Incorporating functional values in biodiversity monitoring systems could add novel perspectives of the status of biodiversity in conservation areas. Stable frequencies of large foliose ...nitrogen-fixing cyanolichens likely have positive effects on the nitrogen budget of forests and provide food, material and shelter for invertebrates, gastropods and birds. Stable volumes of deadwood and frequencies of associated fungi provide an important supporting function for ecosystem services such as nutrient cycling, carbon storage and soil formation. Based on regional monitoring data from boreal old-growth forest nature reserves and key habitats, we tested for changes in the frequency of various functionally important substrates and species over time. We detected significant reductions in the frequency of indicator cyanolichens occurring on deciduous trees already after 10 years in key habitats, despite non-significant changes in their host substrates. Frequencies of indicator pendulous lichens
Alectoria sarmentosa
and
Bryoria nadvornikiana
had also decreased in key habitats, despite overall stable volumes of large conifer host trees. Lichen reductions were more pronounced in the smaller key habitats compared to the larger formally protected nature reserves, likely due to degrading fragmentation and isolation effects. In contrast to these lichens, the average frequencies of old-growth forest indicator fungi decaying coniferous deadwood and common fungi on deciduous trees (
Fomes fomentarius
) and coniferous trees (
Fomitopsis pinicola
) remained unchanged. The studied cyanolichens and fruiting fungi generally had similar extinction rates over 10 years, whilst only cyanolichens had substantially lower colonization rates. Amid a severely fragmented landscape, conservation areas seem to struggle in preserving some of the basic old-growth forest values.
To reduce future loss of biodiversity and to allocate conservation funds effectively, the major drivers behind large-scale extinction processes must be identified. A promising approach is to link the ...red-list status of species and specific traits that connect species of functionally important taxa or guilds to resources they rely on. Such traits can be used to detect the influence of anthropogenic ecosystem changes and conservation efforts on species, which allows for practical recommendations for conservation. We modeled the German Red List categories as an ordinal index of extinction risk of 1025 saproxylic beetles with a proportional-odds linear mixed-effects model for ordered categorical responses. In this model, we estimated fixed effects for intrinsic traits characterizing species biology, required resources, and distribution with phylogenetically correlated random intercepts. The model also allowed predictions of extinction risk for species with no red-list category. Our model revealed a higher extinction risk for lowland and large species as well as for species that rely on wood of large diameter, broad-leaved trees, or open canopy. These results mirror well the ecological degradation of European forests over the last centuries caused by modern forestry, that is the conversion of natural broad-leaved forests to dense conifer-dominated forests and the loss of old growth and dead wood. Therefore, conservation activities aimed at saproxylic beetles in all types of forests in Central and Western Europe should focus on lowlands, and habitat management of forest stands should aim at increasing the amount of dead wood of large diameter, dead wood of broad-leaved trees, and dead wood in sunny areas. Para reducir la futura pérdida de biodiversidad y para asignar efectivamente los fondos para la conservación, los conductores principales detrás de los procesos de extinción a gran escala deben ser identificados. Un enfoque prometedor consiste en enlazar el estatus de lista roja de las especies y las características específicas que conectan a las especies de taxones funcionalmente importantes a los recursos de los que dependen. Dichas características pueden usarse para detectar la influencia de cambios de los ecosistemas antropogénicos y los esfuerzos de conservación sobre las especies, lo que permite realizar recomendaciones prácticas para la conservación. Modelamos las categorías de la Lista Roja Alemana como un índice ordinal de riesgo de extinción para 1025 escarabajos saproxílicos con un modelo lineal de efectos mixtos y probabilidades proporcionales para respuestas categóricas ordenadas. En este modelo, estimamos los efectos fijos para las características intrínsecas al categorizar la biología de las especies, los recursos requeridos y la distribución con intercepciones azarosas correlacionadas filogenéticamente. El modelo también permitió predecir riesgos de extinción para especies que no tienen categorías en la lista roja. Nuestro modelo reveló un riesgo de extinción mayor para las especies de tierras bajas y para las de gran tamaño, así como para las especies que dependen de maderas con un gran diámetro, árboles con hojas anchas o un dosel abierto. Estos resultados reflejan bien la degradación ecológica del bosque europeo a través de los últimos siglos causada por la silvicultura moderna, que es la transformación de bosques naturales de árboles con hojas anchas a bosques dominados densamente por coníferas y la pérdida de madera muerta y árboles de viejo crecimiento. Por esto, las actividades de conservación enfocadas a los escarabajos saproxílicos en todos los tipos de bosque en Europa central y occidental deben enfocarse en las tierras bajas, y el manejo de hábitat de los bosques debe centrarse en incrementar la madera muerta de gran diámetro, la de árboles de hojas anchas y la que se encuentra en áreas soleadas.
We develop an integrated model to predict private land-use decisions in response to policy incentives designed to increase the provision of carbon sequestration and species conservation across ...heterogeneous landscapes. Using data from the Willamette Basin, Oregon, we compare the provision of carbon sequestration and species conservation under five simple policies that offer payments for conservation. We evaluate policy performance compared with the maximum feasible combinations of carbon sequestration and species conservation on the landscape for various conservation budgets. None of the conservation payment policies produce increases in carbon sequestration and species conservation that approach the maximum potential gains on the landscape. Our results show that policies aimed at increasing the provision of carbon sequestration do not necessarily increase species conservation and that highly targeted policies do not necessarily do as well as more general policies.
Conservation biology emerged in the mid-1980s, drawing on established disciplines and integrating them in pursuit of a coherent goal: the protection and perpetuation of the Earth's biological ...diversity. Opportunistic in its borrowing and application of knowledge, conservation biology had its roots within the established biological sciences and resource management disciplines but has continually incorporated insights from the empirical experience of resource managers, from the social sciences and humanities, and from diverse cultural sources. The Society for Conservation Biology (SCB) has represented the field's core constituency, while expanding that constituency in keeping with the field's integrative spirit. Conservation Biology has served as SCB's flagship publication, promoting research, dialog, debate, and application of the field's essential concepts. Over the last 20 years the field, SCB, and the journal have evolved to meet changing conservation needs, to explore gaps in our knowledge base, to incorporate new information from related fields, to build professional capacity, and to provide expanded opportunities for international participation. In turn, the field, SCB, and journal have prompted change in related fields, organizations, and publications. In its dedication to advancing the scientific foundations of biodiversity conservation and placing that science at the service of society in a world whose variety, wildness, and beauty we care for, conservation biology represents both a continuation and radical reconfiguration of the traditional relationship between science and conservation.
One of the most important tools in conservation biology is information on the geographic distribution of species and the variables determining those patterns. We used maximum-entropy niche modeling ...to run distribution models for 222 amphibian and 371 reptile species (49% endemics and 27% threatened) for which we had 34,619 single geographic records. The planning region is in southeastern Mexico, is 20% of the country's area, includes 80% of the country's herpetofauna, and lacks an adequate protected-area system. We used probabilistic data to build distribution models of herpetofauna for use in prioritizing conservation areas for three target groups (all species and threatened and endemic species). The accuracy of species-distribution models was better for endemic and threatened species than it was for all species. Forty-seven percent of the region has been deforested and additional conservation areas with 13.7% to 88.6% more native vegetation (76% to 96% of the areas are outside the current protected-area system) are needed. There was overlap in 26 of the main selected areas in the conservation-area network prioritized to preserve the target groups, and for all three target groups the proportion of vegetation types needed for their conservation was constant: 30% pine and oak forests, 22%> tropical evergreen forest, 17% low deciduous forest, and 8% montane cloud forests. The fact that different groups of species require the same proportion of habitat types suggests that the pine and oak forests support the highest proportion of endemic and threatened species and should therefore be given priority over other types of vegetation f or inclusion in the protected areas of southeastern Mexico. La información sobre la distribución geográfica de las especies y de las variables que determinan esos patrones es una de las herramientas más importantes de la biología de la conservación. Utilizamos el modelado de la máxima entropía del nicho para correr modelos de la distribución de 222 especies de anfibios y 371 de reptiles (49% endémicas y 27% amenazadas) de las que contamos con 34,619 registros geográficos individuales. La región de planificación está en el sureste de México, comprende 20% de la superficie del país, incluye 80% de la herpetofauna del país, y carece de un sistema de áreas protegidas adecuado. Utilizamos datos probabilísticos para construir modelos de distribución de la herpetofauna para utilizarlos en la priorización de áreas de conservación para tres grupos focales (todas las especies, especies endémicas y especies amenazadas). La precisión de los modelos de distribución de especies fue mejor para especies endémicas y amenazadas que para todas las especies. Cuarenta y siete porciento de la región ha sido deforestaday se requieren áreas de conservación adicionales con 13.7% a 88.6% de más vegetación nativa (76% a 96% de las áreas están afuera del actual sistema de áreas protegidas). Hubo traslape en 26 de las principales áreas seleccionadas en la red de áreas de conservación priorizada para preservar a los grupos focales, y para los tres grupos focales la proporción de tipos de vegetación requeridos para su conservación fue constante: 30% bosques de pino-encino, 22% bosque tropical perenni) 17% bosque bajo deciduo y 8% bosques montanos de niebla. El hecho de que grupos diferentes de especies requieren la misma proporción de tipos de hábitat sugiere que los bosques de pino y encino soportan la mayor proporción de especies endémicas y amenazadas y, por lo tanto, deben ser priorizados por encima de otros tipos de vegetación para su inclusión en las áreas protegidas del sureste de México.
1. Research addressing the effects of habitat fragmentation on species, assemblages or eco-systems has been fraught with difficulties, from its conceptual foundation to statistical analyses and ...interpretation. Yet, it is critical to address such challenges as ecosystems are rapidly being altered across the world. 2. Many studies have concluded that effects of habitat loss exceed those of fragmentation per se, that is, the degree to which a given amount of habitat is broken apart. There is also evidence from different biomes and taxa that habitat configuration, that is, the spatial arrangement of habitat at a given time, may influence several landscape processes such as functional connectivity, edge and matrix effects, and thus population viability. 3. Instead of focusing attention on the relative influence of either habitat loss or fragmentation, we must identify portions of the gradient in habitat amount where configuration effects are most likely to be observed. Here, we suggest that all species are, to a certain degree, sensitive to landscape change and that, assuming a homogeneous matrix, habitat configuration will have a higher influence on species at intermediate values of habitat amount, where configuration has potentially the greatest variability. 4. On the basis of empirical studies and simulations, we expect that species that are relatively tolerant to fragmentation of their habitat will exhibit a wider band where amount and configuration interact compared to species less tolerant to fragmentation. 5. Synthesis and applications. Reducing habitat loss should be a top priority for conservation planners. However, researchers should also investigate the indirect impacts of habitat loss on biodiversity through fragmentation effects. This research aims to identify windows of opportunity where habitat configuration can mitigate to some extent the effects of habitat loss, particularly through the maintenance of functional connectivity.
The flagship species approach is an enduring strategy in conservation. Academic discussion on flagship species has focussed on two dimensions: on what basis should they be selected and how have they ...been put to use. Here we consider a third dimension, namely the manner in which flagship species act and have the capacity to galvanise and influence conservation outcomes. Drawing on concepts from the social sciences,viz. affordance, framing, and actor-networks; we discuss examples of flagship species to propose a theory of flagship species action. In brief, our theory posits that a flagship species is one with traits that afford the assembly of relatively coherent networks of associations with ideational elements located in pre-existing cultural framings. These associations give rise to opportunities to align with deep cultural frames, contemporary cultural phenomena and political economy such that when a conservation action is introduced, forms of agency cause the species and human publics to change. The species becomes re-framed (or reinvigorated) as a cultural asset speaking for a wider nature, publics and political agendas. Further our theory posits that species with traits that enrol in idea networks incorporating human fears, will have limited flagship capacity. This is because the ability of the representations produced to align with frames incorporating collective aspirations is constrained. In terms of applied conservation practice, our theory suggests that: a key criteria for selecting potential flagship species is presence in existing cultural frames, that effective deployment of flagship species requires an understanding of the species’ cultural associations, and a species ability to galvanise action may be limited to certain times and places. Furthermore, once deployed conservation interests will never have full control over the flagship species: it may act in uncertain and unexpected ways.
With the increase in illegal resource harvesting in most protected areas (PAs), the need to understand the determinants and relationships between PAs and local communities to enhance wildlife ...conservation is increasingly becoming important. Using focus group discussions and interviews, we established the determinants of PA staff-community relationship from both PA staff and local communities' viewpoints, and assessedperceptions of their relationship with each other. The study was guided by the following main research question, 'What is the nature of the relationship between PA staff and local communities and what are the main factors influencing the relationship?' Data were collected through focus group discussions and interviews from four PAs and their adjacent communities in Zimbabwe between July 2013 and February 2014. Our results showed that a total of seven determinants were identified as influencing PA staff-community relationship, i.e., benefit-sharing, human-wildlife conflict, compensation for losses from wildlife attacks, communication between PA staff and local communities, community participation in the management of CAMPFIRE projects, lack of community participation in tourism in PAs, and community perceptions of PA staff or PA staff perceptions of the community. Of the seven, only one determinant, benefit-sharing, was recorded as the main factor that differentially influencesthe perceptions of community and PA staff on their relationship. Furthermore, both the communities and PA staff reported mixed perceptions on their relationship with each other. We conclude that both communities' and PA staff's views on determinants are largely similar in all studied PAs irrespective of PA ownership, management and/or land use. Our findings could be relevant in policy making especially in developing countries in developing PA-community relationship framework in natural resource conservation.
Habitat destruction has driven much of the current biodiversity extinction crisis, and it compromises the essential benefits, or ecosystem services, that humans derive from functioning ecosystems. ...Securing both species and ecosystem services might be accomplished with common solutions. Yet it is unknown whether these two major conservation objectives coincide broadly enough worldwide to enable global strategies for both goals to gain synergy. In this article, we assess the concordance between these two objectives, explore how the concordance varies across different regions, and examine the global potential for safeguarding biodiversity and ecosystem services simultaneously. We find that published global priority maps for biodiversity conservation harbor a disproportionate share of estimated terrestrial ecosystem service value (ESV). Overlap of biodiversity priorities and ESV varies among regions, and in areas that have high biodiversity priority but low ESV, specialized conservation approaches are necessary. Overall, however, our findings suggest opportunities for safeguarding both biodiversity and ecosystem services. Sensitivity analyses indicate that results are robust to known limitations of available ESV data. Capitalizing on these opportunities will require the identification of synergies at fine scales, and the development of economic and policy tools to exploit them.
PDF
