WWF - Ecoregions - Landscape Ecology and Conservation

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Ecoregions

Landscape Ecology and Conservation

Large-scale conservation planning efforts at WWF and throughout the wider conservation community have identified priority areas - regions with particular biological importance - for conservation investment. Within WWF's ecoregion programs, such priority areas - often referred to as landscapes or seascapes - are identified in the ecoregion's biodiversity vision. Once defined, the next important step is to develop cost-effective, spatially-explicit strategies that meet the ecological needs of wildlife and habitats while minimizing human-wildlife conflicts and maximizing benefits to resident populations. To assist in this effort the CSP has taken the lead in developing a landscape guide to assist practitioners in the field design a conservation landscape and implementing conservation strategies. This guide, From the Vision to the Ground (PDF Format, 2.99M), will help practitioners find answers to many of the questions threatening species and habitat conservation around the world.

To further assist WWF field staff and conservation partners, we've collected a set of resources and examples on many facets of landscape planning. They include:

Web site links to biological data, planning tools, satellite imagery, & organizations
Papers and resources
on conservation design and landscape ecology

Web sites

An important part of any planning process is the acquisition of data, resources, or finding answers to questions. We've attempted to compile a brief listing of Web sites, documents, and persons, which may help in the development of a conservation landscape.

Species & General Biodiversity Information

IUCN Red List of threatened species
Contains information on taxonomy, conservation status, and distribution.
Animal Information Gateway
Gateway to a variety of animal species information, threat status, distribution, and links to more specific species websites.
IUCN Species Survival Commission
Site contains general information on species, contacts for SSC specialist groups, and links to other SSC Web sites.
Expert Center for Taxonomic Identification
Site contains World Biodiversity Database with information on taxonomy and general information. Also contains World Taxonomist database, separated by specialization. Partly funded by UNESCO.
Smithsonian's Mammal Species of the World
Useful for taxonomy and literature citations.
Tiger Information Center
Site contains detailed information on tigers.
European Molecular Biology Laboratory reptile database Contains taxonomic and distribution information.
Amphibian Species of the World
The American Museum of Natural History site contains taxonomic and general distribution information.
AmphibiaWeb
UC Berkeley site contains information on amphibian biology and conservation. Interactive map-driven database of all Ramsar sites, with information provided on each.
NatureServe
Site that provide range of biodiversity information for North America, Latin America, and the Caribbean.
Woods Hole Research Center
Site dedicated to conservation in Amazonia; contains large amount of datasets that can be downloaded.
Gateway for information on U.S. efforts on invasive species
Primarily focused on United States, but contains some international databases.
FishBase
A global information system on fishes, including taxonomy, and some distribution information.
Reefbase
Contains information system on coral reefs.
LakeNet
Site contains a vast array of information on lakes and freshwater systems.
UNEP-WCMC world database on protected areas
Contains summary information for protected areas, and searchable database.
The Global Register Of Migratory Species
Information on migratory species.

Satellite Imagery

Landsat:
- http://glcf.umiacs.umd.edu/index.shtml (free data; global extent)
- https://lpdaac.usgs.gov/ (global extent)
- http://www.bsrsi.msu.edu/ (North America and tropical areas)
SPOT
MODIS
ASTER
Landsat & ASTER imagery search
Turner, W. et al. 2003. Remote sensing for biodiversity science and conservation. TRENDS in Ecology and Evolution. Vol 18(6): 306-314.

Decision Support Systems - Planning Tools

SITES: Marxan (marine applications) & Spexan (terrestrial applications)
- Marxan
- Spexan
C-PLAN
IDRISI
WORLDMAP
GeoNetWeaver (PDF)

Socio-economic Sources

Organizations

Conservation Planning Documents

Angelstam et al. 2002. - Boreal forest biodiversity planning
Bray et al. 2003. Conservation Biology 17(3): 672-677
Community Conservation Coalition - CD-based resource kit: Putting Biodiversity Conservation in Context: Social Science Tools for Practitioners
Groves, C.R. 2003. Drafting a Conservation Blueprint: A practitioners guide to planning for biodiversity. Island Press, Washington DC.
Groves et al. 2002. BioScience 52(6): 499-512.
Gutzwiller, K.J. 2002. Applying landscape ecology in biological conservation. Springer, New York, NY.
Margules and Pressey. 2000. Nature 405:243-253.
Poiani et al. 2000. BioScience 50(2): 133-146.
Salafsky et al. 2001. Adaptive Management: A tool for conservation practitioners
Sanderson et al. 2002. Landscape & Urban Planning 58: 41-56.
The Nature Conservancy - Geography of Hope
The Nature Conservancy - Enhanced 5S Framework for Site Conservation
Turner, W. et al. 2003. TRENDS in ecology and evolution 18(6): 306-314
Wildlife Conservation Society - Living Landscape documents
World Bank- Beyond Fences
WWF - Managing Large Conservation Programs guide
WWF - Terrestrial ERC Workbook
WWF - Freshwater ERC Sourcebook
WWF - Interactive CD on ecoregional planning
WWF - A guide to socio-economic assessments
WWF - Integrating Forest Protection, Management, and Restoration at a Landscape Scale
WWF- Stakeholder Collaboration: Building Bridges for Conservation
WWF - Assessing Root Causes; A user's guide