AMPHIBIAN DISTRIBUTION IN THE GEORGIA SEA ISLANDS: IMPLICATIONS FROM THE PAST AND FOR THE FUTURE

We summarized amphibian distributions for 12 coastal islands in Georgia, USA. Occurrence among islands was correlated with life history traits, habitats, island size, distance to other islands, and island geological age. Species’ distributions were determined from published literature. Island sizes and vegetation types were derived from 2011 Georgia Department of Natural Resources habitat maps, which included both federal and state vegetation classification systems. Species occurring on more islands tended to have greater total reproductive output (i.e., life span >4 years, and annual egg production >1,000 eggs) and adults had tolerance of brackish environs. Larger islands had great­er area of freshwater wetlands, predominantly short hydroperiod (<6 months). Species tied to long hydroperiod wetlands (>6 months) were more restricted in their distribution across islands. Overall, larger islands supported more species, but the correlation was weaker for geologically younger Ho­locene islands (age <11,000 years). While Euclidean distance between islands does not necessarily preclude inter-island dispersal, inhospitable habitat for amphibians (brackish tidal marshes and creeks interspersed with wide rivers) suggests that inter-island dispersal is very limited. The paucity of recent occurrence data for amphibians in this dynamic coastal region, let alone standardized annual moni­toring data, hinders efforts to model species’ vulnerability in a region susceptible to sea level rise and development pressure. The most common survey method, standardized amphibian vocal surveys, will detect Anuran reproductive efforts, but is unlikely to ascertain if breeding was successful or to detect salamanders. While it will not replace actual population data, consideration of critical life-history traits and breeding habitat availability can be used to direct management to support long-term species per­sistence in changing environs. Even common amphibians in coastal conservation areas of Georgia are vulnerable to increasing population isolation caused by unsuitable habitat

REMOTE DETECTION OF EPHEMERAL WETLANDS IN MID- ATLANTIC COASTAL PLAIN ECOREGIONS: LIDAR AND HIGH-THROUGHPUT COMPUTING

Ephemeral wetlands are ecologically important freshwater ecosystems that occur frequently throughout the Atlantic coastal plain ecoregions of North America. Despite the growing consensus of their importance and imperilment, these systems historically have not been a national conservation priority. They are often cryptic on the landscape and methods to detect ephemeral wetlands remotely have been ineffective at the landscape scales necessary for conservation planning and resource management. Therefore, this study fills information gaps by employing high-resolution light detection and ranging (LiDAR) data to create local relief models that elucidate small localized changes in concavity. Relief models were then processed with local indicators of spatial association (LISA) in order to automate their detection by measuring autocorrelation among model indices. Following model development and data processing, field validation of 114 predicted wetland locations was conducted using a random stratified design proportional to landcover, to measure model commission (α) and omission (β) error rates. Wetland locations were correctly predicted at 85% of visited sites with α error rate = 15% and β error rate = 5%. These results suggest that devised local relief models captured small geomorphologic changes that successfully predict ephemeral wetland boundaries in low-relief ecosystems. Small wetlands are often centers of biodiversity in forested landscapes and this analysis will facilitate their detection, the first step towards long-term management

Options for a new integrated natural resources monitoring framework for Wales. Phase 1 project report

Healthy natural resources underpin significant economic sectors in Wales including agriculture, fisheries, tourism and forestry, they also make a significant contribution across Cabinet policies including the health and well-being agenda. In order to develop policies that build social, economic and environmental resilience and to evaluate policy implementation, a robust natural resources monitoring framework is required. Current monitoring activities are of varying quality, not sufficiently aligned to the new legislative and policy landscape, disjointed and when considered as a whole, potentially not as cost-effective as they could be. This project was tasked with identifying options and developing recommendations for an integrated natural resources monitoring framework for Wales reflecting the ambitions and integrating principles of the Environment Act and Well Being of Future Generations Act. The monitoring community, the Welsh Government and Natural Resources Wales Core Evidence Group, the project team, stakeholders and partners, have agreed on a set of recommendations

Predictive Modelling for Anuran Responses to Climate Change in Tropical Montane Ecosystems

Climate change poses a serious threat to many species globally. Potential responses are shifting range, adapting (e.g., phenological changes) or face extinction. Tropical montane ecosystems are particularly vulnerable to shifts in future climate due to rapid land use change, high population growth and multiple changes in the climate system, such as shifts and intensity of seasonality. Climate Change Vulnerability Assessment (CCVA) through Species Distribution Modelling (SDMs) provides a means of spatially assessing the potential impact of climate change on species ranges, but SDMs are limited in application by incomplete distribution data, a particularly acute challenge with rare and narrow ranging species. Malagasy amphibians exemplify the problems of SDMs in CCVA: two-thirds (166 species) have insufficient distribution data to run an SDM. This thesis developed a Trait Distribution Model (TDM) framework to spatially assess the climate-change vulnerability of data-poor, threatened Malagasy amphibians for the first time. By grouping species into trait complexes and then pooling distribution records, TDMs were used to assess the distributions of amphibian communities along environmental gradients. Threatened species clustered into three complexes; arboreal specialists, understorey species and habitat specialists. TDMs predicted the spatial distribution of all species in the landscape, but that ability improved as species’ range sizes and distribution data decreased. Correlations between trait complexes and water deficit suggested high levels of climate vulnerability for Malagasy amphibians by 2085, particularly arboreal species. However, omission of habitat variables led to spatial over-prediction, by up to 60%, for specialised species under current climate conditions. Subsequent ‘climate+habitat’ models revealed that up to eight threatened amphibian species face heightened extinction risk from climate change. Species losses are concentrated in lowland and mid-altitudinal zones, with no projected losses of tropical montane species. TDMs can indicate habitat management at the community level and be part of conservation planning under projected climate change

Maine Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit and Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Conservation Biology 2018 Report to Cooperators

The Maine Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit and the University of Maine Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Conservation Biology summarized the past year’s research, accomplishments, and activities in this annual report

Guide to Nebraska\u27s Wetlands and their Conservation Needs

Wetlands: a source of great interest, and at times conflict. Wetlands represent different things to different people. To some people they may be considered shallow, muddy nuisances whereas to others they are considered to be wonderful, varied, and productive assets. This is because wetlands take on many roles as part of an elaborate and dynamic system. Understanding wetlands requires understanding the complex and varying roles they can play. To aid in this understanding, this guide defines wetlands, discusses their importance and dynamics, identifies threats and losses, describes conservation programs, and takes an in-depth look at Nebraska’s regional wetland complexes. Nebraska’s wetland resources are surprisingly diverse and dynamic. They include marshes, lake edges, river and stream edges, backwaters, oxbows, wet meadows, fens, forested floodplains, and seep areas. These wetlands vary greatly in nature and appearance due to physical features, such as geographic location, water source and permanence, and chemical properties. Some wetlands hold water for only a few weeks or less during the spring, whereas others rarely go completely dry. Many wetlands receive their water from groundwater aquifers, and others are totally dependent on precipitation and runoff. Finally, the water chemistry of wetlands ranges from fresh to saline, and from acidic to basic. These descriptions identify the extremes of wetland characteristics. Nebraska’s wetland resources possess these extremes and virtually every combination in between

Modeling of Species Distribution and Biodiversity in Forests

Understanding the patterns of biodiversity and their relationship with environmental gradients is a key issue in ecological research and conservation in forests. Several environmental factors can influence species distributions in these complex ecosystems. It is therefore important to distinguish the effects of natural factors from the anthropogenic ones (e.g., environmental pollution, climate change, and forest management) by adopting reliable models able to predict future scenarios of species distribution. In the last 20 years, the use of statistical tools, such as Species Distribution Models (SDM) or Ecological Niche Models (ENM), allowed researchers to make great strides in the subject, with hundreds of scientific research works in this field. This book collects several research articles where these methodological approaches are the starting point to deepen the knowledge in many timely and emerging topics in forest ecosystems around the world, from Eurasia to America