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25th International Congress for Conservation Biology • Auckland, New Zealand • 5-9 December 2011 2011-12-09 17:15 Predicting insect phenology using temperaturebased growing degree days Lessig, Heather*, North Carolina State University; Ries, Leslie, University of Maryland; Haddad, Nick M., North Carolina State University; Global climate change appears to be causing shifts in many species phenology, particularly insects that are highly sensitive to temperature. This can have major ecological consequences, as rising temperatures might lead to early emergence in some insects but not in their host plants. Using data from 13 years of transect surveys conducted by volunteers throughout Ohio (United States), we used a simple temperature-based measurement, growing degree days, to predict when 15 butterfly species would first emerge in the year. We found that growing degree days were most effective in predicting emergence of species that have distinct flight periods and a rapid emergence. When combined with basic geographic and species-specific variables, growing degree days can be used as a simple predictive tool to understand how species may react to shifts in climate. In doing so, we can better understand how climate change might affect future insect populations and their interspecific interactions. 2011-12-07 14:30 Risks of incursion, collapse and the influence of climate change on an invasive ant Lester, P.J.*, Victoria University of Wellington; The risks of establishment, spread, effects and persistence of invasive ants is influenced by a range of intrinsic and extrinsic factors. I will discuss the invasion of Argentine ants (Linepithema humile) into New Zealand as an example of how these factors can influence the population dynamics and impact of invasive ants. We have shown that this ant is a common passenger in imported produce. Despite this propagule pressure, the entire New Zealand population has little genetic diversity and are likely to be the descendants from one successful incursion. Geneticists would predict that populations with limited genetic diversity would likely collapse due to inbreeding depression or a limited ability to adapt to new parasites and pathogens. Such collapses are frequently observed in New Zealand. Climate change will lessen the likelihood or risk of collapse of populations in some areas. But in other locations climate change may hasten local extinction. Under such circumstances, and with a long-term perspective, some invasive ants may have little ecological or evolutionary risk or impact. 2011-12-08 11:30 Impact of forest fragmentation on dispersal and gene flow in a nationally endangered Australian marsupial, the Southern Brown Bandicoot Li, You*, The University of Adelaide; Lancaster, ML, The University of Adelaide; Cooper, SJB, South Australian Museum; Carthew, SM, The University of Adelaide; Fragmentation poses a serious and ongoing threat to biodiversity. Effective dispersal of animals can be limited in isolated or fragmented populations, which in turn makes them more susceptible to losses of genetic diversity and eventual extinction. In south-eastern Australia, land clearing for exotic softwood plantations and agricultural land has resulted in the fragmentation of continuous remnant forests into smaller, isolated patches surrounded by potentially hostile matrix habitats. The nationally endangered Southern Brown Bandicoot (Isoodon obesulus obesulus) relies heavily on vegetation at ground level for nesting, foraging and movement, and is therefore likely to be affected by habitat modification. Using a panel of 14 microsatellites, we explored genetic diversity, gene flow and dispersal across 11 remnant fragments in the Mt Burr Range. Genetic diversity was relatively low, but was highest in the mid Mt Burr Range. Broad scale genetic differentiation (Fst) was significant, however, patches within each region were not significantly genetically different from one another. Our results suggest that approximately 1 km of pine plantations may not pose a severe impediment to dispersal of individuals between patches, however, greater distances and different intervening matrices do. Our results will be used to inform the implementation of biodiversity corridors in the region. 2011-12-07 14:56 Indigenous use of coastal wetland resources in a changing climate Ligtermoet, E*, PhD Candidate, ANU; Baker, R., Supervisor, ANU; Jackson, S., Supervisor, CSIRO; Coastal indigenous communities are particularly vulnerable to the impacts of a changing climate. Sub-coastal freshwater wetlands and floodplains play a vital role in indigenous livelihoods and cultural practices across Northern Australia. These freshwater systems are at risk of saline intrusion from rising sea levels, as well as the synergistic effects of invasive weed species, feral animals and increased storm events. This is likely to impact communities utilising freshwater resources. Changes to country are often not new to Indigenous communities who have in the past dealt with significant disruption to traditional management practices, introduced weeds and feral animals. World heritage listed Kakadu National Park in the Northern Territory, containing Ramsar listed wetlands, will be a case study site. Participatory research methods will be adopted in this study as sharing knowledge systems will be crucial to developing appropriate mitigation and adaptation strategies, particularly for wetland systems under co-management. This research aims to determine what the potential impacts of climate change on indigenous resource use of wetland biodiversity in Northern Australia will be and what adaptation or mitigation strategies might be employed to best (culturally and ecologically) manage the resources in a changing climate. 2011-12-06 12:00 Excluding stakeholders from decision-making: implications for conservation policy in low-income nations Liles, MJ*, Department of Wildlife and Fisheries Sciences, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77840; Peterson, TR, Department of Wildlife and Fisheries Sciences, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77840; Biodiversity hotspots in low-income nations are often top priorities for conservation action. However, in many of these countries biodiversity continues to decline, suggesting that current conservation policy may be ineffective. Our objective is to examine how socio-political contexts of lowincome nations influence the development and effectiveness of conservation policy. We used El Salvador as a case study to begin addressing this question, to which we applied the combination of four elements described by Scott (1998) as drivers in state-initiated social engineering. First, we reviewed critical socio-political developments during the last 130 years in El Salvador. Second, we drew on the historical record to describe how sea turtle conservation emerged along the Salvadoran coast. Third, we examined the development of the moratorium on sea turtle egg consumption, approved by the national government in 2009. Fourth, we analyzed interviews conducted with 22 local egg collectors between 2009 and 2011 to better understand their perspectives toward the moratorium, their involvement in its creation, and their commitment to its implementation. We conclude by discussing the implications of alienating critical stakeholders from conservation decisionmaking processes in low income nations and offer recommendations on ways to achieve and sustain desired-long term outcomes via more inclusive processes. 2011-12-08 14:28 The effects of non-random species loss on spatial and temporal biodiversity in intertidal algal communities Lilley, Stacie*, University of Canterbury; Schiel, David, University of Canterbury; Loss of biodiversity has pervasive impacts on the world’s ecosystems, yet there is still considerable debate about how to quantify aspects of diversity and how it varies over space and time. Beta-diversity has several spatial components and interpretations, but its temporal component is far less tractable because it can only be gauged painstakingly through time. Our work compares the spatial and temporal components of diversity. Here we show that temporal diversity, βt, in rocky intertidal algal communities comprises a large portion of total diversity, that it can take several years to become evident, varies by tidal zone, and depends on impacts to canopy species. Furthermore, our experiments show that short-term impacts to these habitat-forming canopy species can have long-term consequences on community structure, and all aspects of diversity. 2011-12-06 15:15 Optimal allocation of environmental water to maximise frog, plant and waterbird conservation benefits Linke, S*, Griffith University, Brisbane, Australia; Januchowski, S, Griffith University, Brisbane, Australia; McMahon, J, Griffith University, Brisbane, Australia; Olley, J, Griffith University, Brisbane, Australia; Turak, E, NSW DECC, Sydney, Australia; Blakey R, 94
25th International Congress for Conservation Biology • Auckland, New Zealand • 5-9 December 2011 NSW DECC, Sydney, Australia; Possingham HP, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia; Habitat loss through water abstraction in regulated rivers is a key driver of biodiversity decline in rivers all over the world. In this project, we combine principles from systematic conservation planning with environmental flow science to maximise the persistence of wetland frogs, plants and waterbirds, as well as ecotypes. Watering requirements for wetland complexes were derived from hydrological inundation models. We then modelled species distributions for these wetland complexes and mapped an ecological classification. The optimisation was designed to find is the most efficient allocation that fulfils conservation targets for the highest number (and potentially highest diversity) of species and ecotypes? In the optimisation, we used a simulated annealing algorithm to optimally allocate water across multiple seasons. We found that a mixed portfolio of dam releases and buybacks from multiple watering points was needed to achieve conservation targets – as well as actions in multiple seasons. While in general piggybacking releases on natural high flows delivers the best outcomes, low flow events need to be enhanced to satisfy requirements of some bird species as well. This demonstrates complementarity of both actions and timing, hardly ever considered in the conservation literature. Based on a contrast with a single ad-hoc release strategy, we demonstrate how a targeted, systematic release schedule benefits more species and thus leads to increased efficiency and defensibility in river conservation. 2011-12-06 11:45 Human behavioral ecology and conservation - collaborative A.P.E.S. required Linklater, WL*, Centre for Biodiversity and Restoration Ecology, Victoria University of Wellington; Gavin, M, School of Geography, Environment and Earth Sciences, Victoria University of Wellington; MacDonald, EA, Museum of New Zealand, Te Papa Tongarewa; Monfort, TL, School of Psychology,Victoria University of Wellington; All major threats to biodiversity, including habitat-loss, invasive species, over-exploitation and climate change, are consequences of human behavior. Strategic mitigation or prevention of conservation crises, therefore, are primarily exercises in behavioral management or modification. Such work occurs at the nexus of anthropology, psychology, ecology and sociology (APES). The potential for behavioral ecology (the study of the ecological and evolutionary basis of animal behavior) to contribute at this nexus is large, but undeveloped compared to recent developments in APS. We begin by introducing the different scales at which each of APES focus and provide a scheme of key conservation topics where behavioral ecology might contribute most. We introduce some of our own research, which seeks to understand relationships between biodiversity and the knowledge, attitudes, beliefs, and actions of people, and how those relationships are modified by context. Evidence suggests that understanding and managing human behavior, although an inherently more complex problem, provides a short-cut and longer-term solution to leading conservation challenges - but it will require collaborative APES. 2011-12-06 15:15 Gaps on pronghorn conservation in Mexico List, R*, Instituto de Ecologia Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México; Valdés, M, Instituto de Ecologia Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México; Zarza, H, Instituto de Ecologia Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México; The pronghorn is the only extant member of the Antilocapridae family, but with an estimated population of 1500 individuals is one of the most threatened mammals in Mexico. In order to determine conservation actions at the landscape level, we assessed the contribution of the current Natural Protected Areas (NPA) and Wildilfe Management Units (WMU -which are complementary to the NPA-) to pronghorn populations in Mexico. Apart form the Vizcaino Biosphere Reserve in the Baja California Peninsula, where its population is contained within the Reserve, in the states of Sonora, Chihuahua and Coahuila only 13 out of 104 pronghorn records obtained from aerial surveys conducted between 1997 – 2006 were included in a NPA, and only 2 were within UMA. The persistence of pronghorn populations is further threatened in the border region where the United States – Mexico border fence and associated surveillance road, may be limiting the movements of 1) the Sonoran pronghorn from Mexico to the United States -where this population is considered endangered-, and 2) from the United States to northeastern Sonora and northwestern Chihuahua, reducing the viability of these populations, respectively in the United States and Mexico. New WMUs need to be established to enhance the protection for the pronghorn, and connectivity needs to be maintained or recovered in critical areas along the border to allow pronghorn movement. 2011-12-07 17:45 Genetic Responses to Climate Change in the Common Brown Butterfly (Heteronympha merope) Lister, A*, La Trobe University, Bundoora, Australia; Murray, N, La Trobe University, Bundoora, Australia; Sunnucks, P, Monash University, Clayton, Australia; Kearney, M, University of Melbourne, Parkville, Australia; Norgate, M, Monash University, Clayton, Australia; Yazgin, V, La Trobe University, Bundoora, Australia; Barton, M, University of Melbourne, Parkville, Australia; The extent to which climate change will affect organisms depends in part on their ability to adapt to those changes. To assess and predict this ability requires an integration of molecular ecology, functional genomics and functional ecology. The common brown butterfly, Heteronympha merope, provides a baseline for these studies as past research (Pearse 1978) allows investigations into how the species has responded to thirty years of climate change. Pearse’s studies included an enzyme-based population genetic structure across most of the geographic range of the species. In this component of the integrative project, we compare contemporary allozyme population structure with Pearse’s historical data. Of particular interest are geographically isolated populations from Queensland and South Australia which Pearse found to be genetically distinct from the homogeneous contiguous range. This pattern persists, although a new, apparently nonisolated, site without historical counterpart (Mount Remarkable, SA) has also been found to be highly distinct. Comparisons with DNA markers strongly suggest that patterns of allozyme differentiation are driven by adaptation. South Australian populations show evidence of clinal variation in the Pgm locus, which has been associated with flight capacity and thermotolerance in other butterfly species. In conjunction with the other components of the project these findings will underpin a predictive model of adaptive responses to climate change. 2011-12-08 18:30 Impact of alien Spartina alterniflora on the Breeding saltmarsh waterbirds in Yancheng National Nature Reserve, China Liu,CY*, Northeast Institute of Geography and Agricultural Ecology,Chinese Academy of Sciences; Jiang, HX, Research Institute of Forest Ecology, Environment and Protection,Key Laboratory of Forest Protection of State Forestry Administration,Chinese Academy of Forestry; The severe ecological impact and economic costs of invasive plant species are well acknowledged, which is the second greatest cause of direct habitat loss and fragmentation in terms of the threat posed to biological diversity. Spartina alterniflora (Smooth cordgrass) is a perennial grass native to the east coasts of North America. Within the past two centuries, it has been introduced accidentally and intentionally to Europe, the Pacific coast of North America, New Zealand, and China. At present, Yancheng National Nature Reserve (hereafter YNNR) became the largest Smooth cordgrass distribution region in China. As globally important wetland, YNNR showed a global significance for breeding waterbirds, such as Larus saundersi (Saunder’s gull), Tringa tetanus (common redshank), and Sterna hirundo (common tern) and so on. Over the past decades, the overspread of Spartina alterniflora was not only direct reducing the area of breeding habitat of saltmarsh breeding waterbirds, but also indirect lower in quality of their habitat. The degradation and shrinking of native saltmarsh wetlands might cause declined of number of birds, and eventually decreased the local bird diversity of both the saltmarsh breeding waterbirds. 2011-12-06 16:30 Effects of Food Supplementation on Black-Tailed Prairie Dogs (Cynomys ludovicianus) at their Northern Extent Lloyd, NA*, Centre for Conservation Research, Calgary Zoo; Smith, D, Centre for Conservation Research, Calgary Zoo; Moehrenschlager, A, Centre for Conservation Research, Calgary Zoo; This research investigates whether black-tailed prairie dog (Cynomys ludovicianus) populations are food limited on their northernmost range extent. A ‘before-after-control-impact’ (BACI) experiment used food supplementation, while accounting for natural food variation, to test 95
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Index Benini, Rubens 42 Beniston, M
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Index DeWan, Amielle 14 Dianne Brun
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Index Hilborn, Ray 27 Hill, CM 176
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Index Loutit, R. 116 Louwe Kooijman
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Index Ottewell, K 81 Overton, J 61,
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Index Sequeira, Ana 151 Serebryakov
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Index Winandy, L 181 Winner, J. 112
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