Prairie Conservation in North America

Prairie conservation in North America

Herpetological Conservation in Northwestern North America

Conservation of the 105 species of amphibians, reptiles, and turtles in the northwestern United States and western Canada is represented by a diverse mix of projects and programs across ten states, provinces, and territories. In this paper, 29 contributing authors review the status of herpetofauna by state, province or territory, and summarize the key issues, programs, projects, partnerships, a...

Bird Community Conservation and Carbon Offsets in Western North America

Conservation initiatives to protect and restore valued species and communities in human-dominated landscapes face huge challenges linked to the cost of acquiring habitat. We ask how the sale of forest carbon offsets could reduce land acquisition costs, and how the alternate goals of maximizing α or β-diversity in focal communities could affect the prioritization land parcels over a range of con...

Springsnails: A New Conservation Focus in Western North America

Springsnails (genus Pyrgulopsis) are one of the most abundant and diverse members of the endemic western North American aquatic biota. These tiny gastropods are imperiled by threats ranging from groundwater pumping to livestock grazing. During the past 25 years, this longneglected element of biodiversity has emerged as a new focus of conservation-related activities, including protection of seve...

Archaeological perspectives on prehistoric conservation in western North America

The archaeological record represents a potentially critical source of information on past relationships between human hunters and populations of game animals. Archaeological research in the last 40–50 years has produced two alternative views on these relationships: one that Native people were knowledgeable, benevolent conservators of game and an alternative that suggests that they depleted and ...