L2 Pfiefer - Conservation Science Flashcards
What are the 5 stages of Systematic Conservation planning?
- Assessment - nature of the problem (surveys etc.)
- Strategic planning - clear goals
- Design - what actions are already being implemented, what can we do other than this
- Implementation/ Monitoring
- Evaluation - is it working, should it be changed
What factors would you consider if given the objective to assess an endangered animal for conservation efforts?
- numbers of the species
- where and how is loss occurring and why
- what is the habitat like - reducing, other animals, people
What are the 5 assessment criteria for a species conservation project?
- Population is in decline
- past current and future projections
- is it decreasing, fluctuating or both - Geographical range size and fragmentation
- where is the species distribution
- where has it been on the past - Small population size and fragmentation
- decline or fluctuations
- if natural habitat is being fragmented, it can be used as direct evidence for taxi with poor dispersal capability - Very small population or restricted distribution
- Quantitative analysis of extinction rate
- PVA (population viability analysis)
What is an Extinction Vortex?
‘Reinforcement among biotic and abiotic processes driving a population size to extinction’
- as populations decline, the time before extinction gets proportionally smaller and smaller
- change in abundance is highest the closer to extinction a population gets
- extrinsic factors for species extinction risk
What is a PVA?
Population Viability Analysis:
Aim to estimate the probability that a population of a species or collection of population will persist for a particular time in a particular area
What is dark diversity?
Species that should be somewhere but aren’t
- a set of species that are absent from a site, but that could disperse to and establish there
- an absent potion of a habitat-specific species pool
What is completeness and how is it calculated?
observed diversity/dark diversity
High completeness (high observed and low dark) within an ecoregion, coupled with high irreplaceability and vulnerability indicate: a high conservation priority area
How could sampling bias effect assessment of a species for conservation?
- Could not be seen, could see all of them
- could only test some areas
- noisy sampling
- geographical bias - mainly towards well studied areas such as N. America, Western Europe, Australia
What are the 5 strategic goals set to the United Nations Convention on Biological
A. MAINSTREAMING: Address the underlying causes of biodiversity loss by mainstreaming biodiversity across government and society
B. REDUCE: reduce the direct pressures on biodiversity, and promote sustainable use
C. SAFEGUARDING: Improve the status of biodiversity by safeguarding ecosystems, species, and genetic diversity
D: BENIFITS: enhance the benefits to all from biodiversity and ecosystem services
E: IMPLEMENTATION: enhance implementation through participatory planning, knowledge, management and capacity building
Give the 3 types of PVA
1) a time series PVA
2) A demographic PVA
3) Individual-based models and patch occupancy
What is a time-series PVA?
A PVA that assumes all individuals in the population are identical
What is a demographic PVA?
based on estimates of age or stage specific vital rates, such as survival and reproduction
What 4 main things are threats to species?
- residential and commercial development
- housing, industrial, urban, commercial areas - Agriculture and aquaculture
- Energy production and mining
- oil and gas, mining and quarrying, renewable energy - Transportation and service corridors
- roads and railroads
Give 4 intrinsic factors for species extinction risk
- generalist vs. specialists
- habitat, food, climate, reproduction - generalists more likely to do well - body size
- larger animals require large home ranges, affecting intra and interspecific interactions - Dispersal capability
- aggregation behaviour
- migratory species, breeding behaviour
