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conservation case study Flashcards

1
Q

Spiny Daisy

A 
Critically endangered
• Low-spreading shrub
• South Australia
• First collected on the Burke and Wills expedition - 1860
• Thought extinct in the 1990s
• Rediscovered in 1999
• Only in 6 roadsides
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2
Q

What’s the problem Spiny Daisy

A
  • Lives in roadsides ( low protection and vulnerable)
  • Clonal reproduction, low genetic diversity
  • Unknown prior distribution hard to restore
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3
Q

Conservation actions Spiny Daisy

A

1) Protect species at existing sites (in situ)
š Weed and snail control
š Roadside markers
š Local community supporting! BUT
Existing populations are small and in precarious situations
2) Establishing new populations through ex situ measures also important

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4
Q

Banrock Station

A

Partnership with Banrock Station, a large vineyard, winery cellar door, and internationally recognized wetland
š Also happens to be an area where the daisy was recorded 100 years ago
š Plants established in 2014
š Watered and cared for
š Walking distance to cellar door for educational value

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5
Q

translocation

A

š Trial plantings in different soils and environments
š Comparing clone plants from different sites
š Yearly monitoring of translocation sites
šSurvival
šSize
šFlowers and fruits

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6
Q

Is it working spiny daisy

A

š Translocated plants are surviving well
š Size of remnant pop is being maintained or increasing
BUT
š Still can’t get cross-pollination to work
šSo genetic diversity remains low for now

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7
Q

Lessons from spiny daisy

A

š A mix of in situ and ex situ strategies to protect species in tough spots and also expand their range
š Using science to learn more about species through a conservation action
š Partnerships can be found in unusual places for big conservation gains
š Engage people in the story of a species to help build a sense of pride and responsibility for conservation

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8
Q

Wollemi pine

A 
š Critically endangered
š Large conifer
š Part of 200 myo Araucariaceae family
š Only known to science since 1994
š Approx 100 individuals within a single catchment in the Blue Mountains
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9
Q

What are the

threats Wollemi pine

A

Became rare through natural factors
Low number of individuals
Catastrophic fire
Pathogens

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10
Q

A team, a plan, and some science Wollemi pine

A 
š Royal Botanic Gardens Sydney, NSW Parks and Wildlife
Service
š Recovery Teams, Recovery Plans, World Heritage Listing
š Extensive research into the species
š Including University of Melbourne
š Protecting the existing sites
š Secret locations
š Restricted access
š Huge ex-situ efforts …
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11
Q

Establishing a new

wild population

A 
š Secret mission in 2012
š Experimental approach
š Trees planted at sites with varying light conditions
š 85% plants survived after 2 years
š Trees grow faster in more light
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12
Q

Grow your own!

A

š The plant is now available for commercial sale
š Aimed to increase awareness and prevent illegal collection
š Online guides for growing at home
š In gardens worlwide

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13
Q

Lessons from wollemi pine

A
  • Sometimes a species location needs to be kept secret to protect it
  • But you can engage people by letting them have a little piece at home
  • Species that only occur in a single, small population are at higher risk
  • Story of hope – we can go to extraordinary lengths to protect species
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14
Q

Lord Howe Island Phasmid

A

• Dryococelus australis
• Critically endangered
• The world’s most
endangered insect

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15
Q

Problem with the phasimid

A

A shipwreck introduced black rats to the island – the phasmid was quickly sent extinct…
• Rediscovered in the 1960s and then more individuals
found over the following decades
• Estimated <40 animals left in 2002
• Main focus of conservation efforts has been captive
breeding

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16
Q

Captive breeding

A

• It all started with two adult pairs
• Rocky start
• One female died and the other deterioated
• Luckily, eggs laid
• Now many captive populations worldwide
• Still not yet released into the ‘wild’ because of existing
threats

17
Q

Taking care of phasmid habitat

A

Weed control
- Invasive plants risk choking out food source and habitat
- Extensive weeding program
- Reduced weeds by 95%
Food sources
- Originally thought to only eat one plant
- Diet studies
- Suitable plants are widely distributed on island
Rodent control
- Very controversial
- Widescale eradication program initiated
- Tentative success

18
Q

Lessons of the phasmid

A

š Fast action to start a captive breeding program prevented the ‘second extinction’
š BUT captive breeding is only part of the equation – must control threats in situ before we can have a thriving wild population
š Big effort into communication and public outreach was a key driver of success of an ‘ugly’ species

19
Q

Trout cod

A

š Endangered
š Endemic to the Murray-Darling river system
š Locally extinct from all rivers except the Murray by 1990

20
Q

Common threats to

our rivers

A 
Fishing
River regulation
Carp
Removing woody snags
Big impact on death rates
Reduced birth rates and reproductive success
Made their habitat generally unsuitable
= population decline
21
Q

Drastic action for conservation cod

A

Make the rivers better for trout cod
š Fishing on the Murray banned for 5 years from Yarrawonga to Cobram
š Trout cod still off limits
š Environmental flows
š Re-snagging programs Make more trout cod!
š Began captive breeding and translocation program in 1985

22
Q

Pygmy bluetongue lizard

A 
š Endangered
š Described in 1863
š ”Oddly small”, rarely seen and little known about its biology or distribution
š Thought extinct in the 1950s
š Rediscovered in 1992
š in the belly of a roadkilled snake!
23
Q

learn and conserve Pygmy bluetongue lizard

A

š Team at Flinders University SA took on this mission
š Only nests in the abandoned burrows of trapdoor spiders
šKey limiting factor
š Much habitat damaged by past ploughing regimes

24
Q

Evaluation of conservation effort skink

A

š Added artificial burrows to half of their sites (Souter et al, 2004)
š Results
š More lizards detected at treatment sites after artificial burrows added
š Good news!
BUT
o Took a closer look at lizard behaviour (Ebrahimi et al 2012)
o Natural burrows – enter head first, exit head first
o Artificial burrows – enter head first, exit tail first
Not enough room to turn around Higher predation risk Suggested revised design

25
Q

Lessons skink

A

š Sometimes a species unique biological needs are the key to its recovery
š Artificial structures can be used for species that rely on specific shelter sites
š An experimental approach to evaluation is critical when using novel approaches
š Paying attention to species behaviour can reveal when design changes are required!

26
Q

Forty-spotted pardalote

A

š Endangered
š Long-term decline from previously wide range
š Destruction and conversion forests and woodlands
Very specific preference for white gum = limited habitat = small and isolated populations
š Research identified another threat!
š Fly parasites
š Larvae killed 81% of all nestlings That’s an impact on birth rate that an already small population can’t afford!

27
Q

Researchers hatched a plan

A

“Pardalotes love to make a soft, warm nest lined with stray feathers of
other birds they find on the forest floor. But finding feathers is hard,
time-consuming work.
Self-fumigation station
š Laced chicken features with bird-safe insecticide
š Set up stations throughout the forest
š Birds built their own parasite-proof nests

28
Q

Evaluating success

A

Feather dispensers installed in a natural experiment
Treatment: Insecticide Control: No InsecticideRESULTS
Treatment: Survival rate
= 95%
Control: Survival rate
= 8%

29
Q

Lessons Forty-spotted pardalote

A

š When a population has been driven to decline, we often need to intervene to prevent otherwise ‘natural’ mortality
š Creative approaches that build on knowledge of a species’ ecology can lead to huge conservation wins
š Evaluation is always important, particularly when we’re trying a novel solution

30
Q

Bridging gaps for high-flying

mammals

A

Roads can create significant gaps for arboreal mammals
šRoad gaps for wildlife can be bridged to allow movement and gene flow
šMeasuring before and after conservation actions helps us evaluate their effectiveness
šA combination of monitoring method tells us the full story

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