We present monitoring methods and quantitative biodiversity data to document components of the mitigation hierarchy. We estimated avoidance, minimization, restoration and impact reduction in quality hectares for the 25 m wide right of way of a 408 km natural gas buried pipeline that crosses 14 Ecological Landscape Units (ELUs) in the tropical Andes of Peru. We found that applying the mitigation hierarchy as part of a comprehensive biodiversity action plan substantially reduced impacts on biodiversity in all habitats studied. Avoidance and right of way minimization contributed to significant impact reduction. We quantified impact reduction during construction and operation on the right of way of the pipeline over a five-year period and found that restoration was the greatest contributor to reducing impacts. We documented that most ELUs have a positive restoration trajectory. We also documented how monitoring over large scale spatial scales, in combination with site-specific monitoring, generated data for management to determine restoration priorities and impact mitigation. A biodiversity action plan that incorporated the mitigation hierarchy and a science-based biodiversity monitoring and assessment program contributed to biodiversity management of the project and played an important role in minimizing and managing impacts.

Conservation of wide-ranging species, such as the African forest elephant (Loxodonta cyclotis), depends on fully protected areas and multiple-use areas (MUA) that provide habitat connectivity. In the Gamba Complex of Protected Areas in Gabon, which includes 2 national parks separated by a MUA containing energy and forestry concessions, we studied forest elephants to evaluate the importance of the MUA to wide-ranging species. We extracted DNA from elephant dung samples and used genetic information to identify over 500 individuals in the MUA and the parks. We then examined patterns of nuclear microsatellites and mitochondrial control-region sequences to infer population structure, movement patterns, and habitat use by age and sex. Population structure was weak but significant, and differentiation was more pronounced during the wet season. Within the MUA, males were more strongly associated with open habitats, such as wetlands and savannas, than females during the dry season. Many of the movements detected within and between seasons involved the wetlands and bordering lagoons. Our results suggest that the MUA provides year-round habitat for some elephants and additional habitat for others whose primary range is in the parks. With the continuing loss of roadless wilderness areas in Central Africa, well-managed MUAs will likely be important to the conservation of wide-ranging species.

, (2013); 342 Science et al. Hans ter Steege Hyperdominance in the Amazonian Tree Flora This copy is for your personal, non-commercial use only. clicking here. colleagues, clients, or customers by , you can order high-quality copies for your If you wish to distribute this article to others here. following the guidelines can be obtained by Permission to republish or repurpose articles or portions of articles ): October 21, 2013 www.sciencemag.org (this information is current as of The following resources related to this article are available online at http://www.sciencemag.org/content/342/6156/1243092.full.html version of this article at: including high-resolution figures, can be found in the online Updated information and services, http://www.sciencemag.org/content/suppl/2013/10/16/342.6156.1243092.DC1.html can be found at: Supporting Online Material http://www.sciencemag.org/content/342/6156/1243092.full.html#ref-list-1 , 10 of which can be accessed free: cites 50 articles This article

Abstract The development of linear infrastructure such as pipelines can have a dramatic impact on forest connectivity through canopy fragmentation. Because many forest animals are arboreal and spend their lives in the forest canopy, fragmentation caused by linear infrastructure may isolate animals on either side. Here we present our findings on linear infrastructure effects on canopy connectivity and impact mitigation with natural canopy bridges. Natural bridges are connections between branches that are left behind in the forest canopy above, in this case, a pipeline during the clearing of the right-of-way. We share our experiences with a natural bridge case study in the Lower Urubamba Region of Peru on a project where 13 natural bridges were left on average at 410m intervals over 5km, with tree trunks 8 to 24m apart. We provide 16 recommendations for the development of such projects, from the planning stages, timeline for bridge establishment, and necessary personnel for design, to bridge selection and monitoring protocol. Natural bridges can be established with little effect on the pipeline construction timeline and cost as long as they are considered in the initial stages of pipeline design, and the locations of the bridges are selected in collaboration with the pipeline engineers and topography team as the position of the right-of-way is established. We strongly encourage companies to include natural bridges in linear infrastructure because they can be highly effective in increasing forest connectivity with little cost to the corporation and little effect on the pipeline development timeline.

Abstract Defining and understanding the habitats in which a company is operating is a key step toward the reduction of impacts on biodiversity. Identification of vegetation types is a commonly-used method for mapping an area of operations, and these vegetation types are often used as a surrogate for plant and animal habitats, but defining these types too finely may result in limited biological importance of these types for plants and animals, and may complicate the conservation planning process. Instead, habitat maps based on more coarse-scale but biologically important data such as elevation and geologic history can result in more useful maps of plant and animal communities and can lead to better land management during operations. We created habitat maps for Blocks 39 and 57 in northeastern and south central Peru, respectively, using Landsat imagery and elevation data. In Block 39, three different geological formations, or habitat types, were identified in the map, while four were identified in Block 57. In order to confirm that the habitats identified in this study are biologically distinct in terms of plant and animal communities, CCES researchers assessed soil samples and a variety of taxonomic groups including ferns, birds, bats, amphibians and reptiles in each. The protocol requires a minimum of five days sampling for each taxonomic group in a minimum of four different areas within each distinct habitat in order to ensure thorough data collection. We then use this data to test and redefine the boundaries of habitats, and to identify habitats with communities of plants and animals of special conservation concern. In the cases of Blocks 39 and 57, recommendations were made to the company regarding where to avoid or limit operations, in order to reduce negative impacts on special habitats and improve the likelihood and cost-effectiveness of habitat restoration post-operations.