Species management Flashcards
(12 cards)
Species management
Actions directed at managing or restoring species, focused on the species of concern itself and includes all actions involved in directly managing species
Land/water management
The difference between land/water management and species management is:
2 ≤ species management
3 ≥ land/water management
Intervention types
Ex-situ and in-situ conservation
Population regulation
Translocations
Invasive species removal
Captive breeding (Ex-situ) - Arabian Oryx
The last known wild Arabian Oryx was killed in Oman in 1972 - first species to be classified as “extinct in the wild”
Pressure: hunting and habitat degradation
Response: Captive breeding
Now gone from “extinct in the wild” to vulnerable
Factors related to success:
- careful selection of release sites
- Effective anti-poaching campaigns and management
- Habitat restoration
- Careful curation (by the ZOOs) of genetic diversity in mating programs
- Strong institutional support
Captive breeding - Californian condor
Became extinct in the wild in 87’
Pressure: lead bullets left by hunters
Response: captive breeding started in 48’ and has cost ca 40 million. But no regulation on lead ammunition
Captive breeding is often very costly and requires a good understanding of the threat
Asian vultures
Huge declines in 90’s and 00’s, and initially unknown what were the reasons
After many tests in the lab the anti-inflammatory drug diclofenac was identified as the cause
Models shows that even very low percentages of carcases infected, diclofenac could have a devastating impact
This led to bans (first in India in 2006 and then in Nepal, Pakistan and Bangladesh) and awareness campaigns of alternatives
Why population regulation?
Preventing overpopulation and resource depletion
Protecting endangered species
Disease management
Mitigating human-wildlife conflicts
Supporting livelihoods
Trophy hunting - value for conservation?
Generate incentives for landowners (government, private individuals or communities) to conserve or restore wildlife
Generate revenue for wildlife management and conservation, including anti-poaching activites
Increase tolerance for living with wildlife, reducing the effects of human-wildlife conflicts and reducing illegal killing
Requirements:
- need to be regulated
- Needs to be based on evidence of not jeopardizing populations
- Income needs to support local communities
- Income needs to support conservation efforts
Translocations
Restoration (inside native range):
- Reinforcement: species is present
- Reintroduction: species not present
Introduction (outside native range):
- Assisted colonization: species at risk in native range
- Replacement: important ecological processes lost
Translocations - IUCN guidelines
- Is the species or population under threat?
- Have the threatening factors been removed or controlled, or are they absent in the release area?
- Are translocations the best tool to mitigate conservation conflicts?
- Are risks for the target species acceptable?
- Are risks for other species or the ecosystem acceptable?
- Does the project maximize the likelihood of establishing a viable population?
- Does the project include clear goals and monitoring
- Do enough economic and human resources exist?
- Do scientific, governmental, and stakeholder groups support the translocation?
Invasive species removal
It works: 88% success rate
It’s very expensive
Summary
Species and habitat interventions are important conservation tools but can rarely stand alone
Require an evidence based approach that in particular relate to ensuring assessment of threat and setting targets
Needs to be guides by established principles
Need monitoring and evaluation
Often very expensive
