Thor Hanson

Warfare in biodiversity hotspots

Conservation efforts are only as sustainable as the social and political context within which they take place. The weakening or collapse of sociopolitical frameworks during wartime can lead to habitat destruction and the erosion of conservation policies, but in some cases, may also confer ecological benefits through altered settlement patterns and reduced resource exploitation. Over 90% of the major armed conflicts between 1950 and 2000 occurred within countries containing biodiversity hotspots, and more than 80% took place directly within hotspot areas. Less than one-third of the 34 recognized hotspots escaped significant conflict during this period, and most suffered repeated episodes of violence. This pattern was remarkably consistent over these 5 decades. Evidence from the war-torn Eastern Afromontane hotspot suggests that biodiversity conservation is improved when international nongovernmental organizations support local protected area staff and remain engaged throughout the conflict. With biodiversity hotspots concentrated in politically volatile regions, the conservation community must maintain continuous involvement during periods of war, and biodiversity conservation should be incorporated into military, reconstruction, and humanitarian programs in the worlds conflict zones.

Pollen dispersal and genetic structure of the tropical tree Dipteryx panamensis in a fragmented Costa Rican landscape

In the face of widespread deforestation, the conservation of rainforest trees relies increasingly on their ability to maintain reproductive processes in fragmented landscapes. Here, we analysed nine microsatellite loci for 218 adults and 325 progeny of the tree Dipteryx panamensis in Costa Rica. Pollen dispersal distances, genetic diversity, genetic structure and spatial autocorrelation were determined for populations in four habitats: continuous forest, forest fragments, pastures adjacent to fragments and isolated pastures. We predicted longer but less frequent pollen movements among increasingly isolated trees. This pattern would lead to lower outcrossing rates for pasture trees, as well as lower genetic diversity and increased structure and spatial autocorrelation among their progeny. Results generally followed these expectations, with the shortest pollen dispersal among continuous forest trees (240 m), moderate distances for fragment (343 m) and adjacent pasture (317 m) populations, and distances of up to 2.3 km in isolated pastures (mean: 557 m). Variance around pollen dispersal estimates also increased with fragmentation, suggesting altered pollination conditions. Outcrossing rates were lower for pasture trees and we found greater spatial autocorrelation and genetic structure among their progeny, as well as a trend towards lower heterozygosity. Paternal reproductive dominance, the pollen contributions from individual fathers, did not vary among habitats, but we did document asymmetric pollen flow between pasture and adjacent fragment populations. We conclude that long‐distance pollen dispersal helps maintain gene flow for D. panamensis in this fragmented landscape, but pasture and isolated pasture populations are still at risk of long‐term genetic erosion.

Reconciling Social and Biological Needs in an Endangered Ecosystem: the Palouse as a Model for Bioregional Planning

The Palouse region of southeastern Washington State and an adjacent portion of northern Idaho is a working landscape dominated by agricultural production, with less than 1% of the original bunchgrass prairie remaining. Government agencies and conservation groups have begun efforts to conserve Palouse prairie remnants, but they lack critical information about attitudes and perceptions among local landowners toward biological conservation. Knowledge about the location and condition of native biological communities also remains sparse. Using a bioregional approach, we integrated data collected through biological surveys and social interviews to investigate relationships between biologically and socially meaningful aspects of the landscape. We combined GIS layers of participant-identified meaningful places with maps of native biological communities to identify the overlap between these data sets. We used these maps and interview narratives to interpret how stakeholder perceptions of the landscape corresponded with patterns of native biodiversity. We found several prominent landscape features on the Palouse that supported diverse biological communities and were important to stakeholders for multiple reasons. These places may be expedient focal points for conservation efforts. However, the many small prairie remnants on the Palouse, although ecologically important, were mostly unidentified by participants in this study and thus warrant a different conservation approach. These findings will assist government agencies and conservation groups in crafting conservation strategies that consider stakeholder perceptions and their connection with the Palouse landscape. This study also demonstrates how GIS tools can link biological and social data sets to aid conservation efforts on private land.

Conventional and genetic measures of seed dispersal for Dipteryx panamensis (Fabaceae) in continuous and fragmented Costa Rican rain forest

The effects of habitat fragmentation on seed dispersal can strongly influence the evolutionary potential of tropical forest plant communities. Few studies have combined traditional methods and molecular tools for the analysis of dispersal in fragmented landscapes. Here seed dispersal distances were documented for the tree Dipteryx panamensis in continuous forest and two forest fragments in Costa Rica, Central America. Distance matrices were calculated between adult trees (n = 283) and the locations of seeds (n = 3016) encountered along 100 × 4-m transects (n = 77). There was no significant difference in the density of seeds dispersed > 25 m from the nearest adult (n = 253) among sites. There was a strong correlation between the locations of dispersed seeds and the locations of overstorey palms favoured as bat feeding roosts in continuous forest and both fragments. Exact dispersal distances were determined for a subset of seeds (n = 14) from which maternal endocarp DNA could be extracted and matched to maternal trees using microsatellite analysis. Dispersal within fragments and from pasture trees into adjacent fragments was documented, at a maximum distance of 853 m. Results show no evidence of a fragmentation effect on D. panamensis seed dispersal in this landscape and strongly suggest bat-mediated dispersal at all sites.

PERMANENT GENETIC RESOURCES: Characterization of microsatellite markers for the almendro (Dipteryx panamensis), a tetraploid rainforest tree.

The almendro (Dipteryx panamensis, Fabaceae) is a tetraploid tree native to the Atlantic lowland rainforests of Central America. We present nine microsatellite primer pairs amplified in three multiplexed reactions for 549 individuals from four sites in Costa Rica. All loci were polymorphic, ranging from three to 13 alleles per locus. Expected heterozygosity was estimated with the program tetrasat, and ranged from 0.21 to 0.74 across loci. These markers will be used for estimating pollen dispersal, seed dispersal, genetic structure and genetic diversity in fragmented landscapes.

Introduction: A New Synthesis

As the violent twentieth century recedes into history and the twenty-first century begins its second decade, war – and its costs and consequences – remain a central feature of Homo sapiens’ relationship to the environment. Worldwide, military expenditures surged to an all-time high in 2009 [19], despite a deep global recession and a drop in the number of active conflicts [5]. Though analysts had predicted substantial peace dividends following the end of the Cold War, this new peak capped a long and steady trend. In the first decade of the twenty-first century, global military spending rose nearly 50% [19]. When researchers ask what the world is arming for, one dominant thread makes the subject of this book both timely and urgent.

The broad view of warfare ecology: response to Marler

Marler (2013) suggested replacing the established term ‘warfare ecology’ with the term ’military ecology’. We appreciate the desire for accuracy and inclusiveness in describing this emerging and important sub-discipline. Similar intent led us to choose the term ‘warfare’, which by definition involves the entire process of waging war (Collins 2011). Warfare ecology therefore encompasses a broad range of war-related activities and consequences during preparations for war (such as training, munitions development and testing), during war itself (for example battlefield effects and population displacement), and during the post-war period (for example reconstruction and recovery) (Machlis & Hanson 2008). Marler (2013) mistakenly interprets warfare as a synonym for war, a state of armed conflict, neglecting the term’s much broader temporal and topical relevance. In suggesting ’military‘ as a replacement, Marler (2013) proposes a term limited to the activities of the armed forces (Collins 2011), an important but by no means comprehensive component of warfare. By definition and necessity, warfare ecology reaches beyond the realm of the military to involve a much wider range of processes and stakeholders, including nonstate parties and insurgencies, contractors, home front and war zone civilians, humanitarian and relief organizations (organizationally separate from military institutions), and reconstruction/restoration efforts. We are encouraged by the fact that practitioners have adopted this term in a diverse range of disciplines, including geography (Francis 2011; Hesse 2014), civil engineering (Stenuit & Agathos 2010), remote sensing (Gorsevski et al. 2012; Griffiths et al. 2012), conservation biology (Hanson et al. 2009; Jenni et al. 2012; Johnson et al. 2012), forestry (Boissiere et al. 2011), restoration ecology (Tidball & Krasny 2014), and public health (Leaning 2011). These examples include research that fits easily under the rubric of warfare ecology (such as postconflict conservation planning), but that would be excluded if the field were limited to military studies. Maintaining a broad definition keeps the focus on the shared goals of warfare ecology, namely understanding the complex relationships between warfare and ecosystems to reduce environmental harm, reduce human suffering, and promote peace and security.