Trends in Deforestation and Forest Degradation after a Decade of Monitoring in the Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve in Mexico

We used aerial photographs, satellite images, and field surveys to monitor forest cover in the core zones of the Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve in Mexico from 2001 to 2012. We used our data to assess the effectiveness of conservation actions that involved local, state, and federal authorities and community members (e.g., local landowners and private and civil organizations) in one of the world's most iconic protected areas. From 2001 through 2012, 1254 ha were deforested (i.e., cleared areas had <10% canopy cover), 925 ha were degraded (i.e., areas for which canopy forest decreased), and 122 ha were affected by climatic conditions. Of the total 2179 ha of affected area, 2057 ha were affected by illegal logging: 1503 ha by large‐scale logging and 554 ha by small‐scale logging. Mexican authorities effectively enforced efforts to protect the monarch reserve, particularly from 2007 to 2012. Those efforts, together with the decade‐long financial support from Mexican and international philanthropists and businesses to create local alternative‐income generation and employment, resulted in the decrease of large‐scale illegal logging from 731 ha affected in 2005–2007 to none affected in 2012, although small‐scale logging is of growing concern. However, dire regional social and economic problems remain, and they must be addressed to ensure the reserve's long‐term conservation. The monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus) overwintering colonies in Mexico—which engage in one of the longest known insect migrations—are threatened by deforestation, and a multistakeholder, regional, sustainable‐development strategy is needed to protect the reserve. Tendencias en la Deforestación y la Degradación de Forestal después de una Década de Monitoreo en la Reserva de la Biósfera de la Mariposa Monarca en México     

When Agendas Collide: Human Welfare and Biological Conservation

Abstract:  Conservation should benefit ecosystems, nonhuman organisms, and current and future human beings. Nevertheless, tension among these goals engenders potential ethical conflicts: conservationists' true motivations may differ from the justifications they offer for their activities, and conservation projects have the potential to disempower and oppress people. We reviewed the promise and deficiencies of integrating social, economic, and biological concerns into conservation, focusing on research in ecosystem services and efforts in community-based conservation. Despite much progress, neither paradigm provides a silver bullet for conservation's most pressing problems, and both require additional thought and modification to become maximally effective. We conclude that the following strategies are needed to make conservation more effective in our human-dominated world. (1) Conservation research needs to integrate with social scholarship in a more sophisticated manner. (2) Conservation must be informed by a detailed understanding of the spatial, temporal, and social distributions of costs and benefits of conservation efforts. Strategies should reflect this understanding, particularly by equitably distributing conservation's costs. (3) We must better acknowledge the social concerns that accompany biodiversity conservation; accordingly, sometimes we must argue for conservation for biodiversity's sake, not for its direct human benefits.     

Role of Prices and Wealth in Consumer Demand for Bushmeat in Gabon, Central Africa

Abstract:  Unsustainable hunting of wildlife for food is often a more immediate and significant threat to the conservation of biological diversity in tropical forests than deforestation. Why people eat wildlife is debated. Some may eat bushmeat because they can afford it; others may eat it because it is familiar, traditional, confers prestige, tastes good, or adds variety. We completed a survey of 1208 rural and urban households in Gabon, Africa, in 2002–2003 to estimate the effect of wealth and prices on the consumption of wildlife and other sources of animal protein. Consumption of bushmeat, fish, chicken, and livestock increased with increasing household wealth, and as the price of these commodities rose, consumption declined. Although the prices of substitutes for bushmeat did not significantly, in statistical terms, influence bushmeat consumption, as the price of wildlife increased and its consumption fell, the consumption of fish rose, indicating that fish and bushmeat were dietary substitutes. Our results suggest that policy makers can use economic levers such as taxation or supply reduction through better law enforcement to change demand for wildlife. These measures will help to regulate unsustainable exploitation and reduce the risk of irreversible loss of large-bodied and slow-reproducing wildlife species. If policy makers focus solely on reducing the unsustainable consumption of wildlife, they may see adverse impacts on the exploitation of fish. Furthermore, policy makers must ensure that raising household wealth through development assistance does not result in undesirable impacts on the conservation status of wildlife and fish.     

Nonrandom, Size- and Timing-Biased Breeding in a Hatchery Population of Steelhead Trout

Abstract:  Hatcheries have been built and operated to buffer salmon and trout populations from overfishing and to compensate for habitat lost or degraded by human activities. These facilities are now so prevalent that in some cases hatchery-produced salmon outnumber salmon produced in the wild. By default, this makes them an important component in the current ecology and evolution of salmonids. Hatcheries differ from natural environments in many ways, and among the most fundamental is the necessity that humans select fish for breeding instead of allowing natural processes of mate choice and competition. We examined the mating system for steelhead trout ( Oncorhynchus mykiss ) at Forks Creek Hatchery in southwest Washington and investigated factors affecting selection of individual steelhead for spawning by the hatchery staff. Despite efforts by the staff to not spawn selectively, data on steelhead spawned over 7 years revealed selection for large adult body size and early reproductive timing and a tendency for size-assortative mating (i.e., large with large). Selection on size was related to selection on reproductive timing because early returning fish tended to be larger than those returning later. To improve the fitness of both hatchery fish destined to spawn in the wild and hatchery fish designated to be spawned in the hatchery, a better understanding of factors associated with the range of reproductive success and mate-choice mechanisms in the wild is vital. This knowledge may then be applied to artificial propagation programs designed for conservation or enhancement.     

Geomorphological consequences of fraquent and infrequent rainfall and hydrological events in Pyrennez Mountains of Spain

Various aspects of pluviometric andhydrological events have been studiedworldwide, one of which is the geomorphichazards as the intensity of the eventsexceeds various geomorphic thresholds.During the last few years, rainstorms ofdifferent intensities have occurred in theCentral Spanish Pyrenees, including one ofexceptional character. Large, historicaldebris flows have been studied, as well asthe actual sediment transport in smallexperimental catchments. This study showsthat during the most frequent eventssuspended sediment transport is the commongeomorphic process. Bedload is mobilizedseveral times per year while small rockavalanches and channelized debris flowshave a return period of at least 5 years.Hillslope debris flows are triggered byrainfall events with a 25–30 year returnperiod. Reactivation of large, deep massmovements is linked to rainfalls of around100 year return period (between 130 and160 mm in 24 hours). Catastrophicgeomorphic processes occur whenprecipitation exceeds a 100 year returnperiod, as was the case of the Biescascampsite disaster. Geomorphic processestriggered by intense rainfall events havecaused major damage and human disastersbut the hazards have been reduced by theintroduction of several control measures,including reforestation, the constructionof check-dams, canalization of riversegments and improved flood forecasting.     

Process and outcome: gender differences in the assessment of justice

We studied the importance that women and men place on distributive and procedural justice. The relationship between distributive justice and several organizational outcomes (e.g. commitment, intent to stay) was stronger for men than women. The relationship between procedural justice and those same outcomes, however, was stronger among women than men. The relation of our findings in justice perceptions are related to other research on gender differences in interpersonal styles and perceptions. Future research ideas are discussed. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.