Conservation-related Research Research Articles

Practical guide to coproduction in conservation science.

We considered a series of conservation-related research projects on the island of Pemba, Tanzania, to reflect on the broad significance of Beier etal.'s recommendations for linking conservation science with practical conservation outcomes. The implementation of just some of their suggestions can advance a successful coproduction of actionable science by small research teams. Key elements include, first, scientists and managers working together in the field to ensure feedback in real time; second, questions jointly identified by managers and researchers to facilitate engaged collaboration; third, conducting research at multiple sites, thereby broadening managers' abilities to reach multiple stakeholders; and fourth, establishing a multidisciplinary team because most of the concerns of local managers require input from multiple disciplines.

ETHNO-ZOOLOGICAL STUDY OF MEDICINAL USE OF ANIMALS AND THEIR PRODUCTS AMONG THE INDIGENOUS PEOPLE OF KARBI TRIBE OF KARBI ANGLONG, ASSAM, INDIA

Bio-resources, both flora and fauna, are integral part of the indigenous healing practices used by human beings since prehistoric time. The traditional knowledge of the use of bio-resources for medicine has a significant contribution for maintaining the human health. Traditional medicine is not only a source of healing, but the practice is also an important part of their religion and culture. The study was carried out to survey and document the traditional knowledge related to medicinal uses of animals and their products among the ethnic groups of Karbi peoples. Data were collected using prepared questionnaires, personal interviews, and group discussions with the ethnic people of the tribe. A total of 42 animal species were identified to treat around 35 different ailments. Of the animals used therapeutically, 14 species were insects, 2 annelids, 1 gastropod, 2 arachnids, 2 amphibia, 4 were aves, 3 fishes, 4 were reptiles and 12 were mammals.Furthermore, the honey of the bee (Apis mellifera) was used to relieve many ailments and scored the highest fidelity value (FL=93.0%). However Rana sp. (FL=12.9%) and Oecphylla smaragdina (FL=15.7%) has the lowest fidelity level. The result shows that there is a wealth of ethnozoological knowledge if documented can be used in developing new drugs. Hence, it is hoped that the information contained in this paper will be useful in future ethno-zoological, ethnopharmacological, and conservation related research in the region.

MAMMALS IN PORTUGAL: A data set of terrestrial, volant, and marine mammal occurrences in Portugal.

Mammals are threatened worldwide, with ~26% of all species being included in the IUCN threatened categories. This overall pattern is primarily associated with habitat loss or degradation, and human persecution for terrestrial mammals, and pollution, open net fishing, climate change, and prey depletion for marine mammals. Mammals play a key role in maintaining ecosystems functionality and resilience, and therefore information on their distribution is crucial to delineate and support conservation actions. MAMMALS IN PORTUGAL is a publicly available data set compiling unpublished georeferenced occurrence records of 92 terrestrial, volant, and marine mammals in mainland Portugal and archipelagos of the Azores and Madeira that includes 105,026 data entries between 1873 and 2021 (72% of the data occurring in 2000 and 2021). The methods used to collect the data were: live observations/captures (43%), sign surveys (35%), camera trapping (16%), bioacoustics surveys (4%) and radiotracking, and inquiries that represent less than 1% of the records. The data set includes 13 types of records: (1) burrows | soil mounds | tunnel, (2) capture, (3) colony, (4) dead animal | hair | skulls | jaws, (5) genetic confirmation, (6) inquiries, (7) observation of live animal (8), observation in shelters, (9) photo trapping | video, (10) predators diet | pellets | pine cones/nuts, (11) scat | track | ditch, (12) telemetry and (13) vocalization | echolocation. The spatial uncertainty of most records ranges between 0 and 100 m (76%). Rodentia (n=31,573) has the highest number of records followed by Chiroptera (n=18,857), Carnivora (n=18,594), Lagomorpha (n=17,496), Cetartiodactyla (n=11,568) and Eulipotyphla (n=7008). The data set includes records of species classified by the IUCN as threatened (e.g., Oryctolagus cuniculus [n=12,159], Monachus monachus [n=1,512], and Lynx pardinus [n=197]). We believe that this data set may stimulate the publication of other European countries data sets that would certainly contribute to ecology and conservation-related research, and therefore assisting on the development of more accurate and tailored conservation management strategies for each species. There are no copyright restrictions; please cite this data paper when the data are used in publications.

Is the “academic conservation scientist” becoming an endangered species?

Many conservation scientists are based in higher education institutions, but increasingly academia does not value factors important to conservation work when considering the promotion and tenure of its faculty. There is pressure in academia to publish in academic journals (especially high impact factor journals; conservation journals typically have an impact factor of < 4), but these typically have few readers and generally do not include those who need the information (e.g., conservation practitioners, managers, policymakers). Academic promotion is often dependent on bringing money into the university, i.e., gaining grants, with a high proportion of the grant overhead going to the institution, whereas conservation grants are typically small, with little to spare for overhead. In the USA, R1 universities are even worse because their status depends upon federal funds; however, much of conservation-related research is funded by NGOs and foundations. Little credit is given for receiving such grants. Furthermore, little to no credit is given by academic institutions for important conservation activities that do not have a dollar value, such as helping to establish protected areas, pass protective laws, or enact regulations; conducting public outreach; advising managers and policymakers; or aiding conservation capacity building. It is unlikely that an academic institution would grant tenure to faculty whose primary achievements contributed to saving a species or ecosystem. Academic institutions must learn to value the practical, real-world impacts of conservation scientists or the “academic conservation scientist” might become an endangered species. Some suggestions are offered to help stave off this extinction.

Towards a more healthy conservation paradigm: integrating disease and molecular ecology to aid biological conservation†

Parasites, and the diseases they cause, are important from an ecological and evolutionary perspective because they can negatively affect host fitness and can regulate host populations. Consequently, conservation biology has long recognized the vital role that parasites can play in the process of species endangerment and recovery. However, we are only beginning to understand how deeply parasites are embedded in ecological systems, and there is a growing recognition of the important ways in which parasites affect ecosystem structure and function. Thus, there is an urgent need to revisit how parasites are viewed from a conservation perspective and broaden the role that disease ecology plays in conservation-related research and outcomes. This review broadly focusses on the role that disease ecology can play in biological conservation. Our review specifically emphasizes on how the integration of tools and analytical approaches associated with both disease and molecular ecology can be leveraged to aid conservation biology. Our review first concentrates on disease-mediated extinctions and wildlife epidemics. We then focus on elucidating how host–parasite interactions has improved our understanding of the eco-evolutionary dynamics affecting hosts at the individual, population, community and ecosystem scales. We believe that the role of parasites as drivers and indicators of ecosystem health is especially an exciting area of research that has the potential to fundamentally alter our view of parasites and their role in biological conservation. The review concludes with a broad overview of the current and potential applications of modern genomic tools in disease ecology to aid biological conservation.

Regional scientific research benefits threatened-species conservation.

Although conventional wisdom considers knowledge of threatened species’ ecology and status essential for conservation, few studies demonstrate this in a quantitative way across many species and within the same political entity. Here, we evaluated the impacts of scientific research against conservation interventions (including funding) and species-level correlates, accounting for phylogenetic relatedness, on the conservation of 162 threatened mammal species in China. We did so at three levels: global (all scientific papers published on the species), regional (a subset of the global papers that included at least one author from a local organization) and regional conservation-related (a subset of the regional papers that focused only on ecology and conservation). In addition to protected-area coverage and certain biological traits, regional conservation-related research emerged as an important predictor of species recovery. The same was not the case for global research. We should particularly encourage future regional research effort that has direct relevance to specific conservation issues.

Ethnozoological study of traditional medicinal appreciation of animals and their products among the indigenous people of Metema Woreda, North-Western Ethiopia

BackgroundUsing animals for different purposes goes back to the dawn of mankind. Animals served as a source of food, medicine, and clothing for humans and provided other services. This study was designed to undertake a cross-sectional ethnozoological field survey among the residents of Metema Woreda from November 2015 to May 2016.MethodsData were collected through studied questionnaires, interviews, and focus group discussions with 36 purposively selected respondents.ResultsEthnozoological data were collected of the local name of the animals, part of the animal used, mode of preparation and administration, and of additional information deemed useful. A total of 51 animal species were identified to treat around 36 different ailments. Of the animals used therapeutically, 27 species were mammals, 9 were birds, 7 arthropods, 6 reptiles, and 1 species each represented fish and annelids. Furthermore, the honey of the bee Apis mellifera was used to relieve many ailments and scored the highest fidelity value (n = 35.97%). The snake (Naja naja) and the teeth of crocodiles (Crocodylus spp.) had the lowest fidelity value (n = 2.56%).ConclusionThe results show that there is a wealth of ethnozoological knowledge to be documented which could be of use in developing new drugs. Hence, it is hoped that the information contained in this paper will be useful in future ethnozoological, ethnopharmacological, and conservation-related research of the region.

Mind the gap: the use of research in protected area management in Madagascar

It is increasingly well recognised that a lot of conservation-related research is not being used to improve conservation practice. However, much of the research in this area has been conducted with conservation managers in high income countries, where the barriers to accessing and using research may be different. We conducted questionnaires ( n =85) and face to face interviews ( n =54) with managers of protected areas in Madagascar to explore their use of research results. Despite considering research results—including peer reviewed articles, theses, in-house research and research by other organisations—a very useful information source, many managers do not use research results regularly to inform their on-the-ground actions. Instead they tend to rely on experience, or advice from others. The reasons for the low use of research results are many and varied but include barriers to accessing research, especially peer-reviewed publications and reports published by other organisations. Managers also raised concern about the practical relevance of some of the research being conducted in their protected areas. We identify a series of resources which can be useful to managers to improve the access they have to research results and highlight a series of steps which researchers can follow to increase the likelihood of their research being used. We also suggest there is a role for the Malagasy authorities in improving the ways in which research reports— received as part of the conditions of research permits— are shared and archived. Researchers are increasingly aware of the moral imperative that research conducted should be available to inform practice, and protected area managers want access to the best possible information to inform their decisions. With such good intentions, overcoming the gap between research and practice should not be difficult with good communication and essential to improving conservation management in Madagascar.

Management and conservation at the International Whaling Commission: A dichotomy sandwiched within a shifting baseline

The International Whaling Commission's (IWC) Scientific Committee provides important advice to the IWC on a large variety of cetacean species, sub-species and populations and the issues affecting them. Cetaceans are facing increasing, non-whaling-related threats, and the Scientific Committee (SC), in accordance with the Commission's requests, has strengthened its conservation-oriented research work. A selection of the reports of the Scientific Committee from between 1986 and 2012 was assessed for its: (i) fundamental research; (ii) management; (iii) conservation; and (iv) administrative content, and to identify potential trends over time. Recommendations and their urgency were also examined, as implied from the language used by the SC in its reports. The analysis showed that the work of the Scientific Committee has increasingly been oriented towards conservation issues over the period reviewed, but at the same time this conservation work has received little funding. Increased support for conservation-related research projects is warranted to promote the long-term survival of cetaceans. Based on this review of the content and focus of the Committee reports, the analysis suggested that its issued advice be made clearer, whenever possible, and governments are urged to give due consideration to this science-based advice particularly when urgent conservation actions are needed. In addition, more consistent funding of the IWC's conservation-related research should be pursued to improve international conservation outputs regarding cetacean populations.

Developments in amphibian captive breeding and reintroduction programs.

Captive breeding and reintroduction remain high profile but controversial conservation interventions. It is important to understand how such programs develop and respond to strategic conservation initiatives. We analyzed the contribution to conservation made by amphibian captive breeding and reintroduction since the launch of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Amphibian Conservation Action Plan (ACAP) in 2007. We assembled data on amphibian captive breeding and reintroduction from a variety of sources including the Amphibian Ark database and the IUCN Red List. We also carried out systematic searches of Web of Science, JSTOR, and Google Scholar for relevant literature. Relative to data collected from 1966 to 2006, the number of species involved in captive breeding and reintroduction projects increased by 57% in the 7 years since release of the ACAP. However, there have been relatively few new reintroductions over this period; most programs have focused on securing captive-assurance populations (i.e., species taken into captivity as a precaution against extinctions in the wild) and conservation-related research. There has been a shift to a broader representation of frogs, salamanders, and caecilians within programs and an increasing emphasis on threatened species. There has been a relative increase of species in programs from Central and South America and the Caribbean, where amphibian biodiversity is high. About half of the programs involve zoos and aquaria with a similar proportion represented in specialist facilities run by governmental or nongovernmental agencies. Despite successful reintroduction often being regarded as the ultimate milestone for such programs, the irreversibility of many current threats to amphibians may make this an impractical goal. Instead, research on captive assurance populations may be needed to develop imaginative solutions to enable amphibians to survive alongside current, emerging, and future threats.

Methods and workflow for spatial conservation prioritization using Zonation

Spatial conservation prioritization concerns the effective allocation of conservation action. Its stages include development of an ecologically based model of conservation value, data pre-processing, spatial prioritization analysis, and interpretation of results for conservation action. Here we investigate the details of each stage for analyses done using the Zonation prioritization framework. While there is much literature about analytical methods implemented in Zonation, there is only scattered information available about what happens before and after the computational analysis. Here we fill this information gap by summarizing the pre-analysis and post-analysis stages of the Zonation framework. Concerning the entire process, we summarize the full workflow and list examples of operational best-case, worst-case, and typical scenarios for each analysis stage. We discuss resources needed in different analysis stages. We also discuss benefits, disadvantages, and risks involved in the application of spatial prioritization from the perspective of different stakeholders. Concerning pre-analysis stages, we explain the development of the ecological model and discuss the setting of priority weights and connectivity responses. We also explain practical aspects of data pre-processing and the post-processing interpretation of results for different conservation objectives. This work facilitates well-informed design and application of Zonation analyses for the purpose of spatial conservation planning. It should be useful for both scientists working on conservation related research as well as for practitioners looking for useful tools for conservation resource allocation.

Trust Mediates Conservation-Related Behaviors

In this article we explore the influence that a perceived connection between a natural resource management agency and individual citizens has upon conservation-related behaviors on public lands, offering an extension of psychology's examination of environmental behaviors. Our emphasis is upon perceived value similarity and resulting trust between citizens and the USDA Forest Service, defined through the salient values similarity model. On the basis of a retrospective analysis of four studies examining public views on threatened and endangered species management on forest lands, we explore the hypothesis that trust will influence public engagement in conservation-related behaviors. We offer evidence suggesting that trust influences perceptions of messages the USDA Forest Service provides regarding risks to habitat, perception of recommended approaches to addressing environmental risk, acceptance of management actions to reduce environmental risks, and engagement of publics in conservation efforts. Findings show that trust is associated with a range of attitudes and behaviors related to conservation, all suggestive of forms of engagement in conservation. We conclude that the relationship between individuals and natural resource management agencies is an underexplored area of inquiry in conservation-related research, one that merits attention given the demonstrated value of trust. Conservation-related organizations, natural resource management agencies, and related entities can benefit from the findings by ensuring that their efforts address trust building and trust maintenance as a part of their ongoing interactions with publics and endeavors to foster conservation-related behaviors.

DNA from the Past Informs Ex Situ Conservation for the Future: An “Extinct” Species of Galápagos Tortoise Identified in Captivity

BackgroundAlthough not unusual to find captive relicts of species lost in the wild, rarely are presumed extinct species rediscovered outside of their native range. A recent study detected living descendents of an extinct Galápagos tortoise species (Chelonoidis elephantopus) once endemic to Floreana Island on the neighboring island of Isabela. This finding adds to the growing cryptic diversity detected among these species in the wild. There also exists a large number of Galápagos tortoises in captivity of ambiguous origin. The recently accumulated population-level haplotypic and genotypic data now available for C. elephantopus add a critical reference population to the existing database of 11 extant species for investigating the origin of captive individuals of unknown ancestry.Methodology/FindingsWe reanalyzed mitochondrial DNA control region haplotypes and microsatellite genotypes of 156 captive individuals using an expanded reference database that included all extant Galápagos tortoise species as well as the extinct species from Floreana. Nine individuals (six females and three males) exhibited strong signatures of Floreana ancestry and a high probability of assignment to C. elephantopus as detected by Bayesian assignment and clustering analyses of empirical and simulated data. One male with high assignment probability to C. elephantopus based on microsatellite genotypic data also possessed a “Floreana-like” mitochondrial DNA haplotype.SignificanceHistorical DNA analysis of museum specimens has provided critical spatial and temporal components to ecological, evolutionary, taxonomic and conservation-related research, but rarely has it informed ex situ species recovery efforts. Here, the availability of population-level genotypic data from the extinct C. elephantopus enabled the identification of nine Galápagos tortoise individuals of substantial conservation value that were previously misassigned to extant species of varying conservation status. As all captive individuals of C. elephantopus ancestry currently reside at a centralized breeding facility on Santa Cruz, these findings permit breeding efforts to commence in support of the reestablishment of this extinct species to its native range.