PARENT SESSION
Oral Session - Conservation Planning Chair(s): Theobald, David¹, ¹ Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO
Thursday, April 1, 2004 8:00 AM - 12:00 PM Apollo Room 2

Incorporating spatial risk into conservation planning: a protocol for threat assessment. ^*MATTSON, KIMBERLY M. ¹, KLOPFER, SCOTT D. ² and ANGERMEIER, PAUL L. ³, ¹ Department of Fisheries and Wildlife Sciences, Blacksburg, VA, USA² Conservation Management Institute, Blacksburg, VA, USA³ United State Geological Survey, Virginia Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, Blacksburg, VA, USA

ABSTRACT- Conservation planning, the framework for protecting biodiversity cost-effectively, has focused on setting aside priority areas specifically for conservation targets. However, most planning efforts lack an analysis of the threats that may impact conservation targets and the surrounding landscape. Such analyses are essential for both terrestrial and aquatic systems, but are more difficult to implement in freshwater aquatic systems. We present a protocol that applies risk assessment techniques to aquatic conservation planning. First, we identify catchments as having low, medium, or high risk to biotic integrity based on human land and water uses. We then categorize geo-referenced human activities based on their potential impact to flow regime, water quality, habitat quality, energy sources, and biological interactions. These spatial risks are ranked by their frequency and severity within individual catchments of a river basin. Final risk rankings of catchments are a summary of impact-specific risks. These rankings enable managers to assess the feasibility of protecting conservation targets. We illustrate the use of our protocol in the upper Tennessee River basin, USA, where many imperiled aquatic species persist despite pervasive threats from dams, mines, and agriculture. We found that dams, urbanization, and row crops pose the greatest threat to biotic integrity within our study area. Furthermore, major threats tend to be clustered within certain watersheds. Humans have impacted our entire study area, but land use and ownership dictate varying degrees of influence. Threat assessment should become an essential component of conservation planning as anthropogenic activities continue to adversely influence biodiversity.

KEY WORDS: conservation planning, threat assessment, risk, landscape