Aerial Inventories of Waterfowl in Illinois and Estimation of Moist-soil Plant Seed Abundance for Waterfowl on Lands Managed by Illinois Department of Natural Resources

Grant/Contract No: W-43-R 53-54-55Reports on progress and results of inventories of waterfowl along the Illinois and central Mississippi rivers during fall and winter and estimation of moist-soil plant seed abundance for waterfowl on lands managed by Illinois Department of Natural ResourcesINHS Technical Report Prepared for U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, Illinois Department of Natural Resource

Habitat Composition and Connectivity Predicts Bat Presence and Activity at Foraging Sites in a Large UK Conurbation

Background: Urbanization is characterized by high levels of sealed land-cover, and small, geometrically complex, fragmented land-use patches. The extent and density of urbanized land-use is increasing, with implications for habitat quality, connectivity and city ecology. Little is known about densification thresholds for urban ecosystem function, and the response of mammals, nocturnal and cryptic taxa are poorly studied in this respect. Bats (Chiroptera) are sensitive to changing urban form at a species, guild and community level, so are ideal model organisms for analyses of this nature. Methodology/Principal Findings: We surveyed bats around urban ponds in the West Midlands conurbation, United Kingdom (UK). Sites were stratified between five urban land classes, representing a gradient of built land-cover at the 1 km 2 scale. Models for bat presence and activity were developed using land-cover and land-use data from multiple radii around each pond. Structural connectivity of tree networks was used as an indicator of the functional connectivity between habitats. All species were sensitive to measures of urban density. Some were also sensitive to landscape composition and structural connectivity at different spatial scales. These results represent new findings for an urban area. The activity of Pipistrellus pipistrellus (Schreber 1774) exhibited a non-linear relationship with the area of built land-cover, being much reduced beyond the threshold of,60 % built surface. The presence of tree networks appears to mitigate the negative effects of urbanization for this species

How to meet new global targets in the offshore realms: biophysical guidelines for offshore networks of no-take marine protected areas

Networks of no-take marine protected areas (MPAs), where all extractive activities are prohibited, are the most effective tool to directly protect marine ecosystems from destructive and unsustainable human activities. No-take MPAs and MPA networks have been globally implemented in coastal seas, and their success has been significantly enhanced where science-based biophysical guidelines have informed their design. Increasingly, as human pressure on marine ecosystems is expanding further offshore, governments are establishing offshore MPAs—some very large—or MPA networks. Globally, there are growing calls from scientists, non-government organisations, and national governments to set global conservation targets upwards of 30%. Given that most of the ocean is found either in the high seas or offshore within national Exclusive Economic Zones, large offshore MPAs or networks of MPAs must be a major component of these global targets for ocean protection. However, without adequate design, these offshore MPAs risk being placed to minimise conflict with economic interests, rather than to maximise biodiversity protection. This paper describes detailed biophysical guidelines that managers can use to design effective networks of no-take MPAs in offshore environments. We conducted a systematic review of existing biophysical design guidelines for networks of MPAs in coastal seas, and found consistent elements relating to size, shape, connectivity, timeframes, and representation of biophysical features. However, few of the guidelines are tailored to offshore environments, and few of the large offshore MPAs currently in place were designed systematically. We discuss how the common inshore design guidelines should be revised to be responsive to the characteristics of offshore ecosystems, including giving consideration of issues of scale, data availability, and uncertainty. We propose 10 biophysical guidelines that can be used to systematically design offshore networks of MPAs which will also contribute to the global goal of at least 30% protection globally. Finally, we offer three priority guidelines that reflect the unique conservation needs of offshore ecosystems: emphasising the need for larger MPAs; maximising the inclusion of special features that are known and mapped; and representing minimum percentages of habitats, or, where mapped, bioregions. Ultimately, MPA guidelines need to be embedded within an adaptive management framework, and have the flexibility to respond to emerging knowledge and new challenges

The preservation of the Cape flora : status, causes of rarity, ideals and priorities

Includes bibliographies.The Cape Floristic Region (CFR), covering 90 000 km2, comprises one of the world's six floral kingdoms. With 8600 species, of which 68 per cent are endemic, it ranks amongst the richest of temperate and tropical floras. Although 19 per cent of the CFR occurs in nature reserves, by far the majority of the preserved area comprises Mountain Fynbos. Only 0.5 and 3 per cent of the original extent of Renoster Shrub/and Lowland Fynbos is preserved, respectively. In this study Fynbos vegetation is identified as the richest habitat for Red Data Book (RDB) plant, freshwater fish, amphibian, butterfly, and reptile species in southern Africa. The greater Cape Town metropolitan area is identified as containing by far the highest richness of RDB plant, butterfly, reptile and amphibian species in the CFR Thus, this area ranks globally as one of the most urgent conservation priorities. The study also illustrates that previously used methods for evaluating priority conservation areas have under-rated species-poor areas containing a high proportion of RDB species. By collecting for species richness, a far more realistic picture of threatened areas can be obtained from RDB taxa. This study predicts, using a priori hypotheses based on ecological traits, and finds, that seed dispersal and regeneration strategies are most strongly correlated with rarity, most specifically with distributional area. Using distributional data for the Proteaceae, this study estimates that 95 per cent of all vascular plant species in Fynbos can be preserved in 16 per cent of the area. It also identifies the sites that require preservation if the maximum protection of floral diversity is to be realized. Two null models for evaluating the efficiency of a spatial configuration of reserves are proposed. Utilizing an iterating selection procedure, this study explores various algorithms, based on species richness and rarity, to construct ideal reserve configurations. This study provides the first empirical confirmation that the ideal approach to designing a reserve configuration is to identify areas of high endemism and richness in distinctive vegetation types within particular biogeographical regions. Thus, this study pioneers the use of RDB data to identify priority conservation regions, provides one of the first assessments of the causes of rarity in plants and establishes useful null models and algorithms for the identification and testing of ideal reserve locations in the design of integrated reserve networks. Not only does this study contribute towards theoretical reserve selection procedures, but it provides one of the most advanced frameworks for the preservation of a top conservation priority in the world, the CFR

The process of conserving biodiversity: From planning to evaluating conservation actions on private land in the Cape Lowlands, South Africa

Conservation can be conceptualised as a process of linked phases that contribute to bringing about effective biodiversity protection: (i) a conservation assessment that identifies spatially explicit conservation priorities to provide strategic guidance on where best to invest conservation resources; (ii) a planning phase that takes the spatial priorities forward into implementation processes by setting out a strategy and schedule for undertaking conservation action; (iii) an implementation phase during which conservation interventions are executed; and (iv) an evaluation phase to investigate whether conservation has been successful. In practice, conservation is rarely conducted in this way. The interrelated phases are often undertaken separately, links are neglected, and conservation science to date has focused primarily on the conservation assessment. This has led to the development of highly sophisticated principles and techniques for locating priority conservation areas, but planning and evaluation have received limited research attention: few published studies demonstrate collaborative planning processes that assist with putting conservation assessments into practice, or show on-theground conservation success linked to effective conservation planning and implementation processes. My PhD research aimed to address these knowledge gaps by conducting a conservation assessment and collaborative planning phase that would lead to effective conservation action as determined by an evaluation. The study area was in the critically endangered Cape Lowlands, a conservation priority area in the Cape Floristic Region, South Africa. The highly transformed agricultural production landscape is mostly privately owned; formal biodiversity protection is low; and remnants of natural vegetation (< 9% is left) harbour an exceptionally diverse flora. Strategic conservation interventions coordinated across the Cape Floristic Region (CFR) provided the overall implementation context in the Cape Lowlands. My research was conducted in this real-world practical situation and addresses the whole conservation process, from assessment to evaluation of conservation actions. I first developed a conservation assessment guided by three key questions: âWhat are feasible, efficient, defensible and efficacious solutions for (i) deriving a surrogate layer that represents biodiversity in a region which is characterised by exceptional plant species richness and endemism ; and (ii) considering the connectivity of natural areas in an ecosystem that is highly transformed, fragmented and largely unprotected?â; and âHow can a selection method be developed for identifying and prioritising key biodiversity areas in a landscape identified as 100% irreplaceable?â To answer these questions I identified feasible, efficient, defensible methods focusing on three key aspects: (i) producing a biodiversity surrogate map of original vegetation cover using two alternative approaches: simple expert mapping and statistical modelling integrating plant species and environmental data; (ii) designing selection units based on vegetation connectivity in a simple technique to include spatial attributes of conservation areas before identifying key biodiversity areas; (iii) developing a prioritisation method based on a simple scoring system and verifying results with MARXAN-selected priority areas. In all vi three cases I found that the simple conservation assessment methods produced suitable outputs for further integration in the assessment and in decision-making during planning. (i) The expert map was as effective as the vegetation model and required fewer resources to be produced since the model relied on resource-intensive species data collection. (ii) In comparison with commonly used cadastre-based units, connectivity-based selection units captured connected vegetation more effectively and area-efficiently in units that served as the basis for priority area selection. (iii) Scoring provided a feasible, defensible mechanism for prioritising key biodiversity areas in the Cape Lowlands where all remaining vegetation has been identified as 100% irreplaceable. The planning phase complemented the assessment. Key guiding questions here were âHow can collaborative planning be used to translate the conservation assessmentâs technical outputs into timebased conservation goals and into useful products for implementation?â and âWhat constitutes effective planning in the conservation process? Through a collaborative scheduling process, I developed timebased conservation goals for action in the Cape Lowlands. This was undertaken in two work sessions with scientists, planners and conservation practitioners from the implementing agency, CapeNature. Scheduling was guided by (i) scoring-derived biodiversity-driven spatial priorities that made intuitive sense to implementers; and (ii) conservation opportunities and constraints (including resources) identified by the practitioners. Scheduling was conducted with reference to the on-going development of a private land conservation strategy for the CFR to be piloted in the Cape Lowlands. The scheduling process was an effective platform for taking spatial priorities from the assessment towards implementation: the discourse-based collaborative planning was constructive and led to consensusbased final products, including a 20-year and 5-year conservation plan setting out spatially explicit goals for conservation interventions in the Cape Lowlands. The main limitation of the process was that resource planning was not integrated explicitly enough to identify realistic goals. This highlighted the importance of integrating detailed resource considerations in future planning. Finally, to address the question âTo what extent has the Cape Lowlands conservation plan been implemented after five years of off-reserve conservation interventions in the region?â I developed a protocol for evaluating the effectiveness of conservation action in the Cape Lowlands. I assessed (i) the extent to which the goals conservation plans produced in the planning phase had been implemented; and (ii) the achievements of incentive-based conservation stewardship interventions on private land in the Cape Lowlands and CFR. Achievements were measured as hectares of vegetation protected through voluntary and legally-binding contractual conservation agreements between landowners and conservation organisations. The evaluation revealed that (i) CapeNatureâs stewardship interventions in the Cape Lowlands focused on priority areas identified in the 5- and 20-year conservation plans, thus demonstrating effective execution of the plans; (ii) private land conservation interventions have been remarkably successful and cost-effective: 68604ha priority vegetation were protected in the CFR under conservation agreements by end 2007, rivalling private land biodiversity conservation in the U.S.A. and Latin America, and more than 8000ha in the critically endangered Cape Lowlands at a cost of R 6.8 vii Million (< 1 million US$). The evaluation identified the long-term financial sustainability of current implementation programmes as the most significant threat to future success in private land conservation interventions in the Cape Lowlands and CFR. There is significant scope to design future monitoring and evaluation systems to measure ecological gains due to specific conservation actions, not done in the Cape Lowlands study, and to tailor approaches to suit specific programme stages. This PhD provides a rare overview of an entire conservation cycle with linked phases that has led to biodiversity protection. The study highlights that an effective long-term process demands significant investment in (i) a diverse (growing) set of skills and expertise to solve complex conservation situations; (ii) time, especially for visible implementation success; and (iii) well-allocated resources (money, time, skills, research attention) across all phases in the conservation process. This is necessary as each phase is needed to achieve the ultimate conservation goal: I show in the Cape Lowlands that a simple conservation assessment with limited funds (R1.8 million over 3 years) can be highly effective in guiding action towards priority areas. Important here is to develop rapid, defensible methods for cost-effective assessments and linking these with in-depth planning processes. Planning and evaluation in the Cape Lowlands were essential connecting phases that continue to support implementation success. In the context of on-going conservation action, planning and evaluation need to become part of a cyclical conservation process geared towards improved practices. I suggest that significantly greater investment in planning and evaluation research is essential to move conservation science forward in fulfilling its fundamental goal of strategically guiding where, when and how to invest optimally in conservation interventions. This will be exceptionally beneficial for undertaking effective conservation interventions and will help to clearly demonstrate the value of the research for conservation practice