Conservation Biology
Công bố khoa học tiêu biểu
Sắp xếp:
The Ecological Road‐Effect Zone of a Massachusetts (U.S.A.) Suburban Highway Abstract: Ecological flows and biological diversity trace broad patterns across the landscape, whereas transportation planning for human mobility traditionally focuses on a narrow strip close to a road or highway. To help close this gap we examined the “road‐effect zone” over which significant ecological effects extend outward from a road. Nine ecological factors—involving wetlands, streams, road salt, exotic plants, moose, deer, amphibians, forest birds, and grassland birds—were measured or estimated near 25 km of a busy four‐lane highway west of Boston, Massachusetts. The effects of all factors extended > 100 m from the road, and moose corridors, road avoidance by grassland birds, and perhaps road salt in a shallow reservoir extended outwards > 1 km. Most factors had effects at 2–5 specific locations, whereas traffic noise apparently exerted effects along most of the road length. Creating a map of these effects indicates that the road‐effect zone averages approximately 600 m in width and is asymmetric, with convoluted boundaries and a few long fingers. We conclude that busy roads and nature reserves should be well separated, and that future transportation systems across landscapes can provide for ecological flows and biological diversity in addition to safe and efficient human mobility.
Conservation Biology - Tập 14 Số 1 - Trang 36-46 - 2000
Identifying impediments to long‐distance mammal migrations Abstract In much of the world, the persistence of long‐distance migrations by mammals is threatened by development. Even where human population density is relatively low, there are roads, fencing, and energy development that present barriers to animal movement. If we are to conserve species that rely on long‐distance migration, then it is critical that we identify existing migration impediments. To delineate stopover sites associated with anthropogenic development, we applied Brownian bridge movement models to high‐frequency locations of pronghorn (Antilocapra americana ) in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. We then used resource utilization functions to assess the threats to long‐distance migration of pronghorn that were due to fences and highways. Migrating pronghorn avoided dense developments of natural gas fields. Highways with relatively high volumes of traffic and woven‐wire sheep fence acted as complete barriers. At crossings with known migration bottlenecks, use of high‑quality forage and shrub habitat by pronghorn as they approached the highway was lower than expected based on availability of those resources. In contrast, pronghorn consistently utilized high‑quality forage close to the highway at crossings with no known migration bottlenecks. Our findings demonstrate the importance of minimizing development in migration corridors in the future and of mitigating existing pressure on migratory animals by removing barriers, reducing the development footprint, or installing crossing structures. Identificación de los Impedimentos para las Migraciones de Larga Distancia de Mamíferos
Conservation Biology - Tập 29 Số 1 - Trang 99-109 - 2015
Permeability of Roads to Movement of Scrubland Lizards and Small Mammals Abstract A primary objective of road ecology is to understand and predict how roads affect connectivity of wildlife populations. Road avoidance behavior can fragment populations, whereas lack of road avoidance can result in high mortality due to wildlife‐vehicle collisions. Many small animal species focus their activities to particular microhabitats within their larger habitat. We sought to assess how different types of roads affect the movement of small vertebrates and to explore whether responses to roads may be predictable on the basis of animal life history or microhabitat preferences preferences. We tracked the movements of fluorescently marked animals at 24 sites distributed among 3 road types: low‐use dirt, low‐use secondary paved, and rural 2‐lane highway. Most data we collected were on the San Diego pocket mouse ( Chaetodipus fallax ), cactus mouse ( Peromyscus eremicus ), western fence lizard ( Sceloporus occidentalis ), orange‐throated whiptail ( Aspidoscelis hyperythra ), Dulzura kangaroo rat ( Dipodomys simulans ) (dirt, secondary paved), and deer mouse ( Peromyscus maniculatus ) (highway only). San Diego pocket mice and cactus mice moved onto dirt roads but not onto a low‐use paved road of similar width or onto the highway, indicating they avoid paved road substrate. Both lizard species moved onto the dirt and secondary paved roads but avoided the rural 2‐lane rural highway, indicating they may avoid noise, vibration, or visual disturbance from a steady flow of traffic. Kangaroo rats did not avoid the dirt or secondary paved roads. Overall, dirt and secondary roads were more permeable to species that prefer to forage or bask in open areas of their habitat, rather than under the cover of rocks or shrubs. However, all study species avoided the rural 2‐lane highway. Our results suggest that microhabitat use preferences and road substrate help predict species responses to low‐use roads, but roads with heavy traffic may deter movement of a much wider range of small animal species .
Conservation Biology - Tập 27 Số 4 - Trang 710-720 - 2013
Estimate of the Area Affected Ecologically by the Road System in the United States Abstract: In view of an extensive road system, abundant and rapidly growing vehicular traffic, and a scattered literature indicating that some ecological effects of roads extend outward for > 100 m, it seems likely that the cumulative ecological effect of the road system in the United States is considerable. Two recent studies in The Netherlands and Massachusetts ( U.S.A.) evaluated several ecological effects of roads, including traffic noise effects, and provide quantitative evidence for a definable “road‐effect zone.” Based on the approximate width of this asymmetric convoluted zone, I estimate that about one‐fifth of the U.S. land area is directly affected ecologically by the system of public roads. I identify a series of assumptions and variables suggesting that over time this preliminary estimate is more likely to rise than drop. Several transportation planning and policy recommendations, ranging from perforating the road barrier for wildlife crossings to closing certain roads, offer promise for reducing this enormous ecological effect.
Conservation Biology - Tập 14 Số 1 - Trang 31-35 - 2000
Climatic Change, Wildfire, and Conservation Abstract: Climatic variability is a dominant factor affecting large wildfires in the western United States, an observation supported by palaeoecological data on charcoal in lake sediments and reconstructions from fire‐scarred trees. Although current fire management focuses on fuel reductions to bring fuel loadings back to their historical ranges, at the regional scale extreme fire weather is still the dominant influence on area burned and fire severity. Current forecasting tools are limited to short‐term predictions of fire weather, but increased understanding of large‐scale oceanic and atmospheric patterns in the Pacific Ocean (e.g., El Niño Southern Oscillation, Pacific Decadal Oscillation) may improve our ability to predict climatic variability at seasonal to annual leads. Associations between these quasi‐periodic patterns and fire occurrence, though evident in some regions, have been difficult to establish in others. Increased temperature in the future will likely extend fire seasons throughout the western United States, with more fires occurring earlier and later than is currently typical, and will increase the total area burned in some regions. If climatic change increases the amplitude and duration of extreme fire weather, we can expect significant changes in the distribution and abundance of dominant plant species in some ecosystems, which would thus affect habitat of some sensitive plant and animal species. Some species that are sensitive to fire may decline, whereas the distribution and abundance of species favored by fire may be enhanced. The effects of climatic change will partially depend on the extent to which resource management modifies vegetation structure and fuels.
Conservation Biology - Tập 18 Số 4 - Trang 890-902 - 2004
Selectivity in Mammalian Extinction Risk and Threat Types: a New Measure of Phylogenetic Signal Strength in Binary Traits Abstract: The strength of phylogenetic signal in extinction risk can give insight into the mechanisms behind species’ declines. Nevertheless, no existing measure of phylogenetic pattern in a binary trait, such as extinction‐risk status, measures signal strength in a way that can be compared among data sets. We developed a new measure for phylogenetic signal of binary traits , D, which simulations show gives robust results with data sets of more than 50 species, even when the proportion of threatened species is low. We applied D to the red‐list status of British birds and the world's mammals and found that the threat status for both groups exhibited moderately strong phylogenetic clumping. We also tested the hypothesis that the phylogenetic pattern of species threatened by harvesting will be more strongly clumped than for those species threatened by either habitat loss or invasive species because the life‐history traits mediating the effects of harvesting show strong evolutionary pattern. For mammals, our results supported our hypothesis; there was significant but weaker phylogenetic signal in the risk caused by the other two drivers (habitat loss and invasive species). We conclude that D is likely to be a useful measure of the strength of phylogenetic pattern in many binary traits.
Conservation Biology - Tập 24 Số 4 - Trang 1042-1051 - 2010
Predicting Extinction Times from Environmental Stochasticity and Carrying Capacity Managers of small populations often need to estimate the expected time to extinction Te of their charges. Useful models for extinction times must be ecologically realistic and depend on measurable parameters. Many populations become extinct due to environmental stochasticity, even when the carrying capacity K is stable and the expected growth rate is positive. A model is proposed that gives Te by diffusion analysis of the log population size nt (= loge Nt ). The model population grows according to the equation Nt+1 = Rt Nt , with K as a ceiling. Application of the model requires estimation of the parameters k = logK, rd = the expected change in n, vr = Variance(log R), and ϱ the autocorrelation of the rt . These are readily calculable from annual census data (rd is trickiest to estimate). General formulas for Te are derived. As a special case, when environmental fluctuations overwhelm expected growth (that is rd 0), Te = 2no (k ‐ no /2)/vr . If the rt are autocorrelated, then the effective variance is vre vr (1 + ϱ)/(1 ‐ ϱ). The theory is applied to populations of checkerspot butterfly, grizzly bear, wolf, and mountain lion.
Conservation Biology - Tập 8 Số 1 - Trang 124-137 - 1994
Captive Breeding, Reintroduction, and the Conservation of Amphibians Abstract: The global amphibian crisis has resulted in renewed interest in captive breeding as a conservation tool for amphibians. Although captive breeding and reintroduction are controversial management actions, amphibians possess a number of attributes that make them potentially good models for such programs. We reviewed the extent and effectiveness of captive breeding and reintroduction programs for amphibians through an analysis of data from the Global Amphibian Assessment and other sources. Most captive breeding and reintroduction programs for amphibians have focused on threatened species from industrialized countries with relatively low amphibian diversity. Out of 110 species in such programs, 52 were in programs with no plans for reintroduction that had conservation research or conservation education as their main purpose. A further 39 species were in programs that entailed captive breeding and reintroduction or combined captive breeding with relocations of wild animals. Nineteen species were in programs with relocations of wild animals only. Eighteen out of 58 reintroduced species have subsequently bred successfully in the wild, and 13 of these species have established self‐sustaining populations. As with threatened amphibians generally, amphibians in captive breeding or reintroduction programs face multiple threats, with habitat loss being the most important. Nevertheless, only 18 out of 58 reintroduced species faced threats that are all potentially reversible. When selecting species for captive programs, dilemmas may emerge between choosing species that have a good chance of surviving after reintroduction because their threats are reversible and those that are doomed to extinction in the wild as a result of irreversible threats. Captive breeding and reintroduction programs for amphibians require long‐term commitments to ensure success, and different management strategies may be needed for species earmarked for reintroduction and species used for conservation research and education.
Conservation Biology - Tập 22 Số 4 - Trang 852-861 - 2008
Developments in amphibian captive breeding and reintroduction programs Abstract Captive breeding and reintroduction remain high profile but controversial conservation interventions. It is important to understand how such programs develop and respond to strategic conservation initiatives. We analyzed the contribution to conservation made by amphibian captive breeding and reintroduction since the launch of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Amphibian Conservation Action Plan (ACAP) in 2007. We assembled data on amphibian captive breeding and reintroduction from a variety of sources including the Amphibian Ark database and the IUCN Red List. We also carried out systematic searches of Web of Science, JSTOR, and Google Scholar for relevant literature. Relative to data collected from 1966 to 2006, the number of species involved in captive breeding and reintroduction projects increased by 57% in the 7 years since release of the ACAP. However, there have been relatively few new reintroductions over this period; most programs have focused on securing captive‐assurance populations (i.e., species taken into captivity as a precaution against extinctions in the wild) and conservation‐related research. There has been a shift to a broader representation of frogs, salamanders, and caecilians within programs and an increasing emphasis on threatened species. There has been a relative increase of species in programs from Central and South America and the Caribbean, where amphibian biodiversity is high. About half of the programs involve zoos and aquaria with a similar proportion represented in specialist facilities run by governmental or nongovernmental agencies. Despite successful reintroduction often being regarded as the ultimate milestone for such programs, the irreversibility of many current threats to amphibians may make this an impractical goal. Instead, research on captive assurance populations may be needed to develop imaginative solutions to enable amphibians to survive alongside current, emerging, and future threats.
Conservation Biology - Tập 30 Số 2 - Trang 340-349 - 2016
Spatial Tests of the Pesticide Drift, Habitat Destruction, UV‐B, and Climate‐Change Hypotheses for California Amphibian Declines Abstract: Wind‐borne pesticides have long been suggested as a cause of amphibian declines in areas without obvious habitat destruction. In California, the transport and deposition of pesticides from the agriculturally intensive Central Valley to the adjacent Sierra Nevada is well documented, and pesticides have been found in the bodies of Sierra frogs. Pesticides are therefore a plausible cause of declines, but to date no direct links have been found between pesticides and actual amphibian population declines. Using a geographic information system, we constructed maps of the spatial pattern of declines for eight declining California amphibian taxa, and compared the observed patterns of decline to those predicted by hypotheses of wind‐borne pesticides, habitat destruction, ultraviolet radiation, and climate change. In four species, we found a strong positive association between declines and the amount of upwind agricultural land use, suggesting that wind‐borne pesticides may be an important factor in declines. For two other species, declines were strongly associated with local urban and agricultural land use, consistent with the habitat‐destruction hypothesis. The patterns of decline were not consistent with either the ultraviolet radiation or climate‐change hypotheses for any of the species we examined.
Conservation Biology - Tập 16 Số 6 - Trang 1588-1601 - 2002
Tổng số: 54
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6