Much of contemporary conservation science is devoted to developing algorithms and processes capable of identifying locations on the landscape where preservation, conservation, or restoration is necessary to retain functioning ecosystems and preserve biodversity. Despite a number of significant advances on this front, translating those priorities into actions remains a challenge. In this dissertation, I suggest that designing conservation strategies that address global change requires quantification of the role of humans, their institutions, and their environment in producing conservation action. Further, I argue that integrating these factors into spatially explicit, empirical estimates of the likelihood of conservation action is critical for identifying those locations where conservation action is both biologically necessary and socio-politically feasible. Chapter One presents an empirical framework for estimating the likelihood of conservation occurrence and illustrate its utility in a case study of conservation easements along the west coast of the United States. Results for that case study indcate that models that incorporate ecological, social, and institutional variables outperform models based solely on one class of variables. Chapter Two explores the role of ecological, social, and institutional context in differentiating between congressionally protected and presidentially protected areas in the United States. The anlaysis presented there indicates little evidence that different designation modes result target different environmental, institutional, or social contexts. Finally, Chapter Three explores the potential biases that arise due to incomplete or voluntary reporting of conservation action and develop an analytical method to facilitate broad-extent, high-resolution estimates of the probability of conservation easement occurrence. Results indicate that models that explicitly incorporate variation in reporting probability are substantially less biased than those that do not and that those biases can lead to substantial differences in inference based on a case study from Idaho and Montana.

All phases of road developmentâ€"from construction and use by vehicles to maintenanceâ€"affect physical and chemical soil conditions, water flow, and air and water quality, as well as plants and animals. Roads and traffic can alter wildlife habitat, cause vehicle-related mortality, impede animal migration, and disperse nonnative pest species of plants and animals. Integrating environmental considerations into all phases of transportation is an important, evolving process. The increasing awareness of environmental issues has made road development more complex and controversial. Over the past two decades, the Federal Highway Administration and state transportation agencies have increasingly recognized the importance of the effects of transportation on the natural environment. This report provides guidance on ways to reconcile the different goals of road development and environmental conservation. It identifies the ecological effects of roads that can be evaluated in the planning, design, construction, and maintenance of roads and offers several recommendations to help better understand and manage ecological impacts of paved roads.

Natural resource management efforts have historically concentrated on ecological goals to identify and prioritize conservation actions. However, successful implementation of conservation actions on private land requires conservation opportunity, or the willingness of landholders to participate in and accept conservation actions. Conservation opportunity on private land depends on a range of structural and social factors. Recent research emphasizes the importance of social factors and suggests incorporating social factors in conservation actions is necessary for the long-term sustainability and equitability of environmental change. The social factor of trust has been shown to strongly influence landholder's decision-making. For this research, trust is defined as a belief that someone or something is good, reliable, honest, and effective. However, trust is complex and sometimes difficult to predict. In addition, trust can be regionally specific and little research exists on trust in the Pacific Northwest. This study seeks to increase understanding of trust and the importance of trust in conservation opportunity on private land in the Pacific Northwest. In this study, trust is comprised of six constructs: Personal Relationship, Social Structure, Reciprocity, Shared Worldview, Social Commitment, and Participation in Decision-Making. The researcher utilized self-administered surveys to measure landholders' level of trust in conservation organizations and answer three research questions: Are the constructs associated with trust as expected? Which constructs of trust are most important in a landholder's decision to participate in voluntary conservation programs? and What actions could these organizations take to improve trust? Surveys were distributed to participants and non-participants of four voluntary conservation programs in the Nooksack Watershed in Whatcom County, Washington. The research results suggest six primary findings. First, survey respondents report trust as equally or more important than other factors in determining conservation opportunity. Second, not all individuals have a uniform definition of trust, yet trust is strongly associated with the degree to which the landholder perceives an individual, institution, or program respects and understands their goals. Third, results distinguish two constructs being reported as most important in determining conservation opportunity within the study group: Social Commitment and Participation in Decision-Making. The construct items reported as least important are affiliation with other groups/individuals and obligation. Fourth, while the landholder's relationship with the organization's representative is important, they do not identify it as the most influential construct item. Fifth, although the literature shows the Shared Worldview construct can predict policy positions, the results of a Shared Worldview "short-form" survey indicate worldview may not be a predictor for who participates and what program they will participate in. Finally, both participants and non-participants believe the conservation organizations have the opportunity to earn or increase trust. Landholders' suggested actions to increase trust varied but included providing long-term on-the-ground work, improved communication, additional opportunities for landholder input, changes to the organization's governance, and effort to change state policy. While results cannot be extended to the general population, the findings have the potential to help conservation organizations within the Pacific Northwest build trust with landholders and increase landholder enrollment in conservation programs. In addition, the findings highlight areas for future research.

Conservation physiology is a rapidly expanding, multidisciplinary field that utilizes physiological knowledge and tools to understand and solve conservation challenges. This novel text provides the first consolidated overview of its scope, purpose, and applications, with a focus on wildlife. It outlines the major avenues and advances by which conservation physiology is contributing to the monitoring, management, and restoration of wild animal populations. This book also defines opportunities for further growth in the field and identifies critical areas for future investigation. By using a series of global case studies, contributors illustrate how approaches from the conservation physiology toolbox can tackle a diverse range of conservation issues including the monitoring of environmental stress, predicting the impact of climate change, understanding disease dynamics, improving captive breeding, and reducing human-wildlife conflict. Moreover, by acting as practical road maps across a diversity of sub-disciplines, these case studies serve to increase the accessibility of this discipline to new researchers. The diversity of taxa, biological scales, and ecosystems highlighted illustrate the far-reaching nature of the discipline and allow readers to gain an appreciation for the purpose, value, applicability, and status of the field of conservation physiology. Conservation Physiology is an accessible supplementary textbook suitable for graduate students, researchers, and practitioners in the fields of conservation science, eco-physiology, evolutionary and comparative physiology, natural resources management, ecosystem health, veterinary medicine, animal physiology, and ecology.

Proceedings of the Conference on Integrating Social Sciences & Ecosystem Management held in 1995. The overall purpose was to improve understanding, integration, & research applications of the human dimension of ecosystem management. The goals were to: (1) discuss the state of knowledge of social sciences relevant to ecosystem management, (2) discuss how to integrate this knowledge with ecosystem management (along with the physical & biological sciences), (3) develop a strategy to effectively integrate social sciences with ecosystem management, & (4) identify a research agenda to further knowledge in the area. Illustrated.

Scientists have long sought to unravel the fundamental mysteries of the land, life, water, and air that surround us. But as the consequences of humanity's impact on the planet become increasingly evident, governments are realizing the critical importance of understanding these environmental systemsâ€"and investing billions of dollars in research to do so. To identify high-priority environmental science projects, Grand Challenges in Environmental Sciences explores the most important areas of research for the next generation. The book's goal is not to list the world's biggest environmental problems. Rather it is to determine areas of opportunity thatâ€"with a concerted investmentâ€"could yield significant new findings. Nominations for environmental science's "grand" challenges were solicited from thousands of scientists worldwide. Based on their responses, eight major areas of focus were identifiedâ€"areas that offer the potential for a major scientific breakthrough of practical importance to humankind, and that are feasible if given major new funding. The book further pinpoints four areas for immediate action and investment.