Reserve design

Question 1

What is the worthless land hypothesis?

Answer 1

When fertile or productive lands have been previously cleared for farming or other development, with only difficult to clear or infertile soils being left untouched, leading to limited selection of habitat for reserves/protected areas.
E.g. in wheatbelt, majority of reserves are granite outcrops since farmers could not clear or use the area in any productive way.

Question 2

What does C stand for in CAR principle? How is it acheived?

Answer 2

Comprehensive: on a broad scale, reserves should include all biodiversity, from genetic variation in species to community and ecosystems.
It can be acheived through
1. compiling data on biodiversity of region
2. review existing reserve designs
3. ID additional reserves needed to acheive conservation goals.

Question 3

What does A stand for in CAR principle? How is it acheived?

Answer 3

Adequate: Reserves to support viable, long term populations.
Acheived through:
setting targets based on scientific data such as PVAs, not arbitrary eg 10% of a population should be in a reserve for success.

Question 4

What does R stand for in CAR principle? How is it acheived?

Answer 4

Representitive: Reserves should represent biodiversity as much as possible. eg a species or ecosystem should be found in more than 1 reserve as insurance against disasters.

Question 5

How should location of a reserve be selected?

Answer 5

Focus should be on threatened landscapes where biodiversity is depleting and/or areas with little representation in reserves. Irreplaceability: Eg if one patch of potential reserve was found to be the only lasting known habitat for critically endangered organism, this should be prioritised. Requires good data/monitoring to guide this decision.

Question 6

What should be considered about the security and design of a reserve?

Answer 6

Clear boundaries - it needs to be obvious that the area is a reserve to avoid conflicts with the public, particularly important in developing countries as many people rely on reserves for food/survival. Size, shape and connectedness is important.Connectedness/corridors of reserve areas is beneficial for reconnecting isolated patches and assists safe movement through reserves for animals, assisting migration/gene flow & as a result keeping populations healthy.

Question 7

What stakeholders should be consulted with when setting up a new reserve system?

Answer 7

1. Local communities
2. Traditional owners
3. Private land owners
4. Government depts
5. Conservation NGOs and experts/scientists

Question 8

Why is conservation biology considered a multidisciplinary science?

Answer 8

It is often considered a multidisciplinary science because it draws from a wide variety of fields and skills to address the often complex and unique challenges that come with the discipline.

Question 9

Which fields are considered in conservation biology?

Answer 9

Environmental sciences
Political sciences
Communication/education
Social sciences