Abstracts available here - Society for Conservation Biology

25th International Congress for Conservation Biology • Auckland, New Zealand • 5-9 December 2011
The Program also analyzes and integrates existing information on the
deep-sea coral ecosystems and human activities that may impact them. In
partnership with regional Fishery Management Councils, this work has
already informed the boundaries of the largest deepwater marine protected
area in the U.S. Atlantic – protecting over 62,000 square kilometers of
seafloor containing complex deepwater coral habitats. It is also providing
key information to fisheries efforts to protect biogenic habitats and marine
spatial planning in the Atlantic off New England and in the Pacific off the
U.S. West Coast.
2011-12-08 14:15 Fire and Fidelity: Responses of Reptiles in Urban
Bushland Remnants
How, RA*, Western Australian Museum;
The impact of fire on the composition of faunal assemblages and
populations has major implications for the conservation and management
of urban bushland biodiversity. Detailed capture-release studies in isolated
urban remnants allow an exploration of the impact of fire on reptiles. Two
fires of different intensity were monitored to contrast responses pre and
post fire in species populations and assemblage composition. Individuals
can, and do, escape the immediate impact of fire by movement away, but
many others are cremated. Movement in front of fire increases the capture
rate dramatically in both burnt and adjacent unburnt areas. Under ‘cool’
burn conditions the capture rate may return to pre-fire levels within 12
months, but under ‘hot’ fire conditions captures remained lower for up to a
decade post-fire. The composition of species assemblages remains relatively
similar to that before the fire after both ‘hot’ and ‘cool’ burns, indicating
that the greatest impact is to individual species populations. Populations
of arboreal and epigeic species exhibit greater declines than fossorial ones,
although rare and uncommon species are probably the most severely
affected. The persistence of individuals of many species through fire events
helps explain why reptiles may survive the long-term impact of fires better
than mammals. Sequential seasons with well below average rainfall appear
to have a greater impact on reptile species body mass index than does the
immediate impact of fire.
2011-12-09 11:30 Beyond win-win: interrogating ecosystem service
dynamics
Howe, C*, Department of Geography, University of Cambridge; Vira,
B, Department of Geography, University of Cambridg;
Ecosystem service-based conservation is often applied under the assumption
that it delivers win-win outcomes. However, although the ecosystem
services framework offers the potential for developing approaches that
simultaneously provide ecological stability and livelihood security, there
are often trade-offs associated with the pursuit of multiple objectives, by
multiple stakeholders, across multiple spatial and temporal scales. Using the
methodology developed by the Centre for Evidence-Based Conservation,
we carried out a systematic review of the literature, collating evidence on
where ecosystem service interventions had the potential to, or had resulted
in synergies and trade-offs. Of 699 potentially relevant articles highlighted
using our search terms, 254 were selected as appropriate for the review. We
find that there is a wealth of research literature on tradeoffs in ecosystembased
conservation, and that the literature covers a diverse number of
research fields, geographical areas and ecosystem services. However, there is
little evidence that this is facilitating an informed dialogue, or even closer
collaboration between specialist disciplines. We also demonstrate that
despite the diversity of research fields, trade-offs tend to fall into three main
categories: trade-offs between services, users and natural capital versus other
forms of capital. We discuss these different trade-off types with reference to
the economic and policy implications that they have.
2011-12-09 15:15 Priorities for continental connectivity conservation
to facilitate bird migrations in eastern Australia
Howling, GM*, NSW Office of Environment & Heritage;
O’Connor, J, Birds Australia;
The seasonal migration patterns of birds in eastern Australia provide a useful
focus for attempts to prioritise landscapes for conservation action, and
communicate the importance of the Great Eastern Ranges Connectivity
Conservation Initiative. Birds are a highly visible and charismatic part of
Australia’s forests and woodlands, and the focus for significant community
conservation effort. Survey records for 18 species were analysed to derive
weekly and monthly time-series maps of distributions in eastern Australia.
The data highlighted five distinctive patterns of migration: (1) ‘broadscale
latitudinal’ (e.g. Cicadabird Coracina tenuirostris); (2) ‘restrictedscale
latitudinal’ (Black-faced Monarch Monarcha melanopsis melanopsis;
(3) ‘partial’ (Dusky Woodswallow Artamus cyanopterus); (4) ‘altitudinal’
(Flame Robin Petroica phoenicea); and (5) ‘rich patch’ (Swift Parrot
Lathamus discolor). The movement data were intersected with models for
future habitat condition based on agricultural intensification, proximity to
infrastructure and human population density. The results demonstrated
significant ‘bottle-necks’ in bird migrations through a number of landscapes
including the Border Ranges and Gold Coast hinterland, Hunter Valley,
Southern Highlands and southwest slopes. The results confirmed the
critical importance of the eastern ranges for bird migrations, highlighted
significant threats to future connectivity of protected areas, and suggested
priorities for the Great Eastern Ranges Initiative in the future.
2011-12-08 18:30 Challenges in conserving the endangered and
endemic Cochabamba Mountain-Finch in a rural Bolivian Andean
landscape
Huanca, N. E.*, Asociación Civil Armonía, Av. Lomas de Arena #
400, Box 3566, Santa Cruz de la Sierra - Bolivia ; Cahill, J. R.
A., Centro de Biodiversidad y Genética, Universidad Mayor de San
Simón, Box 538, Cochabamba - Bolivia; Vázquez, C. A., Asociación
Civil Armonía, Av. Lomas de Arena # 400, Box 3566, Santa Cruz de
la Sierra - Bolivia; Davis, S. , Asociación Civil Armonía, Av. Lomas
de Arena # 400, Box 3566, Santa Cruz de la Sierra - Bolivia;
Conservationists interested in preserving wildlife, often have difficulty
in convincing and engaging local people. This has specially been true,
when approaching rural communities of the Bolivian high-Andes with
a conservation theme. The endangered Cochabamba Mountain-Finch
(Compsospiza garleppi), an endemic bird which shares the community
land above 3500m is threatened by habitat loss due to logging, burning
and agricultural frontier expansion. Our focus has been on reducing
threats to this species caused by the agrarian communities of Palcapampa
and Ch’aqui Potrero in Cochabamba. The hard process of winning their
confidence took four years, which resulted in the support and acceptance by
both communities. We worked with a multidisciplinary team. We studied
the habitat use, conducted awareness camps with children and women,
and we imparted men with ecologically friendly farming practices. The
bird territories were in areas of mixed agricultural land and native species,
the territory size was 1.5±0.36 ha. The local communities have learnt to
appreciate, and proudly protect this species. We started a reforestation
program with 600 “Polylepis subtusalbida” nursery trees and men are
practicing agro ecological farming. Reforestation efforts and a positive
attitude of people should be a starting point in securing the future of this
endangered species.
2011-12-09 16:46 An open-ended approach to conservation: A case
study at Wicken Fen, UK
HUGHES, FMR*, Department of Life Sciences, Anglia Ruskin
University, Cambridge, UK; Stroh, PA, Department of Life Sciences,
Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge, UK; Warrington, S, National
Trust, UK; Adams, WM, Department of Geography, University of
Cambridge, UK;
The conservation of biodiversity in areas such as Western Europe, where
landscapes are drastically altered by human action, cannot be achieved
by protection of remaining habitat fragments alone. Isolation, small size,
ecological change, human pressure and climate change are among critical
threats. One response, increasingly used in the UK, is to extend existing
protected areas to reduce external impacts and increase opportunities for
species survival through range expansion. Extension of protected areas
to larger (‘landscape’) scales involves challenges of understanding and
monitoring ecological change, of gaining support from local communities
and of cost. This demands a scientific, low-cost, public-orientated and
yet ‘open-ended’ approach. We consider these issues at a landscape-scale
restoration project based around Wicken Fen National Nature Reserve,
UK. Agricultural land purchased around the historic reserve is being
allowed to convert to wetland habitat using natural processes and lowintensity
management. The project has a 100-year timescale and it is
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