National Use of IUCN Knowledge Products in the New World: A Study of National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans and National Reports to the Convention on Biological Diversity

Biodiversity loss continues to be an increasing concern to conservationists, governments, society and policymakers. The Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) currently serves as the key multilateral environmental agreement to provide a framework for protecting global biodiversity. Parties to the CBD are required to develop and submit a National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plan (NBSAP) and National Reports to the CBD. These documents serve as the principal instruments used by governments and stakeholders to identify priorities, implement and track progress of the CBD at the national level. New World countries hold a large proportion of the planet’s biodiversity and are suffering some of the most dramatic declines in species populations and biodiversity. Over the past 50 years, the IUCN has been producing biodiversity and conservation knowledge products that are fundamental for tracking the progress of the many international targets, such as the Aichi Biodiversity Targets and the Sustainable Development Goals. The goal of this study is to examine if New World countries are using IUCN knowledge products to help construct NBSAPs or National Reports. 234 documents (69 NBSAPs and 162 National Reports) were analyzed for IUCN knowledge product keywords. A total of 196 documents had at least one mention of an IUCN knowledge product and 42 had no mention of any of the knowledge products. 89.4% of keyword coded segments dealt with the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN publications, GBIF, Protected Areas Categories, KBAs, GISD, ECOLEX, the Red List of Ecosystems and WDPA had small percentages of the remaining coded segments (10.6% total). There was no mention of GRIIS, IBAT, the Green List of Species or the Green List of Protected and Conserved Areas or the Green List of Species in any of the documents. Further studies should investigate awareness levels of IUCN knowledge products among appointed national focal points for the CBD, particularly in those countries with low levels of knowledge product use, to determine reasons why they may, or may not being using them in NBSAP and National Report Development and explore potential avenues to increase awareness and use at the national level. IUCN knowledge products should continue to form an integral part of future indicators during this critical moment for biodiversity conservation

Master's Recitals

Recital presented at the UNT College of Music Merrill Ellis Intermedia Theater in partial fulfillment of the Master of Music (MM) degree

Population genetics and historical demographic inferences of the blue crab Callinectes sapidus in the US based on microsatellites

International audienceThe native range of the blue crab Callinectes sapidus spans Nova Scotia to northern Argentina. In the US, it constitutes a keystone species in estuarine habitats of the Atlantic coast and Gulf of Mexico (GOM), serving as both predator and prey to other species, and also has historically represented a multi-billion dollar fishery. Knowledge relevant to effective management and monitoring of this ecologically and economically important species, such as levels of population genetic differentiation and genetic diversity, is necessary. Although several population genetics studies have attempted to address these questions in one or more parts of its distribution, conflicting results and potential problems with the markers used, as well as other issues, have obscured our understanding on them. In this study, we examined large-scale genetic connectivity of the blue crab in the US, using 16 microsatellites, and genotyped individuals from Chesapeake Bay, in the US Atlantic, and from nine localities along the US GOM coast. Consistent with the high long-distance dispersal potential of this species, very low levels of genetic differentiation were detected for the blue crab among the ten US localities examined, suggesting it constitutes a large panmictic population within this region. Estimations of genetic diversity for the blue crab appear to be high in the US, and provide a baseline for monitoring temporal changes in this species. Demographic analyses indicate a recent range expansion of the US population, probably during the Holocene. In addition, capitalizing on published microsatellite data from southern Brazil, our analyses detected high genetic differentiation between localities in the US and Brazil. These results point to the need for examination of genetic diversity and differentiation along the area spanning the US to southern Brazil