Nora Bynum

Linking Indigenous and Scientific Knowledge of Climate Change

We explore the connections among indigenous climate-related narratives, documented temperature changes, and climate change impact studies from the scientific literature. We then propose a framework for enhancing synthesis of these indigenous narratives of observed climate change with global assessments. Our aim is to contribute to the thoughtful and respectful integration of indigenous knowledge with scientific data and analysis, so that this rich body of knowledge can inform science and so that indigenous peoples can use the tools and methods of science for the benefit of their communities if they choose to do so. Improving ways of understanding such connections is critical as the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Fifth Assessment Report process proceeds.

Conservation challenges for the austral and neotropical America section.

The Austral and Neotropical America (ANA) section of the Society for Conservation Biology includes a vast territory with some of the largest relatively pristine ecosystems in the world. With more than 573 million people, the economic growth of the region still depends strongly on natural resource exploitation and still has high rates of environmental degradation and biodiversity loss. A survey among the ANA section membership, with more than 700 members, including most of the sections prominent ecologists and conservationists, indicates that lack of capacity building for conservation, corruption, and threats such as deforestation and illegal trade of species, are among the most urgent problems that need to be addressed to improve conservation in the region. There are, however, strong universities and ecology groups taking the lead in environmental research and conservation, a most important issue to enhance the ability of the region to solve conservation and development conflicts.

Current status of the habitat and population of the black howler monkey (Alouatta pigra) in Balancán, Tabasco, Mexico

We evaluated the habitat and populations of the black howler monkey (Alouatta pigra) in the municipality of Balancán, Tabasco, southeastern Mexico, using a combination of field surveys and remotely sensed data. We identified 21,937 ha of remnant vegetation composed of 1,348 fragments. Fragments separated by up to 200 m were grouped into “clusters” of fragments in accordance with the maximum observed open distance crossed by A. pigra. A total of 11% or 84 of the 772 clusters identified through remote sensing were selected at random, and for these we determined the vegetation type, canopy height, area, and distance to the closest human settlement. In these same 84 clusters, which included a total area of 9,817 ha, from October to June of 2006 we located a total of 1,064 black howler monkeys, including 228 troops and 49 solitary monkeys. A. pigra was found in 62 (74.7%) of all clusters visited, with a cumulative area of 6,032 ha. Troops varied in size from 2 to 15 individuals (average 6.0±2.9 ind/troop). Adults were 67% (n=716) of detected individuals, whereas juveniles were 20.5% (n=218) and infants were 12.5% (n=133). We found black howlers to occur at an ecological density of 10.8 ind/km2, which is low in comparison with A. pigra in other fragmented and conserved sites. We found a statistically significant relationship between the area of clusters and the abundance of howler monkeys (r2=0.2, F=10.47, gl=3, P=0.002). In addition, the probability of finding A. pigra was greater in secondary vegetation, riparian vegetation, tropical dry forest, undisturbed tropical oak forest, and palm forest (F=12, gl=3, P<0.0001), as compared with disturbed tropical oak forest. Our results provide data on the distribution, abundance, and population structure of black howler monkeys in a fragmented landscape in the southeast of Mexico. These data are a necessary prerequisite for conservation planning for this species. Am. J. Primatol. 70:1169–1176, 2008.

Availability of formal academic programs in conservation biology in Latin America.

Latin America (in our analysis, Brazil and the Spanish-speaking countries in Central and South America and the Caribbean, including Puerto Rico) holds a disproportionate fraction of the world’s biodiversity (Myers et al. 2000; Olson & Dinerstein 2002; Lamoreux et al. 2006). The region depends heavily on natural resource exploitation and has high rates of environmental degradation and biodiversity loss (WRI 2003; Hassan et al. 2005). Environmental challenges in Latin America are further complicated by a lack of conservation capacity-building opportunities that encompass many levels, audiences, and contexts (Bonine et al. 2003; Rodŕıguez et al. 2005, 2006; Chek et al. 2007). Despite long-standing educational initiatives in several Latin American countries, significant effort would be required to match the supply of formal conservation education in a country like the United States (Rodŕıguez et al. 2005). Here we present an assessment of formal programs in conservation biology, including graduate and undergraduate degree programs focused primarily on conservation and conservationrelated classes in broader biology or environmental sciences curricula. Our goals were twofold. First, we sought to provide a current database

Biocultural approaches to well-being and sustainability indicators across scales

Monitoring and evaluation are central to ensuring that innovative, multi-scale, and interdisciplinary approaches to sustainability are effective. The development of relevant indicators for local sustainable management outcomes, and the ability to link these to broader national and international policy targets, are key challenges for resource managers, policymakers, and scientists. Sets of indicators that capture both ecological and social-cultural factors, and the feedbacks between them, can underpin cross-scale linkages that help bridge local and global scale initiatives to increase resilience of both humans and ecosystems. Here we argue that biocultural approaches, in combination with methods for synthesizing across evidence from multiple sources, are critical to developing metrics that facilitate linkages across scales and dimensions. Biocultural approaches explicitly start with and build on local cultural perspectives — encompassing values, knowledges, and needs — and recognize feedbacks between ecosystems and human well-being. Adoption of these approaches can encourage exchange between local and global actors, and facilitate identification of crucial problems and solutions that are missing from many regional and international framings of sustainability. Resource managers, scientists, and policymakers need to be thoughtful about not only what kinds of indicators are measured, but also how indicators are designed, implemented, measured, and ultimately combined to evaluate resource use and well-being. We conclude by providing suggestions for translating between local and global indicator efforts.Biocultural approaches combining local values, knowledge, and needs with global ecological factors provide a fruitful indicator framework for assessing local and global well-being and sustainability, and help bridge the divide between them.

Population status and identification of potential habitats for the conservation of the Endangered black howler monkey Alouatta pigra in northern Chiapas, Mexico

In the Mexican state of Chiapas the rainforest has been cleared, to make way for crops and extensive cattle ranching, at an annual rate of 12.4% since 2002. The conservation status of the Endangered black howler monkey Alouatta pigra in these fragmented landscapes in north-eastern Chiapas has not previously been examined. We therefore surveyed A. pigra populations in the municipality of Playas de Catazaja during 2004–2006 to obtain population and habitat data for this species in 115 fragments of remnant vegetation. A geographical information system was used to determine the variables (fragment size, and distances to the nearest fragment, human settlement and water body) that could be used to generate an index of habitat potential for A. pigra . We estimated a population of 659 individuals and a mean troop size of 5.0 ± SE 2.3. The adult male : female ratio was 1 : 1.4, the adult female : juvenile ratio 1 : 0.6 and adult female : immature ratio 1 : 0.8. The index of habitat potential indicates that 12% of the fragments have a high conservation potential for A. pigra . This index is a valuable tool for evaluating the conservation status of this species and its habitat, and can be expanded to include additional variables, thus allowing for a more comprehensive assessment.

Building Capacity for Protected Area Management in Lao PDR

Abstract Declining biodiversity in protected areas in Laos is attributed to unsustainable exploitation of natural resources. At a basic level, an important need is to develop capacity in academic and professional training institutions to provide relevant training to conservation professionals. The paper (a) describes the capacity building approach undertaken to achieve this goal, (b) evaluates the effectiveness of the approach in building capacity for implementing conservation and (c) reviews implementation outcomes. Strong linkages between organizations implementing field conservation, professional training institutions, and relevant Government agencies are central to enhancing effectiveness of capacity building initiatives aimed at improving the practice of conservation. Protected area management technical capacity needs will need to directly influence curriculum design to insure both relevance and effectiveness of training in improving protected area management. Sustainability of capacity building initiatives is largely dependent on the level of interest and commitment by host-country institutions within a supportive Government policy framework in addition to engagement of organizations implementing conservation.

Increasing the diversity of U.S. conservation science professionals via the Society for Conservation Biology.

MICHAEL J. FOSTER,∗ § MARY E. BLAIR,∗ †† CHANDA BENNETT,∗† NORA BYNUM,∗‡ AND ELEANOR J. STERLING∗ ∗Center for Biodiversity and Conservation, American Museum of Natural History, Central Park West at 79th Street, New York, NY 10024, U.S.A. †New York Aquarium, 602 Surf Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11224, U.S.A. ‡Office of Global Strategy and Programs, Duke University, Box 90036, 101 Allen Bldg, Durham, NC 27708, U.S.A.