Species interactions matter to conservation. Setting an ambitious recovery target for a species requires considering the size, density, and demographic structure of its populations such that they ...fulfill the interactions, roles, and functions of the species in the ecosystems in which they are embedded. A recently proposed framework for an International Union for Conservation of Nature Green List of Species formalizes this requirement by defining a fully recovered species in terms of representation, viability, and functionality. Defining and quantifying ecological function from the viewpoint of species recovery is challenging in concept and application, but also an opportunity to insert ecological theory into conservation practice. We propose 2 complementary approaches to assessing a species’ ecological functions: confirmation (listing interactions of the species, identifying ecological processes and other species involved in these interactions, and quantifying the extent to which the species contributes to the identified ecological process) and elimination (inferring functionality by ruling out symptoms of reduced functionality, analogous to the red‐list approach that focuses on symptoms of reduced viability). Despite the challenges, incorporation of functionality into species recovery planning is possible in most cases and it is essential to a conservation vision that goes beyond preventing extinctions and aims to restore a species to levels beyond what is required for its viability. This vision focuses on conservation and recovery at the species level and sees species as embedded in ecosystems, influencing and being influenced by the processes in those ecosystems. Thus, it connects and integrates conservation at the species and ecosystem levels.
Evaluación de la Función Ecológica en el Contexto de Recuperación de Especies
Resumen
Las interacciones entre especies son de importancia para la conservación. La definición de una meta ambiciosa de recuperación para una especie requiere considerar el tamaño, la densidad y la estructura demográfica de sus poblaciones de tal manera que lleven a cabo las interacciones, papeles y funciones de las especies en los ecosistemas donde viven. Un marco de referencia propuesto recientemente para una Lista Verde de Especies de la Unión Internacional para la Conservación de la Naturaleza (UICN)formaliza este requerimiento mediante la definición de una especie completamente recuperada en términos de su representación, viabilidad y funcionalidad. La definición y cuantificación de la función ecológica desde la perspectiva de la recuperación de especies es un reto conceptual y de aplicación, pero también es un oportunidad para insertar la teoría ecológica en la práctica de la conservación. Proponemos 2 métodos complementarios para evaluar las funciones ecológicas de una especie: confirmación (listado de interacciones de la especie, identificación de procesos ecológicos y otras especies involucradas en estas interacciones) y eliminación (inferencia de la funcionalidad descartando los síntomas de reducción en la funcionalidad, análogo al método de la lista roja que enfoca los síntomas de reducción en la viabilidad). A pesar de los retos, la incorporación de la funcionalidad en la planificación de la recuperación de especies es posible en la mayoría de los casos y es esencial para una visión de la conservación que vaya más allá de la prevención de extinciones y que tenga como objetivo restaurar a una especie a niveles más allá de lo que se requiere para su viabilidad. Su visión se centra en la conservación y recuperación a nivel de especies y ve a las especies como componentes de los ecosistemas, influyendo y siendo influenciadas por los procesos en esos ecosistemas. Así, conecta e integra la conservación a nivel de especies y ecosistemas.
摘要
物种间的相互作用对保护至关重要。设定远大的物种恢复目标需要考虑其种群大小、密度和种群统计结构, 以确保物种能在其所处的生态系统中实现种间互作和物种自身的作用与功能。最近提出的《国际自然保护联盟 (IUCN) 绿色物种名录》框架正式纳入了这项需求, 提出从代表性、生存力和功能性三个方面来定义完全恢复的物种。从物种恢复的角度来定义和量化其生态功能, 在概念和应用上都具有挑战性, 但这也是在保护实践中引入生态学理论的重要机遇。我们提出了两种互补的方法来评估物种的生态功能: 一是直接确认, 即列出物种的互作、确定互作中涉及的生态学过程和其它物种, 并量化物种对该生态过程的贡献;二是消除法, 即通过排除功能性受损后的症状来推断功能, 这与红色名录中关注生存力降低后的症状的方法类似。虽然还存在上述挑战, 但在大多数情况下将功能性纳入物种恢复计划是可行的, 而且这对于不仅旨在防止灭绝、更要将物种恢复到生存所需水平的保护愿景来说至关重要。这一愿景强调物种水平的保护和恢复, 将物种视为生态系统的一部分, 影响着生态系统过程的同时也受其影响。因此, 它也连接和整合了物种及生态系统水平的保护。【翻译: 胡怡思; 审校: 聂永刚】
Article impact statement: The ecological functionality concept is applicable to species conservation and supports an ambitious definition of species recovery.
Context
Species-area relationship models are useful in conservation planning; however these models could be strengthened with the addition of a latitudinal factor.
Objectives
We built ...latitude-enhanced species-area relationship models to predict species richness for a variety of common taxa in the eastern United States at local to regional scales.
Methods
We used data from complete surveys of East Coast parks in the United States to build latitude-enhanced species-area relationship models for amphibians, birds, freshwater fish, mammals, marine fish, plants, and reptiles. We used data from the published literature and United States Fish and Wildlife Refuges to independently test the accuracy of the models. We demonstrated the utility of all modeled taxa within selected East Coast Protected Areas of the United States.
Results
Our models explained 35–91% of the variation in surveyed species richness, with marine fish, freshwater fish and reptile models exhibiting the strongest relationships (pseudo-R
2
= 0.91, 0.66, and 0.70, respectively). Latitude had the strongest influence in the amphibian model. During accuracy testing, all taxa exhibited significant agreement between observed and predicted species richness and explained 75–97% of the variation. Our demonstration showed that for two similarly sized US Protected Areas, the parcel l.25° lower in latitude would likely have one more bird species, four more plant species, and an additional amphibian species.
Conclusions
The latitude term added value to the species-area relationship models for most taxa and proved useful for conservation and urban planning in local to regional sized areas of the East Coast of the United States.
Conservation biologists struggle to decide how many animals to save. In this article, I outline 18 approaches to setting population target levels (PTLs) for animals, with rules of thumb and ...analytical recommendations for each approach. Minimally viable populations, the most common target level, are necessary but not sufficient for most efforts, given the range of values that bear on conservation. Reference ecosystems, either extant or historical, are key for setting practical target levels. Setting PTLs sufficient for conserved populations to be animals in all respects (including functional, social, landscape, ethical, aesthetic, and spiritual aspects) is a critical consensus point. In many cases densities as well as overall population size will need to be specified. I suggest a four-tiered system of setting incrementally higher population target levels such that conservation provides first for demographic sustainability, then ecological integrity, then sustainable use, and finally restoration of historical numbers of wildlife, based on times when human beings had less impact on the planet than we do today.
Green roofs provide multiple benefits including reducing the urban heat island effect, absorbing stormwater and air pollution, and serving as habitat for wildlife. However, many cities have not taken ...advantage of green roofs as a nature-based solution. In New York City (NYC), approximately 20% of the landscape is covered by buildings, thus rooftops present a substantial opportunity for expanding green infrastructure. Spatial data on green roofs are critical for understanding their abundance and distribution, what filters may drive spatial patterns, and who benefits from them. We describe the development of a green roof dataset for NYC based on publicly available data and classification of aerial imagery from 2016. Of the over one million buildings in NYC, we found only 736 with green roofs (<0.1%), although there may have been others we did not detect. These green roofs are not evenly distributed in NYC-they are most common in midtown and downtown Manhattan, while most other areas have few to none. Green roofs tend to be more prevalent in parts of NYC with combined sewer systems, but some such areas, and those with the most heat-vulnerable communities, have few if any despite their potential to help ameliorate stormwater and urban heat challenges. Though green roofs are providing some benefits within NYC, we anticipate they are filtered based on dynamics of infrastructure, institutions, and perceptions, rather than targeted to address climate and weather-related challenges. There is substantial opportunity in NYC to increase green roofs, and equity of them. The dataset we developed is publicly available and can serve as a baseline for tracking these assets through time, while supporting further research, conversations, and policies related to the benefits and distribution of green roofs. The underlying methods can also be applied to help fill similar data gaps in other cities.
We report a range-wide status assessment of a key Neotropical ecosystem architect, the white-lipped peccary Tayassu pecari, categorized as Near Threatened on the IUCN Red List, using published ...information and unpublished data from 41 scientists in 15 range countries. We estimate that the white-lipped peccary has been extirpated in 21% of its historical range over the last 100 years, with reduced abundance and a low to medium probability of long-term survival in another 48% of its current range. We found major range declines in Argentina, Paraguay, southern Brazil, Colombia, Venezuela, north-east Brazil, Mexico and Costa Rica. This species is particularly at risk in more xeric ecosystems, especially the caatinga, cerrado and pampas. Hunting and habitat destruction are the most severe threats, although there are also unexplained sudden die-offs suggestive of disease. We evaluate our results in light of this species’ important interspecific interactions and its role as an ecosystem architect. One of our recommendations is that conservation efforts should focus on landscape conservation of large, continuous and ecologically intact areas containing a mosaic of different habitat types.
Oviposition site decisions often maximize offspring fitness, but costs constraining choice can cause females to oviposit in poor developmental environments. It is unclear whether these constraints ...cumulatively outweigh offspring fitness to determine oviposition decisions in wild populations. Understanding how constraints shape oviposition in natural landscapes is a critical step toward revealing how maternal behavior influences fundamental phenomena like the evolution of specialization and the use of sink environments. Here, we used a genetic capture-recapture technique to reconstruct the oviposition decisions of individual females in a natural metapopulation of a beetle (Bolitotherus cornutus) that oviposits on three fungus species. We measured larval fitness-related traits (mass, development time, survival) on each fungus and compared the oviposition preferences of females in laboratory versus field tests. Larval fitness differed substantially among fungi, and females preferred a high-quality (high larval fitness) fungus in laboratory trials. However, females frequently laid eggs on the lowest-quality fungus in the wild. They preferred high-quality fungi when moving between oviposition sites, but this preference disappeared as the distance between sites increased and was inconsistent between study plots. Our results suggest that constraints on oviposition preferences in natural landscapes are sufficiently large to drive oviposition in poor developmental environments even when offspring fitness consequences are severe.
The apparent stability of urbanized portions of the coast of the northeastern US belies a much longer history of intertwined geomorphological and ecological change. Herein, I compare and contrast a ...set of 100 maps and charts from 1501 to 1844 of Jamaica Bay, a coastal lagoon located on the southeastern side of New York City. These documents, while requiring careful interpretation and appreciation for historical context, appear to suggest in series that Jamaica Bay was formerly much more open, without the marsh islands that are today the subject of intense scrutiny and restoration. I present a hypothesis regarding the east-to-west progression of the Rockaway Peninsula that in turn led to salt marsh formation in the interior of the bay approximately 200–230 years ago. This cartographic-driven hypothesis is supported by discussion of independent observations from soil cores taken in Jamaica Bay marsh islands. The paper concludes with brief remarks on the relevance of a long-term historical perspective for contemporary restoration and resilience efforts.
The conservation of species is one of the foundations of conservation biology. Successful species conservation has often been defined as simply the avoidance of extinction. We argue that this focus, ...although important, amounts to practicing conservation at the “emergency room door,” and will never be a sufficient approach to conserving species. Instead, we elaborate a positive definition of species conservation on the basis of six attributes and propose a categorization of different states of species conservation using the extent of human management and the degree to which each of the attributes is conserved. These states can be used to develop a taxonomy of species “recovery” that acknowledges there are multiple stable points defined by ecological and social factors. “With this approach, we hope to contribute to a new, optimistic conservation biology that is not based on underambitious goals and that seeks to create the conditions under which Earth's biological systems can thrive.
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