Conservation evo-devo: preserving biodiversity by understanding its origins

Unprecedented rates of species extinction increase the urgency for effective conservation biology management practices. Thus, any improvements in practice are vital and we suggest that conservation can be enhanced through recent advances in evolutionary biology, specifically advances put forward by evolutionary developmental biology (i.e., evo-devo). There are strong overlapping conceptual links between conservation and evo-devo whereby both fields focus on evolutionary potential. In particular, benefits to conservation can be derived from some of the main areas of evo-devo research, namely phenotypic plasticity, modularity and integration, and mechanistic investigations of the precise developmental and genetic processes that determine phenotypes. Using examples we outline how evo-devo can expand into conservation biology, an opportunity which holds great promise for advancing both fields

Conservation Biology of Elasmobranchs

Elasmobranchs are vital and valuable components of the marine biota. From an ecological perspective they occupy the role of top predators within marine food webs, providing a regulatory control that helps balance the ecosystem. From an evolutionary perspective, this group represents an early divergence along the vertebrate line that produced many unusual, but highly successful, adaptations in function and form. From man's perspective, elasmobranchs have been considered both an unavoidable nuisance, and an exploitable fishery resource. A few of the large shark species have earned a dubious notoriety because of sporadic attacks on humans that occur in coastal areas each year worldwide; the hysteria surrounding an encounter with a shark can be costly to the tourist industry. More importantly, elasmobranchs are often considered a detriment to commercial fishing operations; they cause significant economic damage to catches and fishing gear. On the other hand, consumer attitudes have changed concerning many previously unpopular food fishes, including elasmobranchs, and this group of fishes has been increasingly used by both recreational and commercial fishing interests. Many elasmobranchs have become a popular target of recreational fishermen for food and sport because of their abundance, size, and availability in coastal waters. Similarly, commercial fisheries for elasmobranchs have developed or expanded from an increased demand for elasmobranch food products. (PDF file contains 108 pages.

Biodiversity conservation strategy in Malaysia: from an Islamic perspective

The rapid decline of world’s biodiversity and increasing need of natural resources to accommodate the growing population suggest that the current western philosophy of conservation biology is not achieving its mission and objective as expected in Southeast Asia. The existing religious tools and channels for conservation should be seriously considered. There is a high potential in achieving high standards of conservation biology if management of natural resources adheres to the fundamental principles of Islam in Malaysia. However religious approaches are mainly limited to Islamic norms and treated independently in many parts of Southeast Asia, including Malaysia. Therefore there is an urgent need to synergize Islamic concepts in conservation biology with the existing governance system. It is believed if Islamic concepts are genuinely practised and amalgamated into the existing implementation and governance structure in conservation biology, the future for biodiversity in this region will be bright

Sylvia Earle: Ocean Life Makes Human Life Possible

Legendary oceanographer and marine scientist lauds RWU for marine biology and aquaculture programs as a leading example of research and conservation efforts

New Hope for the Oceans: Engaging Faith-Based Communities in Marine Conservation

Science alone cannot protect the oceans and their biological diversity. Whereas, scientists can identify problems and empirical steps toward their resolution, support for research, problem solving, and implementation of solutions must come from societal sources. Among the most promising are religious communities whose members are motivated by their faith to collaborate with marine scientists in achieving shared goals. Many reasons prevail for engaging faith communities in mitigating assaults on the oceans and protecting them from threats to their functioning. Participants in the open forum convened by the Religion and Conservation Biology Working Group of the Society for Conservation Biology during the 4th International Marine Conservation Congress shared their insights on (1) why and how marine researchers and conservation practitioners can best involve faith communities, (2) actions and attitudes that deter constructive engagement with faith communities, and (3) ways forward that the SCB should consider facilitating. Among ways forward identified are the Best Practices Project initiated recently by the RCBWG, adding cultural values and ethics as disciplines SCB members should probe when addressing conservation problems, regularly including cultural values and ethics in panels with other disciplines at international and regional SCB congresses, and appointing an associate editor of SCB publications who will assure the inclusion of articles in which religious and spiritual worldviews, values, and ethics are integrated with the conservation sciences

Investigation of parental care in avocets from the perspectives of behavioural ecology and conservation biology

This research encompasses both basic (behavioural ecology) and applied (conservation biology) aspects of the biology of Avocets (Recurvirostra avosetta L.). My central question is whether adoption of alien young can be adaptive for adults and the adopted chicks. I evaluate proximate-level hypotheses by quantifying costs and/or bene�ts of both adopters and adoptees. I observed adoption of alien chicks in 19% of the families in 1998 and 1999. My �rst results suggest that adoption may be adaptive for both the adoptive adult and the adopted chick. This is because adopted chicks were more likely to �edge than their siblings remaining in their own family and the �edging success of the adopter adults' own chicks was higher than that of nonadoptive adults' chicks. In my applied research I collect data on avocet breeding biology to �nd out whether the current population increase in Hungary results from the reproductive output of the Hungarian population or is maintained by an in�ux of birds from coastal populations. I also use these data to design and implement e�ective conservation measures by which to further enhance the Hungarian population of the endangered Avocet. I successfully increased the hatching success of mainland nests by erecting a fence to keep ground predators away. The �edging success of chicks also increased after a predator control in the most a�ected areas. By providing information about the timing of nesting to nature conservation authorities I assured the successful breeding of one �fth of Hungary's avocet population on a �shpond in 1999

Rebecca Rowe: Professor of Natural Resources and the Environment

Rebecca Rowe is an associate professor and program coordinator for wildlife and conservation biology in the Department of Natural Resources and the Environment at the University of New Hampshire. Below is a correspondence with Dr. Rowe about her own research and her mentoring experiences with undergraduate students

Effects of temporal variability on rare plant persistence in annual

Traditional conservation biology regards environmental fluctuations as detrimental to persistence, reducing long-term average growth rates and increasing the probability of extinction. By contrast, coexistence models from community ecology suggest that for species with dormancy, environmental fluctuations may be essential for persistence in competitive communities. We used models based on California grasslands to examine the influence of interannual fluctuations in the environment on the persistence of rare forbs competing with exotic grasses. Despite grasses and forbs independently possessing high fecundity in the same types of years, interspecific differences in germination biology and dormancy caused the rare forb to benefit from variation in the environment. Owing to the buildup of grass competitors, consecutive favorable years proved highly detrimental to forb persistence. Consequently, negative temporal autocorrelation, a low probability of a favorable year, and high variation in year quality all benefited the forb. In addition, the litter produced by grasses in a previously favorable year benefited forb persistence by inhibiting its germination into highly competitive grass environments. We conclude that contrary to conventional predictions of conservation and population biology, yearly fluctuations in climate may be essential for the persistence of rare species in invaded habitats

Evolutionary Conservation Biology: Introduction

Evolution has molded the past and paves the future of biodiversity. As anthropogenic damage to the Earth's biota spans unprecedented temporal and spatial scales, it has become urgent to tear down the traditional scientific barriers between conservation studies of populations, communities, and ecosystems from an evolutionary perspective. Acknowledgment that ecological and evolutionary processes closely interact is now mandatory for the development of management strategies aimed at the long-term conservation of biodiversity. The purpose of this book is to set the stage for an integrative approach to conservation biology that aims to manage species as well as ecological and evolutionary processes. Human activities have brought the Earth to the brink of biotic crisis. Over the past decades, habitat destruction and fragmentation has been a major cause of population declines and extinctions. Famous examples include the destruction and serious degradation that have swept away over 75% of primary forests worldwide, about the same proportion of the mangrove forests of southern Asia, 98% or more of the dry forests of western Central America, and native grasslands and savannas across the USA. As human impact spreads and intensifies over the whole planet, conservation concerns evolve. Large-scale climatic changes have begun to endanger entire animal communities (Box 1.1). Amphibian populations, for example, have suffered widespread declines and extinctions in many parts of the world as a result of atmospheric change mediated through complex local ecological interactions. The time scale over which such biological consequences of global change unfolds is measured in decades to centuries