Lecture Topic: Conservation case studies
and management principles
Env 121: Conservation of Biodiversity
14 May 2009
Professor Victoria Sork
Case Study 1: Black-footed ferret
management of an endangered species.
Background
• Blackfooted ferrets are obligate associates of
prairie dogs
• Both are found throughout prairies of midwestern
North America
• Prairie dogs were eradicated because their
burrows were annoyance to ranchers (despite
colonies cover only 2% of range.
• Decline of ferrets follow decline of prairie dogs
• The last known wild population of ferrets was
discovered near Meeteetse, Wyoming in 1981.
• This population was studied until 1985 when both
plague and canine distemper drove it to near
extinction
The Blackfooted Ferret Recovery Plan
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•
•
•
•
•
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18 ferrets capture and used for
captive breeding program.
Captive propagation succeeded
in increasing ferret numbers
Plan called for establishing at
least 10 separate populations
of 30 each and 1,500 total
individuals
Ferrets reintroduced in 1991
into Shirley Basin, Wyoming.
Expanded to sites in Montana,
South Dakota, and Arizona.
Program has been plagued by
unproductive conflict and
policy and organizational
problems
Beginning in 2000 the ferret
rapidly recovered, so that
there were about 200
individuals in the Shirley Basin
population in 2006.
Case Study 2
Management of the Spotted Owl
Background:
• 1975: Official conservation efforts began in the United
States in 1975 when it was declared “threatened” in
the state of Oregon
• 1980’s efforts continued in a sporadic and unsystematic
way
• 1989 the Interagency Scientific Committee (ISC) was
established by Congress and
• The ISC's major conclusions:
– the population of spotted owls is declining due to
reductions in old growth habitat.
– the establishment of an extensive network of large
reserves.
– Current federal management plans in the Pacific
Northwest propose more habitat than the ISC
envisioned, providing a greater likelihood of
persistence.
Source: Barry R. Noon and Kevin S. McKelvey. 1996. MANAGEMENT OF THE SPOTTED OWL: A Case
History in Conservation Biology. Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics, 27: 135-162.
Spotted owl faces new threat
LA Times, Dec 1, 2008, By Kim Murphy
“As the owl's population continues to fall, the Bush administration wants to permit logging in
areas that had been set aside for it - reworking a 1994 deal to protect the owl and oldgrowth forests.
…In what is likely to be one of the final environmental battles of the Bush administration, 18
environmental groups filed motions in federal court last week to block a massive remapping
of federal lands in the Pacific Northwest.
…Proposals by the Bureau of Land Management and the Fish and Wildlife Service … would open
up for logging large tracts that had been set aside as breathing space for the owls -- nearly
1.8 million acres.
…The moves amount to a wholesale reworking of the Northwest Forest Plan. The 1994
compromise -- brokered by the Clinton administration to end the timber wars of the Pacific
Northwest -- set up a system of protections for the region's old-growth forests, allowing
them to be thinned but not cut down.
…Those classic groves, all but about 20% of which have been lost to logging and development, are
essential not only for the spotted owl, but also the marbled murrelet (a threatened small
seabird) and a host of other plants and animals whose survival is considered a barometer of
the planet's ecological health.
…The management plan has been a lightning rod for blame in a paralyzed logging industry; it
turned the spotted owl into a much-maligned poster child for closed mills and economic ruin.”
Case Study 3: Sea turtle conservation and the
Yolngu People of North East Arnhem Land, Australia
• Yolngu, aboriginal people of northeastern Australia have
occupied this area for 40,000-100,000 years.
• Harvested sea turtles and eggs for thousands of years
Species involved (see lecture on Small Populations)
• Hawksbill turtle
• leatherback turtle
• Olive ridley turtle
• loggerhead turtle
• flatback turtle
• green turtle
Nhaltjan Nguli Miwatj Yolngu Djaka
Miyapunuwu
Global concerns:
1. Nesting grounds
2. Feeding grounds
3. Migration routes
Why Threatened?
1. Destruction of foraging areas
2. Destruction of nesting habitats
3. Intentional and unintentional slaughter
4. Pollution of waters
Miyapuna project:
1. research
2. sustainable harvest
3. community involvement !!
4. Hunters returning tagged turtles
Case Study 4. Florida Everglades
• The third largest national park in contiguous United States.
• Slow moving freshwater "River of Grass," 50 miles wide but
only 6 inches deep, flowing from Lake Okeechobee through
marshy grassland into Florida Bay.
E V E R G L A D E S N A T I O N A L P A R K website:
(http://www.everglades.national-park.com/info.htm)
Overview of Everglades Ecosystem
Small scale: Alligator hole
Complex aquatic system
• many processes
• Diverse organisms
–
–
–
–
Grass shrimp
Water fleas
Mosquitofish
Alligators
Regional scale:
Everglades landscape
– Fires
– Part of larger watershed
– Annual rainfall: 130 cm,
mainly during summer
months
Watershed scale:
southern Florida
Endangered Species in Everglades
National Park
• American crocodile (Crocodylus
acutus
• Green turtle (Chelonia mydas)
• Atlantic Ridley turtle
(Lepidochelys kempi)
• Atlantic hawksbill turtle
(Eretmochelys imbricata)
• Atlantic leatherback turtle
(Dermochelys coriacea)
• Cape Sable seaside sparrow
(Ammodramus maritima
mirabilis)
• Snail (Everglades)
• kite (Rostrhamus sociabilis
plumbeus)
• Wood stork (Mycteria americana)
• West Indian manatee (Trichechus
manatus)
• Florida panther (Felis concolor
coryi)
• Key Largo wood rat (Neotoma
floridana smalli)
• Key Largo cotton mouse
(Peromyscus gossypinus
allapaticola)
• Red-cockaded woodpecker
(Picoides borealis)
• Schaus swallowtail butterfly
(Papilio aristodemus ponceanus)
• Garber's Spurge (Chamaesyce
garberi)
Everglades Management
Development of Water management plan
• Major public works project transformed a
subtropical wetland into a highly managed
multi-use system
• Many stimuli during history of area:
– Control flooding resulting from high
rainfall events
– Control water to reclaim land lost to
flooding
– Drought of 1971-need to provide water
• Series of management decisions have been
ineffective
Everglades Restoration for Conservation
1.
Attempts to conserve remnant wetland have had
limited success
2. Historical ecosystem:
– Supported a suite of animals with large spatial
requirements
– Oligotrophic, i.e. low nutrient levels
– Spatially diversity vegetation mosaic
3. Now
– Extinctions due to land use conversion (e.g. loss
of nesting area, changes in hydrology)
– Losses in native cover type
– Changes in plant species due to nutrient inputs,
invasive species
4. Restoration is focusing on management of water
flow, using an adaptive management approach
Case Study 5: International Management of
Cranes*
1.
Background
– 15 species of cranes worldwide\
– Ancient family of birds
2. Why threatened?
– Habitat loss
– Human disturbance
– Low reproductive potential
– Hunting
3. Example: Siberian Crane
Height: 5 ft.
Weight: 6 kg, 13 lbs.
Population: ~2,9003,000
Trend: Rapid decline
* International Crane Foundation: http://www.savingcranes.org/
Conservation status of Cranes
1. Amur River, Russia/China border
– Important link between arctic breeding
grounds and temperate wintering areas
– Center of Crane diversity
2. Southeast Asia: Eastern Sarus Cranes (tallest
crane)
– Main wintering area is in Vietnam
– Tram Chim National Preserve: restoration
of natural wetlands
3. Southern African Blue Cranes (small crane)
 Conclusion: Crane conservationists must
integrate conservation programs
internationally
Case Study 6: Doñana National Park,
UNESCO World Heritage Site *
• In Atlantic Ocean Estuary on Guadalquivir
river at its estuary
• Great diversity of its biotopes, including
lagoons, marshlands, fixed and mobile
dunes, scrub woodland and maquis (similar
to California chaparall).
• Home to five threatened bird species.
• Major breeding ground for herons in the
Mediterranean region
• Wintering site for > 500,000 water fowl
each year.
Gray Heron
Maquis
* http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/685
Doñana National Park: Threats & Solutions
Why threatened?
– Grazing
– Timber extraction
– Hunting of wild pigs and deer
Conservation and management problems
– Illegal irrigation wells
– Pesticide
– Hunting
Solutions
– Zoning for multiple uses
– Public education
– Designated buffer zones
– Improve local economy
Water management
– Obstacles?
– Poor region
– Insufficient international support
Case Study 7: Greater Yellowstone
Ecosystem
A. Background
1 Yellowstone National Park was established in 1872
2 GYE includes various national forests, wildlife refuges and other
wildlands.
3 Rocky Mtns areas of Wyoming, Idaho, and Montana; see map
4 Controversies around fire management, ungulate population
control, and wolf re-introduction
5 Low species diversity and few threatened or endangered species
6 Rich fauna of large mammals: elk, moose, mule dear, pronghorn,
bison, bighorn sheep, black bear, and threatened grizzly bear
Bison
http://www.greateryellowstone.org/ecosystem/
Greater
Yellowstone
Ecosystems
Political
jurisdictions
GYE Management
Ecological Process management
1 Yellowstone National Park boundaries do not coincide with ecological
process
2 Mammals find winter ranges outside park
3 Wildfires cross boundaries
Fire Ecology and management
1 Summer 1988, ~ 50% YNP was burned by wildfires
2 Occur naturally ever 350 yrs
3 "Let burn" policy led to political controversy
Ungulate management
1 elk and bison have increased to near capacity
2 heavy grazing in jeopardizing native species
3 disease carried by bison and elk can jeopardize livestock in GYE
4 conflict between livestock grazing and ungulate management
Wolf Recovery
1 Almost extirpated during the 1920s
2 Restoration of wolves is opposed by local ranchers
3 Mining industry opposes wolf recovery because presence
of endangered species restricts access to minerals.
4 Release of wolves was done in 1995 as part of Endangered
Species Act
5 Two family groups had to be relocated back into YNP
6 Boon to tourist industry.
Figure 6.7 (B) The number of wolves in WY, ID, and MO increased following
their reintroduction to the Yellowstone area
Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem: Other
interests
Development issues
1 Forest Service is obligated to provide
opportunities for mining, timber
harvest, and grazing
2 Oil and gas exploration are permitted
3 Several controversial gold mines have
been proposed
4 Logging and grazing are not profitable
in GYE
5 Conflicts between cattle and elk led to
the establishment of the National Elk
Refuge near Jackson, Wyoming.
6 GYE is becoming a recreation-based
economy
7 Snowmobiling is popular, yet altering
migration patterns of bison
Balance
1 In progress: transition to Ecosystem
Management
2 Tourism seems to be winning out over
timber harvest and grazing
3 Restrictions are being placed on mining
and oil and gas exploration
4 Is recreation outweighing ecosystem
protection?
5 Does restricting commodity extraction
in Yellowstone simple shift resource
exploitation elsewhere?
6 GYE includes mixed usage and thus
allows a much larger area to be
managed together.
Figure 6.1 Tracking of Magellanic penguins (Spheniscus magellanicus) shows that
penguins incubating eggs forage up to 600 km from breeding colonies
Figure 6.2 (A) A Hawaiian monk seal (Monachus schauinslandi). (B) Censusing seal populations
revealed that this species was in danger of extinction.
Figure 6.3 Population viability analyses predict it takes 100 ha to ensure (at 95%
likelihood) the persistence of a marsh fritillary butterfly population for 100 years
Figure 6.4 Possible metapopulation patterns, with the size of a population indicated by
the size of the circle
Figure 6.5 Mountain sheep (Ovis canadensis) in the southeastern California desert are
an example of a metapopulation
Figure 6.8 California condor chicks (Gymnogyps californianus) raised in captivity
are fed by researchers using puppets that look like adult birds
Principles of Good Conservation
Management: Principle 1
Critical ecological processes and biodiversity
composition must be maintained.
1. Key species management
– Grizzly bears at Yellowstone
– Large ungulates, E. Africa
2. Habitat or ecosystem management
– disturbance processes are managed
– Everglades National Park
Conservation principle 2
External threats must be minimized and external benefits
maximized.
1. not "island of natural habitat": pollution, invasions
2. boundary effects
– Need to minimize depth of negative boundary effects
– strategy depends on threats
– work with landowners and managers of surrounding land
– community relations with suburban area
– address traditional uses of land by indigenous people
3. effective reserve size
– can increase with semi-wild lands surrounding reserve
4. Habitat corridors
– What are advantages and limitations?
– require careful design
– can be less expensive than large preserves
Conservation Plan Principle 3
Evolutionary processes must be conserved.
1. Mitigate stochastic effects
2. Retain genetic variation before populations are
threatened
Conservation Principle 4
Management must be adaptive and
minimally intrusive
1. Contingency plans
2. Flexibility
3. Peregrine falcon example:
– southern populations require reintroductions from northern
populations
– sensitivity analysis: adult survival
more imp. than nestling survival
– thus, adult survival in no. pops is
essential
How to Develop a Conservation
Management Plan
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
Review the mission statement (for example, see mission
statement )
Review history of the site or program
Identify the major specific problems that require management.
Establish a group of formal or informal advisors.
Develop a management plant for reserve
– short-term (5 yr) and long term (often less likely)
– physical plant and zoning
– evaluation of goals
Develop annual work plans
Develop an inventory of resource and site description
Identify key areas where research is needed.
Maintain good relations with local community
Look for opportunities to develop cooperative agreements for
land use and storing.
Closing points
• Species can be protected through
– Habitat conservation (e.g. spotted owl, Cranes)
– Species level captive breeding and re-introduction (e.g. black
footed feret, California condor)
– Ex-situ preservation (e.g. zoos and botanical gardens)
• Ecosystems protection
– For the sake of the ecosystem and its species (e.g. Florida
everglades)
• Conservation plans
– Need to be based on sound ecological principles
– Economic, political, and sociological considerations (e.g. Greater
Yellowshone Ecosystem )