Strategic Planning for Species Conservation: A Handbook - IUCN

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Strategic Planning for Species Conservation 5.3.2 The species’ functions and values This section considers the current cultural, socio-economic, religious, legal, ecological, and other significance the species may have to people. The section should highlight ecosystem services connected to the species and any use- and non-use values the species may have (discussed in more detail in Chapter 10), both within and outside the species’ geographic range. In addition, the species’ ecosystem functions should be discussed, including predator-prey dynamics, competition, mutualisms, and the species’ role in creating or changing ecosystems (e.g., beavers creating dams, elephants’ destruction of trees, etc.). An example of the North American bison’s (Bison bison) ecological functions is provided in Table 5.2. Table 5.2 Ecological Functions of North American bison (Sanderson et al. 2008) Ecological Function Representative Reference(s) Creation of landscape heterogeneity through grazing and wallowing 5.3.3 Historical account This section should provide a summary of the species’ history, including its historical distribution, and explain briefly how the species came to be of conservation concern and what major threats there have been. A well-documented historical distribution of the species would include maps (and corresponding GIS layers) which could, in most cases, provide an outer bound of the conservation planning area. 25 Polley 1984; Coppedge et al. 1999 Nutrient redistribution Frank and Evans 1997 Competition with other ungulates (e.g., elk (Cervus canadensis), mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus), caribou (Rangifer tarandus), moose (Alces alces)) Prey for wolves (Canis lupus), grizzly bear (Ursus arctos), and humans Habitat creation for grassland birds, prairie dogs (Cynomys), and other commensals (e.g., black-footed ferret (Mustela nigripes)) Provision of carcasses for scavengers and as a localized nutrient source Opened access to vegetation through snow cover Modification of and use of fire regimes Disturbance of woody vegetation by rubbing Provision of bison wool for small mammals and nesting birds Fischer and Gates 2005 Haines 1995; Smith et al. 2000 Johnsgard 2005 Green, Mattson, and Peeke 1997; Towne 2000 Hawley and Reynolds1987 Fuhlendorf and Engle 2001 Coppedge and Shaw 1997 Coppedge and Shaw 1997
26 5. Status Review The historical distribution or extent of occurrence map can provide the basis for evaluating a species’ present and potential range; it need not, however, necessarily be the same as the target area for species conservation that will be defined in a SCS. For example, in an era of climate change species distributions are likely to shift over the next decades, and this will have to be considered when preparing a SCS. The word “historical” also requires definition. We suggest that the historical period should reflect a time when modern human societies were not the major constraint on the species’ geographical range and the species had not, as far as this is known, experienced major range loss because of human activity. For example, for jaguars (Panthera onca), a planning team selected approximately the year 1900 (Sanderson et al. 1999); for tigers (Panthera tigris) another planning team selected the year 1850 because of significant hunting in the latter half of the 19 th century (Dinerstein et al. 2007). For bison, another group selected the year 1500, recognising the major range collapse of bison from the eastern North American forests in the 18 th century and the major collapse on the central North American grasslands in the 20 th century (Sanderson et al. 2008). Historical distributions are notoriously difficult to establish and can probably never be defined with certainty. When mapping historical distributions, the planning team should consider historical records (taking into account the records’ provenance and assessed reliability), known habitat affinities, and changes in the human landscape (e.g., human population density, land-use, etc.) over time. Source material and any assumptions should be carefully documented. The map itself should be prepared as a GIS layer and documented with appropriate metadata. An example of a historical distribution map for tigers is shown in Figure 5.1. This map shows that tigers now occupy 7% of their historic range. For some species, historical information related to population size is also available. Ideally some measure of certainty and quality should be attached to these data. For example, hunting harvests, sighting records, or rough counts from the past might provide a relative gauge of a change in abundance compared to present data. A simple comparison between present and historical distributions can be deceiving without further context. For many species, the present range is only a fraction of the historic range, but judging species status based solely on the occupied proportion of historic range can be misleading; other factors should be Figure 5.1 Historic and present range map for tigers Source: Save the Tiger Fund. Online at http://www.savethetigerfund.org/Content/ NavigationMenu2/Initiatives/TCL/ default.htm (accessed 25 July 2008). taken into account. The value of the comparison is the realization of how much the geographical circumstances of the species have changed through time. The historical account is an overview of how the species got to the state that it is in today. Many species are still suffering from low populations due to past threats, even if those threats have now subsided. For example, small, remnant populations that were heavily exploited in the past may continue to shrink, even with greatly diminished levels of
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IUCN, International Union for Conse
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Strategic Planning for Species Conservation: A Handbook - IUCN

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