Uncovering antagonisms in recovery planning for species at risk: A diagnostic approach

Abstract

AbstractAmid Earth's ongoing sixth mass extinction event, numerous measures have been proposed to recover the populations of species at risk of extinction. However, the methods and objectives of different species' recovery plans sometimes conflict with each other, causing a conundrum we refer to as recovery–action antagonism. Recovery–action antagonism reduces the cost‐effectiveness of conservation programs and can increase the extinction risk of nontarget species. We describe a method to identify interactions between recovery actions, including antagonisms proposed for different at‐risk species in a given location. The method includes a process to evaluate potential drivers of recovery‐action antagonism and other interaction types using principal coordinates analysis and distance‐based redundancy analysis. We illustrate various applications of the method through case studies performed in Pelee Island and Rouge National Urban Park, two biodiverse areas in Ontario, Canada. Potential antagonism was identified between 1.5% (Pelee) and 5% (Rouge) of the evaluated recovery actions. Although the rate of antagonism was low in our case studies, the method allows the identification of a variety of interactions, which can help to prioritize similar and complementary actions that will benefit a large number of species while minimizing actions that may have competing outcomes.