Griffon Vulture (Gyps fulvus) populations occur on Mediterranean islands, where wind energy is developing fast. As griffons are subjected to collisions with wind turbines while foraging, it is ...necessary to understand which factors affect their movements to minimize the potential impact of wind farms. We assessed habitat use of 37 griffons (n. GPS locations = 130,218) and their overlap with wind farms in Sardinia (Italy), an island where both Griffon Vulture population and wind energy are significantly expanding. Griffons in Sardinia cover smaller areas (95% isopleth = 956.3 ± 677.7 km2, 50% isopleth = 73.8 ± 48.2 km2) than in mainland Europe, restricting most of their movements within 5–10 km from colonies and roosts. Supplementary feeding stations throughout these areas (n = 37) provide approximately 20 tons of carrion each year, suggesting that griffon movements are strongly determined by food availability. Overall, 6 wind farms (101 turbines) out of the 29 present in Sardinia were built in areas used by foraging griffons. Two of them were positioned near roosts and supplementary feeding stations. As griffon movements concentrate around nesting/roosting sites and feeding stations, wind farms should be excluded around these highly utilized areas, and mitigation measures, including the removal of livestock carrion, should be adopted for those that are built at greater distances. There is also an urgent need for updated data about wind energy location. The creation of supplementary feeding stations could be used to shape the enlargement of the foraging grounds of an increasing Griffon Vulture population on Mediterranean islands and to exclude wind farm areas to mitigate their impacts.
Freshwater mussel populations are in sharp decline and are considered to be one of the most imperilled groups globally. Consequently, the number of captive breeding programmes has increased rapidly ...in recent years, coupled with subsequent reintroductions/population reinforcements to reverse these declines. The outcomes of mussel conservation translocations are seldom reported in the primary literature, hindering opportunities for learning and for population recovery at pace. Here, we describe the methods employed to carry out a successful conservation translocation of the freshwater pearl mussel (Margaritifera margaritifera) in a declining population in northwest England. Following a small-scale pilot release in 2017, four release sites were identified for a population reinforcement of over 1300 tagged mussels in 2021. Monitoring during 2022 showed high levels of retention of juveniles at three out of the four release sites, despite the occurrence of a significant flood event during October 2021. Subsequent releases of 1100 juveniles were carried out across the three successful sites in 2023. Ongoing and regular monitoring is essential in order to provide data on the longer-term fate of propagated juveniles in the wild. This will allow for adaptive management of release activities in this river. These data will be useful to design conservation translocation strategies for other imperilled pearl mussel populations in the UK and throughout Europe.
Aim
Invasive pathogens are a growing conservation challenge and often occur in tandem with rapid environmental transformation, such as climate change, drought and habitat loss. Climate change appears ...to have facilitated the spread of West Nile virus (WNV), a cause of widespread avian mortality. WNV is considered the primary threat to island scrub‐jays (Aphelocoma insularis), endemic to Santa Cruz Island, California. Two approaches have been proposed to safeguard island scrub‐jays: (a) vaccination and (b) conservation translocation to re‐establish a second population on neighbouring Santa Rosa Island, hypothesized to have a lower risk of WNV. These alternatives operate at regional scales but exemplify global concerns with strategic implications for conservation biogeography and climate adaptation.
Location
California Channel Islands, USA.
Methods
We compared the efficacy of vaccination and translocation strategies at minimizing 25‐year quasi‐extinction risk for island scrub‐jays using a stochastic population model.
Results
Under current WNV‐free conditions, the predicted quasi‐extinction risk for island scrub‐jays was low (~0%) but increased to ≥22% with simulated WNV outbreaks. Vaccinating ≥60 individuals reduced risk to <5%, but risk doubled if population size declined and further increased with more frequent droughts. Translocation performed best if Santa Rosa Island had a large starting population size and habitat extent, and, more importantly, a low risk of WNV establishment; if Santa Rosa Island was inhospitable to WNV, quasi‐extinction risk dropped to near zero.
Main conclusions
Translocation with targeted vaccination during high‐risk conditions was the most effective strategy to protect island scrub‐jays from West Nile virus. Although vaccination often outperformed translocation, only scenarios that included a Santa Rosa population and vaccinations achieved acceptably low species‐wide extinction risk across all potential future conditions. Our analysis informs strategies to improve the long‐term viability of the most range‐restricted bird species in the continental United States and provides a model for assessing conservation‐translocation proposals for other species and threats.
Captive breeding is often a last resort management option in the conservation of endangered species which can in turn lead to increased risk of inbreeding depression and loss of genetic diversity. ...Thus, recording breeding events via studbook for the purpose of estimating relatedness, and facilitating mating pair selection to minimize inbreeding, is common practice. However, as founder relatedness is often unknown, loss of genetic variation and inbreeding cannot be entirely avoided. Molecular genotyping is slowly being adopted in captive breeding programs, however achieving sufficient resolution can be challenging in small, low diversity, populations. Here, we evaluate the success of the Vancouver Island marmot (
Marmota vancouverensis
; VIM; among the worlds most endangered mammals) captive breeding program in preventing inbreeding and maintaining genetic diversity. We explored the use of high-throughput amplicon sequencing of microsatellite regions to assay greater genetic variation in both captive and wild populations than traditional length-based fragment analysis. Contrary to other studies, this method did not considerably increase diversity estimates, suggesting: (1) that the technique does not universally improve resolution, and (2) VIM have exceedingly low diversity. Studbook estimates of pairwise relatedness and inbreeding in the current population were weakly, but positively, correlated to molecular estimates. Thus, current studbooks are moderately effective at predicting genetic similarity when founder relatedness is known. Finally, we found that captive and wild populations did not differ in allelic frequencies, and conservation efforts to maintain diversity have been successful with no significant decrease in diversity over the last three generations.
Conservation translocation is a controversial, yet sometimes the only applicable, conservation tool in the face of the human-induced environmental change. One important aspect often neglected in ...translocation experiments is predicting the spatial expansion potential of the translocated population in the release area. In this study, we used a spatially explicit movement model to project the expansion rate of a translocated clouded Apollo (Parnassius mnemosyne) population. The model was parameterised with data collected from the source population inhabiting an open landscape with well-connected habitat patches. We then used these parameter estimates to simulate the spread of the translocated population in the new area, which was a forested landscape with more fragmented habitat. We tested the model predictions by comparing them to the observed expansion rate between 2000 and 2016. Additionally, we tested whether including annually varying weather conditions would increase realism in the projections. Model predictions were qualitatively correct and quantitatively most accurate for flight seasons with prevailing weather conditions similar to those of the season when the data for parameter estimation was collected. We conclude that spatially explicit movement models are potential tools to improve the planning of future conservation translocations in terms of choosing the optimal release area, as they enable the comparison of functional connectivities even between structurally different landscapes. However, our results suggest that a model fitted based on movement data from a single year may not be representative for the overall dispersal rates due to temporal variation in dispersal.
•Spatial expansion of a translocated butterfly population is successfully predicted.•Annually varying weather alters expansion rates of ectothermic animals.•Spatially explicit movement models can promote effective translocation planning.
Kiwi translocation review Jahn, Peter; Cagua, E Fernando; Molles, Laura E ...
New Zealand journal of ecology,
01/2022, Volume:
46, Issue:
1
Journal Article
Peer reviewed
Open access
Translocations of kiwi (Apteryx spp.) are one of the most common and growing types of conservation translocations in New Zealand. However, their outcomes remain mostly unpublished, which does not ...allow for sharing of lessons learnt from past developments. We reviewed 102 kiwi translocations from the 19th century until 2018, and identified factors affecting their outcome. North Island brown kiwi (A. mantelli) was the most translocated species, but the highest impact of translocations on the improvement of conservation status was for the rarest taxa: little spotted kiwi (A. owenii), rowi (A. rowi), and Haast tokoeka (A. australis ‘Haast’). Translocations are typically used for creating secure populations and, more recently, for ecosystem restoration objectives and meta-population management. We developed a set of criteria to evaluate the outcome of introductions and reintroductions based on demographic parameters alongside current recommendations on genetic make-up of translocated populations. These criteria allowed us to categorise historical and recent translocations that were carried out for a wide array of objectives. Currently, based on these criteria, only a few translocated populations can be considered successful in the medium–long term: 15+ years following the release of a genetically diverse population (40+ unrelated individuals). Most historical translocations failed or require further genetic and habitat management. However, a majority of kiwi translocations have occurred over the last two decades and, while several populations have successfully established, for most of them, it is too soon to assess their medium-long term outcome. An analysis of factors affecting translocation outcomes revealed that, despite ongoing predator control, populations at small, unfenced sites on the mainland suffer from dispersal and predation, which has negative demographic and genetic consequences. Releases to larger mainland sites and predator-free areas have increased survival times, which indicates higher chances for a positive translocation outcome. Moreover, translocated wild-caught and captive-sourced birds survived longer compared to birds from the Operation Nest Egg programme, particularly at sites that were not predator-free. We highlight the need for genetic considerations in the planning and adaptive management of proposed and existing translocated populations. Specifically, we suggest that differences in kiwi survival, based on the type of released birds and release site’s area size and predator status, should be considered during translocation planning. Similarly, we encourage a standardised monitoring approach, increased reporting, and publishing the outcomes of translocations.
The ecological aspects behind the success and failure of rewilding projects have been looked at in literature and case studies, but rarely have sociopolitical factors been included in these ...classifications. To truly determine which factors lead to success in rewilding projects, inclusive of sociopolitical factors, we created global models that analyze 120 case studies from IUCN’s “Global Re-introduction Perspectives” that fit under IUCN’s definition of rewilding. Models included the ten guiding principles for rewilding from IUCN’s Rewilding Thematic Group, success factors, and threats to success as defined from existing literature. We measured the self-reported “level of success” from the case report examples against the guiding principles, success factors and threats to determine which were more likely to be associated with successful rewilding projects. Local awareness of the benefits of rewilding and illustrating a proof of concept of rewilding were the factors that were most strongly associated with higher levels of success in rewilding projects, as self-reported by case report authors, as well as Guiding Principle 9 “rewilding recognizes the intrinsic value of all species”. Our results indicate that both ecological and sociopolitical factors are critical to successful rewilding projects and both need to be accounted for and included in future planning of rewilding projects to maximize the possibility of successful rewilding.
The Tasmanian emu (Dromaius novaehollandiae diemenensis) persisted alongside Aboriginal people for ∼40,000 years, for the last ∼14,000 years of which Tasmania was a large, continental island. This ...population of emus was extirpated soon after European colonization in the 19th century. Is hunting by people sufficient to explain the rapid demise of the emu or should we look to a synergy of pressures? Could wild emus be reintroduced to Tasmania? We investigated the distribution, hunting, and extinction of emus in Tasmania, before and after colonization, using population simulations, species distribution modelling, and land use analysis. We also evaluated the potential for rewilding with emus in present Tasmanian landscapes. The Tasmanian emu was a generalist with respect to vegetation and was widespread in the lowlands of eastern Tasmania. Prior to colonization, the maximum sustainable yield of adult emus was low, less than one per person per year. Following colonization, hunting rates quickly increased to a level that can account for rapid extinction. Large parts of Tasmania have both habitat and land uses suitable for an introduction of Australian mainland emus (D. n. novaehollandiae). This putative reintroduction of emus to Tasmania could reinstate several ecological and cultural roles but successful rewilding would require support from the wider community. We recommend field trial experiments, with methodologies co-designed by local community members.
The West African giraffe (
) was historically spread across much of the Sudano-Sahelian zone but is now restricted to Niger. Several factors resulted in their dramatic decline during the late 20th ...century. In 1996, only 49 individuals remained, concentrated in the 'Giraffe Zone'. Conservation activities implemented by the Government of Niger, supported by local communities and NGOs, facilitated their population numbers to increase. This review summarizes past and present conservation activities and evaluates their impact to advise and prioritize future conservation actions for the West African giraffe. The long-term conservation of the West African giraffe is highly dependent on the local communities who live alongside them, as well as supplementary support from local and international partners. Recent conservation initiatives range from community-based monitoring to the fitting of GPS satellite tags to better understand their habitat use, spatial movements to expansion areas, and environmental education to the establishment of the first satellite population of West African giraffe in Gadabedji Biosphere Reserve, the latter serving as a flagship for the future restoration of large mammal populations in West Africa. The integration of modern technologies and methods will hopefully provide better-quality data, improved spatial analyses, and greater understanding of giraffe ecology to inform the long-term management of West African giraffe.
Spatial neophobia and exploration are often assessed in nonhuman animals by measuring behavioral responses to novel environments. These traits may especially affect the performance of individuals ...translocated to novel environments for conservation purposes. Here, we present methods to administer and analyze a minimally invasive novel environment test that accounts for the social context of focal individuals. We used an aerial platform to capture video footage of a captive herd of scimitar-horned oryx (
Oryx dammah
) entering an unfamiliar enclosure. We analyzed footage for seven individually identifiable oryx, scoring their behavioral responses (i.e., latency to enter the enclosure, and movement and posture after entering the enclosure) and social context (i.e., relative position and number of nearby animals). We performed a principal components analysis (PCA) to explore individual traits and responses, and used generalized linear mixed models (GLMMs) to determine the effect of individual traits and social context on individual posture and movement behaviors. Both PCA and GLMMs supported our expectation that social context affects individual behavior: high neighbor density and relative position were negatively related to individual movement, and variation in social context was positively related with head-up postures and movement. Oryx were well differentiated along two principal components that reflected (1) vigilance or caution, and (2) changing social context and age. These methods provide a framework for assessing individual responses to a novel environment in a group setting, which can inform reintroduction and wildlife management efforts, while minimizing interference with animal behavior and management operations.
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