Himalayan forests are undergoing rapid changes due to population growth and economic development and their associated bird communities are among the most threatened and least-studied on earth. In the Chinese Himalaya, traditionally managed Tibetan sacred forests are keystone structures for forest bird conservation. Yet, it remains unclear which fine-scale habitat characteristics of the sacred forests are best associated with Himalayan forest bird species. Our goal here was to quantify the relationship between forest habitat characteristics and bird communities in Tibetan sacred forests to understand habitat associations of common forest birds in the Chinese Himalaya. In 2010 and 2011, we conducted bird point counts and habitat surveys at 62, 50-m radius, sample points distributed within and adjacent to six Tibetan sacred forests in northwest Yunnan, China. From this data, we constructed habitat-occupancy relationship models for 35 bird species and documented tree-use patterns of 14 common arboreal foraging bird species. Our modeling results revealed that large diameter trees and heterogeneity in vertical vegetation structure were the most important habitat characteristics, and were positively associated with occupancy of 63 % of the study bird species. Furthermore, we found that occupancy of eight bird species of conservation concern was related to specific thresholds of forest integrity characteristics. For example, predicted occupancy of three of eight species was high in forested habitats with[15 % bamboo cover and was greatly reduced when bare ground cover exceeded 5 %. We found that bird species foraged on pine (Pinus densata, 58 % more than it was available) and poplar (Populus davidiana, 41 %) in higher proportion to their availability, but that foraging success was highest on fir (Abies spp.), oak (Quercus spp.), willow (Salix spp.) and Chinese Larch (Larix potaninii). Our findings suggest that, although conservation is not a primary management goal of Tibetan sacred forests, these lands harbor critical habitat features for forest breeding birds of the Chinese Himalaya.
File: Wood_etal_2015_Birds_TibetanSacredForests_0.pdf
This is a publication uploaded with a php script
Forests are critically important for life on earth, prompting a variety of efforts to protect them. Protected areas and logging regulations are the most commonly used forest conservation strategies, but local traditions and religious beliefs can also protect natural resources by limiting exploitative use. We compared the effectiveness of protected areas, a logging ban, and sacred areas to protect forests from logging in Northwest Yunnan, China, a global biodiversity hotspot. We combined Mahalanobis matching and panel regression techniques to measure effectiveness of these three protection strategies paying special attention to old growth forest communities. We found that protected areas had no impact on total forest cover, but effectively conserved old-growth forests relative to non-protected areas. The implementation of the logging ban resulted in positive forest conservation outcomes over most of the landscape. The exception was that logging in old-growth forests inside sacred areas accelerated following the implementation of the logging ban, suggesting that local institutions may have been weakened by official policies. Our research finds little evidence that overlapping conservation policies decrease deforestation and suggests that the implementation of official policies may displace local forms of protection. Our results further highlight that relying on total forest cover as a single indicator of conservation outcomes can lead to misleading conclusions about the impacts of forest protection strategies.
File: Brandt_etal_BioCons_2015.pdf
This is a publication uploaded with a php script
Conservation plans are commonly used tools for prioritizing areas for protection, but plan implementation is ofte limited and rarely formally evaluated. Without evaluations of planning outcomes, it is difficult to justify expendin resources to develop new plans and to adapt future plans so they are more likely to achieve desired conservatio outcomes. We evaluated implementation of four conservation plans in Wisconsin, USA, by quantifying land protectio within plan boundaries over time. We found that 44% of lands inside plans are currently protected, compared t 5% outside plans. We then asked which environmental, institutional, and socio-economic factors explained implementatio of the most recent (2008) plan by the state natural resources agency. Institutional and environmenta metrics related to agency policy and past actions explained 61% of implementation variability among individual priorit areas within the plan: the agency having secured acquisition authority (a policy requirement) and subsequentl successfully protected land in the priority area prior to the conservation plan being completed, and acquiring lan near open water (a policy priority). Our findings suggest that implementation is possible under a wide variety o socio-economic settings and indicate that development of new conservation plans may not necessarily lead to actio in new locations in the near term, but rather may facilitate action in locations where the institutional groundwor for action has already been laid. Considering institutional policies of active conservation partners in the developmen of future conservation plans can facilitate identification of priority areas that are more likely to correspond with onthe-groun implementation opportunities.
File: Carter_etal_2015_BiologicalConservation.pdf
This is a publication uploaded with a php script
Land-use change around protected areas limits their ability to conserve biodiversity by altering ecological processes such as natural hydrologic and disturbance regimes, facilitating species invasions, and interfering with dispersal of organisms. This paper informs USA National Wildlife Refuge System conservation planning by predicting future land-use change on lands within 25 km distance of 461 refuges in the USA using an econometric model. The model contained two differing policy scenarios, namely a 'businessas-usual' scenario and a 'pro-agriculture' scenario. Regardless of scenario, by 2051, forest cover and urban land use were predicted to increase around refuges, while the extent of range and pasture was predicted to decrease; cropland use decreased under the business-as-usual scenario, but increased under the pro-agriculture scenario. Increasing agricultural land value under the pro-agriculture scenario slowed an expected increase in forest around refuges, and doubled the rate of range and pasture loss. Intensity of landuse change on lands surrounding refuges differed by regions. Regional differences among scenarios revealed that an understanding of regional and local land-use dynamics and management options was an essential requirement to effectively manage these conserved lands. Such knowledge is particularly important given the predicted need to adapt to a changing global climate.
File: Hamilton_etal_EnvCons_2015_0.pdf
This is a publication uploaded with a php script
Land use change around protected areas can diminish their conservation value, making it important t predict future land use changes nearby. Our goal was to evaluate future land use changes around protecte areas of different types in the United States under different socioeconomic scenarios. We analyze econometric-based projections of future land use change to capture changes around 1260 protecte areas, including National Forests, Parks, Refuges, and Wilderness Areas, from 2001 to 2051, under differen land use policies and crop prices. Our results showed that urban expansion around protected area will continue to be a major threat, and expand by 67% under business-as-usual conditions Concomitantly, a substantial number of protected areas will lose natural vegetation in their surroundings National land-use policies or changes in crop prices are not likely to affect the overall pattern of land use but can have effects in certain regions. Discouraging urbanization through zoning, for example, ca reduce future urban pressures around National Forests and Refuges in the East, while the implementatio of an afforestation policy can increase the amount of natural vegetation around some Refuges throughou the U.S. On the other hand, increases in crop prices can increase crop/pasture cover around some protecte areas, and limit the potential recovery of natural vegetation. Overall, our results highlight that futur land-use change around protected areas is likely to be substantial but variable among regions an protected area types. Safeguarding the conservation value of protected areas may require serious consideratio of threats and opportunities arising from future land use
File: Martinuzzi_etal_2015_BioCons.pdf
This is a publication uploaded with a php script
Rapid global changes due to changing land use, climate and non-native species are altering environmenta conditions, resulting in more nove communities with unprecedented species combinations Understanding how future anthropogeni changes may affect novelty in ecosystems is importan to advance environmental management an ecological research in the Anthropocene. The mai goal of this study was to understand how alternativ scenarios of future land-use change may affect novelt in ecosystems throughout the conterminou United States. We used five spatially explicit scenario of future land-use changes, reflecting differen land-use policies and changes in agricultural markets to quantify andmap potential drivers of novelty Our results showed large areas where futureland-us changes may increase novelty in ecosystems. Th major land-use changes known to increase novelty including land abandonment and land-use expansion were widespread in all scenarios (73 million t 95 million ha), especially in the eastern U.S. an along the West Coast. Our scenarios revealed that, a broad scales, future land-use changes will increas novelty in ecosystems, and that traditional conservatio policies may have limited ability to preven the process. In places such as the eastern U.S., conservin and maintaining historical conditions an associated biological diversity may become increasingl difficult due to future land-use changes an related ecological factors. Successful biodiversit conservation and environmental management in th Anthropocene will require novel conservation approache to be relevant in areas with high levels o novelty in ecosystems.
File: Martinuzzi_etal_2015_Ecosystems.pdf
This is a publication uploaded with a php script
Land-use change is a major cause of wildlife habitat loss. Understanding how changes in land-use policies and economic factors can impact future trends in land use and wildlife habitat loss is therefore critical for conservation efforts. Our goal here was to evaluate the consequences of future land-use changes under different conservation policies and crop market conditions on habitat loss for wildlife species in the southeastern United States. We predicted the rates of habitat loss for 336 terrestrial vertebrate species by 2051. We focused on habitat loss due to the expansion of urban, crop, and pasture. Future land-use changes following business-as-usual conditions resulted in relatively low rates of wildlife habitat loss across the entire Southeast, but some ecoregions and species groups experienced much higher habitat loss than others. Increased crop commodity prices exacerbated wildlife habitat loss in most ecoregions, while the implementation of conservation policies (reduced urban sprawl, and payments for land conservation) reduced the projected habitat loss in some regions, to a certain degree. Overall, urban and crop expansion were the main drivers of habitat loss. Reptiles and wildlife species associated with open vegetation (grasslands, open woodlands) were the species groups most vulnerable to future land-use change. Effective conservation of wildlife habitat in the Southeast should give special consideration to future land-use changes, regional variations, and the forces that could shape land-use decisions.
File: Martinuzzi_etal_EcoApps_2015.pdf
This is a publication uploaded with a php script
Context Threats to wildlife species from extrem events, such as droughts, are predicted to increase i frequency and magnitude with climate change. Extrem events can cause mortality and community-leve changes, but for some mobile species, movemen away from areas affected may be a viable option Objectives We examined the effect of extrem weather on spatial patterns of abundance for a irruptive grassland bird species, the Dickcissel (Spiz americana) Methods We calculated route-level annual abundance and abundance anomalies from 1980 to 201 from North American Breeding Bird Survey data, an classified the Dickcissel’s range into core and edg regions using these abundances. We then compare abundances in the core and edge regions to th standardized precipitation evapotranspiration index, measure of drought, in linear regressions Results We found that Dickcissel irruptions in th northern range edges were related to drought condition in the range core, potentially a consequence o birds being ‘pushed’ to the range edge when weathe was unsuitable. Specifically, Dickcissels moved int refuge sites containing a high proportion of cultivate crops, with higher vegetation greenness, than thos areas they leave during drought years Conclusions In a changing climate where more frequen extreme weather may be more common, conservatio strategies for weather-sensitive species ma require consideration of habitat in the edges of species’ranges, even though non-core areasmay be unoccupied i ‘normal’ years. Our results highlight the conservatio importance of range edges in providing refuge fro extreme events, such as drought, and climate change.
File: Bateman et al 2015_Landscape Ecology Dickcissel.pdf
This is a publication uploaded with a php script
In an increasingly human-dominated world, conservation requires the mitigation of conflicts between large mammals and people. Conflicts are particularly problematic when resources are limited, such as at wintering sites. Such conflicts have fragmented many large mammal populations, making reintroductions in suitable sites necessary. Broad-scale habitat suitability mapping can help to identify sites for species' reintroductions. The European bison is a good example of a large mammal that is restricted to only a fraction of its former range. The goal of our study was to identify and assess potential habitat for European bison in the Caucasus Mountains, which is a part of its former range and has the potential to harbor larger populations. Specifically, we used seasonal presence data from four reintroduced European bison populations and two sets of predictor variables to: (i) map habitat suitability for summer and winter, (ii) characterize habitat based on management-relevant categories that capture the potential for conflicts with people, and (iii) identify candidate sites for reintroductions. We found substantial areas of suitable habitat. However, areas of potential conflicts with people were widespread and often near highly suitable areas. We identified 69 potential reintroduction sites (10 230 km2 , 1.8% of the ecoregion) that have suitable summer and winter habitat with relatively low risk of human-wildlife conflict. These results can guide conservation efforts in establishing a viable European bison metapopulation in the Caucasus ecoregion. More broadly, our results highlight the need to map large mammal habitat suitability for different seasons in order to derive meaningful conservation recommendations.
File: Bleyhl_etal_2015_BioCons.pdf
This is a publication uploaded with a php script
Anecdotal evidence suggests that socioeconomic shocks strongly affect wildlife populations, bu quantitative evidence is sparse. The collapse of socialism in Russia in 1991 caused a major socioeconomi shock, including a sharp increase in poverty. We analyzed population trends of 8 large mammals in Russi from 1981 to 2010 (i.e., before and after the collapse). We hypothesized that the collapse would first caus population declines, primarily due to overexploitation, and then population increases due to adaptation o wildlife to new environments following the collapse. The long-term Database of the Russian Federal Agenc of Game Mammal Monitoring, consisting of up to 50,000 transects that are monitored annually, provide an exceptional data set for investigating these population trends. Three species showed strong declines i population growth rates in the decade following the collapse, while grey wolf (Canis lupus) increased by mor than 150%. After 2000 some trends reversed. For example, roe deer (Capreolus spp.) abundance in 201 was the highest of any period in our study. Likely reasons for the population declines in the 1990s includ poaching and the erosion of wildlife protection enforcement. The rapid increase of the grey wolf populations i likely due to the cessation of governmental population control. In general, the widespread declines in wildlif populations after the collapse of the Soviet Union highlight the magnitude of the effects that socioeconomi shocks can have on wildlife populations and the possible need for special conservation efforts during suc times.
File: Bragina_et_al_CB_2015.pdf
This is a publication uploaded with a php script
