Life Sciences Commons^™

Photo-Identification Methods Reveal Seasonal And Long-Term Site-Fidelity Of Risso’S Dolphins (Grampus Griseus) In Shallow Waters (Cardigan Bay, Wales), Marijke N. De Boer, Josephine Clark, Mardik F. Leopold, Mark P. Simmonds, Peter J.H. Reijnders

Ecology Collection

A photo-identification study on Risso’s dolphins was carried out off Bardsey Island in Wales (July to September, 1997-2007). Their local abundance was estimated using two different analytical techniques: 1) mark-recapture of well-marked dolphins using a “closed-population” model; and 2) a census technique based on the total number of iden-tified individual dolphins sighted over the study period. The mark-recapture estimates of 121 (left sides; 64 - 178, 95% CI; CV 0.24) and 145 dolphins (right sides; 78 - 213, 95% CI; CV 0.24) closely matched the census technique estimates (population size of 90 - 151). It was found that the dolphins …

Accounting For False Positive Detection Error Induced By Transient Individuals, Chris Sutherland, D Elston, X. Lambin

Environmental Conservation Faculty Publication Series

Context. In metapopulations, colonisation is the result of dispersal from neighbouring occupied patches, typically juveniles dispersing from natal to breeding sites. When occupancy dynamics are dispersal driven, occupancy should refer to the presence of established, breeding populations. The detection of transient individuals at sites that are, by definition, unoccupied (i.e. false positive detections), may result in misleading conclusions about metapopulation dynamics. Until recently, the issue of false positives has been considered negligible and current efforts to account for such error have beenrestricted to the context of species misidentification. However, the detection of transient individuals visiting multiple siteswhile dispersing is a …

High Variance In Reproductive Success Generates A False Signature Of A Genetic Bottleneck In Populations Of Constant Size: A Simulation Study, Sean M. Hoban, Massimo Mezzavilla, Oscar E. Gaggiotti, Andrea Benazzo, Cock Van Oosterhout, Giorgio Bertorelle

Faculty Publications and Other Works -- General Biology

Background

Demographic bottlenecks can severely reduce the genetic variation of a population or a species. Establishing whether low genetic variation is caused by a bottleneck or a constantly low effective number of individuals is important to understand a species’ ecology and evolution, and it has implications for conservation management. Recent studies have evaluated the power of several statistical methods developed to identify bottlenecks. However, the false positive rate, i.e. the rate with which a bottleneck signal is misidentified in demographically stable populations, has received little attention. We analyse this type of error (type I) in forward computer simulations of stable …

A Framework To Evaluate Wildlife Feeding In Research, Wildlife Management, Tourism And Recreation, Sara Dubois, David Fraser

Wildlife Population Management Collection

Feeding of wildlife occurs in the context of research, wildlife management, tourism and in opportunistic ways. A review of examples shows that although feeding is often motivated by good intentions, it can lead to problems of public safety and conservation and be detrimental to the welfare of the animals. Examples from British Columbia illustrate the problems (nuisance animal activity, public safety risk) and consequences (culling, translocation) that often arise from uncontrolled feeding. Three features of wildlife feeding can be distinguished: the feasibility of control, the effects on conservation and the effects on animal welfare. An evaluative framework incorporating these three …

Wildlands Conservancy/Connick Ranch Research, Susie Van Kirk

Susie Van Kirk Papers

Susie Van Kirks research notes on the Wildlands Conservancy and Connick Ranch. Includes newspaper references, interviews, as well as deed, survey and patent information.

Genetic Structure Of The Florida Key Tree Cactus, Pilosocereus Robinii, Using Restriction Site Associated Dna (Rad) Markers, Tonya D. Fotinos

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Rare plant conservation efforts must utilize current genetic methods to ensure the evolutionary potential of populations is preserved. One such effort involves the Key Tree Cactus, Pilosocereus robinii, which is an endangered columnar cactus native to the Florida Keys. The populations have precipitously declined over the past decade because of habitat loss and increasing soil salinity from rising sea levels and storm surge. Next-generation DNA sequencing was used to assess the genetic structure of the populations. Twenty individuals representative of both wild and extirpated cacti were chosen for Restriction Site Associated DNA (RAD) analysis. Samples processed using the HindIII …

“Hariyo Ban Nepalko Dhan” (“Nepal’S Wealth Is The Green Forest”): The People’S Participation In Structuring Sustainable Development Through Community Forestry, Natasha Eulberg

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Community forestry has a long history in Nepal, and despite the nationalization of the country’s forests in the mid-twentieth century, current legislation determines that rights and execution of community forest management lies largely with community forest user groups (CFUGs). This research questions to what extent CFUGs truly represent autonomous bodies with the full power and ability to manage and utilize community forests and forest resources. This research also seeks to determine the impact and distribution of CFUG operations and benefits on CFUG members, and the ways in which CFUG management practices have impacted how group members perceive and interact with …

Rating Harms To Wildlife: A Survey Showing Convergence Between Conservation And Animal Welfare Views, S. Dubois, D. Fraser

Environment and Nature Conservation Collection

Human activities may cause conservation concerns when animal populations or ecosystems are harmed and animal welfare concerns when individuals are harmed. In general, people are concerned with one or the other, as the concepts may be regarded as separate or even at odds. An online purposive survey of 339 British Columbians explored differences between groups that varied by gender, residency, wildlife engagement level and value orientation (conservation-oriented or animal welfare-oriented), to see how they rated the level of harm to wildlife caused by different human activities. Women, urban residents, those with low wildlife engagement, and welfare-orientated participants generally scored activities …

Using Gis-Based, Regional Extent Habitat Suitability Modeling To Identify Conservation Priority Areas: A Case Study Of The Louisiana Black Bear In East Texas, Christopher E. Comer, I-Kuai Hung, Gary Calkins, Dan J. Kaminski, Nathan Garner

Faculty Publications

State and federal recovery plans mandate that priority areas for future population expansion be identified within the historical range of the Louisiana black bear (Ursus americanus luteolus). Despite the presence of potentially suitable habitat in east Texas and expanding populations in adjacent states, quantitative estimates of regional habitat suitability do not exist. We developed a regional extent habitat suitability index (HSI) model in a geographic information system (GIS) to evaluate year-round habitat requirements for black bears in the 43,530-km2 south black bear recovery zone in southeastern Texas. We measured hard and soft mast production, understory vegetation density, and tree den …

The Influence Of Different Cover Types On American Robin Nest Success In Organic Agroecosystems, John E. Quinn, Amy Oden, James R. Brandle

Biology Publications

There are many opportunities for biodiversity conservation in organic farm systems. Successful and sustainable conservation efforts in organic systems, however, need to measure appropriate outcomes. In particular, data are needed on the breeding success of associated wildlife species. We measured nesting success of the American Robin (Turdus migratorius) in woodlands embedded within eight organic farms in eastern Nebraska. We modeled daily nest survival rate to identify land use and land cover patterns that optimize conservation of birds in organic farm systems. The percentage of a crop in the fields adjacent to linear woodlands best predicted daily survival rate. …

Habitat Characterization, Distribution, And Areal Extent Of Deep-Sea Coral Ecosystems Off Florida, Southeastern U.S.A., John K. Reed, Charles G. Messing, Brian K. Walker, Sandra Brooke, Thiago B.S. Correa, Myra Brouwer, Tina Udouj, Stephanie Farrington

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles

The deep-sea (200-1000 m) seafloor off the southeastern U.S. has a variety of extensive deep-sea coral ecosystem (DSCE) habitats including: deep-water coral mounds; various hard-bottom habitats off Florida including the Miami Terrace, Pourtales Terrace, and deep-water canyons (Agassiz and Tortugas Valleys); and deep island slopes off western Bahamas and northern Cuba. The dominant structure-forming scleractinian corals are Lophelia pertusa and Enallopsammia profunda; other structure-forming taxa include stylasterid corals, gorgonians, black corals, and sponges. This biota is associated with hard-bottom seafloor of variable high-relief topography which can be remotely identified from bathymetric data. NOAA bathymetric contour maps and digital elevation …

Avifauna Of The Mache Chindul Ecological Reserve, Northwest Ecuador, Luis Carrasco, Karl S. Berg, Jennifer Litz, Andrew Cook, Jordan Karubian

Biology Faculty Publications and Presentations

We report on the avifauna of the 120,000 ha Mache Chindul Ecological Reserve (REMACH), northwest Ecuador. The study area is located in a poorly studied transition zone between three major Neotropical biogeographic regions-the Chocó, Tumbesian, and Tropical Andes-each of which contains exceptional diversity and endemism in birds and other organisms. We collected data from 1998–99 and 2004–11 from the Bilsa Biological Station (a 3500 ha private reserve) and several farms, forest fragments, and communities distributed across the central portion of REMACH using observations (aural and visual), audio recordings, mist netting, point counts and photographs. We recorded 360 species of bird …

Making Common Cause For Conservation: The Pinchot Institute And Grey Towers National Historic Site, 1963-2013, Char Miller

Pomona Faculty Publications and Research

This year marks the 50th anniversary of the establishment of the Pinchot Institute for Conservation and the donation of the Pinchot family home Grey Towers to the U.S. Forest Service. In the following essay, historian and Pinchot biographer Char Miller discusses how the Institute is applying Gifford Pinchot’s principles to contemporary environmental issues. It is adapted from Seeking the Greatest Good: The Conservation Legacy of Gifford Pinchot, his new history of the Institute, and is published with kind permission of the University of Pittsburgh Press.

Evaluating The Effects Of Common-Pool Resource Institutions And Market Forces On Species Richness And Forest Cover In Ecuadorian Indigenous Kichwa Communities, Johan A. Oldekop, Anthony J. Bebbington, Karl Hennermann, Julia Mcmorrow, David A. Springate, Bolier Torres, Nathan K. Truelove, Niklas Tysklind, Santiago Villamarín, Richard F. Preziosi

Geography

We compare conservation outcomes between a protected area (PA) and four indigenous common-property regimes (CPRs) under differing degrees of market integration in the Ecuadorian Amazon. We first assess how market forces and common-pool resource institutions governing processes of forest conversion affect biodiversity and forest cover, and whether institutions mitigate the effect of market forces. We then analyze how biodiversity and forest cover differ between a PA, and communities with different market access. Finally, we link biodiversity and forest cover changes within communities to differences in land-use practices. While we show similar levels of forest cover and biodiversity between the PA …

“Culling The Herd”: Eugenics And The Conservation Movement In The United States, 1900–1940, Garland E. Allen

Biology Faculty Publications & Presentations

While from a late twentieth- and early twenty-first century perspective, the ideologies of eugenics (controlled reproduction to eliminate the genetically unfit and promote the reproduction of the genetically fit) and environmental conservation and preservation, may seem incompatible, they were promoted simultaneously by a number of figures in the progressive era in the decades between 1900 and 1950. Common to the two movements were the desire to preserve the ‘‘best’’ in both the germ plasm of the human population and natural environments (including not only natural resources, but also undisturbed nature preserves such as state and national parks and forests). In …

Development Of 11 Polymorphic Microsatellite Markers For Xylocarpus Granatum (Meliaceae) Using Next-Generation Sequencing Technology, Yuki Tomizawa, Yoshimi Shinmura, Alison K S Wee, Koji Takayama, Takeshi Asakawa, Orlex Baylen Yllano, Severino G. Salmo Iii, Erwin Riyanto Ardli, Nguyen Xuan Tung, Norhaslinda Binti Malekal, Onrizal Onrizal, Sankararamasubramanian H. Meenakshisundaram, Sarawood Sungkaew, Mohd Nazre Saleh, Bayu Adjie, Khin Khin Soe, Emiko Oguri, Noriaki Murakami, Yasuyuki Watano, Shigeyuki Baba, Edward L. Webb, Tadashi Kajita

Environmental Science Faculty Publications

Human impacts have seriously damaged mangroves, and conservation of mangroves will require information on local and regional population genetic structures. Here, we report the development and polymorphism of eleven novel microsatellite markers, developed using next- generation sequencing on 56 samples of widespread man- grove species Xylocarpus granatum (Meliaceae) from nine populations across the Indo-West Pacific region. All loci were found to be polymorphic, with the number of alleles per locus ranging from four to 19. In a population from Sabah (Malaysia), the mean observed and expected heterozygosity per locus was 0.59 and 0.58, respectively. No null allele, significant linkage disequilibrium …