Island Biogeography and Conservation: A Reply to Murphy and Wilcox

Lahti, Tuuli; Ranta, Esa

doi:10.2307/3565454

Cited by 6 publications

(2 citation statements)

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“…In many ways, this essay has been a rephrasing of the SLOSS debate about whether it is better to have one single large or several small reserves, to maximize the conservation of biodiversity (e.g., Diamond 1976; Simberloff & Abele 1976; Lahti & Ranta 1986; Murphy & Wilcox 1986). In this case we ask, “Does a species minimize its risk of extinction by having a single large or several small populations?” (Ovaskainen 2002).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Scale Dependency of Rarity, Extinction Risk, and Conservation Priority

Hartley

Kunin

2003

Conservation Biology

247

231

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In developing red data books of threatened species, the World Conservation Union uses measures of rarity, rates of decline, and population fragmentation to categorize species according to their risk of extinction. However, most quantitative measures of these three concepts are sensitive to the scale at which they are made. In particular, definitions of rarity based on an area-of-occupancy threshold can nearly always be met if area of occupancy is calculated from a sufficiently fine-scale (high-resolution) grid. Recommendations for dealing with scale dependency include (1) choosing a standard scale of measurement, (2) using multiple scales of measurement, and (3) developing indices that combine information from multiple scales. As an example of the second and third approach, the construction of a species' scale-area curve represents a unifying method for quantifying all three indicators of extinction risk-rarity, rate of decline, and population fragmentation-as functions of area of occupancy and measurement scale. A multiscale analysis is also of practical importance because measurements made at different scales are relevant to different extinction processes. Coarse-scale measures of rarity are most appropriate when threat is assessed on the basis of spatially autocorrelated events of a large extent, such as global climate change, whereas fine-scale measures may best predict extinction risk due to local processes such as demographic stochasticity. We illustrate our arguments with a case study of the British distributions of two related plant species that show a 200-fold reversal in their relative rarity when measured at different scales.Dependencia de la Escala de la Rareza, Riesgo de Extinción y Prioridad de Conservación Resumen: Al desarrollar los libros rojos de especies amenazadas, la Unión para la Conservación Mundial utiliza medidas de rareza, tasas de declinación y fragmentación de la población para categorizar especies según su riesgo de extinción. Sin embargo, la mayoría de las medidas cuantitativas de estos tres conceptos son sensibles a la escala en la que son hechas. En particular, las definiciones de rareza basadas en un umbral deárea de ocupación casi siempre pueden ser satisfechas si elárea de ocupación es calculada en una rejilla de escala lo suficientemente fina (alta resolución). Las recomendaciones para tratar con la dependencia de la escala incluyen (1) selección de una escala estándar de medida, (2) utilización de múltiples escalas de medición y (3) desarrollo deíndices que combinan información de múltiples escalas. Como ejemplo del segundo y tercer método, la construcción de una curva escala-área de una especie representa un método unificador para cuantificar los tres indicadores del riesgo de extinción (rareza, tasa de declinación y fragmentación de la población) como funciones delárea de ocupación y escala de medición. Un análisis multiescala también tiene importancia práctica porque las medidas tomadas a diferente escala son relevantes para diferentes procesos de extinción. Medidas de gran...

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Scale Dependency of Rarity, Extinction Risk, and Conservation Priority

Hartley

Kunin

2003

Conservation Biology

247

231

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“…There have been several debates in the literature over how to protect open space. The SLOSS debate in the 1980s was based on interpretations of island biogeography theory that specifically considered the comparative benefits of protecting a single large area versus several small ones (Lahti and Ranta 1985;Lahti and Ranta 1986;Murphy and Wilcox 1986), while more recent debates have focused on the process used to identify sites for protection (Prendergast and others 1999;Menton and others 2001) and the optimum spatial arrangement of those sites (Ahern 1991 (Pressey 1994). This ad hoc selection is often biased and not very efficient, requiring a greater total area needed to capture the same diversity of habitats.…”

Section: Open Space Protectionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Modeling the Ecological Consequences of Land-Use Policies in an Urbanizing Region

Conway

Lathrop

2005

Environmental Management

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Insight into future land use and effective ways to control land-use change is crucial to addressing environmental change. A variety of growth-control policies have been adopted by municipal and regional governments within the United States to try to minimize the ecological impact of continued urbanization, but it is often unclear if those policies can meet the stated ecological goals. Land-use-change models provide a way to generate predictions of future change, while exploring the impact of different land-use policies before irreversible transformations occur. In this article, an approach to modeling land-use policies that focuses on their ecological consequences is described. The policy simulation approach was used to predict future land use in the Barnegat Bay and Mullica River watersheds, in southeastern New Jersey, USA. Four commonly used policies were considered: down-zoning, cluster development, wetlands/water buffers, and open space protection. The results of the analysis suggest that none of the policies modeled were able to alter future land-use patterns, raising questions about the effectiveness of commonly adopted land-use policies. However, the policy modeling approach used in this study proved to be a useful way to determine if adoption of a given policy could improve the likelihood of meeting ecological goals.

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Challenges in Insect Conservation: Managing Fluctuating Populations In Disturbed Habitats

Schultz¹,

Chang²

1998

Conservation Biology

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Island Biogeography and Conservation: A Reply to Murphy and Wilcox

Cited by 6 publications

References 0 publications

Scale Dependency of Rarity, Extinction Risk, and Conservation Priority

Scale Dependency of Rarity, Extinction Risk, and Conservation Priority

Modeling the Ecological Consequences of Land-Use Policies in an Urbanizing Region

Challenges in Insect Conservation: Managing Fluctuating Populations In Disturbed Habitats

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