Floating Wetlands in the Puget Lowlands: Design, Construction, and Viability

Thesis (Master's)--University of Washington, 2016-06

Sistematics, population genetics, propagation and conservation of Picconia azorica (Tutin) Knobl. (Oleaceae)

Tese de Doutoramento, Biologia (Ecologia Vegetal), 24 de Junho de 2013, Universidade dos Açores.

Sociocultural Complexities of Ecosystem Restoration: Remaking Identity, Landscape and Belonging in the Florida Everglades

The Florida Everglades is a highly diverse socionatural landscape that historically spanned much of the south Florida peninsula. Today, the Florida Everglades is an iconic but highly contested conservation landscape. It is the site of one of the world’s largest publicly funded ecological restoration programs, estimated to cost over $8 billion (U.S. GAO 2007), and it is home to over two million acres of federally protected lands, including the Big Cypress National Preserve and Everglades National Park. However, local people’s values, practices and histories overlap and often conflict with the global and eco-centric values linked to Everglades environmental conservation efforts, sparking environmental conflict. My dissertation research examined the cultural politics of nature associated with two Everglades conservation and ecological restoration projects: 1) the creation and stewardship of the Big Cypress National Preserve, and 2) the Tamiami Trail project at the northern boundary of Everglades National Park. Using multiple research methods including ethnographic fieldwork, archival research, participant observation, surveys and semi-structured interviews, I documented how these two projects have shaped environmental claims-making strategies to Everglades nature on the part of environmental NGOs, the National Park Service and local white outdoorsmen. In particular, I examined the emergence of an oppositional white identity called the Gladesmen Culture. My findings include the following: 1) just as different forms of nature are historically produced, contingent and power-laden, so too are different claims to Everglades nature; 2) identity politics are an integral dimension of Everglades environmental conflicts; and 3) the Big Cypress region’s history and contemporary conflicts are shaped by the broader political economy of development in south Florida. My dissertation concluded that identity politics, class and property relations have played a key, although not always obvious, role in shaping Everglades history and environmental claims-making, and that they continue to influence contemporary Everglades environmental conflicts.

WHEN GLOBAL CONSERVATION MEETS LOCAL LIVELIHOODS: PEOPLE AND PARKS IN CENTRAL AMERICA

SummaryNational park and related forest conservation efforts tend to emanate from core areas of the world and are often imposed on rural people living on forest fringes in the least developed regions of lesser developed countries. We address the social and cultural processes that ensue when center-originatingconservation meets local people with their resource-dependent livelihoods, and how these vary under different circumstances. We examine and compare local people’s environmental andforest-related values and behaviors, using cultural models, after the establishment of national parks in two countries with very different social and environmental histories—Costa Rica and Honduras. We find that external cultural models were widely adopted by local people—hegemonic to the extent of structuring even discourse opposing conservation. Local people often expressed environmental values, but used formulaic language that suggested that these values were not well integrated with other aspects of their life and often not motivating. We pay particular attention to relationships between environmental values and livelihood values, and the varying ways that new, local environmental discourses and values emerge that mediate between these often conflicting value spheres.The recent international increase in national parks is a phenomenon of globalization, and often imposes new conservation practices and environmental values onto local people. While these new national parks have some broad public benefits that can be thought of as global, e.g. their role in preventing biodiversity loss and climate change, it is also true that few concrete benefits accrue to local people and that parks often impose great costs on local people in the form of lost land, diminished access to resources, and diminished autonomy as national governments and internationalorganizations extend into local life in new ways.These changes have serious repercussions for local people, often threatening their livelihoods and well-being in significant ways. Yet our results suggest that local people may be willing to work with park managers to co-inhabit landscapes when park managers are able to accommodate local livelihood needs.Keywords: National parks, Central America, Costa Rica, Honduras, forest conservationResumenLos parques nacionales y otros esfuerzos de conservación forestal tienden a surgir en las principales áreas núcleo del mundo, y por lo general son impuestos a los pobladores de espacios rurales que habitan franjas forestales de los países en vías de desarrollo.Este artículo se enfoca en los procesos sociales y culturales que se originan a partir de la imposición de estas áreas de conservación y sobre cómo se ve afectada la subsistencia de los pobladores que dependen de los recursos naturales de dichas áreas. También se evalúan y comparan los valores y comportamientos relacionados con el ambiente, percibidos por los pobladores con el establecimiento de parques nacionales, en dos países con historias sociales y ambientales muy diferentes como lo son Costa Rica y Honduras; para lo cual se utilizaron modelos culturales. Al respecto, se encontró que varios modelos culturales externos, que fueron ampliamente adoptados por los pobladores locales, han llegado a ser hegemónicos, afectando la conservación. Los habitantes del lugar estaban disconformes con respecto a los nuevos valores ambientales, porque estos, por un lado, no estaban adecuadamente integrados con otros aspectos de su vida, y por la escasa motivación en materia de conservación ambiental.De esta forma, se resalta la relación entre los valores ambientales y los valores de sus forma de vida;entre las nuevas formas de ruptura y los valores emergentes que median entre la esfera de valores conflictivos.El reciente aumento internacional de parques naciones es un fenómeno de globalización, y en consecuencia, impone nuevas prácticas de conservación y valores ambientales a los habitantes de estas localidades. Mientras estos nuevos parques nacionales generan algunas ventaja públicas, que pueden ser pensadas como globales (p.ej. su papel en la prevención de la pérdida de diversidad biológica y el cambio de clima), también ocasionan escasos beneficios para las comunidades, al imponer elevados costos para los pobladores locales como lo son: la pérdida de tierras, la disminución en el acceso a los recursos y la reducción de la autonomía, ya sea ante el gobierno nacional u organizaciones internaciones que extienden sus acciones políticas a la vida local en todas sus nuevas formas. Estos cambios repercuten drásticamente en los habitantes del lugar, lo cual a menudo amenaza, en general, el sustento y el bienestar, de modo significativo.Los resultados sugieren que los habitantes del lugar podrían estar dispuestos a trabajar con los gerentes del parque para co-habitar paisajes cuando éstos sean capaces de priorizar las necesidades de sobrevivencia de las formas de vida de los habitantes.Palabras clave: parques nacionales, América Central, Costa Rica, conservación forestal

Can gut microbiota analysis be beneficial for ex-situ and in-situ conservation of threatened animal species?

Ex-situ conservation and the in-situ conservation of natural habitats are the tools to conserve biodiversity. Habitats and ecosystems have been becoming altered by human activities and a growing number of species requires form of management to ensure their survival. Conservation queries become more complex and urgent. Developing scientifically based and innovative approaches to ex-situ conservation is necessary. Recent studies underline importance of gut microbiome in animal health with implications for animal conservation and management. Animal and human studies have demonstrated that environmental factors can impact gut microbiome composition. Within this scenario, the present work focused on species belonging to different taxa, reptiles and mammals: Aldabrachelys gigantea, the giant tortoise of the Seychelles islands and Indri indri, the greatest leaving lemur of Madagascar. The Seychelles giant tortoise is vulnerable species with declining population, whereas the indri is a critically endangered species that could reach the extinction within 25 years. Both need research to help them to survive. Tortoises live for very long time and to observe how they can afford the environmental changes is very difficult. Indris, instead, are able to survive only in a small area of the Madagascar forest, with a very strong link between the species’ survival and the environment. The obtained results underline importance of environmental factors, both in-situ and ex-situ, for species conservation. Microbiome could help the organisms to respond on a short timescale and cope with, environmental changes. However, species with long generation time might not be able to adapt to fast changes but bacteria with a short generation time can adapt on a shorter timescale allowing the host to cope with fluctuating environment. Gut microbiome plays an important role in an animal’s health and has the potential to improve the management of individuals under human care for conservation purposes.

Monitoring of Mediterranean marine benthic biodiversity through novel, standardized, and integrated approaches

Marine healthy ecosystems support life on Earth and human well-being thanks to their biodiversity, which is proven to decline mainly due to anthropogenic stressors. Monitoring how marine biodiversity changes trough space and time is needed to properly define and enroll effective actions towards habitat conservation and preservation. This is particularly needed in those areas that are very rich in species compared to their low surface extension and are characterized by strong anthropic pressures, such as the Mediterranean Sea. Subtidal rocky benthic Mediterranean habitats have a complex structural architecture, hosting a panoply of tiny organisms (cryptofauna) that inhabit crevices and caves, but that are still unknown. Different artificial standardized sampling structures (SSS) and methods have been developed and employed to characterize the cryptofauna, allowing for data replicability and comparability across regions. Organisms growing on these artificial structures can be identified coupling morphological taxonomy and DNA barcoding and metabarcoding. The metabarcoding allows for the identification of organisms in a bulk sample without morphological analysis, and it is based on comparing the genetic similarities of the assessed organisms with barcoding sequences present in online barcoding repositories. Nevertheless, barcoded species nowadays represent only a small portion of known species, and barcoding reference databases are not always curated and updated on a regular basis. In this Thesis I used an integrative approach to characterize benthic marine biodiversity, specifically coupling morphological and molecular techniques with the employment of SSS. Moreover, I upgraded the actual status of COI (cytochrome c oxidase subunit I) barcoding of marine metazoans, and I built a customized COI barcoding reference database for metabarcoding studies on temperate biogenic reefs. This work implemented the knowledge about diversity of Mediterranean marine communities, laying the groundworks for monitoring marine and environmental changes that will occur in the next future as consequences of anthropic and climate threats.

Development And Characterization Of Microsatellite Markers For Piptadenia Gonoacantha (fabaceae).

• Microsatellite primers were designed for Piptadenia gonoacantha (Fabaceae) and characterized to estimate genetic diversity parameters. The species is a native tree from the Atlantic Forest biome commonly used in forest restoration; it has medicinal potential and the wood is economically useful. • Twenty-eight microsatellite loci were identified from an enriched genomic library. Fifteen loci resulted in successful amplifications and were characterized in a natural population of 94 individuals. Twelve loci were polymorphic, with allele numbers ranging from three to 15 per locus, and expected and observed heterozygosities ranging from 0.2142 to 0.8325 and 0.190 to 0.769, respectively. • The developed markers will be used in further studies of population genetics of P. gonoacantha, aimed at conservation and management of the species in natural populations and in forest restoration projects.

Ant community richness and composition across a gradient from Eucalyptus plantations to secondary Atlantic Forest

Secondary forests and exotic tree plantations are expanding across tropical landscapes. However, our current understanding of the value of these human-dominated forest landscapes for invertebrate biodiversity conservation is still very poor. In this paper, we use the leaf-litter ant fauna to assess invertebrate diversity in one commercially managed Eucalyptus plantation (four years old), two abandoned plantations of different regeneration ages (16 and 31 years), and one neighboring secondary Atlantic Forest in Southeastern Brazil. There was a clear gradient in species richness from the secondary forest to the managed Eucalyptus plantation; richness and diversity peaked in secondary forest and in the older regenerating Eucalyptus plantation. Significantly more species were recorded in secondary forest samples than in Eucalyptus plantations, but Eucalyptus plantations had a similar level of richness. Furthermore, a non-metric multidimensional scaling analysis revealed clear differences in species composition between the younger managed Eucalyptus plantation (understory absent) and habitats with sub-developed or developed understory. Eucalyptus plantations were characterized by an assemblage of widespread, generalist species very different from those known to occur in core forest habitats of southeastern Brazil. Our results indicate that while older regenerating Eucalyptus plantations can provide habitat to facilitate the persistence of generalist ant species, it is unlikely to conserve most of the primary forest species, such as specialized predators, Dacetini predators, and nomadic species.

Systematic review of genus Cerradomys Weksler, percequillo and Voss, 2006 (Rodentia : Cricetidae : Sigmodontinae : Oryzomyini), with description of two new species from eastern Brazil

Cerradomy's is a monophyletic genus that includes four known species, Cerradomys subflavus, C maracajuensis, C. marinhus, and C. scotti, distributed throughout the open vegetation belt across South America, from northeastern Brazil to southeastern Bolivia, and from eastern to northwestern Paraguay. We revised the status of the species currently assigned to this genus by analyzing skins, skulls, karyotypes, and cytochrome b DNA sequences. We also described two novel species, one distributed in the Brazilian states of Minas Gerais, Bahia, and Sergipe, and the other in the states of Paraiba, Pernambuco, Piaui, Ceara, and Maranhao. Molecular analysis suggested the following phylogenetics arrangement: (((C. subflavus-C. sp.n.2) C. sp.n.1) C scotti)(C. marinhus-C. maracajuensis)). Apparently, both novel species inhabit the Caatinga domain and penetrated the coastal Atlantic rainforest, differing from the remaining congeneric species that are typical open-area inhabitants.

Status of Early 19th-Century Names Authored in Parallel by Wied and Schinz for South American Reptiles and Amphibians, with Designations of Three Nomina Protecta

Prince Maximilian zu Wied's great exploration of coastal Brazil in 1815-1817 resulted in important collections of reptiles, amphibians, birds, and mammals, many of which were new species later described by Wied himself The bulk of his collection was purchased for the American Museum of Natural History in 1869, although many ""type specimens"" had disappeared earlier. Wied carefully identified his localities but did not designate type specimens or type localities, which are taxonomic concepts that were not yet established. Information and manuscript names on a fraction (17 species) of his Brazilian reptiles and amphibians were transmitted by Wied to Prof. Heinrich Rudolf Schinz at the University of Zurich. Schinz included these species (credited to their discoverer ""Princ. Max."") in the second volume of Das Thierreich ... (1822). Most are junior objective synonyms of names published by Wied. However, six of the 17 names used by Schinz predate Wied's own publications. Three were manuscript names never published by Wied because he determined the species to be previously known. (1) Lacerta vittata Schinz, 1822 (a nomen oblitum) = Lacerta striata sensu Wied (a misidentification, non Linnaeus nec sensu Merrem) = Kentropyx calcarata Spix, 1825, herein qualified as a nomen protectum. (2) Polychrus virescens Schinz, 1822 = Lacerta marmorata Linnaeus, 1758 (now Polychrus marmoratus). (3) Scincus cyanurus Schinz, 1822 (a nomen oblitum) = Gymnophthalmus quadrilineatus sensu Wied (a misidentification, non Linnaeus nec sensu Merrem) = Micrablepharus maximiliani (Reinhardt and Lutken, ""1861"" [1862]), herein qualified as a nomen protectum. Qualifying Scincus cyanurus Schinz, 1822, as a nomen oblitum also removes the problem of homonymy with the later-named Pacific skink Scincus cyanurus Lesson (= Emoia cyanura). The remaining three names used by Schinz are senior objective synonyms that take priority over Wied's names. (4) Bufo cinctus Schinz, 1822, is senior to Bufo cinctus Wied, 1823; both, however, are junior synonyms of Bufo crucifer Wied, 1821 = Chaunus crucifer (Wied). (5) Agama picta Schinz, 1822, is senior to Agama picta Wied, 1823, requiring a change of authorship for this poorly known species, to be known as Enyalius pictus (Schinz). (6) Lacerta cyanomelas Schinz, 1822, predates Teius cyanomelas Wied, 1824 (1822-1831) both nomina oblita. Wied's illustration and description shows cyanomelas as apparently conspecific with the recently described but already well-known Cnemidophorus nativo Rocha et al., 1997, which is the valid name because of its qualification herein as a nomen protectum. The preceding specific name cyanomelas (as corrected in an errata section) is misspelled several ways in different copies of Schinz's original description (""cyanom las,"" ""cyanomlas,"" and cyanom""). Loosening, separation, and final loss of the last three letters of movable type in the printing chase probably accounts for the variant misspellings.

Description and Phylogenetic Relationships of a New Genus and Species of Lizard (Squamata, Gymnophthalmidae) from the Amazonian Rainforest of Northern Brazil

Marinussaurus curupira, a new genus and species of Gymnophthalmidae lizard is described from Iranduba, state of Amazonas, Brazil. The genus is characterized by an elongate body; short and stout pentadactyl limbs; all digits clawed; single frontonasal; two prefrontals; absence of frontoparietals; interparietal and parietals forming a straight posterior margin, with interparietal shorter than parietals; distinctive ear opening and eyelid; few temporals; three pairs of chin shields; nasal divided; a distinct collar; smooth, mainly hexagonal, dorsal scales; smooth quadrangular ventral scales; two precloacal and three femoral pores on each side in males; pores between three or four scales. Parsimony (PAR) and partitioned Bayesian (BA) phylogenetic analyses with morphological and molecular data recovered the new genus as a member of the Ecpleopodini radiation of the Cercosaurinae. A close relationship of the new genus with Arthrosaura is postulated.

Colonization and extinction of land planarians (Platyhelminthes, Tricladida) in a Brazilian Atlantic Forest regrowth remnant

Long-term assessments of species assemblages are valuable tools for detecting species ecological preferences and their dispersal tracks, as well as for assessing the possible effects of alien species on native communities. Here we report a 50-year-long study on population dynamics of the four species of land flatworms (Platyhelminthes, Tricladida, Terricola) that have colonized or become extinct in a 70-year-old Atlantic Forest regrowth remnant through the period 1955-2006. On the one hand, the two initially most abundant species, which are native to the study site, Notogynaphallia ernesti and Geoplana multicolor have declined over decades and at present do not exist in the forest remnant. The extinction of these species is most likely related with their preference for open vegetation areas, which presently do not exist in the forest remnant. On the other hand, the neotropical Geoplaninae 1 and the exotic Endeavouria septemlineata were detected in the forest only very recently. The long-term study allowed us to conclude that Geoplaninae 1 was introduced into the study area, although it is only known from the study site. Endeavouria septemlineata, an active predator of the exotic giant African snail, is originally known from Hawaii. This land flatworm species was observed repeatedly in Brazilian anthropogenic areas, and this is the first report of the species in relatively well preserved native forest, which may be evidence of an ongoing adaptive process. Monitoring of its geographic spread and its ecological role would be a good practice for preventing potential damaging effects, since it also feeds on native mollusk fauna, as we observed in lab conditions.

Motivations for the establishment of PNHRs and analysis of the incentives for their creation and management in Mato Grosso do Sul

The development of efficient programs of incentive to voluntary conservation in private lands require an extensive knowledge on the motivations of land owners for conservation and their degree of acceptance on the benefits offered. Thus, this paper intended to evaluate the motivations for the establishment of PNHRs, the difficulties faced by their recognition and the incentives received for their establishment and management in Mato Grosso do Sul, and also to discuss some possibilities of widening the benefits offered. To this end, people responsible for 34 PNHRs were interviewed between March/2008 and March/2009. The results show that conservation is among the main reasons for the creation of these areas, in spite of economical and personal factors also being mentioned. The slowness and the red tape during the process of recognition were also emphasized as problems; on the other hand, several PNHRs received or receive support for their creation or management. Finally, some considerations are made on the benefits offered to owners of PNHRs and their possibilities of widening throughout the state.

The recent occurrence, establishment and potential impact of Geophagus proximus (Cichlidae : Perciformes) in the Tiete River reservoirs: an Amazonian fish species introduced in the Parana Basin (Brazil)

The introduction of allochthonous fish species happens constantly in large bodies of freshwater, like as the reservoirs of Parana Basin, located in Brazilian southeast, representing a threat for local biodiversity. The fish species Plagioscion squamosissimus and Cichla ocellaris were introduced from the 1970s in several water bodies of this basin and had successfully established themselves in all six reservoirs located in the middle and lower Tiete River (SP, Brazil), particularly. After six decades from the first recorded species introduction, this hydrographic system remains open to the invasion of further fish species, owing to widespread fish-farming activity and by the channels opened between this system and other reservoirs and river basin. This study was an effort to confirm the Geophagus proximus occurrence in the six Tiete River reservoirs, verifying the actual introduction status and analyzing its potential environmental impacts on local species by the analysis of the population structure (abundance, body dimensions and feeding habits). By the results, this species was confirmed in the Ibitinga, Nova Avanhandava and Tres Irmaos reservoirs. The abundance and feeding analysis shows, respectively, it is successfully established in the Tres Irmaos reservoir with the same feeding habitats of local species, such as Geophagus brasiliensis. It was further shown to be very likely that G. proximus would spread throughout the reservoir system of the middle and lower Tiete River, in the manner of P. squamosissimus and C. ocellaris, and the competition pressure for food resources between G. proximus and the local species which represents a potential environmental impact system. These scientific evidences fortifies the knowledge basin for the implantation of a fish management system, to control and reduce the abundance of the invader and to prevent its becoming established in all the Tiete River Basin, avoiding the disastrous consequences for the native species of Parana River Basin.

Cattle depredation by puma (Puma concolor) and jaguar (Panthera onca) in central-western Brazil

In this study, data on cattle depredation by puma (Puma concolor) and jaguar (Panthera onca) were recorded for six years (1998 - 2003) in a cattle ranch in central-western Brazil. Depredation represented 18.9% of the overall cattle mortality, being predominant on calves. in biomass, kills represented 0.4% (63.8 kg/km(2)) of the ranch`s annual stock. in economic loss, kills represented 0.3% of the cattle stock value. Depredation was mainly associated with cattle`s age class and location along with the time of birth of calves. The proportion of pastures next to forest with depredation (n=33, 48.5%) was not distinguished to the proportion of pastures not bordering forest with depredation (n=35, 51.5%). However, the proportion of pastures next to forest with depredation represented 54% (n=33) of the 61 total pastures that were at least partially surrounded by forest patches or riparian forests that comprised eight continuum blocks of forest fragments of different sizes in the ranch and adjacent areas. No kills occurred in the central portion (main house) of the farm, close to the headquarters where the pastures not bordering forest. The distances of the kills in relation to areas of native forest was 1317.48 +/- 941.03 m. In order to reduce depredation, calves should be kept as far as possible from forest areas and concentrated cattle breeding and calving seasons should be encouraged. (c) 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.