Abstracts available here - Society for Conservation Biology

25th International Congress for Conservation Biology • Auckland, New Zealand • 5-9 December 2011
provisions to reduce expansion of mangrove habitats, through removal of
seedling colonists and/or adult trees. The poorly defined ecological value
of the services provided by mangroves in temperate estuaries provides little
guidance of how mangrove removal will impact on ecosystem function.
Here, we investigate one ecosystem service, that of the trophic role provided
by temperate mangroves, determined by the decomposition of mangrove
detritus (fallen leaves and wood) and its uptake by marine organisms.
Firstly, we quantified rates of leaf litter fall from mangroves, sampling litter
fall traps monthly at two sites in Whangamata Harbour, to derive estimates
of forest productivity and detrital input into the estuary. Secondly, we
calculated decomposition rates of buried and exposed mangrove detritus
at varying tidal heights, shading, and sediment type. Finally, we measured
the effect of adding mangrove detritus on infaunal organisms to determine
the role that mangrove detritus plays in supporting estuarine food webs.
Our results establish the linkages between mangrove detritus and estuarine
ecosystem functioning, by measuring the input of mangrove material into
the detrital food web as well as the resulting changes in benthic community
structure.
2011-12-08 11:00 Human Health Impacts of Ecosystem Services:
Wildlife Consumption and Food Security
Golden, CD*, Harvard University School of Public Health/Center
for the Environment;
Biodiversity loss and large-scale wildlife declines are now globally pervasive
and well-documented.These losses have triggered severe ecological
ramifications such as trophic meltdown, loss of critical ecological
interactions and extinctions of fish and game species.Surprisingly few
studies have quantified the effects of wildlife declines on human economies
and health outcomes, despite the essential role of wildlife consumption
in shaping human evolution and in the diet of hundreds of millions of
rural people across the globe. Wildlife declines are likely to have direct
and powerful effects on human health and nutrition, particularly via lost
access to critical micronutrients. We quantify the contribution of harvested
wildlife to human nutrition in rural Madagascar and demonstrate with
empirical data and predictive models that wildlife loss could induce a 1.3
fold increase in the prevalence of childhood anaemia. While many studies
have suggested that wildlife can provide a food security safety net, our study
illuminates quantitative links between micronutrients derived from wildlife
and critical human health outcomes. These results provide a clear example
of how rapid global declines of access to wildlife for consumption, due
either to conservation measures or wildlife depletion, could significantly
affect the health of local human populations. Such linkages between
biodiversity loss and human health highlight the need for research and
mitigation approaches that integrate the disciplines of public health and
conservation biology.
2011-12-09 12:00 Population genomics of a conservation dependent
deep-sea fish species, orange roughy (Hoplostethus atlanticus)
Gonçalves da Silva, Anders*, CSIRO Marine and Atmospheric
Research; Barendse, William, CSIRO Livestock Industry; Kijas,
James, CSIRO Livestock Industry; Barris, Wes, CSIRO Livestock
Industry; McWilliam, Sean, CSIRO Livestock Industry; Bunch,
Rowan, CSIRO Livestock Industry; Hoelzel, Rus A., Durham
University; England, Phillip R., CSIRO Marine and Atmospheric
Research
Marine fish are usually hard to observe, highly mobile, and often longlived
with large effective population sizes. This poses particularly difficult
challenges to fisheries managers when defining stock structure. Past
work in orange roughy has generally found low genetic differentiation
at global spatial scales. Here, we examine genome-wide genetic variation
and describe population structure in orange roughy. Allelic variation was
surveyed at thousands of single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) sites using
custom-built 5K Illumina Infinium chips in samples spanning the known
range of the species. We found low genetic differentiation at global scales,
on the order expected under “drift connectivity”. Initial clustering analysis
based on discriminant analysis of principal components on the whole
SNP set separated broad geographic regions (e.g., western South Africa
vs. Australia), but did not separate sampling sites within regions. Thus, a
large number of genetic markers have allowed us to confidently detect some
population differentiation when none was initially expected, and detect
population boundaries at broad spatial scales. Analyses based on outlier loci
are currently underway as they are potentially valuable in determining stock
structure in marine species that show low divergence over large geographical
scales. The data presented improve on previous genetic analyses, however
present a new challenge on how to treat such low levels of differentiation
when managing fisheries.
2011-12-09 15:00 Biases in comparative analyses of extinction risk:
mind the gap
González-Suárez, M*, Estación Biológica de Doñana EBD-CSIC;
Lucas, P.M., Estación Biológica de Doñana EBD-CSIC; Revilla, E.,
Estación Biológica de Doñana EBD-CSIC;
Understanding what makes a species more vulnerable to extinction is a key
objective in conservation biology. A popular and appealing answer is based
on comparative analyses that explore the links between higher vulnerability
and intrinsic ecological and life history traits. Comparative analyses require
information on multiple species which are assumed to be a representative
sample of the overall biodiversity or taxonomic group of interest. Our study
challenges this assumption by describing important taxonomic, regional,
and data type biases associated with the number of data available for
mammalian species. We show that biases are partly explained by intrinsic
species traits with larger mammals occupying bigger range areas being the
best studied. Importantly, these biases in data availability affect the results
of comparative analyses, raising concerns over our ability to draw general
conclusions regarding which species traits are associated with vulnerability
to extinction. Addressing this problem will require greater investment
in data collection and dissemination, as well as the development of
methodological approaches to correct existing biases.
2011-12-06 17:00 Conservation of endangered woodlands in a patch
dynamic system
Good, M.K*, University of New England; Clarke, P., University of
New England; Price, J. N., University of Tartu; Reid, N., University
of New England;
Eucalyptus coolabah (Coolibah) woodlands are an endangered ecological
community that have been extensively cleared in Australia. Little is known
of the population biology of Coolibah other than its ability to recruit en
masse following flood events. On the northern riverine plains of NSW,
densely regenerating Coolibah is regarded as an encroaching woody species
due to a perceived increase in density, but the evidence is equivocal. We
measured population structure in woodlands and regenerating stands:
smaller size classes were absent from remnant woodlands and there were
few large trees in dense stands. These results support a model of savanna
patch dynamics in which episodic recruitment and mortality are driven
by patchily distributed establishment and recruitment events. At the patch
scale, tree density appears to be decreasing in some areas and increasing in
others. When patches are pooled, however, all size classes are represented
and the meta-population appears stable. In dense stands, we found a strong
relationship between tree size (DBH) and distance to nearest neighbour
indicating that intra-specific competition leads to self thinning. It is likely
that dense Coolibah regrowth is simply a seral state leading to mature
woodland over time, and so conservation of Coolibah woodlands should be
considered at a landscape scale.
2011-12-09 18:00 Impacts of an alien grass on native coastal plant
communities
Gooden, B.*, Institute for Conservation Biology & Environmental
Management, School of Biological Sciences, University of Wollongong;
French, K., Institute for Conservation Biology & Environmental
Management, School of Biological Sciences, University of Wollongong;
Alien plants significantly threaten native biodiversity, yet information
on community-level impacts remains poorly understood. This study
investigated the changes in coastal forest communities following invasion
by an alien, stoloniferous, C4 grass, Stenotaphrum secundatum, in southeastern
Australia. Invaded plots had 80% fewer native ground-layer plants
and substantially different compositions than native reference plots.
Importantly, invaded and native sites did not differ in key landscape
parameters, including number of living and dead trees, distance to edges
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