The Golden-cheeked Warbler (Setophaga chrysoparia) is a Neotropical migratory songbird that is listed as endangered under the U.S. Endangered Species Act, breeds exclusively in central Texas, and is heavily impacted by habitat conversion. The species relies on mixed ashe juniper (Juniperus ashei) and oak (Quercus) woodlands for nest-building and shelter during the spring and early summer months. Using land-cover and disturbance data spanning 1985 to 2018, we conducted a geospatial analysis to quantify changes and identify shifts in breeding-habitat quantity and suitability. Since 1985 13% of all forests within the Warbler's breeding range have been disturbed, with greater incidences near the metropolitan areas of San Antonio (32%) and Austin (24%). Additionally, there was a 42% decrease in suitable habitat (i.e., intact forests primarily composed of ashe juniper and oak stands) and a decrease in mean patch size. Declines of suitable habitat were smaller in protected areas, but protected areas only represent 10% of suitable habitat in the breeding range. Drastic declines in the most-suitable habitat suggest that previous lower resolution estimates of habitat conversion may underestimate true habitat loss as degradation may have an impact on the ecological viability of remaining forests for Golden-cheeked Warbler nesting. Further evidence suggests that the few protected areas within the Texas range continue to play a significant role in Warbler breeding. Researchers and managers can use these results to prioritize conservation action and inform upcoming species status determinations.

AbstractIn April 2019, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) released its recovery plan for the jaguar Panthera onca after several decades of discussion, litigation and controversy about the status of the species in the USA. The USFWS estimated that potential habitat, south of the Interstate-10 highway in Arizona and New Mexico, had a carrying capacity of c. six jaguars, and so focused its recovery programme on areas south of the USA–Mexico border. Here we present a systematic review of the modelling and assessment efforts over the last 25 years, with a focus on areas north of Interstate-10 in Arizona and New Mexico, outside the recovery unit considered by the USFWS. Despite differences in data inputs, methods, and analytical extent, the nine previous studies found support for potential suitable jaguar habitat in the central mountain ranges of Arizona and New Mexico. Applying slightly modified versions of the USFWS model and recalculating an Arizona-focused model over both states provided additional confirmation. Extending the area of consideration also substantially raised the carrying capacity of habitats in Arizona and New Mexico, from six to 90 or 151 adult jaguars, using the modified USFWS models. This review demonstrates the crucial ways in which choosing the extent of analysis influences the conclusions of a conservation plan. More importantly, it opens a new opportunity for jaguar conservation in North America that could help address threats from habitat losses, climate change and border infrastructure.

Reintroduction—defined here as the return of a species to a part of its range where it has been extirpated—is a critical pathway to conservation in the 21st century. As late as the 1960s, jaguars ( Panthera onca ) inhabited an expansive region in the central mountain ranges of Arizona and New Mexico in the United States, a habitat unique in all of jaguar range. Here, we make the case for reintroduction, building a rhetorical bridge between conservation science and practice. First, we present a rationale rooted in the philosophy of wildlife conservation. Second, we show that the species once occupied this territory and was extirpated by human actions that should no longer pose a threat. Third, we demonstrate that the proposed recovery area provides suitable ecological conditions. Fourth, we discuss how return of the species could be a net benefit to people, explicitly recognizing a diversity of values and concerns. Fifth, we show that reintroduction is practical and feasible over a realistic time horizon. Returning the jaguar to this area will enhance the recovery of an endangered species in the United States, further its range‐wide conservation, and restore an essential part of North America's cultural and natural heritage.

interested public now recognize that there is an urgent need to restore forest ecosystems after decades of intensive logging, fire suppression, road building, livestock grazing, mining, and invasions by exotic species (see Noss and Cooperrider 1994, Ricketts and others 1999, Pimmentel and others 2000 for reviews). Such damaging activities have compacted soils, channelized streams, fragmented forests, suppressed natural fire, assisted the spread of some invasive species, and caused the loss of native species and their habitat (Noss and Cooperrider 1994, Heilman and others 2002). Years of efforts by scientists, forest practitioners, environmentalists, restoration workers, and others have helped develop restoration methods and techniques. The result has been both good and bad restoration projects—models of what to do and what not to do when restoring forests. Today, job programs are being developed around the country to create a work force focused on restoring ecosystems rather than on resource extraction. Local governments and citizens are working together to restore watersheds that provide drinking water for their communities (for example, Ashland Watershed Alliance in southwest Oregon). Restoration programs and ideas continue to be developed to help us understand how to restore forests holistically. At the same time, there are serious questions as to whether some proposed “restoration” activities are really beneficial to the landscape. Due to recent pressure from decision-makers to address forest fires in the West, federal agencies are developing plans to implement environmentally questionable “restoration” projects on a national scale (see DellaSala and Frost 2001 for limitations; also see White House Healthy Forest Legislative Initiative; www.nifc.gov). The National Fire Plan has funded fuel reduction projects (many of them commercial timber sales) in endangered species habitat, roadless areas, old-growth forests, and areas where there is no scientific evidence that forests are at risk from catastrophic fires (DellaSala and Frost 2001). An increase in use by the Forest Service of the commercial timber sale program to “restore” federal lands poses risks that logging will adversely affect fish and wildlife habitat and ecologically sensitive landscapes. The Citizens’ Call for Ecological Forest Restoration is proposed as a national

We examine patterns of nestedness and species incidence for the resident and migrant components of avifaunas in North America and Europe. While all assemblages were significantly nested, there were no significant differences between North American and European avifaunas overall in nestedness or incidence. Residents did not differ from migrants in their adherence to a nested distribution, but did exhibit significantly higher incidences when continental affiliation was ignored.¶We develop a new nestedness index that examines each species' relative contribution to an assemblage's overall pattern of nestedness. The relative nestedness index exhibits a quadratic relationship with incidence such that species with low incidences and species with high incidences generally increase the overall level of nestedness, while species with intermediate incidence tend to decrease nestedness.