Understanding the economic value of marine sanctuaries such as the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary (FKNMS) is important to justify public and private investments and to provide information to ...support management activities and understand their role in the nation’s blue economy. Very few studies have employed economic contribution analysis in examining economic value, even though it is more useful in influencing the behaviors of decision makers. This study therefore employs such a methodology to determine the economic importance of tourism and visitor spending in the sanctuary to Monroe County, Florida’s economy. Visitors who came to the area for ocean recreation and tourism spent a total of USD 1.7 billion, which translates to a contribution of 19,688 total jobs, USD 752 million in total labor income, USD 1.2 billion in total value added, and USD 2 billion in total output to the region. With regard to the spending of snorkelers and divers only, total spending is about USD 1.07 billion, contributing about 12,441 total jobs, USD 466 million in total labor income, USD 767 million in total value added, and USD 1.2 billion in total output. Ocean recreation is therefore an important economic driver in the region and efforts should be directed at protecting the diverse and sensitive ecosystem of the sanctuary.
Protected Areas (PAs) are continuously being established in tropical forests in an effort to preserve biodiversity and reduce deforestation. It was recently demonstrated that PAs are more effective ...at reducing forest loss than unprotected control sites across southeast Asia. The voluntary REDD+ scheme offers a new framework for the protection of high deforestation landscapes, jurisdictions, and countries backed by international carbon finance. Here we analyzed the economic drivers of deforestation in Cambodia and the effectiveness of 3 REDD+ projects vs. adjacent protected areas. We find that Economic Land Concessions were a predominant driver of deforestation in Cambodia and influenced the trajectory of illegal forest conversion in PAs. Furthermore, REDD+ projects offer significantly more protection against deforestation than adjacent PAs in two of the three analyzed cases, likely due to enhanced funding enabling implementation of targeted community activities and rigorous monitoring and enforcement.
It is becoming more widely recognised that free-ranging dogs, which have a nearly global distribution, threatening native wildlife. Their increasing population and spread to new areas is of growing ...concern for the long-term viability of wildlife species. Hence, it is imperative to understand the factors responsible for their infestation and map areas where native species are most vulnerable. Using the random forests algorithm, we modelled the free-ranging dog infestation in the Trans-Himalayan region to pinpoint the high-risk areas where free-ranging dogs are threatening the native wildlife species. We found that the likelihood of free-ranging dog occurrence is most in valley regions and up to 4000 m, often in proximity to roads. Our results also indicated that free-ranging dog prefers areas with wildlife near to protected areas. The predictor variables, such as potential evapotranspiration of the coldest quarter, distance to protected areas, elevation, distance to roads, and potential evapotranspiration of the driest quarter, significantly influence the distribution of the free-ranging dogs. We found that within the Ladakh region of the Trans-Himalayan area, the high-risk zones for free-ranging dogs are located in and around Hemis National Park, Karakoram Wildlife Sanctuary, and Changthang Wildlife Sanctuary. While, in the Lahaul and Spiti region the high-risk areas encompass Pin Valley National Park, Inderkilla National Park, Khirganga National Park, Kugti Wildlife Sanctuary, and several other protected areas. We identified the potentially high-risk areas for implementing strategies to mitigate the possible impact of free-ranging dogs on native wildlife of the Himalayas. Hence, the identified high priority areas can be used for implementing actions for controlling the population growth and further preventing the infestation of the free-ranging dogs into the new areas.
Providing demonstrable and quantifiable evidence to substantiate the value of Marine Protected Areas like National Marine Sanctuaries is important for understanding their role in the blue economy, as ...well as gaining management and financial support for their protection. This study employs economic contribution analysis to estimate the economic contributions of ocean recreation spending of visitors to Gray’s Reef National Marine Sanctuary (GRNMS) and the coastal Georgia region. Employing economic contribution analysis is found to be more useful in influencing stakeholder decisions, and can therefore be a useful tool in providing inputs for management decisions related to marine protected areas. This study shows that visitors to coastal Georgia spent about USD 1.4 billion on ocean recreation activities in a single year. This translates to a total economic contribution of 18,950 jobs, USD 603 million labor income, USD 938 million value added, and USD 1.8 billion output. About USD 123 million of the total visitor spending can be attributed to GRNMS, contributing 1702 total jobs, USD 54 million in total labor income, USD 84 million in total value added, and USD 159 million in total output. This study highlights the importance of coastal Georgia and GRNMS as economic drivers of the region’s economy, supporting the need for continued management and investment in the Sanctuary and its resources.
Forest biomass plays a crucial role in the global carbon cycle as a significant contributor derived from both soil and trees. This study focuses on investigating tree carbon stock (TCS) and ...estimating aboveground biomass (AGB) based on elevation within the Srivilliputhur Wildlife Sanctuary forest, while also exploring the various factors that influence their contribution. Utilizing a non-destructive approach for carbon estimation, we found that the total tree biomass in this region ranged from 220.9 Mg/ha (in Z6) to 720.6 Mg/ha (Z2), while tree carbon stock ranged from 103.8 to 338.7 Mg/ha. While Kruskal–Wallis tests did not reveal a significant relationship (
p
= 0.09) between TCS and elevation, linear regression showed a weak correlation (
R
2
= 0.002,
p
< 0.05) with elevation. To delve deeper into the factors influencing TCS and biomass distribution, we employed a random forest (RF) machine learning algorithm, demonstrating that stand structural attributes, such as basal area (BA), diameter at breast height (DBH), and density, held a more prominent role than climatic variables, including temperature, precipitation, and slope. Generalized linear models (GLM) were also utilized, confirming that BA, mean DBH, and elevation significantly influenced AGB (
p
≤ 0.001), with species richness, precipitation, and temperature having lower significance (
p
≤ 0.01) comparatively. Overall, the RF model exhibited superior performance (
R
2
= 0.92, RMSE = 0.12) in terms of root mean square error (RMSE) compared to GLM (
R
2
= 0.88, RMSE = 0.35). These findings shed light on the intricate dynamics of biomass distribution and the importance of both stand structural and climatic factors in shaping forest ecosystems.
Cities as sanctuaries Lepczyk, Christopher A; Aronson, Myla FJ; La Sorte, Frank A
Frontiers in ecology and the environment,
June 2023, 2023-06-00, 20230601, Letnik:
21, Številka:
5
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Cities have classically been viewed as biologically impoverished, homogenized, and simplified systems that harbor low value for biodiversity. However, recent work has demonstrated that cities are ...critical ecological systems that provide important services to humanity and biodiversity. Cities can play vital roles in conserving biodiversity as well as habitats, providing system stability, and offering direct opportunities for people to engage with nature. In a rapidly changing world with biodiversity loss at an all‐time high, cities have the potential to act as sanctuaries for biodiversity conservation. Here, we propose a “cities as sanctuaries” concept, which demonstrates the importance of cities for ecology and conservation, and provide the groundwork for advancing this novel field of study.
The Flower Garden Banks (FGBs), located in the Gulf of Mexico due south of the Texas-Louisiana border, are protrusive, ocean-floor diapirs. These features, which occur widely around the Gulf's ...coastal plains and continental shelf, are caused by dome-shaped extrusions of salt deposits into the strata above them. The FGBs are distinct and merit analysis on account of the peculiarity of their fate in the Anthropocene Era in a region that has been heavily exploited and impacted by both offshore oil-drilling and by commercial and recreational fishing. Unlike many other diapirs, the FGBs have benefitted from perception, identification, and characterisation as distinct islands (in the biogeographical sense of the term), and from their successful nomination as a US National Marine Sanctuary (NMS). This article reflects on these aspects with regard to the nature of and criteria informing the US Act that enabled the creation of NMSs; the key concept of 'sanctuaries' involved; and the manner in which the FGBs have been conceived, protected, and represented under the Act. Attention is also accorded to the manner in which the FGBs have been represented in various media and how this effectively creates them for the general public. Drawing on these discussions, the article identifies both the complexity involved in conceptualising a submarine space as an NMS and the fragility of such sanctuaries in the late Anthropocene and, more specifically, during a period of political turmoil within the nation-state that established them. Keywords: Flower Garden Banks, National Marine Sanctuaries, representation, salt domes, seafloor features
The gharial Gavialis gangeticus is a Critically Endangered crocodilian endemic to the Indian subcontinent. Habitat modification by river damming and water extraction has caused a severe decline in ...its population. The status of the gharial is known within protected areas, but there have been few surveys for this species in unprotected areas. In Katerniaghat Wildlife Sanctuary, a breeding gharial population in Girijapuri Barrage Reservoir has low recruitment, and it has been hypothesized that yearlings disperse downstream into the unprotected Ghaghara River when the barrage gates are opened. We surveyed a 100-km stretch of the Ghaghara River from the Girijapuri Barrage to Chahlari Ghat, observing a total of 84 gharials, including a high proportion of juveniles. A survey in 2021 from Chahlari Ghat to Ayodhya observed 174 gharials, giving a combined total of 258 gharials in a 219-km stretch of the Ghaghara River for the two surveys. Together, these findings confirm the presence of a significant population of gharials in the Ghaghara River. We recommend the adoption of an integrated approach, involving government agencies and local communities along the river, to conserve the protected Girwa–Kaudiyala Rivers and the unprotected Ghaghara River for gharial conservation and recovery. Such a programme will need to tackle the threats facing the gharial and establish baseline data and long-term monitoring protocols for freshwater species conservation in this river system.
Targets for protecting predatory species often fail to consider the human costs of conservation. Human–wildlife interactions can increase following conservation action and present a major ecological ...and socioeconomic challenge. Using semistructured interviews (n = 103), participatory mapping (n = 57) and Baited Remote Underwater Video Stations (50 h) we investigated fisher‐shark interactions in one of the world's principal shark sanctuaries. Seventy‐three percent of respondents reported an increase in shark depredation postsanctuary implementation. Fisher‐reported losses due to shark depredation varied significantly between fisheries and were disproportionately high for reef fishers (>21% of daily vessel earnings). This is attributed to extensive spatial overlap (55%–78%) between reef fishing activity and ecologically validated shark hotspots. We show significant correlations between perceptions of depredation and support for shark sanctuary regulations. Findings demonstrate the need to consider fisher–shark interactions in current and future conservation planning and suggest that management of depredation must be sensitive to diverging perceptions among fisher groups.
We documented prebasic flight feather molt of passerines captured in fall 2013 and 2015 at McGill Bird Observatory (MBO) in Montreal, Quebec. We recorded active molt of flight feathers (remiges) in ...11 species that do not breed on site. Flight feather molt was frequent among Swainson's Thrush (Catharus ustulatus; 64% of adults), Tennessee Warbler (Oreothlypis peregrina; 57%), Nashville Warbler (Leiothlypis ruficapilla; 67%), and Yellow-rumped Warbler (Setophaga coronala; 44%), and was observed less frequently in other species. The minimum stopover length of molting individuals was on average 8 times longer than that of non-molting individuals of the same species. Among Swainson's Thrushes and Yellow-rumped Warblers, far more females were undergoing molt than males, whereas for Tennessee Warblers molt was slightly more frequent among males. Frequency of molt was similar between years for most species but not Yellow-rumped Warbler, with 59% of adults captured in 2013 molting compared to none in 2015. We also observed molting site fidelity with multiyear returns of Tennessee and Nashville warblers. The use of separate breeding and molting sites is not well understood among eastern North American species, and with recent studies highlighting the importance of molt locations in western North America, we demonstrate the value in additional study of the use of discrete molt locations in the East. Received 18 January 2019. Accepted 4 December 2019.
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