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Scott SE, Cain B, de Kort SR, Johnson B, Khayale C, Versteege L, Bettridge CM. Group composition impacts reproductive output and population viability in captive white rhinoceros. Anim Conserv 2022. [DOI: 10.1111/acv.12833] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/23/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- S. E. Scott
- Department of Natural Sciences, Ecology and Environment Research Centre Manchester Metropolitan University Manchester UK
- Joint Nature Conservation Committee Aberdeen UK
| | - B. Cain
- Department of Natural Sciences, Ecology and Environment Research Centre Manchester Metropolitan University Manchester UK
| | - S. R. de Kort
- Department of Natural Sciences, Ecology and Environment Research Centre Manchester Metropolitan University Manchester UK
| | | | | | - L. Versteege
- Safaripark Beekse Bergen Hilvarenbeek The Netherlands
| | - C. M. Bettridge
- Department of Natural Sciences, Ecology and Environment Research Centre Manchester Metropolitan University Manchester UK
- School of Natural Sciences Bangor University Bangor UK
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Houstin A, Zitterbart DP, Heerah K, Eisen O, Planas-Bielsa V, Fabry B, Le Bohec C. Juvenile emperor penguin range calls for extended conservation measures in the Southern Ocean. ROYAL SOCIETY OPEN SCIENCE 2022; 9:211708. [PMID: 36061529 PMCID: PMC9428539 DOI: 10.1098/rsos.211708] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/29/2021] [Accepted: 08/08/2022] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
To protect the unique and rich biodiversity of the Southern Ocean, conservation measures such as marine protected areas (MPAs) have been implemented. Currently, the establishment of several additional protection zones is being considered based on the known habitat distributions of key species of the ecosystems including emperor penguins and other marine top predators. However, the distribution of such species at sea is often insufficiently sampled. Specifically, current distribution models focus on the habitat range of adult animals and neglect that immatures and juveniles can inhabit different areas. By tracking eight juvenile emperor penguins in the Weddell Sea over 1 year and performing a meta-analysis including previously known data from other colonies, we show that conservation efforts in the Southern Ocean are insufficient for protecting this highly mobile species, and particularly its juveniles. We find that juveniles spend approximately 90% of their time outside the boundaries of proposed and existing MPAs, and that their distribution extends beyond (greater than 1500 km) the species' extent of occurrence as defined by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. Our data exemplify that strategic conservation plans for the emperor penguin and other long-lived ecologically important species should consider the dynamic habitat range of all age classes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Aymeric Houstin
- Centre Scientifique de Monaco, Département de Biologie Polaire, Monaco 98000, Principality of Monaco
- Université de Strasbourg, CNRS, IPHC UMR 7178, Strasbourg F-67000, France
| | - Daniel P. Zitterbart
- Department of Physics, Friedrich-Alexander-University Erlangen-Nürnberg, Erlangen 91054, Germany
- Applied Ocean Physics and Engineering Department, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, MA 02543, USA
| | - Karine Heerah
- Zoophysiology, Department of Biology, Aarhus University, Aarhus C 8000, Denmark
| | - Olaf Eisen
- Alfred-Wegener-Institut, Helmholtz-Zentrum für Polar- und Meeresforschung, Bremerhaven 27570, Germany
- Fachbereich Geowissenschaften, Universität Bremen, Bremen 28359, Germany
| | - Víctor Planas-Bielsa
- Centre Scientifique de Monaco, Département de Biologie Polaire, Monaco 98000, Principality of Monaco
| | - Ben Fabry
- Department of Physics, Friedrich-Alexander-University Erlangen-Nürnberg, Erlangen 91054, Germany
| | - Céline Le Bohec
- Centre Scientifique de Monaco, Département de Biologie Polaire, Monaco 98000, Principality of Monaco
- Université de Strasbourg, CNRS, IPHC UMR 7178, Strasbourg F-67000, France
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Warret Rodrigues C, Angin B, Besnard A. Favoring recruitment as a conservation strategy to improve the resilience of long-lived reptile populations: Insights from a population viability analysis. Ecol Evol 2021; 11:13068-13080. [PMID: 34646453 PMCID: PMC8495825 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.8021] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/17/2021] [Revised: 07/09/2021] [Accepted: 07/22/2021] [Indexed: 12/02/2022] Open
Abstract
In long-lived species, although adult survival typically has the highest elasticity, temporal variations in less canalized demographic parameters are the main drivers of population dynamics. Targeting recruitment rates may thus be the most effective strategy to manage these species. We analyzed 1,136 capture-recapture histories collected over 9 years in an isolated population of the critically endangered Lesser Antillean iguana, using a robust design Pradel model to estimate adult survival and recruitment rates. From an adult population size estimated at 928 in 2013, we found a yearly decline of 4% over the 8-year period. As expected under the canalization hypothesis for a long-lived species, adult survival was high and constant, with little possibility for improvement, whereas the recruitment rate varied over time and likely drove the observed population decline. We then used a prospective perturbation analysis to explore whether managing the species' immature cohorts would at least slow the population decline. The prospective perturbation analysis suggested that a significant and sustained conservation effort would be needed to achieve a recruitment rate high enough to slow the population decline. We posit that the high recruitment rate achieved in 2014-likely due to the maintenance in 2012 of the main nesting sites used by this population-would be sufficient to slow this population's decline if it was sustained each year. Based on the results of diverse pilot studies we conducted, we identified the most likely threats targeting the eggs and immature cohorts, stressing the need to improve reproductive success and survival of immature iguanas. The threats we identified are also involved in the decline of several reptile species, and species from other taxa such as ground-nesting birds. These findings on a little-studied taxon provide further evidence that focusing on the immature life stages of long-lived species can be key to their conservation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chloé Warret Rodrigues
- Office National de la Chasse et de la Faune SauvageCellule Technique des Antilles françaisesTrois‐îletsFrance
- Department of Biological SciencesUniversity of ManitobaWinnipegCanada
| | | | - Aurélien Besnard
- CEFEUniv MontpellierCNRSEPHE‐PSL UniversityIRDUniv Paul Valéry Montpellier 3MontpellierFrance
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Eichenwald AJ, Reed JM. An Expanded Framework for Community Viability Analysis. Bioscience 2021. [DOI: 10.1093/biosci/biab034] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Abstract
Community viability analysis (CVA) has been put forth as an analogue for population viability analysis (PVA), an accepted conservation tool for evaluating species-specific threat and management scenarios. The original proposal recommended that CVAs examine resistance-based questions. PVAs, however, are broadly applicable to multiple types of viability questions, suggesting that the original CVA definition may be too narrow. In the present article, we advance an expanded framework in which CVA includes any analysis assessing the status, threats, or management options of an ecological community. We discuss viability questions that can be investigated with CVA. We group those inquiries into categories of resistance, resilience, and persistence, and provide case studies for each. Finally, we broadly present the steps in a CVA.
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Affiliation(s)
- Adam J Eichenwald
- PhD candidate, Tufts University, Medford, Massachusetts, United States
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Dibben‐Young A, Harmon KC, Lunow‐Luke A, Idle JL, Christensen DL, Price MR. Cooperative breeding behaviors in the Hawaiian Stilt ( Himantopus mexicanus knudseni). Ecol Evol 2021; 11:5010-5016. [PMID: 34025987 PMCID: PMC8131765 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.7509] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/25/2020] [Revised: 03/05/2021] [Accepted: 03/10/2021] [Indexed: 11/07/2022] Open
Abstract
Cooperative breeding, which is commonly characterized by nonbreeding individuals that assist others with reproduction, is common in avian species. However, few accounts have been reported in Charadriiformes, particularly island-nesting species. We present incidental observations of cooperative breeding behaviors in the Hawaiian Stilt (Himantopus mexicanus knudseni), an endangered subspecies of the Black-necked Stilt (Himantopus mexicanus), during the 2012-2020 nesting seasons on the Hawaiian islands of O'ahu and Moloka'i. We describe two different behaviors that are indicative of cooperative breeding: (a) egg incubation by multiple adults; (b) helpers-at-the-nest, whereby juveniles delay dispersal and reproduction to assist parents and siblings with reproduction. These observations are the first published accounts of cooperative breeding in this subspecies and merit further investigation, as cooperative breeding may improve population viability of the endangered, endemic Hawaiian Stilt.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Kristen C. Harmon
- Department of Natural Resources and Environmental ManagementUniversity of Hawai‘i at MānoaHonoluluHIUSA
| | - Arianna Lunow‐Luke
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary BiologyBrown UniversityProvidenceRIUSA
| | - Jessica L. Idle
- Department of Natural Resources and Environmental ManagementUniversity of Hawai‘i at MānoaHonoluluHIUSA
| | - Dain L. Christensen
- Department of Natural Resources and Environmental ManagementUniversity of Hawai‘i at MānoaHonoluluHIUSA
| | - Melissa R. Price
- Department of Natural Resources and Environmental ManagementUniversity of Hawai‘i at MānoaHonoluluHIUSA
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Howell PE, Hossack BR, Muths E, Sigafus BH, Chenevert-Steffler A, Chandler RB. A statistical forecasting approach to metapopulation viability analysis. ECOLOGICAL APPLICATIONS : A PUBLICATION OF THE ECOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA 2020; 30:e02038. [PMID: 31709679 DOI: 10.1002/eap.2038] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/15/2019] [Revised: 09/13/2019] [Accepted: 09/26/2019] [Indexed: 06/10/2023]
Abstract
Conservation of at-risk species is aided by reliable forecasts of the consequences of environmental change and management actions on population viability. Forecasts from conventional population viability analysis (PVA) are made using a two-step procedure in which parameters are estimated, or elicited from expert opinion, and then plugged into a stochastic population model without accounting for parameter uncertainty. Recently developed statistical PVAs differ because forecasts are made conditional on models fitted to empirical data. The statistical forecasting approach allows for uncertainty about parameters, but it has rarely been applied in metapopulation contexts where spatially explicit inference is needed about colonization and extinction dynamics and other forms of stochasticity that influence metapopulation viability. We conducted a statistical metapopulation viability analysis (MPVA) using 11 yr of data on the federally threatened Chiricahua leopard frog (Lithobates chiricahuensis) to forecast responses to landscape heterogeneity, drought, environmental stochasticity, and management. We evaluated several future environmental scenarios and pond restoration options designed to reduce extinction risk. Forecasts over a 50-yr time horizon indicated that metapopulation extinction risk was <4% for all scenarios, but uncertainty was high. Without pond restoration, extinction risk is forecasted to be 3.9% (95% CI 0-37%) by year 2066. Restoring six ponds by increasing their hydroperiod reduced extinction risk to <1% and greatly reduced uncertainty (95% CI 0-2%). Our results suggest that managers can mitigate the impacts of drought and environmental stochasticity on metapopulation viability by maintaining ponds that hold water throughout the year and keeping them free of invasive predators. Our study illustrates the utility of the spatially explicit statistical forecasting approach to MPVA in conservation planning efforts.
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Affiliation(s)
- Paige E Howell
- Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources, University of Georgia, Athens, 180 East Green Street, Georgia, 30602, USA
| | - Blake R Hossack
- U.S. Geological Survey, Northern Rocky Mountain Science Center, Missoula, Montana, 59801, USA
| | - Erin Muths
- U.S. Geological Survey, Fort Collins Science Center, Fort Collins, Colorado, 80526, USA
| | - Brent H Sigafus
- U.S. Geological Survey, Southwest Biological Science Center, Tucson, Arizona, 85721, USA
| | - Ann Chenevert-Steffler
- U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, Buenos Aires NWR, P.O. Box 109, Sasabe, Arizona, 85633, USA
| | - Richard B Chandler
- Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources, University of Georgia, Athens, 180 East Green Street, Georgia, 30602, USA
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Manlik O. The Importance of Reproduction for the Conservation of Slow-Growing Animal Populations. ADVANCES IN EXPERIMENTAL MEDICINE AND BIOLOGY 2019; 1200:13-39. [PMID: 31471793 DOI: 10.1007/978-3-030-23633-5_2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/13/2022]
Abstract
Both survival and reproduction are important fitness components, and thus critical to the viability of wildlife populations. Preventing one death (survival) or contributing one newborn (reproduction), has arguably the same effect on population dynamics-in each instance the population grows or is maintained by one additional member. However, for the conservation of slow-growing animal populations, the importance of reproduction is sometimes overlooked when evaluating wildlife management options. This has to do with the use of demographic sensitivity analyses, which quantify the relative contribution of vital rates to population growth. For slow-growing populations, the results of such analyses typically show that growth rates are more sensitive to changes in survival than to equal proportional changes in reproduction. Consequently, for slow-growing taxa, survival has been labelled a better fitness surrogate than reproduction. However, such a generalization, derived from conventional sensitivity analyses, is based on flawed approaches, such as omitting appropriate scaling of vital rates, and sometimes misinterpretations. In this chapter, I make the case that for the conservation of slow-growing species the role of reproduction is considerably greater than conventional sensitivity analyses would suggest. This is illustrated by case studies on wildlife populations that underscore the importance of reproduction for the conservation of slow-growing birds, ungulates, carnivores, and cetaceans.
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Affiliation(s)
- Oliver Manlik
- Biology Department, College of Science, United Arab Emirates University, Al Ain, United Arab Emirates. .,Evolution and Ecology Research Centre, School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
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van Rees CB, Reed JM. Predicted effects of landscape change, sea level rise, and habitat management on the extirpation risk of the Hawaiian common gallinule ( Gallinula galeata sandvicensis) on the island of O'ahu. PeerJ 2018; 6:e4990. [PMID: 29942683 PMCID: PMC6016525 DOI: 10.7717/peerj.4990] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/06/2018] [Accepted: 05/27/2018] [Indexed: 11/28/2022] Open
Abstract
We conducted a spatially explicit, stochastic, individually based population viability analysis for the Hawaiian common gallinule (Gallinula galeata sandvicensis), an endangered subspecies of waterbird endemic to fragmented coastal wetlands in Hawai'i. This subspecies persists on two islands, with no apparent movement between them. We assessed extirpation risk for birds on O'ahu, where the resident gallinule population is made up of several fragmented subpopulations. Data on genetic differentiation were used to delineate subpopulations and estimate dispersal rates between them. We used sensitivity analyses to gauge the impact of current uncertainty of vital rate parameters on population projections, to ascertain the relative importance of gallinule vital rates to population persistence, and to compare the efficacy of potential management strategies. We used available sea level rise projections to examine the relative vulnerability of O'ahu's gallinule population to habitat loss arising from this threat. Our model predicted persistence of the island's gallinule population at 160 years (∼40 generations), but with high probabilities of extirpation for small subpopulations. Sensitivity analyses highlighted the importance of juvenile and adult mortality to population persistence in Hawaiian gallinules, justifying current predator control efforts and suggesting the need for additional research on chick and fledgling survival. Subpopulation connectivity from dispersal had little effect on the persistence of the island-wide population, but strong effects on the persistence of smaller subpopulations. Our model also predicted island-wide population persistence under predicted sea level rise scenarios, but with O'ahu's largest gallinule populations losing >40% of current carrying capacity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Charles B. van Rees
- Department of Biology, Tufts University, Medford, MA, United States of America
| | - J. Michael Reed
- Department of Biology, Tufts University, Medford, MA, United States of America
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Malone KM, Powell AC, Hua F, Sieving KE. Bluebirds perceive prey switching by Cooper’s hawks across an urban gradient and adjust reproductive effort. ECOSCIENCE 2017. [DOI: 10.1080/11956860.2017.1346449] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/19/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Kristen M. Malone
- Wildlife Ecology and Conservation Department, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA
| | | | - Fangyuan Hua
- Conservation Science Group, Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
- State Key Laboratory of BioControl, College of Ecology and Evolution/School of Life Sciences, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Kathryn E. Sieving
- Wildlife Ecology and Conservation Department, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA
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