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Report to the Republic of Palau: 2008 update on Invasive Plant Species

Available Online

C. Space, James

LaRosa, Anne Marie

Lorence, David H.

In 2002, The Republic of Palau requested assistance from the US Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Institute of Pacific Islands Forestry, to conduct a survey of invasive plant species of environmental concern. A comprehensive survey of the entire country was conducted and a report of the findings was submitted to the Government of Palau in 20032. This superseded a more cursory survey of the major species of environmental concern conducted in 19983. The present survey was requested as a follow-up to the 2002 survey.

Cook Islands NCSA capacity development action plan and final report : National Capacity Self assessment for Global Environment Management

Environmental Governance

Available Online

National Environment Service

cook islands

Conservation and the delivery of ecosystem services : a literature review

Biodiversity Conservation, BRB

Available Online

McAlphine Kate G

Wotton Debra M

Ecosystem services are the benefits people obtain from ecosystems, such as clean air, fresh water, and the pollination of crops. The aim of this literature review was to find empirical data illustrating the ways in which conservation land and conservation management activities affect ecosystem services. The widely-held belief that natural ecosystemssuch as those found on conservation land in New Zealandprovide a range of ecosystem services is generally supported by the literature. International studies show that natural vegetation can decrease air pollution, regulate local air temperatures, improve water quality, reduce shallow soil erosion, and retain natural nutrient cycles. It can also be beneficial for pest control and pollination on agricultural land. Wetlands can improve water quality and can play a role in drought and flood mitigation. Seagrasses, saltmarsh vegetation, and mangroves can reduce the height and force of waves and play a role in flood protection. In addition, maintaining biodiversity preserves genetic libraries and future options for discoveries of valuable biological compounds. The few studies investigating the effects of conservation management activities on ecosystem services indicate that restoring vegetation can improve water quality and water storage functions, can reverse soil degradation on a local scale, and can restore plant-insect interactions. Additionally, removing some invasive plant species can increase water yield. Unfortunately, very few studies of ecosystem services have been conducted in New Zealand to date, and only some of the international results are likely to be applicable under New Zealand conditions. Accordingly, while conservation is probably beneficial for a range of ecosystem services in New Zealand, the scarcity of local data makes it difficult to ascertain where and when, and to what extent, the majority of those benefits transpire. Keywords: ecosystem services, air, climate, water, soil, pest control, disease regulation, pollination, natural hazard protection, nutrient cycling, fish stocks, biodiversity, conservation management, natural habitat, restoration.

The GBIF integrated publishing toolkit user manual

Available Online

Reveillon

Mainstreaming poverty-environment linkages into development planning: a handbook for practitioners. Mainstreaming poverty-environment linkages into development planning

Environmental Governance, Biodiversity Conservation

Available Online

UNDP-UNEP Poverty-Environment Initiative

The purpose of this handbook is to provide practical, step-by-step guidance on how governments and other national actors can mainstream poverty-environment linkages into national development planning. We here define poverty-environment mainstreaming as the iterative process of integrating poverty-environment linkages into policy making, budgeting and implementation processes at national, sector and subnational levels. It is a multi-year, multi-stakeholder effort grounded in the contribution of the environment to human well-being, pro-poor economic growth and achievement of the MDGs. It entails working with a range of government and non-governmental actors, and other actors in the development field.

Compilation of case-studies on the mainstreaming of biodiversity and integration of climate change in the Pacific region [presented at] Regional capacity development workshop for the Pacific region on National Biodiversity Strategies and Action plans, Mainstreaming of Biodiversity and Integration of Climate change, Nadi, Fiji, 2-6 February 2009

Climate Change Resilience, BRB

Available Online

UNEP/CBD

The Pacific region has benefited from a number of regional and national programmes to both assess the impacts of climate change on biodiversity and develop programmes to adapt to climate change. Such programmes are critical considering that the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) 1/ states that the Pacific region has already experienced temperature increases of as much as 1°C since 1910. Furthermore, studies found more than a doubling m the number of category 4 and 5 storms in the South-West Pacific from the period 1975-1989 to the period 1990-2004. Future predicted impacts of climate change in the Pacific call for increased beach erosion, a loss of sea-turtle nesting sites, more frequent coral-bleaching events, increased exposure to invasive alien species and increased cyclone-induced tree mortality and flooding.

Abundance and Home ranges of Feral Cats in an Urban Conservancy where there is Supplemental Feeding: a case study from South Africa

Biodiversity Conservation, BRB

Available Online

Downs, C.T.

Tennent, J.

There is much debate surrounding the impact of feral cats (Felis catus) on wildlife. Conservancies areusually areas where indigenous flora and fauna are protected and aliens excluded or managed. The University of KwaZulu-Natal’s Howard College campus (HCC) is an urban conservancy containing feral cats that are presently not managed, and little is known about their ecology and behaviour. Consequently a feral cat population census was conducted, and their home range investigated. Estimates of the overall campus feral cat population numbers ranged between 23.4–40.0 cats/km2 with a minimum of 55 identified as resident. They were not randomly distributed in the study area, with spacing patterns being related to resource availability. Home range area and core distribution of eight radio-collared cats were determined over 13 months. Total home range areas were relatively small, with considerable overlap between them. Home ranges were clustered in areas with permanent feeding stations and these were also within the cats’ core ranges. Supplemental food resources appear to have a major influence on numbers, home and core range area, and behavior of cats. It is clear that cat densities grow to high levels with reliable and abundant food supply and only ad hoc sterilization. This has implications for their management in the HCC urban conservancy.

Dietary shift of an invasive predator: rats, seabirds and sea turtles

Biodiversity Conservation, BRB

Available Online

Angulo, Elena

Caut, Stéphane

Courchamp, Franck

This article is a study on the dietary shift of black rats on Surprise Island, New Caledonia and their impact on the ecosystem in the presence and absence of breeding seabirds.

World of water wildlife guide. Vanuatu

Coleman, Neville

Vanuatu is made of a group of 80 rugged, volcanic islands which have been pushed up from the edge of the Pacific Rim.

Improving the breeding success of a colonial seabird: a cost-benefit comparison of the eradication and control of its rat predator

Available Online

Bretagnolle, Vincent.

Culioli, Jean-Michel.

Lorvelec, Olivier.

Pascal, Michel Pascal.

Breeding success of 5 Corys shearwater Calonectris diomedea sub-colonies of Lavezzu Island (Lavezzi Archipelago, Corsica) was checked annually for 25 consecutive years from 1979 to 2004. Between 1989 and 1994, 4 ship rat Rattus rattus controls were performed in several subcolonies. In November 2000, rats were eradicated from Lavezzu Island and its 16 peripheral islets (85 ha) using traps then toxic baits. We compare cost (number of person-hours required in the field) and benefit (Corys shearwater breeding success) of control and eradication. The average breeding success doubled when rats were controlled or eradicated (0.82) compared to the situation without rat management (0.45). Moreover, the average breeding success after eradication (0.86) was significantly (11%) higher than after rat controls (0.75). Furthermore, the great variation in breeding success recorded among sub-colonies both with and without rat control declined dramatically after eradication, suggesting that rats had a major impact on breeding success. The estimated effort needed to perform eradication and checking of the permanent bait-station system during the year following eradication was 1360 person-hours. In contrast, rat control was estimated to require 240 or 1440 person-hours per year when implemented by trained and untrained staff, respectively. Within 6 yr, eradication cost is lower than control cost performed by untrained staff and confers several ecological advantages on more ecosystem components than Corys shearwater alone. Improved eradication tools such as hand or aerial broadcasting of toxic baits instead of the fairly labour-intensive eradication strategy we used would dramatically increase the economic advantage of eradication vs. control. Therefore, when feasible, we recommend eradication rather than control of non-native rat populations. Nevertheless, control remains a useful management tool when eradication is not practicable.

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