Consistent Ecological Selectivity through Time in Pacific Island Avian Extinctions

Abstract: Understanding the ecological mechanisms that lead to extinction is a central goal of conservation. Can understanding ancient avian extinctions help to predict extinction risk in modern birds? I used classification trees trained on both paleoecological and historical data from islands across the Pacific to determine the ecological traits associated with extinction risk. Intrinsic traits, including endemism, large body size, and certain feeding guilds, were tightly linked with avian extinction over the past 3500 years. Species ecology and phylogeny were better predictors of extinction risk through time than extrinsic or abiotic factors. Although human impacts on birds and their habitats have changed over time, modern endangered birds share many of the same ecological characteristics as victims of previous extinction waves. My use of detailed predictions of extinction risk to identify species potentially in need of conservation attention demonstrates the utility of paleoecological knowledge for modern conservation biology.     

Proposed Conservation Landscape for Giant Pandas in the Minshan Mountains,China

Abstract: The giant panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca), is one of the world's most endangered species. Habitat loss and fragmentation have reduced its numbers, shrunk its distribution, and separated the population into isolated subpopulations. Such isolated, small populations are in danger of extinction due to random demographic factors and inbreeding. We used least‐cost modeling as a systematic approach to incorporate satellite imagery and data on ecological and behavioral parameters of the giant panda collected during more than 10 years of field research to design a conservation landscape for giant pandas in the Minshan Mountains. We identified 8 core habitats and 4 potential linkages that would link core habitats CH3, CH4, and CH5 with core habitats CH6, CH7, and CH8. Establishing and integrating the identified habitats with existing reserves would create an efficient reserve network for giant panda conservation. The core habitats had an average density of 4.9 pandas/100 km² and contained approximately 76.6% of the giant panda population. About 45% of the core habitat (3245.4 km²) existed outside the current nature reserves network. Total estimated core habitat decreased between 30.4 and 44.5% with the addition of residential areas and road networks factored into the model. A conservation area for giant panda in the Minshan Mountains should aim to ensure habitat retention and connectivity, improve dispersal potential of corridors, and maintain the evolutionary potential of giant pandas in the face of future environmental changes.     

Environmental Synergisms and Extinctions of Tropical Species

Abstract: Environmental synergisms may pose the greatest threat to tropical biodiversity. Using recently updated data sets from the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List, we evaluated the incidence of perceived threats to all known mammal, bird, and amphibian species in tropical forests. Vulnerable, endangered, and extinct species were collectively far more likely to be imperiled by combinations of threats than expected by chance. Among 45 possible pairwise combinations of 10 different threats, 69%, 93%, and 71% were significantly more frequent than expected for threatened mammals, birds, and amphibians, respectively, even with a stringent Bonferroni‐corrected probability value (p= 0.003). Based on this analysis, we identified five key environmental synergisms in the tropics and speculate on the existence of others. The most important involve interactions between habitat loss or alteration (from agriculture, urban sprawl, infrastructure, or logging) and other anthropogenic disturbances such as hunting, fire, exotic‐species invasions, or pollution. Climatic change and emerging pathogens also can interact with other threats. We assert that environmental synergisms are more likely the norm than the exception for threatened species and ecosystems, can vary markedly in nature among geographic regions and taxa, and may be exceedingly difficult to predict in terms of their ultimate impacts. The perils posed by environmental synergisms highlight the need for a precautionary approach to tropical biodiversity conservation.     

Academic Research Training for a Nonacademic Workplace: a Case Study of Graduate Student Alumni Who Work in Conservation

Abstract: Graduate education in conservation biology has been assailed as ineffective and inadequate to train the professionals needed to solve conservation problems. To identify how graduate education might better fit the needs of the conservation workplace, we surveyed practitioners and academics about the importance of particular skills on the job and the perceived importance of teaching those same skills in graduate school. All survey participants (n = 189) were alumni from the University of California Davis Graduate Group in Ecology and received thesis‐based degrees from 1973 to 2008. Academic and practitioner respondents clearly differed in workplace skills, although there was considerably more agreement in training recommendations. On the basis of participant responses, skill sets particularly at risk of underemphasis in graduate programs are decision making and implementation of policy, whereas research skills may be overemphasized. Practitioners in different job positions, however, require a variety of skill sets, and we suggest that ever‐increasing calls to broaden training to fit this multitude of jobs will lead to a trade‐off in the teaching of other skills. Some skills, such as program management, may be best developed in on‐the‐job training or collaborative projects. We argue that the problem of graduate education in conservation will not be solved by restructuring academia alone. Conservation employers need to communicate their specific needs to educators, universities need to be more flexible with their opportunities, and students need to be better consumers of the skills offered by universities and other institutions.