In the first part of the present study, samples of 13 native Turkish sheep breeds (n=628) were examined, individually and comparatively, with respect to their 19 microsatellite loci to characterize them by employing various statistical analyses. Low FST values, high mean number of alleles and allelic richness as well as results of Factorial Correspondence Analysis and Structure analyses showed the degree of admixture between native sheep breeds of Turkey, IVE and SAK were observed as the most distincts of the breeds and possible introgressions were detected in other breeds. The 2- BAD, a software to examine the admixtures, was employed to estimate the time of the admixtures and the MSVAR software was employed to detect past demographic histories. In the second part, evaluations based on their genetic characteristics were made in relation to their prioritization in conservation studies. By employing four different approaches, it has been concluded that IVE, SAK, KRY, KIV, HEM and breed from Central Anatolia should be included in a conservation program for the preservation of optimum genetic diversity. In the last part of the thesis breeds were also characterized with respect to their relative risk of extinctions and their merits, which were used to estimate the utilities of the breeds. Non-genetic factors, collected based on the existing literature and surveys throughthe questionnaires filled by the field specialists, were incorporated into genetic factors to estimate the utilities of the breeds under different scenarios. In this approach, it is concluded that NOR, AKK, SAK, IVE and HEM should be included in the conserved set of breeds. By the present study, it is believed that specific genetic features of the native Turkish sheep breeds were documented, effects of sampling on the population genetic studies was discussed, the need for a reliable data (genetic and nongenetic, for characterizing the risks and merits of the breeds) for the prioritization of the breeds in the long term sustainable conservation ofthem was emphasized.

Submitted by Renata Lopes (renatasil82@gmail.com) on 2016-07-22T11:33:23Z No. of bitstreams: 1 brunoestevesconde.pdf: 5289285 bytes, checksum: c29596f51d76418efb1f61a6c250291d (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Adriana Oliveira (adriana.oliveira@ufjf.edu.br) on 2016-07-22T15:38:42Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 brunoestevesconde.pdf: 5289285 bytes, checksum: c29596f51d76418efb1f61a6c250291d (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-07-22T15:38:42Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 brunoestevesconde.pdf: 5289285 bytes, checksum: c29596f51d76418efb1f61a6c250291d (MD5) Previous issue date: 2016-04-18 / CAPES - Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / O conhecimento ecológico tradicional de comunidades como as Quilombolas, traz considerações sobre o estado de conservação das espécies locais. Desta forma, o objetivo do presente trabalho foi avaliar o conhecimento ecológico tradicional quanto a sustentabilidade de flora nas comunidades Quilombolas de São Sebastião da Boa Vista (SSBV), São Bento (SB) e Colônia do Paiol (CP), para subisidiar posterior plano de manejo. Utilizou-se: aproximação aos membros da comunidade; coleta de dados etnobotânicos para quaisquer usos; coleta de dados fitossociológicos nas florestas locais; análises quantitatívas com a aplicação de índices para avaliar a importância das espécies nativas para a cultura local e seus estados de conservação. Através de 21 especialistas locais, sendo 7 em SSBV, 6 em SB e 8 em CP, obteve-se uma lista de 212 espécies em SSBV (105 espécies nativas), 221 em SB (96 espécies nativas) e 154 espécies em CP (53 espécies nativas). Para os índices que avaliaram a importância da espécies, destacaram para SSBV, Dalbergia hortensis Heringer & al. (26 / 2.14) e para SB: Piptadenia gonoacantha (Mart.) J.F.Macbr. (3,32 / 1). Com base na prioridade máxima de conservação, SSBV apresentou 33 espécies e SB 32, já em CP não se foi possível acessar as florestas. Quando se relacionou os índices utilizados, verificou-se que não existe correlação entre a importância cultural das espécies botânicas e suas conservações. Em CP, o acesso às florestas locais é atualmente proíbido pelos fazendeiros locais que tomaram posse de tais áreas. A floresta de SSBV é predominantemente composta por espécies pioneiras e em SB de espécies secundárias iniciais. Concluiu-se que as comunidades em questão detêm grande conhecimento sobre o uso das floras locais, entretanto, há a necessidade de se implementar estratégias para a recomposição florestal, além da produção de plano de manejo sustentável que priorize a preservação de determinadas espécies locais. A diminuíção dos espaços florestais, chama a atenção para a demarcação imediata das terras Quilombolas visando não somente a manutenção da cultura local, como também a consequente conservação da biodiversidade de flora à partir de plano de manejo dos recursos naturais utilizados. / The traditional ecological knowledge communities as the Quilombolas, brings considerations about the state of conservation of local species. Thus, the objective of this study was to evaluate the traditional ecological knowledge as the botany sustainability in the Quilombolas communities: São Sebastião da Boa Vista (SSBV), São Bento (SB) and Colônia do Paiol (CP), for further subsidize plan management. We used: approach to community members; ethnobotanical data collection for all purposes; phytosociological data collection in forests; Quantitative analysis with the use of indexes to assess the importance of native species for the local culture and its preservation. Through 21 local experts: 7 of SSBV, 6 in SB and 8 CP; we obtained a list of 212 species SSBV (105 native species), 221 SB (96 native species) and 154 species CP (53 native species). For indexes that evaluated the importance of the species highlighted for SSBV, Dalbergia hortensis Heringer & al. (26 / 2.14) and SB: Piptadenia gonoacantha (Mart.) J.F.Macbr. (3.32 / 1). Based on the maximum conservation priority, SSBV presented 33 species and SB 32, as in CP not be accessed forests. When correlation indexes used, it was found that there is no correlation between the cultural importance of botanical species and their conservations. In CP, access to local forests is currently prohibited by local farmers took possession of such areas. The SSBV forest is predominantly composed of pioneer species and SB of early secondary species. It was concluded that the communities in question hold great knowledge about the use of local botany species; however, there is the need to implement strategies for reforestation, as well as sustainable management of production plan that prioritizes the preservation of certain local species. The reduction of forest areas draws attention to the immediate demarcation of Quilombo lands seeking not only to maintain the local culture, as well as the consequent conservation of flora biodiversity from natural resource management plan used.

Japan is one of the world’s 34 biodiversity hotspots, according to Conservation International (CI). The methods used by various organisations to define priorities differ, however, and all have weaknesses when trying to identify hotspots at finer resolutions. The goal of this thesis is to investigate how biodiversity hotspots in Japan could be revealed and mapped in order to encapsulate conservation elements of biodiversity in practical ways and at various scales. Bioquality is a term that emphasises the concentration within a community of elements of biodiversity with high conservation value. It evaluates the global rarity and taxonomic distinctiveness of plant species or infra-specific taxa using four Star categories. At a plant community level, the Genetic Heat Index (GHI), which is a standardised global range size rarity score, is calculated using weighted Star statuses of species in the community. Bioquality hotspots are assessed here for the first time for the flora and vegetation in Japan – and for temperate Asia – by categorising the Japanese flora into Stars and by applying GHI to survey data and literature-based sources. Keys to Stars are developed for the Japanese flora, with adjustments for variability in species geographic range size information and for taxonomic relatedness. A Flora of Japan (FOJ) database was compiled as a BRAHMS database, containing 8,262 accepted names (30,656 taxon names in total, including synonyms) in 258 families – the first full database of Japanese vascular plants. A total of 7,145 taxa are assigned Stars; from the rarest to the widespread class, there are 884 Black, 756 Gold, 833 Blue, and 4,672 Green Star taxa, confirming that Japan as a whole contains a high proportion of globally rare taxa (23% taxa in Black or Gold). A protocol for calibrating the weight of Stars based on species geographic range is developed based on fine-resolution distribution maps within Japan and coarse–resolution Taxonomic Database Working Group (TDWG) code information. The protocol optimises calculation for temperate regions. The first ever bioquality hotspot maps of Japan are produced using two independent data sources on species distribution at national level: 1) 50 botanical prefectures using 4,830 species from the FOJ database; 2) 1,418 Horikawa ‘geoquadrats’ (0.1° latitude by 0.15° longitude grid) maps covering 829 species. The Ryukyu Islands and Ogasawara Islands are identified as bioquality hotspots, and high mountain ranges in mainland Japan are predicted to contain areas potentially high in GHI; the spatial patterns of GHI are generally concordant between maps of different resolutions. These findings highlight that bioquality assessment can be applied meaningfully at various spatial resolutions. Using field sampling data and existing literature, three study sites are further investigated on a local level: 1) the satochi-satoyama landscape, the current national priority area for biodiversity conservation; 2) various vegetation types of Okinawa-jima Island, the Ryukyu Islands; and 3) the Utaki sacred groves within the predicted hotspot of the Ryukyu Islands. The Ryukyu Islands are confirmed to contain bioquality hotspots within many individual sites, while there was generally low GHI across the satochi-satoyama landscape. The field study outcomes, together with a gap analysis of the existing coverage of protected areas, highlight three important points that are directly relevant to national biodiversity conservation planning: 1) the Ryukyu Islands urgently need newly designated protected areas; 2) the satochi-satoyama landscape conservation should redirect its focus on cultural benefits to the public; 3) the existing protected areas, particularly on mountain areas, need re-evaluation in terms of upgrading their status in light of the bioquality assessment.

Dry forest is one of the most threatened tropical forests in the world. Human impact has caused its massive transformation but conservation of dry forest has often been neglected across Latin America. In Colombia, less than 10% of the original extension of dry forest remains. This thesis studies the phytogeography of neotropical dry forest and its relevance for conservation using data from 1602 tree species inventories made in dry forests across Latin America and the Caribbean synthesised by The Latin American Seasonally Dry Tropical Forest Floristic Network (DRYFLOR). Clustering and ordination analyses were used to explore the floristic relationships of dry forest across the entire Neotropics, revealing distinctive regional clusters defined by their tree species composition. Colombian dry forests are shown to be part of two wider clusters, one including neighbouring forests in Venezuela and southern Central America, and the second including the inter-Andean dry forests. The high turnover of floristic diversity and endemism within and amongst the main floristic groups demonstrates that to conserve the full species diversity in dry forests across Latin America and the Caribbean will require protecting it simultaneously across multiple regions. A regionally focused study of floristic relationships in the Central American and northern South American dry tropical forest group, using quantitative approaches to conservation prioritization, including a new Conservation Priority Index (CPI), suggests that conservation priority should be placed on the South American Caribbean Coast in the cross-border area of Colombia and Venezuela. This emphasises the need for a biogeographical approach to conservation that cannot be restricted by political borders. Within Colombia, new quantitative floristic data were used to investigate controls of floristic composition in dry forests. Multivariate analyses showed that space related variables explain a larger fraction of the variance of the floristic composition than climatic or edaphic variables. The importance of spatial variables implies that biogeography is a key element in understanding the structure of communities, and that the Andean cordilleras might be acting as geographical barriers isolating these seasonally dry formations. The value of floristic inventory data for assessing the conservation status of tree species using IUCN criteria was assessed in a case of study of the Andean Piedmont dry forest. By combining inventory data from the DRYFLOR database and herbarium records, the number of species for which we have sufficient information to make conservation assessments increases by 16% and the accuracy of predictive species distribution improves for 84% of the species. Together, these results reveal the importance of ecological inventory data as a complementary data source in conservation assessment for dry forest trees in the Neotropics. Finally, the conclusions chapter places these results in the context of conservation planning for Colombian dry forests, including some suggestions for research, policies and actions. These actions include restoration programmes focusing on sustainable harvesting of native dry forest tree species, for example for firewood and other forest resources such as fruits, fibres and medicines. A land use mosaic, including forest fallows and strict conservation areas, may help to guarantee the long-term maintenance dry forest species in Colombia.