Society for Conservation Biology 16th Annual Meeting July 14-July 19 2002
co-hosted by DICE and the British Ecological Society


Abstracts for Symposium Nine

Ecological networks: carnivores, cores, and approaches for protecting wildlands

Rutherford Lecture Theatre 1
Tuesday 16th July; 10.15 - 15.00



Conference Home Page | Symposia Details


(BLOCK CAPITALS indicate the presenting author)

10.15 - 10.45
CARROLL, CARLOS. Klamath Center for Conservation Research, PO Box 104, Orleans, CA 95556

THE ROLE OF FOCAL SPECIES IN REGIONAL CONSERVATION PLANS: INTEGRATING POPULATION VIABILITY ANALYSIS AND RESERVE SELECTION ALGORITHMS

Current reserve selection algorithms have difficulty evaluating connectivity and other factors necessary to conserve wide-ranging species in developing landscapes. Therefore conservation plans often use general guidelines such as minimum patch area to evaluate how well a proposed network preserves viable populations of focal species. Conservation plans that combine reserve selection algorithms and population viability analysis tools can be both biologically-realistic and taxonomically-inclusive. Results from spatially-explicit population models for well-selected focal species add information on the locations of source and sink habitat and the existence of viability thresholds with increasing habitat protection. They also identify corridors whose protection has an effect on population viability that far exceeds the value assigned them by a reserve selection algorithm. Although it is unlikely that planning for focal species requirements alone will capture all facets of biodiversity, when used in combination with other planning foci such as localized rare species, they may help forestall the still poorly-known effects of loss of connectivity on a larger group of threatened species and ecosystems.



10.45 - 11.00
COMER, PATRICK J. and Daniel S. Dorfman. NatureServe, 2060 Broadway, Suite 230,
Boulder, CO 80303, USA <pat_comer@natureserve.org> (PJC), The Nature Conservancy, Suite 230 Boulder, CO 80303, USA (DSD)

ECOREGIONAL ASSESSMENT: IDENTIFYING LANDSCAPE NETWORKS FOR BIODIVERSITY CONSERVATION

Planning for biodiversity conservation requires urgent action in a continually changing environment where knowledge remains incomplete. Conceptual approaches and effective tools are required to describe biodiversity at multiple scales, and to identify landscapes where it may be efficiently conserved. We describe an approach that targets biodiversity at multiple scales, including rare species, wide-ranging species, vulnerable species assemblages, rare communities, and terrestrial, freshwater, and coastal marine ecosystems. The latter categories serve as "coarse filters" for conserving genetic diversity, species diversity, ecological dynamics, and evolutionary environments not specifically addressed through individually targeted species. We present data sets and methods used to spatially represent biodiversity, evaluate ecological integrity, and identify multiple scenarios where conservation-area networks could meet measurable conservation goals. These methods and tools facilitate rapid updates, and efficient transfer of information for local-area conservation planning. This systematic approach for identification and evaluation of representative, landscape-scale conservation areas has been applied in highly disparate ecological, social, and institutional settings. It has so far been developed and implemented by The Nature Conservancy, NatureServe, U.S. federal agencies, and numerous other partners in ecoregions throughout western North America.



11.00 - 11.15
HEINEMEYER, KIMBERLY, Susan Carlick, Bruce Baizel, and Dennis Sizemore. Round River Conservation Studies, 404 North 300 West, Suite 102, Salt Lake City, UT 84108, USA, <kim@roundriver.org> (KH, BB, DS), Taku River Tlingit First Nation, Atlin, BC V0W 1A0, Canada (SC)

USE OF LOCAL AND TRADITIONAL ECOLOGICAL KNOWLEDGE IN CONSERVATION AREA DESIGN

Conservation based solely on western science may lack a historical and traditional perspective necessary for successful implementation. We are combining western scientific approaches with local and traditional ecological knowledge of the Taku River Tlingit First Nation (TRTFN) to develop a Conservation Area Design (CAD) that will guide land-use planning for the approximately 15,000 km2 TRTFN traditional territory in northwestern BC, Canada. To date, this remote region has little industrial development, and only 1 small settlement. Increasing development pressures and a lack of ecological information has led to escalating land-use conflicts. We interviewed TRTFN elders and hunters to document their knowledge and experiences with a suite of focal species (e.g., grizzly bear, caribou, salmon). Standardized questions covered topics including distribution, life requisites, and traditional management of each species. From the interviews, maps were developed depicting species distributions within the territory. Additionally, verbal descriptions were used to develop GIS models predicting potential habitats for key species. Ground-truthing of these models is on going. We are combining this TEK work with on-going and existing scientific research to produce the CAD. Local and traditional knowledge of natural resources are particularly critical for successful conservation planning in regions were there is limited institutional resource monitoring.



11.15 - 11.30
JOHNS, DAVID M. The Wildlands Project and Portland State University, P.O. Box 725, McMinnville, OR 97128, USA, <djohns@viclink.com>

THE APPLICATION OF THE WILDLANDS PROJECT MODEL OUTSIDE NORTH AMERICA

The Wildlands Project seeks to create a connected system of protected areas across North America that will ensure the survival of all native species--including top predators and wide-ranging species--in the context of fully functioning ecosystems. Core protected areas are designated based on the biological needs of key species and the requirements of critical ecological processes. To work they must have–or will be restored to have–those attributes traditionally ascribed to wilderness. Criticism has been leveled at this model for being inapplicable to other parts of the world, especially the developing world. These criticisms are examined in light of two important types of experiences from Russia and Latin America. The first type of experience is that in which national and international NGOs working in the just noted regions have been influenced by or adopted the TWP model. The second type of experience in that in which national and international NGOs or agencies have come to the same conclusions as TWP more or less independently. In both types of cases two factors are apparent: biological findings about the loss of species and the needs of species point to similar approaches to protection; and a recognition that more traditional bases for designating wilderness have not stemmed biological loss. Examples of both types of experiences from the Russian Far East, India, southern Africa and Latin America will be examined.



11.30 - 11.45
WATSON FEATHERSTONE, ALAN. Trees for Life, The Park, Findhorn Bay, Forres IV36 3TZ, Scotland, <trees@findhorn.org>

OPPORTUNITIES FOR LARGE-SCALE RESTORATION OF THE CALEDONIAN FOREST IN THE HIGHLANDS OF SCOTLAND

Since the 1980s a considerable number of schemes and initiatives for the restoration of the Caledonian Forest have been launched. However, for the most part these are relatively small in scale and have been planned in isolation from each other. To ensure that a true forest ecosystem is restored, with all its natural processes and constituent species, rather than just a collection of discrete patches of native forest, this presentation will propose that a larger scale, more integrated approach is required. With its large areas of minimally-utilised land and low population density, the Highlands of Scotland offer one of the best opportunties in Europe to bring back a fully functioning natural ecosystem on a large scale. The presentation will consider a possible site for such a project, which has been highlighted by the conservation charity, Trees for Life, and will examine its feasibility in the light of current trends relating to forests, agriculture and land reform in Scotland.



11.45 - 12.00
BENNETT, ANDREW F. and Kim W. Lowe. School of Ecology and Environment, Deakin University, 221 Burwood Hwy, Victoria 3125 Australia <bennetta@deakin.edu.au> (AFB), Parks Flora Fauna Division, Department of Natural Resources and Environment, 8 Nicholson St, East Melbourne, Victoria 3002 Australia (KWL).

FROM DESIGN TO IMPLEMENTATION: INSIGHTS FROM ECOLOGICAL NETWORKS IN SOUTHERN AUSTRALIA

The successful implementation of networks to achieve conservation goals requires scientific understanding to be integrated with social, political and institutional processes. In southern Australia there is wide recognition of the need for conservation networks but implementation is not straightforward. By evaluating current and developing networks, we identify common factors that influence on-ground achievement of such conservation systems. Land tenure is a key factor. Large-scale networks (conservation reserves, forest management systems) have been implemented where extensive tracts of land have single or few owners, typically public land. Where networks encompass land with many owners, such as agricultural areas, few networks extend beyond the landscape scale at which local human communities interact. Other characteristics associated with achievement of conservation networks include: involvement of diverse stakeholders, clear identification of benefits, leadership by individuals or agencies, support from institutional structures, and sound scientific knowledge of the biota and their conservation requirements. A major challenge in southern Australia is to expand from local to regional-scale networks in the heavily cleared agricultural environments where biodiversity remains as relicts and fragments . We also need better understanding of the required dimensions for whole networks, and for ways to measure success in terms of conservation outcomes.



12.00 - 12.15
PRESSEY, BOB, Matthew Watts and Tom Barrett. New South Wales National Parks and Wildlife Service, PO Box 402 Armidale NSW 2350 Australia (bob. pressey@npws.nsw.gov.au).

PRIORITY CONSERVATION AREAS: TESTING ALTERNATIVE APPROACHES WITH SIMULATIONS OF FUTURE LAND USES

Comparisons of effectiveness of alternative conservation criteria have typically been based on efficiency, a measure of how well natural features can be packed into a notional reserve system. Efficiency assumes implicitly that no areas will have their suitabilities for conservation altered during the planning process. Often, a more realistic assumption is that implementation of conservation action will be gradual and accompanied by ongoing loss of biodiversity. We developed an alternative measure of effectiveness — retention — to recognise that some areas will have their contributions to conservation targets reduced before they are protected. We simulated realistic annual rates of forest loss and expansion of the reserve system in north-eastern New South Wales. Based on quantitative conservation targets for 107 forest types, we measured retention with a separate land use simulation for each of 26 conservation criteria. The simulations support published predictions about the best criteria for scheduling implementation in the context of continuing biodiversity loss. They also show that relative retention values of criteria are robust to changes in targets and rates of reservation and forest loss. We propose that simulations of future land uses be used more widely in comparing the conservation outcomes of alternative criteria, planning procedures and policies.



13.30 - 14.00
FOREMAN, DAVE. The Wildlands Project, P.O. Box 13768, Albuquerque, NM 87192, USA, <eltigre@swcp.com>

THE SKY ISLANDS WILDLANDS NETWORK: THE LINK BETWEEN NEARCTIC AND NEOTROPICAL IN A NORTH AMERICAN WILDLANDS NETWORK

The Sky Islands region of the southwestern United States and northwestern Mexico is where the Nearctic and Neotropical faunas and floras of North America overlap. The Sky Islands Wildlands Network Conservation Plan is a landscape approach featuring protected wilderness cores, riparian and wildlife movement linkages, and compatible-use areas, based on rewilding and focal species. It approaches ecological restoration from the perspective of Aldo Leopold’s call to heal the wounds in the land. Moreover, it gives prominence to the role of private lands and compatible land uses (wolf-friendly beef production, restoration forestry, and economic incentives) in rewilding. A detailed implementation plan is an integrated part of the larger proposal. Because of its geographical location and because it is the first wildlands network design and plan from the Wildlands Project, the Sky Islands Wildlands Network is a key part of a North American Wildlands Network.



14.00 - 14.15
MASSA, RENATO. Department of Environmental Sciences, University of Milano Bicocca, Piazza della Scienza, 1, 20126 Milano, Italy, <renato.massa@unimib.it>

THE USE OF FOCAL SPECIES FOR DEVELOPING ECOLOGICAL NETWORKS IN WOODLAND AND FARMLAND

Ecological networks may be planned and implemented in a variety of areas exploited by humans, such as forested or agricultural landscapes. Lowland agricultural areas offer opportunities to assess the utility of marginal biodiversity supporting systems in the form of hedgerows, tree lines and other types of field margins that may be conserved in a landscape mainly used for crop production. Highland forested areas allow analysis of the structure and composition of hardwood stands where elements of true wilderness may still be conserved, given knowledge of structural characteristics associated with focal species distribution and abundance. A promising approach is to apply landscape suitability models after selecting appropriate groups of either woodland or agricultural focal species through such concepts as habitat selection and rarity. Comprehensive data on the distribution, abundance, and habitat selection of these potential focal species appear very important for creating robust models. In Lombardy, Northern Italy, it was possible to use historical breeding birds databases, collected since 1992 and recording about 5,000 point counts with their associated birds and habitats, to develop ecological networks. This approach was applicable at varying scales and degrees of residual wilderness and was stimulated by the recent legal act on local parks.



14.15 - 14.30
PUNGETTI, GLORIA, and Rob H.G. Jongman. Department of Horticulture and Landscape, University of Reading, 2 Earley Gate, Reading RG6 6AU, UK, <gp114@cus.cam.ac.uk> (GP), Environmental Sciences Expert Group, Wageningen UR, P.O. Box 47, Wageningen, The Netherlands (RHGJ).

IMPLEMENTATION STRATEGIES FOR ECOLOGICAL NETWORKS

Ecological networks are developed and planned in many regions of the world. We will focus on similarities and differences in approaches of a number of European countries in implementing ecological networks. Ecological network implementation means that ecological corridors are being realised, subsidies are given for management, and the idea is communicated with the public. Ecological networks are being developed at national or regional levels and most instruments for implementation are national instruments. Countries we will discuss include the Czech Republic, Belgium, Denmark, Estonia, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Slovakia, and the UK. Topics dealt with are: the role of ecology in the network plan; roles of different actors involved in the development of ecological networks; how the concept of ecological corridors is taken into consideration in land use planning and development policies; the relation between development of ecological corridors and conservation of cultural landscapes; instruments to develop ecological corridors; and stimulating public awareness.



14.30 - 14.45
Noss, Reed F., KEN VANCE-BORLAND, and Carlos Carroll. Conservation Science, Inc., 7310 NW Acorn Ridge, Corvallis, OR 97330, USA, <kenvb@consplan.net>

CHALLENGES IN ADAPTING THE PRINCIPLES AND MODELS OF CONSERVATION PLANNING TO DISPARATE SETTINGS

Conservation biology, over the years, has provided a series of principles and empirical generalizations to guide conservation planning. Some of these, such as large reserves are better than small ones, have withstood the test of time reasonably well, whereas others, such as one large reserve is better than several small ones of equivalent area, are highly case-specific. Generalizations developed from case studies in some regions, e.g., on edge effects in temperate deciduous forests, have not always held up when applied to other regions. Similarly, the familiar core-buffer-corridor model of reserve design may not apply well to such regions as boreal forests, shrub-steppe, and some tropical forests, where the matrix is wildland and is likely to remain so for a long time. We discuss some emerging lessons for adapting models of conservation planning to disparate settings, emphasizing the need for flexibility and inventiveness, while taking advantage of lessons learned elsewhere. We provide case studies from several regions to illustrate key points, emphasizing the need to take a comprehensive approach and combine spatially-explicit population modeling and other measures of effectiveness with site-selection algorithms based on representation objectives.



14.45 - 15.00
Discussion

The SCB2002 pages are maintained by Christine Eagle
email: C.M.Eagle@ukc.ac.uk
Conference email: scb2002@ukc.ac.uk
Last updated: 30.06.02