Managing Ecosystems in Protected Areas Flashcards
What are the benefits of conservation easements?
- Drastically cheaper to purchase certain rights to land rather than the actual land
- More land protected per dollar than outright purchase
- Avoid costs and conflicts of seizing properties outright
- Landowner often relieved of significant tax burden
About how many acres in the United States are protected through conservation easements granted to The Nature Conservancy?
3.2 Million
3 Reasons why parks fail:
- “Paper parks” - have no staff, administration, budget, or infrastructures.
- Fail to resist the pressures of ongoing development around them.
- Fail to balance use versus protection of species.
Indigenous People often possess… which includes…
a strong conservation ethic which includes:
- Cooperation
- Family bonding and cross-generational communication
- Concern for the well-being of future generations
- Local-scale, self-sufficiency, and reliance on local rights to lands, which tend to be collective and inalienable
- Restraint in resource exploitation and respect for nature, especially sacred sites
What is TEK?
Traditional Ecological Knowledge is a complex basis for decisions about:
- Natural Resource Management
- Nutrition and food preparation
- Health
- Education
- Community and Social organization
Successful parks are usually under the watchful eye of…
a committed and charismatic individual who devotes years, even decades, to a single park.
Successful parks usually have…
a simple research station that generates critical knowledge about the parks wildlife and management needs.
Privatization
Protected areas in the forms of private reserves and park management contracts.
Indigenous People today
- Land rights of indigenous people are beginning to be recognized in a growing number of countries
- Their reserves account for 20% of the Brazilian Amazon
Threats to protected areas
- Civil strife & social instability
- Tendency of support organizations to pull out of any country immediately when the security of an expatriate personnel could not be guaranteed
“Working landscapes”
AKA the "triad approach" A mosaic of: - strictly protected areas - extractive reserves - intensive production areas (both agriculture and industry)
The “triad approach”
- Strict protected areas surrounded by extractive reserves where wildlife and other renewable resources can be harvested sustainably.
- Strict protected areas act as “sources” of wildlife to allow sustainable hunting in the contiguous extracted reserves.
- System to enforce regulations in place to avoid overexploitation by outsiders.
- System of co-management between local communities and technical advisors is needed.
90% of the marine reserves studied have a _______ ________ ________ than the fished areas
greater fish biomass
World heritage site which is one of the largest marine reserves in the world
Galapagos Marine Reserve
Stakeholders
Entities that have an interest in a project, usually important in the success/funding of the project. Good to have early on.
Zoning
Reflects the understanding that the protected and unprotected areas are interrelated.
Two types of zoning:
Extractive & Non-Extractive Use
How would you develop participatory management programs in marine reserves?
- Establish a secure legal and institutional framework
- Develop a marine reserve management plan and supplementary plans for specific resources
- Empower stakeholder groups by developing capabilities, communication, and understanding of the management system
How would you strengthen the capability of management authorities in marine reserves?
- Develop effective regulations and procedures and ensure that the law is applied
- Build GNPS capabilities in control, patrolling, and judicial procedure
- Develop collaboration on law enforcement with the Navy, government bodies, and stakeholder organizations
- Develop the capabilities of the GNPS in marine management and of the CDF in marine research
Location of reserves are often not…
aligned with species rarity/diversity.
In order to protect an intact functioning ecosystem…
The area protected must be very large to accommodate wide-ranging species, large disturbances, and meta-population dynamics.
The “hot spots concept” was developed by:
Norman Meyers
Hot spots areas must…
1) Contain at least 0.5% or 1,500 species of vascular plants as endemics, and
2) Have lost at least 70% of its primary vegetation
Problems with hot spots concept:
- Do not accurately represent taxa other than vascular plants
- Do not represent biological diversity in these areas or globally
- Do not protect ecosystem services
- Do not consider phylogenetic diversity
Most major biodiversity losses are occurring In places with:
lots of endemic species
Hot spots with careful long-term management can ensure
that a large proportion of the world’s biodiversity will survive us.
What were the results of the Prendergast et al. 1993 study?
- Butterflies and birds shared only 10% of hot spots
- Butterflies and dragonflies shared 34% of hot spots
- 0 of the 2500 tracts were a hot spot for all 5 taxonomic groups
- Protecting tracts with high biodiversity may not protect rare species; 16% of rare birds were found in “cold spots”
Extractive Areas prevent
whole-scale conversion of an area by clarifying issues of access and ownership and generating reliable sources of revenue.
Reserve systems should be (general principles):
- Representative: protect some of everything
- Resilient: effective protection into the future
- Redundant: multiple sites as back-up
What is faunal relaxation?
Losing species over time; refers mainly to parks.
The number of extinctions are greatest in what kind of parks?
Small & old
Which is better in terms of reserve size: single large or single small?
Single large, because it includes more species allowing bigger populations; more interior per edge
Which is better in terms of reserve proximity: several small close together or several small isolated?
Several small close together, because it is easier to disperse among patches and it allows easier recolonization.
Which is better in terms of reserve proximity: 4 patches clumped or 4 patches lined?
Clumped, because it is easier to disperse amongst multiple patches.
Which is better in terms of reserve connectivity: unconnected or connected?
Connected, because it facilitates dispersal.
Which is better in terms of reserve shape: circular or oblong?
Round better than any other shape because it decreases the amount of edge.
SLOSS debate for Single Large?
- Contiguous areas are better able to preserve intact communities of interdependent species
- Contiguous areas are better able to maintain viable populations of species that occur at low population densities, especially large vertebrates
- Intact is better than fragmented
- More interior per edge
SLOSS debate for Several Small?
- Good for vegetative perennials, and for small, sedentary animals, especially insects (which may comprise the bulk of biodiversity)
- A few hectares may encompass all the appropriate habitat, e.g. a peat bog or a rocky outcrop (Pigeon Mountain Salamander)
- May be protecting more different species when you protect many small patches vs. a single large
Coarse filter-Fine filter approach
Resolution to the SLOSS debate, advocated by the Nature Conservancy
Coarse
ecosystems, common species
Fine
rare species
Which is better in terms of conservation: large or small?
A combination is best:
- Large reserves to maintain functional ecosystems and large-scale population processes
- Small reserves to protect rare elements
How to maximize the value of small reserves?
- Reserve shape matters: it minimizes edges and reduces internal fragmentation (circles are best)
- Landscape context matters: surrounding habitat, creates buffers
- Use networks to facilitate movements: stepping stones, corridors
- Isolation matters: roads can be physical or psychological barriers
GAP Analysis
a proactive approach to protecting biodiversity which seeks to identify gaps between land areas that are rich in biodiversity and areas that are managed for conservation.
3 Main Assumptions of GAP Analysis:
1) The best time to save a species is while they are still common.
2) It is cheaper to maintain natural populations, than it is to intensely manage endangered populations.
3) We can use what we know about the distributions of vertebrate species and vegetation types to asses biodiversity at local, state, regional, and national levels.
Problems with GAP Analysis:
1) Presumes that vegetation cover can predict vertebrate distribution accurately.
2) Assumes predicted vertebrate distribution will be a good surrogate for diversity in other groups.
What do Biosphere Reserves represent?
They represent the world’s varied ecosystems and provide opportunities for scientific research and sustainable economic development based on ecological principles.
Biosphere Reserves are intended to contain these three parts:
1) Core area
2) Buffer zone
3) Outer transition area
What is a core area?
A legally constituted area devoted to long-term protection according to the conservation objectives of the biosphere reserve, and of sufficient size to meet those objectives
What is a buffer zone?
Zones clearly identified and surrounding or contiguous to the core area or areas, where only activities compatible with the conservation objectives can take place.
What is an outer transition area?
Area where sustainable resource management practices are promoted and developed.
