Guiding local-scale management to improve the conservation of endangered populations: the example of Bonelli’s Eagle Aquila fasciata

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-15
Author(s):  
ÀLEX ROLLAN ◽  
ANTONIO HERNÁNDEZ-MATÍAS ◽  
RAFEL BOSCH ◽  
ALBERT TINTÓ ◽  
ROGER PUIG-GIRONÈS ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Population Level ◽  
Local Scale ◽  
Environmental Drivers ◽  
Management Actions ◽  
Bonelli’S Eagle ◽  
Conservation Actions ◽  
Demographic Processes ◽  
Aquila Fasciata ◽  
Parameter Values

Summary Understanding the environmental drivers of demographic processes is a prerequisite for providing the evidence-based conservation guidance and management actions required to address management goals at population level. Human activities, to which most species are not adapted, are having an ever-increasing impact on the environment. Most policies and strategies focus on broad-scale conservation actions and disregard the fact that this type of action may not be adequate at local scale. In addition, even though the main conservation targets are well known, managers and practitioners lack an explicit framework in which to identify the varying requirements of site-specific conservation actions. Our aim was to provide an accurate tool for prioritizing specific local-scale conservation actions for endangered territorial birds. In this study we describe our proposed framework using a population of the endangered Bonelli’s Eagle Aquila fasciata as a case study. We identified the most relevant environmental drivers linked to demographic parameters (occupation, productivity and survival) at local scale shaping the dynamics of the Bonelli’s Eagle population in Catalonia (Spain). This information will be useful for designing specific local-scale conservation actions in eagles’ territories with low demographic parameter values. This is a good example of how applied research and achievable conservation practices are applicable to other Bonelli’s eagle populations and to those of other endangered raptors.

scholarly journals Implications of Spatially Variable Costs and Habitat Conversion Risk in Landscape-Scale Conservation Planning

2018 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 402-414 ◽  
Author(s):  
Max Post van der Burg ◽  
Neil Chartier ◽  
Ryan Drum
Keyword(s):  
Spatial Variation ◽  
Habitat Loss ◽  
Tallgrass Prairie ◽  
Habitat Conservation ◽  
Optimal Placement ◽  
Management Actions ◽  
The North ◽  
Conservation Costs ◽  
Conservation Actions

Abstract “Strategic habitat conservation” refers to a process used by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to develop cost-efficient strategies for conserving wildlife populations and their habitats. Strategic habitat conservation focuses on resolving uncertainties surrounding habitat conservation to meet specific wildlife population objectives (i.e., targets) and developing tools to guide where conservation actions should be focused on the landscape. Although there are examples of using optimization models to highlight where conservation should be delivered, such methods often do not explicitly account for spatial variation in the costs of conservation actions. Furthermore, many planning approaches assume that habitat protection is a preferred option, but they do not assess its value relative to other actions, such as restoration. We developed a case study to assess the implications of accounting for and ignoring spatial variation in conservation costs in optimizing conservation targets. We included assumptions about habitat loss to determine the extent to which protection or restoration would be necessary to meet an established population target. Our case study focused on optimal placement of grassland protection or restoration actions to influence bobolink Dolichonyx oryzivorus populations in the tallgrass prairie ecoregion of the north central United States. Our results show that not accounting for spatially variable costs doubled or tripled the cost of meeting the population target. Furthermore, our results suggest that one should not assume that protecting existing habitat is always a preferred option. Rather, our results show that the balance between protection and restoration can be influenced by a combination of desired targets, assumptions about habitat loss, and the relative cost of the two actions. Our analysis also points out how difficult it may be to reach targets, given the expense to meet them. We suggest that a full accounting of expected costs and benefits will help to guide development of viable management actions and meaningful conservation plans.

scholarly journals The Role of Communication and Engagement in Airport Noise Management

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (11) ◽  
pp. 6088
Author(s):  
Graeme Heyes ◽  
Paul Hooper ◽  
Fiona Raje ◽  
Ian Flindell ◽  
Delia Dimitriu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Research Priorities ◽  
Considerable Effect ◽  
Management Tool ◽  
Management Activity ◽  
Community Attitudes ◽  
Management Actions ◽  
Aviation Noise ◽  
Noise Management

Research suggests that non-acoustic factors can have a considerable effect on community attitudes and opinions towards aviation noise and that these can be influenced through processes of communication and engagement. This paper reviews literature from various fields to identify the key elements of effective practice, using them as a lens through which to assess case study noise management actions conducted at European airports. This analysis found that communication and engagement holds significant potential for noise management, but that this remains largely unfulfilled due to such methods being used as an ancillary management activity, rather than as a powerful tool to aid in the design and delivery of noise management actions. A series of recommendations and research priorities are proposed that could shape the future of noise management, including potential changes to European policy that more explicitly advocate for communication and engagement as a noise management tool in its own right.

scholarly journals R–R–T (resistance–resilience–transformation) typology reveals differential conservation approaches across ecosystems and time

2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Guillaume Peterson St-Laurent ◽  
Lauren E. Oakes ◽  
Molly Cross ◽  
Shannon Hagerman
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Empirical Evidence ◽  
Climate Change Adaptation ◽  
Conservation Practices ◽  
Practical Application ◽  
Empirical Assessment ◽  
Transformative Action ◽  
Conservation Actions

AbstractConservation practices during the first decade of the millennium predominantly focused on resisting changes and maintaining historical or current conditions, but ever-increasing impacts from climate change have highlighted the need for transformative action. However, little empirical evidence exists on what kinds of conservation actions aimed specifically at climate change adaptation are being implemented in practice, let alone how transformative these actions are. In response, we propose and trial a novel typology—the R–R–T scale, which improves on existing concepts of Resistance, Resilience, and Transformation—that enables the practical application of contested terms and the empirical assessment of whether and to what extent a shift toward transformative action is occurring. When applying the R–R–T scale to a case study of 104 adaptation projects funded since 2011, we find a trend towards transformation that varies across ecosystems. Our results reveal that perceptions about the acceptance of novel interventions in principle are beginning to be expressed in practice.

scholarly journals AN INVESTIGATION ON THE IMPROVEMENT OF CONSTRUCTION EXPENDITURE FORECASTING

2013 ◽  
Vol 19 (5) ◽  
pp. 759-711 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew Ross ◽  
Katie Dalton ◽  
Begum Sertyesilisik
Keyword(s):  
Cash Flow ◽  
Construction Projects ◽  
Case Study Research ◽  
Research Strategy ◽  
Flow Models ◽  
Improved Model ◽  
Work Affect ◽  
Cash Flow Forecast ◽  
Parameter Values

This study aims to determine the accuracy of the cash flow models and to investigate if these models could be more accurate if they accounted for the potentially influential variables specific to individual construction projects. An analytical case study research strategy has been implemented in collecting data for the construction projects. The data collected has been tested against recognised models. Statistical analyses have been carried out on the data for the specified variables, culminating in the potential proposal of an improved model with respect to these identified variables. The results revealed that the independent variables (type of construction, procurement route and type of work) affect the cash flow forecast. The findings suggested that a model could be more accurate with the input of more job-specific variables and that Hudson's DHSS model is best suited to a construction project procured traditionally. Adopting the ‘trial and error’ approach, Hudson's DHSS model has been recognised as an accurate model that could be adapted slightly, through changing the parameter values. The clients and the contractors are the main beneficiaries approached for this study.

scholarly journals How emissions from cruise ships in the port of Naples changed in the COVID-19 lock down period

2021 ◽  
pp. 147509022110284
Author(s):  
Luigia Mocerino ◽  
Franco Quaranta
Keyword(s):  
Local Scale ◽  
The Other ◽  
Cruise Ships ◽  
Global Pandemic ◽  
Transportation Sector ◽  
Reduction Of Emissions ◽  
The One ◽  
Global And Local

The scope of this work is to try to quantify the reduction of emissions due to COVID-19; an analysis covering the entire port of Naples will be presented. The explosion of the global pandemic from SARS-CoV-2 led to the adoption of local and global countermeasures aimed at containing contagions. The transportation sector, and in particular the passenger moving sector, was deeply affected; this almost total block of movements between regions and countries if, on the one hand, seriously slowed the economy, on the other, it drastically reduced the emissions on a global and local scale. In this work, the case study of the cruise ships berthed at the Maritime Station (Stazione Marittima) in the port of Naples is examined. The traffic of cruise ships during the lockdown and in the immediately following months was analysed and compared first with respect to the calendars scheduled for the same period and then with respect to the same months of 2019. The reduction in number of cruise ships and passengers were analysed and compared to the previous trends. The vessels collected, for 2019 and 2020 (both those that arrived and those that suffered the effects of the movement block) were subsequently characterized in terms of power and speed. Finally, an estimate of the emissions of NOX, SOX, CO2 produced and saved was carried out. The 2020 results will be compared with the hypothetical emissions that would have occurred in the absence of the lockdown and with those of the same period of the previous year.

scholarly journals Predictors of invertebrate biomass and rate of advancement of invertebrate phenology across eight sites in the North American Arctic

Polar Biology ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 44 (2) ◽  
pp. 237-257
Author(s):  
Rebecca Shaftel ◽  
Daniel J. Rinella ◽  
Eunbi Kwon ◽  
Stephen C. Brown ◽  
H. River Gates ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Prey Availability ◽  
Population Level ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Environmental Drivers ◽  
Chick Survival ◽  
The North ◽  
Phenological Mismatch ◽  
Nesting Sites ◽  
North American Arctic

AbstractAverage annual temperatures in the Arctic increased by 2–3 °C during the second half of the twentieth century. Because shorebirds initiate northward migration to Arctic nesting sites based on cues at distant wintering grounds, climate-driven changes in the phenology of Arctic invertebrates may lead to a mismatch between the nutritional demands of shorebirds and the invertebrate prey essential for egg formation and subsequent chick survival. To explore the environmental drivers affecting invertebrate availability, we modeled the biomass of invertebrates captured in modified Malaise-pitfall traps over three summers at eight Arctic Shorebird Demographics Network sites as a function of accumulated degree-days and other weather variables. To assess climate-driven changes in invertebrate phenology, we used data from the nearest long-term weather stations to hindcast invertebrate availability over 63 summers, 1950–2012. Our results confirmed the importance of both accumulated and daily temperatures as predictors of invertebrate availability while also showing that wind speed negatively affected invertebrate availability at the majority of sites. Additionally, our results suggest that seasonal prey availability for Arctic shorebirds is occurring earlier and that the potential for trophic mismatch is greatest at the northernmost sites, where hindcast invertebrate phenology advanced by approximately 1–2.5 days per decade. Phenological mismatch could have long-term population-level effects on shorebird species that are unable to adjust their breeding schedules to the increasingly earlier invertebrate phenologies.

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