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Full-Text Articles in Life Sciences
Relationships Among Biodiversity Dimensions Of Birds In Nebraska, Nadejda Mirochnitchenko
Relationships Among Biodiversity Dimensions Of Birds In Nebraska, Nadejda Mirochnitchenko
School of Natural Resources: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research
Biological diversity, or biodiversity, is a multi-dimensional concept that can be decomposed to measure information about taxonomic, phylogenetic, and functional variation within communities. Although the dimensions of biodiversity are interrelated, the assumption that measuring one dimension of diversity can inform about patterns in another dimension does not necessarily follow from theory or empirical study. The relationships among biodiversity dimensions is not well understood, nor how differences among dimensions could influence conservation decision making. Using the avian community as a study system, we explored the relationships of breadth metrics from the taxonomic, phylogenetic, and functional dimensions among each other and across …
Identifying Marine Key Biodiversity Areas In The Greater Caribbean Region, Michael S. Harvey
Identifying Marine Key Biodiversity Areas In The Greater Caribbean Region, Michael S. Harvey
Biological Sciences Theses & Dissertations
Anthropocene biodiversity extinction rates are increasing, suggesting a possible sixth global mass extinction event. Biological conservation planners are consequently seeking ways to more effectively protect species at national, regional and global scales. In 2010, the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) issued a number of conservation goals (Aichi Targets), including the establishment of protected areas (PA) in terrestrial, freshwater and marine areas of eminent conservation concern by 2020 to reduce and eventually eliminate species’ extinctions, as well as preserve hotspots of biodiversity and dynamic ecosystems. While well-established, adequately enforced PAs increase the likelihood of preserving species and habitats most at risk …
The 2011 Climate Regime Shift: Seabed Taxon Monitoring Identifies Regimes, Jeff Marliave, Donna Gibbs, Laura Borden
The 2011 Climate Regime Shift: Seabed Taxon Monitoring Identifies Regimes, Jeff Marliave, Donna Gibbs, Laura Borden
Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference
Monitoring of biodiversity may sometimes reflect human impacts on ecosystems, but analysis of biodiversity needs to account for naturally occurring trends as well. Biodiversity may provide more accurate definition of climate regime shifts than do physical oceanographic data, Using search programs for a long-term SCUBA taxonomic database (3865 dives) for Strait of Georgia seabed sites, 1,077 taxa were screened to select 171 rare or highly abundant taxa and to present the data according to climate regime categories. Ocean Niño Index climate regime shifts are defined here as the year of the end of the first La Niña closely paired with …
The Citizen Scientific Method: Tapping A Human Natural Resource In Ecosystem Restoration, Bianca S. Perla, Greg Rabourn
The Citizen Scientific Method: Tapping A Human Natural Resource In Ecosystem Restoration, Bianca S. Perla, Greg Rabourn
Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference
Citizen science forms a nexus point between research and education, between social outreach and project implementation, and between local knowledge (traditional ecological knowledge) and scientific knowledge. For this reason, citizen science can be a valuable tool to integrate the many different players in ecosystem restoration projects and help projects succeed. Citizen science can increase civic engagement in ecosystem restoration, fill in data gaps, and help make adaptive ecosystem management a real community process. However, significant challenges often impede the ability of citizen science projects to reach their full potential. Here, we discuss trends and insights gained through examining three citizen …
Prioritizing Seagrass Meadows For Biodiversity Conservation Based On Landscape Connectivity, John Cristiani, Mary O'Connor
Prioritizing Seagrass Meadows For Biodiversity Conservation Based On Landscape Connectivity, John Cristiani, Mary O'Connor
Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference
The spatial configuration of habitat and biological dispersal traits affect how organisms move across heterogenous landscapes, connecting populations and maintaining biodiversity. Quantifying this connectivity is critical to understanding and managing marine biodiversity. Despite its importance, for most regions, we lack estimates of connectivity and consideration of how habitat loss or restoration scenarios change connectivity and thereby affect diversity. We simulated dispersal and connectivity in several habitat change scenarios for seagrass habitats in the Salish Sea of British Columbia and Washington. We used a spatially explicit biophysical model to track passive larval dispersal in oceanographic currents for select life history traits. …
Conservation Of Ecosystem Services And Biodiversity In Vermont, Usa, Keri B. Watson
Conservation Of Ecosystem Services And Biodiversity In Vermont, Usa, Keri B. Watson
Graduate College Dissertations and Theses
Supporting a growing human population while avoiding biodiversity loss is a central challenge towards a sustainable future. Ecosystem services are benefits that people derive from nature. People have drastically altered the earth’s land surface in the pursuit of those ecosystem services that have been ascribed market value, while at the same time eroding biodiversity and non-market ecosystem services. The science required to inform a more balanced vision for land-cover change in the future is rapidly developing, but critical questions remain unanswered regarding how to quantify ecosystem services and ascribe value to them, and how to coordinate efforts to safeguard multiple …