Conservation Journals Research Articles

Understanding author choices in the current conservation publishing landscape.

Conservation literature addresses a broad spectrum of interdisciplinary questions and benefits. Conservation science benefits most when a diverse range of authors are represented, particularly those from countries where much conservation work is focused. In other disciplines, it is well known that barriers and biases exist in the academic publishing sphere, which can affect research dissemination and an author's career development. We used a discrete choice experiment to determine how 7 journal attributes affect authors' choices of where to publish in conservation. We targeted authors directly by contacting authors published in 18 target journals and indirectly via communication channels for conservation organizations. We only included respondents who had previously published in a conservation-related journal. We used a multinomial logit model and a latent class model to investigate preferences for all respondents and distinct subpopulations. We identified 3 demographic groups across 1038 respondents (older authors from predominantly middle-income countries, younger authors from predominantly middle-income countries, and younger authors from high-income countries) who had published in conservation journals. Each group exhibited different publishing preferences. Only 2 attributes showed a consistent response across groups: cost to publish negatively affected journal choice, including authors in high-income countries, and authors had a consistent preference for double-blind review. Authors from middle-income countries were willing to pay more for society-owned journals, unlike authors from high-income countries. Journals with a broad geographical scope that were open access and that had relatively high impact factors were preferred by 2 of the 3 demographic groups. However, journal scope and open access were more important in dictating journal choice than impact factor. Overall, different demographics had different preferences for journals and were limited in their selection based on attributes such as open access policy. However, the scarcity of respondents from low-income countries (2% of respondents) highlights the pervasive barriers to representation in conservation research. We recommend journals offer double-blind review, reduce or remove open access fees, investigate options for free editorial support, and better acknowledge the value of local-scale single-species studies. Academic societies in particular must reflect on how their journals support conservation and conservation professionals.

When it comes to research on land management behavior, how are we doing? A systematic review on theory, measurement, and suggestions for improvement

AbstractWith increasing attention to climate change and biodiversity loss, conservation social science research on land management practices is burgeoning. Researchers have broadened their focus from protected areas to diverse types of land management to support conservation and climate mitigation. But, developing effective strategies for these issues requires an in‐depth understanding of both the socio‐psychological factors that guide landholders' decision‐making and global trends in land management practices and literature. To assess the trends and status of land management behavior research, we systematically reviewed research published between 2010 and 2020 in five seminal conservation journals. Of 11,607 articles reviewed, we identified 100 articles about land management behavior. We assessed theoretical groundings, measurement methodology, land‐use terminology and practices, ecosystem type, and geographic distribution. We identified strengths and significant gaps and weaknesses across land management research. For example, 52% of articles made no meaningful connection to theory, only 14% of papers used observed behavioral data, 86% of studies uses non‐experimental methods and researchers disproportionately measured land management behavior in developed nations (66%). We also find that language used to describe land management behavior is very heterogeneous, making it difficult to summarize land management research using traditional systematic review methods. Conducting a limited systematic review can help summarize research and also identify trends across disciplines that might otherwise missed. Results from our limited systematic review can guide future research and support the development of evidence‐based policies to mitigate climate change and biodiversity loss.

Study on Ecological Water Demand Pressure of Forest and Grass Vegetation Construction in Northwest Loess Plateau Based on Fitting Verification

In this paper, the minimum ecological water requirement of forest and grass vegetation in different types and regions and small basins in Pingliang City was analyzed and evaluated by using the quota of water consumption for ecological construction. The actual evapotranspiration water consumption of different types of vegetation was used as the quota to calculate the appropriate ecological water demand of vegetation, and the actual evapotranspiration water consumption of vegetation was used as the quota to calculate the appropriate ecological water consumption of vegetation in this region. At the same time, in order to make the calculation result more accurate, the water consumption per unit area after the actual evapotranspiration of different regions and different types of vegetation is used as the calculation quota. In addition, according to the principles of similar vegetation types, similar site conditions and similar climate environment, the research results of He Wentao et al., Institute of Geographical Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, on the ecological water requirement of forest in the whole Jinghe River basin (He Wentao et al. Determination and calculation of ecological water requirement of forest vegetation, Journal of Soil and Water Conservation, 2004, 18(6)) were selected and compared with this study. This study verifies the reliability of the calculation results of evapotranspiration water consumption of vegetation in this area. It should be noted that He Wentao et al. also evaluated the ecological water requirement of vegetation in the whole Jinghe River basin by calculating the evapotranspiration water consumption of vegetation, and analyzed the vegetation ecological water requirement deficit in 2020 by comparing the calculated minimum ecological water requirement of vegetation in the region, so as to reflect the ecological water demand pressure faced by vegetation construction in the region. It provides a basic basis for coordinating the relationship between vegetation construction and water resources in this region.

Sea stack plots: Replacing bar charts with histograms.

Graphs in research articles can increase the comprehension of statistical data but may mislead readers if poorly designed. We propose a new plot type, the sea stack plot, which combines vertical histograms and summary statistics to represent large univariate datasets accurately, usefully, and efficiently. We compare five commonly used plot types (dot and whisker plots, boxplots, density plots, univariate scatter plots, and dot plots) to assess their relative strengths and weaknesses when representing distributions of data commonly observed in biological studies. We find the assessed plot types are either difficult to read at large sample sizes or have the potential to misrepresent certain distributions of data, showing the need for an improved method of data visualisation. We present an analysis of the plot types used in four ecology and conservation journals covering multiple areas of these research fields, finding widespread use of uninformative bar charts and dot and whisker plots (60% of all panels showing univariate data from multiple groups for the purpose of comparison). Some articles presented more informative figures by combining plot types (16% of panels), generally boxplots and a second layer such as a flat density plot, to better display the data. This shows an appetite for more effective plot types within conservation and ecology, which may further increase if accurate and user-friendly plot types were made available. Finally, we describe sea stack plots and explain how they overcome the weaknesses associated with other alternatives to uninformative plots when used for large and/or unevenly distributed data. We provide a tool to create sea stack plots with our R package 'seastackplot', available through GitHub.

What Environmentalists want to Cite: A Bibliometric Study based on Environmental Conservation Journal

The current bibliometric study is focussed on an examination of 255 articles/research papers that were published in the Environmental Conservation Journal, a venerable journal in the environmental area by taking into consideration its last five volumes from 2016 to 2020. In addition to discussing the average length of an article and the number of references per article, the study also covers the year and volume-wise number of articles, authorship patterns, most productive authors of the journal, state-wise contribution of the articles, and foreign contribution to the journal.

The Use of R and R Packages in Biodiversity Conservation Research

R is one of the most powerful programming languages for conducting data analysis, modeling, and visualization. Although it is widely utilized in biodiversity conservation research, the comprehensive trends in R and R package usage and patterns in the field still remain unexplored. We conducted a comprehensive analysis of R and R package usage frequencies spanning fifteen years, from 2008 to 2022, encompassing over 24,100 research articles published in eight top biodiversity conservation journals. Within this extensive dataset, 10,220 articles (42.3% of the total) explicitly utilized R for data analysis. The use ratio of R demonstrated a consistent linear growth, escalating from 11.1% in 2008 to an impressive 70.6% in 2022. The ten top utilized R packages were vegan, lme4, MuMIn, nlme, mgcv, raster, MASS, ggplot2, car, and dismo. The frequency of R package utilization varied among journals, underscoring the distinct emphases each journal places on specific focuses of biodiversity conservation research. This analysis highlights the pivotal role of R, with its powerful statistical and data visualization capabilities, in empowering researchers to conduct in-depth analyses and gain comprehensive insights into various dimensions of biodiversity conservation science.

Status of African authorship among conservation research output from sub‐Saharan Africa: An African perspective

AbstractThe effectiveness of science to address conservation issues is linked to the inclusivity and diversity of its practitioners, but scientists from biodiverse tropical countries remain underrepresented in the conservation science literature. To assess the status of sub‐Saharan Africa‐based authorship in conservation science between 2015 and 2021, we analyzed the affiliations of primary authors of research conducted in sub‐Saharan Africa as published in 10 selected conservation journals representative of a range of conservation literature: from high‐impact international journals to Africa‐specific regional journals. Out of 1176 articles, we found that approximately one‐third of the primary authors were based at a sub‐Saharan African institution. African primary authors had a higher output in African than global conservation journals, which corresponded with relatively low overall impact factors and citations for studies led by African authors. African authors were significantly underrepresented in large, multicountry studies, accounting for only 6% of primary authors and 66% of these publications contained no African author. We discuss possible limitations and solutions for African participation and representation in the international conservation literature from the perspective of African conservation scientists.

Declaring Dharma Yudhdham: Conservative Reaction Against the Child Marriage Restraint Act in Colonial Andhra, 1928–1938

Hindu women’s marriage reform remained a contentious issue in colonial Andhra. The Child Marriage Restraint Act of 1929, popularly known as the Sarda Act, originally fixed the minimum age of marriage of girls and boys at 14 and 18 years, respectively, and thus restrained child marriages. Conservative sections of Andhra society bitterly opposed the Sarda Act. They declared a dharma yudhdham (holy war defending the Hindu religion) on the social reformers, the Congress nationalists and the British government for trying to intrude into the sacred domain of the Hindu family. As they could not stop the Act from being made, they defeated it by making use of the various loopholes present in it. Conservative men mobilised a section of women who took part in the anti-Sarda campaign and agitation. This article is based on a variety of primary sources, especially the woefully neglected conservative journals such as Abhinava Saraswati and Swadharma Prakashini, which undertook a rigorous campaign against the Sarda Act. Pro-reform women’s monthlies such as the Grihalakshmi and newspapers like the Andhra Patrika and Golakonda Patrika, and progressive women’s writings published in contemporary women’s journals are also used.

The need for a (non-destructive) method revolution in entomology

There are worrying signs that arthropods are in decline both in density and diversity. This threatens global biodiversity as well as the ecosystem services provided by arthropods. Nonetheless, entomological research, even when studying arthropods with a conservation focus, frequently uses lethal methods. We analysed 1029 articles published in the major biological conservation journals between 2014 and 2020 and found that, while single-species-focused studies used more non-lethal than lethal methods (76.3 % vs. 23.7 %, respectively), the opposite was true for multiple-species ones (24.0 % vs. 76.0 %). In tropical regions, 74.6 % of studies used lethal methods vs. 18.5 % non-lethal ones. Of the major orders, Odonata, Lepidoptera and Orthoptera were generally studied using non-lethal methods (88.1 %, 80.7 %, and 70.8 %, respectively) in non-tropical regions, while in the tropics, only Lepidoptera were frequently (51.9 %) studied by such methods. We argue that even if the evidence for arthropod decline were uncertain, and even if research would not add much to the overall level of mortality, entomologists should be showing an example. If research on invertebrates continues to be ethically blind, entomologists risk losing public support for conserving arthropod diversity.

The more things changed, the more they stayed the same: Trends in conservation focus 2010–2019

The conservation literature provides an important resource for conservation practice and reflects key areas of current research interest, but not necessarily those of highest priority, in the field of conservation science. In one of the most comprehensive studies of its kind, this paper evaluates 4388 articles from three leading conservation journals with different impact factors (Biological Conservation, Conservation Letters, and Oryx) for the period 2010–2019. The analysis shows that previously identified trends still hold true in many instances, including a continuing taxonomic bias towards vertebrates and particularly in favour of mammals. Geographical biases also persist, favouring Europe and North America with respect to where research is undertaken, who writes about it, and how it is funded, although publication of research conducted in Africa is increasing. It is difficult to evaluate changes in author gender outside the decade studied as this topic has not been widely considered in previous studies, but parity in authorship has not yet been achieved in any of the journals examined. To overcome the biases identified, researchers, editors, and funding organisations collectively still need to do more to redirect conservation efforts where they are most urgently needed and encourage more women and more researchers from lower income countries to participate in research by helping to remove the barriers that currently limit them.

Growing disparity in global conservation research capacity and its impact on biodiversity conservation

<h2>Summary</h2> Building conservation research capacity (CRC), especially in developing countries, has long been proposed to halt and reverse biodiversity loss. Yet, a global evaluation of CRC and its impact on biodiversity conservation is still lacking. Here, by analyzing over 177,000 scientific papers from major conservation journals published after 2000, we derived six indicators of CRC and monitored their changes for the 193 United Nations member countries. We found that while CRC expectedly varied globally, the disparity in CRC between the top and bottom echelons grew over time. While most CRC indicators improved biodiversity conservation status (i.e., the IUCN Red List Index) in high-CRC countries, only the number of collaborating countries had a positive impact for low-CRC countries. Therefore, building CRC must be a top conservation priority, and high-CRC countries must lend greater support for low-CRC countries through meaningful collaborations and funding truly collaborative research in low-CRC developing countries.

Prioritisation of Charismatic Animals in Major Conservation Journals Measured by the Altmetric Attention Score

Large, charismatic animals trigger human emotional responses, which consequently result in taxonomic biases that have been proven in various fields. In our research, we analysed the representation of animals and plants in scientific papers published in three major conservation journals (Conservation Biology, Journal of Applied Ecology and Conservation Letters) between 2011 and 2020. Furthermore, we examined the Altmetric Attention Score (AAS) and each paper’s total number of citations focused exclusively on a single taxon (59% of all papers). Mammals were represented on journal cover pages significantly more frequently than other taxa, while reptiles, amphibians and fish were underrepresented. The total number of published papers and the AAS favoured mammals significantly, while reptiles, plants and amphibians received the lowest AAS. The AAS of mammals was positively influenced by the body mass and appeal score. Scientific citations showed a slight correlation with the AAS. Papers about mammals, invertebrates and amphibians received the most citations, followed by plants, fish, birds and reptiles. These results showed that there are taxonomic biases that favour large mammals over other taxa, both among scientists as well as the public. Therefore, publication policy should be changed in order to support the shift of scientists and, subsequently, public interest itself toward neglected taxa.

Zero-Waste Management and Sustainable Consumption: A Comprehensive Bibliometric Mapping Analysis

The growth of waste generation is a global problem. Developing effective waste management methods is challenging for companies and the government. This research aims to provide a global perspective regarding scientific research on zero-waste management and sustainable consumption by identifying years of evolution, the most relevant and influential keywords, articles, journals, universities, countries, and authors. This research examines 2534 publications from the Web of Science Core Collection from 2011 to 2021. Numerous bibliometric indices, including the number of publications, the h-index, and citation requirements, have been used as evaluating techniques. Additionally, a relational technique has been developed through graphical maps using the VOS viewer Software. Results show a growing trend in the number of zero-waste management’s publications and citations. Regarding the h-index, the five most relevant journals are the Journal of Cleaner Production, Resources Conservation and Recycling, Waste Management, Waste Management Research, and Sustainability. The most outstanding author is Tsang Dan from Zhejiang University, and the leading university is the Chinese Academy of Science, China. Furthermore, the principal regions and continents are China—Asia, USA—America, and Italy—Europe. The most important keywords are waste management, sustainability, circular economy, and sustainable development. This article is the first quantitative study focused on contributing a complete overview of the progress of zero-waste management and sustainable consumption, providing a collaborative network of researchers for future use in generating knowledge.

Integrative Conservation: A new journal from the conservation frontline

<i>Integrative Conservation</i>: A new journal from the conservation frontline

Analysis of the Impact Factor and JCR Rankings in Conservation Science Journals: Why JCR Should Have a Heritage Category

ABSTRACT The scientific research output of individuals and institutions is commonly evaluated by the number of publications in journals with high impact factor and their corresponding citations. However, the interdisciplinary character of journals reporting advances in conservation science favors their spread over different categories of the Journal Citation Report (JCR). Here we report an analysis of the evolution of the impact factor, the percentile, and the citations on the JCR indexed conservation journals over the last ten years. Our analysis shows that of the 57 conservation journals indexed in the JCR, only eight of them have an impact factor. These journals are distributed across different categories in the Science Citation Index (SCI) and Social Science Citation Index (SSCI), and these categories are sometimes not suitable and decrease their metric impact. This analysis was complemented by a worldwide survey of conservation professionals on their opinions about publishing in these journals. The survey showed two different perspectives about conservation science journals in relation to the background and work of the responders. Conservators and restorers prefer conservation journals with case studies; while researchers prefer high-impact journals, even if they lie outside of the conservation area, so the overall impact factor of conservation journals remains low (low JIF, low Q values). This dichotomy could be fixed with the creation of a new category for heritage science journals in JCR.

Русинский вопрос в зеркале русских консервативных журналов (1890-1894 гг.)

The article focuses on how Russian conservative journals in 1890-1894 discussed the Rusin question in Galicia, Bukovina, and Transcarpathia in connection with some noticeable political changes in Austria-Hungary, Russia, and Germany. Drawing on the research of public opinion in the Russian Empire, the author analyses the study of the Rusin question in the last third of the 19th century and argues that little is known about the reflection of the Rusin question in the Russian public consciousness in the 1890s. He analyses the stance of Fedor Berg's Russky Vestnik on the Rusin question based on the example of Sergei Tatishchev's articles. Tatishchev considered the liberation of Galicia from Austrian domination in theory. The main attention is paid to the evolution of the Russkoe obozrenie- this new type of a conservative journal under Prince Dmitry Tsertelev was skeptical about helping foreign Slavs and avoided extensive comments about Rusins. In the new editorial board headed by Alexander Alexandrov, the key role belonged to the pan-Slavist Sergei Sharapov, whose sympathies for the Poles and Hungarians did not prevent him from raising the question of the Rusin liberation. The new editorial policy in 1893-1894 allowed publishing important materials on the history and current political and ecclesiastical situation in Galicia, Bukovina, and Transcarpathia. The journalists discussed the resettlement of Rusins in the Russian Empire and the activities of Ivan Naumovich and Adolf Dobryansky. The author concludes that Russian conservative journals did not pay enough attention to the Rusin question and its strategic importance.

Portreti slikani preko fotografije na platnu kao tehnika izrade portreta 19. veka

The relationship between painting and photography has been dynamic since its invention in 1839. Seeking its place among the arts, photography was a useful tool for many. In this way portraits were made, which before the invention of photography were the privilege of higher social strata, and their production required spending long hours in a painting studio. With the advent of photography, portraits of individuals and entire families have become much more accessible to ordinary people, and the new technique has gained immense popularity. The possibility of getting portraits from photos as a status symbol was very tempting. In order to respond to such requests from clients, photographic studios teamed up with painters to create oil portraits painted from photography made on canvas. Such portraits became a substitute for classic painted portraits, but they were created faster and were less expensive. Often portraying important historical figures, they have found their place in museum collections. In addition to documentary value, they are also important for the history of art techniques, due to the specific way of production. Despite their popularity at the time of their creation, modern analyses of oil painted portraits made from photography on canvas are rare, and have been published mostly in conservation journals. After the introduction to the techniques and materials described in the literature, the paper presents two oil portraits from a photography made on canvas: a portrait of Isaija Oluić, abbot of the Krupa Monastery, from the fund of the Dalmatian Diocese of the Serbian Orthodox Church, made by Vlaho Bukovac, and a portrait of Nika Mihajlović, prominent Sombor lawyer and philanthropist, from the fund of the City Museum in Sombor, painted by Uroš Predić. The analytical approach to the identification of oil painting techniques from photography (optical analysis and the analysis of materials) was pointed out, as well as the fact that they are sensitive objects in museum collections, the protection of which should be given due attention.

Recommendations for improving peer review of qualitative research in conservation journals.

Wildlife and conservation journals must do more to ensure qualitative research contributions are reviewed appropriately and fairly. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

More exposure opportunities for promoting freshwater conservation

Abstract Freshwater ecosystems have a higher percentage of threatened and extinct species than terrestrial or marine realms, but remain under‐represented in conservation research and actions arguably as a consequence of less popularity and promotion. Cover images of conservation journals were used as a proxy of exposure and potential promotion opportunities provided for different ecosystems and species. To examine whether articles related to cover images received more attention, citations and Altmetric scores of cover‐featured articles were compared with non‐featured ones within the same host journal issue. Freshwater ecosystems (10.4%) were featured less often than marine (15.2%) or terrestrial (74.4%) ecosystems on covers of 18 conservation journals from 1997 to 2016. All 15 most featured species are from terrestrial or marine ecosystems. In addition, cover‐featured studies showed higher citations and Altmetric scores than non‐featured ones within the same host journal issue, indicating that cover‐featured articles received more attention. Further investigations are needed to examine the relationship (i.e. whether there is a true causality) between being featured on the cover, and citations and Altmetric scores received by articles, as well as potentially resulting in greater conservation efforts. Nevertheless, we believe that providing exposure opportunities is likely to better inform the public about the continuing degradation of freshwater ecosystems and its impacts on human well‐being, including economic loss and danger to public health. Journal editors can contribute by balancing their selection of featured ecosystems and species when opportunities arise. Increasing exposure opportunities for freshwater ecosystems through various channels seems a promising approach to raise public awareness and appreciation of freshwater biodiversity. Scientists can play an active role and form an alliance with journal editors, conservation organizations, and media, to increase momentum in society for fresh waters to be experienced as essential ecosystems and prevent further degradation of freshwater habitats and biodiversity loss.

A Perspective on the Journal of Wildlife Management

A Perspective on the Journal of Wildlife Management