Conservation Genetics the Institute’S Researchers Develop Methods and Tools in Conservation Genetics, and Apply These to Inform the Conservation of Threatened Species
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Biogeography, Community Structure and Biological Habitat Types of Subtidal Reefs on the South Island West Coast, New Zealand
Biogeography, community structure and biological habitat types of subtidal reefs on the South Island West Coast, New Zealand SCIENCE FOR CONSERVATION 281 Biogeography, community structure and biological habitat types of subtidal reefs on the South Island West Coast, New Zealand Nick T. Shears SCIENCE FOR CONSERVATION 281 Published by Science & Technical Publishing Department of Conservation PO Box 10420, The Terrace Wellington 6143, New Zealand Cover: Shallow mixed turfing algal assemblage near Moeraki River, South Westland (2 m depth). Dominant species include Plocamium spp. (yellow-red), Echinothamnium sp. (dark brown), Lophurella hookeriana (green), and Glossophora kunthii (top right). Photo: N.T. Shears Science for Conservation is a scientific monograph series presenting research funded by New Zealand Department of Conservation (DOC). Manuscripts are internally and externally peer-reviewed; resulting publications are considered part of the formal international scientific literature. Individual copies are printed, and are also available from the departmental website in pdf form. Titles are listed in our catalogue on the website, refer www.doc.govt.nz under Publications, then Science & technical. © Copyright December 2007, New Zealand Department of Conservation ISSN 1173–2946 (hardcopy) ISSN 1177–9241 (web PDF) ISBN 978–0–478–14354–6 (hardcopy) ISBN 978–0–478–14355–3 (web PDF) This report was prepared for publication by Science & Technical Publishing; editing and layout by Lynette Clelland. Publication was approved by the Chief Scientist (Research, Development & Improvement Division), Department of Conservation, Wellington, New Zealand. In the interest of forest conservation, we support paperless electronic publishing. When printing, recycled paper is used wherever possible. CONTENTS Abstract 5 1. Introduction 6 2. -
Effective Population Size and Genetic Conservation Criteria for Bull Trout
North American Journal of Fisheries Management 21:756±764, 2001 q Copyright by the American Fisheries Society 2001 Effective Population Size and Genetic Conservation Criteria for Bull Trout B. E. RIEMAN* U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, 316 East Myrtle, Boise, Idaho 83702, USA F. W. A LLENDORF Division of Biological Sciences, University of Montana, Missoula, Montana 59812, USA Abstract.ÐEffective population size (Ne) is an important concept in the management of threatened species like bull trout Salvelinus con¯uentus. General guidelines suggest that effective population sizes of 50 or 500 are essential to minimize inbreeding effects or maintain adaptive genetic variation, respectively. Although Ne strongly depends on census population size, it also depends on demographic and life history characteristics that complicate any estimates. This is an especially dif®cult problem for species like bull trout, which have overlapping generations; biologists may monitor annual population number but lack more detailed information on demographic population structure or life history. We used a generalized, age-structured simulation model to relate Ne to adult numbers under a range of life histories and other conditions characteristic of bull trout populations. Effective population size varied strongly with the effects of the demographic and environmental variation included in our simulations. Our most realistic estimates of Ne were between about 0.5 and 1.0 times the mean number of adults spawning annually. We conclude that cautious long-term management goals for bull trout populations should include an average of at least 1,000 adults spawning each year. Where local populations are too small, managers should seek to conserve a collection of interconnected populations that is at least large enough in total to meet this minimum. -
Genetic Methods for Estimating the Effective Size of Cetacean Populations
Genetic Methods for Estimating the Effective Size of Cetacean Populations Robin S. Waples Northwest Fisheries Center, National Marine Fisheries Service, 2725 Montlake Boulevard East, Seattle, Washington 98112, USA ABSTRACT Some indirect (genetic) methods for estimating effective population size (N,) are evaluated for their suitability in studyingcetacean populations. The methodscan be grouped into those that (1) estimate current N,, (2) estimate long-term N, and (3) provide information about recent genetic bottlenecks. The methods that estimate current effective size are best suited for the analysis of small populations. and nonrandom sampling and population subdivision are probably the most serious sources of potential bias. Methods that estimate long-term N, are best suited to the analysis of large populations or entire species, may be more strongly influenced by natural selection and depend on accurate estimates of mutation or DNA base substitution rates. Precision of the estimates of N, is likely to be a limiting factor in many applications of the indirect methods. Keywords: genetics; assessment: cetaceans - general: evolution. INTRODUCTION Population size is one of the most important factors that determine the rate of various evolutionary processes, and it appears as a parameter in many of the fundamental equations of population genetics. However, knowledge merely of the total number of individuals (N) in a population is not sufficient for an accurate description of these evolutionary processes. Because of the influence of demographic parameters, two populations of the same total size may experience very different rates of genetic change. Wright (1931; 1938) developed the concept of effective population size (N,) as a way of summarising relevant demographic information so that one can predict the evolutionary consequences of finite population size (see Fig. -
Ecological Principles and Function of Natural Ecosystems by Professor Michel RICARD
Intensive Programme on Education for sustainable development in Protected Areas Amfissa, Greece, July 2014 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Ecological principles and function of natural ecosystems By Professor Michel RICARD Summary 1. Hierarchy of living world 2. What is Ecology 3. The Biosphere - Lithosphere - Hydrosphere - Atmosphere 4. What is an ecosystem - Ecozone - Biome - Ecosystem - Ecological community - Habitat/biotope - Ecotone - Niche 5. Biological classification 6. Ecosystem processes - Radiation: heat, temperature and light - Primary production - Secondary production - Food web and trophic levels - Trophic cascade and ecology flow 7. Population ecology and population dynamics 8. Disturbance and resilience - Human impacts on resilience 9. Nutrient cycle, decomposition and mineralization - Nutrient cycle - Decomposition 10. Ecological amplitude 11. Ecology, environmental influences, biological interactions 12. Biodiversity 13. Environmental degradation - Water resources degradation - Climate change - Nutrient pollution - Eutrophication - Other examples of environmental degradation M. Ricard: Summer courses, Amfissa July 2014 1 1. Hierarchy of living world The larger objective of ecology is to understand the nature of environmental influences on individual organisms, populations, communities and ultimately at the level of the biosphere. If ecologists can achieve an understanding of these relationships, they will be well placed to contribute to the development of systems by which humans -
Community Ecology
Schueller 509: Lecture 12 Community ecology 1. The birds of Guam – e.g. of community interactions 2. What is a community? 3. What can we measure about whole communities? An ecology mystery story If birds on Guam are declining due to… • hunting, then bird populations will be larger on military land where hunting is strictly prohibited. • habitat loss, then the amount of land cleared should be negatively correlated with bird numbers. • competition with introduced black drongo birds, then….prediction? • ……. come up with a different hypothesis and matching prediction! $3 million/yr Why not profitable hunting instead? (Worked for the passenger pigeon: “It was the demographic nightmare of overkill and impaired reproduction. If you’re killing a species far faster than they can reproduce, the end is a mathematical certainty.” http://www.audubon.org/magazine/may-june- 2014/why-passenger-pigeon-went-extinct) Community-wide effects of loss of birds Schueller 509: Lecture 12 Community ecology 1. The birds of Guam – e.g. of community interactions 2. What is a community? 3. What can we measure about whole communities? What is an ecological community? Community Ecology • Collection of populations of different species that occupy a given area. What is a community? e.g. Microbial community of one human “YOUR SKIN HARBORS whole swarming civilizations. Your lips are a zoo teeming with well- fed creatures. In your mouth lives a microbiome so dense —that if you decided to name one organism every second (You’re Barbara, You’re Bob, You’re Brenda), you’d likely need fifty lifetimes to name them all. -
Species Knowledge Review: Shrill Carder Bee Bombus Sylvarum in England and Wales
Species Knowledge Review: Shrill carder bee Bombus sylvarum in England and Wales Editors: Sam Page, Richard Comont, Sinead Lynch, and Vicky Wilkins. Bombus sylvarum, Nashenden Down nature reserve, Rochester (Kent Wildlife Trust) (Photo credit: Dave Watson) Executive summary This report aims to pull together current knowledge of the Shrill carder bee Bombus sylvarum in the UK. It is a working document, with a view to this information being reviewed and added when needed (current version updated Oct 2019). Special thanks to the group of experts who have reviewed and commented on earlier versions of this report. Much of the current knowledge on Bombus sylvarum builds on extensive work carried out by the Bumblebee Working Group and Hymettus in the 1990s and early 2000s. Since then, there have been a few key studies such as genetic research by Ellis et al (2006), Stuart Connop’s PhD thesis (2007), and a series of CCW surveys and reports carried out across the Welsh populations between 2000 and 2013. Distribution and abundance Records indicate that the Shrill carder bee Bombus sylvarum was historically widespread across southern England and Welsh lowland and coastal regions, with more localised records in central and northern England. The second half of the 20th Century saw a major range retraction for the species, with a mixed picture post-2000. Metapopulations of B. sylvarum are now limited to five key areas across the UK: In England these are the Thames Estuary and Somerset; in South Wales these are the Gwent Levels, Kenfig–Port Talbot, and south Pembrokeshire. The Thames Estuary and Gwent Levels populations appear to be the largest and most abundant, whereas the Somerset population exists at a very low population density, the Kenfig population is small and restricted. -
Can More K-Selected Species Be Better Invaders?
Diversity and Distributions, (Diversity Distrib.) (2007) 13, 535–543 Blackwell Publishing Ltd BIODIVERSITY Can more K-selected species be better RESEARCH invaders? A case study of fruit flies in La Réunion Pierre-François Duyck1*, Patrice David2 and Serge Quilici1 1UMR 53 Ӷ Peuplements Végétaux et ABSTRACT Bio-agresseurs en Milieu Tropical ӷ CIRAD Invasive species are often said to be r-selected. However, invaders must sometimes Pôle de Protection des Plantes (3P), 7 chemin de l’IRAT, 97410 St Pierre, La Réunion, France, compete with related resident species. In this case invaders should present combina- 2UMR 5175, CNRS Centre d’Ecologie tions of life-history traits that give them higher competitive ability than residents, Fonctionnelle et Evolutive (CEFE), 1919 route de even at the expense of lower colonization ability. We test this prediction by compar- Mende, 34293 Montpellier Cedex, France ing life-history traits among four fruit fly species, one endemic and three successive invaders, in La Réunion Island. Recent invaders tend to produce fewer, but larger, juveniles, delay the onset but increase the duration of reproduction, survive longer, and senesce more slowly than earlier ones. These traits are associated with higher ranks in a competitive hierarchy established in a previous study. However, the endemic species, now nearly extinct in the island, is inferior to the other three with respect to both competition and colonization traits, violating the trade-off assumption. Our results overall suggest that the key traits for invasion in this system were those that *Correspondence: Pierre-François Duyck, favoured competition rather than colonization. CIRAD 3P, 7, chemin de l’IRAT, 97410, Keywords St Pierre, La Réunion Island, France. -
RSPB CENTRE for CONSERVATION SCIENCE RSPB CENTRE for CONSERVATION SCIENCE Where Science Comes to Life
RSPB CENTRE FOR CONSERVATION SCIENCE RSPB CENTRE FOR CONSERVATION SCIENCE Where science comes to life Contents Knowing 2 Introducing the RSPB Centre for Conservation Science and an explanation of how and why the RSPB does science. A decade of science at the RSPB 9 A selection of ten case studies of great science from the RSPB over the last decade: 01 Species monitoring and the State of Nature 02 Farmland biodiversity and wildlife-friendly farming schemes 03 Conservation science in the uplands 04 Pinewood ecology and management 05 Predation and lowland breeding wading birds 06 Persecution of raptors 07 Seabird tracking 08 Saving the critically endangered sociable lapwing 09 Saving South Asia's vultures from extinction 10 RSPB science supports global site-based conservation Spotlight on our experts 51 Meet some of the team and find out what it is like to be a conservation scientist at the RSPB. Funding and partnerships 63 List of funders, partners and PhD students whom we have worked with over the last decade. Chris Gomersall (rspb-images.com) Conservation rooted in know ledge Introduction from Dr David W. Gibbons Welcome to the RSPB Centre for Conservation The Centre does not have a single, physical Head of RSPB Centre for Conservation Science Science. This new initiative, launched in location. Our scientists will continue to work from February 2014, will showcase, promote and a range of RSPB’s addresses, be that at our UK build the RSPB’s scientific programme, helping HQ in Sandy, at RSPB Scotland’s HQ in Edinburgh, us to discover solutions to 21st century or at a range of other addresses in the UK and conservation problems. -
Saving Seeds: Optimally Planning Our Ex Situ Conservation Collections to Ensure Species' Evolutionary Potential1
Gene Conservation of Tree Species—Banking on the Future Saving Seeds: Optimally Planning Our Ex Situ Conservation Collections to Ensure Species' 1 Evolutionary Potential Sean M. Hoban2,3 In the face of ongoing environmental change, conservation and natural resource agencies are initiating or expanding ex situ seed collections from natural plant populations. Seed collections have many uses, including in provenance trials, breeding programs, seed orchards, gene banks for long-term conservation (live plants or seeds), restoration, reforestation, and scientific study of plant germination or other plant ecology studies. Well-known examples of ex situ collections include the Millennium Seed Bank Partnership, Australian Seed Bank Partnership, United Kingdom National Tree Seed Program, United States National Plant Germplasm System, and South African Regional Seed Bank. Some collections focus on rare species, species with relevance to agriculture or forestry, or regional flora. Other collections are in response to immediate threats, such as damaging insects and pathogens (e.g., emerald ash borer). In this talk I will discuss how to sample seeds to most optimally conserve the evolutionary potential of a species to ensure its long-term survival. A useful seed collection captures as much phenotypic and genetic diversity from natural populations as possible. Choices for a collector include how many populations, maternal plants, and seeds per plant to collect. A collector wishes to achieve efficiency—to not waste limited time, resources, personnel, and storage space, but also to achieve effectiveness—to be as complete as possible in case important genetic variants are lost from natural populations. In a series of papers starting in 1975, Brown and Marshall (1975) proposed some solutions to this general sampling problem. -
Can Darwin's Finches and Their Native Ectoparasites Survive the Control of Th
Insect Conservation and Diversity (2017) 10, 193–199 doi: 10.1111/icad.12219 FORUM & POLICY Coextinction dilemma in the Galapagos Islands: Can Darwin’s finches and their native ectoparasites survive the control of the introduced fly Philornis downsi? 1 2 MARIANA BULGARELLA and RICARDO L. PALMA 1School of Biological Sciences, Victoria University of Wellington, Wellington, New Zealand and 2Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, Wellington, New Zealand Abstract. 1. The survival of parasites is threatened directly by environmental alter- ation and indirectly by all the threats acting upon their hosts, facing coextinction. 2. The fate of Darwin’s finches and their native ectoparasites in the Galapagos Islands is uncertain because of an introduced avian parasitic fly, Philornis downsi, which could potentially drive them to extinction. 3. We documented all known native ectoparasites of Darwin’s finches. Thir- teen species have been found: nine feather mites, three feather lice and one nest mite. No ticks or fleas have been recorded from them yet. 4. Management options being considered to control P. downsi include the use of the insecticide permethrin in bird nests which would not only kill the invasive fly larvae but the birds’ native ectoparasites too. 5. Parasites should be targeted for conservation in a manner equal to that of their hosts. We recommend steps to consider if permethrin-treated cotton sta- tions are to be deployed in the Galapagos archipelago to manage P. downsi. Key words. Chewing lice, coextinction, Darwin’s finches, dilemma, ectoparasites, feather mites, Galapagos Islands, permethrin, Philornis downsi. Introduction species have closely associated species which are also endangered (Dunn et al., 2009). -
Genetic Applications in Avian Conservation
University of Nebraska - Lincoln DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln USGS Staff -- Published Research US Geological Survey 2011 Genetic Applications in Avian Conservation Susan M. Haig U.S. Geological Survey, [email protected] Whitcomb M. Bronaugh Oregon State University Rachel S. Crowhurst Oregon State University Jesse D'Elia U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Collin A. Eagles-Smith U.S. Geological Survey See next page for additional authors Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/usgsstaffpub Haig, Susan M.; Bronaugh, Whitcomb M.; Crowhurst, Rachel S.; D'Elia, Jesse; Eagles-Smith, Collin A.; Epps, Clinton W.; Knaus, Brian; Miller, Mark P.; Moses, Michael L.; Oyler-McCance, Sara; Robinson, W. Douglas; and Sidlauskas, Brian, "Genetic Applications in Avian Conservation" (2011). USGS Staff -- Published Research. 668. https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/usgsstaffpub/668 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the US Geological Survey at DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. It has been accepted for inclusion in USGS Staff -- Published Research by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. Authors Susan M. Haig, Whitcomb M. Bronaugh, Rachel S. Crowhurst, Jesse D'Elia, Collin A. Eagles-Smith, Clinton W. Epps, Brian Knaus, Mark P. Miller, Michael L. Moses, Sara Oyler-McCance, W. Douglas Robinson, and Brian Sidlauskas This article is available at DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln: https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/ usgsstaffpub/668 The Auk 128(2):205–229, 2011 The American Ornithologists’ Union, 2011. Printed in USA. SPECIAL REVIEWS IN ORNITHOLOGY GENETIC APPLICATIONS IN AVIAN CONSERVATION SUSAN M. HAIG,1,6 WHITCOMB M. BRONAUGH,2 RACHEL S. -
Bumblebee Conservator
Volume 2, Issue 1: First Half 2014 Bumblebee Conservator Newsletter of the BumbleBee Specialist Group In this issue From the Chair From the Chair 1 A very happy and productive 2014 to everyone! We start this year having seen From the Editor 1 enormously encouraging progress in 2013. Our different regions have started from BBSG Executive Committee 2 very different positions, in terms of established knowledge of their bee faunas Regional Coordinators 2 as well as in terms of resources available, but members in all regions are actively moving forward. In Europe and North America, which have been fortunate to Bumblebee Specialist have the most specialists over the last century, we are achieving the first species Group Report 2013 3 assessments. Mesoamerica and South America are also very close, despite the huge Bumblebees in the News 9 areas to survey and the much less well known species. In Asia, with far more species, many of them poorly known, remarkably rapid progress is being made in sorting Research 13 out what is present and in building the crucial keys and distribution maps. In some Conservation News 20 regions there are very few people to tackle the task, sometimes in situations that Bibliography 21 make progress challenging and slow – their enthusiasm is especially appreciated! At this stage, broad discussion of problems and of the solutions developed from your experience will be especially important. This will direct the best assessments for focusing the future of bumblebee conservation. From the Editor Welcome to the second issue of the Bumblebee Conservator, the official newsletter of the Bumblebee Specialist Group.