Endangered species

Biodiversity Conservation Countryside biogeography Environmental variation Non-native species Endangered species

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[participants][selected publications]

CCB researchers have led efforts to monitor and plan for the protection of threatened and endangered species occurring on and around Stanford University 's more than 8,000 acres. University lands, now surrounded by residential and commercial development, are some of the least biologically degraded areas at lower elevations on the eastern side of the Peninsula . These lands support a significant amount of the area’s once rich biotic heritage, including a number of terrestrial and aquatic organisms listed as threatened or endangered under the federal Endangered Species Act. Fauna of local concern include the California red-legged frog (Rana aurora draytonii), Bay checkerspot butterfly (Euphydryas editha bayensis), California tiger salamander (Ambystoma californiense), and San Francisco garter snake (Thamnophis sirtalis tetrataenia).  Led by Alan Launer, our work supports University planning for protection of these and other species.

In addition, Paul Ehrlich and the CCB have a nearly 40-year data set on the population dynamics and biology of the Bay checkerspot butterfly at Stanford’s Jasper Ridge Biological Preserve and in the surrounding Bay area region.  This nearly unique resource allows us to better understand species’ susceptibility to extinction and develop conservation tools that can be used to promote persistence.

Participants

• Alan Launer
• Carol Boggs
• Paul Ehrlich

Selected Publications

Ehrlich, P. R. and I. Hanksi, Eds. (2004). On the Wings of Checkerspots: A Model System for Population Biology, Oxford University Press.      

Hellmann, J. J., S. B. Weiss, et al. (2003). "Testing short-term hypotheses with a long-term study of a butterfly population." Ecological Entomology 28: 74-84.         

McLaughlin, J. F., J. J. Hellmann, et al. (2002). "The route to extincton: population dynamics of a threatened butterfly." Oecologia 132(4): 538-548.    

McLaughlin, J. F., J. Hellmann, et al. (2002). "Climate change hastens population extinctions." Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 99(9): 6070-6074.