Species Conservation in a Globalized World

Species conservation via the Endangered Species Act is highly politicized, yet few data have been gathered to illustrate the relationship of political party affiliation to species conservation perspectives. We conducted a nationwide public opinion survey and found that Democrats value species conservation more highly than do Republicans, and that Democrats are also more strongly supportive of the Endangered Species Act. Republicans place higher value on property rights than do Democrats, but members of both parties value economic growth as highly as wildlife conservation. The results imply that the Democratic propensity to value species conservation reflects a biocentric perspective that does not bode well for practical conservation efforts. Species conservation will depend upon the success of academicians and progressive political leaders in educating students and members of all parties about the fundamental conflict between economic growth and wildlife conservation.

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Economics and the Endangered Species Act

10.1093/acrefore/9780199389414.013.420 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Joe Kerkvliet

Keyword(s):

Endangered Species ◽

Economic Analysis ◽

Stated Preference ◽

Species Conservation ◽

Endangered Species Act ◽

Future Research ◽

Economic Science ◽

Economic Costs ◽

Cost Estimates ◽

Stated Preference Methods

Economics plays strong roles in the design, implementation, and evaluation of the Endangered Species Act (ESA). First, the ESA’s language allows for economic analysis of critical habitat designations, recovery plan implementations, listing postponements, and the design of habitat-conservation plans. Extensive administrative changes to the ESA in the 1990s were designed to reduce economic costs and to elicit landowners’ cooperation. These reforms were partly motivated and guided by economic analysis. Second, economic analysis plays a role in providing credible estimates of the economic costs of ESA implementation. Cost estimates are highly variable and likely to depend on species’ characteristics and the effectiveness of recovery programs. Emerging evidence suggests that the 1990 reforms are reducing costs and increasing effectiveness. Third, economic science contributes to estimation of benefits. Because of the “public goods” nature of nearly all ecosystem and species conservation efforts, estimates must be based on stated preference methods. This use leads to difficulties in establishing the authenticity of benefits estimates. Also, research suggests that benefits estimates are highly sensitive to the spatial nature of the market (beneficiaries’ geographic locations). Future research needs to tackle both authenticity and spatial issues. Fourth, benefit–cost analysis (BCA) is required by law to inform many resource decisions affecting ecosystem and species conservation. Four illustrative BCAs show that whether benefits exceed costs is highly dependent on the authenticity of benefits based on stated preference methods and assumptions about the spatial nature of the market. Substantial uncertainty accompanies both benefit and cost estimates.

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Conserving imperiled species: a comparison of the IUCN Red List and U.S. Endangered Species Act

Conservation Letters ◽

10.1111/j.1755-263x.2011.00205.x ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 5 (1) ◽

pp. 64-72 ◽

Cited By ~ 31

Author(s):

J. Berton C. Harris ◽

J. Leighton Reid ◽

Brett R. Scheffers ◽

Thomas C. Wanger ◽

Navjot S. Sodhi ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Endangered Species ◽

Endangered Species Act ◽

Iucn Red List ◽

Red List ◽

Imperiled Species

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Data contradict common perceptions about a controversial provision of the US Endangered Species Act

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences ◽

10.1073/pnas.1516938112 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 112 (52) ◽

pp. 15844-15849 ◽

Cited By ~ 24

Author(s):

Jacob W. Malcom ◽

Ya-Wei Li

Keyword(s):

Endangered Species ◽

Species Conservation ◽

Endangered Species Act ◽

Federal Agencies ◽

Threatened And Endangered Species ◽

The Us ◽

Us Endangered Species Act ◽

National Marine Fisheries Service ◽

Imperiled Species ◽

Analyze Data

Separating myth and reality is essential for evaluating the effectiveness of laws. Section 7 of the US Endangered Species Act (Act) directs federal agencies to help conserve threatened and endangered species, including by consulting with the US Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) or National Marine Fisheries Service on actions the agencies authorize, fund, or carry out. Consultations ensure that actions do not violate the Act’s prohibitions on “jeopardizing” listed species or “destroying or adversely modifying” these species’ critical habitat. Because these prohibitions are broad, many people consider section 7 the primary tool for protecting species under the Act, whereas others believe section 7 severely impedes economic development. This decades-old controversy is driven primarily by the lack of data on implementation: past analyses are either over 25 y old or taxonomically restricted. We analyze data on all 88,290 consultations recorded by FWS from January 2008 through April 2015. In contrast to conventional wisdom about section 7 implementation, no project was stopped or extensively altered as a result of FWS finding jeopardy or adverse modification during this period. We also show that median consultation duration is far lower than the maximum allowed by the Act, and several factors drive variation in consultation duration. The results discredit many of the claims about the onerous nature of section 7 but also raise questions as to how federal agencies could apply this tool more effectively to conserve species. We build on the results to identify ways to improve the effectiveness of consultations for imperiled species conservation and increase the efficiency of consultations.

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Defining Habitat to Promote Conservation Under the Endangered Species Act

10.31228/osf.io/2ugcd ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Jason Craig Rylander ◽

Megan Evansen ◽

Jennifer R. B. Miller ◽

Jacob Malcom

Keyword(s):

United States ◽

Endangered Species ◽

Species Conservation ◽

Endangered Species Act ◽

The United States ◽

Foreseeable Future ◽

Critical Habitat ◽

The Supreme Court ◽

Policy Question

The Supreme Court in Weyerhaeuser Co. v. United States Fish and Wildlife Service ruled that “critical habitat” under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) must first be “habitat,” but it did not attempt to define exactly what habitat is or how much deference the federal wildlife agencies should get on what is both a biological and policy question. The Court also sidestepped whether currently unoccupied habitat must in fact be “habitable” at the time of designation as critical habitat. The task of defining “habitat” now falls to the ESA’s implementing agencies or to Congress. How habitat is ultimately defined has serious implications for species conservation. In the wake of recent reports on the accelerating loss of biodiversity in the United States and across the globe due largely to habitat loss, how and where we protect habitat is vital to preventing extinction and ensuring the long-term security of species. A definition that is too narrow and excludes degraded but restorable habitat, or areas that are likely to become habitat in the foreseeable future, could leave areas essential to species recovery unprotected. It is, however, possible to define habitat in a way that is consistent with the intent of the ESA, reflects the best available science, is operationally workable, and also broad enough to account for species’ needs. This paper proposes such a definition.

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USO DE MÍDIAS DIGITAIS APLICADO À ESTUDOS DE CONSERVAÇÃO DO MERO Epinephelus itajara NO LITORAL AMAZÔNICO BRASILEIRO = USE OF DIGITAL MEDIA APPLIED TO CONSERVATION STUDIES OF THE ATLANTIC GOLIATH GROUPER Epinephelus itajara (LICHTENSTEIN, 1822) IN THE BRAZILIAN AMAZON COAST

Boletim do Laboratório de Hidrobiologia ◽

10.18764/1981-6421e2021.6 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 31 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Igor Cristian Figueiredo dos Santos Duailibe ◽

Keyton Kylson Fonseca Coelho ◽

Carlos Henrique Marinho dos Santos Filgueira ◽

Ana Rita Onodera Palmeira Nunes ◽

Ananda Carolina Serejo Saraiva ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Endangered Species ◽

Digital Media ◽

Threatened Species ◽

Brazilian Amazon ◽

Red List ◽

Critically Endangered ◽

International Union ◽

National Legislation ◽

Goliath Grouper

O mero Epinephelus itajara é uma espécie ameaçada atualmente classificada como Vulnerável (VU) de acordo com a Lista Vermelha da União Internacional para a Conservação da Natureza (IUCN) e Criticamente em Perigo (CR) na Lista Vermelha Brasileira do Instituto Chico Mendes de Conservação da Biodiversidade (ICMBio). Uma pesquisa utilizando as mídias digitais como base para a obtenção de dados sobre essa espécie mostrou que existe uma pesca contínua desse animal no litoral do Estado do Maranhão, mesmo protegido pela legislação nacional. Além disso, as mídias digitais têm um grande potencial para serem utilizadas como uma ferramenta de inspeção ambiental e uma importante estratégia para identificar áreas de captura e locais de desembarque de espécies ameaçadas, como o Epinephelus itajara.ABSTRACTThe Atlantic goliath grouper Epinephelus itajara is one of the largest species in the Serranidae family. E. itajara is an endangered species currently categorized as Vulnerable (VU) according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Red List (IUCN) and Critically Endangered (CR) on the Brazilian Red List of the Instituto Chico Mendes de Conservação da Biodiversidade (ICMBio). A survey using digital media as a basis for obtaining data on this species showed that there is a continuous fishing of this animal across the coast of the Maranhão State, even protected by national legislation. In addition, digital media have great potential to be used as an environmental inspection tool and an important strategy for identifying capture areas and landing places of threatened species such as Epinephelus itajara.

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Oil Spill Preparedness & Response Compliance with the Endangered Species Act (ESA) and Reducing Action Agency Exposure to Future Litigation

International Oil Spill Conference Proceedings ◽

10.7901/2169-3358-2014-1-300264.1 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 2014 (1) ◽

pp. 300264

Author(s):

Kevin Sligh

Keyword(s):

Endangered Species ◽

Emergency Response ◽

Environmental Protection Agency ◽

Biological Diversity ◽

Evaluation Process ◽

Endangered Species Act ◽

Vital Role ◽

Coast Guard ◽

Consultation Process ◽

National Marine Fisheries Service

The Coast Guard, Environmental Protection Agency, Department of Interior's U.S. Fish & Wildlife Services (FWS), and the National Oceanographic & Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) have partnered since 2001 through the Interagency Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on Endangered Species Act (ESA) Section 7 consultations. Under the authority of the National Contingency Plan, coastal and inland zone area committees, Coast Guard FOSCs & EPA OSCs fill a vital role in determining if certain proposed actions affect listed threatened and endangered (T&E) species or designated critical habitats (CH) and have a responsibility to initiate and coordinate either an informal, emergency, or formal consultation between the FWS & NFMS, also known as the “Services.” One of the best practices learned by the Coast Guard and EPA after the recent lawsuit and subsequent 2013 settlement with the Center for Biological Diversity on the use of pre-authorized use of dispersants in California is that Coast Guard FOSCs and EPA OSCs in concert with their respective area committees should make all efforts to engage the Services in the consultation process when there is a possibility of an action that could affect T&E species or designated CH. The norm in the past has been to delay the consultation process until the emergency response phase, often necessitating an emergency consultation during an actual spill or release that could affect T&E species or designated CHs. In the future, area committees, FOSCs, and OSCs at the start of each area contingency plan's quadrennial review and update, should engage the consultation evaluation process. This poster is about the ESA Section 7 consultation process to proactively mitigate and avoid potentially adverse affects to ESA-listed species and designated CH using the consultation process associated with complying with the Act, avoiding jeopardy, and reducing future Coast Guard and EPA exposure to future litigation.

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The State Wildlife Grant Program: Measuring the Public Value of a Proactive Conservation Program

Journal of Fish and Wildlife Management ◽

10.3996/112017-jfwm-092 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 11 (1) ◽

pp. 353-368

Author(s):

Betsy Riley ◽

Paul Van Ryzin ◽

Matthew Fuller ◽

Ronesha Strozier

Keyword(s):

Endangered Species ◽

Species Conservation ◽

Endangered Species Act ◽

Well Being ◽

Short Term ◽

Public Value ◽

Conservation Program ◽

Species Being ◽

The U.S

Abstract The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's State Wildlife Grant (SWG) Program was designed as a proactive species conservation program to aid state fish and wildlife agencies in preventing nonplant species from becoming listed as threatened or endangered (T&E) under the U.S. Endangered Species Act. In this paper, we use four criteria to evaluate whether the SWG Program can be considered successful: 1) value is created (increased) in the short term; 2) value is created (increased) in the long term; 3) the value created is public; and 4) the value created is the value that was intended per the original goals of the program. Our analysis indicates the SWG Program has added US $3 billion in short-term value to local economies and supported the creation of about 18,000 jobs between 2001 until 2015. We use the example of the whooping crane Grus americana to calculate the long-term value of this single T&E species as US $103.5 million annually and argue that the SWG Program helps to maintain this value through supported species-conservation activities. Next, we look at two instances of species receiving proactive SWG Program conservation dollars: the oblong rock snail Leptoxis compacta and several North American bat species (Chiroptera spp.). These species and the conservation actions that benefit them demonstrate how public value is created or maintained through services these species naturally provide that benefit human health and economic well-being. Finally, we evaluate whether the SWG Program is creating the value it was designed to create by showing that T&E spending (expenditure) growth rates decreased after the SWG Program began. We find that the decrease in spending does not correlate with fewer species being removed from consideration as a T&E candidate for listing under the U.S. Endangered Species Act, nor does spending correlate with fewer species being delisted (taken off the list) after being listed as T&E species. Allowing for a 5-y time lag, we are also able to show that the SWG Program has been used in 55% of T&E-listed species that were later delisted under the U.S. Endangered Species Act and 24% of candidate species later removed from consideration for T&E listing as a result of recovery or better information. We argue that these results demonstrate that the SWG Program meets or is potentially meeting all four criteria for an effective public program.

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Eugenia alletiana (Myrtaceae), a new critically endangered species endemic to the island of Mauritius

Phytotaxa ◽

10.11646/phytotaxa.94.1.1 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 94 (1) ◽

pp. 1 ◽

Cited By ~ 11

Author(s):

CLÁUDIA BAIDER ◽

F. B. VINCENT FLORENS

Keyword(s):

Endangered Species ◽

Small Population ◽

Red List ◽

Alien Plants ◽

Critically Endangered ◽

Invasive Alien Plants ◽

International Union ◽

Diagnostic Features ◽

Critically Endangered Species ◽

Apical Pore

Eugenia alletiana, a new endemic species from Mauritius, is described and its ecology and conservation is discussed. The morphological diagnostic features for Eugenia alletiana are chartaceous, discoloured leaves, very thin terminal branchlets, flowers solitary or in fascicles of 2–3 flowers, totally fused hypanthium without apical pore or calyptra, that encloses the numerous stamens (> 500) and petals before anthesis; seed enclosed in a woody endocarp with a lamellated outer surface. The species should be considered as Critically Endangered (CR) according to the Red List Criteria of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature. This assessment is based on the plant’s restricted distribution, very small population size, a habitat sustaining degradation by invasive alien plants and animals and predation of immature fruits and seeds by invasive alien monkeys and rats respectively leading to a weak regeneration.

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