Recent development of wildlife transfer databases (original) (raw)
Journal of environmental radioactivity, 2015
We will never have data to populate all of the potential radioecological modelling parameters required for wildlife assessments. Therefore, we need robust extrapolation approaches which allow us to make best use of our available knowledge. This paper reviews and, in some cases, develops, tests and validates some of the suggested extrapolation approaches. The concentration ratio (CRproduct-diet or CRwo-diet) is shown to be a generic (trans-species) parameter which should enable the more abundant data for farm animals to be applied to wild species. An allometric model for predicting the biological half-life of radionuclides in vertebrates is further tested and generally shown to perform acceptably. However, to fully exploit allometry we need to understand why some elements do not scale to expected values. For aquatic ecosystems, the relationship between log10(a) (a parameter from the allometric relationship for the organism-water concentration ratio) and log(Kd) presents a potential o...
Making the most of what we have: application of extrapolation approaches in wildlife transfer models
2014
Beresford, Nicholas A.; Wood, Michael D.; Vives i Batlle, Jordi; Brown, Justin E.; Hosseini, Ali; Yankovich, Tamara L.; Bradshaw, Clare; Barnett, Catherine L.; Wells, Claire; Willey, Neil. 2014. Making the most of what we have: application of extrapolation approaches in wildlife transfer models. [Lecture] In: 3rd International Conference on Radioecology and Environmental Radioactivity, Barcelona, 7-12 Sept 2014.
An international database of radionuclide concentration ratios for wildlife: development and uses
Journal of Environmental Radioactivity, 2013
A key element of most systems for assessing the impact of radionuclides on the environment is a means to estimate the transfer of radionuclides to organisms. To facilitate this, an international wildlife transfer database has been developed to provide an online, searchable compilation of transfer parameters in the form of equilibrium-based whole-organism to media concentration ratios. This paper describes the derivation of the wildlife transfer database, the key data sources it contains and highlights the applications for the data.
Use of wild–caught individuals as a key factor for success in vertebrate translocations
Animal Biodiversity and Conservation
Use of wild-caught individuals as a key factor for success in vertebrate translocations.-Success of verte� brate translocations is crucial to improve efficacy and efficiency of conservation actions but it is often difficult to assess because negative results (failed translocations) are seldom published. We developed surveys and sent them to heads of conservation services in three major Spanish Mediterranean regions. The purpose of our surveys was to determine which methodological factor that could easily be implemented in practice was more influential for translocation success. These factors included the origin of translocated individuals (captive or wild) and translocation effort (propagule size and program duration). After analyzing 83 programs, corre� sponding to 34 vertebrate species, by means of generalized linear mixed modelling, we found that 'origin' was more relevant for translocation success than 'effort', although we could not rule out some role of translocation effort. Variance in success of translocation programs involving individuals from wild sources was smaller and consequently results more predictable. Origin interacted with taxa so that success was higher when using wild birds and especially wild fish and mammals, but not when releasing reptiles. Hence, we suggest that, for any given effort, translocation results will be better for most vertebrate taxa if individuals from wild sources are used. When this is not feasible, managers should release captive-reared individuals for a long number of years rather than a short number of years.
IAEA Handbook of parameter values for the prediction of radionuclide transfer to wildlife
2012
The full influence of the IAEA Handbook of parameter values for the prediction of radionuclide transfer to wildlife (in press) will develop as the need to demonstrate protection of the environment in its own right from ionising radiation becomes standard practice in line with recent international recommendations and safety standards. The ERICA Tool will be revised, based on this handbook, by CEH and its collaborators. It is likely that other models will be similarly reparameterised: e.g. the US Department of Energy software RESRAD-BIOTA uses the ERICA Tool; an Australian group is evaluating the data with respect to national requirements; and the UK EA have stated an intention to use ERICA Tool parameters (rather than its own in-house model). CEH and its collaborators in the European network of excellence in radioecology (Strategy for Allied Radioecology - STAR) is using parameters from the IAEA handbooks to develop a model to enable combined assessments of humans and wildlife which ...
Rouco et al European Journal of Wildlife Research 2011
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Temporal transferability of wildlife habitat models: implications for habitat monitoring
Journal of Biogeography, 2011
Aim Temporal transferability is an important issue when habitat models are used beyond the time frame corresponding to model development, but has not received enough attention, particularly in the context of habitat monitoring. While the combination of remote sensing technology and habitat modelling provides a useful tool for habitat monitoring, the effect of incorporating remotely sensed data on model transferability is unclear. Therefore, our objectives were to assess how different satellite-derived variables affect temporal transferability of habitat models and their usefulness for habitat monitoring.
Unsustainable exploitation of wild animals is one of the greatest threats to biodiversity and to millions of people depending on wild meat for food and income. The international conservation and development community has committed to implementing plans for sustainable use of natural resources and has requested development of monitoring systems of bushmeat offtake and trade. Although offtake monitoring systems and indicators for marine species are more developed, information on harvesting terrestrial species is limited. Building on approaches developed to monitor exploitation of fisheries and population trends, we have proposed two novel indicators for harvested terrestrial species: the mean body mass indicator (MBMI) assessing whether hunters are relying increasingly on smaller species over time, as a measure of defaunation, by tracking body mass composition of harvested species within samples across various sites and dates; and the offtake pressure indicator (OPI) as a measure of harvesting pressure on groups of wild animals within a region by combining multiple time series of the number of harvested individuals across species. We applied these two indicators to recently compiled data for West and Central African mammals and birds. Our exploratory analyses show that the MBMI of harvested mammals decreased but that of birds rose between 1966/1975 and 2010. For both mammals and birds the OPI increased substantially during the observed time period. Given our results, time-series data and information collated from multiple sources are useful to investigate trends in body mass of hunted species and offtake volumes. In the absence of comprehensive monitoring systems, we suggest that the two indicators developed in our study are adequate proxies of wildlife offtake, which together with additional data can inform conservation policies and actions at regional and global scales.
Conservation translocations: a review of common difficulties and promising directions
Animal Conservation, 2019
Translocations are a common conservation and management strategy, but despite their popularity, translocations are a high‐cost endeavor with a history of failures. It is therefore imperative to maximize their success by learning from our collective experience. The Global Re‐introduction Perspectives Series is a collection of conservation translocation case studies, generated by the IUCN’s Conservation Translocation Specialist Group, and presented in a structured format with an emphasis on practical information. All 293 animal translocation case studies to date include a section in which the authors list the difficulties they have faced during the translocation project, with over 1200 difficulties described so far. We reviewed all difficulties reported in the series to get insights into the common perceived difficulties faced by wildlife managers during animal translocations. The most reported‐upon problems had to do with animal behavior, followed by monitoring difficulties, lack of ...
Biological Conservation, 1998
We use the phylogenetically based statistical method of independent contrasts to reanalyze the Wolf, C.M., Grith, B., Reed, C., Avian and mammalian translocations: update and reanalysis of 1987 survey data. Conservation Biology 10, 1142±1154). translocation data set for 181 programs involving 17 mammalian and 28 avian species. Although still novel in conservation and wildlife biology, the incorporation of phylogenetic information into analyses of interspeci®c comparative data is widely accepted and routinely used in several ®elds. To facilitate application of independent contrasts, we converted the dichotomous (success/failure) dependent variable ., Scott, J.M. Carpenter, J.W., Reed, C., 1989. Translocations as a species conservation tool: status and strategy. Science 245, 477±480) into a more descriptive, continuous variable with the incorporation of persistence of the translocated population beyond the last release year, relative to the species' longevity. For comparison, we present three models: nonphylogenetic multiple logistic regression with the dichotomous dependent variable (the method used by , nonphylogenetic multiple regression with the continuous dependent variable, and multiple regression using phylogenetically independent contrasts with the continuous dependent variable. Results of the phylogenetically based multiple regression analysis indicate statistical signi®cance of three independent variables: habitat quality of the release area, range of the release site relative to the historical distribution of the translocated species, and number of individuals released. Evidence that omnivorous species are more successful than either herbivores or carnivores is also presented. The results of our reanalysis support several of the more important conclusions of the studies and increase our con®dence that the foregoing variables should be considered carefully when designing a translocation program. However, the phylogenetically based analysis does not support either the ®ndings with respect to the statistical signi®cance of taxonomic class (bird vs mammal) and status (game vs threatened, endangered, or sensitive), or the ®ndings with respect to the signi®cance of reproductive potential of the species and program length. #
Volume estimation of the wildlife trade is crucial for effective biodiversity protection. Recently, Mair et al. (Biol. Conserv. 2019, 239, 108260) used the number of shipments reported in the CITES Trade Database as an estimate of the total traded volume of species to rapidly assess the appropriateness of species listings in CITES Appendices. The aims of the present study were to (1) test the presumed relationship between the number of shipments and the volume of various traded terms converted to whole organism equivalents (WOEs) and compare the distribution of species in defined trade volume categories based on different calculation methods. The number of shipments did not reflect traded volume in 15% of species. Different calculation methods led to different categorisations for more than one-third of the species. In general, the number of shipments underestimates the volume of species traded in small-sized terms that allow trade in larger and less-frequent shipments and vice versa. In contrast, WOEs quantification does not consider the species that are traded in non-convertible terms (e. g., meat) or units (e.g., kilograms). Due to the structure of the data in the CITES Trade Database, it is not possible to find the only objective method of trade quantification for the whole data set. However, we recommend to use shipments approach only to exclude species with zero trade, and evaluate the real volume using WOEs where possible.
JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.. American Association of Zoo Veterinarians is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Journal of Zoo and Wildlife Medicine. Abstract: A survey of terrestrial vertebrate translocations, 1973-1986, from Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the USA was analyzed to determine the geographical distribution and relative frequency of translocation methods that had disease transmission implications. Contemporary trans locations likely exceed 700 per year. More than 50% of surveyed agencies translocated some species each year. On average, 26% of translocations released captive-reared animals, 29% of releases were to areas on the periphery or outside of historic species ranges, only 32% were soft releases that provided opportunity for postrelease monitoring, and, in 24% of translocations, there was no pro fessional examination of animals for parasites, disease, or injury prior to release. There were dif ferences among countries and among regions in the USA in these characteristics of translocations but no differences among countries or regions in translocation success. Adequate assessment of the effect of disease on translocation success will require multivariate analyses. These analyses will require more complete documentation of disease-related properties of translocations than is currently available.
Wild Mammal Translocations: A Public Health Concern
Open Journal of Animal Sciences, 2020
With regard to wildlife translocations and the assessment of potential risk of disease transmission, several advances have been made in conservative projects. However, other factors like the large number of species received at screening centers from different locations, rescued after being hit by vehicles, taken by the public or confiscated from illegal trade by the authorities, have increased the risk of spreading, emergence or reemergence of zoonosis. Besides the notorious importance of the procedure improvement for managing wildlife, the access to as much as possible information about the occurrence of potential infections on each particular species can be a tool of great value for mitigating the disease risk. In the present paper, it was showed the evolution of processes for wildlife translocations mostly related to mammals, we also discussed some aspects related to sylvatic animals as reservoir host of zoonosis and finally were presented several tables recording numerous mammals hosts and their respective parasitic protozoa.