Examples of capacity
building program:
Biodiversity Research
Center
Pavel Kindlmann, coordinator
Department of Theoretical Ecology
Institute of Systems Biology and Ecology
České Budějovice, Czech Republic
Biodiversity Research Center
• one of the Centers of Excellence
• financed by the Czech Ministry of Education
• unifying top groups working on biodiversity in the CR
• duration: 2006-2010 (2011?)
• total budget ~ 70 millions CZK
Biodiversity Research Center
Academy of Sciences:
1. Institute of Systems Biology and Ecology (coordinator)
2. Institute of Entomology
3. Institute of Botany
4. Institute of Vertebrate Biology
5. Institute of Animal Physiology and Genetics
Universities:
1. Charles University, Prague
2. Masaryk University, Brno
3. University of South Bohemia, CB
Biodiversity Research Center
(ISBE group – Dept. Theor. Ecol.)
• Pavel Kindlmann
• Jana Jersáková
• Adriana Rico (Bolivia)
PhD students:
• Iva Schödelbauerová
• Kateřina Kintrová
• Olga Ameixa (Portugal)
• Bishnu Bhattarai (Nepal)
• Prakash Kumar Paudel (Nepal)
• Tamara Malinová
Rollandia microptera Conservation Program
• non-flying species
• freshwater lakes
• endemic to altiplano of Peru & Bolivia
• individuals nest along the coastal areas
• nests in Schoenoplectus californianus totora
• many birds, (esp. juveniles), killed in fishermen nets
• numbers of birds decline
Conservation issues:
• Decline really caused by nets?
• Would quotas, complete ban help?
Rollandia microptera Conservation Program
Data available:
• population stage structure (chicks, juveniles, adults)
• 4 censuses
• 24 sites
• fishing intensity (# nets, # fishing days)
• mesh size used
Analyses to be done:
• Leslie matrix model: growth rate, elasticity analyses
• growth rate x fishing intensity, mesh size
0
AÑOS
2008
2007
2006
2005
2004
2004
2003
2002
2001
2000
1999
1999
1998
1997
1996
1995
1994
1994
1993
1992
1991
1990
1989
1989
1988
1987
1986
1985
1984
1984
1983
1982
1981
1980
1979
1979
1978
1977
1976
1975
1974
1974
Nivel (cm)
Rollandia microptera Conservation Program
Lake depth
Area & density of totorales
800
700
600
500
400
300
200
100
=> Prediction of core totorales areas
Anairetes alpinus Conservation Program
• confined to the remnants of the Polylepis forests
• highest altitudes of the Cordilleras
• occurs locally in the high Andes of Peru and Bolivia
• habitat severely fragmented
• undergoing a continuing decline
(extent, area, and quality)
Threats:
• heavy grazing
• uncontrolled use of fire
• cutting for timber, firewood
Anairetes alpinus Conservation Program
Data available:
• GPS coordinates of the sites
• numbers of individuals
• site areas
• % Polylepis in the forests
• altitude
• metapopulation structure
Analyses to be done:
• numbers dependent on - ?
• patch connectivity
• forest size
• Polylepis numbers
• water closeness
Orchid Biodiversity Conservation Program
Number of orchid species
10000
0.3118
1000
y = 21.209x
2
R = 0.478
Bolivia
100
10
1
100
tropical
Ecuador
Costa Rica
temperate
0.3713
y = 0.5508x
2
R = 0.3834
1000
10000
100000
1000000
10000000
2
Country size (km )
• reproductive success in Masdevalia
• species-area relationships
• is the distribution uniform
within the forest?
Orchid Biodiversity Conservation Program - global
Field data:
•
•
•
100 transects
100 randomly selected trees per transect
presence-absence
Outputs:
•
•
•
Species-abundance
Species-area
Comparison of species diversities
Regions:
•
•
•
•
Chitwan, Nepal
Annapurna region, Nepal
Yungas, Bolivia
others …
Orchid Biodiversity Conservation Program
ln(number of species)
ln(S)
Residuals:
Africa
2
R = 0.347
2
1.5
1
0.5
Sudan
0
-0.5
-1.5
4
3
2
Eastern Karnataka
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
0
10
20
30
Bolivia
y = 0.5508x0.3713
R2 = 0.3834
10000
100000
2
Country size (km )
60
70
1000000
Whole world
Whole America
temperate
1000
50
tropical
Ecuador
Costa Rica
100
40
latitude
10000000
7
y = -0.0705x + 5.6572
7
6
R2 = 0.7678
6
ln(S) - b*ln(A) _
0.3118
y = 21.209x
2
R = 0.478
ln(S) - b*ln(A) _
Number of orchid species
R2 = 0.6803
absolute latitude
10000
1
100
y = -0.0663x + 5.619
5
1
Somalia
-1
0
10
6
y = -0.0453x + 2.2714
2.5
ln(S) - b*ln(A) _
ln(S) - b*ln(A) _
3
ln(area), ln(A)
1000
Eurasia
5
Argentina
4
Paraguay
3
2
Uruguay
Chile
1
y = -0.0501x + 4.9236
R2 = 0.4356
5
4
3
2
1
0
Etiopia
-2
0
10
20
30
40
absolute latitude
50
60
Morocco
Sudan
Somalia
-1
0
Eastern Karnataka
0
10
20
30
40
absolute latitude
50
60
70
Puya raimondii Conservation Program
• largest bromeliad
• 3 m tall in vegetative growth
• flower spike 9-10 m tall
• endemic species of the zone altoandina
• Peru and Bolivia
• altitude of 3200 - 4800 m
• blooms once after 80-150 years of growing
then it dies
• only 28 years to flower from seed
(California-Berkeley Bot. Garden)
Puya raimondii Conservation Program
Data available:
Biometric measurements
(2 censuses):
• width
• height
• grazing
• fire
• neighboring plants
Puya raimondii Conservation Program
Analyses to be done:
4
y = 0.87x + 0.24
R2 = 0.77
Year x+1
3.5
3
2.5
2
1.5
1
0.5
0
0.00
1.00
2.00
3.00
4.00
Year x
grazing
0.2
0.1
0
0
1
2
-0.1
Effects of:
-0.2
-0.3
• grazing
• fire
• neighboring plants
Minimum flowering size = ?
3
4
no
yes
Tiger Conservation Program (Chitwan NP)
tiger x ungulates
predator-prey system: driven by what?
• trophic relations?
• territoriality?
Hypotheses:
1.
Change in ungulate community has a direct impact on tiger population
dynamics.
2.
The predator’s diet reflects the relative abundances of individual prey
species.
3.
Tiger numbers have a direct impact on their prey community.
4.
Tiger resorts to livestock (or even human) killing, if its usual prey is too
scarce.
Tiger Conservation Program (Chitwan NP)
Experience from the cooperation with local researchers:
• Taxonomic knowledge usually good
• Problems with interpretation, data analysis, sensible data
collection
~ 1 dcl
Groups:
• Czechia, Poland, Lithuania
• Germany 1, France, Sweden
Determined by the Czech group:
• The Netherlands, Ireland,
Spain, Germany 2
Taxonomists lacking in the West!
Effect of communist Czechoslovakia
• Sample size large:
(32 caged +32 uncaged
plots) * 6 countries
2
1.5
• Explanation – mesh size (8
mm) too large!
1
0.5
• Why not tested?
Treatment
Average
no cage
Average
cage
-F-G
-F
-G
0
Control
Average number of flying
predators
Cages do not exclude the predators at all!
• Pest control by natural
enemies - seductive idea
• Too much time spent in
front of the screen at the
expense of field work
Return from computers back to nature!
• Need to educate young taxonomists
• Need to bring them closer to nature
• Western Europe – processes
• Central & Eastern Europe – taxonomy
• Some training center for young taxonomists?
• Regular conferences, meetings, field courses,
PhD students supervision?
Castle in Nove Hrady – a possible venue for something like
International Centre for Theoretical and Conservation Biology?
Lecture rooms…
Offices…
Accommodation…
Nature around…
Upcoming events:
• 2010 – Conservation ecology course (R. Primack et al.)
• 2011 – International Congress on Orchid Conservation
Other possible events:
• Taxonomic summer school every 2 years
• Conservation ecology courses – field courses combined with
theory
• Population ecology courses
Big question – money…
• Premises available (Nove Hrady and others)
• Running costs – long term support – needed
Possible sources:
• RTN?
• Marie Curie?
• European commission?
• Anything else??
Thank you!