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Species & Landscape
Approaches to Conservation
“The last word in ignorance is the man who says of
an animal or plant: ‘What good is it?’ If the land
mechanism as a whole is good, then every part is
good, whether we understand it or not. If the biota,
in the course of aeons, has built something we like
but do not understand, then who but a fool would
discard seemingly useless parts? To keep every
cog and wheel is the first precaution of
intelligent tinkering.”
Aldo Leopold (1949, A Sand County Almanac)
Species-Level Conservation
Most conservation efforts target species (or populations),
usually through conservation of habitat (Groom et al. 2006)
Image of manatees from Wikipedia
Species-Level Legislation (U. S. Federal)
E.g., U. S. Endangered Species Act – 1973
Cartoon from: www.caglecartoons.com
Species-Level Legislation (U. S. Federal)
E.g., U. S. Endangered Species Act – 1973
Designed to protect critically imperiled
species from extinction owing to “economic growth and
development untendered by adequate concern and conservation”
Administered by two federal agencies:
National Oceanic & Atmospheric Association
(NOAA; Dept. of Commerce)
marine organisms
U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service
(FWS; Dept. of Interior)
freshwater fishes, terrestrial organisms, etc.
Logos from: www.fws.gov; www.noaa.gov
Species-Level Legislation (U. S. Federal)
E.g., U. S. Endangered Species Act – 1973
Designed to protect critically imperiled
species from extinction owing to “economic growth and
development untendered by adequate concern and conservation”
Administered by two federal agencies:
Both NOAA (through the National Marine
Fisheries Service - NMFS) and FWS can
directly list a species through their
candidate assessment programs;
alternatively an individual or organizational
petition may request that
FWS or NMFS list a species
Logos from: www.fws.gov; www.noaa.gov
Species-Level Legislation (U. S. Federal)
E.g., U. S. Endangered Species Act – 1973
A success story:
Bald Eagle
(Haliaeetus
leucocephalus)
Photo & range map from Wikipedia
Species-Level Legislation (U. S. Federal)
E.g., U. S. Endangered Species Act – 1973
A success story:
Bald Eagle
(Haliaeetus
leucocephalus)
Photo & seals from Wikipedia
Species-Level Legislation (U. S. Federal)
E.g., U. S. Endangered Species Act – 1973
Chronology for the lower 48 U.S. states:
A success story:
Bald Eagle
(Haliaeetus
leucocephalus)
Photo from Wikipedia
1700s ~400,000 birds
Habitat loss, hunting, DDT
1918 Migratory Bird Treaty
1940 Bald Eagle Protection Act
1950s 412 pairs
1967 Declared endangered
1972 DDT banned in U.S.
1973 ESA
1992 Re-classified as threatened
(> 100,000 birds)
2007 De-listed
Species-Level Legislation (U. S. Federal)
E.g., U. S. Endangered Species Act – 1973
Bill Clinton (D)
George Bush (R)
42nd Potus
43rd Potus
January 20, 1993 – January 20, 2001
January 20, 2001 – January 20, 2009
65 ESA listings per year
8 ESA listings per year
(through 5/24/08)
Photos from Wikipedia ; data from Greenwald et al. (2006)
Species-Level Legislation (International)
E.g., International Union for Conservation of
Nature and Natural Resources’ (IUCN’s)
Convention on International
Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) – 1973
Mandated to ensure that international trade in
wild animals & plants does not
threaten their survival
Especially focuses on IUCN Red List of
Threatened & Endangered Species
Accords varying degrees of protection
to more than 33,000 species
Logo from Wikipedia
Species-Level Legislation (International)
E.g., International Union for Conservation of
Nature and Natural Resources’ (IUCN’s)
Convention on International
Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) – 1973
Severe population declines owing to hunting &
trapping (for the international pet trade), habitat
destruction, and invasive Africanized bees
Last known wild bird died in 2000;
only 120 in captivity
A sad story:
Spix’s Macaw
(Cyanopsitta spixii)
Photo from Wikipedia
Considered the only CITES species to have
gone extinct in the wild as a
result of trade since 1975
Species-Level Conservation Efforts
World Wide Fund for Nature
(Formerly the World Wildlife Fund)
World’s largest conservation nongovernmental organization (NGO),
by membership
5 million members
Operating budget
> $100,000,000/yr
Initially focused on endangered species,
but its mission has expanded
Logo from: www.worldwildlife.org
Species-Level Conservation Efforts
World Wide Fund for Nature
(Formerly the World Wildlife Fund)
Feb. 14, 2010 began the
Year of the Tiger,
according to the
Chinese lunar calendar
WWF launched a major
campaign for tiger conservation
Logo from: www.worldwildlife.org
Species-Level Conservation Efforts
Corporate Logos & Mascots
Tigers for Tigers
Species-Level Conservation Efforts
Corporate Logos & Mascots
Logos from: www.saveyourlogo.org
and www.bacardi.com; www.hypestudios.co.uk; www.lacoste.com; www.lsu.edu
More Population Biology…
Species often occur in nature as networks of populations
whose temporal and spatial dynamics are interconnected by
dispersing individuals (Groom et al. 2006)
Pop. B
Pop. A
Pop. D
Pop. C
More Population Biology…
Species often occur in nature as networks of populations
whose temporal and spatial dynamics are interconnected by
dispersing individuals (Groom et al. 2006)
The populations inhabit habitats of differing quality
Pop. or
Habitat
A
Pop. or
Habitat
B
Pop. or
Habitat
C
Pop. or
Habitat
D
More Population Biology…
Source & Sink Habitats or Populations
Source  (b-d)>0
Sink  (b-d)<0
The populations inhabit habitats of differing quality
Pop. or
Habitat
A
Pop. or
Habitat
B
Pop. or
Habitat
C
Pop. or
Habitat
D
More Population Biology…
Source & Sink Habitats or Populations
Source  (b-d)>0
Sink  (b-d)<0
The populations inhabit habitats of differing quality
Which may change from year to year
Pop. or
Habitat
A
Pop. or
Habitat
B
Pop. or
Habitat
C
Pop. or
Habitat
D
More Population Biology…
Meta-Population Dynamics
As originally conceived by Levins (1969), many populations or suitable habitat
patches are connected by dispersal across intervening matrix of unsuitable
habitat (i.e., no necessary variability of habitat quality among patches)
Pop. or
Habitat
A
Pop. or
Habitat
B
Pop. or
Habitat
C
Unoccupied
Habitat
D
More Population Biology…
Meta-Population Dynamics
Finite chance of extinction in all patches; at any given time some are occupied
and some are unoccupied; meta-population is maintained by dispersal and
recolonization of temporarily empty patches
Unoccupied
Habitat
A
Pop. or
Habitat
B
Pop. or
Habitat
C
Pop. or
Habitat
D
More Population Biology…
Meta-Population Dynamics
Extinction of a small local subpopulation can also be prevented by the
rescue effect (Brown & Kodric-Brown 1977), i.e., immigrants
that arrive from neighboring patches
Pop. or
Habitat
A
Pop. or
Habitat
B
Pop. or
Habitat
C
Pop. or
Habitat
D
Population Viability Analysis (PVA)
“The use of quantitative methods to predict the likely future status of a
population or collection of populations of conservation concern”
(Morris & Doak, in Groom et al. 2006)
MVP for long-term
survival (N=500)
MVP for short-term
survival (N=50)
Image from Campbell & Reece (2008) Biology 8th ed., Benjamin Cummings Pubs.
Population Viability Analysis (PVA)
Often computer-intensive simulation estimates of
Minimum Viable Population Sizes (MVPs)
MVP for long-term
survival (N=500)
MVP for short-term
survival (N=50)
Image from Campbell & Reece (2008) Biology 8th ed., Benjamin Cummings Pubs.
Population Viability Analysis (PVA)
“… for declining species, spatially explicit individual-based models can be
used to understand both population demography and the impacts of
habitat destruction, and to guide management practices to increase
the chances of species survival.”
“Mean (solid line) and 95% CI (dashed lines) for a single set of 150-year simulation runs (n = 100) using the fieldderived estimates of the base model parameters… Simulation results prior to the dark grey line in the figure
constitute the burn-in phase of the model and were discarded.”
Photo of Cape Sable Seaside Sparrow – Wikipedia; fig. & quotes – Elderd & Nott (2008) J. Applied Ecology
Ecologically Functional Populations (EFPs)
As density of a species decreases, so does its “functionality,”
i.e., its interactions with other species
Some have criticized the focus on MVPs, arguing that
we should be concerned about EFPs, and only
focus on MVPs as a last resort
Redford (1992) The Empty Forest
Argued that a forest may still look like a forest soon after its mammals & birds
have been lost, but without pollinators & seed dispersers the forest’s
foundation species (the trees) and ecosystem services are doomed
Redford (1992) BioScience 42:412-422
Ecologically Functional Populations (EFPs)
It can get complicated…
e.g., Conservation Conflicts
Photos of Doñana Nat’l. Park, Spain from http://pixdaus.com; White Stork & Eurasian Spoonbill from Wikipedia
Ecologically Functional Populations (EFPs)
“Conservation management conflicts frequently arise when an
overpopulation of a protected organism has negative effects
on other valuable elements in the same ecosystem.”
Photos of Doñana Nat’l. Park, Spain from http://pixdaus.com; White Stork & Eurasian Spoonbill from Wikipedia
Ecologically Functional Populations (EFPs)
7 species of protected wading birds nest in & cause increased mortality
in a remnant population of cork oaks
Photos of Doñana Nat’l. Park, Spain from http://pixdaus.com; White Stork & Eurasian Spoonbill from Wikipedia
Ecologically Functional Populations (EFPs)
“… a challenging trade-off exists between preserving the relict trees,
which have a high genetic diversity and a key ecological role in
these savannah-like ecosystems, and maintaining the current nesting
area for these protected, but expanding, wading birds.”
Photos of Doñana Nat’l. Park, Spain from http://pixdaus.com; White Stork & Eurasian Spoonbill from Wikipedia
Landscape-Level Conservation
Wild organisms do not recognize anthropogenic borders
Wild organisms often require more than one habitat type
These and other considerations motivate landscape-level conservation
Map from www.united-states-map.com; satellite image from NASA
Landscape-Level Conservation Efforts
The Nature Conservancy
U.S.’s largest conservation nongovernmental organization (NGO) –
by revenue
Operating budget
> $1,000,000,000 / yr
Especially well-managed charitable
organization, ~ 88% efficiency
(i.e., 88% of $$ go to conservation, as
opposed to overhead and fundraising)
Logo from: www.nature.org
Landscape-Level Conservation Efforts
The Nature Conservancy
Has protected 69,000 km2
in U.S.
Approx. area
of WV
Has protected 473,000 km2
internationally
Approx. area
of Cameroon
Logo from: www.nature.org; Maps from Wikipedia