Assessing protection for imperiled species of nevada, U.S.A.: are species slipping through the cracks of existing protections?

To assess whether imperiled species are covered by existing protections in the biologically-rich state of Nevada, U.S.A., we compared the distribution of reserves with known imperiled species occurrences. For species poorly represented in reserves, we determined whether they were receiving alternate protection under the U.S. Endangered Species Act or voluntary conservation plans. A majority (212, 55%) of Nevada’s 384 imperiled species had fewer than 25% of occurrences in reserves and most (282, 68%) had fewer than 50% of occurrences in reserves. Of imperiled species with less than 25% or fewer than two occurrences in reserves, only 9% are currently receiving alternate protection from the Endangered Species Act or voluntary plans. These results suggest that providing protection for imperiled species in Nevada will require both an expansion of the existing reserve system, which currently covers 14% of the state, and protection of more species under the Endangered Species Act or other programs. By dividing Nevada into equal-sized hexagons and scoring each of these hexagons based on a rarity-weighted richness index of imperiled species occurrences, we identified 19 imperiled species hot spots in Nevada. No imperiled species occurrences were protected in seven (37%) and less than half were protected in 11 (58%) of these hot spots. Protecting these areas could provide important additional protection for imperiled species in Nevada. Evaluations of protective measures for biological diversity should include the full suite of protections, including both reserves and laws and regulations.     

Habitat alteration and its effects on native fishes in the upper Tennessee River system, east-central U.S.A.

The upper Tennessee River drainage, which includes portions of the States of Virginia, North Carolina, and Tennessee, supports an exceptionally diverse fish fauna. Recent reductions in abundance and geographic ranges of several freshwater fishes have promulgated the imposition of protective measures for about 115 species among the three states, with nearly half of those species occurring in the upper Tennessee River. Most protected species are darters (Percidae: Etheostomatinae) or minnows (Cyprinidae), and are typically small, benthic invertivores. Major impacts on the fish fauna have resulted from dams, introduced species, toxic spills, mining and agriculture. An important cumulative effect of these impacts is fragmentation of the watershed; nearly 40% of the riverine habitat in major tributaries is either impounded or altered by tailwater discharges. The isolation and stress imposed on tributaries of the river have caused and will continue to cause extirpations of fishes, mussels and other aquatic fauna. Numerous federal, state, and private organizations are co-operating in efforts to protect rare species and habitats, improve agricultural and coal-producing practices, and enforce regulations for industrial and municipal effluents.     

Species turnover: the case of stream amphibians of rainforests in the Western Ghats, southern India

We examined species turnover in stream amphibians in rainforest in two hill ranges (Ashambu and Anamalai Hills) in the Western Ghats in south India. In each hill range, six stream segments (100 m in length) belonging to three drainage or rivers were surveyed three to four times in three seasons over 1 year. Species turnover (using 1-Sorenson's index) was estimated between all possible pairs of sites at three spatial scales – within drainage, between drainage and between hill ranges. Similar matrices were also developed for altitudinal difference and geographic distance between sites. A total of 30 species in four families were recorded from 3681 individuals. The hill ranges differed significantly in the composition of the stream community at both the species and family levels. Within the hill range, species turnover was correlated with altitudinal difference and not with geographic distance. Anamalai Hills had a greater species turnover than Ashambu Hills, both within and between drainage. There was also a high turnover between these two hill ranges, with only two shared species. This turnover explains the fact that only 30–40 species have been reported from different hill ranges, although regional diversity is high with about 130 species. The turnover also predicts that several undetected species should occur in hill ranges and drainage that have not been surveyed. The conservation model for mammals and birds, consisting of a few large protected areas, may not adequately address the conservation requirements of amphibians. Protection of rainforest frogs may require many protected areas in different drainages.     

Tourism and the Conservation of Critically Endangered Frogs

Protected areas are critical for the conservation of many threatened species. Despite this, many protected areas are acutely underfunded, which reduces their effectiveness significantly. Tourism is one mechanism to promote and fund conservation in protected areas, but there are few studies analyzing its tangible conservation outcomes for threatened species. This study uses the 415 IUCN critically endangered frog species to evaluate the contribution of protected area tourism revenue to conservation. Contributions were calculated for each species as the proportion of geographic range inside protected areas multiplied by the proportion of protected area revenues derived from tourism. Geographic ranges were determined from IUCN Extent of Occurrence maps. Almost 60% (239) of critically endangered frog species occur in protected areas. Higher proportions of total range are protected in Nearctic, Australasian and Afrotopical regions. Tourism contributions to protected area budgets ranged from 5–100%. These financial contributions are highest for developing countries in the Afrotropical, Indomalayan and Neotropical regions. Data for both geographic range and budget are available for 201 critically endangered frog species with proportional contributions from tourism to species protection ranging from 0.8–99%. Tourism''s financial contributions to critically endangered frog species protection are highest in the Afrotropical region. This study uses a coarse measure but at the global scale it demonstrates that tourism has significant potential to contribute to global frog conservation efforts.     

Clade‐specific consequences of climate change to amphibians in Atlantic Forest protected areas

The rapid global decline of amphibian population is alarming because many occur for apparently unknown or enigmatic reasons, even inside protected areas (PAs). Some studies have predicted the effects of climate change on amphibians’ distribution and extinction, but the relationship and consequences of climate change to the phylogenetic structure of amphibian assemblages remain obscure. By applying robust techniques for ecological niche modeling and a cutting‐edge approach on community phylogenetics, here, we evaluate how climate change affects the geographical pattern of amphibian species richness and phylogenetic diversity in the Atlantic Forest Biodiversity Hotspot, Brazil, as well as how the phylogenetic composition of amphibian assemblages respond to climate change. We found that most species contracted their ranges and that such responses are clade specific. Basal amphibian clades (e.g. Gymnophiona and Pipidae) were positively affected by climate change, whereas late‐divergent clades (e.g. Cycloramphidae, Centrolenidae, Eleutherodactylidae, Microhylidae) were severely impacted. Identifying major changes in the phylogenetic pool represents a first step towards a better understanding of how assembly processes related to climate change will affect ecological communities. A deep analysis of the impacts of climate change not only on species, but also on the evolutionary relationships among species might foster the discussion on clade‐level conservation priorities for this imperiled fauna.     

Phylogenetic diversity meets conservation policy: small areas are key to preserving eucalypt lineages

Evolutionary and genetic knowledge is increasingly being valued in conservation theory, but is rarely considered in conservation planning and policy. Here, we integrate phylogenetic diversity (PD) with spatial reserve prioritization to evaluate how well the existing reserve system in Victoria, Australia captures the evolutionary lineages of eucalypts, which dominate forest canopies across the state. Forty-three per cent of remaining native woody vegetation in Victoria is located in protected areas (mostly national parks) representing 48% of the extant PD found in the state. A modest expansion in protected areas of 5% (less than 1% of the state area) would increase protected PD by 33% over current levels. In a recent policy change, portions of the national parks were opened for development. These tourism development zones hold over half the PD found in national parks with some species and clades falling entirely outside of protected zones within the national parks. This approach of using PD in spatial prioritization could be extended to any clade or area that has spatial and phylogenetic data. Our results demonstrate the relevance of PD to regional conservation policy by highlighting that small but strategically located areas disproportionally impact the preservation of evolutionary lineages.     

The performance of the global protected area system in capturing vertebrate geographic ranges

Given the heavy reliance placed on and investment in protected areas for biological conservation, there has been much debate as to how effective these are in representing biodiversity features within their boundaries. The majority of studies addressing this issue have been conducted on a regional or national basis, precluding a broad picture of patterns of representation at the species level. We present a global assessment of the representation of the terrestrial geographic ranges of complete taxonomic groups: all known extant amphibians, birds and mammals (20,736 species) within the current global system of protected areas. We conclude that it is necessary substantially to improve the levels of coverage of the geographic ranges of the majority of species, even the widespread ones. This is particularly true for rare species, which might be assumed to be foci for protected area systems. To improve on the low levels of coverage of vertebrate ranges attained by the existing areas, key regions should be targeted, but heavy reliance will also have to be placed on approaches to sustaining populations in the wider, unprotected landscape.     

Effectiveness of Protected Areas for Representing Species and Populations of Terrestrial Mammals in Costa Rica

Costa Rica has one of the greatest percentages (26%) of protected land in the world. The National Protected Areas System (NPAS) of Costa Rica was established in 1976 and currently includes >190 protected areas within seven different protection categories. The effectiveness of the NPAS to represent species, populations, and areas with high species richness has not been properly evaluated. Such evaluations are fundamental to understand what is necessary to strengthen the NPAS and better protect biodiversity. We present a novel assessment of NPAS effectiveness in protecting mammal species. We compiled the geographical ranges of all terrestrial Costa Rican mammals then determined species lists for all protected areas and the estimated proportion of each species’ geographic range protected. We also classified mammal species according to their conservation status using the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. We found almost complete representation of mammal species (98.5%) in protected areas, but low relative coverage (28.3% on average) of their geographic ranges in Costa Rica and 25% of the species were classified as underprotected according to a priori representation targets. Interestingly, many species-rich areas are not protected, and at least 43% of cells covering the entire country are not included in protected areas. Though protected areas in Costa Rica represent species richness well, strategic planning for future protected areas to improve species complementarity and range protection is necessary. Our results can help to define sites where new protected areas can have a greater impact on mammal conservation, both in terms of species richness and range protection.     

Maximising return on conservation investment in the conterminous USA

Efficient conservation planning requires knowledge about conservation targets, threats to those targets, costs of conservation and the marginal return to additional conservation efforts. Systematic conservation planning typically only takes a small piece of this complex puzzle into account. Here, we use a return‐on‐investment (ROI) approach to prioritise lands for conservation at the county level in the conterminous USA. Our approach accounts for species richness, county area, the proportion of species' ranges already protected, the threat of land conversion and land costs. Areas selected by a complementarity‐based greedy heuristic using our full ROI approach provided greater averted species losses per dollar spent compared with areas selected by heuristics accounting for richness alone or richness and cost, and avoided acquiring lands not threatened with conversion. In contrast to traditional prioritisation approaches, our results highlight conservation bargains, opportunities to avert the threat of development and places where conservation efforts are currently lacking.     

Modelling ecological niches from low numbers of occurrences: assessment of the conservation status of poorly known viverrids (Mammalia, Carnivora) across two continents

The conservation of poorly known species is difficult because of incomplete knowledge on their biology and distribution. We studied the contribution of two ecological niche modelling tools, the Genetic Algorithm for Rule-set Prediction (GARP) and maximum entropy (Maxent), in assessing potential ranges and distributional connectivity among 12 of the least known African and Asian viverrids. The level of agreement between GARP and Maxent predictions was low when < 15 occurrences were available, probably indicating a minimum number below that necessary to obtain models with good predictive power. Unexpectedly, our results suggested that Maxent extrapolated more than GARP in the context of small sample sizes. Predictions were overlapped with current land use and location of protected areas to estimate the conservation status of each species. Our analyses yielded range predictions generally contradicting with extents of occurrence established by the IUCN. We evidenced a high level of disturbance within predicted distributions in West and East Africa, Sumatra, and South-East Asia, and identified within West African degraded lowlands four relatively preserved areas that might be of prime importance for the conservation of rainforest taxa. Knowing whether these species of viverrids may survive in degraded or alternative habitats is of crucial importance for further conservation planning. The level of coverage of species suitable ranges by existing and proposed IUCN reserves was low, and we recommend that the total surface of protected areas be substantially increased on both continents.     

大熊猫国家公园的地栖大中型鸟兽多样性现状: 基于红外相机数据的分析

生物多样性监测是国家公园保护的核心基础。大熊猫国家公园是我国首批5个国家公园之一, 系统的保护规划与有效的管理行动均有赖于对区内生物多样性本底、现状与动态的深入了解。为了解大熊猫国家公园范围内兽类与鸟类多样性本底与现状, 本研究系统检索了该区域内2005-2020年基于红外相机调查技术的野生动物研究论文、项目报告以及新闻报道, 并对区内原有保护地的红外相机监测历史与结果进行了问卷调查。结果表明, 2005-2020年期间, 在大熊猫国家公园范围内51个保护地的红外相机调查与监测中, 共记录到分属6目22科55属的71种野生兽类与分属13目45科132属的232种野生鸟类。在国家公园所覆盖的秦岭、岷山、邛崃山、相岭4大山系中, 邛崃和岷山记录到的大中型地栖鸟兽物种多样性最高(均为兽类40种, 鸟类12种), 相岭最低(兽类25种, 鸟类7种)。单个保护地中记录到的大中型地栖鸟兽物种数量与保护地面积、红外相机有效工作日及相机位点的海拔跨度均呈正相关, 国家级保护地中记录到的物种数(28 ± 8.3, mean ± SD)显著高于省级保护地(19 ± 8.9)。在大熊猫国家公园内共记录到猫科与犬科的4种大型食肉动物, 即豹(Panthera pardus)、雪豹(P. uncia)、狼(Canis lupus)和豺(Cuon alpinus), 主要来自于秦岭山系和邛崃山系, 而国家公园内的岷山山系则没有记录到大型食肉动物, 相岭山系中仅有1次狼的记录。本研究结果显示, 大熊猫国家公园内前期已经建立起的自然保护地网络与红外相机监测体系已积累大量区内野生兽类与鸟类的基础数据, 为国家公园的试点与建设提供了生物多样性编目与监测方面的可靠本底。在这些前期工作的基础上, 大熊猫国家公园应进一步规划、建设标准化的野生动物监测体系, 为今后国家公园的管理决策、成效评估提供坚实的科学支撑。     

Species‐habitat relationships and ecological correlates of butterfly abundance in a transformed tropical landscape

Tropical butterfly conservation strategies often focus on total and/or common species richness to assess the conservation value of a patch or habitat. However, such a strategy overlooks the unique dynamics of rare species. We evaluated the species‐habitat relationships of 209 common, intermediate, and rare butterfly species (including morphospecies) across four habitat types (mature, degraded, or fragmented forest, and urban parks) and two patch sizes (<400 ha, ≥400 ha) in Singapore. Common species richness was consistent across habitat types. Intermediate species richness declined by more than 50 percent in urban parks (relative to all forest habitats), and rare species richness was reduced by 50 percent in degraded and fragmented forest and by 90 percent in urban parks (relative to mature forest). Large patches had comparable overall richness to small patches, but they supported more rare species and three times as many habitat‐restricted species over a similar area. Importantly, a number of rare species were confined to single small patches. Mixed‐effects regression models were constructed to identify habitat and ecological/life history variables associated with butterfly abundance. These models revealed that species with greater habitat specialization, rare larval host plants, few larval host plant genera, and narrow global geographic ranges were more likely to be rare species. Overall, these results demonstrate that the richness of habitat‐restricted and rare species do not follow the same spatial distribution patterns as common species. Therefore, while conserving mature forests is key, effective butterfly conservation in a transformed landscape should take into account rare and habitat‐restricted species.     

The importance of conserving biodiversity outside of protected areas in mediterranean ecosystems

Mediterranean-type ecosystems constitute one of the rarest terrestrial biomes and yet they are extraordinarily biodiverse. Home to over 250 million people, the five regions where these ecosystems are found have climate and coastal conditions that make them highly desirable human habitats. The current conservation landscape does not reflect the mediterranean biome's rarity and its importance for plant endemism. Habitat conversion will clearly outpace expansion of formal protected-area networks, and conservationists must augment this traditional strategy with new approaches to sustain the mediterranean biota. Using regional scale datasets, we determine the area of land in each of the five regions that is protected, converted (e.g., to urban or industrial), impacted (e.g., intensive, cultivated agriculture), or lands that we consider to have conservation potential. The latter are natural and semi-natural lands that are unprotected (e.g., private range lands) but sustain numerous native species and associated habitats. Chile has the greatest proportion of its land (75%) in this category and California-Mexico the least (48%). To illustrate the potential for achieving mediterranean biodiversity conservation on these lands, we use species-area curves generated from ecoregion scale data on native plant species richness and vertebrate species richness. For example, if biodiversity could be sustained on even 25% of existing unprotected, natural and semi-natural lands, we estimate that the habitat of more than 6,000 species could be represented. This analysis suggests that if unprotected natural and semi-natural lands are managed in a manner that allows for persistence of native species, we can realize significant additional biodiversity gains. Lasting biodiversity protection at the scale needed requires unprecedented collaboration among stakeholders to promote conservation both inside and outside of traditional protected areas, including on lands where people live and work.     

The international politics of national parks

National parks are the keystone institutions of environmental conservation. Because national parks make certain lands part of the state itself, international agencies and nongovernmental organizations that promote national parks propose, in effect, to alter the state, as well as the local economy and state relations with social groups. Has international political pressure caused states to create national parks? I consider whether countries highly involved in international politics have the largest proportions of land in national parks. I conclude that many states create minimal park systems as symbolic gestures to the international community. Field researchers may find it easier to explain the success or failure of parks if they identity why state officials decide that adopting international conservation norms will enhance state authority over people and state sovereignty over land.     

New insights into the distribution and conservation status of the Golden-White Tassel-Ear Marmoset <Emphasis Type="Italic">Mico chrysoleucos</Emphasis> (Primates,Callitrichidae)

Among the 13 Mico species recognized by the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, six are listed as “Data Deficient”. The geographic range of most of the Mico species has been estimated from only a few records. We report new localities and the geographic extension of Mico chrysoleucos. In addition, we confirmed the presence of the species in two distinct protected areas. We modeled the habitat suitability of M. chrysoleucos using the maximum entropy method and including new records obtained by the authors in the state of Amazonas, Brazil. From the total area of occurrence calculated for the species, 22.8% is covered by protected areas and indigenous lands. The annual mean deforestation rate estimated between 2000 and 2015 was 2.95%, and the total area deforested by 2015 was 3354 km² or 8.6% of the total distribution limits of the species. The habitat lost between 2000 and 2015 was 3.2% (1131 km²) of the total potential distribution, while the habitat loss area legally protected was 31 km², and the habitat loss in settlements was equal to 691 km². Our results extend the geographic distribution of the species about 100 km farther south, with the Maracanã River being a possible geographic barrier for the species. The significantly low rate of habitat loss inside protected areas and indigenous land, when compared to unprotected areas, points out the importance of these areas to M. chrysoleucos conservation. The species is relatively wide-ranging, legally protected, and resilient to regional anthropic threats. However, the hydroelectric schemes and the improvement of the road system in southern Amazonia pose an imminent threat to the species.     

Defining critical habitat for plant species with poor occurrence knowledge and identification of critical habitat networks

We applied spatial distribution and reserve selection modeling to identify critical habitat network for 50 critically endangered plant species of Uzbekistan. We created maps of relative habitat suitability, converted them into maps of species critical habitat, and the latter served as input to the spatial conservation prioritization program Zonation. Although all studied species were extremely rare, the extent of their predicted critical habitat ranged from 2.6 to 15,508 km² and did not correlate with the number of occurrence records. It appears that the extent of the threatened species predicted suitable area is an indicator of whether the species rarity is inherent due to vary narrow ecological niche or caused solely by anthropogenic activity. This has important conservation implications. Imperiled species from the first category are less amenable (if at all) to such conservation actions as trans- or relocation (i.e. there is no alternative to protecting the last remaining populations). Species from the second group can potentially grow in many more locations than they currently occupy, and therefore, for these species, translocation can be the most appropriate strategy when their last remaining locations are degraded or can not be protected for whatever reason. Based on results of nature reserve design that utilized SDM-predicted maps for 50 imperiled species, we recommend adding new areas to the existing network of protected areas to cover critical habitats of highly threatened plant species. The highest priority for adding have the territories harboring critical habitat of disproportionally high number of imperiled species, and we found that they all are concentrated in the eastern part of Uzbekistan.

     

Evaluating Interactions of Forest Conservation Policies on Avoided Deforestation

We estimate the effects on deforestation that have resulted from policy interactions between parks and payments and between park buffers and payments in Costa Rica between 2000 and 2005. We show that the characteristics of the areas where protected and unprotected lands are located differ significantly. Additionally, we find that land characteristics of each of the policies and of the places where they interact also differ significantly. To adequately estimate the effects of the policies and their interactions, we use matching methods. Matching is implemented not only to define adequate control groups, as in previous research, but also to define those groups of locations under the influence of policies that are comparable to each other. We find that it is more effective to locate parks and payments away from each other, rather than in the same location or near each other. The high levels of enforcement inside both parks and lands with payments, and the presence of conservation spillovers that reduce deforestation near parks, significantly reduce the potential impact of combining these two policies.     

Habitat suitability models to make conservation decisions based on areas of high species richness and endemism

Biodiversity positively relates with the provisioning of ecosystem services and preserving areas with elevated diversity of highly-functional species could help to ensure human well-being. Most studies addressed to make these decisions use maps relying on species occurrences, where sites containing several species are proposed as priority conservation areas. These maps, however, may underestimate species richness because of the incompleteness of occurrence data. To improve this methodology, we propose using habitat suitability models to estimate the potential distribution of species from occurrence data, and later shaping richness maps by overlapping these predicted distribution ranges. We tested this proposal with Mexican oaks because they provide several ecosystem services and habitat suitability models of species were calibrated with MaxEnt. We used linear regressions to compare the outputs of these predictive maps with those of maps based on species occurrences only and, for both mapping methods, we assessed how much surface of sites with elevated richness and endemism of oaks is currently included within nature reserves. Both mapping methods indicated that oak species are concentrated in mountain regions of Mexico, but predictive maps based on habitat suitability models indicated higher oak richness and endemism that maps based on species occurrences only. Our results also indicated that nature reserves cover a small fraction of areas harboring elevated richness and endemism of oaks. These results suggest that estimating richness across extensive geographic regions using habitat suitability models quickly provides accurate information to make conservation decisions for highly-functional species groups.     

Response of grassland birds to management in national battlefield parks

Grassland birds are in steep decline, with population declines reported in 74% of North American grassland species in the past 50 years. Declines are particularly severe in the eastern United States where they are influenced by habitat loss and alteration due to urbanization, forest regrowth, and agricultural intensification. The United States National Park Service maintains civil war battlefields in the eastern United States as historical and cultural parks that may also provide habitat refuge for grassland birds within an increasingly urbanized matrix. To assess the conservation importance of battlefield parks and the role of park management in sustaining grassland birds, we surveyed for 2 declining grassland-breeding species, eastern meadowlark (Sturnella magna) and grasshopper sparrow (Ammodramus savannarum), at 242 points across 4 battlefield parks in Maryland, Virginia, and West Virginia, USA, from 2014–2019 and in 2021. We modeled the effects of park management activities (prescribed fire, agricultural leases, and delayed harvest) and habitat and landscape characteristics on breeding-season occupancy. There was support for the influence of local habitat features, landscape, and management. Breeding-season occupancy of both species was consistently higher in hayfields and pasture than in row crops, and both species responded positively to hay and crop harvest delays intended for grassland bird conservation. Prescribed fire within the past 2 years had a positive effect on occupancy of grasshopper sparrows but did not influence eastern meadowlarks. Eastern meadowlarks responded to land cover at multiple spatial scales that are influenced by land use within and outside the parks. Management activities that maintain the parks' cultural goals, including partnerships between national parks and private agricultural operators, are likely to provide valuable habitat for these 2 obligate grassland birds.     

Selection of reserves for woodland caribou using an optimization approach

Habitat protection has been identified as an important strategy for the conservation of woodland caribou (Rangifer tarandus). However, because of the economic opportunity costs associated with protection it is unlikely that all caribou ranges can be protected in their entirety. We used an optimization approach to identify reserve designs for caribou in Alberta, Canada, across a range of potential protection targets. Our designs minimized costs as well as three demographic risk factors: current industrial footprint, presence of white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus), and climate change. We found that, using optimization, 60% of current caribou range can be protected (including 17% in existing parks) while maintaining access to over 98% of the value of resources on public lands. The trade-off between minimizing cost and minimizing demographic risk factors was minimal because the spatial distributions of cost and risk were similar. The prospects for protection are much reduced if protection is directed towards the herds that are most at risk of near-term extirpation.