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Global priority regions for carnivore conservation
August 27, 2009Finding economical and practical solutions for conserving endangered carnivores is a continuous challenge for conservationists. In a study published by the peer reviewed open access journal, PLoS ONE, on August 27th, a team of Brazilian researchers define global conservation priorities that encompass socioeconomic and life-history factors for endangered carnivores.
The team, led by Dr. Rafael Loyola, examined four global conservation scenarios for carnivores based on the joint mapping of economic costs and species biological traits. They focused their analyses on 236 carnivore species (occurring in 661 ecoregions) based on variables such as population density, body size and litter sizes. By combining this information with the cost of acquiring land for protection, Dr. Loyola and colleagues were able to identify a combined solution in which both biological traits and economic costs were considered. This scenario planning helps to consider vulnerable carnivore species along side the desire to simultaneously minimize land acquisition costs.
The result of the selection procedure produced several options for areas where conservation of carnivores should be focused. They found that cost-effective conservation investments should center on 41 ecoregions around the world, if species most vulnerable to extinction are meant to be represented in areas with lower mean land cost. Many of these land regions include areas in Africa, Northern America, and Asia.
This study, the researchers believe, is the first step toward a biodiversity maintenance strategy which is part of complex policy decisions. It is their hope that this study will be included in the wider effort to strengthen the scientific basis for conservational decisions.
Public Library of Science
This study, the researchers believe, is the first step toward a biodiversity maintenance strategy which is part of complex policy decisions. It is their hope that this study will be included in the wider effort to strengthen the scientific basis for conservational decisions.
Public Library of Science
Carnivores Current Events and Carnivores News RSSThe humble beginnings of a king
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Loss of top predators causing surge in smaller predators, ecosystem collapse
The catastrophic decline around the world of "apex" predators such as wolves, cougars, lions or sharks has led to a huge increase in smaller "mesopredators" that are causing major economic and ecological disruptions, a new study concludes.
Ardi displaces Lucy as oldest hominid skeleton
Nearly 17 years after plucking the fossilized tooth of a new human ancestor from a pebbly desert in Ethiopia, an international team of scientists today announced their reconstruction of a partial skeleton of the hominid, Ardipithecus ramidus, which they say revolutionizes our understanding of the earliest phase of human evolution.
Hyenas cooperate, problem-solve better than primates
Spotted hyenas may not be smarter than chimpanzees, but a new study shows that they outperform the primates on cooperative problem-solving tests.
Getting a leg up on whale and dolphin evolution
When the ancestors of living cetaceans-whales, dolphins and porpoises-first dipped their toes into water, a series of evolutionary changes were sparked that ultimately nestled these swimming mammals into the larger hoofed animal group.
Chicken-hearted tyrants
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Climate caused biodiversity booms and busts in ancient plants and mammals
A period of global warming from 53 million to 47 million years ago strongly influenced plants and animals, spurring a biodiversity boom in western North America, researchers from three research museums report in a paper published online this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Naming evolution's winners and losers
Mammals and many species of birds and fish are among evolution's "winners," while crocodiles, alligators and a reptile cousin of snakes known as the tuatara are among the losers, according to new research by UCLA scientists and colleagues.
Smart and social?
Packs of hunting dogs, troops of baboons, herds of antelope: when people observe social animals, they are often struck by how intelligent they seem, and recent studies suggest that sociality has played a key role in the evolution of larger brain size among several orders of mammals.
New light shed on the enigma of salt intake and hypertension
A high salt intake has been implicated in cardiovascular disease risk for 5000 years. But salt-sensitive hypertension still remains an enigma.
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