Habitat Management & Restoration

[Matias]

Some documents dealing with Adaptive Management

What is Adaptive Management?

Quote:Adaptive management is a systematic approach for improving resource management by learning from management outcomes (1). Its origin can be traced back to ideas of scientific management pioneered by Frederick Taylor in the early 1900s (2,3). Various perspectives on adaptive management are rooted in parallel concepts found in business (total quality management and learning organizations [4]), experimental science (hypothesis testing [5]), systems theory (feedback control [6]), and industrial ecology (7). The concept has attracted attention as a means of linking learning with policy and implementation (8,9). Although the idea of learning from experience and modifying subsequent behavior in light of that experience has long been reported in the literature, the specific idea of adaptive management as a strategy for natural resource management can be traced to the seminal work of Holling (10), Walters (11), and Lee (12).

Adaptive management as described here is infrequently implemented, even though many resource planning documents call for it and numerous resource managers refer to it (13). It is thought by many that merely by monitoring activities and occasionally changing them, one is doing adaptive management. Contrary to this commonly held belief, adaptive management is much more than simply tracking and changing management direction in the face of failed policies, and, in fact, such a tactic could actually be maladaptive (14). An adaptive approach involves exploring alternative ways to meet management objectives, predicting the outcomes of alternatives based on the current state of knowledge, implementing one or more of these alternatives, monitoring to learn about the impacts of management actions, and then using the results to update knowledge and adjust management actions (15). Adaptive management focuses on learning and adapting, through partnerships of managers, scientists, and other stakeholders who learn together how to create and maintain sustainable resource systems (3).

Link: https://www.doi.gov/sites/doi.gov/files/migrated/ppa/upload/Chapter1.pdf

 

A call to embrace adaptive management for effective elephant conservation in Zimbabwe

Quote:Wildlife conservation is at a critical juncture across Africa, hamstrung by bureaucratic incompetence and the erosion of ethical principles, while wildlife populations are predominantly threatened by habitat fragmentation and indiscriminate killings.1,2 The Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority (ZimParks) was once quintessential in Africa, among pioneers of the wildlife management front, inter alia, with effective protected area management, even authorising wildlife conservancies outside protected areas.1 ZimParks is expected to generate its own income from both non-consumptive and consumptive activities, such as ecotourism and sport hunting.1 However, a perennially lean budget, use of obsolete equipment, low morale among the staff, and a high staff turnover because of a low skills retention capacity constrain the activities of the department. Although ZimParks patrol teams are augmented by state police in major protected areas, rangers are sometimes injured or killed during contact with armed poachers with sophisticated weapons. The situation is continually made more dire by fraudulent tendencies, where ZimParks officers, state police and politicians are incessantly implicated as accomplices in wildlife poaching syndicates. On the other hand, the techniques used by poachers are dynamic, with recent elephant Loxodonta africana poaching tactics involving lacing water sources and salt licks with cyanide poison, which also kills secondary targets such as scavenging vulture species.

There is neither a ‘silver bullet’ nor a ‘straight jacket’ solution to indiscriminate wildlife killings. While consolidated initiatives are necessary, there seems to be a tragedy of policy inconsistency and duplication of efforts in wildlife conservation. First, there is a misguided tendency to draw contest between the old ‘tried and tested’ methods against the new innovative conservation initiatives. The old conservation paradigm is constructed on a fortress model, where a largely unfenced protected area is the epicentre of conservation activity.1 The new conservation model is pragmatic, with emphasis on the management of protected areas based on the ecological requirements of wildlife and the socio-economic aspirations of surrounding communities.1,4 Second, the emergence of conflicting spheres of influence is now characteristic of wildlife conservation, where non-governmental organisations (NGOs) safeguard their institutional niche by criticising ZimParks initiatives, fortified by unscrupulous media coverage. Such NGOs negate the ethos of their very existence, by duplicating state organs and assuming competitor roles, rather than complementing ZimParks. Such an approach ensures that NGOs hoodwink donors, while in reality goodwill funds are eroded by overhead expenses and sustaining lavish lifestyles for senior management, far away from conservation areas. Nonetheless, it is imperative to acknowledge that some NGOs promote wildlife conservation and capacity building among Africans, serving as vital conduits for skills and technology transfer between Africa and the rest of the world. The Kavango–Zambezi Transfrontier Conservation Area (KAZA TFCA) biosphere, encompassing IUCN conservation area Category II–VII, is therefore ideal for examining the human– elephant coexistence paradigm.

Link: https://africageographic.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/A-call-to-embrace-adaptive-management-for-effective-elephant-conservation-in-Zimbabwe.pdf

Saving endangered species using adaptive management

Quote:Significance
A replicated management experiment was conducted across >90,000 km2 to test recovery options for woodland caribou, a species that was functionally extirpated from the contiguous United States in March 2018. Recovery options were reductions of predators, reductions of overabundant prey, translocations, and creating fenced refuges from predators. Population growth was strongest where multiple recovery options were applied simultaneously. This adaptive management study was one of the largest predator-prey manipulations ever conducted and provided positive results for this endangered North American ungulate.

Abstract
Adaptive management is a powerful means of learning about complex ecosystems, but is rarely used for recovering endangered species. Here, we demonstrate how it can benefit woodland caribou, which became the first large mammal extirpated from the contiguous United States in recent history. The continental scale of forest alteration and extended time needed for forest recovery means that relying only on habitat protection and restoration will likely fail. Therefore, population management is also needed as an emergency measure to avoid further extirpation. Reductions of predators and overabundant prey, translocations, and creating safe havens have been applied in a design covering >90,000 km2. Combinations of treatments that increased multiple vital rates produced the highest population growth. Moreover, the degree of ecosystem alteration did not influence this pattern. By coordinating recovery involving scientists, governments, and First Nations, treatments were applied across vast scales to benefit this iconic species.

Link: https://www.pnas.org/content/116/13/6181

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