Canadian private protected areas are located in regions of higher vertebrate species richness than government protected areas

Nongovernmental organizations contribute to the securement and management of protected areas, but it is not well known how their lands compare to government protected areas or the effectiveness of different land acquisition strategies. Using data from the International Union for Conservation of Nature and BirdLife International, we estimated total and at-risk terrestrial native vertebrate species richness in southern Canada among ( i) private protected areas secured by the Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC), government protected areas, and randomly sampled land; ( ii) conservation agreements and fee simple (directly acquired) NCC properties; and ( iii) purchased or donated fee simple properties. Controlling for property size and ecoregion, NCC protected areas were predicted to be in areas with 6% and 13% more total and at-risk species than randomly sampled land and 4% and 6% more total and at-risk species than government protected areas. Within NCC protected areas, conservation agreements were predicted to be in areas with 2% and 4% more total and at-risk species than fee simple properties, but purchased properties had similar numbers of total and at-risk species as donated properties. Although we caution that diversity estimates were based on course-grained range maps, our findings suggest that private protected areas are important in conserving biodiversity.

Three lumps of coal: doing fisheries research in Lowestoft in the 1940s

Following graduation from the University of Reading in 1946, I was offered a job as a “Naturalist” at the Lowestoft Fisheries Laboratory. I learned to appreciate Michael Graham, the director, and was incredibly lucky to have such a man as my first boss and mentor. During my few months working alone before Ray Beverton returned from Cambridge, I put together the simple yield equation in the form in which it was eventually published, and produced most of the theorems that you may see in Parts I and II of Beverton and Holt (On the Dynamics of Exploited Fish Populations. Her Majesty’s Stationery Office, UK. 533 pp.). When Ray returned, we began to work seriously together in 1947–1950 to complete the substantive work on the book. The three lumps of coal was the fuel brought daily into our office in an annex to the main laboratory to keep us warm while working. Before leaving Lowestoft in 1950 for the Nature Conservancy, considerable time was devoted to publishing papers and “diversions” such as attending/speaking at conferences and international negotiations, as well as research on possible effects on fish of low-level radioactive wastes from a nuclear power plant. In late 1953, I resigned from the Nature Conservancy and accepted a position with the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization in Rome.

Observations of American Badgers, Taxidea taxus (Schreber, 1777) (Mammalia, Carnivora), in a restored tallgrass prairie in Illinois, USA, with a new county record of successful reproduction

American Badgers, Taxidea taxus (Schreber, 1777) are poorly studied relative to other North American carnivores. We report on observations of American Badgers within a restored tallgrass prairie ecosystem owned and managed by The Nature Conservancy in Illinois. We documented badgers at six camera locations, including two prairie restorations restored from row crop agriculture in 2002 and 2015. In addition, we confirmed breeding activity in Ogle County, filling a gap in the known breeding distribution of American Badgers in Illinois. We provide context for these observations and suggestions for future research.

Diverse vertebrate assemblage of the Kilmaluag Formation (Bathonian, Middle Jurassic) of Skye, Scotland

ABSTRACT The Kilmaluag Formation on the Isle of Skye, Scotland, provides one of the richest Mesozoic vertebrate fossil assemblages in the UK, and is among the richest globally for Middle Jurassic tetrapods. Since its discovery in 1971, this assemblage has predominantly yielded small-bodied tetrapods, including salamanders, choristoderes, lepidosaurs, turtles, crocodylomorphs, pterosaurs, dinosaurs, non-mammalian cynodonts and mammals, alongside abundant fish and invertebrates. It is protected as a Site of Special Scientific Interest and by Nature Conservancy Order. Unlike contemporaneous localities from England, this assemblage yields associated partial skeletons, providing unprecedented new data. We present a comprehensive updated overview of the Kilmaluag Formation, including its geology and the fossil collections made to date, with evidence of several species occurrences presented here for the first time. We place the vertebrate faunal assemblage in an international context through comparisons with relevant contemporaneous localities from the UK, Europe, Africa, Asia and the US. This wealth of material reveals the Kilmaluag Formation as a vertebrate fossil assemblage of global significance, both in terms of understanding Middle Jurassic faunal composition and the completeness of specimens, with implications for the early evolutionary histories of mammals, squamates and amphibians.

Tall grass prairie ecosystem management—a gastropod perspective

Less than 5% of the original tall grass prairie in North America remains. A portion of this remnant, composed of wetland, grassland and forest, is protected by the Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC) in southern Manitoba. This heterogeneous ecosystem has rich biodiversity; however, gastropods have not been surveyed in Canada’s tall grass prairie. We studied gastropods in Prairie, Wet Meadow, Forest, and Wet Forest habitats of the Manitoba Tall Grass Prairie Preserve that vary with respect to land management practices (prescribed burning, grazing by cattle). Gastropod community composition was unique in the Prairie where mounds of grass litter form permanently moist cavities harbouring aquatic species, while dry-habitat species colonized the upper parts of these mounds. Gastropod communities in Prairie habitats were negatively affected by grazing and burning that occurred in the five years prior to our survey. Unburned Forest patches included both forest gastropod species and edge effect influenced open-habitat species and harboured the most diverse gastropod communities. These unburned Forest patches potentially provide a species pool for post-burn prairie recolonization. The gastropod community of Wet Meadows was not affected by grazing and was composed mainly of aquatic species. In this gastropod survey five species were recorded from Manitoba for the first time. The rare Blade Vertigo (Vertigo milium) is also reported.

Remote Sensing of Geodiversity as a Link to Biodiversity

Two common approaches to conserving biodiversity are conserving the actors (species) and conserving the stage (habitat). Many management efforts focus on conserving the actors, but a major challenge to this strategy is uncertainty surrounding how species’ geographic ranges might shift in response to global change, including climate and land use change. The Nature Conservancy has moved to conserving the stage, with the aim of maintaining the processes that generate and support biodiversity. This strategy requires knowing how biodiversity responds to geodiversity—the abiotic features and processes that define the stage. Here we explore how remote sensing illuminates the relationship between biodiversity and geodiversity. We introduce a variety of geodiversity measures and discuss how they can be combined with biodiversity data. We then explore the relationship between biodiversity and geodiversity with tree biodiversity data from the US Forest Inventory and Analysis Program and geodiversity data from the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission as a case study and proof of concept. We find that whereas beta diversity was not well explained by geodiversity, both alpha and gamma diversities were positively related to geodiversity. We also outline the challenges and opportunities of using remote sensing to understand the relationship between biodiversity and geodiversity.

How Different Forms of Social Capital Created Through Project Team Assignments Influence Employee Adoption of Sustainability Practices

Can social capital created through project assignments increase the diffusion of sustainability practices, and if so, what types of social ties and conditions are likely to be most effective in doing so? We use a mixture of survey and qualitative evidence from a social network at a large organization, The Nature Conservancy, to help answer these questions. Our analysis supports the argument that cross-organizational unit ties promote adoption of complex practices by having the benefits of both external and internal ties (i.e., exposure to novel practices and on-the-job social learning experiences, respectively). Specifically, staff learned new sustainability practices from project teammates in other organizational units who were already employing sustainability evidence-based practices. Thus, a practical and cost-effective way to promote organizational learning for sustainability may be to strategically form cross-organizational unit project teams that include sustainability practice innovators. Internal fellowships and short-term assignments may be other effective ways to do this.

Policy Note: "Economic Tools to Achieve Groundwater Sustainability for Nature: Two Experimental Case Studies from California"

Groundwater is a critical water supply around the world and is increasingly under threat from pumping that exceeds natural replenishment. California is taking on this challenge with the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA) of 2014, which seeks to reliably manage groundwater to meet current and future water needs for the economy, communities and environment. Successful implementation of SGMA depends on the ability of local agencies to work with stakeholders to develop plans and implement projects that reduce groundwater use, increase recharge and efficiently allocate pumping. With more than 250 local agencies undertaking actions to address groundwater overdraft, California serves as a unique laboratory for testing new ways to achieve groundwater management. At the same time, economic tools are increasingly being utilized to secure or deliver water to the environment. For the past several years, The Nature Conservancy has been testing ways that economic tools can help achieve groundwater sustainability. This paper presents case studies that illustrate how two forms of Payment for Ecosystem Services (PES) — a groundwater market and a multi-benefit recharge incentive program — are being used in California to achieve groundwater sustainability to simultaneously meet the water needs of people and nature.

Estrategias de adaptación al cambio climático de la especie Equisetum giganteum en la Reserva Natural Tapytá, Paraguay

Los efectos del cambio climático sobre la biodiversidad demandan que se implementen estrategias de adaptación a escala de genes, de especies y del paisaje. La especie Equisetum giganteum localmente conocida como “cola de caballo”, es una especie de la flora nativa del Paraguay que se encuentra en peligro de extinción, motivo por el cual es importante que se establezcan medidas para su conservación. Le misma constituye uno de los objetos de conservación de la Reserva Natural Tapytá, ubicada en el Distrito de San Juan Nepomuceno, Departamento de Caazapá. El objetivo de la investigación fue proponer una metodología básica para el análisis de la adaptación al cambio climático de la especie Equisetum giganteum dentro de la reserva. Los objetivos específicos fueron: identificar las presiones y fuentes de presión que afectan a la especie; determinar la viabilidad de la especie; y sugerir medidas para su conservación en el área protegida ante un escenario de cambio climático. La metodología empleada se basó en el empleo de: transectos, entrevistas a informantes calificados, aplicación de escenarios climáticos, adaptación de las directrices de The Nature Conservancy, grupos focales de validación, construcción de escenarios distintos de viabilidad de la especie, y elaboración de medidas para su conservación. La alteración de la calidad del agua, fragmentación, degradación del hábitat, y régimen (micro climático) alterado, fueron las presiones identificadas en el estudio; cuyas fuentes fueron la contaminación difusa, el cambio de uso de suelo, la recolección de subsistencia incompatible, la depredación por especies domésticas y el cambio climático. Según el análisis de viabilidad, la especie Equisetum giganteum tiene una buena capacidad de persistencia y colonización dentro de la reserva. Como medidas para su conservación se sugieren realizar talleres de educación; replantación de ejemplares; implementación de terrazas; conservación ex situ e in situ y continuidad de investigaciones en el tema.

Análisis del estado del turismo para la construcción de estrategias sostenibles Vaupés, Colombia

Se busca identificar en el departamento del Vaupés las diferentes oportunidades, amenazas, fortalezas y debilidades -en cuanto a turismo- por medio de un diagnóstico en donde se realiza una revisión abordando lo político, cultural, ambiental, geográfico e histórico para finalizar con un modelo estratégico adaptado a seis etapas a desarrollar; en la primera etapa se observa la ubicación geográfica y se han señalado las zonas con actividad intensiva, extensiva y primitiva, durante la segunda etapa se realiza un plan de los posibles sitios a visitar demarcándolos en el mapa correspondiente, la tercera fase hace énfasis a la arquitectura que debería de usarse en el lugar para el desarrollo del turismo; dicho esto la cuarta etapa establece los mecanismos para la generación de ingresos seguido por el manejo y monitoreo del impacto de los visitantes y finaliza con los aspectos que deben tener los guías naturalistas. Así las cosas, se hizo uso de una metodología descriptiva y exploratoria para tener un mayor alcance; se empleó el manual de desarrollo del ecoturismo creado por “The Nature Conservancy”; además de aprovechar la técnica etnocultural como base de la infraestructura apoyados en procesos computarizados para su diseño.