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It is generally perceived that biodiversity is better protected from human activities after an area is designated as a protected area. However, we found that this common perception was not true in Wolong Nature Reserve (southwestern China), which was established in 1975 as a "flagship" protected area for the world-renowned endangered giant pandas. Analyses of remote sensing data from pre- and p...

We planed to conduct a “mowing the lawn” type of multibeam bathymetry and backscatter survey of the Florida Middle Ground HAPC (Habitat Area of Particular Concern; Figure 1) and to collect some ground truth data. The survey was to augment the existing coverage in the area from a previous USF cruise and will entail for the most part very long lines compared to the number of turns (Figure 1). The...

A key question facing conservation biologists is whether declines in species' distributions are keeping pace with landscape change, or whether current distributions overestimate probabilities of future persistence. We use metapopulations of the marsh fritillary butterfly Euphydryas aurinia in the United Kingdom as a model system to test for extinction debt in a declining species. We derive para...

A forest simulation model (called EDEN) of eucalypt dynamics in southeastern Australia is presented to predict habitat quality for arboreal marsupials. The model is presented as a tool for testing alternative hypotheses of forest management in the study area, EDEN uses a forest gap simulation (IABOWA/FORET type) model as a pattern generator of habitat in different landscape positions and under ...

One of the most pervasive forms of uncertainty in data used to make conservation decisions is error associated with mapping of conservation features. Whilst conservation planners should consider uncertainty associated with ecological data to make informed decisions, mapping error is rarely, if ever, accommodated in the planning process. Here, we develop a spatial conservation prioritization app...

A major goal of landscape genetics is to understand how landscapes structure genetic variation in natural populations. However, landscape genetics still lacks a framework for quantifying the effects of landscape features, such as habitat type, on realized gene flow. Here, we present a methodology for identifying the costs of dispersal through different habitats for the California tiger salamand...

There have been no published performance evaluations of nongovernmental, voluntary habitat stewardship programs. The Operation Burrowing Owl (OBO) stewardship program, initiated in 1987, was evaluated for its effectiveness in conservation of grassland habitat during 1986-1993. The 108 OBO sites from 1987 to 88 and 98 randomly selected non-OBO sites that were grassland in 1986 in the Regina-Weyb...

The aims of this study were to determine the extent and distribution of an OSPAR priority habitat under current baseline ocean temperatures; to illustrate the prospect for habitat loss under a changing ocean temperature scenario; and to demonstrate the potential application of predictive habitat mapping in "future-proofing" conservation and biodiversity management. Maxent modelling and GIS envi...

Ecological indicators are needed to evaluate natural biodiversity and to estimate environmental change. I used bird community composition as an environmental indicator to evaluate forest disturbance (at the community level) in areas of Western Mexico. Surveyed bird and vegetation composition data at 79 sites within regions of the Sierra Madre del Sur and Transvolcanic Belt Provinces of Central ...