Course Description
The principles of conservation biology with a focus on the conservation of regional and global biodiversity using rigorous quantitative approaches. It will integrate and build upon material covered in previous courses. Practical aspects of single species, ecosystem, and landscape approaches will be covered.
Athena Title
Conservation Decision-Making
Prerequisite
[(FANR 3200W and FANR 3200L) or (ECOL 3500 and ECOL 3500L)] and [(FANR 3000 and FANR 3000L) or (WILD 4110/6110 and WILD 4110L/6110L)]
Pre or Corequisite
FANR 3800 and FANR 3800L
Semester Course Offered
Offered spring
Grading System
A - F (Traditional)
Course Objectives
Student who complete this course will… 1. understand and integrate the principles of conservation sciences at regional and global spatial scales. 2. evaluate and compare elements of approaches to conservation presented in case studies. 3. Understand and deal with the conflicting nature of competing stakeholder values in many conservation and management issues. 4. Integrate complex issues, values and opinions with rigorous quantitative approaches to make optimal decisions in conservation and management of fish and wildlife resources.
Topical Outline
Week 1-2 - lecture: What is biodiversity? How is it measured? Components of biodiversity. Biodiversity hotspots. Threats to biodiversity. IUCN Red List. The valuation of biodiversity. lab: Quantifying biodiversity. Decision making involving biodiversity. Week 3 - lecture: Monitoring biodiversity. Sampling review. Principles of monitoring. lab: Sampling lab. Estimation of population density using Program Distance. Week 4 - lecture: Population modeling: Extinction, colonization, and management of populations and diverse communities. lab: Life table and Leslie matrix approaches. Week 5 - lecture: Ecology and management of rare species and small populations. Policy evaluation (ESA). lab: Population viability analysis. Week 6 - lecture: Ecology and management of rare species and small populations. Conservation genetics. lab: Population genetics modeling. Week 7-8 - lecture: Landscape approaches: The hierarchical context. Metapopulations. Large-scale conservation planning. Rserve site selection problems. lab: Exercises involving landscape planning using GIS. Week 9 - lecture: Ecosystem management: What is it? Setting priorities for ecosystem management, dynamic optimization framework. lab: Field trip: Altamaha River. Week 10 - lecture: Ecological restoration: what are the targets of restoration? How do you monitor success? Setting priorities for ecosystem management, dynamic optimization framework. lab: Monitoring exercise. Week 11-12 - lecture: Decision making involving complex management scenarios: stakeholder involvement. Conflict resolution. lab: Bayesian belief networks. Week 13-15 - lecture: Adaptive Resource Management and Structured Decision Making. Case studies. lab: Computer exercises. Work on projects.