Achieving success with small, translocated mammal populations

Houtan, Kyle S. Van; Halley, John M.; Aarde, Rudi van; Pimm, Stuart L.

doi:10.1111/j.1755-263x.2009.00081.x

Cited by 60 publications

(45 citation statements)

References 33 publications

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“…We used linear models of climate variables to estimate ln-transformed [49], [54] nest surveys. PDO series is the calendar year average of the monthly index values, supplied by the Joint Institute for the Study of the Atmosphere and Ocean (JISAO).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Long-Term Climate Forcing in Loggerhead Sea Turtle Nesting

Houtan

Halley

2011

PLoS ONE

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The long-term variability of marine turtle populations remains poorly understood, limiting science and management. Here we use basin-scale climate indices and regional surface temperatures to estimate loggerhead sea turtle (Caretta caretta) nesting at a variety of spatial and temporal scales. Borrowing from fisheries research, our models investigate how oceanographic processes influence juvenile recruitment and regulate population dynamics. This novel approach finds local populations in the North Pacific and Northwest Atlantic are regionally synchronized and strongly correlated to ocean conditions—such that climate models alone explain up to 88% of the observed changes over the past several decades. In addition to its performance, climate-based modeling also provides mechanistic forecasts of historical and future population changes. Hindcasts in both regions indicate climatic conditions may have been a factor in recent declines, but future forecasts are mixed. Available climatic data suggests the Pacific population will be significantly reduced by 2040, but indicates the Atlantic population may increase substantially. These results do not exonerate anthropogenic impacts, but highlight the significance of bottom-up oceanographic processes to marine organisms. Future studies should consider environmental baselines in assessments of marine turtle population variability and persistence.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Long-Term Climate Forcing in Loggerhead Sea Turtle Nesting

Houtan

Halley

2011

PLoS ONE

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“…Such maps have an inherent tendency for commission errors, including areas that species once occupied but currently do not, or areas that once had habitat but have since lost it (25). For shorter-term planning, it would certainly be useful to document better what part of a species range has habitat and whether it is occupied (26).…”

Section: Significancementioning

confidence: 99%

US protected lands mismatch biodiversity priorities

Jenkins

Houtan

Pimm

et al. 2015

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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335

295

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Because habitat loss is the main cause of extinction, where and how much society chooses to protect is vital for saving species. The United States is well positioned economically and politically to pursue habitat conservation should it be a societal goal. We assessed the US protected area portfolio with respect to biodiversity in the country. New synthesis maps for terrestrial vertebrates, freshwater fish, and trees permit comparison with protected areas to identify priorities for future conservation investment. Although the total area protected is substantial, its geographic configuration is nearly the opposite of patterns of endemism within the country. Most protected lands are in the West, whereas the vulnerable species are largely in the Southeast. Private land protections are significant, but they are not concentrated where the priorities are. To adequately protect the nation’s unique biodiversity, we recommend specific areas deserving additional protection, some of them including public lands, but many others requiring private investment.

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“…However, simple replication is hard to obtain for C. lingulata on Mt. Olympus because we cannot simply replicate the conditions, which are a result of disturbances on multiple spatio-temporal scales [81, 82]. Also, there is no clear line between the regular conditions and environmental variability or “noise” since this happens on many different scales.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Campanula lingulata populations on Mt. Olympus, Greece: where’s the “abundant centre”?

Tzortzaki

Vokou

Halley

2017

J of Biol Res-Thessaloniki

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BackgroundThe abundant-centre hypothesis (ACH) assumes that a species becomes more abundant at the centre of its range, where the environmental conditions are most favorable. As we move away from this centre, abundance and occupancy decline. Although this is obvious intuitively, efforts to confirm the hypothesis have often failed. We investigated the abundance patterns of Campanula lingulata across its altitudinal range on Mt. Olympus, Greece, in order to evaluate the “abundant centre” hypothesis along an elevation gradient. Furthermore, we explored the species’ presence and dynamics at multiple spatial scales.MethodsWe recorded flowering individuals during the summer months of 2012 and 2013 along a series of transects defined by paths. We investigated whether the probability of acquiring a larger number of individuals is larger toward the centre of its altitudinal distribution. We also calculated mean presence and turnover at different spatial scales that ranged from quadrats of 10 × 10 m2 to about 10 × 10 km2.ResultsWe were able to identify an abundant centre but only for one of the years of sampling. During the second year, we noted a two-peak abundance pattern; with the first peak occurring at 650–750 m and the second at 1100–1300 m. Variability in the species-presence pattern is observed across a wide range of spatial scales. The pattern along the transect displays fractal characteristics, consistent with a dimension of 0.24–0.29. We found substantial changes of state between the 2 years at all resolutions.ConclusionsOur results do not contradict the ACH, but indicate that ecological distributions exhibit types of variability that make the detection of abundant centres more difficult than expected. When a random fractal disturbance is superimposed upon an abundant centre, we can expect a pattern in which the centre is difficult to discern from a single instance. A multi-resolution or fractal approach to environmental variability is a promising approach for describing this phenomenon.

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Achieving success with small, translocated mammal populations

Cited by 60 publications

References 33 publications

Long-Term Climate Forcing in Loggerhead Sea Turtle Nesting

Long-Term Climate Forcing in Loggerhead Sea Turtle Nesting

US protected lands mismatch biodiversity priorities

Campanula lingulata populations on Mt. Olympus, Greece: where’s the “abundant centre”?

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