Endangered Species Recovery- Promise vs. Practice

PSLA hosted Dr. Maile Neel (7th April 2016)

May 3, 2016

Dr. Maile Neel

Endangered Species Recovery- Promise vs. Practice by Cody Kepner (and PLSC689A)

Many would agree that the Endangered Species Act of 1973 was a monumental achievement in conservation biology. Now with over 1,500 species on the Endangered Species list, their fates rest in the development and execution of viable recovery plans. Recovery plans can take years to write and are often lacking in critical data. As such, many species populations inevitably continue to decline until capable recovery plans are put in to action. Dr. Maile Neel and her team are working on a landscape extinction risk model that focuses on species persistence based on habitat configurations for long-term recovery strategies. Their work aims to expedite the development of more complete recovery plans in lieu of data gaps in order to maximize recovery potential of enlisted endangered species.