Conservation Community Research Articles

Evaluation of Fungal Diversity in High Altitude Soils in Different Temperature Conditions

Hot springs are like nature’s spas, which include warm and humid aquatic habitats that serve as a sanctuary for a diverse range of microorganisms, including bacteria, archaea, viruses, and eukaryotes fungi. Among these, fungi are one of the most important microorganisms, carrying out essential functions that often go unnoticed but are crucial in accelerating biological processes. These organisms have adapted to survive under a wide range of thermal conditions. While thermophilic fungi can withstand the scorching heat of deserts and hyper-saline conditions, other variants like mesophilic and psychrophilic fungi prefer more moderate and colder temperatures, respectively. The study employs shotgun metagenomic sequencing to obtain a fine-grained taxonomic classification of lesser-known species and microbial eukaryotes. This study aims to explore the relationship between fungal diversity and temperature in three distinct thermal zones; thermophilic (hot spring), mesophilic (plain field), and psychrophilic (semi-frigid zone) zones. The findings of our study demonstrated that there is a notable and positive association between the diversity of fungi and temperature, suggesting that temperature is a key factor in moulding fungal communities. However, it is important to note that further research is necessary to elucidate the underlying causal mechanisms of this relationship. Overall, our study adds to the knowledge of how environmental factors influence microbial diversity and can aid in the development of strategies for the conservation and management of fungal communities. Fungi are essential for many industrial applications, and their role in causing illnesses is also significant, making this research valuable for both scientific and practical purposes.

Local‐level water conservation and management practices in rural communities: A case study in Dormaa Municipality, Bono Region, Ghana

AbstractStudies on water conservation strategies and local approaches to water resource management among rural people in Ghana and sub‐Saharan Africa are scarce. This study examined water conservation and management practices among rural communities in Dormaa Municipality. We adopted a concurrent mixed‐method approach using both quantitative and qualitative methods. The quantitative and qualitative data were analysed using SPSS and ATLAS.ti, respectively. Binary logistic regression was used to predict the factors associated with the conservation of improved sources of water and reliability of water management by Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL). The findings show that 84.4% of the respondents conserve improved sources of water, and 83.6% do not rely on the management of water by the GWCL. Binary logistic regression shows that education, household size and income were significantly associated with the conservation of improved sources of water, while age, marital status and ownership of a house were associated with the reliability of water management by GWCL. Some of the challenges encountered in water management are the unavailability of persons committed to the management of boreholes and the non‐payment of electricity bills. The study recommends policy intervention in technical and material support for effective water conservation and management in rural communities.

Drones, communities and nature: pitfalls and possibilities for conservation and territorial rights

Since the early 2010s, small drones have become key tools for environmental research around the globe. While critical voices have highlighted the threat of ‘green securitisation’ and surveillance in contexts where drones are deployed for nature conservation, Indigenous peoples and local communities (IPLCs) worldwide have also begun using drones – most often in alliance with non-governmental organisations or researchers – exploring this technology’s potential to advance their own territorial, political and socio-ecological goals. Against this backdrop, this paper examines six different experiences in five countries where communities are using small drones in areas of high ecological and cultural diversity with international significance for nature conservation. We highlight the ways that communities deploy drones – both in terms of their motivations and actual use strategies. We also reflect upon the opportunities and barriers that IPLCs and their collaborators encounter in designing and implementing meaningful drone strategies, explicitly considering social, economic and political challenges. Finally, we consider the socio-ecological outcomes that community drone use enables across these sites along with the ways that drones engender more biocultural and territorial approaches to conservation through IPLC-led monitoring and mapping efforts. In conclusion, we suggest that effective, meaningful and appropriate deployment of drones, especially with IPLCs as protagonists in their use, can support nature conservation together with the recognition and protection of biocultural and territorial rights. Given the mounting demands for conservation to counter intertwined global socio-environmental crises, community drones may play a role in amplifying the voices and territorial visions of IPLCs.

Artificial Rivers: Conservation of Cultural Heritage in the Context of Environmental, Regulation and Community Culture Issues (Case Study in Banjarmasin)

Artificial rivers are one of the objects of cultural heritage that has not been studied, in both archaeology and its preservation. Preservation of artificial rivers is related to environmental issues, namely waste disposal in rivers, settlements on river banks, and flooding. Both studies are beneficial for the preservation of the artificial river. In this regard, this paper intended to gain the causes of unsustainability and its solutions. This paper uses a qualitative-descriptive method. The data were collected through field observations, interviews, and literature studies. The analysis is descriptive to find out the causes of unsustainability. As a result, the causes of unsustainability and steps for its preservation include implementing regulations, supporting stakeholders, and reinventing the culture of river use. The application of regulations is related to the use of the border and disposal of waste in the river. Meanwhile, cultural reinvention of river utilization (not only as a transportation route but also as a river tourism activity) is obligatory to be executed to provide profit to the community and support river conservation.

Social forestry-based conservation through eco-tourism in the village forest of Talaga Paca, North Halmahera Regency

Talaga Paca used to be a community resettlement village of an isolated indigenous community o hongana ma nyawa or Tugutil in North Halmahera Regency, North Maluku Province. In 2019, the Ministry of Environment and Forestry gave approval for the management of a forest area of 865 ha for 35 years in the scheme of village forest to the Talaga Paca Village as part of the social forestry program. Through a wide and strong collaboration between parties, the community is committed to develop ecotourism to improve the community welfare and the conservation of nature. The exploration of biodiversity and ecotourism potential was carried out. There are 36 species of birds identified, some of which are endemic and protected birds. Lake tour, jungle tracking, bird watching, and caving are some ecotourism attractions in the Talaga Paca ecotourism. A total of 30 people of Talaga Paca responded very positive to the social forestry and ecotourism programs in relation with the community empowerment and conservation using the Likert scale. Currently, the people of Talaga Paca have begun to receive the economic benefits of the presence of tourists, and they have a willingness to conserve the nature voluntarily.

Non-Timber Forest Products benefits for community groups and conservation motivation in mountains of Tanzania

Non-Timber Forest Products benefits for community groups and conservation motivation in mountains of Tanzania

Butterfly (Lepidoptera: Papilionoidae) diversity and structure community in Lumajang, East Java, Indonesia

Abstract. Millah N, Leksono AS, Yanuwiadi B. 2023. Butterfly (Lepidoptera: Papilionoidae) diversity and structure community in Lumajang, East Java, Indonesia. Nusantara Bioscience 15: 118-128. Lumajang is one of the district in East Java, Indonesia with an area of around 1,790.90 km2 with various ecosystems. Unfortunately, several ecosystems in Lumajang have been degraded, affecting biodiversity, especially butterflies. The aim of this study was to analyze the structure of butterfly communities in Lumajang and analyze the species as bioindicators. The study was conducted in 5 habitats: Village, Agriculture, City Park, Community Forest, and Conservation Forest. The butterfly sampling method in this study was an Active Visual Survey using the Transect Pollard Walk; environmental factors were also measured during the study (temperature, humidity, light intensity, wind velocity, and altitude). The butterfly diversity and the measurement of environmental factors were analyzed for correlation using the Principal Component Analysis (PCA). The results of the study consisted of 124 species. Several were endemic species (Cyrestis lutea (Zincken, 1831), Ypthima nigricans (Snellen, 1892), Parantica albata (Zincken, 1831), Mycalesis sudra (Felder, 1867), and Pachliopta adamas (Zincken, 1831)), then protected species (Troides helena (Linnaeus, 1758), Troides cuneifera (Oberthür, 1879), and Troides amphrysus (Cramer, 1779)). The Shannon-Wienner diversity index values from highest to lowest are Community Forest (3.52), Conservation Forest (3.32), City Park (2.98), Village (2.79), and Agriculture (2.29). The results can be used as basic data and are expected to support butterfly conservation strategies in Indonesia, especially in Lumajang, East Java, Indonesia.

Fish on Fire: Shifts in Amazonian fish communities after floodplain forest fires

Abstract Severe droughts can lead to fires that cause massive tree mortality in even the wettest and most isolated Amazonian forests. After repeated fires, blackwater floodplain forests can remain in an open vegetation state of arrested succession that facilitates a transition towards a white‐sand ‘savanna‐like’ vegetation. These vegetation shifts, from closed‐canopy floodplain forests to open fire scars and eventually white‐sand savannas, may have profound implications for fish communities that depend on floodplain forests for food and recruitment. In turn, changes in fish communities may contribute to the arrested forest recovery after fires as fish are important seed dispersal agents for many floodplain tree species. To explore the impacts of floodplain forest fires on fish communities, we sampled fish in unburnt forests, fire scars, and white‐sand savannas in the middle Rio Negro basin (Brazil) during two consecutive flooding seasons. We compared the abundance, species richness, and the taxonomic and trophic composition of fish assemblages across the three habitat types. We found significant shifts in fish assemblages in fire scars compared to unburnt floodplain forests. Also, as fire scars increased in size, total fish biomass decreased strongly. Fish communities in unburnt floodplain forests seem to be characterized by a higher proportion of smaller and omnivorous fish species than fish communities in burned floodplain forests and white sand savannas. Fish assemblages in fire scars and white‐sand savanna were not significantly different. Synthesis and Applications. Amazonian fish communities change after floodplain forest fires. Unburnt forests have diverse fish communities, with a large proportion of unique and small omnivorous species. In contrast, carnivores and detritivores become more common in fire scars and white‐sand savannas formed after forest fires. Less omnivore fish after forest fires can reduce tree seed dispersal and forest regeneration, affecting ecosystem functioning and the services provided by Amazonian forests. Fish are also a primary source of food and income for people living in Amazonian floodplains. Preventing forest fires is therefore of fundamental importance for the conservation of Amazonian aquatic and terrestrial ecological communities as well as for the livelihood of people.

Literasi Ekologi Masyarakat Terhadap Konservasi Mata Air Senjoyo di Desa Tegalwaton Kabupaten Semarang

Pitayati, Ayu. 2022, Community Ecological Literacy on Senjoyo Spring Conservation in Tegalwaton Village, Semarang Regency. Geography Department, Faculty of Social Sciences, Universitas Negeri Semarang. Advisor, Dr. Hariyanto, M.Si.
 Keywords: Ecological Literacy, Conservation, Senjoyo Springs
 Senjoyo Spring is one of the springs in Semarang Regency. Senjoyo Springs have a very important role. The various uses do not rule out the possibility of impacts on the sustainability of the existing ecosystems in the Senjoyo Springs Area. The condition of Senjoyo Springs is currently maintained and sustainable, but there are still some ecological problems such as there is still a lot of garbage found and the unavailability of waste water treatment before it is released. Research objectives 1.) to find out the efforts made by the Tegalwaton Village community for water conservation 2.) to analyze ecological literacy of the community's efforts to conserve Senjoyo Springs.
 The location of this research is in Jubug Hamlet, Tegalwaton Village, Semarang Regency. The variables of this study are ecological literacy and conservation efforts. The population used in this study were heads of families in Jubug Hamlet with a total sample of 69 heads of families. The sampling technique used is proportional random sampling technique. Data collection techniques using interviews, observation, questionnaires, tests and documentation. Quantitative descriptive analysis technique and crosstab analysis technique (cross tabulation).
 The results of this study indicate that the community's conservation efforts for Senjoyo Springs are also at very high criteria. Efforts made by the Tegalwaton Village community are by forming the POKDARWIS organization, carrying out reforestation, cleaning the spring area, not cutting down trees in the spring area, utilizing the flow of water from the spring for washing, bathing and not throwing garbage in the Senjoyo Spring area. Community ecological literacy consisting of environmental knowledge, attitudes towards the environment, cognitive skills and pro-environmental behavior is at very high criteria. When connected with the level of education, it is directly proportional to the level of public awareness, the higher the knowledge a person has, the more awareness a person has in protecting the environment from damage. Apart from the educational factor, this spring is a vital spring for the community, so that the community is aware of the importance of maintaining the existence of Senjoyo Spring.
 The advice given to the community and stakeholders is to continue to increase conservation efforts for the Senjoyo Springs by preserving local wisdom (dawuhan ceremony) for the younger generation, reforestation, not cutting down trees, not throwing garbage into the Senjoyo Springs area and conducting socialization to all levels of society. regarding the conservation of Senjoyo Springs.

Spatial patterns, underlying drivers and conservation priorities of orchids in the central Himalaya

Understanding the primary drivers of species diversity patterns and identifying critical places for biodiversity protection are the two major concerns confronting the global conservation community. The Orchidaceae, which is one of the most diverse angiosperm families with over 30,000 species, is currently facing grave threats from habitat degradation, climate change, and a range of human-induced issues. However, the spatial patterns of orchid distribution and the factors influencing these patterns, both of which are crucial for developing successful orchid conservation plans, remain poorly understood. Here, using one of the most extensive distribution datasets of >500 orchid species in Nepal, we mapped the distribution of all, common, rare, epiphyte, and terrestrial species and identified important factors driving their patterns. We also assessed their protection gaps and identified key conservation regions. We discovered low spatial congruence between the diversity patterns of different groups, and the fundamental drivers underlying the richness pattern differed considerably. The key orchid conservation areas were primarily found in the mid-hills and highlands of central Nepal, with 62 % of these areas outside the protected area (PA) network. Our findings emphasize the importance of considering pollinator diversity and other climate factors when developing effective management plans to conserve orchids, as well as employing different strategies to conserve different life forms. A huge conservation gap in protecting orchids despite large PA coverage in Nepal indicates insufficiency of existing PA network in conserving plants. Therefore, our findings reiterates the need to consider plant conservation goals alongside animal conservation priorities in future conservation planning.

Participation of community in mangrove conservation in coastal area of the Valentine Strait, West Seram, Maluku, Indonesia

Abstract. Aipassa MI, Siahaya ME, Aponno HSES, Ruslim Y, Kristiningrum R. 2023. Participation of community in mangrove conservation in coastal area of the Valentine Strait, West Seram, Maluku, Indonesia. Biodiversitas 24: 2467-2474. A mangrove forest is composed of mangrove plants and constitutes a crucial ecosystem in coastal areas. It is a vital source for maintaining aquatic ecosystems between the sea, coast, and land. Additionally, it provides benefits to humans, such as contributing to a more comfortable climate and weather conditions that can prevent natural disasters. However, the mangrove in the Valentine Strait area (West Seram, Maluku, Indonesia) is threatened by land conversion, leading to damage and loss. Some people are trying to preserve and maintain mangrove in their area. Therefore, the aim of this research was to describe the actions of the local community in the area, using the concept of cultural capital. A combination of qualitative and quantitative methods was used, and both primary and secondary data were collected. Primary data were gathered directly from the research location, while secondary data were obtained through local community information, various websites, and documents related to the management of natural resources. Additionally, key informants, including local community leaders, Kewang, and LPPM Maluku (NGO), were interviewed to collect relevant data on the cultural capital possessed by the community. The data for identifying mangrove species were calculated and tabulated to determine the species density in the Valentine Strait area. Furthermore, the collected community data were analyzed using cultural capital theory. The results indicate that community has started to reapply the concept of cultural capital of the Sasi tradition as ecological knowledge to maintain and preserve mangrove; hence, ensuring conservation in the Valentine Strait area. Mangrove forests have become home to fish, shrimp, and crabs and are also important for birds, primates, and reptiles.

Rapid monitoring of ecological persistence

Effective conservation of ecological communities requires accurate and up-to-date information about whether species are persisting or declining to extinction. The persistence of an ecological community is supported by its underlying network of species interactions. While the persistence of the network supporting the whole community is the most relevant scale for conservation, in practice, only small subsets of these networks can be monitored. There is therefore an urgent need to establish links between the small snapshots of data conservationists can collect, and the "big picture" conclusions about ecosystem health demanded by policymakers, scientists, and societies. Here, we show that the persistence of small subnetworks (motifs) in isolation-that is, their persistence when considered separately from the larger network of which they are a part-is a reliable probabilistic indicator of the persistence of the network as a whole. Our methods show that it is easier to detect if an ecological community is not persistent than if it is persistent, allowing for rapid detection of extinction risk in endangered systems. Our results also justify the common practice of predicting ecological persistence from incomplete surveys by simulating the population dynamics of sampled subnetworks. Empirically, we show that our theoretical predictions are supported by data on invaded networks in restored and unrestored areas, even in the presence of environmental variability. Our work suggests that coordinated action to aggregate information from incomplete sampling can provide a means to rapidly assess the persistence of entire ecological networks and the expected success of restoration strategies.

Local people’s sense of place in heavily touristified protected areas: Contested place meanings around the Wulingyuan World Heritage Site, China

The place meanings (or landscape values) of local people are increasingly being considered in nature conservation plans. However, in Indigenous and ethnic minority contexts, place meanings and underlying cultures tend to be regarded as static over time. This limits the inclusiveness and appropriateness of protected area governance. Using a case study of the Wulingyuan Scenic and Historic Interest Area, a World Heritage Site in China, we found that residents’ sense of place and place meanings were diverse, varying, and were affected by changes to their livelihoods and the economy resulting from increased tourism. There was a major mismatch between the recorded ‘traditional’ place meanings of residents and their current sense of place and landscape values. The co-evolution of protected areas and tourism can affect residents’ place meanings. This complicates the process of finding a balance (or synergy) between economic development, nature conservation, and local community concerns, which is necessary for sustainability. Adaptive co-management planning that pays attention to residents’ diverse and changing place meanings is essential, even though it may be difficult to implement in heavily touristified areas.

Sustainability Assessment for the Protected Area Tourism System from the Perspective of Ecological-Economic-Social Coordinated Development

Tourism is a significant way for the public to enjoy the cultural ecosystem services provided by protected areas (PAs). However, with PAs being expected to make much wider ecological, social and economic contributions to sustainability and human well-being, PA managers face challenges in coordinating tourism with other goals, such as ecological conservation and local community development. To address this challenge, we developed a sustainability assessment framework that considers the PA, local community, and tourism as a complex system comprising social, economic, and ecological subsystems from the perspective of subsystem relationships. The coupling coordination degree model and the obstacle degree model were applied to assess sustainability of the tourism system in Qinghai Lake Nature Reserve of China. The assessment results indicate that the sustainability index fluctuated between 2010 and 2019, but generally exhibited an upward trend, undergoing three stages and reaching the stage in 2019 where ecological sustainability took the lead. At this stage, the coupling coordination degree between the economy and society subsystems was at its lowest, and the economic subsystem faced the highest obstacle degree. The study demonstrates that involving scholars and administrators in the index selection process and considering both index information and management concerns when determining index weight makes the coupling coordination degree model more suitable for PA tourism systems. The assessment method developed in this study effectively reflects the temporal evolution of PA tourism system sustainability and provides valuable implications for coordinated ecological-economic-social management by analyzing obstacle factors.

Scuba diving tourism and the challenge of sustainability: evidence from an explorative study in North African-Mediterranean countries

PurposeScuba diving tourism is reputed to be a potential low-impact recreational activity that allow environmental conservation and socioeconomic benefits for local communities. Few studies have addressed the issue of sustainability of scuba diving tourism through the simultaneously investigation on the economic and socio-cultural aspects and its implications for tourism development. This study aims to examine the scuba diving tourism in three under-explored North African tourism destinations with high ecotourist potential. The authors present an exploratory picture of scuba diving tourist demand, divers' preferences, motivations for recreational diving experiences and their propensity towards conservation.Design/methodology/approachThe authors developed a case study research strategy collecting profile data on 123 divers. Furthermore, regression analysis was performed to investigate the divers' preferences, motivations and propensity towards conservation.FindingsThe divers' limited number, the presence of mainly local seasonal tourists and a moderate propensity towards conservation influence the potential of the diving tourism segment to generate significant socioeconomic benefits for local sustainable development in these destinations. However, establishing a marine protected area (MPA) could foster the development of a long-term strategy for scuba diving tourism, improve conservation awareness and increase divers' satisfaction.Practical implicationsDiverse profiles, preferences and motivations can provide tools to sustainably manage and preserve coastal and marine biodiversity, while also maximising the quality of the recreational experience. One of the most effective site-based strategies to orient the diving sector towards sustainability involves the design and strengthening of MPAs.Originality/valueThe research provides an original contribution to the debate on sustainable tourism strategies by demonstrating how the study of economic and socio-cultural aspects of scuba diving could provide guidelines to orient the tourism development of marine and coastal areas towards the principles of sustainability (also through the establishment of MPAs). The findings present an overview of the sustainability of the scuba diving tourism segment by investigating the preferences, motivations and inclination towards conservation among tourists for whom the diving experience is not a core holiday activity.

Willingness to cooperate in shared natural resource management is linked to group identification through perceived efficacy and group norms

Cooperative management of shared natural resources is one of the most urgent challenges the world is facing today. While there have been advances in understanding institutional design features that enable sustainable management, there are few field studies that provide theory-based insights into social psychological predictors of willingness to cooperate around shared resources. Here, we address this issue in the context of shared land management in pastoralist community conservancies in Kenya. In a large survey of individuals from different conservancies, we test a path model that links willingness to cooperate to how strongly respondents identified with their conservancy. This relationship is mediated by how efficient conservancies were perceived to be, and to what extent other people in the community were perceived to share cooperative norms. The results also point towards several parameters that may be conducive to developing stronger conservancy identification: transparency of purpose, motive alignment, sense of ownership, and demonstrating benefit. The findings provide insights into the social psychological processes that impact whether cooperative outcomes can be achieved in real-world shared resource settings, and offer practical implications for strengthening governance within pastoralist conservancies and related shared natural resource management contexts.

A guide to qualitative attribution methods for evaluation in conservation.

Knowledge of what conservation interventions improve biodiversity outcomes, and in which circumstances, is imperative. Experimental and quasi-experimental methods are increasingly used to establish causal inference and build the evidence base on the effectiveness of interventions, but their ability to provide insight into how and under what conditions an intervention should be implemented to improve biodiversity outcomes faces limitations. A suite of attribution methods that leverage qualitative methods for causal inference is available but underutilized in conversation impact evaluation. This article provides a guide to 5 such qualitative attribution methods: contribution analysis, process tracing, realist evaluation, qualitative comparative analysis, and most significant change. It defines and introduces each method and then illustrates how they could be applied through a case study of community conservancies in Namibia. This guide provides examples of how qualitative attribution methods can advance knowledge of what works, in which contexts, and why in biodiversity conservation.

Protected area planning to conserve biodiversity in an uncertain future.

Protected areas are a key instrument for conservation. Despite this, they are vulnerable to risks associated with weak governance, land-use intensification, and climate change. We used a novel hierarchical optimization approach to identify priority areas for expanding the global protected area system that explicitly accounted for such risks while maximizing protection of all known terrestrial vertebrate species. To incorporate risk categories, we built on the minimum set problem, where the objective is to reach species distribution protection targets while accounting for 1 constraint, such as land cost or area. We expanded this approach to include multiple objectives accounting for risk in the problem formulation by treating each risk layer as a separate objective in the problem formulation. Reducing exposure to these risks required expanding the area of the global protected area system by 1.6% while still meeting conservation targets. Incorporating risks from weak governance drove the greatest changes in spatial priorities for protection, and incorporating risks from climate change required the largest increase (2.52%) in global protected area. Conserving wide-ranging species required countries with relatively strong governance to protect more land when they bordered nations with comparatively weak governance. Our results underscore the need for cross-jurisdictional coordination and demonstrate how risk can be efficiently incorporated into conservation planning. Planeación de las áreas protegidas para conservar la biodiversidad en un futuro incierto.

Co‐designing conservation interventions through participatory action research in the Indian Trans‐Himalaya

Abstract Community‐based conservation, despite being more inclusive than fortress conservation, has been criticized for being a top‐down implementation of external ideas brought to local communities for conservation's benefit. This is particularly true for Changpas, the pastoral people of Changthang in trans‐Himalayan India who live alongside unique wildlife. Our main aim was to co‐design conservation interventions through participatory action research. We worked with two Changpa communities, to understand the issues faced by them. Subsequently, we co‐designed context‐sensitive interventions to facilitate positive human–nature interactions. We did so by integrating the PARTNERS (Presence, Aptness, Respect, Transparency, Empathy, Responsiveness, Strategic Support) principles with the Trinity of Voice (Access, Standing and Influence). In Rupsho, we facilitated focus group discussions (FGDs) led by the community. We found livestock depredation by wildlife was primarily facilitated by the weather. This led to co‐designing of a new corral design, which was piloted with seven households, safeguarding 2385 pashmina goats and sheep. Approximating the value of each sheep/goat to be USD125, this intervention amounts to a significant economic protection of USD c. 42,500 for each household. This is along with intangible gains of trust, ownership and improved self‐esteem. In Tegazong, a restricted area adjoining the Indo‐China border with no previous research records, we worked with 43 Changpa people to co‐create research questions of mutual interest. Wildlife presence and reasons for livestock loss were identified as areas of mutual interest. The herders suggested they would record data in a form of their choice, for 6 months, while they live in their winter pastures. This participatory community monitoring revealed nutrition and hypothermia to be a key cause of livestock death. Subsequently, we delimited two previously untested interventions: lamb cribs and provisioning of locally sourced barley as a feed supplement. The wildlife monitoring recorded the first record of Tibetan Gazelle Procapra picticuadata, outside of their known distribution, in Tegazong. We aim to highlight the benefits of co‐designing projects with local communities that link research and conservation, while also discussing the challenges faced. Ultimately, such projects are needed to ensure ethical knowledge generation and conservation, which aims to be decolonial and inclusive.

Shifting linguistic patterns in oyster restoration news articles surrounding the Deepwater Horizon disaster

Populations of the eastern oyster Crassostrea virginica are declining globally. With the loss of oysters, sustainable provision of natural resources and ecosystem services are also threatened. In 2010, the Deepwater Horizon (DWH) oil spill became the largest marine oil spill in history, imperiling coastal and marine habitats in the Gulf of Mexico. Whereas ecological restoration serves as an important tool in natural resource management, its success depends on achieving ecological objectives and meeting public expectations. However, little is known about how the public perceives ecological restoration—even less in the context of disasters. It has long been understood that mass media messaging helps shape public understanding. Documenting patterned representation of oyster restoration in mass media texts can help set goals, improve stakeholder communication, and ensure required support for restoration activities. To address this goal, this study asks, does newspaper language on the topic of oyster reef restoration change in relation to an environmental disaster? If so, how? A 1.1 million-word Deepwater Horizon Oyster Restoration (DHORN) Corpus—a comprehensive body of newspaper articles about oyster restoration from 3 national and 18 gulf-state newspapers—was developed for the period April 2008–April 2014. The distribution and deployment of collocates of oyster* across three DHORN subcorpora delimited by time (pre-, during, and post-Deepwater Horizon oil spill) were compared through iterative quantitative and qualitative analysis. Examination of salient collocates in use over time indicated an increase in the representation of oysters as quantifiable entities during/post-DWH; at the same time, there was a decrease in the representation of the roles of oyster* in the Gulf ecosystem. Furthermore, multiple propositions associating oysters and oyster restoration activity with DWH and oil spills were introduced into language use by the disaster and persisted for years afterwards. This association was not present pre-DWH. Understanding shifts in linguistic patterns of oyster restoration in news articles before, during, and after Deepwater Horizon can be used to deliberately refine communication between the conservation community and both journalists and policymakers to promote conservation initiatives.