PARENT SESSION
Oral Session #41: Agroecology and Urban Ecology. Presiding: M. Liebman.
Wednesday, August 8, 2001. 8:00 AM to 12:15 PM. Hall of Ideas L&M.
Conservation of species diversity on the urban fringe: is it hopeless?
SCHWARTZ, MARK1, JURJAVCIC, NICOLE1, O'BRIEN, JOSHUA1, 1
ABSTRACT- Recent conservation texts and papers urge conservationists to think big and place conservation within the context of ecosystem management. This is recognized to be difficult, at best, in or near urban areas. One might conclude, therefore, conservation at the urban fringe will largely be an exercise in failed endeavors. In contrast, recent geographical analyses of the distribution of diversity suggests that many biodiversity hotspots within the US are in or near intensely urbanized areas. We evaluated the number of plant species at risk within the greater San Francisco Bay area and queried the Natural Heritage database to determine what proportion of species in this biodiversity hotspot are currently found on publicly owned lands. We then asked public landowners to comment on the degree to which they manage their biological resources at risk. A surprisingly large fraction of rare plants are currently found on public lands, but most landowners do little to manage for persistence in these species. We suggest that this situation is ideal to develop a workforce of volunteer species managers and monitors. This approach has been succesfully used in other regions. We propose a structure for such a program.
KEY WORDS: plant conservation, endangered species