Mapping foraging habitat for migratory shorebirds in their Australian non-breeding grounds and prioritising sites for conservation and management

2017 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
pp. 32 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amanda Lisson ◽  
Kathryn H. Taffs ◽  
Leslie Christidis
Keyword(s):  
Wildlife Conservation ◽  
Conservation Status ◽  
River Estuary ◽  
Breeding Habitat ◽  
Foraging Habitat ◽  
Coastal Habitat ◽  
Management Actions ◽  
Migratory Shorebirds ◽  
Trade Offs ◽  
Shorebird Habitat

Shorebird populations are declining worldwide as a result of the loss of the intertidal habitats upon which they depend. Conservation status is particularly dire for shorebirds on the East Asian–Australasian Flyway. While the flyway transects many international boundaries and involves numerous bilateral conservation agreements, management of remaining habitat at a local scale is imperative to conserving these species. Coastal habitat is affected by multiple anthropogenic stressors, including loss and degradation due to increasing demand for coastal land. In Australia, migration coincides with the summer holiday season when shorebirds are significantly impacted by human disturbance. Managers are frequently required to make trade-offs between wildlife conservation and anthropogenic land uses and when specific quantitative shorebird habitat data and mapping are absent, human interests will naturally take precedence. This paper demonstrates a method for mapping and prioritising management of shorebird non-breeding habitat using an Australian coastal site, the Richmond River estuary. Foraging habitat was surveyed and mapped using GIS with a range of attributes including habitat types, foraging values, disturbance levels and specific foraging distribution of each species. The results highlighted several important foraging areas that were impacted by disturbance and would require intervening management actions to reduce impacts on shorebirds. The GIS data created provide local managers with an effective tool to consider shorebird habitat in the decision-making process. This method could be replicated at other important shorebird habitat sites, leading to enhanced conservation of these declining species.

Chasing the phantom: biogeography and conservation of Vipera latastei-monticola in the Maghreb (North Africa)

2018 ◽  
Vol 39 (2) ◽  
pp. 145-161 ◽  
Author(s):  
Inês Freitas ◽  
Soumia Fahd ◽  
Guillermo Velo-Antón ◽  
Fernando Martínez-Freiría
Keyword(s):  
North Africa ◽  
Habitat Degradation ◽  
Conservation Status ◽  
Western Mediterranean ◽  
Niche Modelling ◽  
Habitat Transformation ◽  
Mountain Ranges ◽  
Management Actions ◽  
Suitable Space ◽  
The Impact

Abstract The Maghreb region (North Africa) constitutes a major component of the Mediterranean Basin biodiversity hotspot. During the last centuries, a consistent human population growth has led to an unprecedented rate of habitat transformation and loss in the region and thus, threatening its biodiversity. The Western Mediterranean viper Vipera latastei-monticola inhabits humid and subhumid areas in the main mountain ranges of the Maghreb, facing such threatening factors; however, its elusive character and rarity hindered data collection for distinct biological purposes. Here, we study the biogeographical patterns and conservation status of the Maghrebian V. latastei-monticola resulting from recent sampling campaigns in Morocco and Tunisia. We update species distribution, and integrate phylogeographic and ecological niche modelling analyses at both species and lineage level to identify suitable areas, and to evaluate the impact of anthropogenic transformation and level of protection of their suitable space. We identified four highly divergent mitochondrial lineages, including a new lineage endemic to the Western High Atlas, with allopatric distributions and restricted to mountain ranges, supporting the role of mountains as past climatic refugia. Despite the remoteness of suitable areas, we report widespread habitat degradation and identify the low effectiveness of the current protected areas system in preserving the species and lineages range. Our study shows the urgent need to apply management actions for the long-term conservation of this vulnerable species and suggests a revaluation of the specific status of V. monticola, as these populations likely represent an ecotype of V. latastei.

scholarly journals Spatial distribution of the Barbary Partridge (Alectoris barbara) in Sardinia explained by land use and climate

2021 ◽  
Vol 67 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Gianpasquale Chiatante ◽  
Marta Giordano ◽  
Anna Vidus Rosin ◽  
Oreste Sacchi ◽  
Alberto Meriggi
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Conservation Status ◽  
Distance Sampling ◽  
Strong Relationship ◽  
European Population ◽  
Factors Affecting ◽  
Brood Rearing ◽  
Management Actions ◽  
Negative Effect ◽  
Study Sites

AbstractMore than half of the European population of the Barbary Partridge is in Sardinia; nonetheless, the researches concerning this species are very scarce, and its conservation status is not defined because of a deficiency of data. This research aimed to analyse the habitat selection and the factors affecting the abundance and the density of the Barbary Partridge in Sardinia. We used the data collected over 8 years (between 2004 and 2013) by spring call counts in 67 study sites spread on the whole island. We used GLMM to define the relationships between the environment (topography, land use, climate) both the occurrence and the abundance of the species. Moreover, we estimated population densities by distance sampling. The Barbary Partridge occurred in areas at low altitude with garrigue and pastures, avoiding woodlands and sparsely vegetated areas. We found a strong relationship between the occurrence probability and the climate, in particular, a positive relation with temperature and a negative effect of precipitation, especially in April–May, during brood rearing. Furthermore, dry crops positively affected the abundance of the species. We estimated a density of 14.1 partridges per km2, similar to other known estimates. Our findings are important both because they increase the knowledge concerning this species, which is considered data deficient in Italy, and because they are useful to plan management actions aimed to maintain viable populations if necessary.

scholarly journals Overview on the distribution of gorgonian species in Tunisian marine coastal waters (central Mediterranean)

2018 ◽  
Vol 82 (1) ◽  
pp. 55 ◽  
Author(s):  
Raouia Ghanem ◽  
Emna Soufi Kechaou ◽  
Jamila Ben Souissi ◽  
Joaquim Garrabou
Keyword(s):  
Coastal Waters ◽  
Local Ecological Knowledge ◽  
Conservation Status ◽  
Ecological Knowledge ◽  
Central Mediterranean ◽  
Management Actions ◽  
Conservation Actions ◽  
Gorgonian Species ◽  
Species Richness And Abundance ◽  
And Function

Gorgonian species play an important ecological role in the structure and function of marine communities. Human activities are negatively affecting the conservation status of gorgonian populations in the Mediterranean. Acquiring knowledge of gorgonian distribution is therefore a key step required to promote efficient management and conservation actions. However, information on the distribution of gorgonian species is lacking in many Mediterranean areas. This study aimed to provide an overview of the geographic and bathymetric distributions of gorgonians in the coastal waters of the Tunisian coast (1136 km). The sampling design encompassed three sectors, 27 localities and 87 sites. Information was collected from scuba diving (26 sites) and local ecological knowledge surveys of fishermen and divers (132 interviews), as well as from a literature review. Overall, the occurrence of eight gorgonians was confirmed at 54 out of the 87 sites surveyed in Tunisian coastal waters (7-120 m depth). The species that were found were Eunicella singularis, Eunicella cavolini, Paramuricea clavata, Paramuricea macrospina, Leptogorgia sarmentosa, Eunicella verrucosa, Corallium rubrum and Ellisella paraplexauroides. The highest gorgonian species richness and abundance was recorded in northern, followed by eastern Tunisian waters. In the southern areas only one species was recorded. This pattern was related to the rocky substrate that characterizes the northern and eastern coasts of Tunisia. This study is the first to report the occurrence of E. singularis, E. cavolini, E. verrucosa and Leptogorgia sarmentosa in northern and eastern Tunisian waters. The results are discussed in the hope of guiding future conservation and management actions for gorgonian assemblages in Tunisia.

A revision of Australia' s hammer orchids (Drakaea: Orchidaceae), with some field data on species-specific sexually deceived wasp pollinators

2007 ◽  
Vol 20 (3) ◽  
pp. 252 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen D. Hopper ◽  
Andrew P. Brown
Keyword(s):  
Field Data ◽  
Wildlife Conservation ◽  
Conservation Status ◽  
Environment Protection ◽  
Sexual Deception ◽  
Molecular Phylogenetic ◽  
History Of ◽  
Species Specific ◽  
Unique Part ◽  
Western Australian

Drakaea Lindley, 1840 is a genus of 10 species of geophytic orchids endemic to the South-west Australian Floristic Region. The genus is renowned for its morphological and chemical adaptations, achieving pollination by sexual deception of male thynnid wasps. The history of taxa in Drakaea has been one of dispute and confusion right to the present day. Here we provide a revision of the genus, the first made by using modern collections and field data, formalising names for undescribed taxa featured by Hoffman and Brown (1992, 1998), several of which are threatened with extinction. We describe six new species: D. andrewsiae, D. concolor, D. confluens, D. gracilis, D. isolata and D. micrantha. Experimental baiting of male wasps has helped show the specific status of some of these new taxa. Molecular phylogenetic research is needed to clarify relationships and patterns of speciation in the genus. Five of the 10 Drakaea species are legally protected under the Western Australian Wildlife Conservation Act and the Commonwealth Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act, signalling the ongoing need for research and management to ensure the conservation of this unique part of Australia’s orchid heritage. D. andrewsiae has been recorded only three times from the Gnowangerup–Tunney district. Urgent surveys are needed to establish its conservation status.

Breeding habitat, nest-site characteristics and productivity of the little eagle (Hieraaetus morphnoides) near Armidale, New South Wales

2020 ◽  
Vol 26 (3) ◽  
pp. 258
Author(s):  
Candice Larkin ◽  
Ross Jenkins ◽  
Paul G. McDonald ◽  
Stephen J. S. Debus
Keyword(s):  
New South ◽  
New South Wales ◽  
Breeding Habitat ◽  
Private Land ◽  
Foraging Habitat ◽  
Nest Sites ◽  
Occupied Territory ◽  
South Wales ◽  
Site Characteristics ◽  
Woodland Regeneration

We aimed to elucidate nesting requirements and nest success of the threatened little eagle (Hieraaetus morphnoides). Nest sites (n=12 active and 2–5 recent historical nests) near Armidale, New South Wales, were measured in 2017 at three scales: the nest tree, the nest woodland (≤25m from the nest tree), and (using GIS) the landscape scale (within 200-m and 2-km radii of the nest). The eagles typically nested ≥14m above ground in the canopy of emergent (>20m tall) living eucalypts in sheltered positions (midslope, with a north-easterly to southerly aspect), in woodland patches >5ha (mean 76ha), <200m (mean 78m) from the woodland edge, though ≥11m (mean 190m) from an agricultural edge, ≥38m (mean 485m) from the nearest rural dwelling, >1km from suburbia, and farther from sealed roads (mean 832m) than gravel roads (mean 490m) than minor tracks (mean 291m). Breeding productivity in 2017–18 (n=15 and 18 territories, respectively) was 0.91 young fledged per attempt (clutch laid) and 0.67 young fledged per occupied territory per year. Nest sites were used annually for at least 3–7 years. Nest abandonments or site shifts were associated with human disturbance (e.g. clearing, earthmoving, subdivision and construction in or beside the nest patch), death of the nest tree or nest stand (‘eucalypt dieback’ or rural tree decline), pindone baiting for rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus), and displacement by wedge-tailed eagles (Aquila audax) and ravens (Corvus sp.). As most little eagle nests were located on private land, we recommend, inter alia, greater protection of breeding habitat, nest sites and foraging habitat, woodland regeneration (especially riparian), and a buffer around established nests of ≥1km from major developments such as urbanisation.

Balancing effective conservation with sustainable resource use in protected areas: precluded by knowledge gaps

2014 ◽  
Vol 42 (3) ◽  
pp. 246-255 ◽  
Author(s):  
NICOLA J. VAN WILGEN ◽  
MELODIE A. MCGEOCH
Keyword(s):  
Protected Areas ◽  
National Parks ◽  
Resource Use ◽  
Conservation Status ◽  
Marine Species ◽  
Trade Offs ◽  
Sustainable Resource Use ◽  
Management Capacity ◽  
Harvest Sustainability ◽  
Adequate Data

SUMMARYDespite significant expansion of the global protected area (PA) network, this investment has not commonly been matched by investment in their management. This includes managing trade-offs between social and biodiversity goals, including resource use in PAs. While some resource-use activities receive significant attention, the full suite of resources extracted from PA systems is rarely documented. This paper illustrates the potential risk of resource use to PA ecological performance through a survey of resources harvested in South Africa's national parks. Even for this comparatively well-managed suite of parks, significant data gaps preclude assessments of harvest sustainability. Harvest quantities were known for < 8% of the 341 used resources, while 23% were not identified to species level. International Union for the Conservation of Nature Red List conservation status had not been evaluated for 78% of species, and 31% of all species (83% of marine species) had not been evaluated nationally. Protected areas face ongoing pressure to balance people-based and biodiversity outcomes, but whether or not both objectives can be achieved cannot be assessed without adequate data. Managing PAs in future will require consideration of trade-offs between investing in PA expansion, increasing the monitoring and management capacity of PA agencies, and investing in the research needed to support decision making.

scholarly journals Stormwater Management in a Time of Climate Change: Insights from a Series of Scenario-Building Dialogues

2016 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 163-175 ◽  
Author(s):  
Seth P. Tuler ◽  
Thomas Webler ◽  
Jason L. Rhoades
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Stormwater Management ◽  
Scientific Information ◽  
Management Strategies ◽  
Climate Change Impacts ◽  
Contextual Knowledge ◽  
Public And Private ◽  
Human Environment ◽  
Management Actions ◽  
Trade Offs

Abstract Numerous decision support tools have been developed to assist stormwater managers to understand future scenarios and devise management strategies. This paper presents one such tool, the Vulnerability, Consequences, and Adaptation Planning Scenarios (VCAPS) process, and reports on experiences from its deployment in 10 coastal communities on the Atlantic and Gulf coasts. VCAPS helps to elucidate local complexities, couplings, and contextual nuance through dialogue among technical experts and those with detailed contextual knowledge of a community. Participants in the process develop qualitative scenarios of climate change impacts and how different management strategies may prevent or mitigate undesirable consequences. The scenarios help stormwater managers diagnose potential problems that may emerge from climate change and variability, which can then be subject to further detailed analysis. The authors describe five challenges faced by stormwater managers and how insights that emerge from scenario-based processes like VCAPS can help address them: characterizing the implications of interacting climate stressors that originate stormwater, bringing all available expertise and local knowledge to bear on the problem of stormwater management, integrating local and scientific information about coupled human–environment systems, identifying management actions and their trade-offs, and facilitating planning for sustained coordination among multiple public and private entities.

Critical Foraging Habitat of Atlantic Sturgeon Based on Feeding Habits, Prey Distribution, and Movement Patterns in the Saco River Estuary, Maine

2017 ◽  
Vol 146 (2) ◽  
pp. 308-317 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ashleigh J. Novak ◽  
Amy E. Carlson ◽  
Carolyn R. Wheeler ◽  
Gail S. Wippelhauser ◽  
James A. Sulikowski
Keyword(s):  
Feeding Habits ◽  
River Estuary ◽  
Movement Patterns ◽  
Atlantic Sturgeon ◽  
Foraging Habitat ◽  
Prey Distribution

Experimental management for Snake River spring–summer chinook (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha): trade-offs between conservation and learning for a threatened species

2002 ◽  
Vol 59 (4) ◽  
pp. 717-725 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charles M Paulsen ◽  
Richard A Hinrichsen
Keyword(s):  
Oncorhynchus Tshawytscha ◽  
Management Strategies ◽  
Snake River ◽  
Evolutionarily Significant Unit ◽  
Management Actions ◽  
Trade Offs ◽  
Increase Productivity ◽  
Population Viability Analyses ◽  
Experimental Management ◽  
Power Analyses

Using Snake River spring–summer chinook (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) as an example, we explore trade-offs between conservation (restoring population abundance to self-sustaining levels) and learning (reliably estimating how management strategies affect productivity). The population has been studied extensively, especially since 1992, when the evolutionarily significant unit (ESU) was listed under the U.S. Endangered Species Act. Understanding both the conservation and learning dimensions is crucial in evaluating management actions. Using a Bayesian simulation model calibrated with 40+ years of spawner–recruit estimates, we performed population viability analyses to examine the biological risks of an array of management strategies. We also performed power analyses to estimate the precision of estimates of the actions' effects. The results suggest that if one can take actions that increase productivity and manage those actions as experiments, one can simultaneously increase fish numbers and reduce the uncertainty about the effects of those actions. However, because more powerful experiments will utilize controls where no action is taken, an experimental approach may increase risks to the ESU when compared to a strategy that tries to maximize productivity as soon as possible.

Microhabitat selection in the potentially endangered wolf spider Donacosa merlini (Araneae, Lycosidae): implications for spider conservation

2008 ◽  
Vol 86 (11) ◽  
pp. 1280-1288 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. Fernández-Montraveta ◽  
M. Cuadrado
Keyword(s):  
Habitat Selection ◽  
Habitat Quality ◽  
Spatial Scales ◽  
Conservation Status ◽  
Regional Scale ◽  
Wolf Spider ◽  
Distribution Area ◽  
Suitable Habitat ◽  
Ecological Requirements ◽  
Trade Offs

Habitat quality affects many components of animal fitness and animals are expected to be distributed in the space accordingly. Mismatch between habitat preferences and fitness may relate to scale-dependent effects and trade-offs between costs and benefits of moving to high-quality habitats. We investigated the effects of habitat quality and habitat selection in Donacosa merlini Alderweireldt and Jocqué, 1991, a burrowing wolf spider included in the Spanish Invertebrates Red Data Book. Particularly, we compared burrow size and density and analysed the relationship between burrow presence and vegetation at two different scales. At a regional scale, we found strong differences in burrow size and density. Burrow density affected burrow aggregation, which was utmost under mean densities. At both spatial scales, burrows were found at relatively clear (or low-covered) patches, as scrubs were lower and nearest vegetation was farther from burrows than randomly expected. Our results suggest habitat selection and effects of habitat quality on the life history of D. merlini. In spite of the recent expansion of the species distribution area, our data support the need for suitable habitat management programs. Information about ecological requirements is paramount to correctly assess spider conservation status. This topic has received little attention in spite of the diversity and the relevance of spider ecological roles.

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