biodiversity and conservation readings

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  • Created by: maya
  • Created on: 18-06-17 00:35

Lecture 1

This lecture focuses on the basic hypothesis of the latitudinal variation of latitudinal gradients of species richness

1) What can we say about this phenomenon?

2) Well, what are your assumptions?

3) And what do you base your reasoning on?

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Hawkins et al 2003

Energy, H2O & broad-scale geographic patterns of species richness 

measures of energy, water or water-energy balance explain spatial variation in richness better than other climatic and non-climatic variables in 82 of 85 cases.

water/energy variables explain on average over 60% of the variation in the richness of a wide range of plant and animal groups

  conclude that the interaction between water and energy,   directly or indirectly (via plant productivity), provides a strong explanation for globally extensive plant and animal diversity gradient

contemporary climate not only factor influencing species richness - may not explain   diversity pattern - BUT clear  understanding water-energy dynamics critical 4 future biodiversity research

Analyses not including water-energy variables  missingkey component 4 explaining broad-scale patterns of diversity

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Hawkins et al 2003

 data indicates water availability key constraint on plant richness, particularly in warm areas where energy is abundant - water limiting factor

supports Liebig's law of minimum 

based on available evidence - appears energy   strong predictor of animal diversity gradients in only small part  world

most earth rainfall distribution has strong influence on diversity gradient than temperature 

ambient temperature most important climatic factor influencing reptiles 

yet this paper focuses on terrestrialsystems although many of the arguments may apply to marine and freshwater systems

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Fischer (1960)

Latitudinal variations in organic diversity 

Ovewhelming variety of trees in tropical forests impressed northern travellers 

amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals more diversfied in tropics than higher latitutdes

ecological niches - a given physical environment provides a variety of possible ways for organisms to make a living & the organisms themselves greatly multiply the number of these ecological niches

size to which a given population may grow depends on its rate of reproduction 7 on pattern according in which individuals are killed off. 

CONCLUSION

diversity is greatest in climates of relatively high and constant temperatures- tropics and decreases into cold climates in high laitutdes

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Fischer (1960) Conclusion continued

reason diversity highest in tropics- high & constant temps:

1)Biota in warm humid tropics more likely to evolve and diversity- more constant normal environment, and relatively safe from climatic disasters.

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Lecture 2: causes of local biodiversity

This lecture focuses on the basic ecological concepts that are used to predict patterns in local diversity. These include an examination of equilibrium and non-equilibrium theories (island biogeography, niche, disturbance hypotheses and dynamic equilibrium models).

Island biogeography theory

many species on Islands different to those on the nearest comprable idea of mainland 
two reasons:

1) The animals and plants on an island are limited to the ancestors that managed to disperse there
this limitation depends on isolation of the island and the intrinsic disperal ability of the animal/plant.

2) isolation- rate of evolutionary change on Island fast enough to outweigh effects of the exchange of genetic material between island population & related populations elsewhere - speciation Darwin's finches

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Lecture 4: current threats to biodiversity

Contemporary rates of biodiversity loss are many orders of magnitude greater than historic “geological” rates of change.  This pair of lectures explores the biodiversity crisis, and the wide range of direct/proximate and underlying drivers responsible for this phenomenon.  The lectures draw on diverse temperate and tropical examples to illustrate the various way in which humans are affecting global biodiversity.

Geist et al 2002 - causes of deforestation

proximate causes are human activities or immediate actions at the local level e.g. agricultural use - originate from intended land use and directly impact forest cover.

underlying drivers are fundamental social processes, such as human population dynamics or agricultural policies that underpin proximate causes EITHER operate local level or have indirect impact from national/global level. 

tropical deforestation most prominant underlying cause economic factor, national policies, 

findings reveal previous studies given too much emphasis- population growth and shifting cultivation as primary cause of deforestation 

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Geist et al 2002

causes of deforestation - tropics

FOUR PROXIMATE CAUSES:
Agricultural expansion
Wood extraction
Infrastructure extension
Other factors

Further subdivided -> permanent cultivation, shifting cultivation, cattle ranching & colonisation

Underlying factors - demographic, economic, tehnological, policy & instiutional and cultural factors
further subdivided-> cultural of sociopolitical factors
.... public attitudes, values&beliefs, individual or household behaviour 

Conclusion; 

Tropical forest decline determined by different combinations of various proximate causes & underlying driving forces in various geographical andhistorical contexts.

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Geist et al 2002 conclusion expanded..

 The observed causal factor that puts most of blame of deforestation on shifting cultivators and population growth not accurate.

no universal policy for controlling tropical deforestation can be conceived. 

Rather detailed understanding of complex set of proximate causes & underlying driving forces affecting tropical forest decline in a given location is required prior to any policy intervention

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Sodhi et al 2008

Biodiversity - is the variety of life in all of its many manifestations

broad unifying concept encompassing all forms, levels and combinations of natural variatons

Genetic diversity encompasses components of genetic coding that structures organisms and variation in the genetic make-up between individuals within a population and between populations.

on average described species tend to be larger bodied, more abundant and widespread

humankind dramatically transofrmed Earth's surface and its natural ecosystems

the loss and degredation of natural habitats can be likened to a war of attrition. 

Global area of forests has been roughly reduced by roughly over past 3 centuries 

habitat destruction occurs when natural habitat e.g. forest altered so dramatically can no longer support the species it originally sustained.

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Sodhi et al 2008

plant and animal populations are destroyed/displaced = biodiversity loss

Habitat destruction is considered the most important driver of species extinction worldwide
Pimms and Raven

Globally agriculture biggest cause habitat destruction 

Geographies of habitat loss
Some regiones of Earth far more affected habitat destruction than others 

biodiversity hotspots which contains high species diversity, many locally endemic species
the Atlantic forests of Brazil and rainforests of W Africa both severely reduced, degraded
e.g. biodiversity spots

Biodiversity htspots only a small fraction <2% Earth's land surface- hotspots may sustain over 1/2 of world's terrestrial species (Myers et al 2000)

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Lecture 3

3. Temporal patterns of biodiversity: succession 

This lecture introduces fundamental ideas and theories about succession and the processes that influence it. Characteristics of species that occur through succession are examined in illustrative global examples

Introduced invasive species can act as a trigger for dramatic changes in ecosystem structure, function and delivery of services.

For example, intro of carnivorous sea walnut (jellyfish-like animals) in the Black Sea caused a loss of 26 major fisheries species and has been implicated as one of the factors in the subequent growth of the oxygen-deprived 'dead' zone.

SEA WALNUT
invaded them via balfast water of oil tankers

explosive population growth after accidental intro into Black sea early 1980s 

sea walnut major zooplankton predator associated fishery crashes (Costello 2001)

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sea walnut

Fish stock in black sea suffered because of predation eggs and larval stages of food supplies

a variety of predators e.g. medusae consume sea walnut in its native regions

reduction of Black sea, sea walnut populations occured after one of its predators comb jellyfish introduced into black sea  

comb jellyfish = decreased population of sea walnut - 
abundance of sea walnut dropped to levels so low that no further damage inflicted

ecosystem almost immediately began to recover 

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succession

ecological succession process of change in species structure of an ecological community over time

commuity begins relatively few pioneering plants & animals + develops through increasing complexity until becomes stable as climax community

"engine" of succession - is impact of established species upon their own environments

Ecological succession first dircumented in the Indiana Dunes of NW Indiana 

species diversity  increases during early succession as new species arrive but

declines in later succession as competition eliminates opportunistic species & leads to dominance by locally superior competities 

development of some ecosystem attributes- soil properties & nutrient cycles both influenced by community properties and in turn influence further successional development 

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Lecture 5: Current threats to biodiversity 2

Contemporary rates of biodiversity loss are many orders of magnitude greater than historic “geological” rates of change.  This pair of lectures explores the biodiversity crisis, and the wide range of direct/proximate and underlying drivers responsible for this phenomenon. 

The lectures draw on diverse temperate and tropical examples to illustrate the various way in which humans are affecting global biodiversity.

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Sodhi et al 2008

greatest impacts of invasive species- modifying entire ecosystems- likely affect most of original resident species.

plant species can modnify entire ecosystem by overgrowing & shading out native species

  • New species of cordgrass arose England late 19thC by hybdridisation between native cordgrass & introduced North American species.
  • new species invaded tidal mudflats, trapping much more sediment- increased elevation- converted mudflats to badly drained dense salt marshes with diff animal species

introduced plants can change entire ecosystems modifying water or nutrient regime
Pathogens 

Pathogens that eliminate previously dominant plant can impact entire ecosystem
Asian chestnut blight in North America eliminated American chestnut
caused: 7 moth species specific to chestnut to become extinct

Resource competition- GB North American gray squirrel forages for nuts more efficiently than native red squirrel & aggressive intraspecific competition.

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Sodhi et al 2008

Predation
one of most dramatic and frequently seen impacts is predation on native species
Norway rat
many cases, naive birds species not evolved adaptations to these predators on the ground & highly suspecitible to invaders.

Introduced rats caused extinction least 37 species & subspecies of Island birds throughout world

Herbivory

introduced herbivores can devastate flora of areas especially islands
European rabbits introduced to worldwide islands
- devasted many plant populations
- bark-********* -killing shrubs, seedlings and sapling trees
- rabbits often cause extensive erosion once veg has been destroyed 

Plant-eating insects successful biological control projects for weeds e.g. Africa's Lake Victoria massive invasion water hyacinth under control by intro 2 SAmerican weevils 

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Sodhi et al 2008

Hybridisation

if intro species sufficiently closely related to native species may mate & exchange genes with them

process feared when invading species outnumbers native- so native individual more likely encounter entroduced species than native prospective male

  • best method for invasive species - KEEP THEM OUT
  • regulations in place for both deliberate and unplanned intros
  • inspections at ports of entry
  • variety of detection tech and improvements expected
  • trained sniffer dogs & x-ray equipment
  • although tech improved to aid port inspector many countries dont have this because of expense or lack of qualified staff
  • penalties sufficiently severe- people fear consequences
     
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Sodhi et al 2008

Monitoring and eradication - early warning rapid response system needed
most cost-effective way enlist citzens lookout  unusual plants/animals & know contact agency
entails public education and wide dissemination popular media & on web #

E.G. Invasion Asian longhorned beetle Chicago recognised by citizen gathering firewood
led to successful regional extirpation of this insect after five-year campaign

Getting rid off invasive species after long-term colonisation
Many successful cases on Islands 'cause they small and reinvasion less likely for isolated islands

Climate change 
increase in wildfires in American West longer summers & earlier melt of snow pack = dryer environment and higher fire vulnerability
-oceans threatened by acidification caused by elevated CO2 level in atmos.

all these changes physical env have consequences- biodiversity

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Sodhi et al 2008

Effects on biodiversity
many species changing timing of their life histories phenology
many plant species flowering earlier in  spring- central England
tree swallows nesting and laying their eggs earlier 

polar bear declines/stress being observed number of populations 

Tropical species response global warming- remains poorly understood
one scenario tropical lowland biodiversity may decline global warming- 'cause no "species pool" to replace lowland species that migrate to higher elevations.

Tropical oceans - coral reefs temperature sensitive 
slight increase in temp causes basic partnership between coral animal & algal to break down.

coral animal expels alga triggering bleaching events most of communities colours lost  and productive, biodiversity & ecosystem services of reefs crash.

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Laurance 2014

Number and extent of roads will expand dramatically this century 

at least 25million kilometres of new roads anticipated by 2050

rate of road expansion so great often overwhelms capacity of environmental planners & managers

see global road-mapping scheme as working model
- important first step towards strategic road planning reduce environmental damage
- total length of new roads anticipated by mid-century would encircle Earth more than 600 times.

Use ArcGIS and IDRISI Selva to integrate spatial data relvant to global roadmap 

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Believe in yourself ~ Maya <3 

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Lecture 6: managing habitats: limestone pavements

Habitat conservation is a management practice that seeks to conserve, protect and restore habitat areas for wild plants and animals, especially conservation reliant species, and prevent their extinction, fragmentation or reduction in range. However, it requires a deep understanding the structure and function of the ecosystem. This lecture focuses on three managing habits of the UK (limestone pavement & sand dunes) and providers an overview of criteriums for selecting areas for conservation. This lecture also provides a review of measuring species diversity using examples across islands and tropical forest regions.

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Kier et al 2009

endemism and species richness highly relevant to global prioritisation of conservation efforts - oceanic islands remained relatively neglected

projected land-cover changes for year 2100 indicate that future land-use-driven changes on islands might strongly increase 

given their conservation risks, smaller land areas & high levels of endemism richness islands may offer particularly high returns for species conservation efforts 
thus warrant high priority in global biodiversity conservation in this century 

biodiversity loss arguably proceeding more rapidly than the documentation of species distributions

  • vascular plants-  organism group ecological & economic importance human well-bein
  • endemism richness of vascular plants geographically unevenly distributed
  • island New Caledoniia had by far the highest value
  • endemism richness 9.5 times higher on islands than in mainland regions 
  • endemic richness plants showed relatively strong correlation with entire group of vertebrates
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Kier et al 2009

islands global centres of endemism richness

high values of endemism richness emphasies their outstanding importance for global conservation of genetic resources

but limited area makes them vulnerable to anthropogenic impacts

conservation of island biodiversity requires expansion of protected areas to counteract the threats faced by island biodiversity as a result of human impact 

effective measures needed cant be mitigated protected areas alone e.g. invasive species threats

used Human Impact Index measure - 8 factors - roads, urban extent, population density, agricultural lands

spatial scale importance: broad scale- future challenge optimise conservation strategies - by systematic assessments of conservation priorities within these regions. 

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BAPUK 2007

The original UK BAP list of species leat 10 years old

given  importance UK BAP in stimulating action & prioritising resources- is important these lists periodically reviewed.
review critera

UK species & habitats that met agreed scientific criteria placed on UK list priority species&habitats
however recognises some groups had more quantitative data than others
nevetheless review used best available info that could pass scientific scrutiny

fundamental principles underlying criteria used to select species or habitats: international importance, high risk or rapid decline & habitats that were important for key species 

new drivers for UK BAP include considering: climate change, sustainable development policies

signposting - aim address conservation need of listed species including linking species actions to habitats 
Research: identifying species more research needed - research vital for identifying consevation management actions for species 

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BAPUK 2007

support proposal for Rivers to form a new UK BAP priority habitat

two specific items require further work:

criteria needs to be drawn up to specify which non-qualifying, degraded rivers/sections are excluded from the definition

sufficiently detailed description of the entire resource covered by proposed habitat needs to be drawn up inc all the individual river types covered and how any overlaps are to be dealt with 

support proposal for mountain heaths and willow scrub to form a new UK BAP priority habitat
reasons: international obligations, risk & key species

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BAPUK 2007

Actions to be taken:
gaps in surveillance and monitoring 
-identify species where monitoring/surveillance not currently available or where further monitoring or surveillance among most important actions 

excellent distribution data for birds 
poor quality for invertebrates
roughly 780 species (UK list) have reasonably accurate distributional data

70% of data sufficient to provide a useful guide to conservation action by four countries

need an increase from the 32 existing terrestrial/freshwater UK BAP habitats to 40 habitats

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FROGGGSSS are cute

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Lecture 7 Why conserve biodiversity?

This lecture explores of diverse values of biodiversity, and thus the motivations for its conservation and for the field of conservation biology.  It builds upon familiar concepts of instrumental/use values and intrinsic value, to consider a broader range of ways of conceptualising value, which have profound implications for how we “do” conservation.

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Sodhi et al 2008

conservation biology is a discpline of Western science but there are other traditions of conservation in various parts of the world. 

traditions based on local and indigenous knowledge and practice

traditional ecological knowledge definition: cumulative body of knowledge practice and belief evolving by adaptive processes and handed through generations by cultural transmission

in some cases high biodiversity explainable because of traditional livelihood pratices that maintain a diversity of variations, species and landscapes 

Oxaca state in Mexico exhibits high species richness despite absence of official protected areas
mayb attributed to diversity of local and indigenous practices resulting in multicultural landscape

in many parts of the world agroforestry systems rely on diversity of crops and treess together as opposed to modern monoculture - lol so basic.

new federal legislation in USA and growing body of international agreements expanded role and responsbility of biologists in conservation 

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Sodhi et al 2008

interdisciplinary field  “Biologists are beginning to forge adiscipline in that turbulent and vital area where biology meets the social sciences and humanities"

Ehrenfeld reconigsed  “acts of conservationists often motivated by strongly humanistic principles”

The fate of threatened species (both in situ and ex situ) & rare breeds loss  stimulated interest in the neglected application of genetics in conservation

Driven by IUCN red listing process, captive breeding programs grew; zoos, aquaria, and botanical gardens expanded- redefined their role as partners in conservation

Wildlife ecologists, community ecologists,  were gaining greater insight into  role of keystone species and top-down interactions in maintaining species diversity and ecosystem health

Advances in  remote sensing provided increasingly sophisticated  tools for land use and conservation planning at larger spatial scales

awareness conservations social dimensions - hybried fields environmental history

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Sodhi et al 2008

 recognition of  poor world’s  needs and the developing world was prompting new approaches to integrating conservation and development

· Conservation biology recognized a “close linkage” between biodiversity conservation and economic development

conservation biology offer  new integrative, and interdisciplinary approach to conservation scienc 

Interest in freshwater conservation biology has also increased as intensified human demands continue to affect water quality, quantity, distribution, 

conservation in the phillipines - referred to as- discipline with a deadline

as rapid loss and degradation of ecosystems accelerates across globe some scientists suggest writing off countries beyond help. 

efforts to preserve Phillipine biodiversity hampered entrenched corruption, weak governance and opposition by small, poweful interest groups 

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Sodhi et al 2008

Phillipines  conservation

Phillipines top conservation 'hotspot for terrestrial and marine ecosystems + fears could be sit of the first major extinction spasm. 

been renewed interest in biodiversity research in academic - increasing amount & quality of biodiversity information 

 field researchers  - hundreds of additional species not yet described, and some rediscoveries of species thought to be extinct (e.g. Cebu flowerpecker)

there are increasing synergies and networks among conservation workers, politicians community leaders, park rangers, researchers local people, nternational NGOS 
example of this ^^ is Wildlife Conservation Society of the Phillipines - (uses synergistic approach)

positive progress been made in Phillipines - suggests there are grounds for optimisim for biodiversity conservation in worldwide tropical countries 

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Lecture 8

Lecture 8: Which species and habitats should we save?

In the context of limited resources and a rapidly escalating biodiversity loss, conservationists are often pressed to prioritise species and habitats for conservation.  However, prioritisation necessarily means that some taxa and places will lose out, which is contentious, and there is no single recipe for how this prioritisation should occur.  This lecture considers some of the mainstream approaches for identifying the species and habitats we should prioritise within conservation, as well as their strengths, limitations and related debates.

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Sodhi et al 2008

Local people value environmental services provided by forested parks.

Gathering support from local ppl critical for maintaining ecologically viable & functional protected areas

using data from 5 protected area in 4 developing SE Asian countries provide evidence that local peeps living near parks value wide range env services inc cultural provisioning, regulating services, provided by the forests.

local people with longer residency valued environmental services more

educated & poor people valued ecosystem services more

conservation education some influence people's environmental awareness

for conservation 2b successful large-scale transmigration programmes should be avoided & local people must be provided alternative sustenance opportunities & basic edu + environmental outreach

= reduce their reliance on protected forests & enhance conservation support 

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Sodhi et al 2008

protected areas usually surrounded by dense human populations - placing increasing stresses on ecosystems 

local people often not supportive of reserves because they limit their access to natural resources & human-wildlife conflits

underpinning of ecosystem-services basis conservation approach is that once local ppl see value of forests, they may use it sustainably = conservation benefits

but no consensus about whether local communities are actually aware of the importance of natures services

criticism of this reading... results are from developing countries in SE Asia where people generally impoverished & have relatively low literacy

Conservation in this region should have high priority due to highest deforestation & endemism 

in order for ecosystem-services based conservation iniativies to be successful should be backed by clear policy & livelihood-sustaining economic incentives

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Sodhi et al 2008

First law of conservation science should be that human population which drives both threats to biodiversity & its conservation is unevenly distributed around the world

most conservation parochial - people care most about what is in their own backyard

e.g.: 90% of US $6 billion global conservation budged spent in economically wealthy countries 

open question on the extent to which conservation priorities represent not just current diversity but also evolutionary history

another global priority should be the cost of conservation because this varies over different geographical areas and is hard to measure

conservation planning and priortities on the ground Madagascar should attract global flexible conservation resources because it's a biodiveristy hotspot
BUT this doesn't answer the question of where within the island these resources should be invested

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Sodhi et al 2008

IUCN red list the driver threatening 90% of species is habitat destruction 
traditional method: establishing protected area
however, much biodiversity is still wholly unrepresented within protected areas

For areas suffering from fragmentation they implemented corridors
no doubt implementation corridors benefits biodiversity
but these corridors have the potential to increase threats:
facilitating spread diseases, invasive or commensal species 

largest challenge for sea/landscape planning is to move from maintaining current biodiversity towards restoring biodiversity that has already been lost.

· Maybe the most important tool for guiding conservation on the ground is the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, which assesses the extinction risk of 41 415 species against quantitative categories and criteria, and provides data on their distributions, habitats, threats, and conservation response

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Botrill et al 2008

Is conservation triage just smart decision making?

   Triage – the process of prioritizing action to use scarce resources wisely to conserve valuable assets e.g. species/habitats (often misinterpreted as process of deciding which assets will not receive investment)

·       Triage is simply the efficient allocation of conservation resources by accounting for the benefits, costs and likelihood of success of investment.

·       Unavoidable step when budgets are constrained

·       Can result in protection of only moderately diverse, moderately threatened biodiversity assets

·       Use of triage – judged to be acceptance and excuse to not take action for species with greatest risk.

·       The Alliance for Zero Extinction: states the goal of zero extinction at 700+ sites worldwide, would require reducing extinction rates to natural levels and neglecting uncertainty of investment.

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Botrill et al 2008

·       Human induced extinction rates are up to 1000X natural extinction rate.

     When using conservation triage, priority of conservation is determined by 4 parameters:

-          Values

[Higher value given to charismatic species or places and those that have ecosystem functions]

-          Biodiversity benefit

[amount gained from that action in progress toward the stated goal]

-          Probability of success

[likeliness to succeed have higher priority than action that is likely to fail, estimated using data on threatening processes, biological potential to recover or persist, existing conditions and willingness of relevant groups to facilitate the action]

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Botrill et al 2008

-          Cost

[cheaper action prioritised over more expensive action]

   Benefits of employing triage principles for conservation – the consequences of choosing among different actions are explicit.

E.g. Transparent reporting of investments.

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i like myself lol

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Lecture 9 ex-situ conservation

Lecture 9: Ex-situ conservation of species: zoos and botanic gardens

This lecture considers the value of not only protecting species in the wild, but also the growing importance of ex-situ conservation through zoos and botanic gardens.  In preparation for the trip to Blackpool Zoo, the lecture considers the diverse approaches to, and considerations that are important in the development of ex-situ conservation strategies.

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Balmford et al

· Ex-situ conservation – sizable populations of threatened species are established and maintained in captivity until eventual reintroduction becomes possible.

· Limits on ex-situ initiatives: the finite captivity of zoos, risks of disease and domestication, difficulties of ensuring long-term administrative continuity and problems with reintroduction.

· Evidence from field studies shows that critically threatened large vertebrates can be conserved effectively in the wild if sufficient resources are invested.

·Overall expenditure in ex-situ is based on the population size but cost in in-situ are likely to decrease as population grows.

·Despite being expensive, for large mammals facing threats which cannot be eliminated in the immediate future and for which additional vacant habitat is unavailable, captive breeding may be the only way to prevent rapid extinction.

·Effective in-situ protection of flagship species added benefit of conserving entire ecosystem. Ex. Conservation of mountain gorillas also protects elephants and buffalo in Rwanda.

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Balmford et al

Where to conserve threatened mammals?

Balmford et al

·       Work on gorillas and black rhinos have shown that field-based conservation can be effective if properly supported, it is not cheap but cost may still be lower than maintaining ex-situ conservation.

·       The study find that across nine large-bodied genera, in-situ conservation achieves comparable rates of population growth to those in established captive breeding programmes.

·       Captive breeding may be more cost-effective for smaller bodied taxa and one or two vulnerable large mammal populations.

·       In-situ conservation protects intact ecosystems rather than single species

·       Zoos might maximize their contribution to large mammal conservation by investing in well-managed field-based initiatives rather than establishing additional ex-situ breeding programmes.

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lecture 10: monitoring biodiversity

Monitoring biodiversity

Biodiversity presents a unique monitoring challenge—it is complex and multidimensional, so identifying indicators and monitoring strategies is often difficult.  However, as this lecture will explore, it is essential to monitoring environmental change over time, including in response to anthropogenic changes as well as conservation interventions.  This lecture will consider a wide range of monitoring approaches in cosnervaiton science, including related to birds and butterflies as indicator species, as well as various ecological and social science approaches to monitoring biodiversity.

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biodiversity minor consideration environmental policy viewed as a broad, vague concept

this view can be corrected if measurable indicators can be selected to assess the status of biodiversity over time

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Sodhi et al 2008

When monitoring and conserving biodiveristy we must not forget the:
- cost-benefit ratio of any selected metho
- difficulties and challenges of working across cultures

it is impossible to measure every lifeform on earth because of the sheer number of species and difficulty of sampling many of Earth's habitats (ocean depths & tropical forest canopies)

therefore we have to simplify our measurements into quantifiable units that can be compared across time and space

species richness used for most biodiversity assessments but it can be complicated by adjusting for relative abundance, uniqueness, representativeness 

there is a shortage of biological data related to primary conservation challenges, such as, design of effective protected areas. 
This data shortage is caused by under-funding of conservation science.

resources have been wasted on the collection of superficial and unrepresentative biodiveristy data that may be of only limited value 

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Sodhi et al 2008

to maximise utility of biodiversity monitoring it should focus on return of investment and value for money.

 Practical considerations should include the financial cost of surveying, but also the time and expertise needed to conduct a satisfactory job

A better understanding of the distribution of species in threatened ecosystems will improve our ability to safeguard the future of biodiversity.

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Mongabay

Dark side of new species discovery

the discovery of new species especially commercially valuable species has a dark side that can potentialy wipe out the new species before protections are put in place 

Bryan Stuart described previously unknown species Lao newt in a scientific paper published in 2002.

commercial dealers began collecting this Lao newt for sale in pet trade

the dealers used Stuarts geographic description in the paper as a road map to find the rare newt.

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Lecture 11 patterns and processes in extinction

Extinction is the act or process of the dying‐out of a species or evolutionary lineage. It is one of the most common of all ecological/evolutionary processes and represents an inevitable corollary of evolution by natural selection. This lecture focuses the causes of short‐term extinctions involving few species can, in principle, be well understood. It also highlights the causes of long‐term extinction events

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conservation biology paper

habitat fragmentation can result in local population sizes becoming very small which reduces genetic variation within populations

Considering mutation and immigration rates leads to the prediction that levels of genetic variation will reach an equillibrium where the amount of variation present at equilibrium will be affected by population size 

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conservation biology paper

Despite there being lots of theories, few studies have directly assessed the effects of variation in population size on fitness components in natural populations of plant

studied 10 populations of scarlet gilla  found that:
 
seed size and germination success are significantly reduced in small populations
Plants from small populations are also more susceptible to environmental stress

the fitness reduction in small populations is genetic due to the effects of genetic drift and/or inbreeding depression

when pollen from distant populations  was introduced into two small populations seed mass and germination were strengthened.

while pollen transferred into a large population had no significant effect.

a substantial increase in population size  did not introduce sufficient new  genetic material to fully overcome the effects of inbreeding depression.

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Barnosky (2011)

Has the Earth’s sixth mass extinction already arrived?

Barnosky (2011)

·       Results from the study confirm that current extinction rates are higher than would be expected from the fossil record, thus the need for effective conservation.

·       Extinction is normally balanced by speciation. (Evolution of new species – takes at least hundreds of thousands of years)

·       Big 5 mass extinctions: near the end of Ordovician, Devonian, Permian, Triassic and Cretaceous periods.

·       Human are now causing the sixth mass extinction through co-opting resources, fragmenting habitats, introducing non-native species, spreading pathogens, killing species directly and changing global climate.

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Barnosky (2011)

·       Extinction rates depend on the length of time over which they are measured.

·       The fossil record shows that species richness and evenness taken as normal today are low compared to pre-anthropogenic conditions.

·        The taxa that suffer normal extinction most frequently are characterized by small geographic ranges and low population abundance.

·       However, during mass extinction, the rule of extinction selectivity change markedly – widespread, abundant taxa also go extinct especially large-bodied animals.

·       Common features of mass extinctions – involves unusual climate dynamics, atmospheric composition and abnormally high-intensity ecological stressors.

·       Today without mitigation efforts, extreme ecological stressors will accelerate and intensify extinction in the future.

·       Additional losses of species in the endangered and vulnerable categories couls accomplish the sixth mass extinction in a few centuries.

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