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Dempsey, Jessica Anne. "Making markets, making biodiversity : understanding global biodiversity politics." Thesis, University of British Columbia, 2011. http://hdl.handle.net/2429/39284.
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Pricing and market exchange, we are now often told, are the only routes through which biological diversity can be saved. The objective of this dissertation is to examine the material-semiotic processes and networks by which a kind of ‘economized’, and even at times, ‘entrepreneurial nature’ comes to be. I ask: how did biodiversity become entangled in economic rationalities and market calculations? What are the circuits of knowledge and power producing biodiversity in this way? What calculative devices, methodologies and policies are created, or envisioned as necessary to make biodiversity conservation economic? And what are the implications, especially for the kinds of nature produced? To answer these questions, I study several ‘circuits of power and knowledge’ through which biodiversity is rendered visible, legible and especially economically calculable within global environmental governance. Not taking the subject of my thesis for granted, I begin by examining the rise of biodiversity in the 1980s, and its entanglements in notions of human security and as a source of exchange value, especially for biotechnology related applications. With this foundation, I go on to examine the Beijer Institute biodiversity programme, where, in the early 1990s, leading economists and ecologists met and developed a consensus on ‘the problem of biodiversity’, a consensus that is steeped in economic rationalities and methodologies. The rest of the dissertation focuses on very contemporary ‘circuits’ wherein ecologists, economists, NGOs, international institutions, and private firms attempt to render biodiversity economic, and, in some cases, profitable. This includes an examination of the rise of ecosystem service frameworks and models focused on weighing ‘trade-offs’ between different environmental management policies, attempts to produce biodiversity loss as a ‘material risk’ (meaning impacts on the bottom line calculations of firms), debates over how to make biodiversity markets, and intergovernmental negotiations focused on developing regulated market-like mechanisms that could finally achieve ‘green development’. In each of these cases I focus on how biodiversity is made visible and legible for governance, which means focusing on the conceptual apparatus, but also the calculative devices that quantify and value biodiversity and ecosystem changes.
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Lindberg, Mattias. "Responsibility and Biodiversity: Analyzing the EU 2020 Biodiversity Strategy." Thesis, Malmö universitet, Fakulteten för kultur och samhälle (KS), 2019. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:mau:diva-21457.
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Europeiska Unionens strategi för biologisk mångfald 2020, har snart avklarats, och tiden är inne för att bedöma strategins styrkor och svagheter. Allt som nedbrytningen av ekosystem och förlust av biologisk mångfald fortsätter att öka, är betydelsen av den politiska beslutsprocessen och politikers tillvägagångsätt mot ett hållbart utnyttjande av ekosystemtjänster större än någonsin tidigare. Med sex huvudmål och 20 åtgärder för att nå dessa mål, analyserar denna studien innebörden och kontexten av dessa åtgärder för att se hur ansvar i förhållande till tillvägagångssätt har en inverkan på åtgärdens samt strategins produktivitet. En modell skapades för att visa de specifika koderna, och relationen mellan tillvägagångsätt (direkt och indirekt ansvar) och produktivitet.The European Union biodiversity strategy 2020 has soon run its course, and it is time to start assessing its success as well as its weaknesses. As the degradation of ecosystems and loss of biodiversity continues to speed up, the importance of political governance and policy makers’ approaches toward a sustainable use of ecosystem services, and loss of the loss of biodiversity, is greater than ever. With six targets and 20 actions to reach these goals, this study analyzes their content and context to see if responsibility, with regards to approach, has an impact on the productivity of the action, and the strategy. This has led to the creation of a model, mapping the actions and specific codes in an effort to find a relationship between the approach (direct and indirect responsibility) and productivity.
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Mackey, Robin L. "Disturbance and biodiversity." Thesis, National Library of Canada = Bibliothèque nationale du Canada, 2001. http://www.collectionscanada.ca/obj/s4/f2/dsk3/ftp05/NQ66170.pdf.
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Gotoh, Mari. "Biodiversity in biomembranes." Université Louis Pasteur (Strasbourg) (1971-2008), 2006. https://publication-theses.unistra.fr/public/theses_doctorat/2006/GOTOH_Mari_2006.pdf.
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Tous les organismes vivant sont fait de cellules qui sont séparés du monde extérieur par une barrière, la membrane cellulaire. Un nombre important de protéine contrôle la fonction cellulaire en interagissant avec les stimuli extracellulaires. Cependant, les fonctions et structures des molécules de la membrane cellulaire tel que les lipides et les sucres ne sont toujours pas entièrement déterminées. Du point de vue de la biodiversité, quelques propriétés des biomembranes ont été étudiées sous deux aspects différents. (1) les phosphates de polyprényles ramifiés Plusieurs composés polyterpanique ont été abondamment trouvés dans les sédiments, et de telles structures auraient pour origine des alcools ou des phospholipides. Bien qu’ils n’aient toujours pas été trouvés dans les biomembranes actuelles, les phosphates de polyprényle ramifié auraient pu exister dans les membranes primitives. Plusieurs phosphates de polyprényle ramifié ont été synthétisés et nous avons effectué les études physico-chimiques de leurs propriétés membranaires. Les études microscopiques ont montré que les phosphates de polyprényle ramifié forment des vésicules en fonction du pH. Afin d’évaluer la perméabilité membranaire à l’eau de ces membranes, le gonflement osmotique d’une suspension unilamellaire de vésicules a été mesuré par la méthode de la diffusion de la lumière en flux à écoulement bloqué. Nous avons montré que la perméabilité à l’eau dépend étroitement de la structure et de la longueur de chaîne. Ces observations suggèrent que les phosphates de polyprényle ramifié pourraient être des constituants membranaires primitifs des membranes cellulaires. (2) Cholestérol phosphorylé Les membranes des vertébrés sont constitués de deux sortes de lipides : les constituants membranaires phosphorylés et les renforçateurs membranaires non phosphorylés comme le cholestérol. Pourquoi le cholestérol n’a pas été phosphorylé au cours de l’évolution des membranes ? Les membranes composées de diacylglycérol non phosphorylé et de cholestérol phosphorylé existent-elles ? Afin de répondre à ces questions, le cholestérol phosphocholine (CPC) a été synthétisé et ses propriétés physico-chimiques membranaires étudiées. Nous avons observé la formation de vésicules stables par microscopie optique d’un mélange approprié de CPC et de diacylglycérol à différents pH. Cependant, le rapport molaire entre le phospholipide et l’alcool permettant la formation de vésicules est plus étroit pour le mélange CPC/diacylglycérol que pour le mélange diacylglycérophospholipide/cholestérol. De plus, la perméabilité à l’eau des vésicules d’un mélange de CPC et de diacylglycérol dans un rapport molaire 1 : 1 est plus élevé que le mélange de diacylglycérophospholipide et de cholestérol dans le même rapport molaire 1 : 1. Les membranes des organismes vivants ont des propriétés d’adaptation à différents environnements contribuant ainsi à l’extension de la biodiversité. Ces résultats suggèrent donc que le cholestérol phosphorylés pourrait être présent dans les membranes de certains organismes qui n’ont pas encore été étudiés. (3) Des membranes « primitives » vers les proto-cellules Un processus d'évolution possible de vésicules formées par des constituants membranaires « primitifs » est le recouvrement de la membrane externe par un assemblage moléculaire pouvant former un « mur ». En premier lieu, nous avons montré que le phytyl-pullulan pouvait recouvrir les vésicules de lipides à double chaînes (2,3-diphytanyl-sn-glycero-1-phosphocholine (DphPC), 1-palmitoyl-2-oleoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (POPC)). Le cholestéryl-pullulan recouvre les lipides à double chaîne mais pas les lipides à une seule chaîne. Un mécanisme de sélection existe probablement entre la taille et la forme des constituants membranaires et les molécules hydrophobiques à insérer. Ensuite, l’utilisation des polysaccharides hydrophobes a permis la reconnaissance moléculaire entre les lectines et les polysaccharides sur la surface de vésicules géantes, ceci fournit un exemple de la complexification des membranes primitives vers les « proto-cellules ». (4) Fonction des membranes cellulaires. Les annexines sont une famille des protéines qui se lient aux phospholipides et aux carbohydrates. Dans cette étude, les propriétés immunologiques et les effets de l’annexines sur les bactéries Gram-positive dans le système immunitaire ont été étudiés. Premièrement, l’interaction des annexines avec l’acide lipotéichoique, localisé sur la surface des bactéries Gram-positive, de Staphylococcus aureus (bactérie Gram-positive) a été observée. Deuxièmement, les effets de l’annexines sur l’attachement des macrophages et des bactéries Gram-positive ont été examinés. Les résultats ont montré que les annexines supprimaient l’attachement de Staphylococcus aureus sur les macrophages humains. Cette découverte suggère que les annexines peuvent agir comme protéine anti-inflammatoire au niveau cellulaire en bloquant la voie d’interaction entre les cellules immunitaires et leurs cibles.
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Gotoh, Mari Nakatani Yoichi Matsumoto I. "Biodiversity in biomembranes." Strasbourg : Université Louis Pasteur, 2006. http://eprints-scd-ulp.u-strasbg.fr:8080/558/01/GOTOH2006.pdf.
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Cousins, Leslie J. "Biodiversity assessment : moving towards an evidence-based index for biodiversity offsetting." Thesis, University of Essex, 2016. http://repository.essex.ac.uk/16676/.
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Biodiversity offsetting is a mechanism for providing physical compensation to redress losses to species and habitats caused by development projects. As offsetting becomes more widespread, so has the evolution and development of frameworks, tools and methodological approaches for assessing biodiversity and implementing offsets. In this context and with a specific focus on assessment methodology this research takes a scientific and pragmatic approach to bridge the gap between empirical approaches to biodiversity assessment and the practical, often subjective, methods used by practitioners. Although commonalities among methodologies exist, systematically reviewing the state of the art, revealed a complicated situation which would benefit from methodological standardisation. The challenge of determining which components of biodiversity should be assessed by a standardised approach was informed with data gained through a survey that questioned biodiversity practitioners on which criteria and attributes they considered the most important indicators of biodiversity value. Results of an extensive field study of three habitat types are reported and the new data are employed; (a) to examine the sensitivity of a metric proposed for pilot offsets in England, and (b) to develop a novel multi-metric index with potential for wide use in biodiversity offsetting. From an array of forty five metrics a reduced index was produced which conveys information from measurements pertaining to four important biodiversity components. The new index is objective, relatively quick to produce, replicable and scientifically defensible. Compatible with existing frameworks the new index comprises information practitioners would expect to see i.e. biodiversity data (beta-diversity), temporal risk, (time to maturity) habitat rarity and structural connectivity. It can reliably provide a measure of value to biodiversity, inform spatial planning decisions, generate data for monitoring and aid the comparison of two or more sites of similar habitat. In concluding, the thesis discusses practical limitations of the index and, more generally, limitations for biodiversity offsetting.
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Goaied, Amna, and Christian Sjöland. "Biodiversity and Business : Multiple Case-Studies on Biodiversity Strategy in Sweden." Thesis, Umeå universitet, Företagsekonomi, 2019. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:umu:diva-160476.
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Biodiversity loss has been stated as one of the greatest risks for the future society according to the World Economic Forum (2018, p. 5). A million species is risking extinction due to current societies’ practices according to a report published during the conduction of this study(Brondizio et al., 2019, p. 3). This situation of biodiversity has led an increasing amount of countries to enforce legislation which requires companies that work with land development to comply with no net loss goal. In Sweden, no such legislation existed with regards to biodiversity. Against this background, a group of seven companies in Sweden voluntarily chose to strive toward the goal of biodiversity net gain. According to BNG strategy, a company does not only avoid, minimise, restore and offset to reach the point where zero net loss of biodiversity is achieved, but goes farther to create a net gain. As it is not sufficient for companies to stop emissions in order to halt the loss of biodiversity, BNG practices can help mend and even reverse the negative impacts until a gain of biodiversity is attained. A greater understanding of the opportunities that companies can benefit from implementing BNG helps spread this practice across industries. No previous research within the business literature explains companies’ voluntary initiatives to embrace BNG. Therefore, this explorative study suggested the research question of what the drivers are encouraging companies to voluntarily work towards achieving biodiversity-net-gain in Sweden. Due to the lack of previous research about companies’ drivers to engage with BNG, our theoretical framework was found based on the drivers from business case for sustainability and CSR approaches as a factor to generate change. To be able to answer the research question, it was necessary to establish what BNG is and how it has developed from the concept of ecosystem services. Having an interpretivistic standpoint, this study was completed according to an inductive and deductive approach. This was in order to facilitate the exploratory nature that our qualitative and comparative study. We conducted a multiple-case study through semi-structured interviews with seven large companies in the context of Sweden. These businesses are considered as the most ambitious in working towards BNG’s goal. The findings from the primary data was complemented by secondary data about the companies, the status of current legislation in Sweden and the sustainability status in Sweden. As a result of this thesis, we found that cost and cost reduction, risk and risk reduction, sales and profit margin, reputation and brand value, attractiveness as employer, innovative capabilities, stakeholders and health and well-being of future society to all be drivers for BNG. By applying our theoretical framework in the Swedish context, the seven companies were identified to engage in a proactive corporate biodiversity behaviour. Business cases for biodiversity were identified in some of the companies.
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Loiseau, Nicolas. "Influence des propriétés des indices sur l'estimation des composantes de la diversité : application au cas des poissons récifaux." Thesis, Polynésie française, 2016. http://www.theses.fr/2016POLF0001.
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La biodiversité peut être définie comme "la variabilité des organismes vivants de toute origine, y compris, les écosystèmes terrestres, marins et autres écosystèmes aquatiques et les complexes écologiques dont ils font partie ; cela comprend la diversité au sein des espèces, et entre les espèces et ainsi que celle des écosystèmes" (Convention sur la Diversité Biologique de Rio de Janeiro, 1992 art. 2. Le terme «biodiversité» constitue, à première vue, un concept relativement simple: la biodiversité est la somme de toutes les variations biotiques du niveau des gènes aux écosystèmes (Purvis & Hector, 2000). On distingue donc : la diversité génétique (au sein de chaque espèce), la diversité spécifique ou taxonomique (entre les espèces au sein d’une communauté) et la diversité écosystémique (entre les communautés)Biodiversity can be defined as "the variability of living organisms of any origin, including terrestrial, marine and other aquatic ecosystems and ecological complexes of which they are part; this includes diversity within species, andbetween species and ecosystems "(Convention on Biological Diversity of Rio de Janeiro, 1992 art. 2. The term "biodiversity" is, at first glance, a concept relatively simple: biodiversity is the sum of all the biotic variations of the from genes to ecosystems (Purvis & Hector, 2000). We therefore distinguish: diversity genetics (within each species), species or species diversity (between species within a community) and ecosystem diversity (between communities)
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Pilgrim, John D. "Biodiversity management : application of biodiversity data to inform conservation and industry practice." Thesis, Anglia Ruskin University, 2016. http://arro.anglia.ac.uk/701892/.
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This submission presents a small selection of my publications on a theme – the application of biodiversity data to inform both conservation and industry practice. The published work presented here demonstrates my ability to generate new biodiversity data, to interpret how to apply those data to improve conservation outcomes, and to apply the same biodiversity data in different ways to reduce industry impacts. The core biodiversity data I use are related to species’ distributions and conservation status, as direct indicators of their irreplaceability and vulnerability. This thesis comprises five peer-reviewed journal papers and a double-blind peer-reviewed published report. Several of these are well-cited: the submitted publications have cumulatively received in excess of 500 citations. My submitted publications have extended understanding in my area of specialisation, and had clear impact on scientific and professional practice. This is demonstrated not only by incorporation of these publications’ findings into conservation action and policy, but also by the professional advice that I am regularly sought to give as a recognised authority in my field to leading global companies, financial institutions, conservation donors and non-governmental organisations. My submitted work is the result of collaborations with leaders in my field. It includes the generation of new knowledge that has directly informed applied conservation of highly iii threatened species in Asia. It contains substantial scientific advances, such as an innovative approach I developed to resolve the long-standing and intractable problem of ‘limits to biodiversity offsets’. In some cases, it has had a clear practical impact on conservation – by guiding substantial donor funding towards, and even greater development investment away from, species and sites of highest global significance to conservation. In other cases, it has demonstrated influence on policy at a global level – such as shaping the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s policy on biodiversity offsets.
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Pilgrim, John D. "Biodiversity management: application of biodiversity data to inform conservation and industry practice." Thesis, Anglia Ruskin University, 2016. https://arro.anglia.ac.uk/id/eprint/701892/1/Pilgrim_2016.pdf.
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This submission presents a small selection of my publications on a theme – the application of biodiversity data to inform both conservation and industry practice. The published work presented here demonstrates my ability to generate new biodiversity data, to interpret how to apply those data to improve conservation outcomes, and to apply the same biodiversity data in different ways to reduce industry impacts. The core biodiversity data I use are related to species’ distributions and conservation status, as direct indicators of their irreplaceability and vulnerability.
This thesis comprises five peer-reviewed journal papers and a double-blind peer-reviewed published report. Several of these are well-cited: the submitted publications have cumulatively received in excess of 500 citations.
My submitted publications have extended understanding in my area of specialisation, and had clear impact on scientific and professional practice. This is demonstrated not only by incorporation of these publications’ findings into conservation action and policy, but also by the professional advice that I am regularly sought to give as a recognised authority in my field to leading global companies, financial institutions, conservation donors and non-governmental organisations.
My submitted work is the result of collaborations with leaders in my field. It includes the generation of new knowledge that has directly informed applied conservation of highly
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threatened species in Asia. It contains substantial scientific advances, such as an innovative approach I developed to resolve the long-standing and intractable problem of ‘limits to biodiversity offsets’. In some cases, it has had a clear practical impact on conservation – by guiding substantial donor funding towards, and even greater development investment away from, species and sites of highest global significance to conservation. In other cases, it has demonstrated influence on policy at a global level – such as shaping the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s policy on biodiversity offsets.
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Bhatia, Sarika. "Documentation of Biodiversity Impacts (Including Cumulative Biodiversity Impacts) in Environmental Impact Statements." Thesis, University of North Texas, 1998. https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc278173/.
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In the United States, biodiversity impact assessment has historically received little attention. Responding in 1993, the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) released guidelines on incorporating biodiversity into environmental impact assessment under the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969. The objectives of the study here were to identify the level of documentation of biodiversity impact assessment in sample Environmental Impact Statements (EISs); identify whether in the years following the
release of 1993 CEQ guidelines any significant changes have taken place in assessment of biodiversity; identify deficiencies, and if the need exists, formulate appropriate recommendations and approaches for addressing biodiversity in EISs. The study involved a systematic review of 30 EISs published since the release of CEQ guidelines, and five EISs published prior to it. The review involved answering a series of standard questions, which attempted to ascertain the level of biodiversity impacts included in each
impact statement. Trends in approaches to biodiversity impact assessment were investigated and deficiencies summarized. The analysis resulted in a series of recommendations for improving the manner in which biodiversity impact assessment can be approached.
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Lundy, Mathieu Grattan. "Riparian biodiversity in agriculture." Thesis, Queen's University Belfast, 2005. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.486249.
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The loss of biodiversity is accepted as a vital area of research and habitat destruction due to human activity is a major cause of such biodiversity loss. Agriculture has resulted in widespread modification of the natural landscape. In these highly modified landscapes, however, remnants of semi natural habitat remain, potentially providing key refugia for biodiversity. Riparian areas are potentially relatively species rich zones, due to the ecotone of habitats ranging from fully terrestrial to aquatic. The present research investigated response patterns of species diversity in riparian environments of agricultural areas. At rivers locations across Northern Ireland, situated in permanent grassland agriculture, were selected, surveys of species richness were carried out for mammals, both carnivores and bats, birds, fish and invertebrates with a focus on carabid beetles. The analysis of patterns of diversity and habitat associations within in each group was investigated and comparison made across taxa. An information thoretic approach is used to develop models of species habitat association and emerging community analysis approaches used to examine community patterens: Contrasting patterns of species richness were observed, both within and between taxa. The implications for conservating biodiveristy in riparain habitats is discussed.
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Prendergast, John Richard. "Biodiversity hotspots in Britain." Thesis, Imperial College London, 1994. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.300123.
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Jetz, W. "Biodiversity of African birds." Thesis, University of Oxford, 2001. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.393561.
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Lyashevska, O. "Quantifying biodiversity for valuation." Thesis, Queen's University Belfast, 2012. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.557664.
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Biodiversity, arising at multiple levels, is known as a multi-dimensional and complex concept, but is also known to have a rather loose definition. Imprecise definitions are not very suitable for objective quantification or the rigour of economic valuation. Therefore, to construct a more substantial definition of value for biodiversity, a theoretical argument aiming to link biodiversity and functional (meaningful) information needs to be developed. A working hypothesis is that biodiversity is a measure of the total difference within a biological system, which can be summarised in terms of the system's total information content, of which functional information is a subset. Since functional information has systematic (non-random) Patterns, it therefore, coincides with the scientific meaning of biological complexity, thus providing the foundation of value in biodiversity. The theory presented sets the goal of estimating biological complexity from the potentially valuable information derived from empirical biodiversity metric data (ecological measures). To achieve this, the ecological properties ofa system, as they are measured by ecologists, were translated into a simply defined single valued property. This led to a conclusion that ifthere exists a systematic relationship among empirical biodiversity metrics, then there must be a unifying property underlying intrinsic value ofbiodiversity. Then, an advantage of a representation of biodiversity as information was demonstrated by comparing it with the most commonly used metric - species richness. It was shown that species richness missed a large proportion of diversity, emphasising the importance of additional ecological properties and the need for species databases to record functional traits, presence and abundances in communities, as well as phylogenetic information. Finally, by providing intellectual foundations and developing an analytical tool for biodiversity quantification, this study sets the goal for further research.
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Chan, Tin-yau, and 陳天佑. "Hong Kong biodiversity museum." Thesis, The University of Hong Kong (Pokfulam, Hong Kong), 1994. http://hub.hku.hk/bib/B3198194X.
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Baruti, Abdala Yussufu. "Biodiversity and ecosystem services." Thesis, Вид-во СумДУ, 2010. http://essuir.sumdu.edu.ua/handle/123456789/8082.
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Chan, Tin-yau. "Hong Kong biodiversity museum." Hong Kong : University of Hong Kong, 1994. http://sunzi.lib.hku.hk/hkuto/record.jsp?B25944861.
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Cascini, Manuela. "Evolution of marsupial biodiversity." Thesis, Queensland University of Technology, 2020. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/197697/1/Manuela_Cascini_Thesis.pdf.
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This thesis explored the evolutionary trajectory of marsupials, focusing primarily on the Australasian marsupial fauna, and used a phylogenetic inference approach that combines molecular, ecological and fossil data sets. A first study provided the most complete and accurate (to-date) species-level marsupial phylogeny by using the most taxonomically complete set of nuclear and mitochondrial loci. In a second study, DNA and fossils from extinct and modern taxa were used to infer the evolution of macropods. A third project inferred the most complete (to-date) time-calibrated phylogeny of Diprotodontia. By incorporating fossil data, this last project revealed apparent competitive displacement of Vombatiformes (koala and wombats) by Macropodiformes (kangaroos) from the Late Miocene onwards, and a long (~25 million year) lag in the evolution of herbivory among marsupials compared to placental mammal faunas.
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Figuerola, Balañá Blanca. "Biodiversity and Chemical ecology in Antarctic bryozoans = Biodiversitat i ecologia química de briozous antàrtics." Doctoral thesis, Universitat de Barcelona, 2013. http://hdl.handle.net/10803/129165.
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The current thesis covers two important and poorly known aspects of Antarctic bryozoans: biodiversity and chemical ecology. The comparative analyses of diversity carried out here (Chapters 1 and 2) between Antarctica and the last separated fragments of Gondwana support the hypothesis of the sequential separation of Gondwana. We discuss that the high number of species from the Argentine Patagonian (AP) region shared with Antarctica found in our study question the real extent of Antarctic isolation for cheilostome bryozoans. The presence of shared common bryozoan species between these two regions may also be explained by the free migration of marine organisms in and out of the Polar Front, via the deep abyssal plains and the potential passive northwards transport of larvae (or perhaps even adults) to considerable distances, via the branch of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC) flowing northward along the continental shelf of Argentina, the Falkland/Malvinas Current. The role of the Scotia Arc and other dispersal pathways, like eddies of ACC, and human dispersal mechanisms, may increase the bryozoan connection found between the Antarctica and the AP region. Also, our studies (Chapters 1 and 2) are among the first characterizations of the bryozoan communities, mainly at the slope, from the AP region, and from the Southern Ocean (SO), specially the Weddell Sea. The bathymetric distribution from the AP region and the SO found in our studies fits well with the limits of the continental shelf, the slope and the deep sea. Interestingly, our research also shows an expansion in the known distribution of diverse bryozoan species from the AP region and the SO. Our results stress the importance of taxonomical studies in these scarcely explored regions, reporting a high number of new genera and species, and new records too. Among the new species found in our study, a bryozoan of the genus of Reteporella characterized by rare giant spherical avicularia is described in Chapter 3, leading us to discuss which are the potential roles of the avicularia. Since the studied bryozoan communities, below areas affected by local disturbances (iceberg scours and anchor ice), are mainly subject to biotic factors such as competence and predation, the evolution has favoured the development of chemical mechanisms in benthic organisms, which have also been investigated here (Chapters 4 and 5). Our studies are among the first reports on chemical ecology of Antarctic bryozoans. In order to study these chemical interactions, new adapted protocols were designed using sympatric and abundant predators. Our findings demonstrate the importance of diverse chemical ecology mechanisms against competence and predation in Antarctic bryozoans. Most bryozoan species tested here display cytotoxicity and/or repellent activity against the sea urchin Sterechinus neumayeri and the amphipod Cheirimedon femoratus, respectively (Chapter 4). In Chapter 5, our results demonstrate that bryozoans seem to be readily defended against at least one of the two abundant predators, Odontaster validus and C. femoratus. The intra- and interspecific variability in bioactivity suggest an adaptive response to diverse abiotic and biotic factors, presence of microorganisms and/or genetic variability. The general trend in our study indicates the presence of a combination of both chemical and physical defensive mechanisms in most bryozoan species, suggesting complementary traits. In general, these results lead to the conclusion that this phylum is very active with extended repellent activities.Aquesta tesi cobreix dos aspectes importants i poc coneguts dels briozous antàrtics: la biodiversitat i l'ecologia química. L'anàlisi comparatiu de diversitat realitzat aquí (Capítol 1 i 2) entre l'Antàrtida i altres zones geogràficament properes recolzen la hipòtesi de la separació seqüencial de Gondwana. Es discuteix que l'elevat nombre d'espècies de la regió de la Patagònia argentina (PA) compartides amb l'Antàrtida qüestiona el grau real d'aïllament de l'Antàrtida en briozous queilostòmats. Els nostres estudis (Capítols 1 i 2) són també una de les primeres caracteritzacions de les comunitats de briozous, principalment del talús, de la regió de la PA, i de l' Oceà Austral, especialment el Mar de Weddell. Els nostres resultats remarquen la importància dels estudis taxonòmics en aquestes regions escassament explorades, incloent un gran nombre de nous gèneres i espècies, i noves cites. Entre les noves espècies trobades en el nostre estudi, es descriu un briozou del gènere Reteporella caracteritzat per una rara aviculària esfèrica i gegant, portant-nos a reconsiderar quines són les possibles funcions de l'aviculària (Capítol 3). Com les comunitats estudiades de briozous, per sota de les zones afectades per pertorbacions locals (erosió per icebergs), estan subjectes principalment a factors biòtics com la competència i la depredació, l'evolució ha afavorit el desenvolupament de mecanismes químics de protecció (Capítols 4 i 5). Els nostres estudis són dels primers en ecologia química de briozous antàrtics. Els nostres resultats demostren la importància de diversos mecanismes d'ecologia química contra la competència i la depredació en briozous antàrtics. La majoria de les espècies de briozous mostraven activitat citotòxica i/o repel•lent contra l'eriçó de mar Sterechinus neumayeri i l'amfípode Cheirimedon femoratus, respectivament (Capítol 4). En el capítol 5, totes les espècies de briozous estudiats mostraven activitat de repel•lència alimentària contra almenys un dels dos depredadors abundants considerats, l'estrella de mar Odontaster validus i l'amfípode Cheirimedon femoratus. La tendència general en el nostre estudi indica la possessió d'una combinació de mecanismes físics i químics en la majoria de les espècies, fet que suggereix estratègies complementàries.
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Malviya, Shruti. "Global Diatom Biodiversity : An Assessment Using Metabarcoding Approach." Thesis, Paris 11, 2015. http://www.theses.fr/2015PA112075/document.
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Les diatomées (Stramenopiles, Bacillariophyceae) jouent un rôle important sur le plan écologique et sont l'un des groupes phytoplanctoniques les plus divers, avec environ 1800 espèces planctoniques estimées. Bien que largement étudiées, leurs modèles de diversité et de distribution biogéographique ne sont pas bien connus. L'avènement du séquençage de l'ADN à haut débit a révolutionné les études de biodiversité moléculaire facilitant la compréhension de la biogéographie, de la structure des communautés et des processus écologiques. Les deux principaux objectifs de cette thèse sont (1) d'enquêter sur les modèles de la biodiversité mondiale et la structure des communautés de diatomées planctoniques à travers les océans du monde, et (2) de comprendre les mécanismes et processus déterminants la structure de la communauté. Cette thèse présente également une première tentative de discerner la répartition des espèces rares dans les communautés de protistes. L'étude a été réalisée en utilisant les données de metabarcoding générées à partir des échantillons biologiques et des données environnementales associées recueillies au cours de la campagne Tara Oceans (2009-2013), une circumnavigation globale couvrant toutes les principales provinces océaniques. Le matériel d’étude pour cette thèse est constitué d’un total de 12 millions de séquences de la sous unité V9 du 18S ribosomal (barcode), récoltées à partir de 46 stations soit 293 échantillons. Basée sur 63371 metabarcodes de diatomées uniques, cette étude présente une évaluation approfondie de la distribution mondiale des diatomées et de leur diversité. Les analyses révèlent des faits marquants liées à la biogéographie des diatomées, par exemple une nouvelle estimation du nombre total d'espèces de diatomées planctoniques, une diversité considérable inconnue, une diversité exceptionnellement élevée en haute mer, et des patrons de diversité complexes entre les provinces océaniques. La thèse examine ensuite les facteurs qui déterminent les modèles de bêta-diversité. Les résultats suggèrent que les diatomées sont des communautés structurées et réglementées par l'hétérogénéité de l'environnement et des processus spatiaux. Néanmoins, la majorité de la variation totale dans la composition de la communauté ne peut être expliquée ni par les facteurs environnementaux, ni par les distances spatiales, ce qui justifie les analyses futures se concentrant sur les interactions biologiques, les événements historiques, et d'autres facteurs qui ne sont pas considérés. La thèse décrit en outre une approche pour caractériser les clusters significativement associés de ribotypes concomitants. Enfin, une étude préliminaire de communautés de protistes fractionnées par taille révèle que la queue (de leurs distributions rang abondance) semble suivre un comportement en loi de puissance dans presque toutes les communautés de protistes. Cette observation peut indiquer un mécanisme universel potentiel qui peut expliquer l'organisation de communautés planctoniques marines. De façon générale, ce travail présent une perspective globale et complète de la distribution et de la diversité des diatomées dans les océans du monde. La thèse propose un cadre global pour l'évaluation de la diversité mondiale basée sur le metabarcoding, qui pourra être utilisé pour étudier la distribution et la diversité des autres lignées taxonomiques. Par conséquent, ce travail fournit un point de référence pour explorer comment les communautés microbiennes feront face à la variation des conditions environnementalesDiatoms (Stramenopiles, Bacillariophyceae) are an ecologically important and one of the most diverse phytoplanktonic groups, with an estimated ~1,800 marine planktonic species. Although widely studied, their diversity and biogeographic distribution patterns are not well known. The advent of high-throughput DNA sequencing has revolutionized molecular biodiversity studies facilitating the understanding of biogeography, community assembly and ecological processes. The two major goals of this thesis are (1) to investigate global biodiversity patterns and structure of marine planktonic diatom communities across the world’s oceans, and (2) to understand the mechanisms and processes determining their community structure and assembly. This thesis also presents an initial attempt to discern the distribution of rare species in protist communities. The study was conducted using the metabarcoding data generated from the biological samples and associated environmental data collected during the Tara Oceans (2009-2013) global circumnavigation covering all major oceanic provinces. A total of ~12 million diatom V9-18S rDNA tags from 46 sampling stations, constituting 293 size fractionated samples represent the study material for the thesis. Using 63,371 unique diatom metabarcodes, this study presents an in-depth evaluation of global diatom distribution and diversity. The analyses study draw a number of revelations related to diatom biogeography, e.g. a new estimate of the total number of planktonic diatom species, a considerable unknown diversity, exceptionally high diversity in the open ocean, complex diversity patterns across oceanic provinces. The thesis then looks into the factors determining the beta-diversity patterns. The results suggest that diatoms represent biogeographically structured ecological communities regulated by both environmental heterogeneity and spatial processes. Nonetheless, the majority of the total variation in community composition remained unexplained by either the examined measured environmental factors or spatial distances, which warrants future analyses focusing on biological interactions, historical events, and other factors that are not considered. The thesis further outlines an approach to characterize significantly associated clusters of co-occurring ribotypes. Finally, a preliminary study of size-fractionated protistan communities reveals that the tail (of their rank-abundance distributions) appears to follow a power-law behavior in almost all protistan communities. This observation may indicate a potential universal mechanism which can explain the organization of marine planktonic communities. In general, this work has presented a global comprehensive perspective on diatom distribution and diversity in the world’s oceans. The thesis offers an overall framework for metabarcoding-based global diversity assessments which in turn can be employed to study distribution and diversity of other taxonomic lineages. Consequently, this work provides a reference point to explore how microbial communities will respond/change in response to environmental conditions
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Warren-Thomas, Eleanor. "Rubber plantations in the Indo-Burma biodiversity hotspot : habitat loss, biodiversity and economics." Thesis, University of East Anglia, 2017. https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/66569/.
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Natural rubber is in high demand for the manufacture of tyres, and rubber plantations are expanding globally. Southeast Asia is the epicentre of rubber cultivation, where deforestation to make way for rubber has been occurring for decades. This process has caused substantial biodiversity loss and carbon emissions. Expansion has recently shifted northwards into mainland Southeast Asia (the Indo-Burma biodiversity hotspot) due to the development of hardier rubber varieties that can survive longer dry seasons and cooler climates. The northward shift has been exacerbated by replacement of rubber with oil palm further south. Profitability and extent of rubber are comparable to oil palm, but rubber has received far less attention and scrutiny from civil society. Future demand for natural rubber is predicted to require 4.3 – 8.5 million ha of additional plantation area by 2024, relative to a 2010 baseline. Profits accruing from logging and conversion of forest to rubber in Cambodia are shown to be very high. The carbon prices that would be needed for a REDD+ program in Indo- Burma to match costs of forest conservation where rubber is a threat, are $30 – 51 tCO2-1. These prices are far higher than those currently paid on carbon markets or through carbon funds, highlighting the importance of supply-chain initiatives, environmental governance and full valuation of ecosystem services for defending forests from conversion to rubber. Agroforestry methods for cultivating rubber in Thailand were found to produce yields comparable to monocultural methods, while providing modest benefits for bird and butterfly diversity. Agroforests did not support any species of conservation concern, and contiguous forests are irreplaceable for the conservation of forest biodiversity. Functional diversity of birds was found not to differ between rubber agroforests and monocultures, and species that feed primarily on nectar and fruit were extremely scarce in both types of rubber plantation.
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Farré, Foix Marc. "Morphological structure and biodiversity in fish assemblages = Estructura morfològica i biodiversitat en comunitats de peixos." Doctoral thesis, Universitat de Barcelona, 2016. http://hdl.handle.net/10803/398120.
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The study of morphology of organisms has become a widely extended scientific discipline since the beginning of the 20th century, when the scientific community began to establish direct relationships between the anatomical characteristics of organisms and their adaptations and biological strategies. The study of morphological variability allowed determining and understanding the ecological and functional roles of species within the ecosystems where they inhabit. According to this ecomorphological current, ecologists promptly perceived that morphology of species were essential to address many aspects traditionally of their interest that were essential to understand the functioning and organization of communities, such as the resource partitioning or the habitat differentiation. Following these premises, the overall objective of this thesis was to determine and describe the morphological diversity of several fish assemblages, in order to highlight the importance of the study of the morphology of species as an alternative and complementary useful tool in biodiversity and community structure studies. To test the hypotheses and reach the purposes, several fish assemblages with different geographical, environmental, ecological and hydrological conditions were analysed: from mesopelagic fish assemblages from the Canary Islands (NE Atlantic ocean) to coastal fish assemblages along the Catalan coast or demersal fish assemblages along a wide bathymetric range along the continental shelf and slope of the Balearic Islands (NW Mediterranean Sea). The morphological analysis included the overall body shape and the shape and position of fins and sensory organs, and was performed using landmark-based geometric morphometric methods (GM). These analyses are widely used for quantifying and analysing the shape variation between structures, since they allow to describe the geometric characteristics of the structures easily, quickly and with higher level of detail; they conserve the geometric traits of objects along all the procedure and they possess a powerful associated statistical support. Besides, the application of GM also allows the computation of measures of morphological diversity. Thus, another objective of this thesis was to develop new morphological diversity indices from GM methods and describe their correlations with other biodiversity components traditionally more considered (ecological, taxonomical and functional
diversity) in order to demonstrate the validity and provide and additional approach that helps to complement studies of biodiversity of fish assemblages. The morphological structures (morphospaces) and the biodiversity indices were obtained for all the analysed fish assemblages and were compared to assess the ability of the morphological methods in order to describe the structure and organization of fish communities. The results demonstrated that the computed morphological diversity indices correlated significantly with the other biodiversity components, were useful for biodiversity studies since they provide information about the functioning and structure of communities (especially when ecological or functional traits of species and ecosystems are absent or scarce, which can be very common), and in addition they yielded equivalent results when they were computed using quantitative (abundance) and qualitative (presence/absence) data. Besides, the analysis of the morphospaces of the different communities allowed to infer and understand key aspects about the functioning and organization of communities, such as the resource partitioning, the habitat differentiation or interspecific relationships such as coexistence, competence or dominance. Therefore, the general results of the present thesis reinforces and support the hypothesis that the morphology of species is a good tool addressing the ecological and functional roles of species within ecosystems, and that the assessment of the morphological variability among species contributes to better understanding the structure, organization and functioning of communities.L’estudi de la morfologia ha esdevingut una disciplina científica amplament estesa des d’inicis del segle XX, quan es van començar a establir relacions directes entre les característiques anatòmiques dels organismes i les seves adaptacions i estratègies biològiques. L’anàlisi de la variabilitat morfologia permetia definir els rols ecològics i funcionals de les espècies dins els ecosistemes. Seguint aquestes premisses, l’objectiu principal d’aquesta tesi consistia en descriure la diversitat morfològica present en diverses comunitats de peixos teleostis amb condicions ambientals, ecològiques, hidrològiques i geogràfiques diferents, per tal de demostrar la importància de l’estudi de la morfologia com a eina vàlida i complementària en estudis de biodiversitat i d’estructura de comunitats. La caracterització morfològica de les espècies va incloure la forma general del cos així com la forma i posició de les aletes i òrgans sensorials, i va ser mesurada i analitzada mitjançant mètodes de morfometria geomètrica (GM) basats en landmarks. Aquests mètodes son comunament utilitzats per quantificar la variació en la forma entre estructures, ja que permeten descriure les característiques geomètriques del objectes detalladament de manera senzilla i ràpida i presenten un rigorós suport estadístic associat. Un altre objectiu va ser desenvolupar noves mesures de diversitat morfològica a partir de mètodes de GM i determinar la seva correlació amb altres components de la biodiversitat tradicionalment utilitzats (diversitat ecològica, taxonòmica i funcional). Els resultats van demostrar que els índexs morfològics aporten informació addicional en estudis de biodiversitat, que correlacionen significativament amb els altres components de la diversitat i que proporcionen resultats equivalents quan es calculen amb dades qualitatives i quantitatives. A més, l’anàlisi de les estructures morfològiques (morfoespais) de les comunitats va permetre investigar els rols ecològics i funcionals de les espècies, essencials per entendre aspectes que determinen el funcionament i organització de les comunitats, com la repartició de recursos, la diferenciació d’hàbitat o relacions interespecífiques com la coexistència, la competència o la dominància. Per tant, els resultats generals de la tesi reforcen la hipòtesi de que l’avaluació de la variabilitat morfològica es una eina útil que contribueix a millorar el coneixement sobre l’estructura i organització de les comunitats de peixos.
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Llarena, Hernandez Régulo Carlos. "Biologie, caractérisation chimique et activités antioxydantes du champignon comestible et médicinal Agaricus subrufescens." Thesis, Pau, 2013. http://www.theses.fr/2013PAUU3008/document.
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Récemment, Agaricus subrufescens est devenu un champignon d’intérêt de par ses propriétés médicinales. Sa production commerciale s’est développée dans des pays tropicaux à partir de matériaux locaux. Cependant, les données disponibles dans la littérature ne concernent que des cultivars qui sont génétiquement similaires. Notre étude sur un ensemble de cultivars et de souches sauvages a conduit à une meilleure connaissance de la biologie de l’espèce. Contrairement aux cultivars, les souches sauvages présentent un haut niveau de polymorphisme génétique. Une variabilité phénotypique élevée a été mise en évidence pour l’accroissement mycélien, la productivité et la morphologie. Des analyses chimiques par RMN du solide et l’estimation des activités anti-oxydantes ont montré que les souches sauvages comme les cultivars sont une source à exploiter comme aliment fonctionnel pour prévenir les maladies cardio-vasculaire, les cancers et le diabète. L’adaptation des conditions culturales à partir du substrat utilisé pour la culture d’A. bisporus a permis d’obtenir des fructifications d’A. subrufescens, puis d’augmenter le rendement et d’optimiser des caractères agronomiques d’intérêt. Du matériel sauvage avec une activité antioxydante et un rendement élevés a été identifié. L’évaluation d’hybrides intercontinentaux a montré la possibilité de transférer des caractères d’intérêt à une descendance. Agaricus subrufescens pourrait être proposé aux champignonnistes français comme alternative à Agaricus bisporus pendant la saison estivaleAgaricus subrufescens is becoming a mushroom of interest because of its medicinal properties. Commercial production had developed in tropical countries using local materials. However, data available in the literature referred to cultivars that are genetically similar. Our study of a set of cultivars and wild strains led to a better understanding of the biology of the species. Contrary to cultivars, wild strains exhibited a high level of genetic polymorphism. High phenotypic variability was identified in mycelial growth, productivity and morphology. Chemical analyses by solid-state 13C NMR and antioxidant activities showed that the wild strains as well as the cultivars proved a valuable source of functional food to prevent cardiovascular diseases, cancers and diabetes. Using cultivation substrate produced for A. bisporus and modifying cultivation conditions allowed fruiting of A. subrufescens, then increase in strain yield and optimization of agronomic traits of interest. Wild material with good antioxidant activity and high productivity was identified. The evaluation of intercontinental hybrids showed the possibility to transfer traits of interest to offspring. A. subrufescens could be proposed to French mushroom growers as an alternative to Agaricus bisporus during the summer season
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Pearch, Malcolm J. "Small mammal biodiversity in Nepal." Available from the University of Aberdeen Library and Historic Collections Digital Resources. Restricted: no access until June 2, 2014, 2009. http://digitool.abdn.ac.uk:80/webclient/DeliveryManager?application=DIGITOOL-3&owner=resourcediscovery&custom_att_2=simple_viewer&pid=26193.
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Coristine, Laura Elizabeth. "Climate Change Impacts on Biodiversity." Thesis, Université d'Ottawa / University of Ottawa, 2016. http://hdl.handle.net/10393/35245.
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Conservation is plagued by the issue of prioritization - what to conserve and where to conserve it - which relies on identification and assessment of risks. In this body of work, I identify some of the risks related to climate change impacts on biodiversity, as well as potential solutions. Climate changes are underway across nearly all terrestrial areas and will continue in response to greenhouse gas emissions over centuries. Other extinction drivers, such as habitat loss due to urbanization, commonly operate over localized areas. Urbanization contributes, at most, less than 2% of the total range loss for terrestrial species at risk when averaged within an ecodistrict (Chapter 2).
Documented impacts of climate change, to date, include: extinction, population loss, reduction in range area, and decreased abundance for multiple taxonomic groups. Examining species’ and populations’ physiological limits provides insight into the mechanistic basis, as well as geography, of climate change impacts (Chapter 3). Climate changes, and the ecological impacts of climate changes, are scale-dependent. Thus, the biotic implications are more accurately assessed through comparisons of local impacts for populations. Under a scenario of climate change, equatorward margins may be strongly limited by climatic conditions and not by biotic interactions. Yet, geographic responses at poleward margins do not appear directly linked to changes in breeding season temperature (Chapter 4). New ideas on how regions with attenuated climate change (climate refugia) may be used to lower species climate-related extinction risk while simultaneously improving habitat connectivity should be considered in the context of potential future consequences (i.e. range disjunction, alternative biological responses) (Chapter 5). Contemporary climate refugia are identifiable along multiple climatic dimensions, and are similar in size to current protected areas (Chapter 6). Determining how, when, and where species distributions are displaced by climate change as well as methods of reducing climatic displacement involves integrating knowledge from distribution shift rates for populations, occurrence of climate refugia, and dispersal barriers. Such assessments, in the Yellowstone to Yukon region, identify dramatically different pathways for connectivity than assessments that are not informed by considerations of species richness and mobility (Chapter 7).
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Roche, David. "Biodiversity: Its Measurement and Metaphysics." University of Sydney. Unit for the History and Philosophy of Science, 2001. http://hdl.handle.net/2123/819.
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Biodiversity is a concept that plays a key role in both scientific theories such as the species-area law and conservation politics. Currently, however, little agreement exists on how biodiversity should be defined, let alone measured. This has led to suggestions that biodiversity is not a metaphysically robust concept, with major implications for its usefulness in formulating scientific theories and making conservation decisions. A general discussion of biodiversity is presented, highlighting its application both in scientific and conservation contexts, its relationship with environmental ethics, and existing approaches to its measurement. To overcome the limitations of existing biodiversity concepts, a new concept of biocomplexity is proposed. This concept equates the biodiversity of any biological system with its effective complexity. Biocomplexity is shown to be the only feasible measure of biodiversity that captures the essential features desired of a general biodiversity concept. In particular, it is a well-defined, measurable and strongly intrinsic property of any biological system. Finally, the practical application of biocomplexity is discussed.
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Hartmann, Klaas. "Biodiversity conservation and evolutionary models." Thesis, University of Canterbury. Mathematics and Statistics, 2008. http://hdl.handle.net/10092/1776.
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Biodiversity conservation requires a framework for prioritising limited resources to the many endangered species. One such framework that has seen much attention and is considered extensively in this thesis, is the Noah's Ark Problem (NAP). The NAP combines a biodiversity measure (Phylogenetic Diversity; PD) with species survival probabilities and conservation costs. The aim of the NAP is to allocate the limited conservation resources such that the future expected PD is maximised. Obtaining optimal solutions to the NAP is a computationally complex problem to which several efficient algorithms are provided here. An extension to the NAP is also developed which allows uncertainty about the survival probability estimates to be included. Using this extension we show that the NAP is robust to uncertainty in these parameters and that even very poor estimates are beneficial. To justify using or promoting PD, it must produce a significant increase in the amount of biodiversity that is preserved. We show that the increase attainable from the NAP is typically around 20% but may be as high as 150%. An alternative approach to PD and the NAP is to prioritise species using simple species specific indices. The benefit of these indices is that they are easy to calculate, explain and integrate into existing management frameworks. Here we investigate the use of such indices and show that they provide between 60% and 80% of the gains obtainable using PD. To explore the expected behaviours of conservation methods (such as the NAP) a distribution of phylogenetics trees is required. Evolutionary models describe the diversification process by which a single species gives rise to multiple species. Such models induce a probability distribution on trees and can therefore be used to investigate the expected behaviour of conservation methods. Even simple and widely used models, such as the Yule model, remain poorly understood. In this thesis we present some new analytic results and methods for sampling trees from a broad range of evolutionary models. Lastly we introduce a new model that provides a simple biological explanation for a long standing discrepancy between models and trees derived from real data -- the tree balance distribution.
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Howat, Darlene Rose. "Enhancing biodiversity on reclaimed lands." Thesis, National Library of Canada = Bibliothèque nationale du Canada, 1998. http://www.collectionscanada.ca/obj/s4/f2/dsk2/tape17/PQDD_0004/MQ28947.pdf.
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Echeverria, Hugo. "Biodiversity conservation and state sovereignty." Thesis, McGill University, 2005. http://digitool.Library.McGill.CA:80/R/?func=dbin-jump-full&object_id=99135.
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This thesis examines the influence of contemporary approaches to biodiversity conservation on conceptions of state sovereignty over natural resources. Traditional approaches to state sovereignty have emphasized the right of states to exploit natural resources. Contemporary approaches to biodiversity conservation, however, have given rise to a more flexible and dynamic understanding of state sovereignty over natural resources: one encompassing sovereign rights of exploitation along with corresponding conservation responsibilities. Founded upon this premise, the thesis focuses on the emergence of a 'balanced' approach to state sovereignty over natural resources and examines its effects on the role of states in managing natural resources. While addressing it as the basis of the emergence of the recognition of a duty of environmental protection, inter alia, in the form of biodiversity conservation and sustainable use of biological resources, the author suggests that the balanced approach to state sovereignty has been instrumental in redefining the role of states, and the role of the sovereignty principle itself in achieving the goal of biodiversity conservation.
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Ieraci, Luciano A. "Spatial intermittency, biodiversity, and multifractals." Thesis, McGill University, 2000. http://digitool.Library.McGill.CA:80/R/?func=dbin-jump-full&object_id=33411.
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Ecosystems involve highly non-linear interactions between species and their environments over wide ranges of scales. These interactions give rise to population number densities that are highly intermittent in both space and time. The simplest hypothesis about the variability of individual density fields is that they are scale invariant in space-time. For some cases, such as plankton, this has been demonstrated empirically. In addition, at a fixed space-time location there is a well-established information theory approach for treating the density statistics for different species. In this "species space", there are already two scaling biodiversity models: the (mono) fractal model and the lognormal model.The simplest treatment combining real and species space scaling is obtained by considering an anisotropic multifractal cascade in a (5-D) species-space-time space. With the help of a unique data base involving nearly three hundred different species densities, each over a spatial range of approximately 40, 0.5m x 0.5m samples from six underwater sites in the Saint Lawrence Estuary, this simple "superscaling" model is tested. It is shown that the scaling of all species densities is compatible with a "bilinear" multifractal model, where an "elliptical dimension" parameter characterises the anisotropy of species-real space. This information is then used to numerically simulate the spatial variability of joint species densities, and it is discussed how this framework can be used to define scale invariant measures of biodiversity.
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蔡劍鷹 and Kim-ying Choi. "Biodiversity publishing in Hong Kong." Thesis, The University of Hong Kong (Pokfulam, Hong Kong), 2008. http://hub.hku.hk/bib/B41549399.
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Acheampong, Isaac. "Urban biodiversity; a global perspective." Thesis, KTH, Mark- och vattenteknik, 2013. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:kth:diva-171821.
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A majority of the world’s cities are situated in or near areas of high biodiversity. Rise in global urban population resulting in rapid urban expansions (larger cities) is a threat to urban biodiversity, which has implications for the ecological health and general well being of humans. The study exploits consistent global land use data to compare 102 cities across the globe on a measure of urban biodiversity, within 15 km and 30 km from the approximate centres of the cities. Cities with high population and higher percentage of land use dedicated to artificial infrastructure recorded lower percentage size reserved for natural habitat, and vice versa. Further testing in regression analysis with birds and plants species as response variables shows a relation with urban extent and size of natural habitat which seeks to promote sustaining ecosystems services. Since urban biodiversity has implications for human ecological health, its indicators must be constantly measured and monitored, while adhering to best practices that conserve nature.
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Cristancho-Pinilla, Edwin Arvey. "Benefitting from biodiversity-based innovation." Thesis, University of Sussex, 2017. http://sro.sussex.ac.uk/id/eprint/72011/.
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This thesis argues for the need for a more comprehensive discussion of biodiversity use in relation to enhancing benefits of this use for biodiverse countries and promoting more equitable sharing of these benefits. The findings from this doctoral research reveal that biodiversity-based innovation is a social shaping process that has resulted in large benefits. The cumulative capability to use species from biodiversity gives meanings that contribute to the species shaping process, with organisations and institutional changes providing direction and increasing the rate of the shaping process. In showing how innovation takes place and how the appropriation of benefits occurs, this research contributes to studies on science policy and innovation in relation, especially, to biodiversity-based innovation. The thesis introduces the Convention of Biological Diversity (CBD) and the Nagoya Protocol as representing change to the governance of biodiversity. The theoretical approach draws on evolutionary and institutional economics, both of which inform and extend a question that is central in the sociology of technology: That is how are technology (innovation understood as an output) and social practices shaped collectively? Three cases are used to trace what occurs in the shaping process of species from biodiversity: (i) The Jersey cow is a breed within the species Bos Taurus or modern taurine cattle. The isolated character of Jersey delimited the scope of the breed at a point in time when it was being bred locally and allow us to identify its shaping as a ‘technology', and the broader diffusion of its use. The Jersey cow is used to introduce the theoretical framework and the analysis. (ii) Maca, originally from Peru, is a root crop with nutritional and, allegedly, fertility enhancing properties. It was domesticated in Peru and only a few world regions have conditions favouring its production. Maca is commercialised as flour and used as a raw material. (iii) Quinua has great potential as a staple food crop. The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) declared 2013 to be the International Year of Quinoa on the basis of its unique and nutritious character. Three Andean countries (Bolivia, Ecuador and Peru) report exports of quinua grain, although dozens of countries around the world are engaged in performing agronomic testing for its commercial production. A comparative analysis of the three cases helps to identify the science and technology policy issues related to implementation of the CBD and the Nagoya Protocol. The case studies demonstrate the innovation process of species from biodiversity. Benefits arise from the diffusion of the use of the species (via commercialisation), which accrued to individuals or groups. The characterisation of the innovation process highlights how the voices and agency of actors and organisations affected the shaping process. The governance over the goods that emerged from the use of the species defined the appropriation of benefits.
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Gudde, Renska Marleen. "Revealing the routes to biodiversity." Thesis, University of Reading, 2015. http://centaur.reading.ac.uk/69833/.
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Holland, Kelly John. "Effects on Boston's Urban Biodiversity." Thesis, Boston College, 2003. http://hdl.handle.net/2345/377.
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Thesis advisor: David KraussIn an attempt to better understand the biodiversity of an urban ecosystem, we have conducted plant and bird biodiversity assessments of 10 sites in the Greater Boston area from September 2002-April 2003. These sites have been identified by the Urban Ecology Institute as important green areas through the Natural Cities Program. The purpose of this program is to create a greater body of knowledge of urban green spaces and the greater urban ecosystem of Boston. Our objective was to quantify plant and bird biodiversity by focusing on species richness. We then compared this biodiversity information to various factors such as area of impervious surface, and area of maintained lawn. Our analysis did not demonstrate statistically significant relationships between these factors
Thesis (BS) — Boston College, 2003
Submitted to: Boston College. College of Arts and Sciences
Discipline: Biology
Discipline: College Honors Program
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Sanderson, James Stuart. "Physical aspects of starch biodiversity." Thesis, University of Cambridge, 2003. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.619816.
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Rominger, Andrew Rominger. "The Statistical Mechanics of Biodiversity." Thesis, University of California, Berkeley, 2016. http://pqdtopen.proquest.com/#viewpdf?dispub=10150924.
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Since at least the time of Darwin biologists have searched for a simple set of universal governing mechanisms that dictate the dynamics of biodiversity. While much progress has been made in understanding system-specific processes and in documenting the context-dependent roles of such mechanisms as competition and facilitation, we still lack a universal governing rule set. The goal of understanding and predicting biodiversity dynamics comes at a critical moment when human systems are disrupting those very dynamics. In this thesis I approach this long-standing problem with the hypothesis that general patterns in biodiversity emerge from a combination of the statistical mechanics of large systems and the unique non-equilibrium dynamics imparted to biological systems by their evolutionary history. Statistical mechanics provides the key analytical approaches to abstracting the complex details of biodiversity into general macroscopic predictions that I show receive support from empirical data. However, key deviations from the simplest statistical mechanics of biodiversity reveal the key role of biological evolution in driving systems away from the idealized steady state predicted by statistical mechanics.
In Chapter 1 I expand a branch of non-equilibrial statistical mechanics, known as super statistics, to explain previously unaccounted for wild fluctuations in the richness of taxa through the Phanerozoic marine invertebrate fossil record and show how this non-equilibrium is driven by clades' punctuated exploration of their adaptive landscapes. This theory provides a novel explanation for deep time diversity dynamics invoking emergence of lineage-level traits as the drivers of complexity via the same mechanisms by which complexity emerges in large physical and social systems. In the context of fossil diversity I show how this complexity arises naturally from the uniquely biological mechanisms of punctuated adaptive radiation followed by long durations of niche conservatism, and thus identify these mechanisms as sufficient and necessary to produce observed patterns in the fossil record. I test this theory using two seminal fossil datasets.
In Chapter 2 I use the chronosequence afforded by the Hawaiian Islands to capture evolutionary snapshots of arthropod communities at different ages and stages of assembly to understand how the history underlying an assemblage determine its contemporary biodiversity patterns. I apply static ecological theory of trophic networks based on statistical mechanics to these rapidly evolving ecosystems to highlight what about the evolutionary process drives communities away from statistical idealizations. This study indicates that rapid assembly from immigration and speciation in young ecosystems and extinction in old ecosystems could drive observed patterns.
In Chapter 3 I highlight and explain the computational requirements to testing one statistical theory of biodiversity—the Maximum Entropy Theory of Ecology—with real data and make those test available in a stream-lined framework via the R package meteR that I authored.
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Taber, Peter Addison, and Peter Addison Taber. "Rational Enchantment: Instituting Ecuadorian Biodiversity." Diss., The University of Arizona, 2017. http://hdl.handle.net/10150/625380.
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An increasing concern for biodiversity loss transformed politics and society in Ecuador beginning in the late 1980s. Amidst a proliferation of expert work to gain new knowledge of what biodiversity existed where in order to curb species extinctions, both the state of biological science and the way that Ecuador was governed were remade. To examine the institution of biodiversity and its contemporary consequences in Ecuador, this dissertation draws on ethnography with and archival research on a community of botanists connected with Ecuador's National Herbarium. It begins by examining the specialized work that formed the foundation for NGO-led biodiversity conservation. It then looks at the rise of environmental impact assessment used to anticipate and mitigate the impacts of development projects. Finally, the dissertation examines the contemporary dilemmas of Ecuadorian field biologists in the context of the recent dismantling of much of this institutional infrastructure from the last 30 years.
The dissertation's central argument is that biodiversity is an intrinsically modern (and relatively recent) relationship to biological resources, and that it comes with many of the dilemmas and problems that characterize modern institutions. Its emergence as a recognizable domain, either of expert management or more general social commitment, is inextricably bound up with the production of certain forms of specialized knowledge, and the use of that knowledge in authorizing certain kinds of institutional interventions. A mis-recognition of this aspect of biodiversity (for example, by conflating 'biodiversity' with 'biological things themselves') risks misunderstanding what kind of an object it is, to the detriment of anthropological critiques of environmental politics.
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Allan, Eric. "Herbivore interactions and grassland biodiversity." Thesis, Imperial College London, 2008. http://hdl.handle.net/10044/1/11256.
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Roche, D. M. "Biodiversity its measurement and metaphysics /." Connect to full text, 2001. http://hdl.handle.net/2123/819.
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Thesis (M. Sc.)--University of Sydney, 2002.Title from title screen (viewed Apr. 24, 2008). Submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science to the Unit for the History and Philosophy of Science, Faculty of Science. Degree awarded 2002; thesis submitted 2001. Includes bibliography. Also available in print form.
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Choi, Kim-ying. "Biodiversity publishing in Hong Kong." Click to view the E-thesis via HKUTO, 2008. http://sunzi.lib.hku.hk/hkuto/record/B41549399.
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Hobbs, Sarah Jennifer. "Community participation in biodiversity monitoring." Thesis, University of York, 2012. http://etheses.whiterose.ac.uk/2377/.
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The involvement of communities with wildlife is increasing on a global scale. Participatory approaches differ across the world, from natural resource management, environmental quality monitoring, to species and habitat data gathered through citizen science programmes. The personal and community benefits of engaging with nature are acknowledged through ongoing research, particularly in terms of health and wellbeing, yet simultaneously people are becoming increasingly distanced from nature due to factors such as urbanisation. In order to maximise the benefits associated with participatory initiatives, it is important to engage with a cross section of societal groups, providing opportunities for all, at the same time as collecting wildlife data from all habitats. In this study, I confirm that participation in citizen science can achieve social and potentially community-level benefits on national, local and individual scales. Through semi-structured qualitative interviews, I found that conservation organisations strive to engage with a cross section of societal groups. However, postcode analysis of current wildlife recording scheme participants confirmed that socioeconomically deprived communities are under-represented in these activities. I designed a simple garden wildlife study in a socioeconomically deprived community to investigate the reasons behind this, and found that although a proportion of residents were motivated to participate, the majority had not done so in the past, which was largely attributed to a lack of awareness of opportunities. Despite this, many of these participants shared the same motivations for participation as those currently engaged. Working with a small group of community volunteers, I used semi-structured interviews to reveal that participation in an ecological study can bring about positive personal benefits with the potential to lead on to wider positive outcomes in the future. A significant factor in these transformative effects appeared to be the role of activity practitioners in supporting future participation. Alongside this investigation, a study of habitat use by hedgehogs in an urban setting, current garden management, and resources in the wider area appeared to have a positive effect upon hedgehogs. Throughout all participants in this study, motivations for involvement were centred on contributing to a local study, an interest in the focal wildlife species/taxa, helping conservation and learning. Gardening for wildlife was a popular activity, with many participants reporting both an active encouragement of wildlife into the garden, and a desire to learn more about this topic. This thesis demonstrates how traditional environmental activities are not successfully engaging with people from socioeconomically deprived communities. There are likely to be many factors associated with this, but from the findings of this research, some recommendations can be made to improve future participatory approaches as well as building upon the positive effects of working with community volunteers.
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Clement, Sarah. "Institutions, misfits, and biodiversity conservation." Thesis, Clement, Sarah (2015) Institutions, misfits, and biodiversity conservation. PhD thesis, Murdoch University, 2015. https://researchrepository.murdoch.edu.au/id/eprint/29098/.
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Institutions have a critical role to play in global efforts to halt biodiversity decline, but they need to be fit-for-purpose. Adaptive governance has been positioned as a model to improve fit, as it endorses decision-making institutions that foster learning, experimentation, and responsiveness to local conditions; all of which are necessary to cope with the inherent uncertainty and complexity of biodiversity conservation. Implementing adaptive governance in practice has been slow; however, as its recommendations are often at odds with the structure and function of current institutional arrangements, and in particular fail to consider the limitations of state agencies.
This research develops and applies an original conceptual framework for diagnosing and designing adaptive biodiversity institutions that considers these conflicting demands. The framework integrates adaptive governance concepts with insights from institutional theory and pragmatism, especially from literatures on organisational environments and public administration. The framework is then applied to assess how institutions enable and constrain landscape-scale biodiversity conservation in two contrasting regions in Australia: 1) the Tasmanian Midlands, a privately owned agricultural valley, and 2) the Australian Alps, largely consisting of publicly owned mountainous protected areas. The results are used to develop two sets of potential governance reforms for each region.
Analysis of the biodiversity conservation institutions in the Tasmanian Midlands identified four fit issues: framing, interplay, power and authority, and self-organising. These fit issues are amplified by the failure of institutions to adequately address biodiversity in a multifunctional, privately owned landscape where novel ecosystems are likely to emerge. Reforms focus on enhancing ecosystem functionality within a ‘working landscape’, building on self-organising efforts while collaborating with a broader suite of stakeholders, and strengthening capacity to buffer key political and ecological drivers.
Institutional diagnosis in the Australian Alps revealed the interlinked issues of administrative competence, buffering, and power and authority, all of which constrain adaptive capacity, especially learning and response to cross-border threats to biodiversity. Reforms focus on enhancing cross-border collaboration, broadening accountability measures, building capacity to buffer socio-political influences, and devolving discretion to appropriate levels within protected area agencies.
This research contributes to scholarship in three important ways. First, it develops and applies a tool to diagnose and design adaptive biodiversity institutions that considers both the constraints and opportunities of institutional environments. Second, it demonstrates how insights from pragmatism – especially the idea that change can scaffold on current competencies – are able to inform an approach for designing institutional reforms that addresses current shortcomings in adaptive governance approaches. Both are especially relevant for public agencies, which retain a high degree of responsibility for biodiversity conservation and thus play an essential role in addressing this policy problem. Finally, it advances institutional scholarship by providing a systematic, context-driven approach to analysis that bridges two divergent schools of thought: rational choice and discursive institutionalism.
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Sporne, Ilva. "Institutional Dimension of Biodiversity Conservation." Thesis, Griffith University, 2015. http://hdl.handle.net/10072/367591.
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This thesis makes a contribution to the growing body of literature examining the institutional dimension of human-environment interactions. It has been guided by an interest in the problem of loss of terrestrial biodiversity in the state of Queensland, Australia and its institutional determinants. The study explored two research questions:
• How to conceptualise and evaluate the effectiveness of institutions contributing to the resolution of environmental problems?
• How effective is the Queensland land use planning and development assessment system in achieving biodiversity protection outcomes?
The first part of the study established a theoretical and analytical foundation for the effectiveness assessment of institutional environmental performance, by examining a wide range of theoretical, conceptual and analytical questions regarding the conceptualisation of institutions, their causal role and evaluation. The study was built on an understanding of institutions as systems of rules that structure social interactions, and it defined institutional ‘performance’ as an institutional influence on, or contribution to, the behavioural response of targeted actors. It argued that institutions play a significant role in social interactions, and are an important explanatory factor for many behavioural phenomena.
Building on the literature review, the study established that biodiversity protection is a highly complex and multi-faceted problem. Institutional designs are required to address a range of problem attributes, such as the existing knowledge base, value and incentive systems, distribution of decision-making authorities, and coordination of interactions among a large number of actors. In this context, the study examined two analytical problems. The first was how to approach a large diversity of problem attributes that may contribute to the resolution or creation of complex environmental problems. The second was how to examine diverse and complex institutional designs.Thesis (PhD Doctorate)
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Griffith School of Environment
Science, Environment, Engineering and Technology
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Hermansson, Cecilia. "Communicating Biodiversity Offsetting in Sweden." Thesis, Uppsala universitet, Institutionen för geovetenskaper, 2018. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:uu:diva-362824.
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At a time when biodiversity is declining, there needs to be a shift in how development projects take responsibility for lost natural values. Such a change is provided by biodiversity offsetting which give project owners an opportunity to compensate for declines in natural quality. However, offsetting for biodiversity costs money and therefore a clear business case is needed. Like all types of Corporate Sustainable Responsibility (CSR) work the expected competitive advantages are dependent on the stakeholders’ knowledge of the CSR measures. The aim of this study was therefore to explain how ecological compensation is communicated to stakeholders and why communication is carried out from the perspective of the project owner in a Swedish context. Through interviews and building on theories of CSR, stakeholders, and communication, the results from the five cases herein shows that communication is regarded as very important to most biodiversity offsetting projects. How, when and to whom the communication was directed seemed to depend on the goal which was most important to the project owner. Four goals highlighted in the results were: To gain a social licence to operate; gain new knowledge and to further the indirect increase in natural values inherent in all biodiversity offsetting projects. Also, claiming legal permits for development was a goal for most of the responding organizations. The goals influenced which stakeholders became the most important to communicate with, and different communication strategies were used for the different stakeholders. Some stakeholders could clearly be grouped into general categories, e.g. legal authorities and non-governmental organizations, but this study concluded that the heterogenous character of many of the stakeholders mentioned by the participating organizations made it difficult to categorize these into specific groups.
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Kumphakarm, Ratchaneewan. "Statistical methods for biodiversity assessment." Thesis, University of Kent, 2016. https://kar.kent.ac.uk/60557/.
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This thesis focuses on statistical methods for estimating the number of species which is a natural index for measuring biodiversity. Both parametric and nonparametric approaches are investigated for this problem. Species abundance models including homogeneous and heterogeneous model are explored for species richness estimation. Two new improvements to the Chao estimator are developed using the Good-Turing coverage formula. Although the homogeneous abundance model is the simplest model, the species are collected with different probability in practice. This leads to overdispersed data, zero inflation and a heavy tail. The Poisson-Tweedie distribution, a mixed-Poisson distribution including many special cases such as the negative-binomial distribution, Poisson, Poisson inverse Gaussian, P\'lya-Aeppli and so on, is explored for estimating the number of species. The weighted linear regression estimator based on the ratio of successive frequencies is applied \add{to data generated from} the Poisson-Tweedie distribution. There may be a problem with sparse data which provides zero frequencies for species seen $i$ times. This leads to the weighted linear regression not working. Then, a smoothing technique is considered for improving the performance of the weighted linear regression estimator. Both simulated data and some real data sets are used to study the performance of parametric and nonparametric estimators in this thesis. Finally, the distribution of the number distinct species found in a sample is hard to compute. Many approximations including the Poisson, normal, COM-Poisson Binomial, Altham's multiplicative and additive-binomial and P\'{o}lya distribution are used for approximating the distribution of distinct species. Under various abundance models, Altham's multiplicative-binomial approximation performs well. Building on other recent work, the maximum likelihood and the maximum pseudo-likelihood estimators are applied with Altham's multiplicative-binomial approximation and compared with other estimators.
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Scriven, Lucinda Anne. "Enhancing biodiversity on industrial land." Thesis, University of Newcastle upon Tyne, 2016. http://hdl.handle.net/10443/3455.
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The significant decline in flower-visiting invertebrate populations across Europe has been largely attributed to habitat loss and agricultural intensification. To facilitate and enhance population growth, reversal of biodiversity loss within the local landscapes should be addressed. This study identifies and assesses habitat features associated with flower-visiting invertebrates with the aim to develop management targets to enhance biodiversity. The abundance and diversity of flower-visiting invertebrates were compared between six habitat areas within the grounds of the Alcan Aluminium smelter. The majority of invertebrates were attracted to high flower density, rather than a particular habitat area. Underpinning the project, this study identified three priority habitats utilised by invertebrates; Grassland, Woodland, and Hedgerows. Within grassland, the impact of mowing regimes on flower-visiting invertebrates and flowering plants was assessed. A reduction in mowing frequency resulted in a significant increase of both flower density and diversity within the sward. Comparisons to local flower-rich grasslands showed that following appropriate management the grassland at the Alcan smelter was comparable, if not better in some cases in terms of flower density, along with increasing stability of the plant and invertebrate network. Steps to establish a diverse understorey within the woodland began with an assessment of the seedbank. Results closely mimicked the above ground flora, confirming a low abundance and diversity of flowering species. Germination trials followed to determine the suitability of current light levels to support woodland flowering plants; findings indicated the need for canopy management to enhance the woodland. Hedgerows are an important landscape feature for invertebrates, this study showed that species-rich hedgerows hosted a greater diversity of invertebrates than species poor hedgerows. Indicating the importance of hedgerow management, and the potential benefits of gap filling with native shrub species. Finally, the presence of suitable nesting habitat is another important consideration when managing habitats for invertebrates. Here we assessed the use of three different substrates for suitability in building artificial nests (aimed primarily at bees and wasps). The uptake of these nests increased with exposure length, suggesting that artificial nests do indeed support breeding invertebrates, and could be successfully used as a tool for invertebrate conservation in the future.
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Klein, Ann. "Microbial Biodiversity of the Atmosphere." Thesis, University of Oregon, 2016. http://hdl.handle.net/1794/19676.
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Microorganisms are critical to the functioning of terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems and may also play a role in the functioning of the atmosphere. However, little is known about the diversity and function of microorganisms in the atmosphere. To investigate the forces driving the assembly of bacterial microbial communities in the atmosphere, I measured temporal variation in bacterial diversity and composition over diurnal and inter-day time scales. Results suggest that bacterial communities in the atmosphere markedly vary over diurnal time scales and are likely structured by inputs from both local terrestrial and long-distance sources. To assess the potential functions of bacteria and fungi in the atmosphere, I characterized total and potentially active communities using both RNA- and DNA-based data. Results suggest there are metabolically active microorganisms in the atmosphere that may affect atmospheric functions including precipitation development and carbon cycling.
This dissertation includes previously published and unpublished co-authored
material.
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Kartikasari, Sri Nurani. "Your biodiversity in my backyard : key local stakeholders' perceptions of biodiversity conservation in Gorontalo, Indonesia." Lincoln University, 2008. http://hdl.handle.net/10182/1188.
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The establishment of protected areas (PAs) has been the key national strategy in biodiversity conservation, through preserving the unique wildlife and ecosystems in Indonesia. As well as their status as sites rich in biodiversity, PAs are also important for socio-economic interactions. Hence the management of PAs has been fraught with technical, social and economic problems. To ensure greater local participation and support in tropical forest conservation initiatives, it is vital to understand how local stakeholders perceive them. This research was undertaken in Gorontalo Province by examining the views of local stakeholders through a combination of qualitative interviews and quantitative ranking exercises. The findings revealed that respondents only understood the concept of biodiversity on a general level. Most respondents defined biodiversity in terms of its elements; only a few were able to describe the interactional attributes, by which biodiversity functions within the ecosystems. Their appreciation of forest biodiversity was primarily due to economic and ecological benefits they derive from local forests. Accordingly, respondents ranked the provision of ecological services from the forests as the strongest reason for protecting it. Using Wood et al. (2000) analytical framework to examine the root causes of biodiversity loss, the findings indicated respondents’ familiarity with human-induced forces resulting in the degradation and loss of natural forests, and they understood how these affect local biodiversity, both within and beyond the forest. Some critical disconnections between national policy in forest conservation and the reality of the local use of forest resource became apparent. At the core of these disconnections was an unequal share of benefits of such policy to local stakeholders. They identified extraction of species and physical alteration of the forest ecosystem as direct drivers of forest loss; these were perceived as rooted in poverty, institutional failures in forest management, ignorance of the wider forest functions, and conflict of development policies at the local level. The main reason for biodiversity loss can be summed up as widespread and persistent failure to properly understand, quantify, or value the goods, services, functions and capital value of the natural forests, at both national and local levels. Overall, most respondents held negative attitudes towards protected forests and their positive attitudes towards conservation activities were linked with tangible benefits they enjoy from the forest. A key finding of this study is that the conservation of biodiversity cannot be considered in isolation from broader patterns of natural resource use and the socio-political context in which people carry out their lives. This study suggests that the implementation of the centrally-controlled and preservationist conservation approach in Gorontalo has been ineffective in achieving conservation goals. This is due to the lack of a clear connection between this policy and the reality of local forest users.