The Conservation Science Blog

A new review paper by noted conservation geneticists Bob Wayne and Phil Hedrick, which is forthcoming in the journal Heredity, compares the genetic consequences of wolf recovery strategies in the Northern Rocky Mountains, southwestern U.S., and Europe. The review provides insights that may help enhance prospects for successful recovery of other wolf populations in the western U.S. In combination with other recent genetic research which has developed new methods for evaluation of the level of genetically-effective dispersal between wolf populations (see previous post.), our increasing knowledge of the conservation genetics of wolves should allow development of quantitative recovery goals and rigorous monitoring protocols for wolf recovery programs, as is required by Section 4(1)(B) and (4)(3) of the Endangered Species Act.
The full paper is here.

Apologies for the many recent posts on Northern Rocky Mountain (NRM) wolves, but this fall has seen a number of new studies published that have relevance to management of other species as well. Bridgett vonHoldt and colleagues have a new paper in Molecular Ecology that follows up on their 2008 study of gene flow among wolf populations in the Northern Rocky Mountains. Using new genetic analysis techniques, the authors found that by at least 2004 (the ending date of the genetic data set), genetically effective dispersal had been established between the three wolf populations in the NRM. Continue reading →

I’ve heard back from some colleagues concerning the new paper by Creel and Rotella, a meta-analysis of wolf mortality, that I described in a recent post. The respondents felt that the Creel and Rotella meta-analysis is generally sound and the conclusions that harvest mortality is not (or at least is only partially) compensatory to natural mortality has significant implications for state management, especially management that assumes that hunting of wolves can be used to reduce livestock conflicts. Continue reading →

A new study out of Australia, published in Ecology Letters, found that restoration of top predators such as the dingo may be a more effective method to limit the impacts of invasive species (in this case, introduced mesopredators such as foxes and cats) than direct control of invasives. The authors found that rather than controlling invasives, pest control inadvertently promoted invasive and opportunistic species by disrupting dingo populations. Continue reading →

Two new studies focus on how wildlife populations in southern California are affected by the expansion of both urban areas and the ‘exurban’ areas that surround them. The findings are relevant to other areas where natural vegetation is being rapidly converted to development. In the first issue of the new open-access journal Ecosphere, Burdett and colleagues built habitat models for puma from telemetry data and then, using a detailed projection of future development patterns, projected how the distribution of puma habitat would change over the coming decades. Continue reading →

A new study by Linda Phillips examines how the diversity of bird species varies across North America in relation to primary productivity. The authors found that they could categorize regions into three groups with three contrasting types of productivity/diversity relationship. In regions of high primary productivity, such as the southeast US, diversity decreased as productivity increased. In regions with intermediate productivity, such as the boreal forests of Canada, the authors found no significant relationship between diversity and productivity. In areas of low productivity, such as the western Great Plains, Great Basin, and interior Alaska, diversity increased with increasing levels of productivity. Continue reading →