Finding articles
You need to find eight valid sources for your plan. One can be the IUCN Redlist and the others must be scientific journal articles. Here are strategies and resources.
- Look at the citations given for the IUCN Redlist or any other journal article written about that species and use these as a starting point.
- Use Google Scholar as a starting point. Look for articles in peer-reviewed journals.
- Use Web of Science as it indexes the major peer-reviewed journals in all fields of science. There is a tutorial for those who are new to it.
- Use Aquatic Sciences & Fisheries Abstracts (ASFA) for access to some of the more obscure information on marine mammals including material from the International Whaling Commission.
Citing Sources
Essential information for a citation :
- Authorship
- Title & subtitle
- Name of journal or book
- Volume number
- Inclusive page numbers
- Year of publication
- Month or number if volume is not paged consecutively
Creating a management plan
You will be writing a management plan for a threatened marine mammal species. Information is critical to writing a credible plan. You have to understand the biology and ecology of the species as well as learning about its habitats and threats to its existence. Finally, you will need to synthesize the above information with ideas for managing the species to alleviate its threatened status.
- Choose a species that is as Vulnerable, Endangered, or Critically Endangered on the IUCN Redlist . You can use a species listed as Least Concern if you justify why this species could be in danger of being listed eventually.
- Compile the following species information:
- Complete taxonomy of species and common name.
- Population worldwide and population of known area of study (if doing study of stocks only).
- Map showing geographic range including suspected but not confirmed areas of use.
- Document the current threats to species.
- What factors have brought this species to become listed by the IUCN?
- What has been done for protection so far?
- What currently threatens (anthropogenic or otherwise) this species?
- Design a management plan.
- What would be some of the objectives of your study to identify current threats? (Remember to check current literature to see what is being done and how it is being done.)
- What would be the methods used to achieve these objectives? (e.g. using satellite tags to see specific diving patterns to identify parts of the water column used, and aid in curbing fisheries using this same part of the column)
- Once your objectives and methods are established, add in your projection on what may need to be altered (fishing practices only certain times of the year, ship traffic possibly rerouted, etc.).
Instructor - Giselle Renee Gibb
- Giselle Renee Gibb
- Contact:
Last Update: September 03, 2009 17:23
