Systematic conservation planning in human-dominated landscapes : maximizing efficiency in biodiversity conservation via carbon sequestration and land management
department or school: Forestry, Faculty of
data provider: DSpace
degree campus: UBCV
creator: Schuster, Richard
issued: 2014-07-03T20:19:16Z
issued: 2014
related degree: Doctor of Philosophy - PhD
degree grantor: University of British Columbia
description: Investments in habitat and biodiversity conservation are critically needed given mounting effects of global climate change and unprecedented rates of ecological degradation and species extinction. However, as more regions of the world are converted to human use, we are also experiencing a shift in the traditional targets of conservation from protecting ‘ecologically intact’ landscapes to restoring degraded habitat by prioritizing conservation investments under triage. The overall goal of this thesis was to evaluate alternative ways of funding conservation initiatives. To reach that goal, I first used 1,770 avian point counts in a 2,520 km2 study area, remote-sensed data and models incorporating imperfect detectability to predict habitat occupancy in 47 widely-distributed native birds, which were also classified by experts according to their habitat association. Forest and Savannah association scores for these species were then used as weights in a composite distribution map of species communities. My results showed that composite maps of widespread indicators improve site prioritization by incorporating the behavioural and demographic responses of a diverse range of indicators to variation in patch size, configuration and adjacent human land use. Using these composite maps, I asked how the sale of forest carbon credits could reduce land acquisition costs, and how the alternate goals of maximizing α or β-diversity in focal communities could affect the prioritization of parcels for acquisition. My results indicate that carbon sales have the potential to enhance conservation outcomes in human-dominated landscapes by reducing the net acquisition costs of land conservation. Maximizing β versus α-diversity may further reduce costs by reducing the total area required to meet conservation targets and enhancing landscape heterogeneity. In cases where land purchase is not an option, private land conservation covenants can provide an alternative; although serious questions exi…
aggregated CHO: https://circle.library.ubc.ca/rest/handle/2429/47102
note: Systematic conservation planning in human-dominated landscapes: maximizing efficiency in biodiversity conservation via carbon sequestration and land management by Richard Schuster MSc, University of Graz, Austria, 2009 BSc, University of Graz, Austria, 2006 A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY in THE FACULTY OF GRADUATE AND POSTDOCTORAL STUDIES (Forestry) THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA (Vancouver) June 2014 © Richard Schuster, 2014 Abstract Investments in habitat and biodiversity conservation are critically needed given mounting effects of global climate change and unprecedented rates of ecological degradation and species extinction. However, as more regions of the world are converted to human use, we are also experiencing a shift in the traditional targets of conservation from protecting ‘ecologically intact’ landscapes to restoring degraded habitat by prioritizing conservation investments under triage. The overall goal of this thesis was to evaluate alternative ways of funding conservation initiatives. To reach that goal, I first used 1,770 avian point counts in a 2,520 km2 study area, remote-sensed data and models incorporating imperfect detectability to predict habitat occupancy in 47 widely-distributed native birds, which were also classified by experts according to their habitat association. Forest and Savannah association scores for these species were then used as weights in a composite distribution map of species communities. My results showed that composite maps of widespread indicators improve site prioritization by incorporating the behavioural and demographic responses of a diverse range of indicators to variation in patch size, configuration and adjacent human land use. Using these composite maps, I asked how the sale of forest carbon credits could reduce land acquisition costs, and how the alternate goals of maximizing α or β-diversity in focal communities could affect the prioritizati…
has type: Thesis/Dissertation
date issued: 2014-09
is shown at: 10.14288/1.0167515
language: eng
degree discipline: Forestry
provider: Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library
publisher: University of British Columbia
rights: Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.5 Canada
rights URI: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.5/ca/
scholar level: Graduate
type: Text
identifier URI: http://hdl.handle.net/2429/47102