Conservation Research Papers - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

- by R. Slotow and +1
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- Conservation, Biological Sciences, Environmental Sciences, Biological Conservation

The continued preservation of bison is one of Parks Canada’s greatest success stories. Canadian parks have been actively involved in protecting bison for over 100 years. While much has been written about the history of bison and Indigenous peoples, the destruction of the great bison herds in the nineteenth century, and individual conservation herds, there are few works that speak of the history of the Parks Canada bison herds as a whole. Like Distant Thunder combines these disparate threads to form a cohesive narrative of the bison herds managed by Canada.

- by Lauren Markewicz
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- Conservation, Environmental History, History of Canada, Wildlife Conservation

Identifying the main factors that shape biological communities in human-modified tropical landscapes has key ecological and conservation implications. In these emerging landscapes, the maintenance of biodiversity may depend on both forest patch and landscape attributes, but this topic has been poorly investigated. Here we assessed the landscape (forest cover, degree of fragmentation, and matrix composition) and patch metrics (tree basal area, patch size, and isolation) that best predicted the abundance and diversity of small terrestrial rodents in the Lacandona rainforest, Mexico. In 2011 and 2012, we sampled rodent communities in 12 sites (9 patches and 3 areas within a continuous forest). We assessed the landscape characteristics within a 100-ha buffer from the center of each site. In total, we captured 78 individuals in 2011 and 82 individuals in 2012 from four species: Desmarest's Spiny Pocket Mouse (Heteromys desmarestianus), Rice Rat (Oryzomys sp.), Mexican Deermouse (Peromyscus mexicanus), and Toltec Cotton Rat (Sigmodon toltecus). Only the abundance of rodents was strongly associated with forest patch and landscape attributes, but the best predictors differed between years. The degree of fragmentation, matrix composition, and patch isolation showed the lowest impact on rodents, probably because the region is dominated by a highly heterogeneous anthropogenic matrix. Community composition was weakly related to patch and landscape attributes in both years. Overall, our findings suggest that almost a half-century of land use in the region has not led to significant changes at the community level, but additional longterm studies including arboreal species are needed before a strong conclusion can be drawn.

- by VICTOR SANCHEZ-CORDERO
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- Conservation, Forest Fragmentation

Not-guilty verdicts, mistrials, and impunity for the Bundy family and many of their supporters in the armed confrontations over public land use in Nevada and Oregon. Expanded access for private oil, gas, mining, and logging industries and the downsizing of national monuments such as Bears Ears lead by Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke. A number of highly contentious debates and sensationalized events have again focused attention on land held in the public domain by the United States. This essay argues that federal land policy as a form of colonial administration has been constitutive for the logic of expectation as property in what is now the United States. From the state land cessions negotiated on behalf of the Articles of Confederation to the preemption acts (1830–1841) to the homestead acts (1862–1916) to present-day demands for land transfer, the acquisition and disposal of the so-called public domain have been central to westward colonization, the consolidation of the nation-state, and the promise of land ownership as the ostensible foundation of individual liberty. These dynamics are evident in contemporary conflicts over public lands and arguments for the transfer of public lands to either state or private ownership. Approaching the Bundy occupations as flashpoints that illuminate competing interpretations and claims to land within the history of westward colonization, this essay seeks to demonstrate the ways in which expectation emerges from particular economies of dispossession of indigenous peoples that have historically worked through and across the division of public and private property.

- by Alyosha Goldstein
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- Critical Theory, History, American History, Cultural Studies

FOR LIJIANG OLD TOWN 丽江古城, 1 June 2016 was not a happy day. More than 800 hostels, guesthouses, and shops refused to open their doors. They had made a collective decision to protest against the local government’s insistence that they collect an eighty-yuan ‘conservation fee’ 维护费 from foreign and domestic tourists. The shop owners, mainly migrants from other parts of China, complained that the seemingly arbitrary nature of the request was hurting business. The three-day protest resulted in a dramatic decrease in tourist numbers —transforming this popular vacation spot into a ghost town.Places like Lijiang easily become stereotyped ‘theme parks’ in which local communities play a marginal role, entangled in the battle between local bureaucracies and business. It is in this struggle that old towns lose the very core of their cultural value.

- by Yujie Zhu
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- Tourism Studies, Development Studies, Cultural Heritage, Conservation
- by Ieva Rusteikaitė and +1
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- Book History, Conservation, Heritage Preservation, Bookbinding

This paper discusses through a series of tests and three case studies (a 1930s embroidery, an Inuit blouse ribbon and a seventeenth‐century Doge's hat) recent developments in the application of solvent reactivated hydroxypropyl cellulose (Klucel G®).At the Textile Conservation Centre different application techniques in reactivating adhesive‐coated silk crepeline with Industrial Methylated Spirit (IMS) and acetone (2‐propanone) were tested in order to assess their suitability in the conservation of severely deteriorated textile materials. The ease and control of application, the final appearance and the bonding strength were evaluated using subjective tests.These tests showed that Klucel G® (as a 4% w/v dispersion cast as a film on silk crepeline or habutai) could successfully be reactivated to form sufficiently strong bonds using IMS, either in the solvent's liquid or vapour phase.

- by Foekje Boersma
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- Conservation

Amidst the expected, punning advertisements for data companies lining the drive into San Francisco, one passes a lone cultural billboard depicting Klimt’s The Virgin (1913). The image advertises Klimt & Rodin: An Artistic Encounter at the Legion of Honor. Below the image of entwined pale, female flesh against a tapestry of vibrant color are the words: “Gives off seriously sexual vibes,” excerpted from a review in San Francisco Magazine. Klimt & Rodin showcases the two male artists’ interest in depicting the white female subject, an art historical mainstay since the splash of Praxiteles’s naked Aphrodite of Knidos. Vibrant colors and gilt dominates the non-figural spaces of Klimt’s canvases, but not the subjects’ bodies, which are rendered in light flesh tones, highlighted with pale yellows and pinks. Rodin’s sculptures, in contrast, are hewn from monochrome materials—marble, bronze, clay—with no surface treatments. If the “seriously sexual vibes” advertised on the billboard come from the expected space of white female (and feminized) subjectivity, the “artistic encounter” on display is one of medium—of painting’s uncontested polychrome in contrast to the insistent monochrome of modern sculpture.

- by Jennifer Stager
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- Conservation, Race and Ethnicity, Feminism, Modernism (Art History)

Este artículo es una extensa revisión sobre el pasado, presente y futuro del panorama que envuelve las estimaciones poblacionales de lobos en España. Lo que subyace detrás de estas estimas loberas es enrevesado y difícil de interpretar racionalmente. Lo peor de todo es que la gestión del lobo recae en administraciones sometidas al yugo del ruido mediático de ciertos sectores, y que acaban ignorando el importante papel ecológico de esta especie. Por tanto, la conservación efectiva y la restitución de la biodiversidad quedan en un plano totalmente testimonial.

- by Jorge Echegaray
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- Conservation Biology, Conservation, Monitoring And Evaluation, Large Carnivores

This presents a management strategy for the urban waterlogged deposits and archaeological remains at Nantwich, Cheshire, endorsed as a Supplmentary Planning Document by East Cheshire Council for its local plan. It advocates a holistic solution for preventing dessication of the deposits by raising awareness with all urban planners (spatial planners, water engineers, highways engineers, utility providers, as well as developers and other parties) to change their approach to have more permeable surfaces (inclusing SUDS) and allow rainwater to percolate through the deposits, helping preservation of organic archaeological remains and preventing subsidence of the timber-frame historic buildings that form the historic centre and conservation area of the town.

- by Sante Guido
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- Art History, Art, Medieval History, Cultural Heritage

- Diligenza e prestezza.è uno studio sulla tecnica della pittura attraverso l’analisi incrociata dei testi letterari e delle opere d’arte. Dopo aver ripercorsa la fortuna critica dei testi dei principali autori – Leonardo, Vasari, Armenini, Borghini, Lomazzo – ne vengono messe a confronto le informazioni sul disegno e sulla pittura, analizzandone il lessico specifico e individuando i materiali e i procedimenti esecutivi. Al tempo stesso alcuni temi centrali del dibattito teorico – il disegno l’invenzione, il paragone tra le arti – sono esaminati alla luce del loro rapporto con la tecnica. Infine alcuni dipinti del museo di Capodimonte, scelti come casi esemplificativi, sono stati analizzati sulla base degli studi scientifici e delle fonti.

- by Angela Cerasuolo
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- Art History, Museum Studies, Material Culture Studies, Conservation
- by Ann-Sophie Lehmann
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- Art History, Material Culture Studies, Conservation

This whitepaper provides a legal analysis to align the 1972 World Heritage Convention and the UNESCO Constitution and its commitment to human rights and fundamental freedoms. It sets out recommendations for UNESCO, the World Heritage governing bodies, and States Parties to ensure properties on the World Heritage List and Tentative Lists are not sites of serious, systematic violations of international humanitarian law and human rights law.

- by Lynn Meskell
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- International Relations, Indigenous Studies, Cultural Heritage, Human Rights Law

Preventive conservation is the act of preventing future loss and most definitions exclude actions that interfere with the structure and materials of the item. For archaeological sites, this definition is tested. Preventive conservation measures on finds and samples may primarily involve providing protective enclosures or preserving data, whereas preventive conservation for sites may involve installing temporary or permanent structuresormakingadaptationstocontext.

- by Jane Henderson and +1
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- Conservation

Expert knowledge is used widely in the science and practice of conservation because of the complexity of problems, relative lack of data, and the imminent nature of many conservation decisions. Expert knowledge is substantive information on a particular topic that is not widely known by others. An expert is someone who holds this knowledge and who is often deferred to in its interpretation. We refer to predictions by experts of what may happen in a particular context as expert judgments. In general, an expert-elicitation approach consists of five steps: deciding how information will be used, determining what to elicit, designing the elicitation process, performing the elicitation, and translating the elicited information into quantitative statements that can be used in a model or directly to make decisions. This last step is known as encoding. Some of the considerations in eliciting expert knowledge include determining how to work with multiple experts and how to combine multiple judgments, minimizing bias in the elicited information, and verifying the accuracy of expert information. We highlight structured elicitation techniques that, if adopted, will improve the accuracy and information content of expert judgment and ensure uncertainty is captured accurately. We suggest four aspects of an expert elicitation exercise be examined to determine its comprehensiveness and effectiveness: study design and context, elicitation design, elicitation method, and elicitation output. Just as the reliability of empirical data depends on the rigor with which it was acquired so too does that of expert knowledge.

- by Tara Martin
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- Conservation Biology, Conservation, Expert testimony, Biological Sciences

Reservoir simulations of CO* injection into a water flooded oil reservoir show that significant amounts of oil may be recovered, and a high storage capacity of CO, is obtained also through displacement of water. Simulated storage capacities for CO, injection into an aquifer vary in the range 13-68% pore volume, depending on the prevailing displacement mechanisms.

- by Erik Lindeberg
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- Conservation, Migration, Enhanced Oil Recovery, Reservoir Simulation

The text has been published in the exhibition catalogue organized at the Uffizi Gallery upon the new installation of the Leonardo da Vinci's Adoration of the Magi, after its restoration. The text is an extended summary of the forthcoming book and related papers that the Opificio will issue in Summer 2017, that will cover in depth all the historical and technical aspects of this great project.

- by Cecilia Frosinini and +2
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- Conservation, Renaissance Studies, Italian Renaissance Art, Painting Conservation

Alvar Aalto’s career – his perspectives as seen in his writings and in his architecture - progressed from being initially influenced by classicism (which he applied in a playful manner aligned with Nordic Romanticism), on to modernist functionalism and rationalist attitudes (through his contact with the International Congresses of Modern Architecture (CIAM) and its prominent members), which he later developed further into his own ‘humane architecture’ encompassing the psychophysical field.

- by Leonardo Leiva Rivera
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- Engineering, Design, Architecture, Conservation

Payments for ecosystem services (PES) programs are one prominent strategy to address economic externalities of resource extraction and commodity production, improving both social and ecological outcomes. But do PES and related incentive programs achieve that lofty goal? Along with considerable enthusiasm, PES has faced a wide range of substantial critiques. In this paper, we characterize seven major classes of concerns associated with common PES designs, and use these as inspiration to consider potential avenues for improvements in PES outcomes and uptake. The problems include (1) new externalities, (2) misplacement of rights and responsibilities, (3) crowding out existing motivations, (4) efficiency-equity tradeoffs, (5) monitoring costs, (6) limited applicability, and (7) top-down prescription/alienating agency. As currently practiced, many PES programs are thus of limited benefit and even potentially detrimental to sustainability. From this dire conclusion, we highlight several innovations that might be combined and extended in a novel approach to PES that may address all seven problems. Recognizing that PES necessarily articulate and even normalize values, our proposed approach entails designing these institutions intentionally to articulate rights and responsibilities conducive to sustainability—those we might collectively seek to entrench. Problems remain, and new ones may arise, but the proposed approach may offer a way to reimagine PES as a major social and economic tool for enabling sustainable relationships with nature, conserving and restoring ecosystems and their benefits for people now and in the future.

- by M. Chapman and +1
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- Conservation, Social Responsibility, Payment for Ecosystem Services, Incentives

White-nose syndrome (WNS) and wind-turbine facilities on the Delmarva Peninsula are emerging threats to the peninsula's current bat fauna. However, until our study, there had been no assessment of bat populations or their habitats in that region. The purpose of our research was to fill this gap by using 28 road-based transects and 24 passive-monitoring sites to acoustically monitor bats across the peninsula. In total, we recorded 4432 bat-call sequences and documented the presence of at least 6 species: Lasiurus borealis (Eastern Red Bat), Eptesicus fuscus (Big Brown Bat), Nycticeius hu-meralis (Evening Bat), L. cinereus (Hoary Bat), Perimyotis subflavus (Tri-colored Bat), 1 or more species in the genus Myotis, and potentially Lasionycteris noctivagans (Silver-haired Bat). Given the similarity in call structure between Silver-haired and Big Brown Bats, we cannot say with certainty the former were present. Eastern Red Bats, Evening Bats, and Hoary Bats were relatively widespread and abundant; Tri-colored Bat and Myotis were not. Of the species for which adequate sample sizes were available, all but the Hoary Bat (and possibly the Silver-haired Bat) showed strong preferences for forest edges, demonstrating the importance of these landscape features for maintaining healthy bat populations. Point-counts along road transects and stationary-monitoring sites yielded similar results, suggesting that road-based transects are a valuable tool for surveying bat populations across large geographic areas.

- by Aaron Hogue
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- Conservation Biology, Conservation, Bats (Mammalogy), Habitat Use
- by Nick Burningham
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- Archaeology, Conservation, Construction, China

1. The Mediterranean sperm whale sub-population is considered 'Endangered' by both ACCOBAMS and the IUCN. Conservation policies require protected species populations to be monitored, but the distribution and movements of sperm whales across the Mediterranean Sea are still poorly understood. 2. To provide insight into sperm whale movements, the photo-identification catalogue from the Strait of Gibraltar was compared with seven other collections: (a) the North Atlantic and Mediterranean Sperm Whale Catalogue (NAMSC), and with photo-identification catalogues from (b) the Alboran Sea, Spain, (c) the Balearic Islands, Spain, (d) the Corso-Provençal Basin, France, (e) the Western Ligurian Sea, Italy, (f) the Tyrrhenian Sea, Italy and (g) the Hellenic Trench, Greece. 3. Of 47 sperm whales identified in the Strait of Gibraltar between 1999 and 2011 a total of 15 animals (32%) were photographically recaptured in other sectors of the western Mediterranean Sea in different years. None of the Strait of Gibraltar sperm whales were resighted in Atlantic waters or in the eastern Mediterranean basin. 4. These results indicate long-range movements of the species throughout the whole western Mediterranean Sea, with a maximum straight-line distance of about 1600 km. The absence of any photographic recaptures between the Mediterranean Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean supports the genetic evidence of an isolated sub-population within the Mediterranean Sea. 5. Long-term photo-identification efforts and data sharing between institutions should be further encouraged to provide basic information necessary for the implementation of effective sperm whale conservation measures in the whole basin.

- by Daniela Silvia Pace
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- Marine Biology, Geography, Conservation, Biological Sciences

Actions directed at saving the remaining natural resources, be it forests, biodiversity, or
whole ecosystems should be expected to increase as levels of environmental degradation increase. This expectation is consistent with the comment of Dudley et al(1999) that there is an excellent outlook for protected area increases; and with information indicating that since 1962 protection of public areas has increased tenfold(Molnar 2005). For example, most countries have already protected or are planning to protect a percentage of their resource base, and pressures from NGOs seeking maximum protection are right now strong. Conservation International reports that in 2005 it has projects in 40 countries(Seligmann 2005). Also, the conflict between social goals and preservation goals should be expected to increase as the levels of natural resources available for traditional social uses decrease. For example, as environmental stakeholders press for more resource protection, social stakeholders will press for their right to exploit their available resources, especially, sustainably. This should not be a surprise as the conflict between conservation and the people or communities affected by it is known(Wright1996; Stolton and Dudley 1999) and it is now more widely recognized(Molnar 2005).

- by Lucio Muñoz
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- Geography, Conservation, Preservation, Economic Development

ABSTRACT A simple sol-gel technique for the preparation of methyl–modified silica coatings for the protection of the external surface of copper has been used in this study. Tetraethylorthosilicate (TEOS) has been used as a precursor to prepare nanosilica coatings on the surface of copper. The methyl–modified silica sols were obtained by mixing of 3% SiO2 sol solution with trimethylchlorosilane (TMCS) or hexamethyldisilozane (HMDS) as basic materials. For comparison, the copper substrates were also coated with commercial polymers (Paraloid B 72, Plexisol P 550-40 and polyvinyl butyral (PVB)). The surface morphology changes of uncoated and coated specimens were investigated by atomic force microscopy (AFM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The hydrophobicity of surfaces and photochemical ageing effects were evaluated by contact angle measurements. Potentiodynamic measurements were obtained in order to compare corrosion parameters of the coatings.

- by Jurate Senvaitiene and +2
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- Archaeology, Cultural Heritage, Conservation, Modification
- by John Pandolfi
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- Genetics, Zoology, Conservation, Population Genetics
- by Luciano Shn
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- Conservation, Conservation Genetics, Biological Sciences, Environmental Sciences
- by Eli Geffen
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- Conservation Biology, Conservation, Taxonomy, Endangered Species

Land-use/land-cover change is the most important factor in causing biodiversity loss. The Mediterranean region has been affected by antropic disturbance for thousands of years, and is, nowadays, one of the most significantly altered hotspots in the world. However, in the last years a significant increase in forest cover has been measured. These new patterns are independent from planned conservation strategies and appear to have a substantial impact on landscapes and biodiversity. We used three land-use/land-cover maps (from 1960 to 2000) covering the Italian peninsula to analyze the pattern of land-use/land-cover change. We measured an increase in forests, especially in mountains, an increase in artificial areas, especially in coastal zones, and a decrease in pastures. Intensively cultivated areas showed a limited decrease while extensively cultivated ones showed a marked decrease. In the same period mammal and bird species followed a similar pattern, with forest birds, ungulates and carnivores increasing, and typically Mediterranean species decreasing. We suggest that our results may provide important information, which could be useful for conservation planning in the entire Mediterranean hotspot. We suggest that an increasing conservation effort should be made to protect the Mediterranean-type forests and scrublands, as well as traditional agricultural practices. Moreover, future conservation efforts should consider the broad socio-political and ecological processes that are most likely to occur across the whole hotspot, especially along coastal areas, and the network of protected areas should be functionally integrated in a conservation strategy that includes the human-dominated landscape.

- by Luigi Maiorano
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- Landscape Ecology, Earth Sciences, Spatial Analysis, Conservation

... We have linked these results in a proposal for the species' sustainable management and conservation. RESUMO Euterpe edulis Martius (Palmiteiro) é uma palmeira neotropical do sub-bosque que ocorre em alta freqüência e abundância... more

- by Alfredo Fantini
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- Conservation, Genetic Diversity, Biological Sciences, Environmental Sciences

Context. Understanding how people view, think and talk about wildlife and the link between wildlife and human behaviour are important for wildlife management to be effective. In this paper, we used the notion of social representations to understand people's behaviour towards wildlife. We qualitatively studied social representations relating to the keeping in captivity of the endangered tortoise Testudo graeca in south-east Spain.

- by Irene Pérez
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- Management, Conservation, Biodiversity, Wildlife Conservation

The status of the Mediterranean Monk Seal, Monachus monachus, has been studied over a five-year period between 1994 and 1998 in the Foça Pilot Monk Seal Conservation Area. The identification of individual seals occurring in the area, their spatial distribution and biology were studied using the results of direct cave surveys, land-based seal observations, and interviews. The population of Monk Seals was estimated to consist of 9 individuals, 6 of which were adult females and 3 were juveniles (one female, one male and one of unknown sex.). Islands off Foça town provide suitable habitats and promote the survival of the species. Of the 11 caves identified, two were found to be used for reproduction.Der Status der Mittelmeermönchsrobbe, Monachus monachus, wurde zwischen 1994 und 1998 in einer fünfjährigen Untersuchungsperiode im Mönchsrobbenschutzgebiet von Foça untersucht. Für die individuelle Erkennung von Robben im Untersuchungsgebiet, die Untersuchung ihrer räumlichen Verteilung und ihrer Biologie wurden direkte Beobachtungen an Meeresgrotten, Beobachtungen vom Land aus sowie Befragungen durchgeführt. Die Populationsgröße wurde zu 9 Individuen ermittelt, und zwar 6 adulte Weibchen und 3 Jungtiere (ein Weibchen, ein Männchen und ein Tier mit unbekanntem Geschlecht). Auf den vor der Stadt Foça gelegenen Inselchen gibt es passende Habitate, die das Überleben der Art ermöglichen. Von den insgesamt 11 erfassten Meeresgrotten wurden zwei für die Fortpflanzung genutzt.

- by Harun Guclusoy
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- Zoology, Conservation, Biology, Behaviour

We describe the distribution and estimate densities of Grauer's gorillas (Gorilla gorilla graueri) and eastern chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes schweinfurthi) in a 12,770-km2area of lowland forest between the Lowa, Luka, Lugulu, and Oku rivers in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, the site of the largest continuous population of Grauer's gorillas. The survey included a total of 480 km of transects completed

- by Bonny dumbo
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- Zoology, Geography, Primatology, Conservation
- by Natalia Pirani Ghilardi-Lopes
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- Environmental Science, Conservation, Science, Brazil

The main objectives of this research were to determine which medicinal plants are culturally most important for the native community of Vencedor as well as testing a new measure of the cultural importance of medicinal plants that can be used outside of this one particular case. Data were collected through participant observation, informal conversation, and semi-structured and structured interviews to 31 heads of family. According to the Cultural Significance for Conservation Index (CSCI) developed, significant species were Petiveria alliacea L., Jatropha gossypifolia L., Mansoa alliacea (Lam.) A.H.Gentry, Hura crepitans L., and Banisteriopsis caapi (Spruce ex Griseb.) C.V.Morton. Our index showed a significant correlation with the other indices considered in this paper. We conclude that CSCI is a good indicator of the cultural importance of medicinal plants and that it can be useful in cases where there is a need to recognize which culturally important plants are more vulnerable.

Modern-day zoos and aquariums market themselves as places of education and conservation. A recent study conducted by the American Zoo and Aquarium Association (AZA) (Falk et al., 2007) is being widely heralded as the first direct evidence that visits to zoos and aquariums produce long-term positive effects on people’s attitudes toward other animals. In this paper, we address whether this conclusion is warranted by analyzing the study’s methodological soundness. We conclude that Falk et al. (2007) contains at least six major threats to methodological validity that undermine the authors’ conclusions. There remains no compelling evidence for the claim that zoos and aquariums promote attitude change, education, or interest in conservation in visitors, although further investigation of this possibility using methodologically sophisticated designs is warranted.

- by Lori Marino
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- Conservation, Methodology, Animal Ethics, Critical Animal Studies

The present conservation status of the endemic fleshwater fish of Spain is reviewed and compared with a former list made in 1986. Ten taxa (species and subspecies) are exclusively endemic to Spanish waters, 13 are lberian endemics (Spain and Portugal), while three other species are also found in neighbouring European (France and Italy) or African (Algeria) countries. Endemic species belong to the families Clupeidae (33% of the native taxa), Cyprinidae (87%), Cobitidae (100%) and Cyprinodontidae (100%). A greater part of the endemic fish fauna is threatened, since three taxa are endangered, five vulnerable, seven rare and two insufficiently known.

- by Benigno Elvira
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- Conservation, Biological Sciences, Conservation Status, Environmental Sciences

In 2004 the Australian Government implemented a revised zone-based management plan for the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area to increase protection of representative areas while minimising the impacts to the economic viability of important industries. In this study we evaluated the current zoning plan for its capacity to protect marine turtles from commercial trawling and netting activities at nesting sites and at inshore and offshore foraging areas to assess whether the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority met their obligations under the Representative Areas Program (RAP). We found that protection from commercial fisheries increased within 5-and 10-km buffer zones of all very-high, high-and medium-priority nesting sites that were previously less than 100% protected. However, three very-high-priority sites and six high-priority sites remain less than 100% protected out to 5 km, falling short of the objectives of the RAP. There were variable increases in protection at foraging areas; however, each of them increased in the proportion of area protected from commercial fishing, fulfilling the objectives of the RAP. By using a broader-scale fisheries by-catch dataset as a proxy for turtle abundance we found that improvements in protection are not species-specific and can be attributed to the step-wise increases in protection since the mid 1990s.

- by James Moloney
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- Management, Conservation, Biodiversity, Wildlife Conservation
- by Russell Harmon
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- Conservation, Procurement, Ecology, Density

As the wilderness metaphor has decreased in utility due to widespread human-driven environmental change, conservationists and restorationists have struggled to find new ways to inspire nature conservation. Some have suggested gardening as a new metaphor, but many are wary of its implications, particularly for animals viewed as threats or pests. Others, however, point out positive attributes for the metaphor including its focus on stewardship of nature which allows for positive human agency in ecosystems. We argue a gardening metaphor may also allow increased flexibility in approaches to biodiversity conservation, in part by allowing goals to be fit to communities and their specific cultural contexts. Wild gardening would seek to preserve global biodiversity while acknowledging the pivotal role humans now play in that process. Here we review the use of the garden metaphor over the last 25 years and discuss what wild gardening might mean for restoration. Consistent with a long history of environmental thought, we suggest such a metaphor will work best if it is coupled with a civic/stewardship ethic and a good dose of humility on the part of all gardeners.

- by Megan A Styles
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- Conservation, Restoration Ecology, Environmental Stewardship, Urban Gardening

One of the major cropping systems of South Asia is rice-wheat grown on 13.5 million hectares on the Indo-Gangetic Plains (IGP). It is a major system for food security in the region and provides livelihoods and income to millions of farmers and workers. Continuously, need is being felt to explore the possibilities of saving critical inputs by adopting alternative resources conservative technologies as zero tillage. Main aim of this paper was to see the impact of zero tillage technology in rice wheat system. Economic analysis of the data presented in this paper shows that zero tillage method for wheat cultivation is the most economical and attractive option for farming community. The high yield grain and less cost of production per hectare were noted on zero tillage farms as compared with conventional farms. The estimates of OLS shows that zero tillage could increase income of the farmers substantially. Finally, the adoption of zero tillage technology improves farmer's profit, improves his livelihood and eventually reduces poverty.

- by Bakhsh Khuda
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- Conservation, Environmental Impact Assessment, Electronic, Zero Tillage

Traditional sensitivity and elasticity analyses of matrix population models have been used to inform management decisions, but they ignore the economic costs of manipulating vital rates. For example, the growth rate of a population is often most sensitive to changes in adult survival rate, but this does not mean that increasing that rate is the best option for managing the population because it may be much more expensive than other options. To explore how managers should optimize their manipulation of vital rates, we incorporated the cost of changing those rates into matrix population models. We derived analytic expressions for locations in parameter space where managers should shift between management of fecundity and survival, for the balance between fecundity and survival management at those boundaries, and for the allocation of management resources to sustain that optimal balance. For simple matrices, the optimal budget allocation can often be expressed as simple functions of vital rates and the relative costs of changing them. We applied our method to management of the Helmeted Honeyeater (Lichenostomus melanops cassidix; an endangered Australian bird) and the koala (Phascolarctos cinereus) as examples. Our method showed that cost-efficient management of the Helmeted Honeyeater should focus on increasing fecundity via nest protection, whereas optimal koala management should focus on manipulating both fecundity and survival simultaneously. These findings are contrary to the cost-negligent recommendations of elasticity analysis, which would suggest focusing on managing survival in both cases. A further investigation of Helmeted Honeyeater management options, based on an individual-based model incorporating density dependence, spatial structure, and environmental stochasticity, confirmed that fecundity management was the most cost-effective strategy. Our results demonstrate that decisions that ignore economic factors will reduce management efficiency.

- by Hugh Possingham
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- Demography, Economics, Conservation Biology, Conservation