Consistency of COSEWIC species at risk designations: freshwater fishes as a case study

James R. Lukey; Stephen S. Crawford

doi:10.1139/f09-054

Consistency of COSEWIC species at risk designations: freshwater fishes as a case study

Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences ◽

10.1139/f09-054 ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 66 (6) ◽

pp. 959-971 ◽

Cited By ~ 8

Author(s):

James R. Lukey ◽

Stephen S. Crawford

Keyword(s):

Decision Making ◽

At Risk ◽

Freshwater Fishes ◽

Assessment Process ◽

Species At Risk ◽

International Union ◽

Assessment Protocol ◽

The Status ◽

Canadian Wildlife

The Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC) is responsible for the assessment of Canadian wildlife at risk. The COSEWIC assessment process is primarily based on five quantitative criteria developed by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature, but allows for further modification of designations under certain conditions. This study investigated the consistency of designations predicted using the quantitative COSEWIC criteria compared with observed designations reported by COSEWIC. A total of 49 COSEWIC designations for freshwater fishes from 2000 to 2007 were compared for consistency in decision-making. Overall, there was a 57.1% agreement between predicted and observed designations. A substantial number (35.1%) of COSEWIC designations were downlisted from “Endangered” or “Threatened” without sufficient explanation to justify the modifications. For the cases of uplisting, these differences were associated with qualitative criteria not effectively represented in our algorithm. Recommendations are offered to improve the transparency and accountability of COSEWIC decision-making, including enhancements to reporting and the explicit incorporation of uncertainty in the COSEWIC risk assessment protocol.

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Effect of ecological uncertainty on species at risk decision-making: COSEWIC expert opinion as a case study

Animal Conservation ◽

10.1111/j.1469-1795.2010.00421.x ◽

2010 ◽

Vol 14 (2) ◽

pp. 151-157 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

J. R. Lukey ◽

S. S. Crawford ◽

D. J. Gillis ◽

M. G. Gillespie

Keyword(s):

Decision Making ◽

At Risk ◽

Expert Opinion ◽

Species At Risk ◽

Ecological Uncertainty ◽

Risk Decision

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Comparative analysis of abundance–occupancy relationships for species at risk at both broad taxonomic and spatial scales

Canadian Journal of Zoology ◽

10.1139/cjz-2014-0318 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 93 (7) ◽

pp. 515-519 ◽

Cited By ~ 10

Author(s):

Nancy E. Roney ◽

Anna Kuparinen ◽

Jeffrey A. Hutchings

Keyword(s):

At Risk ◽

Comparative Analysis ◽

Large Scale ◽

Spatial Scales ◽

Freshwater Fishes ◽

Reference Points ◽

Species At Risk ◽

Large Spatial Scale ◽

Terrestrial Mammals ◽

Taxonomic Groups

The abundance–occupancy relationship is one of the most well-examined relationships in ecology. At the species level, a positive association has been widely documented. However, until recently, research on the nature of this relationship at broad taxonomic and spatial scales has been limited. Here, we perform a comparative analysis of 12 taxonomic groups across a large spatial scale (Canada), using data on Canadian species at risk: amphibians, arthropods, birds, freshwater fishes, lichens, marine fishes, marine mammals, molluscs, mosses, reptiles, terrestrial mammals, and vascular plants. We find a significantly positive relationship in all taxonomic groups with the exception of freshwater fishes (negative association) and lichens (no association). In general, our work underscores the strength and breadth of this apparently fundamental relationship and provides insight into novel applications for large-scale population dynamics. Further development of species-independent abundance–occupancy relationships, or those of a similar nature, might well prove instrumental in serving as starting points for developing species-independent reference points and recovery strategies.

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A PARTICIPATORY SUSTAINABILITY ASSESSMENT PROCESS FOR BIODIVERSITY CONSERVATION IN LESOTHO

Journal of Environmental Assessment Policy and Management ◽

10.1142/s1464333210003590 ◽

2010 ◽

Vol 12 (02) ◽

pp. 107-129 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

LIMPHO LETSELA ◽

ANDRE PELSER ◽

MAITLAND SEAMAN

Keyword(s):

Decision Making ◽

Rural Areas ◽

Sustainability Assessment ◽

Action Planning ◽

Learning By Doing ◽

Assessment Process ◽

Biodiversity Policy ◽

Multiple Case ◽

Context Specific

Sustainability assessment processes are increasingly being applied towards integration of the sustainability agenda within diverse decision-making jurisdictions. This paper seeks to contribute insights from a process undertaken within rural areas in Lesotho. A learning-by-doing and people-centred approach was explored within a qualitative multiple case study to integrate biodiversity considerations within the broader livelihoods sustainability context. Stakeholders collectively determined interpretations, aspirations and priorities for action planning and pathways that sustain biodiversity. This process yielded a functional context-specific sustainability assessment framework to guide stakeholders when embarking on biodiversity interventions that enhance supply of ecosystem services in and outside protected areas. However, the effectiveness of the process requires that it should be nested within an enabling environment characterised by relevant international and national biodiversity policy and strategic frameworks, decision- making structures, funding, tools and expertise, sensitisation and capacity-building.

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Conservation status of caribou in the western mountains of Canada: Protections under the species at risk act, 2002-2014

Rangifer ◽

10.7557/2.35.2.3647 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 35 (2) ◽

pp. 49 ◽

Cited By ~ 12

Author(s):

Justina C. Ray ◽

Deborah B. Cichowski ◽

Martin-Hugues St-Laurent ◽

Chris J. Johnson ◽

Stephen D. Petersen ◽

...

Keyword(s):

At Risk ◽

First Nations ◽

Captive Breeding ◽

Conservation Status ◽

Species At Risk ◽

Predator Control ◽

Conservation Units ◽

Preventative Measures ◽

The Status ◽

Species At Risk Act

In April 2014, the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC) reviewed the status of caribou in the western mountains of Canada, in keeping with the ten-year reassessment mandate under the Species at Risk Act. Assessed as two ‘nationally significant’ populations in 2002, COSEWIC revised the conservation units for all caribou in Canada, recognising eleven extant Designatable Units (DUs), three of which -- Northern Mountain, Central Mountain, and Southern Mountain -- are found only in western Canada. The 2014 assessment concluded that the condition of many subpopulations in all three DUs had deteriorated. As a result of small and declining population sizes, the Central Mountain and Southern Mountain DUs are now recognised as endangered. Recent declines in a number of Northern Mountain DU subpopulations did not meet thresholds for endangered or threatened, and were assessed as of special concern. Since the passage of the federal Species at Risk Act in 2002, considerable areas of habitat were managed or conserved for caribou, although disturbance from cumulative human development activities has increased during the same period. Government agencies and local First Nations are attempting to arrest the steep decline of some subpopulations by using predator control, maternal penning, population augmentation, and captive breeding. Based on declines, future developments and current recovery effects, we offer the following recommendations: 1) where recovery actions are necessary, commit to simultaneously reducing human intrusion into caribou ranges, restoring habitat over the long term, and conducting short-term predator control, 2) carefully consider COSEWIC’s new DU structure for management and recovery actions, especially regarding translocations, 3) carry out regular surveys to monitor the condition of Northern Mountain caribou subpopulations and immediately implement preventative measures where necessary, and 4) undertake a proactive, planned approach coordinated across jurisdictions to conserve landscape processes important to caribou conservation.

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Penggunaan Metode Techique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) untuk Evaluasi Kinerja Dosen oleh Mahasiswa (Studi Kasus: STMIK Lombok)

JISA(Jurnal Informatika dan Sains) ◽

10.31326/jisa.v1i1.295 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 1 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Sofiansyah Fadli ◽

Mohammad Taufan Asri Zaen

Keyword(s):

Decision Making ◽

Performance Evaluation ◽

Decision Support ◽

Performance Assessment ◽

Assessment Process ◽

Internal Quality ◽

Computerized Decision Support ◽

Policy Makers ◽

The Status ◽

Order Preference

In general the lecturers performance evaluation is a routinity of a College institute for improving internal quality on an ongoing basis as well as the improvement of the status of accreditation. Performance evaluation activities specifically lecturer at STMIK Lombok funded on each period, that is the end of each semester, the lecturers assessment process performed by the students. The results of this performance assessment will be use to improve the performance of evaluation material and any lecturer who was elected as a lecturer with the best performance will be given the award. To assist in the assessment process, a system that capable to support the decision of the performance assessment of lecturers needed. The purpose of this research is to evaluate the performance of Lecturers by students at STMIK Lombok. The decision-making process aided by a computerized decision support system in expectation that subjectivity in decision-making can be minimised. Decision support systems can be used as a tool for evaluating the performance of the lecturers, so hopefully it can help the policy makers in decision-making, to get objective information about the performance of lecturers based on specified criteria.

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Somatic individuality in context, a comparative case study

Public Understanding of Science ◽

10.1177/0963662516678116 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 27 (3) ◽

pp. 338-351

Author(s):

Kelly Pender

Keyword(s):

Decision Making ◽

At Risk ◽

Genetic Determinism ◽

Comparative Case Study ◽

Genetic Medicine ◽

Complicated Nature

Scholars have challenged the totalizing nature of the “geneticization thesis,” arguing that its brushstrokes are too broad to capture the complicated nature of the new genetics. One such challenge has come from Nikolas Rose’s argument that genetic medicine is governed by a new biopolitics in which patients understand themselves as “somatic individuals” who treat their bodies as an “ethical substance” to be worked on in order to secure a healthier future. I argue that Rose’s argument, while compelling, paints the new genetics in equally broad brushstrokes and that in order for a concept like somatic individuality to become useful, we must study its manifestation across different communities of at-risk individuals. I undertake such a study by analyzing discourse use in two online biosocial communities, showing how the decision-making situations specific to each affect representations of somatic individuality, often creating opportunities for the rhetorical repurposing of older discourses of genetic determinism.

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Canadian species at risk (2006–2008), with particular emphasis on fishes

Environmental Reviews ◽

10.1139/a09-003 ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 17 (NA) ◽

pp. 53-65 ◽

Cited By ~ 22

Author(s):

Jeffrey A. Hutchings ◽

Marco Festa-Bianchet

Keyword(s):

At Risk ◽

Marine Fish ◽

Spatiotemporal Analysis ◽

Species At Risk ◽

Wildlife Species ◽

The Us ◽

The Status ◽

Special Concern ◽

Species At Risk Act ◽

Diadromous Species

In accordance with the Species at Risk Act (SARA), the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC) is nationally responsible for assessing wildlife species considered to be at risk of extinction. A parliamentary review of SARA provides impetus for an up-to-date summary of recent assessments (2006–2008) and a spatiotemporal analysis of the status of Canada's largest vertebrate group of species at risk, fishes. From April 1978 through December 2008, COSEWIC had assessed 13 wildlife species as extinct and 564 at some level of risk (extirpated, endangered, threatened, special concern). Among these 577 assessments, 112 are for fishes (76% freshwater and diadromous; 24% marine). Slightly more than one-quarter (27%) of Canada's 205 freshwater and diadromous species of fishes, many of which are in southwestern Ontario and southeastern Quebec, have been assessed as being at risk throughout all or parts of their ranges. The percentage of Canadian freshwater and diadromous fish species assessed by COSEWIC as endangered or threatened (16%) is similar to the percentage of freshwater and diadromous fishes in the US that have been listed under the Endangered Species Act (12%). The proportion of wholly freshwater fishes assessed by COSEWIC that have been added to SARA's legal schedule is somewhat lower than that of other taxa. However, whereas the US listed its first marine fish in 2005, the Canadian government has to date not accepted COSEWIC's advice to list an endangered or threatened marine fish since the proclamation of SARA in 2003.

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The Demise of Parent Involvement in School Governance

Journal of School Leadership ◽

10.1177/105268460201200401 ◽

2002 ◽

Vol 12 (4) ◽

pp. 340-367 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Roy M. Seitsinger ◽

David Aloyzy Zera

Keyword(s):

Decision Making ◽

Parent Involvement ◽

Document Analysis ◽

School Governance ◽

Status Quo ◽

School Site ◽

Semistructured Interviews ◽

The Status ◽

Study Format

In this article elementary school site decision-making bodies (SDMBs) are examined from a critical theory perspective. Two sites are examined: one with a mandated school site decision-making body and another with a voluntarily established school site decision-making body. A case study format and naturalist methodology that includes semistructured interviews, nonparticipant positioned observations, focus groups, and document analysis are used. Findings suggest relatively no difference between mandated and voluntary SDMBs; parent participation in school governance defined by socioeconomic status (SES); principals as key to school governance implementation; participating parents as trustees of the status quo; and school site decision-making bodies as an ineffective reform strategy. Propositions for consideration and suggestions for adjustments in SDMBs are offered.

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