scholarly journals Conserving plant species at risk in Canada: land tenure, threats, and representation in federal programs

FACETS ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 538-550
Author(s):  
J.L. McCune ◽  
Peter D.S. Morrison
Keyword(s):  
At Risk ◽  
Plant Species ◽  
Land Tenure ◽  
Species At Risk ◽  
Private Land ◽  
Federal Programs ◽  
Private Lands ◽  
Stewardship Program ◽  
Federal Land ◽  
Taxonomic Groups

Fully 37% of species listed under Canada’s Species at Risk Act (SARA) are plants or lichens. The law does not automatically protect species on private land, and it is unknown how many at-risk plants grow mainly on private land. We analyzed official status reports and related documents for 234 plant species at risk to determine land tenure and evaluated differences in threats and changes in status. We also assessed how well plants were represented in two federal programs: the Natural Areas Conservation Program (NACP) and the Habitat Stewardship Program (HSP). Of SARA-listed plant species, 35% have the majority of their known populations on private land while <10% occur mostly on federal land. Species growing mainly on private land were no more or less likely to decline in status over time compared with others. Plant species at risk were less likely than other taxonomic groups to be found on land protected under the NACP. The proportion of HSP projects targeting plants is well below the expected proportion based on the number of listed species. We recommend that policy-makers promote and prioritize actions to increase the representation of plant species in federally funded programs, especially on private lands.

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

2015 ◽  
Vol 93 (7) ◽  
pp. 515-519 ◽  
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.

scholarly journals The importance of travelling stock reserves for maintaining high-quality threatened temperate woodlands

2017 ◽  
Vol 65 (7) ◽  
pp. 507 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thea O'Loughlin ◽  
Luke S. O'Loughlin ◽  
Damian R. Michael ◽  
Jeffrey T. Wood ◽  
Helen P. Waudby ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Plant Species ◽  
Land Tenure ◽  
Agricultural Production ◽  
Ground Cover ◽  
Grazing Pressure ◽  
Agricultural Landscapes ◽  
Permanent Plots ◽  
Private Land ◽  
Native Plant ◽  
Eastern Australia

Travelling stock reserves (TSRs) are thought to represent some of the highest-quality and least degraded remnants of threatened temperate woodland in south-eastern Australia. These public reserves have not had the same high levels of grazing pressure and other disturbances as woodland remnants on private land. Thus, TSRs are expected to be important for the protection of biodiversity in heavily cleared and modified landscapes. We tested the hypothesis that land tenure had significant effects on the quality of woodlands by comparing vegetation structural attributes between TSRs and remnant vegetation used for primary production purposes. Vegetation attributes were monitored in 155 permanent plots over 5 years in remnant temperate woodland sites in the Riverina bioregion of New South Wales. Overall, TSRs supported higher native plant species richness and were characterised by higher ground cover of native shrubs and less cover of exotic plant species than agricultural production areas. We found land tenure had significant effects on some vegetation attributes demonstrated to be important for threatened fauna. We attribute these results to TSRs having a history of lower grazing pressure compared with remnants managed for agricultural production. Our study provides empirical evidence to support the high conservation value of TSRs in formerly woodland-dominated, but now extensively cleared agricultural landscapes.

scholarly journals Mapping nationally and globally at-risk species to identify hotspots for (and gaps in) conservation

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marie E Hardouin ◽  
Anna L Hargreaves
Keyword(s):  
At Risk ◽  
Protected Areas ◽  
Geographic Range ◽  
Species At Risk ◽  
Spatial Overlap ◽  
Range Edge ◽  
Critical Areas ◽  
Trade Offs ◽  
Taxonomic Groups ◽  
Threat Levels

Protecting habitat of species-at-risk is critical to their recovery, but can be contentious. For example, protecting species that are locally imperilled but globally common (e.g. species that only occur in a jurisdiction at the edge of their geographic range) is often thought to distract from protecting globally-imperilled species. However, such perceived trade-offs are based on the assumption that threatened groups have little spatial overlap, which is rarely quantified. Here, we compile range maps of terrestrial species-at-risk in Canada to assess the geographic overlap of nationally and globally at-risk species with each other, among taxonomic groups, and with protected areas. While many nationally-at-risk taxa only occurred in Canada at their northern range edge (median=4% of range in Canada), nationally-at-risk species were not significantly more peripheral in Canada than globally-at-risk species. Further, 56% of hotspots of nationally-at-risk taxa were also hotspots of globally-at-risk taxa in Canada, undercutting the perceived trade-off in their protection. Hotspots of nationally-at-risk taxa also strongly overlapped with hotspots of individual taxonomic groups, though less so for mammals. While strong spatial overlap across threat levels and taxa should facilitate efficient habitat protection, <7% of the area in Canada's at-risk hotspots is protected, and more than 70% of nationally and globally-at-risk species in Canada have <10% of their Canadian range protected. Our results counter the perception that protecting nationally vs. globally at-risk species are at odds, and identify critical areas to target as Canada strives to increase its protected areas and promote species-at-risk recovery.

The Recovery Illusion: What Is Delaying the Rescue of Imperiled Species?

BioScience ◽  
2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Catarina C Ferreira ◽  
Thomas J Hossie ◽  
Deborah A Jenkins ◽  
Morgan Wehtje ◽  
Cayla E Austin ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
At Risk ◽  
Land Tenure ◽  
The United States ◽  
Risk Level ◽  
Legislative Process ◽  
Species At Risk ◽  
Road Density ◽  
Recovery Planning ◽  
Species At Risk Act ◽  
Imperiled Species

Abstract With unprecedented losses in biodiversity, the need for stronger environmental policy has emerged as a conservation priority. Yet recovery planning for imperiled species remains a cumbersome, slow legislative process. In the present article, we examine features of recovery planning for species listed under Canada's Species at Risk Act to determine those influencing recovery planning duration. We found that the time to completion of recovery strategies increases with the number of jurisdictions concurrently listing the species, greater land tenure diversity, species population size, and road density. Species at risk in Canada with no listing status in the United States also suffered longer delays. To achieve a more efficient, timely, and defensible implementation of recovery planning, we recommend that governments prioritize recovery planning on the basis of risk level, promote transjurisdictional collaboration among listing agencies, anticipate and mitigate conservation challenges associated with multitenured and developed landscapes, and adopt procedures that enhance compliance with legislated timelines for recovery planning.

Assessment and prioritisation of plant species at risk from myrtle rust (Austropuccinia psidii) under current and future climates in Australia

2018 ◽  
Vol 218 ◽  
pp. 154-162 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. Berthon ◽  
M. Esperon-Rodriguez ◽  
L.J. Beaumont ◽  
A.J. Carnegie ◽  
M.R. Leishman
Keyword(s):  
At Risk ◽  
Plant Species ◽  
Species At Risk ◽  
Myrtle Rust ◽  
Austropuccinia Psidii

Conservation, propagation, and redistribution (CPR) of Hill’s thistle: paradigm for plant species at risk

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wenlu Bi ◽  
Akansha Saxena ◽  
Murali-Mohan Ayyanath ◽  
Cavan Harpur ◽  
Mukund R. Shukla ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
At Risk ◽  
Plant Species ◽  
Species At Risk

scholarly journals Intervention levers for increasing social acceptance of conservation measures on private land: A systematic literature review and comprehensive typology

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Louis Tanguay ◽  
Jean-François Bissonnette ◽  
Katrine Turgeon ◽  
Sophie Calmé
Keyword(s):  
Literature Review ◽  
Systematic Literature Review ◽  
Land Tenure ◽  
Social Acceptance ◽  
Individual Factors ◽  
Private Land ◽  
Private Lands ◽  
Factors Influencing ◽  
Conservation Measures ◽  
The Social

Private lands are increasingly targeted for ecological restoration and conservation initiatives in high-income countries. However, the fragmented nature of private land tenure, the large number of landowners and their heterogeneous socioeconomic profiles can pose significant challenges for conservation initiatives. Landowners’ attitudes toward conservation initiatives can range from rejection to acceptance and participation, which means that some initiatives will be received with resistance, others with consent. Most research dealing with social outcomes of conservation or restoration initiatives addresses regionally specific case studies, but few studies have attempted to derive general trends. To fill this gap, we performed a systematic literature review of conservation measures on private lands to develop a comprehensive typology of factors influencing the acceptance of conservation initiatives on private lands. Our results show that conservation proponents, despite their limited potency over socioeconomic and individual factors, can seek to improve the approach used in conservation initiatives, as well as the perceptions of their actions, by shaping institutional interactions to increase conservation measures’ acceptability. We propose five recommendations to help support and design conservation programs and to identify intervention levers that may be acted upon to improve the social acceptance of such conservation initiatives.

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