The science of conservation planning

Course objective: a free-ranging examination of some keyscientific principles and research needs pertaining to conservation planning for species, species habitats, and communities.

Course scheduling: We will meet once per week, from 8:30-11:00, in 2620 Ellison Hall. We may occasionally use the Thursday 9:30-10:45 slot for additional discussion. In general, this istime when student discussion leaders can meet with FD to plan readings, discussions, etc.

Course requirements: 1) Critical reading of the materials, 2) active participation in discussion, 3) along with 1-2 of your classmates, responsibility for leading one of the discussions, 4) a12-15 page term paper on the topic of your choice (1 co-author is OK), pending FD’s review and approval.

Week 2/3 Background and principles

Week 3 will be student led and will cover p. 73-136 of Noss et al.(1997).

Week 4/5 Planning for single species vs. multiple species and communities:

Week 6 Representativeness assessment

Week 7 Developing alternative scenarios of environmental & social change

Week 8 Measures of Success

Week 9 Monitoring and adaptive management

Week 10 Case study

Week 11 Case study or reports

Conserving biological diversity

• # described species ~1.7 million

• # actual species 30-60 million?

• ~50% of terrestrial species in humid tropics (7% of land surface)

• accelerating rate of extinction

Extinction rate of mammals(broken line) and birds in 50year intervals since 1600 AD

Human-caused extinctions• habitat loss• introduced species• overharvest• indirect harvest• altered ecosystems• climate change

Modern extinction rates?• Comparable to mass

extinctions• 10-100 spp/hour

Selective extinctions• large• specialized• rare• productive habitats

Conservation Goals

• Design and protect productive and sustainable land, freshwater and marine ecological systems;

• Conserve genetic and species diversity

• Preserve ecological communities in terms of composition, genetic variation, and dynamics

Conservation Approaches

• Reserves

• Captive breeding, gardens, germplasm banks

• Sustainable use of productive lands/waters

Habitat-based conservation

• Habitats vs. ecosystems?

• Actual vs. potential conditions

• Withdrawal vs. active management

• Area, location, replication

Conversion

Reservation & Restoration

Sustainable Use

100%

100% 100%

50 50

50

Management of Plant Communities

• Conversion– agriculture 13%

– urban 5%

• Protection

% L1/2 # types < 10% 73

10-20% 46

20-50% 44

>50% 31

total 194

Size distribution of aggregated Status 1 and Status 2 lands

Fig 4

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

S1

S2

S3

S4

S5

0

5000

10000

15000

20000

25000

30000

35000

40000

45000

50000

Area (km2)

Equiv. Elevation Zone

Soil Class

Western Humid Domain

Fig 6

1 23

45

67

8

S1

S2

S3

S4

S5

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

% Protected

Equiv. Elevation Zone

Soil Class

Western Humid Domain (%C1&C2)

Species-Based Conservation

• Terrestrial vs. aquatic (marine vs. riverine vs. lacustrine/palustrine)

• Fine-filter vs. coarse filter

• Species designations

• Species conservation ranks

• Information sources

• Ex situ vs. in situ conservation approaches

Endangered Species Act (1973)

• Designed to save species at risk of extinction and protect habitats upon which those species depend

• amended in 1982 to allow incidental take of listed species provided there were approved Habitat Conservation Plans to minimize and mitigate take

U.S. Endangered Species Program

• TOTAL U.S. ENDANGERED--934 (356 animals, 578 plants)

• TOTAL U.S. THREATENED--263 (125 animals, 138 plants)

• TOTAL U.S. SPECIES--1,197 (481 animals, 716 plants) ^

Distribution offederally and statelisted endangeredspecies in CA

Habitat Conservation Plans

An HCP cannot be approved unless the:• "the taking will be incidental",

• "the applicant will, to the maximum extent practicable, minimize and mitigate the impacts of such takings", and

• "the applicant will ensure that adequate funding of the plan will be provided", and

• "the taking will not appreciably reduce the likelihood of the survival and recovery of the species in the wild", and

• any additional measures required by the Secretary "will be met".

Habitat Conservation Plans

• ~208 approved HCPs covering 6.5 million acres

• ~250 incidental take permits

CA NCCP ActFish and Game Code Section 2800-2840

• An NCCP “identifies and provides for the regional or areawide protection and perpetuation of natural wildlife diversity, while allowing compatible and appropriate development and growth.”

Basic issues

• Habitat-based vs. species-based conservation

• Habitat representation vs. habitat management

• Role of science

ESA Issues

• Direct vs. indirect taking

• Section 7 consultation process

• Private land incentives and HCPs

• safe harbors

• single-species vs multi-species plans

• listing/recovery/de-listing

ESA Issues (2)

• Scientific input and review

• Monitoring

• No surprises

Terminology

• conservation planning• habitat• habitat-based

conservation plan• community • ecosystem• landscape

• population• metapopulation• species• rare species• threatened species• endangered species

Environmental Planning