Private land management for biodiversity conservation

Biological Conservation 1993, 66, 147-151

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/Gee Abstrects, Regency House, 34 Duke Street, Norwich, UK, NR3 3AP. species to defensively managing larger tracts of land with habitat or ecosystems holding suites of sensitive species. Since some accelerated extinction of isolated populations and species is inevitable, we need to know which species and ecotypes are most valuable. Understanding of modular, guild, and functional group structure would also help us identify keystone or critical link species and better tocus our attention on truly important tracts of land where they live. I t is probably more important to sustain soils and ecosystem processes than any randomly selected species, especially if functionally redundant species can be identified. Not all introduced species arc equal threats; it depends on how they fit into ecosystems. -from Author

NATURE CONSERVATION General 93Z/00001 Conserving biodiversity: a research agenda for development agencies ANON (National Research Council), (National Academy Press, Washington, DC), ISBN (paperback) 0 309 04683 1, price £13.95,1992, 125 pp. Section 1 deals with biodiversity and development 0oss of biodiversity; scientific aspects; implications for development agencies). Section 2 examines biological aspects of conservation (biological surveys; inventory and monitoring; conservation research; information needs; human resources). Part 3 focuses on biodiversity research: the socioeconomic context (economic aspects; project-, country- and international-level economic research; opportunities for action). Part 4 discusses biodiversity research: the cultural context (diversity and development; local knowledge and biodiversity; research on local knowledge). -C .B arrow

93Z/00005 Successes and failures of acoustics in the measurement of environmental impacts P. M. Washington, G. L. Thomas & D. A. Marine, Fisheries Research, 14(2-3), 1992, pp 239-250. Applications of acoustic technology to estimate the vulnerability of fish to entrainment by cooling water intakes, irrigation drawdown, and turbine operations at hydroelectric dams have led to operational and engineering methods to minimize harmful effects on fish populations. The recent application of acoustics to measure nuisance growths of aquatic maerophytes in shallow, freshwater lakes is leading to techniques for quantitative assessment of fish habitat, which will be e q u a l i f not more important to environmental impact evaluations and fisheries management in the future. -from Authors

93Z/00002 Biological diversity and human resources M . A . Huston, Impact of Science on Society, 166, 1992, pp 121-130. Potential conflicts between human use of resources and the preservation of biological diversity can be minimized through an understanding of the natural processes that regulate biological diversity. Preservation of some components of the earth's biological diversity may requite little sacrifice of agriculturally productive lands, while preservation of other components will demand some form of economic subsidy to accommodate both human needs and the preservation of biodiversity. -from Author

93Z/00006 Hydroacoustic studies for developing a smelt bypass system at Wells Dam G . E . Johnson, C. M. Sullivan & M. W. Erho, Fisheries Research, 14(2-3), 1992, pp 221-237. When baffles were installed in spill bay intakes, the flow velocity increased in the forebay near the baffle openings. Once entrained in the attractant flow, smelts enter the bypass and migrate through the dam in bypass flow instead of turbine flow. -from Authors

93Z/00003 Private land management for biodiversity conservation M. A. O'Conneli & R. F. Noss, Environmental Management, 16(4), 1992, pp 435-450. Establishes a model program for developing land management plans, with the goal of maintaining viable populations and natural distributions of native species and communities from a landscapeperspective. T h e p r o g r a m establishes a protocol for classifying sites accortfmg to the importance of their species, communities, and other elements to global and regional biodiversity. Once managers classify a site, the program provides management standards, general stewardship principles, examples of land management strategies, and basic monitoring and evaluation procedures. -from Authors

Species conservation 93Z/00007 Micropropagation of an Australian terrestrial orchid Diuris long~folia R. Br. M. T. Collins & K. W. Dixon, Australian Journal of Experimental Agriculture, 32(1), 1992, pp 131-135. Explants from inflorescences of D. longifolia were successfully cultured on modified Burgeff's N3f containing the cytokinin N 6 benzyladenine. -from Authors 93Z/00008 The diet of the introduced carnivorous snail Euglandina rosea in Mauritius and its implications for threatened island gastropod faunas O. Griffiths, A. Cook & S. M. Wells, Journal of Zoology, 229(1), 1993, pp 79-89. Euglandina was collected over a three-year period in four habitat types in Mauritius. Smaller collections were also made in Reunion and Rodrigues. Most prey are eaten whole and native species are eaten in greater numbers than would be expected from a consideration of their numbers in the habitat. Achatina spp., which Euglandina was origi-

93Z/00004 Biodiversity of rangelands N. E. West, Journal of Range Management, 46(1), 1993, pp 2-13. Ungulate grazing is an important process in many ecosystems. Thus, removal of grazing destabilizes some systems. Livestock grazing will actually increase the chances of survival of some species. Moderate livestock ~razing can also enhance community and landsc.al~-level diversity in many instances. Attention is now shifting from 'charismatic'

Biological Conservation 0006-3207/93/$06.00 © 1993 Elsevier Science Publishers Ltd. 147