Academic literature on the topic 'Wildlife conservation|Wildlife management|Natural resource management'

Starting in the 1980’s, an increasing number of international actors have advocated for a change in wildlife and resource conservation strategies, arguing for practices allowing for greater local management in a model known as “community-based conservation.” Focusing on Tanzania, a country known for its expansive wildlife and game reserves, this investigation examines the adoption and implementation of legislation allowing for locally-administered Wildlife Management Areas (WMA’s). This paper first documents the processes motivating the introduction of WMA legislation in Tanzania, then details the legislation’s contents themselves and attempts to evaluate the social and political results as best it can, using a combination of sources including previously conducted research, promotional materials, and NGO publications.Major aspects of legislation include the following: villages themselves choose to enter into WMA agreements with investors; investors collect the revenue and deliver it to the federal government, which in turn distributes it to villages and wildlife conservation programs; and village residents themselves determine how to allocate the revenue they receive. Results have been mixed; while many villages have benefitted from income received from participation in wildlife management, there have also been instances of coercion into participating, disputes between villages regarding WMA practices, and there has been a general lack of transparency in income collection and distribution. Furthermore, it is unclear to what extent recent legislation has actually given a greater degree of control to local government.

Synopsis Many researchers work at the interface of organisms and environment. Too often, the insights that organismal, or functional, biologists can bring to the understanding of natural history, ecology, and conservation of species are overlooked. Likewise, natural resource managers are frequently focused on the management of populations and communities, while ignoring key functional traits that might explain variation in abundance and shifts in species composition at these ecological levels. Our intention for this symposium is two-fold: (1) to bring to light current and future research in functional and ecological morphology applicable to concerns and goals of wildlife management and conservation and (2) to show how such studies can result in measurable benchmarks useful to regulatory agencies. Symposium topics reveal past, present, and future collaborations between functional morphologists/biomechanists and conservation/wildlife biologists. During the SICB 2020 Annual Meeting, symposium participants demonstrated how data gathered to address fundamental questions regarding the causes and consequences of organismal form and function can also help address issues of conservation and wildlife management. Here we review how these, and other, studies of functional morphology, biomechanics, ecological development morphology and performance can inform wildlife conservation and management, principally by identifying candidate functional traits that have clear fitness consequences and population level implications.

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to outline the stages involved in developing an audit to determine the best wildlife and conservation organization to volunteer with. Design/methodology/approach – The paper outlines details of the analysis and assessment of 53 organizations based on nine core criteria. The framework developed for this purpose also provides a tool that could be used to assess other organizations. Findings – Publication of the Wildlife and Conservation Volunteering Guide has given volunteers a resource that enables them to make informed decisions about which organization to volunteer with and to enable the featured organizations to reflect on their own relative attractiveness to volunteers. Originality/value – The viewpoint highlights several unintended consequences of an audit and demonstrates that published audit criteria prompt organizations to instigate changes.

Basic values in Canadian society are thought to be moving toward an expanded conservation ethic. There are two schools of thought. "Wise-use" conservation signifies management of forests and wildlife to maximize utilitarian values. "Preservationist" conservation is more concerned with intrinsic values in nature. Canadian common law and statutes are examined to determine what support they provide for "wise-use" conservation or a "preservationist" approach to resource management. Deficiencies are identified. Moreover, where statutes do impress on resource managers a duty to employ "wise-use" principles, noncompliance is often tolerated and Canadian courts are reluctant to hold public servants to the letter of the law. Integrated management is a precondition to making the trade-offs between forests and wildlife required by a "wise-use" policy, but by itself, provides no measure by which to make such trade-offs. "Wise-use" principles do provide such a measure, but their utilitarian emphasis invariably reduces wildlife to second place in competition with trees. If society wants to preserve intrinsic values in wildlife, the only alternative strategies available are raw potential power or charterlike laws that express clear principles of preservation. These laws would be society's choice in favour of arresting the deterioration in the natural environment documented in the World Conservation Strategy. Key words: Resource, Conservation, Conservation policy, Conservation law, Integration.

In recent years there has been a proliferation of projects aiming to integrate human development needs with conservation objectives, and to establish mutually beneficial relationships for the management of natural resources between rural communities and the state. This paper presents data from a case study of human-wildlife interactions in villages along the northern boundary of the Selous Game Reserve in south-east Tanzania. Since 1989, this area has been the site of a project working to promote community wildlife management (CWM). Questionnaire survey data were used to examine villagers' conservation attitudes towards wildlife, the Game Reserve, and the activities of the CWM project and state wildlife management authority. Despite local support for the conservation of wildlife, many respondents were either unaware or held negative views of the activities of the wildlife management institutions. Logistic regression analyses show that while access to game meat from the CWM project has had a positive influence on perceptions of wildlife benefits and awareness of the project's activities, it has had no significant effect on local perceptions of the Game Reserve and the activities of the state wildlife management authority. The factors underlying the observed pattern of conservation attitudes were identified as the inequitable distribution of benefits from the CWM project, and the limited nature of community participation in wildlife management. The importance of institutional issues for the future progress of participatory approaches to conservation with development is emphasized.

ABSTRACTCommunity forest management is often advanced as a remedy for failing top-down approaches to nature conservation. Contingent on the property rights theory, it assumes that local participation in natural resource management results in sustainable structures. There is, however, insufficient empirical evidence on the intra-community dynamics – especially when households have unequal access to the local institutions managing the natural resource. This paper looks at the socio-cultural, economic and institutional situation of households with and without access to management institutions in communities around the Kilum-Ijim Mountain Forest in Cameroon and analyses whether livelihood differences are associated with variations in management patterns. The analysis reveals differences by household type and a mixed picture of the evolution of species in the community forests over time, questioning the role of the community in natural resource conservation. Furthermore, the paper discusses the potentials of wildlife domestication for livelihoods and conservation in forest communities. The results are important in the light of ongoing conservation efforts in natural resource hot-spots in sub-Saharan Africa.

Human–wildlife conflicts are increasing throughout the world, principally due to a combination of human population growth, increased pressure on land and natural resources and climate change. Many human–wildlife conflicts stem from differences in objectives between various stakeholder groups, especially where the wildlife in question is a resource that can be exploited for economic or cultural benefit, or where the conservation of wildlife is at odds with human population growth or development pressure. Conflicts can be exacerbated by an incomplete understanding of their causes and/or inappropriate intervention measures. Many traditional forms of intervention are also subject to increasing scrutiny and criticism from society. Here, we highlight the potential strategic benefits that can be made by an interdisciplinary approach to human–wildlife conflict situations, by integrating knowledge and understanding across the natural and social sciences. We also stress the potential tactical benefits from combining new approaches to management with more traditional ones. We emphasise the potential contribution of more recent developments in decision-making under conditions of limited data availability and uncertainty. Finally, we recommend that monitoring should play a more prominent role, both in assessing the role of stakeholder engagement in participatory decision-making and in contributing to the evidence base that will allow competing hypotheses about specific systems to be evaluated in an iterative manner.

Interest in renewable energy and governmental mandates has motivated land managers to consider cellulosic feedstocks for bioenergy. I investigated plant community response to a system including switchgrass ( Panicum virgatum) as a feedstock intercropped with loblolly pine (Pinus taeda). I estimated plant species evenness, richness, and diversity and biomass production, with emphasis on white-tailed deer ( Odocoileus virginianus) forages. I detected 225 species in 2,220 1-m² quadrats, and 7,495 biomass samples (96.4 kg dry weight) from 960 quadrats. Intercropping reduced plant species diversity, total non-pine tree biomass, and biomass of deer forages during switchgrass establishment. These effects were no longer apparent at treatment level two years after switchgrass establishment, except that deer browse and total deer forage biomass remained less in intercropped interbeds. Intercropping in managed pines may temporarily effect plant communities but further studies are needed to examine longer term effects and to quantify effects on nutritional carrying capacity for deer.

Understanding survival and breeding season length of game birds are important for effective management and conservation. By determining the variables that drive survival and recovery rates for white-winged doves (Zenaida asiatica), I can offer management implications to agencies across their range. There is currently little knowledge about white-winged dove molting and hatching chronology. The objectives of this study were to: 1) investigate annual survival and recovery rates of white-winged doves, 2) determine intrinsic and extrinsic factors influencing them, 3) determine AHY primary feather molt rate and the factors that influence molt rate and initiation, and 4) describe hatch chronology and determine the factors that influence hatching. To understand what influences annual survival and recovery, I examined subpopulation, climate variables, urbanization characteristics, molt, and band type as covariates. I used the Brownie approach in the RMark package of R to compare annual survival and recovery models and generate estimates. I used Underhill and Zucchini models in the Moult package of R to determine AHY primary feather molt rate and the best predictors of molt rate and initiation. I analyzed molt scores of HY doves recorded during annual banding using GLMs in R to determine the factors that influence hatching. I used AIC to select the most parsimonious models for each a priori candidate set. I analyzed 71,675 bands, of which, 3,086 were recovered from 2007 – 2016. My most supported model influencing survival and recovery was [S(age class x urban intensity) f(age class X MRPP)]. Average AHY primary molt rate across Texas was 13.21 ± 0.93 days. MRPP subpopulation + Year was the most supported model influencing AHY primary molt rate, AHY molt initiation, and hatch date. Within my sample, 95% of AHY white-winged doves began molting from 7 April to 8 July and completed molt 17 August to 17 November. White-winged doves hatched as early as 6 January and as late as 27 July, with 95% of all hatching occurring between 22 March and 18 June and peaking at 5 May. Urban intensity was an important variable influencing annual survival, which is expected for such an urbanized species. MRPP subpopulations influenced vital rates and should be considered for future harvest management.

Reservoirs throughout the country exhibit degraded shorelines and simplified littoral habitats because of aging. This study evaluated the establishment of agricultural plantings on reservoir mudflats and the effectiveness of supplemental brush pile structures in providing recruitment habitat for juvenile fish. The mudflats of Enid Reservoir, Mississippi were seeded during the winter drawdown in October of 2016 and 2017 with agricultural plantings. Monitoring of plantings found grasses performed best in terms of establishment and providing potential fish habitat. During Summer 2017 brush piles and control sites, without brush, were sampled in Enid Reservoir using rotenone to evaluate juvenile fish use. Juvenile fish exhibited greater abundances and larger sizes, on average, in brush pile sites. Larger brush piles placed in shallower water provided the greatest benefit to juvenile fish.

Rice not collected by harvesters and natural seeds are important foods for waterfowl. Estimation of abundance of these seeds is necessary for calculating waterfowl habitat conservation needs in the Louisiana Chenier Plain (LCP) and Texas Mid-Coast (TMC). My objectives were to quantify dry mass of rice and other seeds from August-November 2010, and estimate waterbird abundances on farmed and idle ricelands in these regions from December 2010-March 2011. Rice abundance in farmed ricelands ranged from 159.7 kg/ha (CV = 66.6%) to 1,014.0 kg/ha (CV = 8.3%). Natural seed abundance in idle ricelands ranged from 99.7 kg/ha (CV = 32.9%) to 957.4 kg/ha (CV = 17.2%). Greatest waterbird densities occurred in shallowly flooded disked ricelands (mean = 7.35 waterbirds/ha, 90%; CI = 2.37-19.70). Ratoon, disked, and shallowly flooded ricelands are important habitat for non-breeding waterbirds but variable estimates of seed and waterbird abundances warrant continuation of this study.

The Galápagos Archipelago is recognized internationally as a unique eco-region, and many of the species that inhabit these islands can be found nowhere else on Earth. The Ecuadorian government recognized the value of this ecosystem, and, beginning in 1959, they designated 97% of the Archipelago as Ecuador's first National Park. The Charles Darwin Foundation also was founded in 1959 and, since then, the Park Service and the Foundation have worked towards preserving the Galápagos' unique flora and fauna for future generations. The waved albatross (Phoebastria irrorata) is the largest bird species found in the Galápagos Archipelago and was recognized as an iconic species early in the Park's history; it is the only tropical albatross. This species spends the majority of its life foraging at sea and is an important predator in the Humboldt Current off of the coast of South America. With the exception of a few pairs, this albatross breeds entirely on the southeastern most island of the archipelago, Española. Tourists visit Española every year to watch the elaborate courtship dances of this species, and albatrosses in general have been the foci of legends among sailors for centuries.

M.P. Harris (1969) began banding waved albatross as early as 1961, marking the beginning of a long-term monitoring program with a focus on estimating age-specific first-time breeding, abundance, and survival. This initial effort resulted in the first estimates of abundance and survival for the waved albatross (Harris 1973). Following these initial estimates, the population size of the waved albatross has been estimated in 1994 (Douglas 1998), 2001 (Anderson et al. 2002), and 2007 (Anderson et al. 2008). These estimates suggest that the population has been declining since 1994. Motivated by this apparent decline, Awkerman et al. (2006) investigated survival and concluded that survival estimates from 1999-2005 were lower than average survival from 1961-1970 (Harris 1973). Today, the waved albatross is considered critically endangered, with bycatch in artisanal longline fisheries and the increased occurrence of El Niño-Southern Oscillation events thought to be contributing to these observed declines in survival and abundance. Given these observed declines in the waved albatross, the importance of the species in the ecosystem, and its intrinsic value in terms of biodiversity, continued monitoring and analysis efforts are needed to evaluate trends over time, and to gauge the effectiveness of management actions. My thesis is focused on these topics.

In Chapter 1:, I describe a framework to estimate abundance of wildlife populations, apply this framework to estimate population size of the waved albatross at a major breeding colony on Española Island, and I conclude by providing recommendations for future island-wide surveys of this species.

In Chapter 2:, I revisit the dataset collected by M.P. Harris and the Galápagos National Park from 1961-1981 as well as a more recent dataset collected by K.P. Huyvaert and colleagues. I analyzed these datasets in a multistate mark-recapture framework to estimate and compare estimates of adult survival as well as other important demographic parameters that have not yet been evaluated for this species.

Bycatch from fisheries and extreme weather events have influenced survival and breeding probabilities of many pelagic seabird species worldwide. Lower adult survival of the waved albatross is thought to be associated with bycatch in the small-scale fishery located off of the coasts of Peru and Ecuador as well as with El Niño-Southern Oscillation events. Previous efforts to document these threats have not formally considered that a variable proportion of the population does not breed every year or that different life history stages may have different survival rates.

The results from Chapter 1 suggest a continued decline in the principal breeding population of the waved albatross since 1994, and Chapter 2 shows indirect evidence that this decline may be linked to higher mortality associated with recent documented increases in small-scale longline fishing effort off of the coast of South America. Outside of the Galapagos Marine Reserve where fishing is heavily regulated by the Galapagos National Park Service, little is done to directly manage artisanal fishing operations off of the coasts of Peru and Ecuador. Conservation initiatives recognizing the environmental impact of fishing in this zone have been promoting reduction of seabird bycatch by educating local fishermen. Despite these conservation efforts, the results from my thesis suggest a continued population decline for this critically endangered species and additional mitigation may be needed for the persistence of the waved albatross.

Historically, black bears occurred throughout Mississippi but by 1932, <12 bears remained. Repatriation in neighboring states and conservation efforts in Mississippi have led to the recolonization of at least 2 subspecies (U. a. luteolus and U. a. americanus) of black bears in the state. I compiled available data to provide a synthesis of the history, current status, and management of black bears in Mississippi. Additionally, I used global positioning data collected from radio collared bears to determine the influence of distance to source population, cover type, distance to roads, distance to water, wetland reserve program areas, and human population density on black bear resource selection at various spatial scales. I studied characteristics of space use and resource selection of recolonizing bears in the Mississippi Alluvial Valley (Delta). I assessed the influence of environmental parameters at the female core annual home-range (using 50% kernel density estimator) and male and female seasonal and annual home-ranges (95% kernel density estimator). Distance to source population and distance to roads had significant influence at the core female home-range scale. I found a sex-based difference in annual and seasonal home-ranges. I also found that bears exhibited response to and selection for specific resources with an affinity toward hardwood stands, particularly young-aged hardwoods. My research illustrates the importance of analyzing resource selection at multiple scales to gain a full understanding of parameters that influence the recolonization of a bear population.

Involving a diversity of stakeholders in conservation issues is an important and growing trend in wildlife management. My thesis provides a case study of a collaborative conservation effort in which representatives from sportsmen’s and environmental groups came together to advise the Arizona Game and Fish Department in a project to restore bighorn sheep to the Santa Catalina Mountains near Tucson, Arizona. These stakeholders formed the Catalina Bighorn Sheep Restoration Advisory Committee to help address the human dimension factors of the project, build public support, and guide project planning and implementation. In addition to participant observation and document analysis informing my study, I surveyed 31 stakeholders both on and off the Advisory Committee and interviewed key Advisory Committee members. All stakeholders were in favor of collaborative conservation. However, there were objections to this particular Advisory Committee for this particular project. Although stakeholders had a diversity of values that informed their beliefs, the Advisory Committee members who took the time to understand the science involved, develop mutual trust and respect for others at the table, and held a strong commitment to the project goals were able to shift deeply held, values-based beliefs and find consensus on contentious project elements. This included agreeing on a mountain lion management plan that called for the killing of mountain lions that preyed on the newly reintroduced bighorn sheep. Stakeholders not on the Advisory Committee did not come to agreement on most elements of the project. This study contributes to the understanding of collaborative conservation efforts by providing a case study of a controversial wildlife conservation project that involved diverse stakeholders who worked together, successfully found consensus, and achieved their main goal of getting bighorn sheep back on the mountain.

The road network in the U.S. is immense, and vehicle use has expanded to incredible proportions since the early 1900s. While the use of this network has proven useful to people, roads and vehicles cause severe environmental degradation. An important part of this degradation is direct mortality of wildlife due to road-kill, with some estimates of vertebrate fatalities reaching the hundreds of millions each year in the U.S. alone. Until the last few decades, little attention was given to the problem of road-kill. A few recent studies have conducted statistical and GIS analyses to identify and predict locations of road-kill in order to strategically implement mitigation strategies. These road-kill studies focused on few species and/or limited study areas.

In the U.S., suburban areas have been expanding in recent years, but have been largely absent from the research on road-kill. This study investigates road-kill of the small vertebrate community on the fringe of the St. Louis metropolitan area and identifies significant land use/land cover attributes surrounding road-kill and hotspot locations using logistic regression models and hotspot analyses. The findings clearly show that rates of road-kill in this area are substantial and worthy of mitigation. Locations were identified for reducing overall rates of road-kill, such as areas nearer to forest fragments and farther from cultivated lands that are surrounded by greater amounts of open and low intensity developed areas and lesser amounts of cultivated lands. If mitigation were targeted in locations identified in this study, it could lead to reductions of thousands of road-kills each year.

The National Park Service, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and the USDA Forest Service governmental agencies in southern Nevada have collaborated with the Center for Energy Research at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas to explore the feasibility of becoming energy neutral by 2010. The three federal agencies have set a goal to offset their combined annual energy demand (currently supplied by local utility companies) with an equal amount of power produced by renewable energy sources. The study results indicate that the three federal agencies above consume just over 3,000 megawatt-hours of electrical energy per year in and around the Las Vegas Valley. Upon researching various types of renewable energy, it was determined that wind, geothermal, and biomass technologies either failed to have sufficient resources available in southern Nevada or conflicted with the resource management philosophies of the federal agencies. Solar energy is the most abundant feasible source of renewable energy within the study area, and it was determined that a 1.5 megawatt fixed photovoltaic (PV) system is best suited for this project.

Abstract The Ministry of Energy and Energy Industries assessed the National Oil Spill Contingency Plan of Trinidad and Tobago (NOSCP, 2013) for its effectiveness as a preparedness and response mechanism. Using the Readiness Evaluation Tool for Oil Spills (RETOS™), the NOSCP attained a score of 42% in the Level A Assessment. Gaps were identified in areas including National Legislation, Risk Management, Logistics, Training and Exercises, and Operational Response. Further, lessons learned from past spills were examined to highlight deficiencies in oil spill response (OSR) planning and readiness. Proposed updates to the NOSCP include: designation of appropriate Lead Agency depending on the nature of the spill scenario, mandating Oil Spill Risk Assessments, and the use of SIMA as a decision-making tool for oil spill response; development of comprehensive guidelines for Dispersant Use, Oiled Wildlife Response and Oil Spill Waste Management. The NOSCP is being re-designed to facilitate a national response management system that meets best management practice for oil spill contingency planning. This will enable the efficient and effective deployment of the appropriate resources (equipment, expertise and oversight) to mitigate impacts to human health and the environment, and minimize production down time and socio-economic costs.

There are many projects proposed to transport oil and gas resources to British Columbia’s (BC’s) west coast. BC has multiple major pipeline transmission systems (e.g., Trans Mountain pipeline, Spectra Energy and Pacific Northern Gas), and at least six major oil and gas pipelines are planned for construction over the next decade [1]. Large pipeline projects like these that span hundreds of kilometres can involve multiple jurisdictions (federal, provincial or joint) and require considerable regulatory planning. Once a pipeline project is approved through an environmental assessment (EA) process, it must still undergo rigorous environmental review as part of regulatory permitting. This paper provides an overview of oil and gas environmental regulatory processes in BC, with a focus on the role and process of the BC Oil and Gas Commission (BC OGC) as it pertains to environmental permitting requirements (i.e., legislation and regulation) for pipeline projects. Current regulatory application and review processes have been developed for small projects. This creates several unique considerations for major pipeline project applications. Among these is how best to coordinate the permit applications required for environmental management and protection of the diverse resource features of interest to BC regulatory agencies (e.g., culturally modified trees, riparian management areas, wildlife tree retention areas and old growth management areas). This paper also highlights the need for an integrated multidisciplinary approach and discusses lessons learned related to strategic planning of permit applications. We provide examples of how collaboration among the proponent’s teams and multiple consultant teams is necessary to develop effective regulatory strategies and obtain timely approvals.

Linear disturbances from the construction of pipelines, roads and seismic lines for oil and gas extraction and mining have caused landscape changes in Western Canada; however these linear features are not well recorded. Inventory maps of pipelines, seismic lines and temporary access routes created by resource exploration are essential to understanding the processes causing ecological changes in order to coordinate resource development, emergency response and wildlife management. Mapping these linear disturbances traditionally relies on manual digitizing from very high resolution remote sensing data, which usually limits results to small operational area. Extending mapping to large areas is challenging due to complexity of image processing and high logistical costs. With increased availability of low cost satellite data, more frequent and regular observations are available and offer potential solutions for extracting information on linear disturbances. This paper proposes a novel approach to incorporate spectral, geometric and temporal information for detecting linear features based on time series data analysis of regularly acquired, and low cost satellite data. This approach involves two steps: multi-scale directional line detection and line updating based on time series analysis. This automatic method can effectively extract very narrow linear features, including seismic lines, roads and pipelines. The proposed method has been tested over three sites in Alberta, Canada by detecting linear disturbances occurring over the period of 1984–2013 using Landsat imagery. It is expected that extracted linear features would be used to facilitate preparation of baseline maps and up-to-date information needed for environmental assessment, especially in extended remote areas.

Wildlife damage management (WDM) is an exciting field with many opportunities to provide solutions to the complex issues involved in human-wildlife interactions. In addition, WDM wildlife control operators (WCO) face a variety of threats to their physical well-being. Injuries can result from misused, faulty, or poorly maintained equipment, inexperience, mishandled wildlife, harsh weather, and dangerous situations, such as electrical lines. The goals of this publication are to: Develop an awareness of safety issues and adopt a mindset of “Safety First”, Review the major safety threats that WCOs face, Provide basic information for WCOs to protect themselves, and List resources for further information and training. Work in WDM poses many safety risks to those involved. Awareness, planning, and deliberate action can eliminate or reduce many threats. As the industry continues to develop, WCOs must keep up with new threats and safety practices to maintain their well-being. Following safe work practices helps to ensure WCOs remain on-the-job and injury free.