ATBC 2008 - Ahumada

ATBC

Symposium

Measuring Biodiversity Responses to Changing Human Influences: a Conceptual Framework and Case Studies from the Humid Tropics

Organizer: Jorge Ahumada (j.ahumada -at- conservation.org) and Sandy J. Andelman (s.andelman -at- conservation.org)

It is well known that biodiversity in the tropics is at risk from human activities such as land use change, deforestation and climate change. However, the specific mechanisms and scales through which human influences affect biodiversity at particular locations are poorly understood. It is important, not only to understand how biodiversity is changing, but to disentangle the overall mix of natural and anthropogenic factors that may influence these changes over a range of scales and intensities.

Sites for long-term biodiversity monitoring are most often located within protected areas. Protected areas in turn are located within larger ecosystems, so that changes in the surrounding areas can alter biodiversity, even though habitat remains in tact within the reserve boundaries. Therefore, a general framework is needed to link local changes in biodiversity to processes to the human systems surrounding the protected area. We define this area as the Zone of Interaction (ZOI). For a given site, how large is the ZOI, how does it vary across a range different regions and contexts; what criteria define the ZOI?

In this symposium we present the results of a collaboration among an international group of scientists to develop a conceptual framework and set of practical protocols for delineating and monitoring ZOIs in the context of the Tropical Ecology and Assessment Monitoring (TEAM) Network. Symposium participants will present:

  1. the conceptual framework and its theoretical underpinnings;
  2. the practical protocol and decision framework;
  3. a series of case studies from TEAM sites and elsewhere in the Tropics that illustrate how to apply the framework and protocols;
  4. discuss conclusions and insights that are relevant throughout the humid Tropics. 

Trio Village Kwamalasamutu in Southern Suriname. (c) Bart de Dijn

 

SPONSORSHIPS 

Conservation International