Population Viability Analysis and Responses to Loss

VCE Environmental ScienceUnit 3: Area of Study 2

Biodiversity

Risk Assessment and Responses to Loss of Biodiversity

Risk Assessment• Risk assessment involves using data to estimate

the probability of a harmful event occurring – in this case the probability of a species becoming extinct.

• One approach uses island biogeography models and bases it’s estimations on the % reduction in habitat.

• Another approach makes use of museum collections – if a specimen has not been collected for 50 years, it may be presumed extinct.

• Has been applied to the Leadbeater’s possum.

Precautionary Principle• The precautionary principle is careful evaluation to avoid

serious or irreversible damage to the environment does not occur.

– The precautionary principal is applied when scientific information insufficient.

– The precautionary principal makes sure that decisions are made on a number of factors including:

• Shifting the burden of proof to the proponents of the activity.

• Taking preventative action in the face of uncertainty.• Exploring a wide range of alternatives to the possibly

harmful actions. Is there another way of doing things?• Increasing public participation in decision making.

Leadbeater's Possum (Gymnobelideus leadbeateri) is an endangered possum restricted to small pockets of remaining old growth mountain ash forests in the central highlands of Victoria (Australia) north-east of Melbourne. Leadbeater's Possums can be moderately common within the very small areas they inhabit: their requirement for year-round food supplies and tree-holes to take refuge in during the day restricts them to mixed-age wet sclerophyll forest with a dense mid-story of Acacia.

Population Viability Analysis• PVA is a technique that assists with risk management in

conservation biology.• It is a tool that enables users to examine how management

decisions can affect population numbers and the rate of extinction.

• PVA has been used with the Eastern Barred Bandicoot and Leadbeater’s Possum.

• PVA is used because it links planning, research and data collection, assessment of vulnerability and the ranking of management options.

• A PVA includes:– Ecosystems: Habitat type and availability.– Breeding and longevity: Birth and death rates. – Demographics; age structure of populations.– External influences: weather events.

Eastern Barred bandicoot – Perameles gunnii - was once distributed across the Basalt Plains of south west Victoria, and in Tasmania. It is a small, rabbit sized marsupial weighing less than 1 kg with a short tail and three to four whitish bars across the rump.

Convention on Biological Diversity• Signed by 150 government leaders at the 1992

Rio Earth Summit, the Convention on Biological Diversity is dedicated to promoting sustainable development. Conceived as a practical tool for translating the principles of Agenda 21 into reality, the Convention recognizes that biological diversity is about more than plants, animals and micro organisms and their ecosystems – it is about people and our need for food security, medicines, fresh air and water, shelter, and a clean and healthy environment in which to live.

• http://www.cbd.int/convention/

Convention on Biological Diversity• Australia's first national biodiversity strategy,

the National Strategy for the Conservation of Australia's Biological Diversity, was prepared by the Australian and New Zealand Environment and Conservation Council (ANZECC) and endorsed by the Council of Australian Governments in 1996.

• The strategy fulfills Australia's obligations under the international Convention on Biological Diversity.

• http://www.environment.gov.au/biodiversity/publications/strategy/index.html

World Heritage Sites• World heritage sites are places that are important to and

belong to everyone, irrespective of where they are located. They have universal value that transcends the value they hold for a particular nation.

• These qualities are expressed in the Convention concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage (the World Heritage Convention).

• The World Heritage Convention aims to promote cooperation among nations to protect heritage from around the world that is of such outstanding universal value that its conservation is important for current and future generations.

• http://www.environment.gov.au/heritage/about/world/index.html

Some Australian World Heritage Sites• Wilderness of South West Tasmania• Great Barrier Reef, Qld• Naracoorte and Riversleigh (Fossil sites)• Gondwana Rainforest reserves• Kakadu National Park, NT• Uluru, NT• Shark Bay, WA• http://www.environment.gov.au/heritage/pl

aces/world/index.html

CITES• “Convention on International Trade in

Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora” is administered by the United Nations.

• By restricting commercial exploitation, endangered species may be protected by permits, licensing and prohibitions.

• Not all nations are signatories• Illegal trading, poaching and smuggling

continues in may countries.• CITES allows exemptions for genuine

scientific research.

CITES - Australia

• We have strict border controls, preventing the importation of souvenirs made from endangered species (eg rhino horn, ivory, turtle shell, feathered head-dresses).

• We also aim to prevent the export of native flora and fauna, such as birds and reptiles (except with overseas zoos.)

RAMSAR

• 1983 Ramsar Convention, to which Australia is a signatory, aims to protect migratory birds, especially in wetland habitats, throughout their range at both ends of their route.

• There are 10 designated areas in Victoria, including parts of Port Phillip Bay, Barmah Forest, Gippsland Lakes and the Western District lakes.

JAMBA and CAMBA

• The “Japan –Australia Migratory Birds Agreement” and the “China-Australia Migratory Birds Agreement”.

• http://www.environment.gov.au/biodiversity/migratory/waterbirds/bilateral.html

State Strategy• The conservation and control measures within the Flora and Fauna

Guarantee Act (1988) describe the means in which biodiversity is protected by the Act. These include:

• the Flora and Fauna Guarantee Strategy;• the listing of threatened taxa or communities of flora or fauna, or

potentially threatening processes;• the preparation of Action Statements and Critical Habitat Determinations

for these listed taxa, communities or processes;• the preparation of Management Plans and Public Authority Management

Agreements for these listed taxa, communities or processes;• the making of Interim Conservation Orders (“ICOs”) to conserve the

critical habitats of taxa or communities listed or nominated for listing; and

• permits, fines and controls about the handling of protected flora and listed fish.

Actions for Biodiversity Conservation

Biodiversity conservation is often limited by funding actions have to prioritise actions to assist species conservation.

• Vitally important in the short term.• Important long term action• Least important• Data collection for monitoring programs• Education programs• How do you rate this in terms of importance

for the Orange-bellied Parrot?

REFERENCES

• http://www.cites.org/• http://

www.envirolaw.org.au/articles/habitat_and_biodiversity/conservation_and_control_measures

• http://www.environment.gov.au/water/publications/environmental/wetlands/ramsar.html

• http://www.environment.gov.au/biodiversity/migratory/waterbirds/bilateral.html