The sustainability of endangered species under intensive management: the case of the scimitar horned oryx Oryx dammah
The sustainability of endangered species under intensive management: the case of the scimitar horned oryx Oryx dammah
The world is facing an unprecedented loss of biodiversity caused by anthropogenic environmental change. Captive breeding and reintroduction can help mitigate the effects of biodiversity loss for some endangered species, but to accomplish this, captive populations need to be self-sustainable. Intensive population management aims to achieve sustainability by maximising the retention of genetic diversity, maintaining demographic stability, and reducing adaptation to captivity. Recent evaluations of captive populations have indicated that many are not meeting their genetic and demographic goals, and are not sustainable. Consequently, their contribution to biodiversity conservation is being undermined. This thesis aims to evaluate the sustainability of captive populations using the scimitarhorned oryx as a case study. The European scimitar-horned oryx population experiences many of the challenges encountered by other captive populations, specifically, poor data quality in the international studbook resulting in less effective population management; rapid loss of genetic variation; and economic fragmentation. This thesis presents a series of original studies that evaluate the sustainability of captive populations, examines the impact of poor quality data on population management, and tests the effects of population fragmentation. The results contribute knowledge to the management of small captive populations in general, and to the scimitar-horned oryx in particular. I propose solutions to some of the challenges faced by endangered species in captivity, and advocate a reorientation of the existing small population management paradigm. Finally, I challenge the international zoological community to fulfil its potential for biodiversity conservation, and sustainably manage the populations in its care.
University of Southampton
Gilbert, Tania
ec807003-6c13-4dcb-bb63-0f36e9143409
29 December 2011
Gilbert, Tania
ec807003-6c13-4dcb-bb63-0f36e9143409
Doncaster, Patrick C.
0eff2f42-fa0a-4e35-b6ac-475ad3482047
Gilbert, Tania
(2011)
The sustainability of endangered species under intensive management: the case of the scimitar horned oryx Oryx dammah.
University of Southampton, Biological Sciences, Doctoral Thesis, 422pp.
Record type:
Thesis
(Doctoral)
Abstract
The world is facing an unprecedented loss of biodiversity caused by anthropogenic environmental change. Captive breeding and reintroduction can help mitigate the effects of biodiversity loss for some endangered species, but to accomplish this, captive populations need to be self-sustainable. Intensive population management aims to achieve sustainability by maximising the retention of genetic diversity, maintaining demographic stability, and reducing adaptation to captivity. Recent evaluations of captive populations have indicated that many are not meeting their genetic and demographic goals, and are not sustainable. Consequently, their contribution to biodiversity conservation is being undermined. This thesis aims to evaluate the sustainability of captive populations using the scimitarhorned oryx as a case study. The European scimitar-horned oryx population experiences many of the challenges encountered by other captive populations, specifically, poor data quality in the international studbook resulting in less effective population management; rapid loss of genetic variation; and economic fragmentation. This thesis presents a series of original studies that evaluate the sustainability of captive populations, examines the impact of poor quality data on population management, and tests the effects of population fragmentation. The results contribute knowledge to the management of small captive populations in general, and to the scimitar-horned oryx in particular. I propose solutions to some of the challenges faced by endangered species in captivity, and advocate a reorientation of the existing small population management paradigm. Finally, I challenge the international zoological community to fulfil its potential for biodiversity conservation, and sustainably manage the populations in its care.
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Tania_Gilbert_Doctoral_Thesis.pdf
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Published date: 29 December 2011
Organisations:
University of Southampton, Centre for Biological Sciences
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Local EPrints ID: 341745
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/341745
PURE UUID: 6bfe1335-363c-4fde-b344-4f5ad53394f2
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Date deposited: 03 Oct 2012 15:35
Last modified: 15 Mar 2024 02:49
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Author:
Tania Gilbert
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