Hung Out to Dry: Choice of Priority Ecoregions for Conserving Threatened Neotropical Anurans Depends on Life-History Traits

Background: In the Neotropics, nearly 35 % of amphibian species are threatened by habitat loss, habitat fragmentation, and habitat split; anuran species with different developmental modes respond to habitat disturbance in different ways. This entails broad-scale strategies for conserving biodiversity and advocates for the identification of high conservation-value regions that are significant in a global or continental context and that could underpin more detailed conservation assessments towards such areas. Methodology/Principal Findings: We identified key ecoregion sets for anuran conservation using an algorithm that favors complementarity (beta-diversity) among ecoregions. Using the WWF’s Wildfinder database, which encompasses 700 threatened anuran species in 119 Neotropical ecoregions, we separated species into those with aquatic larvae (AL) or terrestrial development (TD), as this life-history trait affects their response to habitat disturbance. The conservation target of 100 % of species representation was attained with a set of 66 ecoregions. Among these, 30 were classified as priority both for species with AL and TD, 26 were priority exclusively for species with AL, and 10 for species with TD only. Priority ecoregions for both developmental modes are concentrated in the Andes and in Mesoamerica. Ecoregions important for conserving species with AL are widely distributed across the Neotropics. When anuran life histories were ignored, species with AL were always underrepresented in priority sets

Identifying Conservation Priorities in Mexico through Geographical Information Systems and Modeling

Environmental assessments of regional development projects have been used in Mexico to determine where conflicts between conservation of biodiversity and resource extraction are likely to occur. Speciesrich areas have been acknowledged as a priority for conservation. However, biological information is incomplete and biased toward accessible sites, so speciesrich areas cannot be depicted directly freom current biological knowledge. An alternative approach to predicting speciesrich areas is presented in this Artículo de investigación. It is based on the gap analysis technique and involves the use of ordination analysis and generalized linear models integrated with a geographic information system. This approach was used for locating speciesrich areas in the Mexican states of Guerrero and Oaxaca, where a regional forestry development project was proposed. Baseline information consisted of geereferenced collection sites of terrestrial vertebrates. Thirtytwo species assemblages were identified by the ordination analysis, as well as by 25 generalized linear models. Validation of six of these models showed no significant differences between observed and predicted species freequencies. Results demonstrated that speciesrich areas could be depicted even under the constraints of environmental assessment in Mexico. A large number of species could be used in this analysis due to the minimal information required for each species record. This predictive approach optimized available biological information for the integration of conservation into regional development planning

The Lyon-Turin High-Speed Rail: The Public Debate and Perception of Environmental Risk in Susa Valley, Italy

When the construction of the Lyon-Turin segment of the new European high-speed rail network was first publicly announced at the beginning of the 1990s, it immediately found fierce opposition from the inhabitants of Susa Valley, Italy, one of the areas to be cut across by such infrastructure. At issue were the project’s potential environmental impact and its consequences on public health. This study intends to clarify environmental risk perception and public debate between the national government, local advocacy groups, and the inhabitants of Susa Valley. Two major phases of public reaction were identified: (1) an initial rebellious period of no real dialog among the project’s major stakeholders (exemplified by the popular ‘‘No TAV’’ [No High Speed Train] movement), followed by (2) a yielding period of intense multilateral negotiations centered on the activities of the ‘‘Lyon-Turin Environmental Observatory.’’ The results of a qualitative cross analysis of the residents’ perception of the proposed high-speed rail revealed that public acceptance of risk in Susa Valley was influenced by the characteristics of hazards perceived by the residents and by the communicative approach used by the project’s various stakeholders. It also emerged that early dialog among all the parties involved was critical in forming a personal viewpoint on risk, which, once consolidated, defied new information and perspectives. Likely, a greater and earlier care taken by the other stakeholders to inform and consult the local population about the railway would have greatly eased the public debate