Assessing conservation priorities: the African Vertebrates Databank AVD

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Assessing conservation priorities the African
Vertebrates Databank (AVD)

• Luigi Boitani
• Dept. Animal Biology, University of Rome

Istituto di Ecologia Applicata Via L.Spallanzani,
32 00161 Rome ITALY email iea_at_mclink.it
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Participating Institutions

• IUCN/SSC
• Conservation International - CABS
• Natural History Museum London
• University of Cambridge
• Natural History Museum Copenhagen
• Birdlife International
• Istituto di Ecologia Applicata
• University of Rome

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Project goals

• Produce a continental scale conservation tool for
  African vertebrates
• This major goal is achieved by
• building a data bank on African vertebrates with
  the aim of providing the raw data for future
  applications and analyses on conservation options
  and priorities
• modeling actual and potential species distribution

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Conservation Needs

• Broad scale planning (eventually global)
• Metapopulation approach
• Identification of core areas and corridors
• .
• which implies
• Detailed knowledge on actual species distribution
• Extensive data on species ecology and biology
• Spatially explicit predicting tools

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GIS modeling

• Cost effective approach
• Maximizes the information obtainable from the few
  data sets available
• Updateable distributions
• Repeatable approach

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Three (four) pieces of information

• Species Extent of Occurrence
• Environmental variables
• Species-environment relationship
• Validation data set and procedures

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Other projects with similar approach

• African Mammal Databank (1999)
• Ecological Network for the Italian Vertebrates
  (current)
• Asian Mammal Databank (submitted to the EU)

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Distribution modeling

• AVD integrates two (maybe three) levels
• "Blotch" distribution
• Categorical-Discrete distributions obtained
  through a deterministic approach based on GIS
  overlay procedures
• and maybe
• Probabilistic-Continuous distribution models
  based on statistically supported GIS overlay
  procedures.

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Blotch distribution
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Categorical Discrete Model
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Probabilistic Continuous Model
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Categorical Discrete ModelValidation

• The AMD project was validated with field work
  carried out in four selected countries in Africa
• Botswana, Cameroon, Morocco, Uganda
• 427 plots were allocated at random within the
  four countries
• The presence/absence of each species at each of
  the predetermined points was verified by
• direct observation
• in loco collection of publications and scientific
  reports
• interviews with local experts/authorities/inhabita
  nts
• In each country a team composed by a researcher
  from a local Institution and one IEA staff member
  carried out the field work

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Categorical Discrete ModelValidation
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Categorical Discrete ModelValidation

• The AVD limited budget resources will prevent
  direct field work
• Similar scheme will be implemented using known
  species locations from bibliography

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Categorical Discrete ModelProducts
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Categorical Discrete ModelProducts
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Categorical Discrete ModelProducts
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Management tools

• The different types of distribution models
  produced can be included in management tools of
  increasing information content
• Blotch distribution
• hot spots identification
• effectiveness of protected areas
• Categorical Discrete Distribution Model
• population fragmentation
• management strategies for conservation
• Probabilistic Continuous Distribution Model
• metapopulation PVA
• corridors identification

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Mammals biodiversity hotspots

• 281 species of large mammals

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Mammals biodiversity hotspots

• 281 species of large mammals

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AMD Products

• a printed volume containing for each of the 281
  species
• Taxonomic notes
• IUCN threat category
• Available ecological information
• Bibliography
• Extent of Occurrence (Blotch)
• Categorical Discrete Model
• Probabilistic Continuous Model
• Comments and conservation issues
• set of 10 CD-ROM with the digital version of all
  the above information
• web site with all data sets
• www.gisbau.uniroma1.it/amd

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AVD where we are ?

• Mammals
• Rodents
• Bats
• Insectivores
• Others
• Birds
• Amphibians
• Herps
• Snakes
• Lizards
• Others ?
• Fishes ??

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Why modeling? And how

• Purpose of distribution maps
• .
• .
• ? conservation maps must be current and at the
  appropriate resolution/scale for each taxon
• Maps ARE models !!
• Increasing distribution information
• Points (if qualified date, accuracy, species
  biology) (good for transformation into blotches
  and/or for inductive modeling and/or for model
  validation)
• Polygons (if qualified)
• Grids (if all cells are qualified)
• Models (if validated)