Integrating In-Situ and Ex-Situ Data Management Processes for Biodiversity Conservation

Abstract

There is an increasing need for a "one plan approach" for conservation strategies that integrate in-situ and ex-situ management processes. Zoological institutions contribute directly to threatened species conservation through paradigms, such as reintroduction, head-starting, supplementation, or rescue/rehabilitation/release. This in-situ/ex-situ integration necessitates collaboration at all levels of conservation action including planning, implementation, monitoring and assessment to drive adaptive management processes. Each component is dependent on the availability and accuracy of data for evidence to facilitate evaluation and adaptive management processes. The Zoological Information Management System (ZIMS), managed by Species360, is a centralized web-based information system used in zoological institutions worldwide to pool life history, behavior and health data and facilitate animal husbandry, health, and breeding management processes. Currently used for few integrated conservation programs, ZIMS is an innovative tool that offers a new opportunity to link data management processes for animals that spend a part of their lives under human care and part in their natural environment and has great potential for use in managed wild populations.

Hematology and serum biochemistry of captive Sunda pangolin (<i>Manis javanica</i>) in Wildlife Reserves Singapore

“…Sunda pangolins had been listed as 'critically endangered' by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) [7]. There is an increasing need for multi-disciplinary conservation strategies that include the integration of in-situ (in the wild) and ex-situ (in zoological facilities) management processes to save this threatened species [5,21,24].…”

Improving Standards for At-Risk Butterfly Translocations

“…The ARTD includes data for over 200 taxa and some 2300 release events around the globe and represents a unique conservation resource to "help guide the design of future reintroductions, characterize past reintroduction practices and compare and contrast procedures across programs" [67]. Similarly, there have been increasing calls from the conservation community to more effectively integrate in-situ and ex-situ management processes [68]. Such a centralized and standardized Lepidoptera recovery database could help to accomplish this broad goal, stimulate new collaborations, and promote recovery-based research.…”

“…There is a growing list of innovative tools available to the conservation community [68][69][70]. The Open Standards for the Practice of Conservation (OS) (http://cmp-openstandards.org/) and its software platform Miradi has become one of the most prominent and widely used by conservation practitioners for program design, implementation, and monitoring [71,72].…”

The Majella National Park: a case study for the conservation of plant biodiversity in the Italian Apennines

“…The overall goal of conservation is to mitigate the loss of biodiversity and preserve ecosystem services, species, and genetic diversity for the future (Schwartz et al 2017). Conservation has a positive impact on several species (Hoffmann et al 2010) that could be threatened or even become extinct in the near future (Butchart et al 2006;Hoffmann et al 2015).…”