As a conservation biology…

As a conservation biology student from the University of Toronto, I would like to comment on how the protection of species at risk can be enhanced. To begin with, the extensive implementation of case-by-case and species-specific policies reduces the protection of certain species at risk since these approaches tend to restrict or interfere with the protection of other species of the same habitat. Species at risk that rely on wide-ranged habitats may require a landscape approach that is a able to conserve these species at a larger scale. Landscape approaches should be extensively implemented over case-by-case and species-specific approaches because it is more effective in areas where multiple species at risk can be managed and protected. A study conducted by Lesbarrères et al., regarding the conservation of amphibians and reptiles listed as at-risk by COSEWIC, explores the challenges of successfully and effectively conserving these species and possible solutions to these challenges. One of the challenges encountered was that the habitat selection studies were mostly conducted at small spatial scales even though these herpetofauna occupy a wide-range of habitats in northern Canada (Lesbarrères et al., 2014). The authors of this article had suggested that approaches which correlate habitat selection to fitness, and are conducted at a large spatial scale (landscape approaches) would be effective in determining suitable habitats for conservation (Lesbarrères et al., 2014). In addition, the authors had proposed that further research and advancements in analytics regarding the understanding of evolutionary potential and dynamics of edge-of-range populations is necessary to achieve future conservation goals (Lesbarrères et al., 2014). New advancements in analytical tools have been proven to be helpful in determining suitable habitats for conservation, as they have allowed conservation biologists to determine source and sink population dynamics, population histories, reactions caused by environmental change from the past (Lesbarrères et al., 2014). All in all, the Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks should make amendments to the Endangered Species which allows for the landscape approaches and conservations solutions proposed by Lesbarrères et al., to be implemented.

Lesbarrères, D., Ashpole, S. L., Bishop, C. A., Blouin-Demers, G., Brooks, R. J., Echaubard, P., . . . Lougheed, S. C. (2014). Conservation of herpetofauna in northern landscapes: Threats and challenges from a canadian perspective. Biological Conservation, 170(Complete), 48-55. doi:10.1016/j.biocon.2013.12.030