Abstracts available here - Society for Conservation Biology

25th International Congress for Conservation Biology • Auckland, New Zealand • 5-9 December 2011
We present two such carnivore flagship projects i) the African Wild Dog
(Lycaon pictus) in Zambia and ii) the Tiger Quoll (Dasyurus maculatus)
in Australia. In addition to collaborations with research institutions and
government agencies both projects have partnerships with ecotourism
operators, local stakeholders and NGOs, and include community
participation in data collection and conservation activities. In both cases,
involvement of the wider community has increased capacity for research as
well increasing conservation outcomes across the landscape.
2011-12-07 14:30 Can marine protected areas help reduce poverty?
Evidence from four site in Asia Pacific and the policy implications
Leisher, Craig*, The Nature Conservancy; Van Beukering, Peter,
VU University; Scherl, Lea M, James Cook University;
Many of the world’s richest and most diverse habitats are found in places
where poverty is a pressing issue. This four-country study in the Asia-
Pacific region shows that marine protected areas can contribute to poverty
reduction. The study is based on 958 household interviews, 33 key
informant interviews, and 18 focus group discussions in four study sites:
Navakavu, Fiji; Solomon Islands, Arnavon Islands; Indonesia, Bunaken and
the Philippines, Apo Island. We used quantitative-qualitative approach,
triangulated data sources, and compared “treated” to “control” sites. Across
the four sites, we found empirical evidence that poverty had been reduced
by: (i) improved fish catches; (ii) new jobs, mostly in tourism; (iii) stronger
local governance; and (iv) benefits to health and women.
2011-12-09 14:45 Optimizing reserve adequacy for the conservation
of amphibians in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest under climate change
Lemes, P.*, Laboratório de Ecologia Aplicada e Conservação,
Departamento de Ecologia, ICB, Universidade Federal de Goiás,
Brasil. ; Loyola, R.D., Laboratório de Ecologia Aplicada e
Conservação, Departamento de Ecologia, ICB, Universidade Federal
de Goiás, Brasil. ;
Spatial conservation prioritization should seek to anticipate climate change
impacts on biodiversity aiming to mitigate them through the development
of dynamic spatial plans. Here, we defined spatial priorities for the
conservation of amphibians inhabiting the Brazilian Atlantic Forest that
overcome the likely impacts of climate change to this imperiled fauna. First,
we produced potential geographic distribution maps for 444 amphibian
species both for current time and for 2050 using four modeling methods
and three different climate models to evaluate model uncertainty. Our
objective was to generate a nested ranking of priority sites for conservation
minimizing the mean geographic variation in among species ranges,
the mean uncertainty associated to species distribution models, and
maximizing, at the same time, complementary species representation across
the existing network of protected areas. This solution already includes
possible dispersal corridors linking current and future priority sites for
amphibian conservation. Under a small proportion of protected land
(10%), the mean species extinction risk is ca. 40%; uncertainty is 2.8%
and less than 20% of species’ ranges are protected on average. These results,
highlight a clear trade-off in amphibian conservation planning: to conserve
higher proportions of species distribution and minimize extinction risk,
decision makers would need to either sacrifice land protection or their
certainty of planning effectiveness.
2011-12-07 17:45 Political transformation, lag phase and invasion of
alien species. How planted for centuries Walnut Juglans regia became
invasive in Central Europe?
Lenda, M*, Institute of Environmental Sciences, Jagiellonian
University; Skórka, P, Institute of Zoology, Poznań University of Life
Sciences; Moroń, D, Institute of Systematics and Animal Evolution,
Polish Academy of Sciences; Woyciechowski, M, Institute of
Environmental Sciences, Jagiellonian University;
Invasive species are severe threat for biodiversity. Many alien species stay for
certain period time in low population size before demographic explosion,
however the reason why this time lag ends, is poorly understood. We describe
the initial invasion of agricultural landscapes in Central Europe by the alien
Walnut Juglans regia which is planted from Middle Ages thus it stayed in a
lag phase for 800 years. Specifically, we tested how land abandonment after
the political transformation of the 1990s and native Corvids, that cache
seeds, contributed to this invasion. Ten plots (225 ha) in the agricultural
landscapes of southern Poland and 130 other plots (100 ha) across Poland
were established to study factors affecting the presence and abundance of
Walnut at the landscape and biogeographical scales. 96 % of wild Walnuts
grew in abandoned fields. The presence and abundance of Walnuts at a
landscape scale was higher on abandoned fields located in the proximity
of human settlements. Walnut seeds were mostly cached by Rooks Corvus
frugilegus. Rooks carried seeds from gardens and preferentially hid them in
arable fields; we did not observe caching in abandoned fields. The oldest
Walnuts were 20 years old. This led us to conclude that the invasion by
Walnuts was only possible because of land abandonment as a result of
political transformation.
2011-12-08 18:30 Solutions and Challenges to Addressing Population
Growth and Climate Change
Lepczyk, CA, University of Hawaii at Manoa; Bergstrom, R,
University of Hawaii at Manoa; Chynoweth, M*, University of
Hawaii at Manoa; Ellsworth, L, University of Hawaii at Manoa;
Henly-Shepard, S, University of Hawaii at Manoa; Iwashita, D,
University of Hawaii at Manoa; Miller, K, University of Hawaii at
Manoa; Rhodes, R, University of Hawaii at Manoa
The world’s population is nearing 7 billion and predicted to reach 9.1
billion by 2050. Continued population growth will result in increased
resource consumption and greenhouse gas emissions, enhancing the effects
of climate change. Synergisms between population growth and climate
change will therefore have substantial negative impacts on environmental
resources. However, solutions to population growth are often absent within
the context of climate change solutions. Our objective was to examine
the topics and solutions that address both population growth and climate
change. We conducted a systematic search of peer-reviewed literature
published from 1980–2011. Of 1,438 papers addressing population
growth and climate change, only 153 (11%) included solutions. Among
these papers the most frequent topics and solutions offered addressed the
societal aspects of population growth and climate change. Land use/land
cover change and greenhouse gas emissions were also frequently discussed,
while changes in policy, economics, and land use/land cover were the
most frequently offered solutions. Education was the topic least discussed
and, along with energy and health, was least mentioned as a solution.
Importantly, the number of papers offering solutions increased significantly
over time, with 48% of them published since 2008. These results suggest
that while solutions to human population growth have seldom been
discussed as climate change solutions, they are beginning to be considered.
2011-12-09 17:30 Reciprocal effects of fire management inside and
outside protected areas on regional conservation goals
Leroux, S.J.*, University of Ottawa; Cumming, S.G., Universite
Laval; Krawchuk, M.A., University of California, Berkeley;
Schmiegelow, F.K.A., University of Alberta;
Protected areas (PAs) are common tools for conserving natural ecosystems,
but the landscape matrix surrounding PAs is also critical for achieving
conservation goals. Natural disturbances such as forest fire move between
PAs and the matrix, and management in either area can affect their
frequency, magnitude and direction. In many forested biomes, some
level of fire suppression is applied to protect timber supply, communities,
infrastructure and fire-sensitive species. We use a spatial dynamic model
(CONSERV) to investigate how differences in fire management between
PAs and the matrix affect regional conservation goals. We parameterized
CONSERV for a large region in northern Canada, which experiences an
active wildfire regime. Our conservation goal was to maintain representation
of the regional suite of vegetation communities. We simulated a factorial
experiment of alternate levels of fire management effectiveness within PAs
and the matrix for historical and projected future fire over 200 yrs, and
tracked changes in landcover over time. Our results demonstrate that fire
suppression in the matrix can alter vegetation communities inside PAs
and that free-to-burn policies within PAs allow large fires to spread into
the matrix. Changing climates in northern Canada, in conjunction with
expanded infrastructure and growing communities, may lead to increasing
demand for fire suppression. This will conflict with the preservation of
natural processes in PA’s, unless they are very large.
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