Community, conflict and conservation: response of mammalian fauna to ecological and anthropological correlates ‒ a critical habitat in Indo-Bhutan transboundary landscape urges multiagency cooperation

The impacts of conflict on nature are devastatingly adverse but differ widely in different socio-political regimes. Armed conflict often facilitates illegal plunder and unsustainable use of natural resources, variously by rebel groups and impoverished or displaced people challenged with limited subsistence options. We studied the response of mammals in Ripu Reserve Forest (Assam) that suffers prolonged anthropogenic pressure due to armed conflict instigated by social unrest. We used standard single-season (spatial-dependence) occupancy models using sign survey to assess the factors affecting the space use of mammals and subsequently build capacity of conservation volunteers for long-term sustenance of Ripu. Our study revealed that Ripu has a high proportion of occupied area by prey species of large carnivores. Asian elephant, barking deer, and wild pig occupied most of the habitat, whereas gaur, sambar and spotted deer restricted themselves to selected patches within the Ripu. Common leopards found to be positively associated with prey occupancy. The studied mammals responded variably to different ecological and anthropological covariates and urge for species-specific management alongside landscape scale conservation approach. Our ground effort to strengthen community patrolling and operational execution of various alternative livelihood has helped to empower the economic condition of patrolling staff. Strategic implementation of law enforcement could support dispersal of tigers from Phibsoo WLS (Bhutan), potentially linked with the larger tiger and elephant landscape far west (Buxa Tiger Reserve) in the Terai region of India. Community-based conservation initiatives required continuous support from various agencies, including national, international, and local bodies, to restore this critical habitat.

Guide to Nesting Sea Turtles in Florida

Florida’s coastline provides critical habitat for sea turtle nesting, as it has for millions of years. Throughout the state, three of the seven species of sea turtles in the world have significant nesting populations. Loggerhead, green, and leatherback sea turtles use Florida’s beaches to lay nests each year. This publication provides information on the identification, nesting characteristics, and abundance of each of the common sea turtle species who nest in Florida.

Evidence of effect of riparian attributes on listed freshwater fishes and mussels and their aquatic critical habitat: a systematic map protocol

Background Habitat that is necessary for the survival and recovery of a species listed as threatened, endangered or extirpated (i.e., Critical Habitat) is protected in Canada. For freshwater aquatic species, Critical Habitat may include the riparian zone, however, it is unclear how much of this riparian habitat needs to be protected to support the survival and recovery of a listed species. The riparian zone mainly affects aquatic species through its indirect effect on aquatic habitat according to five main processes: erosion, filtration, infiltration, shading, and subsidization. To provide quantitative evidence to support the delineation of riparian Critical Habitat, a systematic map will be used to create a searchable database containing the current state of knowledge regarding the relationships between the riparian zone attributes (e.g., size, vegetation) and fishes and mussels, aquatic features, and riparian processes. Methods We will search for primary research articles in bibliographic databases and relevant organizational websites for primary literature, theses, preprints, and grey literature including reports, along with models using a search string specific to riparian habitat. The results will be screened at title and abstract, and full text levels against predefined inclusion criteria and consistency checking will be performed to ensure the inclusion criteria are consistent across multiple reviewers. Quantitative and qualitative data including study details and methods, the riparian habitat, and the waterbody and upland habitat use will be extracted. The findings of the systematic map will be provided in a manuscript and a searchable database accompanied by a decision tree to support biologists in providing scientifically defensible delineation of riparian Critical Habitat for aquatic species at risk in Canada.

Understanding the Environmental Study Life Cycle in the United States Hydropower Licensing and Federal Authorization Process

We analyzed United States Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) documents prepared for 29 recently licensed hydropower projects and created two novel datasets to improve understanding of the environmental study life cycle, defined here as the process that begins with an environmental study being requested by a hydropower stakeholder or regulator, and ends with the study either being rejected or approved/conducted. Our two datasets consisted of summaries of information taken from (1), study determination letters prepared by FERC for 23 projects that were using the integrated licensing process, and (2), environmental study submittals and issuances tracked and attributed to seven projects using the FERC record. Our objective was to use the two resulting environmental life cycle datasets to understand which types of environmental studies are approved, rejected, and implemented during FERC licensing, and how consistently those types of studies are required across multiple hydropower projects. We matched the requested studies to a set of 61 river function indicators in eight categories and found that studies related to the category of biota and biodiversity were requested most often across all 29 projects. Within that category, studies related to river function indicators of presence, absence, detection of species and habitat/critical habitat were the most important to stakeholders, based on the relative number of studies requested. The study approval, rejection, and request rates were similar within each dataset, although the 23 projects with study determination letters had many rejected studies, whereas the dataset created from the seven projects had very few rejected studies.

Plants critical for Hawaiian land snail conservation: arboreal snail plant preferences in Puʻu Kukui Watershed, Maui

The Hawaiian archipelago was formerly home to one of the most species-rich land snail faunas (> 752 species), with levels of endemism > 99%. Many native Hawaiian land snail species are now extinct, and the remaining fauna is vulnerable. Unfortunately, lack of information on critical habitat requirements for Hawaiian land snails limits the development of effective conservation strategies. The purpose of this study was to examine the plant host preferences of native arboreal land snails in Puʻu Kukui Watershed, West Maui, Hawaiʻi, and compare these patterns to those from similar studies on the islands of Oʻahu and Hawaiʻi. Concordant with studies on other islands, we found that four species from three diverse families of snails in Puʻu Kukui Watershed had preferences for a few species of understorey plants. These were not the most abundant canopy or mid canopy species, indicating that forests without key understorey plants may not support the few remaining lineages of native snails. Preference for Broussaisia arguta among various island endemic snails across all studies indicates that this species is important for restoration to improve snail habitat. As studies examining host plant preferences are often incongruent with studies examining snail feeding, we suggest that we are in the infancy of defining what constitutes critical habitat for most Hawaiian arboreal snails. However, our results indicate that preserving diverse native plant assemblages, particularly understorey plant species, which facilitate key interactions, is critical to the goal of conserving the remaining threatened snail fauna.