habitat conservation

Most conservation decisions take place at national or finer spatial scales. Providing useful
information at such decision-making scales is essential for guiding the practice of conservation.
Brazil is one of the world’s megadiverse countries, and consequently decisions about
conservation in the country have a disproportionate impact on the survival of global biodiversity.
For three groups of terrestrial vertebrates (birds, mammals, and amphibians),
we examined geographic patterns of diversity and protection in Brazil, including that of
endemic, small-ranged, and threatened species. To understand potential limitations of the
data, we also explored how spatial bias in collection localities may influence the perceived
patterns of diversity. The highest overall species richness is in the Amazon and Atlantic Forests,
while the Atlantic Forest dominates in terms of country endemics and small-ranged
species. Globally threatened species do not present a consistent pattern. Patterns for birds
were similar to overall species richness, with higher concentrations of threatened species in
the Atlantic Forest, while mammals show a more generalized pattern across the country
and a high concentration in the Amazon. Few amphibians are listed as threatened, mostly
in the Atlantic Forest. Data deficient mammals occur across the country, concentrating in
the Amazon and southeast Atlantic Forest, and there are no data deficient birds in Brazil. In
contrast, nearly a third of amphibians are data deficient, widespread across the country, but
with a high concentration in the far southeast. Spatial biases in species locality data, however,
possibly influence the perceived patterns of biodiversity. Regions with low sampling
density need more biological studies, as do the many data deficient species. All biomes
except the Amazon have less than 3% of their area under full protection. Reassuringly
though, rates of protection do correlate with higher biodiversity, including higher levels of
threatened and small-ranged species. Our results indicate a need for expanded formal protection
in Brazil, especially in the Atlantic forest, and with an emphasis on fully protected
areas.

Effects of Agricultural Conservation Practices While supplies last, single copies of this on Fish and Wildlife, Special Reference Brief publication may be obtained at no cost from the 2008-01. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Water Quality Information Center, National National Agricultural Library, 2 vol. Agricultural Library, Room 107, 10301 Baltimore Avenue, Beltsville, MD 20705. This bibliography, in two volumes, is part of a multi-volume set developed by the Water Quality Copies of this publication may be purchased in Information Center at the National Agricultural various formats (microfiche, photocopy, CD, print Library in support of the U.S. Department of on demand) from the National Technical Agriculture’s Conservation Effects Assessment Information Service, 5285 Port Royal Road, Project (CEAP). The bibliography is a guide to Springfield, VA 22161, (800) 553-6847, recent scientific literature covering effects of www.ntis.gov. agricultural conservation practices on fish and wi...

Effective conservation of rare plant species requires a detailed understanding of their unique distributions and habitat requirements to identify conservation targets. Research suggests that local conservation efforts may be one of the best means for accomplishing this task. We conducted a geographical analysis of the local distributions of rare plants in Napa County, California, to identify spatial relationships with individual habitat types. We measured the potential contribution of individual habitats to rare plant conservation by integrating analyses on overall diversity, species per area, specificity-weighted richness, presence of hotspots, and the composition of the rare plant community in each habitat type. This combination of analyses allowed us to determine which habitats are most significant for rare plant conservation at a local scale. Our analyses indicated that several habitat types were consistently associated with rare plant species. In broad terms, grasslands, oak forests, coniferous forests, wetlands, serpentines, chaparral, and rock outcrops were most consistently highlighted. No single habitat stood out in every analysis however, and therefore we conclude that careful selection of an assemblage of habitats that best represents diverse, restricted and unique rare plant communities will be the most efficient approach to protecting rare plant habitat at local scales. Accordingly we present a means of identifying conservation targets and protecting global biodiversity through local efforts.

Underestimation of the pivotal role played by managed and native insect pollinators is a key constraint to the sustainability of contemporary agricultural practices. The economic value of such insects to pollination, seed set, and fruit formation greatly outweighs that suggested by more conventional indices, such as the value of honey and wax produced by honeybees. Although the European honeybee has been widely regarded as the single most important pollinating species, the increasing spread of trachael and Varroa mites and Africanized bees threatens the distribution and magnitude of traditional honeybeekeeping enterprises in North America. A number of other bee and insect pollinators, such as orchard bees, bumblebees, and squash bees, which are not affected by either the mites or the Africanized bees, are considered as likely candidates for management and use in commercial agriculture. An additional role can be played by native or wild pollinators, provided that attention is given t...

The report was prepared as a back-up document to the International Waters Program Study, and, reviews the existing legal agreements related to the protection of international water bodies, which establish a continuum - from general norms of conduct for all nations and private actors, to specific commitments to achieve broad goals, to agreements on more detailed sector-by-sector rules, standards, and recommended practices. Fundamental global norms for the conservation of marine resources, and preservation and protection of the marine environment, are established in the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS)(1994); similarly, the situation prevails in fresh water, through international agreements on particular trans-boundary systems, namely the Global Convention on Non-Navigational Uses of International Watercourses (1997), establishing a framework for benchmark norms to negotiate specific agreements. However, such agreements go only part of the way in achieving prob...

... P. livingstonii's sensitivity to habitat change, conservation status on the Red List, and role as a forest pollinator and regenerator (Marshall; Marshall; Pierson; Clark and Banack) make it imperative to consider the habitat requirements of P. livingstonii when formulating ...

This study investigates the convergent validity of discrete choice contingent valuation (CV) and contingent rating/ranking (CR) methods using flexible econometric methods. Our results suggest that CV and CR can produce consistent data (achieve convergent validity) when respondent’s preferred choices and the same changes in environmental quality are considered. We also find that CR models that go beyond modeling the preferred