L4 Pfiefer - in-situ conservation and management

Question 1

What is in-situ conservation?

Answer 1

The process of protecting an endangered plant or animal species in its natural habitat

Question 2

What are the 4 steps of in-situ conservation?

Answer 2

1. Identify drivers of population change
2. Identify management strategies - translocation, re-introduction
3. Wider landscape management - you cant just protect within the protected area, you have to manage outside it too - do the surrounding people need access for example
4. monitor success and modify plans if necessary

Question 3

What does PAME stand for?

Answer 3

Protected Areas Management Effectiveness

Question 4

Give 5 reasons why in-situ conservation is beneficial

Answer 4

1. More effective and secure
   - we often only know what we don’t know
2. Cheaper
   - protecting a species in its natural habitat takes less resources (context specific)
3. Coverage
   - can protect many species at once if you are protecting an area not just targeting a species
4. Viability
   - natural selection and evolution continue - maintain genetic diversity
5. Economically sustainable

Question 5

What is translocation?

Answer 5

moving plants or animals for conservation purposes from one site for release in another

Question 6

What is the Adaptive Management Cycle for translocation?

Answer 6

Goal
   v
EVALUATION of alternatives
   v
DECISION of actions
   v
DESIGN of actions
   v
IMPLEMENTATION AND MONITORING of actions
   v
Outcome (then back to goal)

Question 7

When is translocation more likely to be a success?

Answer 7

1. Habitat quality - higher quality is better, cant survive if its put back into a bad habitat
2. Translocated into the core of habitat rather than the periphery
3. Herbivorous - easier to find food than carnivores (if bred in captivity carnivores may not have hunting skills)
4. Early breeders with large clutches
5. Wild caught animals not captive bred

Question 8

Define the different types of translocation:

a) reinforcement

b) reintroduction

Answer 8

a) reinforcement - international movement and release into an existing population of conspecifics
b) reintroduction: international movement and release inside its indigenous range from which it has disappeared

Question 9

What is conservation introduction?

Answer 9

Conservation translocation to outside a species indigenous range

Question 10

Define:

a) assisted colonisation

b) ecological replacement

Answer 10

a) assisted colonisation: international movement and release outside its indigenous range to avoid the extinction
b) international movement and release outside its indigenous range to perform a specific ecological function

Question 11

GIve the arguments for and against Conservation introduction

Answer 11

Pro CI: retaining and restoring past community composition is no longer feasible

• dispersal barriers
• objective is to translocate those species to locations where climate is/will be suitable for them

Anti CI: the current understand of invasions is inadequate to forecast negative consequences associated with species translocations - aka show me evidence

• they could alter ecological interactions linked to pollination and seed dispersal
• the could spread parasites and disease

Question 12

Briefly describe the famous Nile perch translocation example

Answer 12

Nile perch were translocated to Lake Victoria in the late 1950s, from Lake Albert and Lake Turkana

Contributed to the disappearance of nearly 200 endemic species

Question 13

How and why would you need to manage outside the translocation area?

Answer 13

Wider landscape management is needed to ensure the success of the translocation. What would be done is:

• identification of all drivers affecting species and manage them - e.g. climate change, poaching, fires

Question 14

What are opportunity costs given to communities?

Answer 14

Money given to communities and people affected by your conservation actions

These are particularly high of people depend heavily on natural resources for their food intake and or livelihoods