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Medicine, health, and genetic resources discussed at conservation biology conference Annual Meeting of the Society for Conservation Biology July 26, 2005 Below are papers submitted for the conference. All descriptions are excepts from the official "Book of Abstracts" from the meeting. More abstracts. CONFALONIERI, ULISSES. National School of Public Health, FIOCRUZ Av. Brasil, 4036/703 21040- 361 Rio de Janeiro RJ; School of Veterinary Medicine, Universidade Federal Fluminense Rua Vital Brasil Filho, 64 Niterói RJ, Brazil, e-mail: pmags((AT))ensp.fiocruz.br. Conservation Medicine literature (CM) has focused mostly on conceptual issues; the teaching of CM in Veterinary courses and on infections in free-ranging wild animals and their importance for conservation. Public Health (PH), one of the three main pillars of CM, has been, so far, of much less importance in structuring this new discipline. Some factors responsible for this situation, especially in developing countries, are: 1- the human epidemiological profile is dominated by chronic diseases rather than by infections; 2- zoonotic diseases endemic in humans (Chagas; Lyme; leishmaniases; leptospirosis; schistossomiasis etc) have been addressed by PH solely from the point of view of the protection of humans (anthropocentric approach); 3- Current major human infectious diseases (dengue; malaria) are not zoonotic and/or have no linkages with natural ecosystems; 4- Little concern of PH with disease and toxicological dynamics in natural systems, due to the urban concentration of the human population. To foster PH/CM integration, research and training in Public Health should be able to: 1) emphasize the zoonotic nature and world-wide impacts of many of the emerging diseases (HIV; SARS; Chicken flu; West Nile Virus); 2) stress the importance of wild animals as indicators of global chemical pollution (eg endocrine disruptors); 3) provide epidemiological tools to address conservation problems (eg. population viability analysis); 4) show that human and animal populations currently share exposures to global toxic and biological hazards; 5) demonstrate the need for integrated epidemiological surveillance systems covering wild and domestic animals and the human population.ABSTRACTS Universidade de Brasília, Brazil, July 200 ASSESSING THE VALUE OF ANIMAL GENETIC RESOURCES AS JUSTIFICATION FOR CONSERVATION INITIATIVES - THE CASE OF THE BORANA CATTLE IN EAST AFRICA. ZANDER, KERSTIN; Holm-Müller, Karin; Mburu, John; Drucker, Adam. Center for Development Research (ZEF), Walter-Flex-Str. 3, 53113 Bonn, Germany, kzander((AT))unibonn. de. The Borana cattle have their origin in Southern Ethiopia where they are guarded by pastoralists because of their unique traits making them suitable for the harsh environment in the lowlands. Borana cattle are also the main source of the livestock-keepers' income and the local people's cultural identity is based on the husbandry of these animals. Nevertheless, the existence of this breed is threatened due to genetic erosion and dwindling number of pure Borana animals as well as increasing crossbreeding among different breeds. Driving factors for this depletion are population pressure, ecological changes and natural catastrophes. The preservation of these animal genetic resources is crucial for future use, for preserving the irreversible loss of the Borana genes and enhancement of global biodiversity, but financial aid for conservation is scarce. This study seeks to quantify the total value of the Borana cattle as an indicator of its potential for deserving conservation priority. A discrete-choice ranking approach is used to estimate the livestock-keepers' willingness to pay and the relative preferences for different attributes of Borana cattle. Furthermore, a random parameter logit model is applied, revealing heterogeneity among livestock-keepers' utilities for different cattle breeds,ABSTRACTS Universidade de Brasília, Brazil, July 2005 showing which group of livestock-keepers could be targeted in conservation initiatives EMERGING INFECTIOUS DISEASES, BIODIVERSITY, AND HUMAN HEALTH: EXPERIMENTAL EVIDENCE OF MAMMAL COMMUNITIES' PROVISION OF NATURE SERVICES. SUZAN, GERARDO; Marce, Erika; Mills, James; Giermakowski, Tomasz; Parmenter, Robert; Armien, Blas; Pascale, Juan; Ceballos, Gerardo; Salazar, Jorge; Yates, Terry. Museum of Southwestern Biology and Department of Biology, University of New Mexico. Albuquerque, NM, USA 87131-0001, gsuzan((AT))unm.edu (GS, EM, TG, RP, TY). Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA, USA 30333 (JM). Instituto Conmemorativo Gorgas, Av. Justo Arosemena y Calle 35, PO Box 6991, Zona 5, Ciudad de Panamá, Panamá (BA, JP). Instituto de Ecología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Apartado Postal 70-275, Ciudad Universitaria CP. 04510, México DF, México (GC). Department of Biological Sciences, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX 79409-3131, USA (JS). Biodiversity loss and habitat fragmentation have a profound effect on species distribution and abundance, but ecological, epidemiological, and social consequences are still unpredictable. We present evidence that a high species diversity community of rodents reduces hantavirus infection prevalence. A species removal experiment was conducted in a hantavirus (Calabazo virus) endemic area at the peninsula de Azuero, Panama in 2003. We removed alternative host species (low reservoir competence) and non-host species in 16 experimental plots in edges of small forest fragments, and we compared them with 8 control plots with similar conditions. Abundance of the competent reservoir species was positively affected by the removal of the alternative host and non-hantavirus host species. After removal, hantavirus infection was amplified in competent reservoir when species diversity was reduced. Of the 24 individuals seroconverted (i. e. animals that were seronegative and became seropositive) more than 98% belonged to experimental sites. Control sites showed stable infection prevalence during sampling periods. It is known that nature services play a crucial role in human societies; this study shows a direct benefit of high biodiversity in reducing risks of directly transmitted infectious diseases. Implications of our results for conservation biology, public health, and disease management are vast CONSERVATION OF GENETIC RESOURCES IN SOUTH AMERICAN TEMPERATE FORESTS: THE PROTEACEAE Embothrium coccineum AS KEYSTONE SPECIES. SOUTO, CINTIA; Premoli, Andrea Cecilia. Laboratorio Ecotono, Universidad Nacional del Comahue, CRUB, Quintral 1250, San Carlos de Bariloche, Río Negro, Argentina. One goal of biodiversity conservation is to preserve variation patterns at intraspecific level. Widespread species showed complex genotypic and phenotypic structure in response to environmental variables. Embothrium coccineum inhabits radically different environments. We predict that morphological and genetic traits variation patterns are associated along its wide geographic range (18 degrees of Latitude). We genetically characterized using isozymes, and morphologically through leaf size and shape each of 34 populations along specie's range. Nine isozyme markers that coded for 19 putative loci showed that E. coccineum populations are highly polymorphic (P 92%), and heterogeneous among each other regarding their allelic frequencies, showing high levels of inbreeding and restricted interpopulation gene flow (Nm < 1). The NA is higher in austral populations, but% P is higher in northern ones, probably as consequence of specie's biogeographyc history. E. coccineum is highly variable also morphologically, possibly in response to favourable conditions of temperature and humidity. Multivariate discriminant analysis combining genetic and morphological variables grouped populations according to its geographic location. This study highlights the importance of preserving genotypic and phenotypic variation in habitats occupied by a keystone species belonging to a monotypic genus that inhabits all National Parks, and unprotected areas in Patagonia ETHNOBOTANY OF Syngonanthus nitens (ERIOCAULACEAE): A NON-TIMBER FOREST PRODUCT (NTFP) FROM THE BRAZILIAN CERRADO, AT JALAPÃO REGION, TOCANTINS. SCHMIDT, ISABEL B.; Figueiredo, Isabel B.; Scariot, Aldicir. Diretoria de Florestas, Ibama, Brasília, DF, 70.818-900, Brazil & PEQUI - Pesquisa e Conservação do Cerrado, Brasília, DF, 70763-520, Brazil, isabelbs((AT))pequi.org.br (IBS). Programa de Pós-graduação em Ecologia, Universidade de Brasília, Brasília, DF, 70.919 Brazil (IBF). Embrapa/ Cenargen, Brasília, DF, 70770 Brazil & Programa das Nações para o Desenvolvimento, PNUD Brasil, Brasília, DF, 70712-901, Brazil (AS), scariot((AT)) cenargen.embrapa.br. The handcrafts made from coils of "capim dourado" (golden grass) scapes that are sewn tightly together with buriti palm (Mauritia flexuosa) strips represent important source of income in Jalapão. Recently, the traditional handcrafts made by women from the Mumbuca Community started being commercialized in large Brazilian cities and European countries, increasing extraction rates. This study is aimed at characterizing the plant scapes extraction methods and the management techniques of humid grasslands areas, where the species occur. Harvest and handcraft activities occupy women, men and children from almost all rural communities in Jalapão. Scapes are collected from July to October. Harvesters believe that the humid grasslands should be burned every other year to stimulate production. The ideal period to harvest is variable among harvesters; knowledgeable harvesters tend to collect scapes later in the year. This practice allows seed maturation (early September) before the harvest, decreases plant mortality by uprooting plants with immature scapes and increases the brightness of the handcrafts. These information has been applied in experiments which were designed and fulfilled with harvester participation, to assess the effects of capim dourado's harvest in the region. The intention is to propose harvesting rules based on both scientific and traditional knowledge CHALLENGES IN CONSERVING GENETIC DIVERSITY IN FRAGMENTED RAINFORESTS OF NORTHEASTERN BRAZIL. CARNAVAL, ANA CAROLINA O. Q. Field Museum of Natural History, 1400 S. Lake Shore Dr, Chicago, IL 60605, USA, carolcarnaval((AT))hotmail.com. To study patterns and levels of genetic variation across forested landscapes in northeastern Brazil, I applied tools of phylogeography to local frogs using mitochondrial (cyt-b and ND2) and nuclear markers (c-myc proto-oncogene). I found considerable genetic structure among populations of Proceratophrys and Eleutherodactylus. Results for P. boiei were congruent with the view that naturally isolated forest enclaves within the Caatinga act as refuges, in which demes undergo differentiation. Structure extends to the lower levels of geographic sampling; in P. boiei, I detected genetic differentiation among breeding assemblages within continuous habitat. I found evidence of genetic isolation by distance among human-made fragments with mitochondrial and nuclear markers. However, pronounced mtDNA breaks among neighboring populations indicate that isolation by distance is not solely responsible for genetic patterns. Comparisons among co-occurring Hyla albomarginata, H. branneri, P. boiei, and Scinax nebulosus showed that patterns and levels of genetic diversity are influenced by taxon-specific habitat requirements. Most genetic differentiation in local populations reflects fragmentation events that predate human-driven habitat destruction. Moreover, Eleutherodactylus and P. boiei show genetic patterns consistent with hypotheses of biotic responses to Pleistocene climate changes. Knowledge of this strong historical component is necessary and timely for local conservation planning HIV/AIDS AND CONSERVATION CAPACITY BUILDING: IMPACTS AND COPING STRATEGIES. OGLETHORPE, JUDY; Gelman, Nancy. World Wildlife Fund (WWF), 1250 24th Street, NW, Washington, DC 20037, USA, judy.oglethorpe((AT))wwfus.org (JO). Africa Biodiversity Collaborative Group, c/o WWF. Washington, DC (NG). HIV/AIDS is having tragic impacts on conservation capacity in sub-Saharan Africa and it threatens the conservation workforce in next wave regions including Eastern Europe, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean. Human losses in the conservation community have been significant in many countries. Conservation personnel are particularly vulnerable when they travel for training or are posted to remote protected areas without their families, where they may engage in high-risk behaviors. Capacity of communities managing natural resources is being lost, as is indigenous knowledge. AIDS-affected households are often forced to use land and natural resources unsustainably as they lose labor and seek livelihood alternatives. Research on conservation impacts and coping strategies for maintaining conservation capacity reveals that some conservation organizations in Africa have developed best practices to deal with HIV/AIDS impacts. Many others are uncertain about what action to take, or are held back by stigma and lack of leadership in HIV/AIDS issues. There is a huge demand for information and support. Strategies include development of HIV/AIDS organizational policies and procedures (in collaboration with the health and labor sectors), innovative training programs that help maintain the conservation workforce, development of alternatives to unsustainable resource use, and promotion of low-labor sustainable enterprise ANTIBIOTICS, ANTIBIOTIC RESISTANCE, AND CONSERVATION: WHAT'S THE CONNECTION? DEVINCENT, STEPHEN J. 26 Montgomery Street, Boston, MA, USA, sdvdvm((AT))earthlink.net. In a variety of interconnected ecosystems, antibiotics and antibiotic resistance can lead to alterations in biodiversity by disturbing established interdependencies. Little is known about the extent of occurrence, fate, effects, and risks associated with environmental release of antibiotics. They represent ecological problems that include toxic effects on aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems and consequently interference with trophic chains. Antibiotics are detected in wastewater, surface water, ground water, estuaries, sediments and soil, and in aquatic and terrestrial wildlife and plants. Use of antibiotics in humans, animals, agriculture and aquaculture increases selective pressure for the emergence and dissemination of antimicrobial-resistant bacteria. While studies in wildlife are limited in number, antibiotic resistance has been identified in pathogenic and commensal bacteria within free-ranging and captive wild mammals, birds, reptiles and aquatic species. Antibiotics can increase the expression of virulence factors in pathogenic bacteria. Transmission of more virulent bacteria to wildlife may lower the threshold density of the pathogen and contribute to emergence of wildlife infectious disease. The mobility of wildlife and potential ecosystem transfer of these pathogens may represent a challenge to conservation efforts. Antibiotic residue and resistance data from wildlife should be used to assess potential adverse effects on human, wildlife and ecosystem health Society for Conservation Biology - Brasilia 2005 News index | RSS | News Feed Advertisements: Organic Apparel from Patagonia | Insect-repelling clothing |
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