Key to protecting and managing a rare and endangered species depends on the following:

This type of information can be obtained by doing the following: 1) Examine the unpublished and published literature 2) Fieldwork to monitor populations and ecosystem conditions -only in the field can conservation status be determined Ex. Magellanic penquins were fitted with radio collars and found to forage 600 km from nest. Argentine government extended time for a fishing exclusion zone until chicks mature and population grew Figure 12.1, 12.2 Monitoring over many years can lead to extensive knowledge that can be used in conservation of rare species. Box 12.2

12.1 Magellanic penguins incubating eggs forage up to 600 km from their breeding colonies

12.2 Monitoring populations requires specialized techniques suited to each species

Box 12.2 “Trimates” Dian Fossey (left), Jane Goodall (center), and Birute Galdikas

3) carry out a census -count the number of individuals present in a population Ex. Hawaiian monk seal census (Figure 12.3) and British Isles woodland cudweed (Figure 12.4) 4) carry out surveys -use of a repeatable sampling method to establish the number of individuals of a species in a community ex mark/recapture surveys for birds and mammals and quadrat sampling -using environmental DNA (eDNA) isolated from samples of lake, pond, or stream water can indicate the presence of endangered or invasive species that may live there. Rates of detection have been better in ponds than in streams Read Box 12.1 and Figure from Thompson et al. (2012)

12.3 A census of Hawaiian monk seals determined they were endangered

12.4 The British Isles Monitoring Scheme for Gnaphalium sylvaticum, the woodland cudweed

Box 12.1 Finding a needle in a haystack: Monitoring rare species with environmental DNA (eDNA) Box 12.1 Finding a needle in a haystack: Monitoring rare species with environmental dna (eDNA)

12.5 Killer whale monitoring shows an increase in Hudson Bay=seals & other prey will decline 5) carry out demographic studies and monitoring -follow individuals in a population to determine rates of growth, reproduction and survival Fig. 12.5

Population viability analysis (PVA) Extension of demographic analysis using risk assessment much like life insurance mortality tables Various mathematical and statistical methods are used to predictthe probability that a population will go extinct, change in size, or change in area occupied.

Examples of PVA Hawaiian stilt is an endangered, endemic bird that has been reduced to a population of 200 individuals because of hunting and coastal development. Protection has allowed the population to increase to 1600 with a goal of A PVA of mortality rates indicated the need for control of exotic predators as well as wetland protection and restoration Marsh Fritillary butterfly in the United Kingdom occupies lightly grazed grasslands. Of the six populations left, PVA indicated that only two had enough area to persist for 100 years Figure 12.7 Leadbetters possum is an endangered arboreal marsupial and a PVA about 30 years ago predicted declines of more than 90% if forest patches with cavities used for dens were not protected. Logging and severe wildfires have currently reduced the population by 80%

Figure 12.7 Population viability analyses predict that it takes 100 ha of habitat to ensure the persistence of a marsh fritillary butterfly population for 100 years

Over time, populations of a species may become extinct on a local scale, while new populations may form nearby on suitable sites. These species or those of ephermal habitats are referred to as metapopulations -a metapopulation is an aggregate of temporary or fluctuating smaller populations linked by migration -the metapopulation concept recognizes that local populations are dynamic and have several possible patterns Figure metapopulation concept has proved to be more useful in understanding and managing species than a single population approach Ex. California mountain sheep, Figure 12.9, need migration routes between known population areas protected Ex. The endemic Furbish’s lousewort occurs along a 200km. stretch of St. John’s River in Maine and New Brunswick subject to flooding. Flooding destroys populations but forms exposed riverbank in other areas that are recolonized by the plant. Again, instead of managing populations, the watershed’s metapopulation is managed Figure 12.10

12.8 Possible metapopulation patterns, with size of a population indicated by the size of the circle

12.9 Mountain sheep range, population, and migrations in 1990

12.10 Furbish’s lousewort populations are best protected as a metapopulation

The Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) program Long-term monitoring projects have been facilitated by the establishment of 172 Long-term Ecological Research Sites (LTER) established by the National Science Foundation (NSF) Figure with long-term data, one can make better management decisions Ex. salamander species thought to be rare on the basis of several years of low breeding numbers turned out to be common in a favorable year Ex. 40 years of observation in flamingoes in southern Africa revealed that large numbers of chicks fledged mostly in years with high rainfall Figure 12.12

12.11 The Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) program

12.12 Rainfall data (bars) from Etosha National Park for years 1956 to Circles are chick data (caption)