scholarly journals Rangeland Land-Sharing, Livestock Grazing’s Role in the Conservation of Imperiled Species

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (8) ◽  
pp. 4466
Author(s):  
Sheila Barry ◽  
Lynn Huntsinger
Keyword(s):  
Habitat Structure ◽  
Species Conservation ◽  
Bird Species ◽  
Livestock Grazing ◽  
Ecosystem Functions ◽  
Riparian Wetlands ◽  
Land Sharing ◽  
Threatened And Endangered Species ◽  
Terrestrial Habitats ◽  
Imperiled Species

Land sharing, conserving biodiversity on productive lands, is globally promoted. Much of the land highest in California’s biodiversity is used for livestock production, providing an opportunity to understand land sharing and species conservation. A review of United States Fish and Wildlife Service listing documents for 282 threatened and endangered species in California reveals a complex and varied relationship between grazing and conservation. According to these documents, 51% or 143 of the federally listed animal and plant species are found in habitats with grazing. While livestock grazing is a stated threat to 73% (104) of the species sharing habitat with livestock, 59% (85) of the species are said to be positively influenced, with considerable overlap between species both threatened and benefitting from grazing. Grazing is credited with benefiting flowering plants, mammals, insects, reptiles, amphibians, fish, crustaceans, and bird species by managing the state’s novel vegetation and providing and maintaining habitat structure and ecosystem functions. Benefits are noted for species across all of California’s terrestrial habitats, except alpine, and for some aquatic habitats, including riparian, wetlands, and temporary pools. Managed grazing can combat anthropomorphic threats, such as invasive species and nitrogen deposition, supporting conservation-reliant species as part of land sharing.

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

2015 ◽  
Vol 112 (52) ◽  
pp. 15844-15849 ◽  
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.

scholarly journals Application of lidar for critical endangered bird species conservation on the island of Kauai, Hawaii

Ecosphere ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (6) ◽  
Author(s):  
Geoffrey A. Fricker ◽  
Lisa H. Crampton ◽  
Erica M. Gallerani ◽  
Justin M. Hite ◽  
Richard Inman ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Species Conservation ◽  
Bird Species

scholarly journals Testing the Likeable, Therefore Abundant Hypothesis: Bird Species Likeability by Urban Residents Varies Significantly with Species Traits

Land ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (5) ◽  
pp. 487
Author(s):  
Lillian Collins ◽  
Grant D. Paton ◽  
Sara A. Gagné
Keyword(s):  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Species Conservation ◽  
Bird Species ◽  
Bird Community ◽  
Species Traits ◽  
Community Change ◽  
Habitat Availability ◽  
Urban Residents ◽  
Behavioral Traits

The urbanization of landscapes filters bird communities to favor particular species traits, driven in part by the changes that homeowners make to the amount and quality of habitat in yards. We suggest that an ultimate driver of these proximate mechanisms underlying bird community change with respect to urbanization is the likeability of species traits by urban residents. We hypothesize that bird species likeability, modulated by species traits, influences the degree to which homeowners alter the availability and quality of habitat on their properties and thereby affects species population sizes in urbanized landscapes. We refer to this new hypothesis as the Likeable, therefore Abundant Hypothesis. The Likeable, therefore Abundant Hypothesis predicts that (1) bird species likeability varies with species morphological and behavioral traits, (2) homeowners use trait-based likeability as a motivator to modify habitat availability and quality on their properties, and (3) residential habitat availability and quality influences species populations at landscape scales. We tested the first prediction of the Likeable, therefore Abundant Hypothesis using a survey of 298 undergraduate students at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte who were asked to rank their preferences for 85 forest generalist and edge/open country songbird species grouped according to 10 morphological and behavioral traits. Survey respondents preferred very small, primarily blue or black species that are insectivorous, aerial or bark foragers, residents, and culturally unimportant. On the other hand, respondents disliked large or very large, primarily yellow or orange species that forage on the ground and/or forage by flycatching, are migratory, and are culturally important. If the Likeable, therefore Abundant Hypothesis is true, natural resource managers and planners could capitalize on the high likeability of species that are nevertheless negatively affected by urbanization to convince homeowners and residents to actively manage their properties for species conservation.

scholarly journals The Occurence of Ecological Traps in Bird Populations: Is our Knowledge Sufficient? A Review

2012 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
pp. 36-56 ◽  
Author(s):  
Petr Suvorov ◽  
Jana Svobodová
Keyword(s):  
Exotic Species ◽  
Species Conservation ◽  
Habitat Type ◽  
Bird Species ◽  
Ecological Trap ◽  
Native Communities ◽  
Bird Populations ◽  
Suburban Areas ◽  
Arable Fields ◽  
Insufficient Time

ABSTRACT Anthropogenic changes in a landscape create new cues for birds, which must permanently adapt to these. If landscape changes occur too quickly, individuals have insufficient time to develop adequate reactions. They may, therefore, preferentially nest in low-quality habitats, which can lead to diminished nesting success and to reduction of their population size. This is usually termed the ecological trap hypothesis. We reviewed 38 studies investigating this phenomenon and analysed whether relationships exist between ecological trap occurrence and geographical region, habitat type, and/or life strategies of bird species. Ecological traps were most often associated with the presence of exotic species. Exotic species can modify environmental conditions in ways to which native communities are not adapted. They have been mainly detected in open habitats. Such open habitats as arable fields and meadows are under greater human pressure, and rapid changes probably occur there more frequently. Although more studies from North America were investigated, the hypothesis was supported more frequently in European studies. This is possibly due to higher human population density and, hence, more frequent habitat changes. Our results show that an ecological trap is not likely associated with migration. Ground nests suffered fewer consequences of such traps than did other nest types. Although the implications of the ecological trap hypothesis in species conservation are undisputable, a more detailed approach is still needed. For instance, some habitat types, such as suburban areas, have been neglected in the context of ecological traps, as has been the phenomenon’s appearance in pristine habitats.

scholarly journals The range, abundance and habitat of Hinde’s Babbler Turdoides hindei: fine-scale changes in abundance during 2000–2011 reflect temporal variation in scrub cover

2013 ◽  
Vol 24 (4) ◽  
pp. 453-465 ◽  
Author(s):  
PHIL SHAW ◽  
PETER NJOROGE ◽  
VINCENT OTIENO ◽  
EDSON MLAMBA
Keyword(s):  
Bird Species ◽  
Fine Scale ◽  
Land Sharing ◽  
Land Sparing ◽  
Proactive Approach ◽  
The Past ◽  
Or Groups ◽  
Global And Local ◽  
Number Of Individuals ◽  
Bird Species Diversity

SummaryIn developing countries, ‘land sparing’ may be more effective than ‘land sharing’ in partially mitigating the impacts of farming on bird species diversity. We examined the pattern of change in the global and local distribution of Hinde’s Babbler Turdoides hindei, a ‘Vulnerable’ Kenyan endemic whose local abundance is dependent on a passive form of land sharing, in which farmland is left fallow or abandoned, enabling Lantana scrub to colonise. In 2011 we assessed the species’ global range and resurveyed three IBAs, surveyed previously in 2000–2001, to determine whether fine-scale changes in abundance reflected temporal changes in habitat quality. Although the babbler’s known range increased between 1900–1970 and 1991–2011, we suggest that this apparent expansion largely reflects an improved knowledge base, and that several recently discovered sites are likely to have been overlooked in the past. In combination, the three IBAs surveyed in 2000-2001 and 2011 showed little net change in the number of individuals (+1.3%) or groups (-3.8%) encountered, despite a 68% decline in the number individuals recorded at one site. Within 1-km transect sections there was a positive correlation between change in Hinde’s Babbler abundance and change in the amount of scrub cover available, such that a reduction in scrub cover of 22 and 6 percentage points, respectively, was associated with the loss of one group or one individual. The availability of scrub cover was dependent mainly on the amount land left uncultivated, perhaps in response to changes in the value of coffee and other crops. Since the babbler’s abundance thus currently depends mainly on land sharing by default, rather than by design, we suggest that a more proactive approach, involving land purchase or payments for land set aside, might help to secure its future.

scholarly journals Invasive ants disrupt frugivory by endemic island birds

2009 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 85-88 ◽  
Author(s):  
Naomi E. Davis ◽  
Dennis J. O'Dowd ◽  
Ralph Mac Nally ◽  
Peter T. Green
Keyword(s):  
Habitat Structure ◽  
Bird Species ◽  
High Density ◽  
Scale Insects ◽  
Invasive Ants ◽  
Invasive Ant ◽  
Christmas Island ◽  
Endemic Birds ◽  
Plant Associations ◽  
Avian Frugivore

Biological invasions can alter direct and indirect interactions between species, generating far-reaching changes in ecological networks that affect key ecological functions. We used model and real fruit assays to show that the invasion and formation of high-density supercolonies by the yellow crazy ant (YCA), Anoplolepis gracilipes , disrupt frugivory by endemic birds on Christmas Island, Indian Ocean. The overall handling rates of model fruits by birds were 2.2–2.4-fold lower in ant-invaded than in uninvaded rainforest, and pecking rates by two bird species declined by 2.6- and 4.5-fold, respectively. YCAs directly interfered with frugivory; their experimental exclusion from fruiting displays increased fruit handling threefold to sixfold, compounding indirect effects of ant invasion on resources and habitat structure that influence bird abundances and behaviours. This invasive ant, whose high densities are sustained through mutualism with introduced scale insects, rapidly decreases fruit handling by endemic island birds and may erode a key ecological function, seed dispersal. Because most other invasive ant species form expansive, high-density supercolonies that depend in part on association with hemipteran mutualists, the effects that we report here on avian frugivore–plant associations may emerge across their introduced ranges.

scholarly journals The effects of using different species conservation priority lists on the evaluation of habitat importance within Hungarian grasslands

2007 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 35-43 ◽  
Author(s):  
PÉTER BATÁRY ◽  
ANDRÁS BÁLDI ◽  
SAROLTA ERDŐS
Keyword(s):  
Conservation Status ◽  
Species Conservation ◽  
Bird Species ◽  
Great Plain ◽  
Conservation Priority ◽  
Threat Status ◽  
Bern Convention ◽  
Conservation Values ◽  
Declining Species ◽  
Eastern European Countries

Many bird species of conservation importance inhabit the grasslands of the Hungarian Great Plain. Although extensive grazing management usually supports more bird species than intensive management, the conservation priority is to protect rare or declining species. Therefore, the conservation status of species must also be included in assessments of the value of different habitats. We used territory mapping to count birds in 21 extensively and intensively grazed field pairs on the Hungarian Great Plain, and subsequently adjusted site scores depending on which species appeared on various lists of priority taxa. We investigated differences in conservation scores of two global conservation lists (the Bonn Convention and another based on values of eight biological characteristics), two West Europe based lists (Bird Directive and CORINE), three continental lists (European Threat Status, SPEC and Bern Convention) and two Hungarian lists (protected species of Hungary and an alternative based on the specifics of Hungarian populations). Extensively managed fields had higher conservation values under seven of the nine priority lists: only the two West Europe based lists showed opposite trends in more than half the study areas. Since both West Europe based lists cover many central and eastern European countries, there is an urgent need to revise these lists, especially the Bird Directive list that gives serious legal responsibilities to countries.

scholarly journals Riparian forest restoration as sources of biodiversity and ecosystem functions in anthropogenic landscapes

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yasmine Antonini ◽  
Marina V. Beirão ◽  
Fernanda V. Costa ◽  
Cristiano S. Azevedo ◽  
Maria M. Wojakowski ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Forest Restoration ◽  
Riparian Forest ◽  
Riparian Forests ◽  
Ecosystem Functions ◽  
Future Research ◽  
List Type ◽  
Anthropogenic Landscapes ◽  
Positive Effects ◽  
Terrestrial Habitats ◽  
Ecosystem Multifunctionality

AbstractRestoration of tropical riparian forests is challenging, since these ecosystems are the most diverse, dynamic, and complex physical and biological terrestrial habitats. This study tested whether biodiversity can predict ecosystem functions in a human-impacted tropical riparian forest.We explored the effects of several biodiversity components (taxonomic or functional groups) on different ecosystem functions associated with restored riparian forestsOverall, 49% of the biodiversity components showed positive effects on ecosystem functions, each component to a different degree. In general, our results showed that both taxonomic and functional biodiversity had strong effects on ecosystem functions indicating that floral and faunal biodiversity enhanced the multifunctionality of these restored riparian tropical forests.These findings indicate that in restored riparian forests, recovery of biodiversity is followed by improvement in important ecosystem functions that are the basis for successful restoration. Future research and policy for restoration programs must focus on restoring elementary faunal and floral components of biodiversity in order to promote ecosystem multifunctionality.

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