Journal: Conservation Science and Practice: A journal of the Society for Conservation Biology

Abbreviation

Publisher

Wiley

Journal Volumes

ISSN

2578-4854

Description

Filters

2023 - 20257
Reset filters

Search Results

Publications 1 - 7 of 7
  • Computational approaches improve evidence synthesis and inform broad fisheries trends
    Item type: Journal Article
    Stokes, Gretchen L.; Lynch, Abigail J.; Flores, John V.; et al. (2024)
    Conservation Science and Practice: A journal of the Society for Conservation Biology
    Addressing ecological impacts with effective conservation actions requires information on the links between human pressures and localized responses. Understanding links is a priority for many conservation contexts, including the world's fresh waters, which face intensifying threats to disproportionately high species diversity, including more than half of the world's fish species. Literature synthesis can uncover links and highlight potential research gaps, yet can be very cumbersome and time consuming. Emerging tools like text mining can improve efficiency in extracting relevant information from vast scientific outputs. This study synthesizes evidence of direct anthropogenic threats to major inland fisheries and examines driver-impact-response patterns using coupled automated and manual text classification methods. We screened 9336 abstracts from 45 river basins of high importance to inland fish production; 1152 abstracts contained evidence of direct threats to fish. The most common documented drivers were pollution, dams, and fishing pressure, which were most strongly linked to decreased fitness, altered reproduction, and mortality, respectively. Strong impact-response links to pollution signal potential bias toward documenting acute threats that generate more visible and immediate impacts. The use of machine learning-based text classification performed best in classifying extraneous information. Results can inform the development of inland fisheries indicators and threat-based metrics, highlight possible evidence gaps in linking global drivers to fishery-level responses, and illustrate the application of a coupled synthesis approach for improved efficiency and extraction of information relevant to conservation outcomes. The associated user and interpretation guides address accessibility and technical barriers faced by conservation scientists to improve efficiency in evidence synthesis.
  • Insights into the forests of Darién, Panama, from the new 10 ha Bacurú Drõa plot established through participatory methods within an Emberá territory
    Item type: Journal Article
    Jousse , Maximiliane; Aguilar , Salomon; Barrios, Hector; et al. (2025)
    Conservation Science and Practice: A journal of the Society for Conservation Biology
    Networks of forest plots are key for documenting how forests are responding to climate change; however, very few plots are in inaccessible locations, and almost no research is carried out in Indigenous territories. We present the first data from a new forest plot co-developed with the Traditional Emberá Authorities of the Balsa River Collective Lands, Darién, Panama, following a framework of participatory action research: The Bacurú Drõa plot (In Emberá, “Bacurú” is tree and “Drõa” is old, BD). We compare floristic characteristics and conservation status of trees in BD with those of 53 forest plots across Panama. In BD, trees with DBH ≥10 cm were classified in 290 taxonomic units, with 174 (60%) of taxa identified to species, 49 (17%) assigned to genera, and 22 (7.5%) to families, leaving 45 (15.5%) unidentified tree taxa. On a per hectare basis, stem density and species richness differed significantly among plots and groups of plots, both variables being highest in plots located in the Alto Chagres and lowest in the plots located along the Pacific. Estimates of species number for stem density in 1 ha, however, are significantly higher in BD. Conservation value, measured through community weighted mean (CWM) range and CWM International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) score, revealed BD to be of high conservation value when compared to the other ForestGEO plots in Panama. We show that BD has high biodiversity, many singletons, and many unidentified species, consistent with other plots in the Chocó-Darién Ecoregion, an understudied global biodiversity hotspot. Overall, the Bacurú Drõa plot and surrounding project provide a blueprint on how tropical forest and participatory action research can value and benefit from the contribution of the Indigenous communities that live and conserve the vanishing mature forests of the world while providing sound scientific data.
  • changeRangeR: An R package for reproducible biodiversity change metrics from species distribution estimates
    Item type: Journal Article
    Galante, Peter J.; Chang Triguero, Samuel; Paz Velez, Andrea; et al. (2023)
    Conservation Science and Practice: A journal of the Society for Conservation Biology
    Conservation planning and decision-making rely on evaluations of biodiversity status and threats that are based upon species' distribution estimates. However, gaps exist regarding automated tools to delineate species' current ranges from distribution estimates and use those estimates to calculate both species- and community-level biodiversity metrics. Here, we introduce changeRangeR, an R package that facilitates workflows to reproducibly transform estimates of species' distributions into metrics relevant for conservation. For example, by combining predictions from species distribution models (SDMs) with other maps of environmental data (e.g., suitable forest cover), researchers can characterize the proportion of a species' range that is under protection, metrics used under the IUCN Criteria A and B guidelines (Area of Occupancy and Extent of Occurrence), and other more general metrics such as taxonomic and phylogenetic diversity and endemism. Further, changeRangeR facilitates temporal comparisons among biodiversity metrics to inform efforts toward complementarity and consideration of future scenarios in conservation decisions. changeRangeR also provides tools to determine the effects of modeling decisions through sensitivity tests. Transparent and repeatable workflows for calculating biodiversity change metrics from SDMs such as those provided by changeRangeR are essential to inform conservation decision-making efforts and represent key extensions for SDM methodology and associated metadata documentation.
  • Seminatural areas act as reservoirs of genetic diversity for crop pollinators and natural enemies across Europe
    Item type: Journal Article
    Ortego, Joaquín; Albrecht, Matthias; Báldi, András; et al. (2024)
    Conservation Science and Practice: A journal of the Society for Conservation Biology
    Despite increasing recognition of the importance of the multiple dimensions of biodiversity, including functional or genetic diversity as well as species diversity, most conservation studies on ecosystem service-providing insects focus on simple diversity measures such as species richness and abundance. In contrast, relatively little is known about the genetic diversity and resilience of pollinators or natural enemies of crop pests to population fragmentation and local extinction. The genetic diversity and demographic dynamics of remnant populations of beneficial insects in agricultural areas can be a useful indicator proving additional insights into their conservation status, but this is rarely evaluated. Although gene flow between agricultural and seminatural areas is key to maintaining genetic diversity, its extent and directionality remain largely unexplored. Here, we apply a pan-European sampling protocol to quantify genetic diversity and structure and assess gene flow between agricultural and nearby seminatural landscapes in populations of two key ecosystem service-providing insect species, the lady beetle Coccinella septempunctata, an important predator of aphids and other crop pests, and the bee pollinator Andrena flavipes. We show that A. flavipes populations are genetically structured at the European level, whereas populations of C. septempunctata experience widespread gene flow across the continent and lack any defined genetic structure. In both species, we found that there is high genetic connectivity between populations established in croplands and nearby seminatural areas and, as a consequence, they harbor similar levels of genetic diversity. Interestingly, demographic models for some regions support asymmetric gene flow from seminatural areas to nearby agricultural landscapes. Collectively, our study demonstrates how seminatural areas can serve as genetic reservoirs of both pollinators and natural enemies for nearby agricultural landscapes, acting as sources for recurrent recolonization and, potentially, contributing to enhancing ecosystem service and crop production resilience in the longer term.
  • Habitat protection and removal of encroaching shrubs support the recovery of biodiversity and ecosystem functioning
    Item type: Journal Article
    Losapio, Gianalberto; De Moraes, Consuelo M.; Dirzo, Rodolfo; et al. (2024)
    Conservation Science and Practice: A journal of the Society for Conservation Biology
    Livestock overgrazing causes environmental degradation, species invasion, biodiversity loss, and productivity decline, with profound consequences for ecological sustainability and human livelihoods. Habitat protection can mitigate such impacts, but we know little about how the long-term recovery of plant communities from livestock overgrazing depends on the presence of encroaching shrubs. Here, we explored how shrub encroachment mediates the effects of habitat protection (i.e., livestock exclusion and creation of UNESCO protected areas) on biodiversity recovery and ecosystem functioning (i.e., biomass productivity). We leveraged a long-term (15-25 years) experiment of livestock exclusion and complemented it with the removal of an encroaching shrub species in pasture areas and protected areas. We reveal that habitat protection has positive effects on patterns of recovery. Yet, the effects of habitat protection are mediated by shrub encroachment. Encroaching shrubs have net positive effects on plant diversity in pasture areas but inhibit biodiversity recovery in protected areas. The combination of habitat protection and the removal of encroaching shrubs best enhances the recovery of plant diversity and biomass productivity. A potential underlying mechanism is the shift in plant interactions from facilitation for recruitment and associated resistance to competition for water. Understanding species interactions is key to guiding conservation and restoration actions which can turn degraded ecosystems back into functional, species-rich communities.
  • Identifying focus zones for the conservation and promotion of priority birds in Swiss farmland
    Item type: Journal Article
    Klein, Noëlle; Adde, Antoine; Grêt-Regamey, Adrienne; et al. (2025)
    Conservation Science and Practice: A journal of the Society for Conservation Biology
    Modern agriculture faces conflicting objectives—increasing agricultural pro duction while preserving and fostering biodiversity. As intensive agricultural management threatens biodiversity, legal obligations aim to halt biodiversity loss and safeguard threatened species. In Switzerland, agricultural priority spe cies have been defined to set environmental goals for biodiversity, with limited success so far. This study spatially defines farmland focus zones with potential for the promotion of priority species for conservation in agricultural land scapes. We overlaid information about field-level impact of agricultural activi ties using the Swiss Agricultural Life Cycle Assessment (SALCA-BD) as “impact of agricultural activities” with the potential distribution of Swiss prior ity birds. The potential distribution was assessed by aggregating predictions from species distribution models of 27 bird priority species. We identified sig nificantly high/low values for management impact and potential distribution using hotspot analyses. Multivariate clustering was used to identify zones that should be preserved (low management impact, high bird potential) and zones where conservation measures could be promoted (high management impact, high bird potential). Zones which were minimally impacted by management and had a high potential for birds included grassland with structures, covering ca. 18% of the studied farmland. Zones with high management impacts con sisted mainly of arable land with little structures, covering ca. 31% of the stud ied farmland, occurring mainly in the Swiss lowlands. Our results help to assess and visualize the intertwined links between agricultural management and the species inhabiting these agricultural landscapes in a spatially explicit manner. This can help to identify zones and regions for ecological promotion and set priorities for action within future agricultural policies.
  • Playback experiments highlight the importance of nearest-neighbor distance and social information for nest site selection in the House Martin (Delichon urbicum)
    Item type: Journal Article
    Brühlmann, Rahel; Michler, Stephanie P.M.; Grüebler, Martin U.; et al. (2025)
    Conservation Science and Practice: A journal of the Society for Conservation Biology
    Understanding nest site selection is crucial for species conservation. Bird conservation often involves installing nesting aids to increase nest site availability and induce colonization of unoccupied sites. However, prospecting individuals must find nesting aids, which may be facilitated by social information. Here, we investigated the effectiveness of artificial nests and playback in the declining, migratory House Martin Delichon urbicum. We selected unoccupied sites with artificial nests along a distance gradient to occupied sites and broadcasted conspecific vocalizations during prospection times of House Martins in both the post- and the following pre-breeding periods. Visitation and colonization rates increased considerably in proximity to occupied sites. Playback during the post-breeding and pre-breeding periods enhanced visitation rates, while pre-breeding-only and post-breeding-only playback had smaller positive effects. Colonization rate increased exclusively with pre-breeding-only playback. Colonized playback and non-playback sites had similar breeding success, indicating that playback did not create ecological traps by attracting House Martins to suboptimal sites. Hence, broadcasting conspecific vocalizations informs prospecting birds of nest site availability, thereby increasing visitation, and to some degree, colonization of unoccupied House Martin sites. To boost colonization, we recommend installing artificial House Martin nests within approximately 500 m of occupied sites and using playback of conspecific vocalizations.
Publications 1 - 7 of 7