Conservation Contexts Research Articles

Delivering Systematic and Repeatable Area-Based Conservation Assessments: From Global to Local Scales

Protected and conserved areas are a key area-based strategy to address the biodiversity and climate change crises. Indicators are fundamental to understanding performance over time. The Digital Observatory for Protected Areas (DOPA) was born in 2013 as a set of open-access web services and applications to be used to assess, monitor, and report on protected and conserved areas. For over a decade, it has delivered over 50 indicators to support policy processes, national and regional governments, and practitioners. DOPA has also developed a versatile and efficient back-end approach that is widely applicable in other area-based conservation contexts. Here, we describe the methods and workflows behind DOPA’s back end and provide examples of policy relevant questions it can answer. We discuss the key advantages and limitations of this systematic and replicable approach and explore the use of this back-end architecture to inform progress in area-based conservation targets for the following decades. This approach, embedded in multiple services provided by the Knowledge Centre for Biodiversity of the European Commission (KCBD), can also support the implementation and monitoring of area-based targets of the Kunming Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework at international, regional, and national levels.

Assessments of expected MPA outcomes can inform and improve biodiversity conservation: Case studies using The MPA Guide

Global, regional, and national targets have been set to protect and conserve at least 30 % of the ocean by 2030, in recognition of the important benefits of healthy ocean ecosystems, including for human well-being. Many of these targets recognize the importance of the quality, not just quantity, of areas that are included in the 30 %, such as marine protected areas (MPAs). For example, the Convention on Biological Diversity’s Global Biodiversity Framework Target 3 calls for areas to be effectively conserved and managed, ecologically representative, well-connected, and equitably governed. Protecting a percent area is not the sole goal – protection must be effective and equitable. To better understand the quality of biodiversity conservation afforded, in addition to the quantity of area protected, we looked at MPAs across 13 studies that used The MPA Guide and related tools to track Stage of Establishment and Level of Protection as measures of expected biodiversity conservation outcomes across diverse locations, scales, and cultural, political, and conservation contexts. We show that standardized assessments of MPA quality can help to (1) evaluate and improve existing MPAs; (2) plan new MPAs; (3) compare the quality of MPA protection across various scales; (4) track MPA quality, including progress towards coverage targets; (5) enable clear communication and collaboration, and (6) inform actions needed to achieve policy targets and their underlying environmental and social goals, among others. We share common opportunities, challenges, and recommendations for tracking MPA quality at various scales, and using these quality assessments to measure progress towards global targets.

Patterns and effects of gene flow on adaptation across spatial scales: implications for management.

Gene flow can have rapid effects on adaptation and is an important evolutionary tool available when undertaking biological conservation and restoration. This tool is underused partly because of the perceived risk of outbreeding depression and loss of mean fitness when different populations are crossed. In this article, we briefly review some theory and empirical findings on how genetic variation is distributed across species ranges, describe known patterns of gene flow in nature with respect to environmental gradients, and highlight the effects of gene flow on adaptation in small or stressed populations in challenging environments (e.g., at species range limits). We then present a case study involving crosses at varying spatial scales among mountain populations of a trigger plant (Stylidium armeria: Stylidiaceae) in the Australian Alps to highlight how some issues around gene flow effects can be evaluated. We found evidence of outbreeding depression in seed production at greater geographic distances. Nevertheless, we found no evidence of maladaptive gene flow effects in likelihood of germination, plant performance (size), and performance variance, suggesting that gene flow at all spatial scales produces offspring with high adaptive potential. This case study demonstrates a path to evaluating how increasing sources of gene flow in managed wild and restored populations could identify some offspring with high fitness that could bolster the ability of populations to adapt to future environmental changes. We suggest further ways in which managers and researchers can act to understand and consider adaptive gene flow in natural and conservation contexts under rapidly changing conditions.

An epigenetic toolbox for conservation biologists.

Ongoing climatic shifts and increasing anthropogenic pressures demand an efficient delineation of conservation units and accurate predictions of populations' resilience and adaptive potential. Molecular tools involving DNA sequencing are nowadays routinely used for these purposes. Yet, most of the existing tools focusing on sequence-level information have shortcomings in detecting signals of short-term ecological relevance. Epigenetic modifications carry valuable information to better link individuals, populations, and species to their environment. Here, we discuss a series of epigenetic monitoring tools that can be directly applied to various conservation contexts, complementing already existing molecular monitoring frameworks. Focusing on DNA sequence-based methods (e.g. DNA methylation, for which the applications are readily available), we demonstrate how (a) the identification of epi-biomarkers associated with age or infection can facilitate the determination of an individual's health status in wild populations; (b) whole epigenome analyses can identify signatures of selection linked to environmental conditions and facilitate estimating the adaptive potential of populations; and (c) epi-eDNA (epigenetic environmental DNA), an epigenetic-based conservation tool, presents a non-invasive sampling method to monitor biological information beyond the mere presence of individuals. Overall, our framework refines conservation strategies, ensuring a comprehensive understanding of species' adaptive potential and persistence on ecologically relevant timescales.

Leveraging relationships between species abundances to improve predictions and inform conservation

Abstract Many management and conservation contexts can benefit from understanding relationships between species abundances, which can be used to improve predictions of species occurrence and abundance. We present conditional prediction as a tool to capture information about species abundances via residual covariance between species. From a fitted joint species distribution model, this framework produces a species coefficient matrix that contains relationships between species abundances. The species coefficients allow co‐observed species to be treated as a second set of predictors supplementing covariates in the model to improve prediction. We use simulations to demonstrate the potential benefits and limitations of conditional prediction across data types and species covariance before applying conditional prediction to two management contexts with real data. Simulations demonstrate that conditional prediction provides the largest benefits to continuous data and when there is residual covariance between many species. In our first application, we show that conditioning on other species improves in‐sample and out‐of‐sample predictions of fish and invertebrate species, including Atlantic cod. In our second application, we show that the species coefficient matrix can be used to identify bird species at risk of nest parasitism by Brown‐headed Cowbirds. Synthesis and applications. We present guidelines for using conditional prediction, which can help understand relationships between species abundances, improve predictions and inform conservation in a variety of contexts.

Methylation-based markers for the estimation of age in African cheetah, Acinonyx jubatus.

Age is a key demographic in conservation where age classes show differences in important population metrics such as morbidity and mortality. Several traits, including reproductive potential, also show senescence with ageing. Thus, the ability to estimate age of individuals in a population is critical in understanding the current structure as well as their future fitness. Many methods exist to determine age in wildlife, with most using morphological features that show inherent variability with age. These methods require significant expertise and become less accurate in adult age classes, often the most critical groups to model. Molecular methods have been applied to measuring key population attributes, and more recently epigenetic attributes such as methylation have been explored as biomarkers for age. There are, however, several factors such as permits, sample sovereignty, and costs that may preclude the use of extant methods in a conservation context. This study explored the utility of measuring age-related changes in methylation in candidate genes using mass array technology. Novel methods are described for using gene orthologues to identify and assay regions for differential methylation. To illustrate the potential application, African cheetah was used as a case study. Correlation analyses identified six methylation sites with an age relationship, used to develop a model with sufficient predictive power for most conservation contexts. This model was more accurate than previous attempts using PCR and performed similarly to candidate gene studies in other mammal species. Mass array presents an accurate and cost-effective method for age estimation in wildlife of conservation concern.

Barking up which tree? Characterizing farmers, farms, and a behavioral framework regarding livestock guardian dog use in South Africa

Livestock guardian dogs are one of several predator control methods employed by livestock farmers around the world, but little is known about the factors that predict their use. Here we aim to understand the dimensions which influence guardian dog use by farmers. In a quantitative survey among 113 livestock farmers in South Africa, using Boosted Regression Trees, we explored and characterized the factors associated with guardian dog use. We showed that practical factors (e.g., predator type, number of farming enterprises, mitigation methods, and the frequency and extent of specific predator problems) were more likely to be significant determinants of guardian dog use than sociodemographic factors. However, psychosocial constructs relating to wildlife value orientations, empathy for predators, tolerance to predators, tangible and intangible cost, benefits of predators, like or dislike of predators, and number of positive experiences, were also determinants of guardian dog use. Utilizing the foundational constructs of the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) and Wildlife Tolerance Model (WTM) we built upon these findings to show that constructs of attitude, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control explained 49 % of the variance in behavioral intention to use or continue using a guardian dog. The relationship between attitude and the behavioral intent to use or continue using a guardian dog had less significant association with guardian dog use than either perceived behavioral control or subjective norms had. Nonetheless, attitude was most strongly associated with the constructs of belief in a specific non-governmental organization, mutualistic Wildlife Value Orientations and perceptions of affordability, ease of use and the effectiveness of guardian dogs. The TPB model, incorporating elements of the WTM, provides a framework to guide and improve adoption of guardian dog programs or other intervention strategies within conservation contexts.

Can tropical nature reserves provide and protect cultural ecosystem services? A case study in Xishuangbanna, China

AbstractCultural ecosystem services (CES) play a pivotal role in local natural conservation and management; however, they frequently remain overlooked by policymakers due to challenges in their definition and quantification. These services are particularly relevant to Asia's indigenous populations. Shangyong and Mengla, two tropical forest reserves in the Xishuangbanna region of Yunnan province, China, were selected for an in‐depth study of CES in this area. Through village interviews and questionnaire surveys, the varieties of CES and their significance were identified and catalogued. Subsequently, the distributions of different CES types were mapped and modelled based on environmental drivers and hotspots. A conservation priority indicator was then formulated to identify the most critical CES necessitating conservation, as these are susceptible to human disturbances in the absence of protected nature reserves. Our findings indicated that the most commonly recognised CES included wildlife, leisure and recreational, folk and custom, and sense of place and identity. Benefits derived from leisure and recreational, and wildlife CES were predominantly safeguarded by nature reserves. In contrast, folk and custom CES and spiritual and religious CES were less reliant on these reserves due to intrinsic community‐based protection. Consequently, while the two tropical forest reserves in Xishuangbanna offer a range of CES, there is a need for differentiated management strategies to foster local support for conservation management decision‐making. The inherent conservation initiatives for spiritual and religious CES and folk and custom CES should be leveraged by incorporating or co‐managing these sacred sites within our protected area system. Conversely, CES with a higher conservation priority index, such as leisure and recreational CES and wildlife CES, require government‐led conservation to safeguard the cultural well‐being of local communities. In conclusion, incorporating CES into nature reserve management strategies is crucial across various conservation contexts.

Pedagogical proposal of tactile graphical framework for delimiting permanent preservation areas for the visually impaired

One of the biggest challenges for visually impaired people is learning cartographic content. Among the cartographic contents, the conceptualization and delimitation of preservation areas is an applied example with extreme relevance for environmental education. This article presents the process of developing a tactile graphic scheme for environmental education for visually impaired people regarding the delimitation of permanent preservation areas around springs and rivers. The creation of the teaching resource used easily acquired materials and followed format recommendations indicated by academic literature on tactile maps. The didact resource has textual content in Braille and Roman numerals, as well as legend and graphic scale in high relief. Special care was taken so that the teaching resource can be used in an inclusive manner, involving, at the same time, blind, partially visually impaired and students with full vision, to promote an inclusive educational environment. This resource can be a useful tool for teaching cartography topics applied to environmental conservation contexts.

Can honey bees be used to detect rare plants? Taking an eDNA approach to find the last plants in a weed eradication program

AbstractThe detection of rare taxa, crucial to conservation and biosecurity, presents many challenges that emerging technologies have the potential to address or avoid. Analysis of environmental DNA (eDNA) is a promising tool for the detection of rare species, especially when applied in a way that exploits natural processes to accumulate biological material (natural aggregation). This study investigated the potential of using honey bees as aggregators of pollen eDNA to detect Chrysanthemoides monilifera subsp. monilifera (boneseed), an introduced species targeted for eradication in Western Australia. We developed a species‐specific polymerase chain reaction (PCR)‐based assay that detected boneseed pollen at levels as low as 70 grains per million in a constructed pollen mixture. The assay was successfully used on wild‐caught bees from large boneseed populations, confirming they collect boneseed pollen. However, our results did not detect boneseed DNA in honey bee pollen collected from hive pollen traps near isolated boneseed plants. We hypothesize that a combination of low abundance of boneseed individuals, vast alternative flower resources at the time of boneseed flowering, and honey bee behavior and ecology may have led to lack of detection. We propose ways in which future work using honey bees to detect rare species can be improved. We also outline how other eDNA substrates (e.g., air and water samples) could be used with the PCR assay we have developed. More broadly, our work highlights the potential of eDNA techniques to detect rare species in biosecurity and conservation contexts and contributes to the development of pollinator‐based detection.

Age and sex-specific foraging movements and energetics in an endangered monomorphic seabird

Senescence is the irreversible decline in physiological functioning and survival with age. While this phenomenon has been studied in a range of different taxa, including seabirds, it has seldom been assessed for both sexes of monomorphic species, and in conservation contexts. Here, we studied the effect of age and sex on the foraging trip characteristics and energetics of the monomorphic Cape gannet (Morus capensis). Between 2017 and 2020, we used GPS recorders and miniaturised three-dimensional accelerometers to obtain data on the foraging trip characteristics and energy expenditure of 39 Cape gannets rearing chicks on Malgas Island, South Africa. This sample included 11 females and 28 males between the ages of 4 and 23 years. No difference in foraging trip characteristics was apparent between sexes or individuals of different ages. The energy expenditure of aging females (> 17 years) was higher than that of aging males. Aging females spent both more energy flying and less energy resting than males, despite similar foraging trip durations and distances. Males spent more energy diving and taking off from the water than females. The age-related sexual differences in energy expenditure presented in our study might reflect niche and/or risk partitioning strategies to ensure adequate provisioning to the chick, or a possible earlier onset of senescence in females relative to males. The higher energy expenditure of aging females, which presumably requires a concomitantly higher energy intake, likely reduces their resilience to environmental change.

Circulating corticosterone predicts near-term, while H/L ratio predicts long-term, survival in a long-lived seabird

Assessing stress in wild populations is important in many ecological and conservation contexts because the physiological responses of individuals to stressors can be used to identify at-risk populations and the ability to respond appropriately to stressors is related to individual quality and fitness. Yet, one of the great challenges in ecophysiology is linking physiological measures in wild animal populations with changes in individual fitness. Here, we examined two indices of stress, namely, circulating baseline corticosterone concentration ([Cort]) and the heterophil:lymphocyte (H/L) ratio, in a long-lived seabird, the Nazca booby (Sula granti) and their relationship with current individual state and subsequent survival and residual and lifetime reproductive success. [Cort] was related to sex, age, and current reproductive effort in in that males, older birds, and birds currently engaged in a breeding attempt birds had higher [Cort]. [Cort] was negatively associated with survival to the next breeding season. The H/L ratio was not associated with the current state of birds but predicted cohort-specific long-term survival. Lifespan and reproductive performance are correlated in Nazca boobies; therefore, our results suggest that the H/L ratio may be useful as an indicator of overall fitness, while [Cort] can be used to predict current or near-term fitness in this species. We further propose the H/L [or neutrophil/lymphocyte (N/L)] Ratio-Fitness Hypothesis, which posits that this ratio is repeatable within individuals and are negatively associated with fitness. This hypothesis needs to be tested in Nazca boobies and other species, and when supported by empirical evidence, then these ratios could be a powerful monitoring tool for assessing population health or identifying at-risk populations.

Conservation ethics in the time of the pandemic: Does increasing remote access advance social justice?

The COVID-19 pandemic is stimulating improvements in remote access and use of technology in conservation-related programs and research. In many cases, organizations have intended for remote engagement to benefit groups that have been marginalized in the sciences. But are they? It is important to consider how remote access affects social justice in conservation biology—i.e., the principle that all people should be equally respected and valued in conservation organizations, programs, projects, and practices. To support such consideration, we describe a typology of justice-oriented principles that can be used to examine social justice in a range of conservation activities. We apply this typology to three conservation areas: (1) remote access to US national park educational programs and data; (2) digitization of natural history specimens and their use in conservation research; and (3) remote engagement in conservation-oriented citizen science. We then address the questions: Which justice-oriented principles are salient in which conservation contexts or activities? How can those principles be best realized in those contexts or activities? In each of the three areas we examined, remote access increased participation, but access and benefits were not equally distributed and unanticipated consequences have not been adequately addressed. We identify steps that can and are being taken to advance social justice in conservation, such as assessing programs to determine if they are achieving their stated social justice-oriented aims and revising initiatives as needed. The framework that we present could be used to assess the social justice dimensions of many conservation programs, institutions, practices, and policies.

Determining the economic costs and benefits of conservation actions: A decision support framework

AbstractThe need for conservation action to be cost‐effective is widely accepted, resulting in increased interest and effort to assess effectiveness. Assessing the financial and economic costs of conservation is equally important for assessing cost‐effectiveness, yet their measurement and assessment are repeatedly identified as lacking. The healthcare sector, in contrast, has made substantial progress in identifying and including costs in decision‐making. Here, we consider what conservation can learn from this experience. We present a three‐step framework for identifying and recording the relevant economic costs and benefits of conservation interventions where the user (1) describes the costing context, (2) determines which types of cost and benefit to include, and (3) obtains values for these costs and benefits alongside metadata necessary for others to interpret the data. This framework is designed to help estimate economic costs but can also be used flexibly to record the direct costs of interventions (i.e., financial costs) and calculate financial and economic benefits. Although recording data on economic costs and benefits is deceptively complex, this framework facilitates improved recording, and indicates how collating this data could enhance the assessment of cost‐effectiveness across conservation contexts using a range of decision‐making tools.

Introducing Interdisciplinary Curricula Into Conservation Biology: Exploring Changes in Students’ Perceived Proenvironmental Attitudes and Behaviors

Today, conserving the natural environment is paramount. Educators have been striving to develop pedagogical approaches that facilitate greater engagement in conservation behaviors. However, many of these reforms have been targeted at an institutional level, without necessarily testing whether changes in proenvironmental perceptions, attitudes, or behaviors occur for students. This step seems important when developing conservation biology courses that provide well-rounded education that may better prepare students for future challenges in biodiverse conservation contexts. Our objective was to assess the proenvironmental attitudes and conservation values of undergraduate students enrolled in an undergraduate conservation biology course before and after instruction to determine whether a multidisciplinary curriculum, in conjunction with traditional conservation biology content, would alter their perceptions. Students in both the control and intervention groups felt relatively neutral about a range of environmental and conservation topics. No statistical significance between curricula and impact on student perception was revealed. However, in the experimental course, shifts were found concerning students’ understanding of the complexity of conservation. Results also highlight long-standing issues related to conservation education, such as a bias toward mammal conservation, and suggest that guest lectures are insufficient to bring about attitude change related to sustainability. Further research on incorporating cross-disciplinary pedagogy into STEM courses is recommended.

Bibliometric investigation of the integration of animal personality in conservation contexts

Bibliometric investigation of the integration of animal personality in conservation contexts

Bibliometric investigation of the integration of animal personality in conservation contexts

Bibliometric investigation of the integration of animal personality in conservation contexts

Why does conservation minimize opportunity costs?

AbstractEffective management of depleted natural resources can be achieved only through changes in human actions. Opportunity costs represent the forgone benefits that would have flowed in the absence of conservation interventions. To the extent that opportunity costs reflect lost opportunities for extractive uses (e.g., fishing or logging), and to the extent that those extractive uses present threats to nature, opportunity costs therefore reflect the positive differences for natural values that can be made through conservation management. Thus, logic dictates that, if conservationists make choices to minimize opportunity costs, they are also necessarily limiting their impact. Unfortunately, empirical evidence from many conservation contexts implies that conservationists indeed make choices consistent with an aim to minimize opportunitycosts, and hence impact. A better understanding of the relationship between opportunity costs and conservation impact will make the language used to communicate conservation progress, targets, and planning more honest and accountable and more explicitly focused on the differences our actions make.

Experimental validation of specialized questioning techniques in conservation.

Conservation increasingly relies on social science tools to understand human behavior. Specialized questioning techniques (SQTs) are a suite of methods designed to reduce bias in social surveys and are widely used to collect data on sensitive topics, including compliance with conservation rules. Most SQTs have been developed in Western, industrialized, educated, rich, and democratic countries, meaning their suitability in other contexts may be limited. Whether these techniques perform better than conventional direct questioning is important for those considering their use. We designed an experiment to validate the performance of four SQTs (unmatched count technique, randomized response technique, crosswise model, and bean method) against direct questions when asking about a commonly researched sensitive behavior in conservation, wildlife hunting. We developed fictional characters, and for each method asked respondents to report the answers that each fictional character should give when asked if they hunt wildlife. We collected data from 609 individuals living close to protected areas in two different cultural and socioeconomic contexts (Indonesia and Tanzania) to quantify the extent to which respondents understood and followed SQT instructions and to explore the sociodemographic factors that influenced a correct response. Data were modeled using binomial general linear mixed models. Participants were more likely to refuse to answer questions asked using SQTs compared with direct questions. Model results suggested that SQTs were harder for participants to understand. Demographic factors (e.g., age and education level) significantly influenced response accuracy. When sensitive responses to sensitive questions were required, all SQTs (excluding the bean method) outperformed direct questions, demonstrating that SQTs can successfully reduce sensitivity bias. However, when reviewing each method, most respondents (59-89%) reported they would feel uncomfortable using them to provide information on their own hunting behavior, highlighting the considerable challenge of encouraging truthful reporting on sensitive topics. Our results demonstrate the importance of assessing the suitability of social science methods prior to their implementation in conservation contexts.

Genomic estimation of quantitative genetic parameters in wild admixed populations

Abstract Heritable genetic variation among free‐living animals or plants is essential for populations to respond to selection and adapt. It is therefore important to be able to estimate additive genetic variance VA, which can be obtained using a GLMM known as the animal model. An underlying assumption of the standard animal model is that the study population is genetically unstructured, which is often unrealistic. In fact, admixture might be the norm rather than the exception in the wild, like in geographically structured populations, in the presence of (im)migration or in reintroduction and conservation contexts. Unfortunately, animal model estimators may be biased in such cases. The so‐called genetic group animal models that account for genetically differentiated subpopulations have recently become popular, but methodology is currently only available for cases where relatedness among individuals can be estimated from pedigrees. To ensure that genetic group animal models with heterogeneous VA remain applicable to populations with genomic data but no pedigrees, there is a clear need to generalize these models to the case when exclusively genomic data are available. We therefore introduce such methodology for wild admixed systems by extending methods that were recently suggested in the context of plant breeding. Our extension relaxes the limiting assumptions that currently restrict their use to artificial breeding set‐ups. We illustrate the usefulness of the extended genomic genetic group animal model on a wild admixed population of house sparrows resident in an island system in Northern Norway, where genome‐wide data on more than 180,000 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) are available to derive genomic relatedness. We compare our estimates of quantitative genetic parameters to those derived from a corresponding pedigree‐based genetic group animal model. The satisfactory agreement indicates that the new method works as expected. Our extension of the very popular animal model ensures that the upcoming challenges with increasing availability of genomic data for quantitative genetic studies of wild admixed populations can be handled. To make the method widely available to the scientific community, we offer guidance in the form of a tutorial including step‐by‐step instructions to facilitate implementation.