Informing the recovery of rare, cryptic species; a case study of Aotearoa New Zealand's Kapitia skink

通知稀有、神秘物种​​的恢复；

• 批准号: 2547077
• 金额: --
• 依托单位: University College London
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Studentship
• 财政年份: 2021
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2021 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=studentship-2547077
• 关键词: Informing; recovery; rare; cryptic; species

The ongoing global extinction crisis endangers the resources human life is dependent upon via the destabilisation of ecosystems. Species recovery programmes work to mitigate against species losses to preserve and restore genetic, species, and ecosystem biodiversity. Conservation translocations, involving the movement and release of living organisms, can aid against extinction by reinforcing or establishing new populations, however, require careful planning to avoid failure. Translocation success is dependent upon the interactions of released individuals with their novel biotic and abiotic environment, and knowledge of species ecology can be used to generate models to predict these interactions and select an appropriate release site. Where ecological knowledge is limited, the opinions of experienced academics and practitioners can be collated to facilitate robust decision-making. This study will focus on the recently discovered Kapitia skink, Oligosoma salmo, in New Zealand as a case study. Research elucidating the species' life history, behaviours, habitat use, and distribution will guide conservation decision-making. Further uncertainty will be addressed using expert elicitation and decision science frameworks. The outcomes of this project will inform conservation translocations and further management actions to optimise the recovery of this Critically Endangered species, with impacts for wider reptile conservation in New Zealand.

持续的全球灭绝危机通过生态系统的不稳定危及人类生命所依赖的资源。物种恢复计划致力于减轻物种损失，以保护和恢复遗传、物种和生态系统的生物多样性。保护迁移，涉及移动和释放的生物体，可以通过加强或建立新的种群来帮助防止灭绝，但是，需要仔细规划，以避免失败。易位的成功取决于释放的个体与其新的生物和非生物环境的相互作用，物种生态学的知识可以用来生成模型来预测这些相互作用并选择适当的释放位点。在生态知识有限的情况下，可以整理有经验的学者和从业人员的意见，以促进稳健的决策。本研究将集中在最近发现的Kapitia石龙子，寡体萨尔莫，在新西兰作为一个案例研究。阐明物种生活史、行为、栖息地利用和分布的研究将指导保护决策。进一步的不确定性将使用专家启发和决策科学框架来解决。该项目的成果将为保护迁移和进一步的管理行动提供信息，以优化这一极度濒危物种的恢复，并对新西兰更广泛的爬行动物保护产生影响。