware of the 2010
coral reef bleaching event. About 69% of tourists in the sample were their
first SCUBA diving/snorkeling at Mu Koh Chang and they mentioned
that the diving was as good as they expected before coming to the islands.
Only 9% of tourists who have visited Mu Koh Chang before said that
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