Protecting biodiversity in coastal environments: introduction and overview

Biological Conservation 1992, 60, 221-225

Selected Abstracts The abstracts reproduced here have been selected from the coverage of Ecological Abstracts. Further information on Ecological Abstracts, and the associated online database GEOBASE is available from Elsevier/Geo Abstracts, Regency House, 34 Duke Street, Norwich NR3 3AP, UK. species but permits trade in a regulated manner in species vulnerable to exploitation but not yet at risk of extinction. CITES covers comparatively few marine taxa, reflecting the fact that most marine species have much greater ranges and fecundity than terrestrial species and so are more resilient to exploitation. Exceptions axe found in the higher vertebrates. Several marine mammals may have benefited from CITES conizols. Marine turtles Cheloniidae and the estuarine crocodile Crocodylus porosus certainly have benefited from CITES controls. -from Authors

NATURE CONSERVATION General 922/00001 Assessing extinction threats: toward a reevaluation of IUCN threatened species categories G. M. Mace & R.ALande, Conservation Biology, 5(2), 1991, pp 148-157. IUCN categories of threat (Endangered, Vulnerable, Rare, Indeterminate, and others) are widely used in 'Red lists' of endangered species and have become an important tool in conservation action at international, national, regional and thematic levels. The authors present proposals to redefine categories in terms of the probability of extinction within a specific time period, based on the theory of extinction tunes for single populations and on meaningful time scales for conservation action. Three categories are proposed (critical, endangered, vulnerable) with decreasing levels of threat over increasing time scales for species estimated to have at least a 10% probability of extinction within 100 yr. -from Authors

92Z/00005 Recovery of trailside vegetation from trampling in a tropical rain forest D.H. Boucher, J. Aviles, R. Chepote, O. E. Dominguez Gil & B. Vilchez, Environmental Management, 15(2), 1991, pp 257-262. Studied three trails with varying periods of use and recovery in a tropical rain forest in Costa Rica. Human impact on trailside plants was curvilinearly related to use. Recovery in a period of two years and eight months had been rapid, and herbs and seedlings were more abundant along the recovering trail than in undisturbed forest. A shifting mosaic of trails, analogous to the mosaic created by. .light gaps, may be the best management technique to nunmuze the impact of human visitors in tropical rain forests. -from Authors

92Z/00002 Protecting biodiversity in coastal environments: introduction and overview T. Beatley, CoastalManagement, 19(1), 1991, pp 1-19. Threats to coastal biodiversity include air and water pollution; over-exploitation and harvesting; introduction of exotic species; loss of habitat due to urbanization, agricultural expansion, and other land use changes; and the potentially serious effects of global climate change. These threats suggest the need for swift action at a number of jurisdictional and governmental levels. Components of such an effort include the need for comprehensive management approaches, the expansion of parks and protected areas, restoration and mitigation, multinational and international initiatives, and efforts to promote sustainable development and sustainable lifestyles. -from Author

92Z/00006 The use of ecological modeling in geographical information systems: the prediction of LD50 species mortality from fire intensity M . R . Kunzmann, P. S. Bennett & G. Ball, in: Resource Technology 90. Proc. second international symposium on advanced technology in natural resources management, Washington, DC, 1990, ed G.J. Buhyoff, (ASPRS), 1991, pp 118-127. Discusses the feasibility of using a Lethal Diameter (LD50) ecological model in Geographical Information Systems. The LD50 model predicts tree mortality from energy release rate as a function of tree diameter. The model predicts the diameter class at which 50% of the trees are killed in ponderosa pine Pinus ponderosa, white fir, Abies concolor, and two spruce species, Picea engelmannii and P. pungens. -from Authors

92Z/00003 Preserving coastal biodiversity: the private, nonprofit approach R.D. Deblinger & R. E. Jenkins Jr, Coastal Management, 19(1), 1991, pp 103-112. The Nature Conservancy's Natural Heritage Program, a state-by-state rare species and natural community inventory, has been adopted throughout most of the USA, but more such novel programs combining public and private support will be necessary if the US is to preserve coastal biodiversity. Two coastal examples, one regarding protection and research of an endangered Atlantic coast shorebird and another regarding research and ecological restoration of a natural coastal dune plant community in N California, are presented. -from Authors

922/00007 The interaction of patchiness, land cover type and animal distribution: an evolution in time and space W. D'Oleire-Oltmanns, in: Resource Technology 90. Proc.

second imernational symposium on advanced technology in natural resources management, Washington, DC, 1990, ed G.J. Buhyoff, (ASPRS), 1991, pp 369-375. The spatial distribution of animals is influenced by animal behavlour, and factors of habitat, topography, and the temporal nature of these factors. These basic parameters can, with existing databases, be applied for the definition of national park goals in anthropogenically influenced areas. -from Author

922/00004 International trade in marine species: is CITES a useful control mechanism? S.M. Wells & J. G. Barzdo, Coastal Management, 19(1), 1991, pp 135-154. The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) generally prohibits international commercial trade in seriously threatened Biological Conservation 0006-3207/92/$05.00 1992 Elsevier Science Publishers Ltd. 221