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Yang N, Price M, Xu Y, Zhu Y, Zhong X, Cheng Y, Wang B. Assessing Global Efforts in the Selection of Vertebrates as Umbrella Species for Conservation. BIOLOGY 2023; 12:509. [PMID: 37106710 PMCID: PMC10135637 DOI: 10.3390/biology12040509] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/09/2023] [Revised: 03/15/2023] [Accepted: 03/24/2023] [Indexed: 03/30/2023]
Abstract
The umbrella-species strategy has been proposed as an attainable tool to achieve multi-species and community conservation with limited investment. There have been many umbrella-related studies since the concept's inception; thus, a summary of global study efforts and recommended umbrella species is important for understanding advances in the field and facilitating conservation applications. Here, we collated 213 recommended umbrella species of terrestrial vertebrates from 242 scientific articles published during 1984-2021 and analyzed their geographic patterns, biological features, and conservation statuses to identify global trends in the selection of umbrella species. We found a considerable geographic bias: most studies and, consequently, recommended umbrella species are from the Northern Hemisphere. There is also a strong taxonomic bias, with grouses (order Galliformes) and large carnivores being the most popular umbrella species and amphibians and reptiles being largely overlooked. In addition, wide-ranging and non-threatened species were frequently recommended as umbrella species. Given the observed biases and trends, we caution that appropriate species need to be chosen for each location, and it is important to confirm that popular, wide-ranging species are effective umbrella species. Moreover, amphibians and reptiles should be investigated for their potential as umbrella species. The umbrella-species strategy has many strengths and, if applied appropriately, may be one of the best options in today's conservation research and funding landscape.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nan Yang
- Institute of Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau, Southwest Minzu University, Chengdu 610225, China;
| | - Megan Price
- Key Laboratory of Bio-Resource and Eco-Environment of Ministry of Education, College of Life Sciences, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610065, China;
| | - Yu Xu
- Key Laboratory of National Forestry and Grassland Administration on Biodiversity Conservation in Karst Mountainous Areas of Southwestern China, School of Life Sciences, Guizhou Normal University, Guiyang 550001, China; (Y.X.); (Y.Z.)
| | - Yun Zhu
- Key Laboratory of National Forestry and Grassland Administration on Biodiversity Conservation in Karst Mountainous Areas of Southwestern China, School of Life Sciences, Guizhou Normal University, Guiyang 550001, China; (Y.X.); (Y.Z.)
| | - Xue Zhong
- Key Laboratory of Southwest China Wildlife Resources Conservation (Ministry of Education), China West Normal University, Nanchong 637009, China;
| | - Yuehong Cheng
- Wolong National Nature Reserve Administration Bureau, Wenchuan 623006, China;
| | - Bin Wang
- Key Laboratory of Southwest China Wildlife Resources Conservation (Ministry of Education), China West Normal University, Nanchong 637009, China;
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Santos VS, Magris RA, Cristina S. Soares A, Vieira RR, Machado RB. Connectivity and strategic opportunity to promote the establishment of private-owned protected areas in the Atlantic Forest (Serra do Mar and Bahia regions). J Nat Conserv 2022. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jnc.2022.126149] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/19/2022]
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Cerqueira RC, Leonard PB, da Silva LG, Bager A, Clevenger AP, Jaeger JAG, Grilo C. Potential Movement Corridors and High Road-Kill Likelihood do not Spatially Coincide for Felids in Brazil: Implications for Road Mitigation. ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT 2021; 67:412-423. [PMID: 33469694 DOI: 10.1007/s00267-020-01411-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/15/2020] [Accepted: 12/07/2020] [Indexed: 06/12/2023]
Abstract
The negative effects of roads on wildlife populations are a growing concern. Movement corridors and road-kill data are typically used to prioritize road segments for mitigation measures. Some research suggests that locations where animals move across roads following corridors coincide with locations where they are often killed by vehicles. Other research indicates that corridors and road-kill rarely occur in the same locations. We compared movement corridor and road mortality models as means of prioritizing road segments for mitigation for five species of felids in Brazil: tiger cats (Leopardus tigrinus and Leopardus guttulus were analyzed together), ocelot (Leopardus pardalis), jaguarundi (Herpailurus yagouaroundi), and puma (Puma concolor). We used occurrence data for each species and applied circuit theory to identify potential movement corridors crossed by roads. We used road-kill records for each species and applied maximum entropy to determine where mortality was most likely to occur on roads. Our findings suggest that movement corridors and high road mortality are not spatially associated. We suggest that differences in the behavioral state of the individuals in the species occurrence and road-kill data may explain these results. We recommend that the road segments for which the results from the two methods agree (~5300 km for all studied species combined at 95th percentile) should be high-priority candidates for mitigation together with road segments identified by at least one method in areas where felids occur in low population densities or are threatened by isolation effects.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rafaela Cobucci Cerqueira
- Departamento de Biologia, Universidade Federal de Lavras, Campus Universitário, PO Box 3037, Lavras, Minas Gerais, CEP 37200-000, Brazil.
| | - Paul B Leonard
- U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, Science Applications, 101 12th Avenue, Fairbanks, AK, 99701, USA
| | - Lucas Gonçalves da Silva
- Centro UnB Cerrado, Universidade de Brasília, Campus Universitário Darcy Ribeiro, Asa Norte, Brasília, DF, CEP 70910-900, Brazil
| | - Alex Bager
- Departamento de Biologia, Universidade Federal de Lavras, Campus Universitário, PO Box 3037, Lavras, Minas Gerais, CEP 37200-000, Brazil
| | - Anthony P Clevenger
- Western Transportation Institute, Montana State University, PO Box 174250, Bozeman, MT, USA
| | - Jochen A G Jaeger
- Department of Geography, Planning and Environment, Concordia University Montreal, 1455 de Maisonneuve Blvd. W., Suite H1255, Montreal, QC, H3G 1M8, Canada
| | - Clara Grilo
- Departamento de Biologia, Universidade Federal de Lavras, Campus Universitário, PO Box 3037, Lavras, Minas Gerais, CEP 37200-000, Brazil
- Department of Biology Faculty of Sciences of the University of Lisbon & CESAM-Centre for Environmental and Marine Studies, University of Aveiro, 3810-193, Aveiro, Portugal
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The underestimated role of small fragments for carnivore dispersal in the Atlantic Forest. Perspect Ecol Conserv 2021. [DOI: 10.1016/j.pecon.2020.12.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
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Monitoring Urban Green Infrastructure Changes and Impact on Habitat Connectivity Using High-Resolution Satellite Data. REMOTE SENSING 2020. [DOI: 10.3390/rs12183072] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
In recent decades, the City of Stockholm, Sweden, has grown substantially and is now the largest city in Scandinavia. Recent urban growth is placing pressure on green areas within and around the city. In order to protect biodiversity and ecosystem services, green infrastructure is part of Stockholm municipal planning. This research quantifies land-cover change in the City of Stockholm between 2003 and 2018 and examines what impact urban growth has had on its green infrastructure. Two 2018 WorldView-2 images and three 2003 QuickBird-2 images were used to produce classifications of 11 land-cover types using object-based image analysis and a support vector machine algorithm with spectral, geometric and texture features. The classification accuracies reached over 90% and the results were used in calculations and comparisons to determine the impact of urban growth in Stockholm between 2003 and 2018, including the generation of land-cover change statistics in relation to administrative boundaries and green infrastructure. For components of the green infrastructure, i.e., habitat networks for selected sensitive species, habitat network analysis for the European crested tit (Lophophanes cristatus) and common toad (Bufo bufo) was performed. Between 2003 and 2018, urban areas increased by approximately 4% while green areas decreased by 2% in comparison with their 2003 areal amounts. The most significant urban growth occurred through expansion of the transport network, paved surfaces and construction areas which increased by 12%, mainly at the expense of grassland and coniferous forest. Examination of urban growth within the green infrastructure indicated that most land area was lost in dispersal zones (28 ha) while the highest percent change was within habitat for species of conservation concern (14%). The habitat network analysis revealed that overall connectivity decreased slightly through patch fragmentation and areal loss mainly caused by road expansion on the outskirts of the city. The habitat network analysis also revealed which habitat areas are well-connected and which are most vulnerable. These results can assist policymakers and planners in their efforts to ensure sustainable urban development including sustaining biodiversity in the City of Stockholm.
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