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  A comparison between Tundra and wet grassland breeding waders with special reference to the Ruff (Philomachus pugnax) »

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  Status of the Baikal Teal in the Lower Indigirka Basin, Siberia »

  Small local hunting communities in Siberia are very distant from any governmental control. Hunted waterbird species, including globally and regionally threatened species, rely for their well-being on the self regulation of remote hunting communities. Interviewed hunters showed a profound knowledge of Baikal Teal, its population status, and the causes of their past decline. Whether the knowledge is shared by other communities in the region and beyond in Northern Siberia needs verification.
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  Resource Type: Journal Papers
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  Adaptation of monkey puzzle to arid environments reflected by regional differences in stable carbon isotope ratio and allocation to root biomass »

  This study demonstrates the utility of carbon isotope discrimination in describing genetic adaptation to arid environments, although it is probably most useful in detecting differentiation when the strategy of the species under investigation is to increase water use efficiency, rather than drought-avoidance. The results suggest that populations on the eastern and western sides of the Andes should be treated as separate management units for the purposes of conserving the genetic resource of this species.

  Resource Type: Journal Papers
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  Siberia - Asia's great wilderness »

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  Progress towards the Convention on Biological Diversity terrestrial 2010 and marine 2012 targets for protected area coverage »

  In the past few years, a number of analyses have been undertaken to measure progress towards the 2010 and 2012 CBD targets. This report demonstrates how the measurement of progress is influenced by decisions on which protected areas are included (for instance, whether internationally designated sites, or sites without an assigned IUCN category are included) and which biogeographic datasets used (for instance which mountain dataset is chosen), and highlights the need for standardised methods and datasets.

  Resource Type: Journal Papers
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  Protecting the future: carbon, forest, protected areas and local livelihoods »

  Protected areas can act as a case study for REDD: lessons can be learnt from their success or otherwise in reducing deforestation and supporting local livelihoods. Further research into the most effective management and governance frameworks for acheiving goals on carbon emissions, biodiversity and communities, and the extent to which protected areas reduce (or merely displace) deforestation within national boundaries would be useful in informing REDD implementation.

  Resource Type: Journal Papers
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  Progress towards international targets for protected area coverage in mountains »

  Through the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), the world’s governments recently adopted a target to protect at least 17% of the global land area by 2020. This paper evaluates current levels of protection for mountains at multiple scales. It shows that the CBD’s 17% target has already been almost met at a global scale: 16.9% of the world’s mountain areas outside Antarctica fall within protected areas. However, protection of mountain areas at finer scales remains uneven and is largely insufficient, with 63% (125) of countries, 57% (4) of realms, 67% (8) of biomes, 61% (437) of ecoregions and 53% (100) of Global 200 priority ecoregions falling short of the target. The CBD target also calls for protected areas to be focussed “especially [at] areas of particular importance for biodiversity”. Important Bird Areas and Alliance for Zero Extinction sites represent existing global networks of such sites. It is therefore of major concern that 39% and 45% respectively of these sites in mountain areas remain entirely unprotected. Achievement of the CBD target in mountain regions will require more focused expansion of the protected area network in addition to enhanced management of individual sites and the wider countryside in order to ensure long term conservation of montane biodiversity and the other ecosystem services it provides.

  Resource Type: Journal Papers
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  Some important birds and forests in Nepal »

  A table is provided of 122 bird species with restricted breeding distributions and for which Nepal may hold significant populations. Habitat threats and population changes are detailed for 33 species for which Nepal may be especially important. The vital importance of Nepal's forests to Nepal's avifauna is emphasised.

  Resource Type: Journal Papers
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  Mapping community change in modified landscapes »

  We generated biodiversity surfaces for both present-day and pre-human landscapes to map spatial patterns of change in a diverse ecological community to calculate the combined biodiversity impacts of habitat loss and fragmentation that accounts for the exact spatial pattern of deforestation. Our spatially-explicit, landscape-scale index of community change shows how the fine-scale configuration of habitat loss sums across a landscape to determine changes in biodiversity at a larger spatial scale. After accounting for naturally occurring within-forest heterogeneity, we estimate that the conversion of 43% of forest to grassland in a 1300 km2 landscape in New Zealand resulted in a 47% change to the beetle community.

  Resource Type: Journal Papers
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  Physiographic control on the development of Spartina marshes »

  We made a complete survey of all the extant populations in Djibouti and to collect samples for genetic analysis with a view conserving the palm for the future.
  Our survey revealed that there were a total of 314 adults, 20 juveniles, 134 rosettes, 210 small rosettes (more than 6 leaves) and 465 seedlings (<3 leaves) living in the Bankouale area of Djibouti. These are distributed unequally amongst three valley systems. 65% of the adults, 85% of the juveniles, 75% of the rosettes, 76% of the small rosettes, and 93 % of the seedlings were found in the Bankouale valley.

  Resource Type: Journal Papers