In this dissertation, I address the distribution and conservation of the Amazonian avifauna at several different scales. In Chapter 1, I looked at how the spatial bias in ornithological collections affects our understanding of the patterns of diversity in Amazonia. I showed that Amazonia is massively under-collected, that biological collection sites cluster around points of access, and that the richness at collection localities is higher than would be expected at random. This greater richness in collected areas was associated with a higher proportion of species with small geographical ranges as compared to uncollected areas. These small range species are relevant for conservation, as they are especially prone to extinction. I concluded that the richness of the uncollected areas of Amazonia is seriously underestimated, and that current knowledge gaps preclude accurate selection of areas for conservation in Amazonia. With this in mind, I modeled the impacts of continued deforestation on the Amazonian endemic avifauna. To overcome knowledge gaps, I complemented bird range maps with a "bird-ecoregions." I identified several taxa and bird-ecoregions likely to face great threat in the near future, most of them associated with riverine habitats. To evaluate these predictions, I conducted a detailed study on two riverine species: the Rio Branco Antbird (Cercomacra carbonaria) and the Hoary-throated Spinetail (Synallaxis kollari). Both are threatened and endemic to the gallery forests of Roraima, Brazil. I predicted that both would lose critical habitat in the near future. I concluded that neither is categorized correctly in by The World Conservation Union and recommend the down-listing of the Rio-Branco-Antbird and the up-listing of the Hoary-throated Spinetail. I also explored the importance of indigenous reserves for the conservation of both species and emphasized the need for greater involvement of conservation biologists in the social issues related to their study organisms. / Dissertation

It has been Taiwan's vision for being an "Ocean Country ", because of the richness and biodiversity of its marine environment. In recent years, the rapid growth in Taiwan¡¦s ocean sector has resulted in a great concern on the degradation and loss of marine resources and habitats, and threatening of coral reefs and endangered species in the marine environment. There is a need to proactively conserve and protect marine ecosystem functions, species, and habitats for future sustainable. For achieving sustainability in the use of marine resources, the approach of marine protected areas (MPAs), similar to Canadian MPA embodied in the Oceans Act, must be implemented to oceans management for the protection of marine environment from land-based activity. This study presents: (1) the planning strategy, site selection and evaluation, community-based policy, and many other factors involved in the establishment of Canadian MPA under the Oceans Act; (2) Development of a management plan for MPA site and the consolidation of the responsibilities of federal, provincial, municipality, community and non government organizations on the establishment and management of the Canadian AOI (Area of Interest) site; (3) the proposed framework for establishing and managing marine protected areas in Taiwan; (4) Assessment and Evaluation of the present sanctuary protected areas that are mostly limited to the local coastal municipalities of Taiwan, i.e., Chinwan Inner Bay of Penghu, Tungsha (Pratas) Island of Kaohsiung. Canada is one of the world leading and experienced countries on the implementation of MPA. In 1997 with the passage of the Canadian Oceans Act, they have established an integrated management procedure, guidelines, and framework in the protection of marine ecosystem. Canada consists of Arctic, Pacific and Atlantic Oceans with the largest continental shelf in the world, and its history has been defined by its surrounding marine environment. The richness and biodiversity of Canada¡¦s oceans provide enormous potential for both present and future generations. Canadian¡¦s MPA approaches on seabed vent, offshore MPA sites, coral protection, protection of endangered or threaten marine species provide valuable and useful example for Taiwan¡¦s MPA planning and framework, especially the involvement of communities to participate, recommend and manage the MPA site.

The steps by which neutral, random and/or negative biological interactions evolve into mutualistic ones remain poorly understood. Here, we study Elacatinus gobies and the fishes from which they clean parasites, termed 'clients'. Colorful stripes are common to mutualist cleaners and non-cleaning sister species. Blue stripes are unique to obligate cleaners. We quantified the contrast potential of ancestral and novel stripe colors, using fish color vision models, and determined that color stripes have become more visible to clients over evolutionary time. In turn, we focused on the role of color as a potentially specialized signal. We show that cleaners possess a putative chemical defense (one multimedia file in .mov format included) and demonstrate that stripes are sufficient to elicit client stereotypical posing behavior and to deter attack. Analysis of previously published records show that yellow cleaners tend to predators less than expected, compared to green and blue cleaners. Our results highlight evolution from predator avoidance to tolerance with conspicuous advertising reinforced by chemical defense in cleaners. Similar trajectories, via recognizable signals to risky partners, may be common in other diffuse mutualisms. We discuss the generality of defense and signal traits in other species rich lineages of mutualists.

Thesis (PHD)--University of Montana, 2009. / Contents viewed on November 25, 2009. Title from author supplied metadata. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (MSc)--University of Stellenbosch, 2008. / Bibliography. Also available via the Internet.

Diss. (sammanfattning) Alnarp : Sveriges lantbruksuniversitet, 2009. / Härtill 4 uppsatser.

Thesis (M.S.) in Marine Policy--University of Maine, 2009. / Includes vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 170-181).

Conservation science applies research in the natural and social sciences to practical problems of nature conservation, thus presupposing various goals and values. This dissertation examines normative roles for the decision sciences in biological conservation. I am primarily concerned with two philosophical problems that arise in applications of the decision sciences to biological conservation problems: commensurability of multiple values and cooperation between multiple agents. I argue that models from decision analysis should be used to construct preferences over complex tradeoffs, and game theoretical models should be used to identify situations in which multiple agents pursuing their own interests cause outcomes that are worse for everyone. While these models allow values to be made explicit for decision-making, in other situations conservationists’ goals and values are obscure. I discuss this distinct problem in the context of conservation biology, where the central concept of biodiversity is analyzed and shown to necessarily reflect the values of its users. The multiplicity of meanings of ‘biodiversity’ and measures of biological diversity raise risks for conservation biology and motivate multi-criteria approaches to conservation decision-making. Finally, the goals and values of conservation scientists and landscape managers may or may not reflect those of people who are affected by conservation policies. I argue that while decision science can aid in making values of various stakeholder groups explicit, facilitating reflection and learning, it cannot resolve ethical dilemmas on its own without input from normative and applied ethics, particularly in identifying legitimate stakeholders and weighing multiple biological concerns against concerns for rights, welfare, and social justice. / text

The class Bacillariophyceae, encompasses all diatoms that possess a raphe. Members of the orders Bacillariales, Rhopalodiales and Surirellales have a canal raphe system. Historically, the possession of this character was considered support for a close evolutionary relationship. To investigate phylogenetic relationships, a three gene dataset was constructed for 49 strains representing 9 of the 11 orders within the Bacillariophyceae. We provide the first formal tests of homology of the canal raphe system and the first demonstration that the Rhopalodiales are nested within the Surirellales. Results strongly reject the monophyly of Bacillariales, Rhopalodiales, and Surirellales thereby discounting the canal raphe as a homologous character. The Surirellales include three families: Surirellaceae, Entomoneideaceae, and Auriculaceae, while Rhopalodiales has only three genera in one family, the Rhopalodiaceae. In order to test familial and generic concepts, I expanded taxon representation and collected DNA sequence data for 125 strains. Taken together, only 5 of the 12 genera (Entomoneis, Stenopterobia, Cymatopleura, Petrodictyon and Epithemia) were found to be monophyletic. Our current concepts of the two most species-rich genera, Surirella and Campylodiscus, are too broad as the analyses resolved taxa from these two genera into multiple independent lineages. The “Robustoid” lineage, comprised of Surirella Robustae, Campylodiscus Robusti, and Stenopterobia, exhibits a high degree of endemism within ancient Lake Ohrid, with 17 species considered endemic or relict taxa. A dataset of three molecular markers and 71 Robustoid taxa from Lake Ohrid, Europe, and North America was used to construct a preliminary phylogeny. The aim was to investigate phylogenetic relationships and test hypotheses of speciation and morphological evolution. The recovered paraphyly of Lake Ohrid taxa eliminates the possibility that the Ohrid Robustoids as a whole are a product of intralacustrine speciation. However, sister relationships between putative Ohrid endemics and unexplored morphological diversity within some species complexes (e.g. Campylodiscus marginatus, Scoliodiscus spp.) leave open the possibility that these lineages may be the result of intralacustrine speciation. / text

published_or_final_version / abstract / toc / Ecology and Biodiversity / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy