Showing papers in "Biological Conservation in 2020"

TL;DR: In this paper, a group of conservation biologists deeply concerned about the decline of insect populations, reviewed what we know about the drivers of insect extinctions, their consequences, and how extinctions can negatively impact humanity.

TL;DR: This editorial can only be a snapshot of a quickly evolving situation, but it hopes that it can offer some encouragement and insights for colleagues in lockdown and how the conservation community must be ready to respond.

TL;DR: The 196 parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) will soon agree to a post-2020 global framework for conserving the three elements of biodiversity (genetic, species, and ecosystem diversity) while ensuring sustainable development and benefit sharing.

TL;DR: In this paper, the authors posit that artificial light at night (ALAN) is another important and often overlooked cause of the insect apocalypse and present evidence that ALAN has led to insect declines through its interference with the development, movement, foraging, and reproductive success of diverse insect species, as well as its positive effect on insectivore predation.

TL;DR: In this paper, a systematic review of research on environmental education's contributions to conservation and environmental quality outcomes is presented, which highlights productive research-implementation spaces where those environmental education outcomes occur, are measured and are reported.

TL;DR: The fate of humans and insects intertwine, especially through the medium of plants as mentioned in this paper, and despite a sound philosophical foundation, recognized ethical values, and scientific evidence, globally we are performing poorly at instigating effective insect conservation.

TL;DR: It is argued that the collective power of combining diverse data will transcend the limited value of the individual data sets and produce unexpected insights and create future networks, observatories and policies that are more adept in protecting biological diversity across the world.

TL;DR: In this article, the authors present a systematic review of the peer-reviewed literature to identify the drivers of urban pollinator populations and pollination and conclude that biodiversity-friendly urbanization can make a valuable contribution to pollinator conservation, in particular in the face of the continued intensification of rural agriculture.

TL;DR: Both social media information and field data suggest that a reduction of human disturbance allowed wildlife to exploit new habitats and increase daily activity, and the lower human disturbance linked to lockdown was in fact beneficial for invasive alien species.

TL;DR: A review of the challenges scientists face in documenting insect population and diversity trends, including communicating their findings, and recommend research approaches needed to address these challenges can be found in this paper.

TL;DR: In this article, the authors summarized the knowledge about wild ungulate distribution in Europe and reviewed the diversity of ways in which they interact with humans, concluding that 90% of Europe is home to at least 1 species of wild native ungulates, with roe deer and wild boar occupying 74% and 64% respectively.

TL;DR: The claim that the history of Isle Royale wolves represents likely outcomes of genetic rescues using immigrants from larger source populations is invalid, and the simulations' conclusions conflict profoundly with those of >120 meta-analysed real datasets, and do not overturn current empirically validated recommendations to maximize genetic diversity in the target population.

TL;DR: In this article, a working group identified 12 goals for the next decade that could advance parasite biodiversity conservation through an ambitious mix of research, advocacy, and management, and proposed a strategy to improve parasite biodiversity.

TL;DR: In this article, the authors argue that risk assessment protocols were inadequate to detect some of the risks associated with neonicotinoid properties, including high efficacy, long persistence, high systemicity, high mobility, and application versatility, and advocate for the adoption of a more holistic risk assessment approach that should account for: a) temporal and spatial dimensions of pesticide exposure; b) co-exposure to multiple compounds; c) differences among bee species with different life histories in levels of exposure and sensitivity; and d) sub-lethal effects.

TL;DR: In this article, the authors used camera trap data from a 1400-km2 grid spanning wildlands and residential development in central California to compare the effects of human presence (human detections on camera) and footprint (building density) on mammalian predators.

TL;DR: In this article, the authors draw on the latest findings from psychology to explain why some conservation messaging may be reinforcing misleading negative associations between bats and disease-risk, and provide guidelines to help ensure that conservation messaging is working to neutralize dangerous and unwarranted negative-associations.

TL;DR: The importance of being fast and effective in filling the knowledge gaps about non-vertebrate life forms is emphasized in order to achieve an in-depth understanding of global trading patterns across the full canopy of the Tree of Life, and not just its most appealing twig.

TL;DR: It is argued that dismissing habitat fragmentation as a powerful force driving species extinction in tropical forest landscapes is premature and unsafe.

TL;DR: In this paper, the authors examined the diverse motivations of volunteers participating in Audubon's Christmas Bird Count, one of the world's oldest ecological monitoring citizen (or community) science projects, revealing six distinct intrinsic and extrinsic motivational constructs: science and conservation, outdoor recreation, commitment and tradition, social interaction, classic birding, and personal accomplishment.

TL;DR: Reductions in funding from tourism lead to increased poaching; and extractive industries enterprises seize opportunities to encroach on the conservation estate, via multiple mechanisms.

TL;DR: A review of best practices for the development and running of citizen science projects can be found in this paper, which includes discussion around different methods of experimental design, data collection, and analyses; how participants are recruited, engaged, and rewarded; the effect of participation on the volunteer's knowledge and actions; and the impact programs have on policy and other conservation actions.

TL;DR: This article found that anthropomorphism is a key factor in stimulating both wildlife value shift and changing attitudes toward wildlife management in modernized countries, and that the effect of anthropomorphisms on attitudes is mediated by wildlife values.

TL;DR: In this paper, the authors analyzed forest loss and trends between 2001 and 2014 within IUCN protected areas at a global scale and within sixteen Intergovernmental Platform for Biodiversity and Ecosystem services (IPBES) subregions.

TL;DR: In this paper, the authors quantitatively prioritized the top 30% areas for Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) globally using global scale measures of biodiversity from the species to ecosystem level, and found that the 30% prioritized areas were mainly on continental coasts, island arcs, oceanic islands, the southwest Indian Ridge, the northern mid-Atlantic ridge, the Coral Triangle, Caribbean Sea, and Arctic Archipelago.

TL;DR: In this paper, the authors employed a multi-scale, multi-species approach to model habitat suitability and connectivity for six felids across Iran and identified potential core habitats and corridors of movement.

TL;DR: In this article, the availability of relevant evidence for amphibian and bird conservation was quantified by a database of quantitative tests of conservation interventions, and the results highlight the paucity of evidence on the effectiveness of conservation intervention, and disparity in evidence for local contexts that are frequently studied and those where conservation needs are greatest.

TL;DR: The application of cryobiotechnologies to a variety of plant tissues is reviewed in order to highlight their potential and to call for a global effort to broaden ex situ conservation beyond conventional seed banking.

TL;DR: In this article, the authors reviewed the academic literature to synthesize the motivations, successes, challenges, and lessons from protected and conserved areas led by Indigenous Peoples globally, and suggested that managers commit more resources to effectively monitor and manage these areas, including integrating management priorities with local and larger scale socio-cultural and environmental issues.

TL;DR: The study of chimpanzees in Gombe National Park, Tanzania, started by Jane Goodall in 1960, provided pioneering accounts of chimpanzee behavior and ecology and has helped promote broader efforts to plan and work for conservation elsewhere in Tanzania and across Africa.

TL;DR: In this paper, the authors deployed light emitting diodes (LEDs) on the floatlines of paired gillnets (control vs illuminated net) during 864 fishing sets on small-scale vessels departing from three Peruvian ports between 2015 and 2018.