Human societies as driving forces of ecosystem change

Advancing the Integration of History and Ecology for Conservation

Conservation Biology, Volume 25, Issue 4, pages 680–687, August 2011

Here is another very interesting paper that I managed to read this weekend. The authors of the paper discuss the importance of advancing the integration of history and ecology for Conservation.

Even though the important role of humans in the development of current ecosystems was recognized decades ago, the integration of history and ecology has been a difficult process. The researchers identified four issues that hinder historical ecological research and considered possible solutions

1)      The differences in concepts and methods between the fields of ecology and history are large. The researchers say most of the differences stem from miscommunication between ecologists and historians and are less substantial than is usually assumed. They add on that cooperation can be achieved by focusing on the features ecology and history has in common and through understanding and acceptance of differing points of view. 

2)      The researchers contend that historical ecological research is often hampered by differences in spatial and temporal scales between ecology and history. They argue that historical ecological research can only be conducted at extents for which sources in both disciplines have comparable resolutions. Researchers must begin by clearly defining the relevant scales for the given purpose. 

3)      Periods for which quantitative historical sources are not easily accessible (before AD 1800) have been neglected in historical ecological research. However data from periods before 1800 are as relevant to the current state of ecosystems as more recent data. The researchers suggest that historical ecologists actively seek out data from before 1800 and apply analytic methods commonly used in ecology to these data.

4)       Humans are not usually considered an intrinsic ecological factor in current ecological research. In the researchers view, human societies should be acknowledged as integral parts of ecosystems and societal processes should be recognized as driving forces of ecosystem change.

More on Tree hollows

I have always been a votary for giving old growth forest its very important place in wildlife management. The importance of tree hollows should never be overlooked. I read this weekend another good paper on tree hollows.

The authors of this paper say tree hollows harbour a specialized fauna, and mites usually are the most numerous arthropods in this microhabitat.

The researchers studied Mite fauna in 3 types of tree hollows in the forest reserve "Śrubita" near Żywiec in Poland. They collected 2037 individuals of Acari and 1414 of Oribatida, representing 72 species.  Over 1200 individuals per 100 g dry weight of wood dust were collected from tree hollows. The total number of oribatid species in tree hollows was higher than in the forest floor.

Yes tree hollows are very important for wildlife mangers.

Journal reference

Importance of tree hollows for biodiversity of mites (Acari) in the forest reserve "Śrubita" (Carpathian Mountains, south Poland)

Piotr SKubała and Beata Gurgul

Biological Letters, Volume 48, Number 1 / 2011

Genetic Monitoring: Wildlife mangers here is an online resource for you

Genetic Monitoring for Managers: A New Online Resource

Jeff B. Stetz, Katherine C. Kendall, Christina D. Vojta

Journal of Fish and Wildlife Management, Volume 2, Issue 2 (December 2011)

It was with great fascination that I read this paper about a new online resource for genetic monitoring meant for wildlife mangers.

Genetic monitoring is increasingly being used to understand and respond to invasive species, habitat degradation, fragmentation, disease, or climate-related changes.

Many mangers find dealing with genetic monitoring a difficult task. They are flummoxed by the terminologies and methodologies.

To aid managers and researchers with limited genetics experience the researchers here developed a web-based resource to help them identify which, if any, molecular genetic methods would be appropriate for population assessments or monitoring.

The researchers say the site was developed in cooperation with a team of experts in fields such as evolutionary biology, demographic parameter estimation, and exotic species detection to provide a broad, dynamic, and easily understood resource with limited jargon. 

The website, Genetic Monitoring for Managers, is available HERE

Here comes the world’s smallest frog

                                             Photo credit: RITTMEYAR ET AL

Two new species of diminutive terrestrial frogs from the megadiverse hotspot island of New Guinea, has been discovered US based researchers. One of them represents the smallest known vertebrate species, attaining an average body size of only 7.7 mm. They belong to the genus Paedophryne.

The researchers say minute frogs are not mere oddities, but represent a previously unrecognized ecological guild found in moist leaf litter of tropical wet-forests.

Before this discovery the title of "world's smallest frog" was with the Brazilian gold frog (Brachycephalus didactylus) and its slightly larger Cuban relative, the Monte Iberia Eleuth (Eleutherodactylus iberia). They both measure less than 1cm long.

Journal reference 

Ecological Guild Evolution and the Discovery of the World's Smallest Vertebrate

Eric N. Rittmeyer,Allen Allison,Michael C. Gründler,Derrick K. Thompson,Christopher C. Austin

Rittmeyer EN, Allison A, Gründler MC, Thompson DK, Austin CC (2012) Ecological Guild Evolution and the Discovery of the World's Smallest Vertebrate. PLoS ONE 7(1): e29797. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0029797

First ever photo of Myanmar snub-nosed monkey

                                           Photo credit:  FFI/BANCA/PRCF

In 2010 scientists led by Swiss primatologist Thomas Geissman and Ngwe Lwin of the Myanmar Biodiversity And Nature Conservation Association, working in Myanmar, heralded the discovery of a new species of primate, the Myanmar snub-nosed monkey (Rhinopithecus strykeri). The monkey sneezes when it rains. The descriptions of the monkey come from a carcass killed by a local hunter. The team encountered seven live specimens, including an infant, but they could not be photographed

Now scientists have succeeded in taking a camera trap photo of this elusive species. Photographer Jeremy Holden led the team that succeeded in talking the photo. Conservationists are delighted with this first ever record of the animal in its natural habitat

40 questions that, if addressed or answered would help formulate appropriate conservation policy and management at a national Level

Generation of Priority Research Questions to Inform Conservation Policy and Management at a National Level

MURRAY A. RUDD,KAREN F. BEAZLEY,STEVEN J. COOKE,ERICA FLEISHMAN,DANIEL E. LANE,MICHAEL B. MASCIA,ROBIN ROTH,GARY TABOR,JISELLE A. BAKKER,TERESA BELLEFONTAINE,DOMINIQUE BERTEAUX,BERNARD CANTIN,KEITH G. CHAUK,KATHRYN CUNNINGHAM,ROD DOBELL,ELEANOR FAST,NADIA FERRARA,C. SCOTT FINDLAY,LARS K. HALLSTROM,THOMAS HAMMOND,LUISE HERMANUTZ,JEFFREY A. HUTCHINGS,KATHRYN E. LINDSAY,TIM J. MARTA,VIVIAN M. NGUYEN,GREG NORTHEY,KENT PRIOR,SAUDIEL RAMIREZ-SANCHEZ,JAKE RICE,DARREN J. H. SLEEP,NORA D. SZABO,GENEVIÈVE TROTTIER,JEAN-PATRICK TOUSSAINT,JEAN-PHILIPPE VEILLEUX

 Conservation Biology, Volume 25, Issue 3, pages 476–484, June 2011

Here is a very interesting paper that I read recently. It is an open access paper. The accent is on Canada, but it has relevance worldwide.

 Under the present day realities societal tradeoffs between human use of biological diversity and its preservation is a sine qua non. To achieve this objective Integrating knowledge from across the natural and social sciences is necessary.

The authors say collaborative processes can change the ways decision makers think about scientific evidence, enhance levels of mutual trust and credibility, and advance the conservation policy discourse.

Here the researchers identify 40 questions that, if addressed or answered, would advance research that has a high probability of supporting development of effective policies and management strategies for species, ecosystems, and ecological processes in Canada.

The emphasize was on understanding ecosystems, the effects and mitigation of climate change, coordinating governance and management efforts across multiple jurisdictions, and examining relations between conservation policy and the social and economic well-being of Aboriginal peoples. 

The researcher says the questions they identified provide potential links between evidence from the conservation sciences and formulation of policies for conservation and resource management. 

The researchers stress that their collaborative process of communication and engagement between scientists and decision makers for generating and prioritising research questions at a national level could be a model for similar efforts beyond Canada.

 

 

Facts and figures on biodiversity

IUCN News Release

Discover more about biodiversity and its impact on our lives.

Species - our food and medecine

·         While most people depend mainly on domesticated species for their dietary needs, some 200 million depend on wild species for at least part of their food.

·         More than 60 wild species have been used to improve the world’s 13 major crops by providing genes for pest resistance, improved yield, and enhanced nutrition.

·         Since agriculture began about 12,000 years ago, roughly 7,000 plant species have been used for human consumption.

·         Amphibians play a vital role in ecosystems, are indicators of environmental health, and are ‘hopping pharmacies’ being used in the search for new medicines. Yet 41% of amphibian species are threatened with extinction.

·         In some countries, medicinal plants and animals provide most of the drugs people use, and even in technologically-advanced countries like the USA, half of the 100 most-prescribed drugs originate from wild species.

·         More than 70,000 different plant species are used in traditional and modern medicine.

Nature’s services

·         Production of at least one third of the world’s food, including 87 of the 113 leading food crops, depends on pollination carried out by insects, bats and birds. This ecosystem service is worth over US$ 200 billion per year.

·         A square kilometre of coastal ecosystem such as mangroves forests can store up to five times more carbon than the equivalent area of mature tropical forests. But these areas are being destroyed three to four times faster than forests, releasing substantial amounts of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere and the ocean, and contributing to climate change.

·         Wild species are important in pest regulation. Bats, toads, birds, snakes, and so on consume vast numbers of the major animal pests found on crops or in forests.

·         A single colony of Mexican Free-tailed Bat eats more than 9,000 kg of insects per night, targeting especially Corn Earthworms and Fall Armyworms, both major crop predators. Yet 18% of bat species are threatened with extinction.

·         A single brood of woodpeckers can eat 8,000-12,000 harmful insect pupae per day, helping to maintain the health of forests, whilst in fruit plantations, insectivorous birds can make the difference between a bumper crop or a costly failure.

Human impact

·         Overfishing has reduced some commercial fish stocks by more than 90%.

·         The Giant Manta Ray is the largest living ray, which can grow to more than seven metres in width. Manta Ray products have a high value in international trade and targeted fisheries hunt them for their valuable gill rakers used in traditional Chinese medicine.

·         In China, 78 million dryland cashmere goats supply up to 75% of the world’s cashmere fibre.

·         Eighty five percent of sturgeon, one of the oldest families of fishes in existence, valued around the world for their precious roe, are at risk of extinction.

Conservation success

·         The regal Arabian Oryx which was hunted to near extinction, is now facing a more secure future thanks to captive breeding and reintroduction efforts. Its wild population now stands at 1,000 individuals.

·         The Southern White Rhino subspecies has increased from a population of less than 100 at the end of the 19th century to an estimated wild population of over 20,000.

·         The status of Przewalski’s Horse has improved from Critically Endangered to Endangered. Originally, it was listed as Extinct in the Wild in 1996, but thanks to a captive breeding reintroduction programme, the population is now estimated at more than 300.

·         The Campbell Island Teal has benefitted from a massive programme to eradicate rats, plus captive-breeding of remaining individuals. The species has now returned to New Zealand’s Campbell Island and the majority of birds are now thriving, resulting in a reclassification of the threat status to Endangered.

Awe and wonder

·         Tourists spend billions of dollars every year to watch birds or whales, or witness wildlife spectacles such as the great annual migrations in the Serengeti ecosystem of Tanzania and Kenya where 1.5 million wildebeest, 500,000 Thomson’s gazelle and 200,000 zebra cross the plain.

·         Visitors to national parks, are drawn by the wildlife they see, and the thriving diving industry is largely based on the species of coral, fish, and other marine species that provide a colourful spectacle.

·         King penguins are found in their thousands in the sub-Antarctic Crozet archipelago, which is nicknamed the “25 million bird island”. The density of the marine bird population there reaches a staggering 60 tonnes/km².

Into the unknown

·         The oceans cover 70% of the planet but we know so little about life within them.

·         A team of scientists including from IUCN are exploring seamounts—underwater mountains which rise to at least 1,000 metres above the sea floor. Seamounts are home to a rich biodiversity and act as a type of ‘bed and breakfast’ for deep sea predators such as sharks but face many serious threats from human activities.

A fish that disguises itself as octopus

It is a known fact that octopus impersonate lionfish and sea snakes. But, a fish imitating octopus is something new. This is exactly what scientists from the University of Gottingen, Germany, have discovered. They have recorded a black-marble jawfish (Stalix cf. histrio) disguising itself among the octopus' tentacles.

 This is the first evidence of association between a fish and a mimic octopus (Thaumoctopus mimicus).

The scientists believe that jawfish is an "opportunistic mimic" using disguise as protection while it forages.

Journal reference 

Opportunistic mimicry by a Jawfish

L. A. Rocha, R. Ross and G. Kopp

Coral Reefs, Online 10 December 2011

GPS telemetry is biased against small prey

Do GPS clusters really work? Carnivore diet from scat analysis and GPS telemetry methods

Michelle M. Bacon, Greg M. Becic, Mark T. Epp and Mark S. Boyce

Wildlife Society Bulletin

Volume 35, Issue 4, pages 409–415, December 2011

Global Positioning System (GPS) in combination with radiocollars are invaluable tools for researchers to identify sites where predators have killed prey. This modern method has yet to be compared with traditional scat analysis. Here the researchers are attempting a comparison.

 The researchers analyzed 211 scat samples and compared composition of prey items with 266 kill sites found using GPS radiotelemetry data on cougars (Puma concolor) in the Cypress Hills of southeast Alberta and southwest Saskatchewan, Canada. 

Scat samples were better able to detect small mammals. When it comes to big prey species both methods estimated nearly identical biomass consumed.

The research clearly demonstrated that GPS telemetry is biased against small prey but the method provides results comparable to scat analysis for larger prey that make up the majority of biomass consumed by cougars.

A new understanding of conservation leadership

Leadership and conservation effectiveness: finding a better way to lead

Simon A. Black, Jim J. Groombridge, and Carl G. Jones

Conservation Letters, Volume 4, Issue 5, pages 329–339, October/November 2011

Here is a very interesting paper that is very relevant to conservation. The researchers take a deep look in to the aspects of leadership as an important component for conservation programs.

The attributes of effective leaders in conservation scenario are not yet clearly defined. The researchers identify a leadership approach that enables a conservation organization to be more effective in achieving positive results.

The researchers say successful approaches resonate strongly with both the characteristics of species conservation and established leadership theory in mainstream management literature. They describe the practices identified in successful species conservation programs to provide the basis for a new understanding of conservation leadership using established management theory. 

Here are the traits of what the authors say indicates  good conservation leadership

1)    An ability to share a clear, long-term vision; orientation toward “hands-on” management;

2)    An ability to switch thinking between the big picture and the detail

3)    A willingness to encourage learning, improvement, and receptiveness to alternative solutions

The authors assert that activities in the conservation sector are typically influenced by factors beyond the control of managers, but conversely, a leadership approach is under managers’ direct control and has an impact on attainment of results.

The researchers sign off with the following words

“Effective leadership is one factor that should not be left to chance but should be considered seriously for its impact on achievement in biodiversity conservation”.

Creating and restoring wetlands can be valuable tools for amphibian conservation

A Place to Call Home: Amphibian Use of Created and Restored Wetlands

Donald J. Brown,Garrett M. Street, Robert W. Nairn and Michael R. J. Forstner

International Journal of Ecology
Volume 2012 (2012), Article ID 989872

Amphibians are on a decline worldwide due to loss and degradation of wetland habitats. In this paper the authors make an assessment of the impact of creation and restoration of wetlands.

The researchers found that Amphibian species richness or abundance at created and restored wetlands was either similar to or greater than reference wetlands in 89% of studies. They say use of created and restored wetlands by individual species was driven by aquatic and terrestrial habitat preferences, as well as ability to disperse from source wetlands.

Based on their research the researchers conclude that creating and restoring wetlands can be valuable tools for amphibian conservation. 

Here is a rider from the authors “Because hydroperiod dynamics exert such a strong influence on amphibian communities, we recommend that managers consider the surrounding wetland community when engaging in wetlands creation initiatives”