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Conserving mountains is important for protecting biodiversity because they have high beta diversity and endemicity, facilitate species movement, and provide numerous ecosystem benefits for people. Mountains are often thought to have lower levels of human modification and contain more protected area than surrounding lowlands. To examine this, we compared biogeographic attributes of the largest, contiguous, mountainous region on each continent. In each region, we generated detailed ecosystems based on Köppen−Geiger climate regions, ecoregions, and detailed landforms. We quantified anthropogenic fragmentation of these ecosystems based on human modification classes of large wild areas, shared lands, and cities and farms. Human modification for half the mountainous regions approached the global average, and fragmentation reduced the ecological integrity of mountain ecosystems up to 40%. Only one‐third of the major mountainous regions currently meet the Kunming‐Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework target of 30% coverage for all protected areas; furthermore, the vast majority of ecosystem types present in mountains were underrepresented in protected areas. By measuring ecological integrity and human‐caused fragmentation with a detailed representation of mountain ecosystems, our approach facilitates tracking progress toward achieving conservation goals and better informs mountain conservation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Measuring connectivity is key to track progress toward broad conservation goals, such as the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity's proposed Post‐2020 Global Biodiversity Framework. The framework includes an area‐based target for the protection of 30% of lands and seas globally—through well‐connected systems of protected areas. Although the field of connectivity science has grown rapidly, limited progress has been made in tracking conservation connectivity in practice. This is in part due to the lack of a standardizing framework to clarify different purposes, approaches, and datasets—particularly in differentiating a metric from its application within a broader connectivity framework—as well as a benchmark to quantitatively compare alternative approaches. To address this science‐practice gap, we developed a novel metric of connectivity called the Protected Network metric (ProNet). ProNet is designed to assess the structural connectivity of a protected area network in a way that can be easily described, clearly communicated, and rapidly computed at high resolution. We evaluated how ProNet adheres to fundamental conservation science principles using a library of hypothetical landscapes, compared it to two commonly used existing connectivity metrics, and demonstrated its performance in assessing connectivity for a set of real‐world landscapes selected across the gradient of human modification. More broadly, ProNet is a powerful tool to galvanize emerging connectivity conservation as a countermeasure to increasing fragmentation of global ecosystems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Species distribution models (SDMs) have become an essential tool for the management and conservation of imperiled species. However, many at‐risk species are rare and characterized by limited data on their spatial distribution and habitat relationships. This has led to the development of SDMs that integrate multiple types and sources of data to leverage more information and provide improved predictions of habitat associations. We developed a novel integrated species distribution model to predict habitat suitability for jaguars (Panthera onca) in the border region between northern Mexico and the southwestern USA. Our model combined presence‐only and occupancy data to identify key environmental correlates, and we used model results to develop a probability of use map. We adopted a logistic regression modeling framework, which we found to be more straightforward and less computationally intensive to fit than Poisson point process‐based models. Model results suggested that high terrain ruggedness and the presence of riparian vegetation were most strongly related to habitat use by jaguars in our study region. Our best model, on average, predicted that there is currently 25,463 km2 of usable habitat in our study region. The United States portion of the study region, which makes up 38.6% of the total area, contained 40.6% of the total usable habitat. Even though there have been few detections of jaguars in the southwestern USA in recent decades, our results suggest that protection of currently suitable habitats, along with increased conservation efforts, could significantly contribute to the recovery of jaguars in the USA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Natural habitats on private lands are potentially important components of national biodiversity conservation strategies, yet they are being rapidly lost to development. Conservation easements and other means of protecting these habitats have expanded in use and will be most effective if they target private lands of highest biodiversity value and risk of loss. We developed a Biodiversity Conservation Priority Index (BCPI) based on ecological value and risk of habitat loss for remaining areas of natural vegetation cover (NVC) in the northwestern United States and addressed two questions: (1) Which remaining NVC on private lands is the highest priority for biodiversity conservation based on ecological value and risk of development? And (2) are conservation easements in NVC placed preferentially in locations of high biodiversity conservation priority? Drawing on the concept of ecological integrity, we integrated five metrics of ecological structure, function, and composition to quantify ecological value of NVC. These included net primary productivity, species richness, ecosystem type representation, imperiled species range rarity, and connectivity among "Greater Wildland Ecosystems." Risk of habitat loss was derived from analysis of biophysical and sociodemographic predictors of NVC loss. Ecological value and risk of loss were combined into the BCPI. We then analyzed spatial patterns of BCPI to identify the NVC highest in biodiversity conservation priority and examined the relationship between BCPI and conservation easement status. We found that BCPI varied spatially across the study area and was highest in western and southern portions of the study area. High BCPI was associated with suburban and rural development, roads, urban proximity, valley bottom landforms, and low intensity of current development. Existing conservation easements were distributed more towards lower BCPI values than unprotected NVC at both the study area and region scales. The BCPI can be used to better inform land use decision making at local, regional, and potentially national scales in order to better achieve biodiversity goals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Protecting or restoring habitat connectivity in landscapes undergoing rapid environmental change requires multiple conservation and restoration strategies. These strategies have different risk profiles, costs, and require various types of technical expertise to conduct. This diversity in landscape context and strategic approach requires more nuance and flexibility than traditional connectivity conservation plans have supported. We present a novel, spatially‐explicit framework for developing connectivity conservation priorities and strategies based on Omniscape, an adaptation of Circuitscape, a common tool for mapping habitat connectivity. Using California (USA) as a case study, we mapped structural connectivity and developed a classification of connectivity conservation and restoration categories across the gradient of land use intensities, as well as by land ownership. The most constrained areas with highly concentrated flow (movement potential) make up 3% of the state and occur primarily on private lands. Conversely, intact areas with diffuse flow that indicate multiple connectivity options cover 55% of the state, including the majority of the desert and mountain ecoregions. This "strategy mapping" approach can be used to identify priority areas for conservation investment and suites of potential implementation mechanisms and partners, which in turn may improve the efficiency and effectiveness of connectivity conservation in this era of global change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As both plant and animal species shift their ranges in response to a changing climate, maintaining connectivity between present habitat and suitable habitat in the future will become increasingly important to ensure lasting protection for biodiversity. Because the temporal period commensurate with planning for mid‐century change is multi‐generational for most species, connectivity designed to facilitate climate adaptation requires pathways with 'stepping‐stones' between current and future habitat. These areas should have habitats suitable not only for dispersal, but for all aspects of species lifecycles. We integrated present‐day land use, topographic diversity, and projections of shifting climate regimes into a single connectivity modeling approach to identify pathways for mid‐century shifts in species ranges. Using Omniscape we identified climate linkages, or areas important for climate change‐driven movement, as the areas with more current flow than would be expected in the absence of climate considerations. This approach identified connectivity potential between natural lands in the present climate and natural lands with future analogous climate following topo‐climatically diverse routes. We then translated the model output into a strategic framework to improve interpretation and to facilitate a more direct connection with conservation action. Across modified landscapes, pathways important to climate‐driven movement were highly coincident with the last remaining present‐day linkages, reinforcing their importance. Across unfragmented lands, the presence of climate‐adapted pathways helped inform the prioritization of conservation actions in areas where multiple connectivity options still exist. Many climate linkages follow major watercourses along elevational gradients, highlighting the importance of protecting or managing for these natural linear pathways that provide movement routes for climate adaptation. By integrating enduring landscape features with climate projections and present‐day land uses, our approach reveals "no‐regrets" pathways to plan for a connected landscape in an uncertain future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although natural habitats are being lost globally, the extent and fate of natural habitats on private lands in the United States have not been quantified at the resolution relevant for conservation planning. Here we provide information on the locations and risk of loss of areas of natural vegetation cover (NVC) on private lands across the northwestern United States to motivate discussion on needs and opportunities to slow their loss. Specific questions were as follows: (1) Where are the remaining areas of NVC on private lands? (2) Which regions and communities have had the highest loss rates of NVC? and (3) In which socioecological settings is NVC at greatest risk of loss? NVC location and change were mapped using two land cover classifications during 2001–2011, the most recent period with available data. Associations between NVC loss and market proximity, demographic, infrastructure, natural amenity, and climate factors were used to model probability of NVC loss in 2011. We found that NVC covered 64% of the study area in 2011. During 2001–2011, 2.5% of the area of NVC in 2001 was converted to development and croplands. Rates of loss were as high as 12% in some regions (e.g., western Washington). Housing development accounted for the majority of this NVC loss, increasing by 8% while croplands increased by 5%. Conversion of NVC for development and crops during 2001–2011 per capita varied 20–40 fold among "city spheres" (urban areas >10,000 people and 40‐min commuting distance). NVC loss was statistically associated with urban fringe development, forest edge vegetation, proximity to highways, public land, and waterbodies and was associated with New West demographic city spheres. Of the NVC on private lands in 2011, 11% was projected to have >20% probability of future loss over the next decade. We conclude that portions of the northwestern United States, one of the last stronghold for extensive natural habitats in the contiguous United States, are rapidly losing NVC to development, particularly in the New West communities that typically have the highest motivation and capacity to conserve them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Human‐induced ecological boundaries, or anthropogenic ecotones, may arise where administrative boundaries meet on undeveloped lands. Landscape‐level ecological processes related to factors such as fire, invasive species, grazing, resource extraction, wildlife, and water may be affected due to unique management strategies adopted by each administrative unit. Over time, different management can result in discernible ecological differences (e.g., species composition or soil characteristics). Thus, fragmentation in the management landscape can correspond to ecological fragmentation. Different ecological patterns may emerge due to an increase in the number of management units in a region, or due to an increase in the number of different types of management units in the region. Temporal effects and collaboration history can also affect the emergence of ecotones. We use conceptual models to explore the relationship between these aspects of management fragmentation and the anthropogenic ecotones between management parcels. We then use examples of different management challenges to explore how anthropogenic ecotones can disrupt ecological flows. Our models suggest that cross‐boundary collaboration that enhances management connectivity is likely essential to ecological connectivity in the face of environmental and social change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Leading up to the Convention on Biological Diversity Conference of the Parties 15, there is momentum around setting bold conservation targets. Yet, it remains unclear how much of Earth's land area remains without significant human influence and where this land is located. We compare four recent global maps of human influences across Earth's land, Anthromes, Global Human Modification, Human Footprint and Low Impact Areas, to answer these questions. Despite using various methodologies and data, these different spatial assessments independently estimate similar percentages of the Earth's terrestrial surface as having very low (20%–34%) and low (48%–56%) human influence. Three out of four spatial assessments agree on 46% of the non‐permanent ice‐ or snow‐covered land as having low human influence. However, much of the very low and low influence portions of the planet are comprised of cold (e.g., boreal forests, montane grasslands and tundra) or arid (e.g., deserts) landscapes. Only four biomes (boreal forests, deserts, temperate coniferous forests and tundra) have a majority of datasets agreeing that at least half of their area has very low human influence. More concerning, <1% of temperate grasslands, tropical coniferous forests and tropical dry forests have very low human influence across most datasets, and tropical grasslands, mangroves and montane grasslands also have <1% of land identified as very low influence across all datasets. These findings suggest that about half of Earth's terrestrial surface has relatively low human influence and offers opportunities for proactive conservation actions to retain the last intact ecosystems on the planet. However, though the relative abundance of ecosystem areas with low human influence varies widely by biome, conserving these last intact areas should be a high priority before they are completely lost. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

First, Venter et al. ([4]) visually overlay the 2009 human footprint (HFP) "no pressure" areas (Venter et al., [5]) with HM zero values and notes high incongruence. Areas are in blue where HFP = 0 and HM /= 0; yellow where HM = 0 and HFP /= 0; and red where HFP = 0 and (i) HM = 0; (ii) HM <= 0.0018 (the median value in HFP = 0), (iii) HM <= 0.10 (the median HM value globally and threshold used for "low modified" lands in Kennedy et al., [2]). Despite differences in the spatial distributions between HM and HFP maps at finer scales (Figure map insets), the correlation of land modification patterns remain fairly similar at coarse scales (Kennedy et al., [2]). [Extracted from the article]

Copyright of Conservation Biology is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

An increasing number of international initiatives aim to reconcile development with conservation. Crucial to successful implementation of these initiatives is a comprehensive understanding of the current ecological condition of landscapes and their spatial distributions. Here, we provide a cumulative measure of human modification of terrestrial lands based on modeling the physical extents of 13 anthropogenic stressors and their estimated impacts using spatially explicit global datasets with a median year of 2016. We quantified the degree of land modification and the amount and spatial configuration of low modified lands (i.e., natural areas relatively free from human alteration) across all ecoregions and biomes. We identified that fewer unmodified lands remain than previously reported and that most of the world is in a state of intermediate modification, with 52% of ecoregions classified as moderately modified. Given that these moderately modified ecoregions fall within critical land use thresholds, we propose that they warrant elevated attention and require proactive spatial planning to maintain biodiversity and ecosystem function before important environmental values are lost. Several international initiatives aim to balance development with conservation goals, which requires a comprehensive understanding of the current ecological condition of landscapes. We quantified the spatial extent and pattern of human land modification using a cumulative measure of 13 anthropogenic stressors with median year of 2016. We identified that fewer unmodified lands remain than previously reported and that most of the world's ecoregions fall at critical land modification thresholds, thus, warrant timely conservation attention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Under rapid landscape change, there is a significant need to expand and connect protected areas (PAs) to prevent further loss of biodiversity and preserve ecological functions across broad geographies. We used a model of landscape resistance and electronic circuit theory to estimate patterns of ecological flow among existing PAs in the western United States. We applied these results to areas previously identified as having high conservation value to distinguish those best positioned to maintain and enhance ecological connectivity and integrity. We found that current flow centrality was highest and effective resistance lowest in areas that spanned the border between southern Oregon and Idaho, and in northern Arizona and central Utah. Compared to other federal jurisdictions, Bureau of Land Management lands contributed most to ecological connectivity, forming 'connective tissue' among existing PAs. Our models and maps can inform new conservation strategies and critical land allocation decisions, within or among jurisdictions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the most influential environmental laws in the US - the 1972 Clean Water Act - included the visionary objective of maintaining and restoring aquatic ecological integrity. However, the efficacy of the Act depends on how integrity is assessed. Reviewing the assessment literature for fresh waters over the past 40 years, we found evidence of methodological trends toward increased repeatability, transferability, and robustness of assessments over time. However, implementation gaps were revealed, based on the relatively weak linkages to freshwater policies, stakeholder involvement, emerging threats, and conservation opportunities. A related survey of assessment practitioners underscored the disparity between need versus availability of assessments that guide management policies. Technological changes in data collection and synthesis have clearly influenced assessments, and appear to have led to a reduced reliance on ecological response indicators and corresponding increases in stressor-based metrics. We recommend designing assessments around specific freshwater policies and regulations to improve applicability of assessment products for management and conservation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Competitive interactions between species are fundamental to understanding species assemblages, community dynamics, and ecological processes. Anthropogenic landscape change, particularly resulting from urbanization, can alter interspecific interactions; however, different forms of urbanization are predicted to have contrasting effects on competitive interactions. We developed contact networks between bobcats and pumas to evaluate (1) the potential for interspecific interactions between wild felids and (2) how space-use metrics might change along the urban gradient, including low-density exurban development, wildland-urban interface, and wildland habitat, at both the population and individual level. We used an extensive telemetry data set for bobcats and pumas across multiple study areas to evaluate four space-use metrics: space-use overlap (used to define potential interactions among animals) and three additional contact network metrics, including degree (the number of potentially interacting animals), in-strength (sum of space-use overlap for animals), and equivalent social connectivity (ESC; considering both space-use extent and the amount of space-use overlap). Space-use extent was an important predictor of potential social interactions as measured by space-use metrics. Bobcats appeared to have a greater opportunity to interact with female pumas based on space-use overlap, degree, and in-strength, which demonstrates that relative scale of space-use extent among animals could be important for understanding interactions; ESC, however, was greater between bobcats and male pumas, likely due to the larger space-use extent by male compared to female pumas and the positive relationship between space-use extent and ESC. In addition, pumas and male bobcats exhibited a greater opportunity to interact, based on space-use overlap, degree, and in-strength, and demonstrated higher ESC compared to female bobcats. Counter to our predictions, felids associated with urbanized grids or with greater amounts of urbanization in their extent of space use did not appear to exhibit greater values of space-use metrics compared to animals with less exposure to urbanization; these results appear consistent with previous research evaluating population characteristics of felids across broad scales in our study areas. Greater ESC for male pumas and male bobcats suggests that males could be particularly important for facilitating connectivity of some ecological processes, such as the transmission of disease, through interspecific contact networks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Riparian zones in semi-arid, mountainous regions provide a disproportionate amount of the available wildlife habitat and ecosystem services. Despite their importance, there is little guidance on the best way to map riparian zones for broad spatial extents (e.g., large watersheds) when detailed maps from field data or high-resolution imagery and terrain data are not available. Using well-established accuracy metrics (e.g., kappa, precision, computational complexity), we evaluated eight methods commonly used to map riparian zones. Focusing on a semi-arid, mountainous watershed, we found that the most accurate and robust method for mapping riparian zones combines data on upstream drainage area and valley topography. That method performed best regardless of stream order, and was most effective when implemented with fine resolution topographic and stream line data. Other commonly used methods to model riparian zones, such as those based on fixed-width buffers, yielded inaccurate results. We recommend that until very-high resolution (<1 m) elevation data are available at broad extents, models of riparian zones for semi-arid mountainous regions should incorporate drainage area, valley topography, and quantify uncertainty. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many protected areas may not be adequately safeguarding biodiversity from human activities on surrounding lands and global change. The magnitude of such change agents and the sensitivity of ecosystems to these agents vary among protected areas. Thus, there is a need to assess vulnerability across networks of protected areas to determine those most at risk and to lay the basis for developing effective adaptation strategies. We conducted an assessment of exposure of U.S. National Parks to climate and land use change and consequences for vegetation communities. We first defined park protected-area centered ecosystems (PACEs) based on ecological principles. We then drew on existing land use, invasive species, climate, and biome data sets and models to quantify exposure of PACEs from 1900 through 2100. Most PACEs experienced substantial change over the 20th century (>740% average increase in housing density since 1940, 13% of vascular plants are presently nonnative, temperature increase of 1°C/100 yr since 1895 in 80% of PACEs), and projections suggest that many of these trends will continue at similar or increasingly greater rates (25℃ increase in housing density by 2100, temperature increase of 2.5C-4.5°C/100 yr, 30% of PACE areas may lose their current biomes by 2030). In the coming century, housing densities are projected to increase in PACEs at about 82% of the rate of since 1940. The rate of climate warming in the coming century is projected to be 2.5-5.8 times higher than that measured in the past century. Underlying these averages, exposure of individual park PACEs to change agents differ in important ways. For example, parks such as Great Smoky Mountains exhibit high land use and low climate exposure, others such as Great Sand Dunes exhibit low land use and high climate exposure, and a few such as Point Reyes exhibit high exposure on both axes. The cumulative and synergistic effects of such changes in land use, invasives, and climate are expected to dramatically impact ecosystem function and biodiversity in national parks. These results are foundational to developing effective adaptation strategies and suggest policies to better safeguard parks under broad-scale environmental change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Conservation Biology is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Dendritic ecological networks ( DENs) are a unique form of ecological networks that exhibit a dendritic network topology (e.g. stream and cave networks or plant architecture). DENs have a dual spatial representation; as points within the network and as points in geographical space. Consequently, some analytical methods used to quantify relationships in other types of ecological networks, or in 2-D space, may be inadequate for studying the influence of structure and connectivity on ecological processes within DENs. We propose a conceptual taxonomy of network analysis methods that account for DEN characteristics to varying degrees and provide a synthesis of the different approaches within the context of stream ecology. Within this context, we summarise the key innovations of a new family of spatial statistical models that describe spatial relationships in DENs. Finally, we discuss how different network analyses may be combined to address more complex and novel research questions. While our main focus is streams, the taxonomy of network analyses is also relevant anywhere spatial patterns in both network and 2-D space can be used to explore the influence of multi-scale processes on biota and their habitat (e.g. plant morphology and pest infestation, or preferential migration along stream or road corridors). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Widespread human modification and conversion of land has led to loss and fragmentation of natural ecosystems, altering ecological processes and causing declines in biodiversity. The potential for ecosystems to adapt to climate change will be contingent on the ability of species to move and ecological processes to operate across broad landscapes. We developed a novel, robust modeling approach to estimate the connectivity of natural landscapes as a gradient of permeability. Our approach yields a map capable of prioritizing places that are important for maintaining and potentially restoring ecological flows across the United States and informing conservation initiatives at regional, national, or continental scales. We found that connectivity routes with very high centrality intersected proposed energy corridors in the western United States at roughly 500 locations and intersected 733 moderate to heavily used highways (104-106 vehicles per day). Roughly 15% of the most highly connected locations are currently secured by protected lands, whereas 28% of these occur on public lands that permit resource extraction, and the remaining 57% are unprotected. The landscape permeability map can inform land use planning and policy about places potentially important for climate change adaptation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a study that assesses the effects of land use on landscape connectivity between loss and fragmentation of forests in western U.S. The study identifies undisturbed contiguous areas of forest that could be considered high-quality patches, computes the effective distance between forest patches and land cover types, and measures network connectivity. It reveals that one-quarter of the forested land in the region were integral to a network of forested patches.

Conservation of ecological processes and biodiversity may require development of a conservation system consisting of protected “cores” surrounded by “buffer zones” that effectively expand and connect the cores. Nevertheless, residential development near protected areas may threaten de facto protected areas and hinder development of an official conservation system in the United States. We identified potential conservation cores based on existing protected areas, and using a spatially explicit model of housing densities, we quantified how residential development has altered the structural context around cores nationally from 1970 to 2000 and forecasted changes from 2000 to 2030. We found that residential housing development has likely occurred preferentially near some cores, and if encroachment near cores continues at projected rates, the amount of buffer zone will have been reduced by a total of 12% by 2030, with much of this change occurring directly at core edges. Furthermore, development will have reduced the average connectedness (valence) of cores by 6% from 1970 to 2030. Although patterns of encroachment roughly increased west to east, our results painted a more complex picture of the difficulties that would be faced if establishment of an official conservation system was ever attempted. At a minimum, prioritizing future conservation action must consider adjacent land uses, and a key conservation strategy will be to work cooperatively across land-ownership boundaries, particularly for smaller protected areas, which will tend to dominate future conservation activities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Management and conservation of large carnivores increasingly includes conflicts with humans. Consequently, a greater understanding of spatiotemporal trends of conflicts is needed to efficiently allocate resources and apply targeted management. Therefore, we examined spatial and temporal distribution of American black bear (Ursus americanus; hereafter, bear)-human conflicts in Colorado, USA, related to 3 conflict types (agriculture operations, human development, and road kills). We used the Getis-Ord Gi* spatial clustering statistic to describe location and assess magnitude of bear-human conflicts in Colorado during 1986-2003 and investigated temporal trends of bear- human conflicts by type. Bear-human conflicts showed distinct spatial clustering by type, and areas of high clustering overlapped conflict types. Clustering for agriculture operations conflicts had the largest overall Gi* value and overlapped counties with high sheep production. Both human development and road-kill conflict clusters were high in areas of high-quality oak (Quercus spp.)-shrub habitat in the central and southern portions of Colorado's Front Range region and near the city of Durango in southwestern Colorado. Bear-human conflicts varied by year and type but overall increased during the 18 years. Summed across years, most conflicts were related to agriculture (32%), followed by road kills (27%) and human development (24%). The greatest proportion of agriculture operations-related conflicts (76%), human development- related conflicts (36%), and road kills (47%) occurred in 1988, 1999, and 2003, respectively. Considering that bear-human conflicts in Colorado increased over time and will likely continue to increase, we suggest wildlife managers improve data collection by obtaining detailed location data, categorizing conflict types uniformly, and applying conflict regulations consistently to strengthen inference of similar analyses. We also suggest that managers target efforts to mitigate damage by focusing on areas with high clustering of conflicts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Conservation of private land through conservation easements, development agreements, and clustered housing has increased greatly as have criticisms of the laws, public programs, and incentives that motivate landowners to use them. Rapid land-use change at the urban–rural interface in Larimer County, Colorado, has given rise to programs that provide a variety of land-conservation options for landowners. As of January 2005, roughly 60% of Larimer County was publicly owned, and 3% or 16,200 ha was privately owned with some form of protection. We used document analysis, a landowner survey, targeted interviews, and a landscape-level spatial analysis to analyze the patterns, quantities, and qualities of private land conservation. We created a jurisdiction-specific typology of desired benefits from local government-planning documents to help evaluate conservation parcels. Most easements and other conservation documents used general terms and did not describe the site-specific values of the land being conserved. Landowners were able to describe some benefits not included in parcel-specific documents, and our spatial analysis revealed parcel-specific and cumulative conservation benefits such as the amount of buffering, infill, connectivity, protected agricultural land, riparian protection, and other benefits not referenced by either documents or landowners. Conservation benefits provided by a parcel varied depending on its geographic location, the specific institution such as a land trust or open space program that a landowner worked with, and the conservation mechanism used, such as voluntary easement or residential clustering requirements. The methods we used provide a template for jurisdictions wishing to undertake a similar analysis. Our findings may assist other jurisdictions and institutions interested in improving how land-conservation benefits are described; justify and inform future investments in private land conservation; assist local governments and other institutions with the assessment of program effectiveness; and be useful for conservation planners who wish to become more involved in on-the-ground implementation of conservation actions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

1. Geostatistical models based on Euclidean distance fail to represent the spatial configuration, connectivity, and directionality of sites in a stream network and may not be ecologically relevant for many chemical, physical and biological studies of freshwater streams. Functional distance measures, such as symmetric and asymmetric hydrologic distance, more accurately represent the transfer of organisms, material and energy through stream networks. However, calculating the hydrologic distances for a large study area remains challenging and substituting hydrologic distance for Euclidean distance may violate geostatistical modelling assumptions. 2. We provide a review of geostatistical modelling assumptions and discuss the statistical and ecological consequences of substituting hydrologic distance measures for Euclidean distance. We also describe a new family of autocovariance models that we developed for stream networks, which are based on hydrologic distance measures. 3. We describe the geographical information system (GIS) methodology used to generate spatial data necessary for geostatistical modelling in stream networks. We also provide an example that illustrates the methodology used to create a valid covariance matrix based on asymmetric hydrologic distance and weighted by discharge volume, which can be incorporated into common geostatistical models. 4. The methodology and tools described supply ecologically meaningful and statistically valid geostatistical models for stream networks. They also provide stream ecologists with the opportunity to develop their own functional measures of distance and connectivity, which will improve geostatistical models developed for stream networks in the future. 5. The GIS tools presented here are being made available in order to facilitate the application of valid geostatistical modelling in freshwater ecology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using the mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase I (COI) gene, we assessed the phylogeographic structure of Prosimulium neomacropyga, a black fly (Simuliidae) whose distribution in the US Southern Rockies ecoregion is limited to alpine tundra streams. Given high habitat specificity, lack of hydrological connection between streams, and a terrestrial environment restrictive to insect flight, we hypothesized limited gene flow. A spatially nested sampling design showed that grouping populations according to high-elevation ‘islands’ of alpine tundra (which typically include headwater streams of > 1 watershed) explained a significant proportion of genetic variation while grouping streams according to major watershed (across islands) did not. Nested clade analysis and isolation-by-distance (IBD) relationships further implicated limited ongoing gene flow within but not among the isolated alpine islands. IBD was strong among five streams within an individual island using each of four alternative models of pairwise landscape connectivity for flying insects. Results of all landscape models were positively correlated, suggesting that straight-line distance is an acceptable surrogate for presumably more biologically meaningful connectivity measures in this system. IBD was significantly weaker across the entire study area, comprised of three separate islands. Overall, population structure was significant with FST = 0.38, suggesting limited dispersal across a small spatial extent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the role of ecologists in ecologically informed rural land-use planning and policy. The ecological questions associated with rural land use planning include the distance of houses from a lake or riparian area, effect on the population of species due to land use change at a given location and protection of the rare habitat types. The major concern for the ecologists is the fragmentation of rare species habitat and subsequent declines in populations. Although the ecological implications of land use changes can often be most effectively evaluated at the regional scale, applying this knowledge on the ground presents challenges. The laws and regulations to restrict land use on private lands are most often applied at local levels, though all levels of government may possess the authority for it. To integrate ecological information into rural land-use planning processes, there must be a collaboration among stakeholders from federal, state, and local government, and private organizations, groups and individuals.

The article presents information on changes in land-use trends from 1950-2000. The interrelated histories of demographic and agricultural changes need to be studied for the land-use trends as agricultural history focuses on the history of specific types of agriculture and the demographic history focuses on the density of housing units. The urbanization data was derived from the 1990 and 2000 U.S. censuses to describe housing density at the block-group level. The data suggests that population gains in the last 50 years were smallest in the Northern Forests, Eastern Temperate Forests and Great Plains. In 1950, about 72% of the population resided in metropolitan areas whereas by 2000, these areas contained 81% of the population. Increase in exurbanized area occurred in the Eastern Temperate Forest and in several Western ecoregions. The cropland area has declined in two large Eastern ecoregions, due to conversion of cropland to urban development and abandonment of marginally productive lands.

The article presents a study of land use by human beings. It highlights its influence on the prevalence of chronic wasting disease (CWD) in the population of mule deers (Odocoileus hemionus). It also outlines the alteration of landscape, urbanization and epidemiology of the disease as well as model selection.

Emerging research on human-modified ecosystems can better inform land-use planning by integrating information from ecological and social science. In particular, low-density land use beyond the urban fringe (exurban) has been poorly defined and under-studied. Here I develop the human modification framework that characterizes landscapes by the degree to which natural processes are free or controlled and landscape patterns are natural or artificial. Ecologists are encouraged to explicitly place their research within such a framework using quantitative metrics. As society's concern over ecological degradation and loss of biodiversity grows, ecologists must recognize that research on human-modified landscapes, particularly beyond the urban fringe, is not just an unexploited opportunity, but is critical to protecting biodiversity on private land. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Landscape-level assessments of biodiversity strive to guide land-use planning and conservation activities by providing information about areas of high biodiversity value and low protection status. I developed a methodology to assess the level of threat to conservation of biodiversity to help guide conservation action. This method incorporates socioeconomic indicators of risk, including developed and roaded areas, and measures the proportion of conservation lands affected by developed areas. In addition, I developed a metric called conservation potential to measure the degree of fragmentation of patches caused by development. As an illustration I applied this methodology to Colorado (U.S.A.). Protection levels were determined by examining land ownership, resulting in protected lands (status levels 1 and 2) and unprotected lands (status levels 3 and 4). Areas were considered threatened (at risk) if a land-cover patch had >20% roaded area, >15% developed area, or was highly fragmented. Although 24 of 43 natural land-cover types were unprotected (49% of the state), 9 additional types were threatened. Combining conservation-status protection levels with patterns of threat targets the geographic area where conservation action is needed, provides a way to determine where so-called protected areas are at risk, and allows conservation strategies to be better refined. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a study which examines patterns of habitat use by birds at a lowland riparian sites during the 1995-1197 breeding season representing an urban-to-rural gradient. It states that riparian woodlands tended to have fewer native trees and shrubs, less ground and shrub cover, higher tree densities, and greater canopy closure as development increased. The association of migrant and low-nesting species with lower-than-average levels of development is explained.