International Union For The Conservation Of Nature Research Articles

Medición de la sustentabilidad turística en una pequeña localidad costera a través de indicadores, barómetros y consulta a expertos

Los indicadores proporcionan pautas para mejorar la calidad de vida. A nivel nacional son escasos los estudios sobre turismo en pequeñas localidades costeras por ello, se tomo como caso de estudio a Cabo Pulmo, Baja California Sur (BCS), un destino importante debido a la presencia de arrecifes y enorme diversidad aprovechada con fines recreacionales pese a ello, existe poca información sobre su impacto en el bienestar local. El objetivo de esta investigación fue medir el grado de sustentabilidad turística de Cabo Pulmo, BCS, una pequeña localidad costera sujeta a protección ambiental.El método utilizado se baso en el perfeccionamiento de dos metodologías, una propuesta por la Unión Internacional para la Conservación de la Naturaleza (UICN) y otra propuesta por la Organización Mundial de Turismo (OMT) y la Secretaría de Turismo (SECTUR) a su vez para la generación de la información de los indicadores se aplicaron técnicas mixtas y posteriormente, se formularon y ponderaron escenarios mediante el Método Delphi.Los resultados para 46 indicadores (23 del componente social y 23 del ambiental) revelaron que el ISL promedio fue de 0.70 y al ajustarlo con base en cuatro criterios de ponderación propuestos por expertos, se obtuvo: ISLae₁=.73, ISLae₂=70, ISLae₃=.73, ISLae₄=.84, según los tres primeros escenarios se corrobora que Cabo Pulmo, BCS se situá en un nivel Bueno de sustentabilidad sin embargo de manera excepcional, en el último escenario se le cualificó en un nivel Alto o excelente. Del mismo modo, los principales hallazgos apuntan a que Cabo Pulmo, presenta cierto grado de rezago social. Tal situación, no es única de la localidad estudiada; si no que suele observarse en pequeñas localidades o áreas, cercanas a enormes polos de desarrollo turísticos.Al contrastar los resultados con otros estudios se encontró que el sitio analizado presenta el mismo nivel de sustentabilidad que entidades de México como BCS y se localiza por arriba de naciones como Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistán y Bután. Por otra parte, debe considerarse que el valor promedio de los componentes se localizaron en el límite superior (en el caso del componente ambiental) e inferior (en el componente social) del nivel de categorización y una pequeña reducción de los valores, en ambos o algunos de los componentes, puede ocasionar que la localidad se ubique en un grado de sustentabilidad más pobre. Las principales recomendaciones son: 1) Poner especial cuidado en mejorar los indicadores categorizados como críticos por ejemplo: servicios de salud y educación, calidad del agua para uso doméstico, viviendas con drenaje, caminos en buen estado y la relación visitantes Vs habitantes y 2) Seguir generando información para evaluar la variación en el nivel de sustentabilidad local.

De-Extinction.

De-extinction projects for species such as the woolly mammoth and passenger pigeon have greatly stimulated public and scientific interest, producing a large body of literature and much debate. To date, there has been little consistency in descriptions of de-extinction technologies and purposes. In 2016, a special committee of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) published a set of guidelines for de-extinction practice, establishing the first detailed description of de-extinction; yet incoherencies in published literature persist. There are even several problems with the IUCN definition. Here I present a comprehensive definition of de-extinction practice and rationale that expounds and reconciles the biological and ecological inconsistencies in the IUCN definition. This new definition brings together the practices of reintroduction and ecological replacement with de-extinction efforts that employ breeding strategies to recover unique extinct phenotypes into a single “de-extinction” discipline. An accurate understanding of de-extinction and biotechnology segregates the restoration of certain species into a new classification of endangerment, removing them from the purview of de-extinction and into the arena of species’ recovery. I term these species as “evolutionarily torpid species”; a term to apply to species falsely considered extinct, which in fact persist in the form of cryopreserved tissues and cultured cells. For the first time in published literature, all currently active de-extinction breeding programs are reviewed and their progress presented. Lastly, I review and scrutinize various topics pertaining to de-extinction in light of the growing body of peer-reviewed literature published since de-extinction breeding programs gained public attention in 2013.

Identification of shark species in commercial products using DNA barcoding

Sharks are harvested globally and sold in a variety of commercial products. However, they are particularly vulnerable to overfishing and many species are considered protected or endangered. The objective of this study was to identify species in various commercial shark products and to assess the effectiveness of three different DNA barcoding primer sets. Thirty-five products were collected for this study, including fillets, jerky, soup, and cartilage pills. DNA barcoding of these products was undertaken using two full-length primer sets and one mini-barcode primer set within the cytochrome c oxidase subunit (COI) gene. Successfully sequenced samples were then analyzed and identified to the species level using sequence databases and character-based analysis. When the results of all three primer sets were combined, 74.3% of the products were identified to the species level. Mini-barcoding showed the highest success rate for species identification (54.3%) and allowed for a wide range of identification capability. Six of the 26 identified products were found to be mislabeled or potentially mislabeled, including samples of shark cartilage pills, shark jerky, and shark fin soup. Six products contained species listed in the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) Appendices and 23 products contained near-threatened, vulnerable or endangered species according to the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List. Overall, this study revealed that a combination of DNA barcoding primers can be utilized to identify species in a variety of processed shark products and thereby assist with conservation and monitoring efforts.

Biological field stations and scientific knowledge: the case of mammals in forests of the Chiapas highlands, México

The San Jose Biological Station (SJBE) is the first temperate station in the Chiapas Highlands dedicated to preserve the last wildlife refuges in the area. Comprehensive studies in biological stations are a top priority to generate scientific knowledge, as well as to manage, maintain and conserve both the species and the ecological systems to which they belong. Field sampling was carried out in 2007, 2010, 2015, and 2016 at SJBE. Rodents were captured with Sherman traps; shrews, with Pitfall traps; and bats, with mist nets. Medium-sized and large mammals were recorded by direct observation. The species recorded were listed by their common name in Spanish and Tzotzil. In addition, a bibliographic search was conducted and the databases of the Global Biodiversity Information Facility and the Mammal Collection at El Colegio de la Frontera Sur were used. The conservation status of each species was identified based on the red list of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and the Mexican Official Norm 059 (NOM-059) by SEMARNAT. The list of mammals recorded at SJBE includes 23 species in 8 orders and 13 families. Of the total number of species, two are endemic to Chiapas, Peromyscus zarhynchus and Cryptotis griseoventris. In the IUCN, Cryptotis griseoventris is listed as endangered (with few records for 62 years), and Peromyscus zarhynchus as vulnerable. In NOM-059, Reithrodontomys microdon is listed as threatened and P. zarhynchus as subject to special protection. Oak-pine forests at SJBE are essential for the maintenance of biodiversity in the region, offer resources and preserve the local native fauna. The creation of spaces for research on the biota is a key tool to understand the impacts and threats that currently affect forests in the Chiapas Highlands.

Genetic connectivity and phylogeography of the night shark (Carcharhinus signatus) in the western Atlantic Ocean: Implications for conservation management

Abstract The night shark, Carcharhinus signatus, is a mesopelagic, semi‐oceanic shark species found only in the Atlantic Ocean. It is one of the most frequently caught sharks in pelagic longline fisheries and is classified as Vulnerable by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN). Despite their prevalence in commercial fisheries, the population genetic structure of the night shark has not been assessed. The present study investigated the genetic diversity, genetic connectivity, and phylogeography of the species throughout the western Atlantic Ocean, based on complete mitochondrial control region (mtCR) sequence data (n = 152) and genotypic data from nine nuclear microsatellites (n = 119). The mtCR sequence revealed 19 haplotypes, with overall haplotype and nucleotide diversities of 0.74 (±0.027) and 0.0034 (±0.0019), respectively, whereas the nuclear microsatellite observed and expected heterozygosities were 0.408 and 0.421, respectively. There was significant population structure (ФST = 0.429; P < 0.01) and isolation by distance (r = 0.65, P = 0.03) based on mtCR sequence data, but no genetic differentiation based on nuclear microsatellite analyses. The phylogenetic analyses support the existence of two matrilineal lineages, which diverged during the Pleistocene. Mitochondrial demographic analyses indicated a historical bottleneck effect followed by population expansion during the Pleistocene, whereas nuclear microsatellites did not detect a recent or a strong bottleneck. For conservation purposes, we advocate that the species should be considered to comprise at least two management units (MUs) in the western Atlantic Ocean. MU‐specific catch quotas should be implemented throughout the range of the species given its low genetic diversity and vulnerability to overexploitation.

Human footprint and climate disappearance in vulnerable ecoregions of protected areas

Abstract Ecoregions are distinct groups of natural communities and species. Currently, some ecoregions of the world are considered as vulnerable. Protected areas (PAs) can support the conservation of such vulnerable ecoregions. In this study, global PAs in different International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) management categories and their vulnerable ecoregions were studied, and human footprint and climate disappearance were assessed. The human footprint was found to drive the ecoregional vulnerability of PAs, which was high for vulnerable ecoregions in Europe, North America, and in smaller regions of Asia, Australia, New Zealand, and South America. These PAs included different biomes (excluding montane grasslands and shrublands) and affected IUCN PA management categories. Discrepancies may exist between observations and the present assignment of PAs to IUCN categories considering the extent of the human footprint; hence, these categories need to be re-evaluated based on human influence. The obtained results indicate that vulnerable ecoregions in forest, tundra, and mangrove biomes in PAs of eastern North America, Europe, south-eastern Asia, Australia, New Zealand, and the Pacific islands face high risks from climate disappearance. The ecoregional vulnerability of PAs to both human influence and climate change was high in temperate broadleaf and mixed forests in south-eastern Asia, Europe, Australia, and New Zealand. For global PAs, we propose that: 1) long-term monitoring should be conducted for changes in temperature and precipitation in vulnerable ecoregions such as forest, tundra, and mangrove biomes; and 2) human influence and climate change are integrated into adaptive strategies for the conservation of vulnerable PA ecoregions.

Refining area of occupancy to address the modifiable areal unit problem in ecology and conservation.

The modifiable areal unit problem is prevalent across many aspects of spatial analysis within ecology and conservation. The problem is particularly manifested when calculating metrics for extinction risk estimation, for example, area of occupancy (AOO). Although embedded in the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List criteria, AOO is often not used or is poorly applied. We evaluated new and existing methods for calculating AOO from occurrence records and devised a method for determining the minimum AOO with a uniform grid. We evaluated the grid cell shape, origin, and rotation with real-world and simulated data and reviewed the effects on AOO values and possible impacts for species already assessed on the IUCN Red List. The AOO varied by up to 80%, and a ratio of cells to points of 1:1.21 yielded the maximum variation in the number of occupied cells. These findings potentially impact 3% of existing species on the IUCN Red List and species not yet assessed. Our new method combined grid rotation and moving grid origin and gave fast, robust, and reproducible results and, in the majority of cases, achieved the minimum AOO. As well as determining minimum AOO, our method yielded a confidence interval that should be incorporated into existing tools that support species risk assessment. We recommend when recording AOO and other areal measurements that the methods; summary statistics across multiple iterations; angle and origin of the minimum grid; map projection; and datum be recorded, this will lead to more robust species risk assessments.

Estimating distribution area in six Argia damselflies (Insecta: Odonata: Coenagrionidae) including A. garrisoni, a threatened species

Damselflies and dragonflies (Insecta: Odonata) are currently facing a number of threats. One tool to provide a straightforward assessment of risk is distribution area. Here we have used ecological niche modeling to estimate distribution range for 6 species of Argia damselflies distributed in North America: A. cuprea , A. funcki , A. garrisoni , A. harknessi , A. munda , and A. rhoadsi . These species are not included in the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List, except for A. garrisoni which has been categorized as Least Concern. Our results indicated large distribution areas for all species, except for A. garrisoni, (8,038 km 2 after a refinement analysis looking for suitable habitat). Large distribution can be explained by similar niche properties shared by all study species. This is not the case for A. garrisoni whose situation seems worrying. This species was found in the Mexican state of San Luis Potosi in 1999 and there have been no further observations so it deserves further inspection to see whether populations are at risk. In the meantime, and according to the IUCN criteria, A. garrisoni should be placed under a vulnerable category.

Science, scale and the frontier of governing mobile marine species

AbstractMarine turtles have complex life histories and make expansive migrations over their long lifetimes, often through multiple states’ exclusive economic zones and areas beyond national jurisdiction. This complexity makes it difficult to “know” marine turtles and presents jurisdictional mismatches for existing state and inter‐state bodies that govern turtles. This paper examines how scientists tasked with assessing marine turtles for the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species have used their scientific expertise to make marine turtles legible for governance, including by rescaling the Red List assessment process to include both global and regional levels. We find that in this rescaling project, marine turtle scientists have created two new objects of governance: spatially bounded “regional management units” and the scientists themselves, who have begun to sort themselves and their work around the new spatial units in the interest of generating progress in ocean conservation. More broadly, the story of the IUCN Red List process for sea turtles turns attention to the work of science and scientists in making oceans resources legible, and therefore governable, even when they defy the boundaries of state‐led regulatory bodies or jurisdictional spaces.

Composición, riqueza, diversidad y abundancia de aves en cuatro áreas verdes de Santo Domingo

Se presenta un análisis sobre la riqueza, diversidad y abundancia de aves en cuatro áreas verdes de la ciudad de Santo Domingo: Plaza de la Cultura Juan Pablo Duarte, Parque Mirador Sur, Jardín Botánico Nacional Dr. Rafael M. Moscoso y Parque Mirador Norte. El trabajo de campo fue realizado desde febrero del 2013 hasta noviembre de 2017. Utilizando puntos de conteo y tranceptos en franjas se registró un total de 3 473 individuos, correspondientes a 70 especies y 37 familias. Del total de especies registradas, 7 son endémicas, 37 residentes, 20 migratorias y 6 introducidas. El Parque Mirador Norte, presentó el más alto valor en riqueza de especies (54), mientras que la Plaza de la Cultura Juan Pablo Duarte y el Parque Mirador Sur registraron los valores más bajos, con 35 y 38 especies, respectivamente. La mayor abundancia de individuos se registró en el Jardín Botánico Nacional (1 373) y la menor en el Parque Mirador Norte (562). El mayor valor de diversidad corresponde al Parque Mirador Norte (H´= 3.3 y D-1= 0.94), mientras que la Plaza de la Cultura presentó el valor más bajo (H´= 2.3 y D-1= 0.89). Las especies registradas fueron agrupadas en ocho gremios tróficos, siendo el de las omnívoras el más numeroso. De acuerdo con los criterios de la Unión Internacional para la Conservación de la Naturaleza (UICN), cuatro de las especies se encuentran amenazadas y otra casi amenazada, siendo estas áreas de importancia relevante para su conservación en la ciudad de Santo Domingo.

IUCN Conservation Status Does Not Predict Glucocorticoid Concentrations in Reptiles and Birds.

Circulating glucocorticoids (GCs) are the most commonly used biomarkers of stress in wildlife. However, their utility as a tool for identifying and/or managing at-risk species has varied. Here, we took a very broad approach to conservation physiology, asking whether International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) listing status (concern versus no obvious concern) and/or location within a geographic range (edge versus non-edge) predicted baseline and post-restraint concentrations of corticosterone (CORT) among many species of birds and reptiles. Even though such an approach can be viewed as coarse, we asked in this analysis whether CORT concentrations might be useful to implicate species at risk. Indeed, our effort, relying on HormoneBase, a repository of data on wildlife steroids, complements several other large-scale efforts in this issue to describe and understand GC variation. Using a phylogenetically informed Bayesian approach, we found little evidence that either IUCN status or edge/non-edge location in a geographic distribution were related to GC levels. However, we did confirm patterns described in previous studies, namely that breeding condition and evolutionary relatedness among species predicted some GC variation. Given the broad scope of our work, we are reluctant to conclude that IUCN status and location within a range are unrelated to GC regulation. We encourage future more targeted efforts on GCs in at-risk populations to reveal how factors leading to IUCN listing or the environmental conditions at range edges impact individual performance and fitness, particularly in the mammals, amphibians, and fish species we could not study here because data are currently unavailable.

Assessing threats of non-native species to native freshwater biodiversity: Conservation priorities for the United States

Non-native species pose one of the greatest threats to native biodiversity, and can have severe negative impacts in freshwater ecosystems. Identifying regions of spatial overlap between high freshwater biodiversity and high invasion pressure may thus better inform the prioritization of freshwater conservation efforts. We employ geospatial analysis of species distribution data to investigate the potential threat of non-native species to aquatic animal taxa across the continental United States. We mapped non-native aquatic plant and animal species richness and cumulative invasion pressure to estimate overall negative impact associated with species introductions. These distributions were compared to distributions of native aquatic animal taxa derived from the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) database. To identify hotspots of native biodiversity we mapped total species richness, number of threatened and endangered species, and a community index of species rarity calculated at the watershed scale. An overall priority index allowed identification of watersheds experiencing high pressure from non-native species and also exhibiting high native biodiversity conservation value. While priority regions are roughly consistent with previously reported prioritization maps for the US, we also recognize novel priority areas characterized by moderate-to-high native diversity but extremely high invasion pressure. We further compared priority areas with existing conservation protections as well as projected future threats associated with land use change. Our findings suggest that many regions of elevated freshwater biodiversity value are compromised by high invasion pressure, and are poorly safeguarded by existing conservation mechanisms and are likely to experience significant additional stresses in the future.

Age and growth of Zapteryx brevirostris (Elasmobranchii: Rhinobatidae) in southern Brazil

ABSTRACT Age and growth studies are fundamental to successful fisheries management. Zapteryx brevirostris (Müller & Henle, 1841) is distributed off the Brazilian continental shelf and this species is assessed as “Vulnerable” in the Red List of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN). Thus, the objective of this study was to present previously unknown information about the age and growth of Z. brevirostris that can be used for its management, conservation, and fisheries. A total of 162 specimens were sampled, with total lengths (TL) varying between 35.7 cm and 56 cm. The vertebrae were embedded in resin, sectioned in cuts with 0.5 mm thickness and the growth bands of the vertebrae were read under a light microscope. In the studied area, Z. brevirostris ages were estimated from 4 to 10 years according to vertebrae patterns. The species reaches its maximum asymptotic size (Linf) around 56 cm (56 cm for females and 50.37 cm for males). This is the first estimate of age and growth for a species of the Zapteryx genus, and the results support the hypothesis that this ray requires future management conservation, particularly due to its slow growth rate and consequent susceptibility to overexploitation.

Making extinction calculable

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine the role of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species in achieving biodiversity conservation and preventing the extinction of species. The Red List is a calculative device that classifies species in terms of their exposure to the risk of extinction.Design/methodology/approachThe paper draws on theorising in the Social Studies of Finance literature to analyse the Red List in terms of how it frames a space of calculability for species extinction. The analysis then traces the ways that this framing has overflowed, creating conditions for calculative innovations, such that assemblages of humans and calculative devices (i.e. agencements) are constructed with collective capabilities to act to conserve biodiversity and prevent species extinctions.FindingsThis paper has traced three ways that the Red List frame has overflowed, leading to calculative innovations and the construction of new agencements. The overflow of relations between the quality of “extinction risk”, produced by the Red List, and other qualities, such as location, has created opportunities for conservationists to develop agencements capable of formulating conservation strategies. The overflow of relations between the identity of the “threatened species”, produced by the Red List, and other features of evaluated species, has created opportunities for conservationists to develop agencements capable of impelling participation in conservation efforts. The overflow of ecological relations between species, discarded by the Red List’s hierarchical metrology of extinction risk classifications, has created opportunities for conservationists to develop agencements capable of confronting society with the reality of an extinction crisis.Originality/valueThe paper contributes to the accounting for biodiversity literature by addressing its fundamental challenge: explaining how accounting can create conditions within society in which biodiversity conservation is made possible.

Improving generation length estimates for the IUCN Red List.

The International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List classifies species according to their risk of extinction, informing local to global conservation decisions. Here we look to advance the estimation of generation length, which is used as a time-scalar in the Red List as a way of accounting for differences in species’ life-histories. We calculated or predicted generation length for 86 species of antelope following the Rspan approach. We also tested the importance of both allometry (body-mass) and phylogeny (phylogenetic eigenvectors) as predictors of generation length within a Phylogenetic Eigenvector Map (PEM) framework. We then evaluated the predictive power of this PEM and two binning approaches, following a leave-one-out cross-validation routine. We showed that captive and wild longevity data are nonequivalent and that both body-mass and phylogeny are important predictors for generation length (body-mass explained 64% and phylogeny 36% of the partitioned explained variance). Plus, both the PEM, and the binning approach that included both taxonomic rank and body-mass, had good predictive power and therefore are suitable for extrapolating generation length to missing-data species. Therefore, based on our findings, we advise separating captive and wild data when estimating generation length, and considering the implications of wild and captive data more widely in life-history analyses. We also recommend that body-mass and phylogeny should be used in combination, preferably under a PEM framework (as it was less reliant on available reference species and more explicitly accounts for phylogenetic relatedness) or a binning approach if a PEM is not feasible, to extrapolate generation length to missing-data species. Overall, we provide a transparent, consistent and transferable workflow for improving the use of the Rspan method to calculate generation length for the IUCN Red List.

Threats from urban expansion, agricultural transformation and forest loss on global conservation priority areas.

Including threats in spatial conservation prioritization helps identify areas for conservation actions where biodiversity is at imminent risk of extinction. At the global level, an important limitation when identifying spatial priorities for conservation actions is the lack of information on the spatial distribution of threats. Here, we identify spatial conservation priorities under three prominent threats to biodiversity (residential and commercial development, agricultural expansion, and forest loss), which are primary drivers of habitat loss and threaten the persistence of the highest number of species in the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List, and for which spatial data is available. We first explore how global priority areas for the conservation of vertebrate (mammals, birds, and amphibians) species coded in the Red List as vulnerable to each threat differ spatially. We then identify spatial conservation priorities for all species vulnerable to all threats. Finally, we identify the potentially most threatened areas by overlapping the identified priority areas for conservation with maps for each threat. We repeat the same with four other well-known global conservation priority area schemes, namely Key Biodiversity Areas, Biodiversity Hotspots, the global Protected Area Network, and Wilderness Areas. We find that residential and commercial development directly threatens only about 4% of the global top 17% priority areas for species vulnerable under this threat. However, 50% of the high priority areas for species vulnerable to forest loss overlap with areas that have already experienced some forest loss. Agricultural expansion overlapped with ~20% of high priority areas. Biodiversity Hotspots had the greatest proportion of their total area under direct threat from all threats, while expansion of low intensity agriculture was found to pose an imminent threat to Wilderness Areas under future agricultural expansion. Our results identify areas where limited resources should be allocated to mitigate risks to vertebrate species from habitat loss.

Survey of the status and distribution of primates in Togo (West Africa)

The distribution of West African primates is still poorly explored in Togo. Field data on distribution, abundance (kilometric index of abundance) and characteristics of primate habitat at six protected and unprotected areas of Togo are reported in this paper. Eight species and 831 primate individuals were visually recorded during field surveys. A few other species were suspected, but not recorded. Species directly observed in the field during our surveys were Cercopithecus erythrogaster erythrogaster, Cercopithecus petaurista petaurista, Cercopithecus mona, Chlorocebus tantalus, Colobus vellerosus, Erythrocebus patas, Papio anubis and Galago senegalensis. Our surveys did not provide any evidence of the persistence of the chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes verus) in the country. Most of the Togolese primates are of low conservation concern according to The International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN). However, our surveys suggested that the status of most of the species in Togo is instead ‘threatened’. Fazao Malfakassa and Togodo National Parks appeared to be the most relevant areas for primates in terms of their species diversity and relative density, and also the most promising sites for developing primate-oriented ecotourism strategies in Togo.

Range-wide evaluation of wildlife habitat change: A demonstration using Giant Pandas

Information on wildlife habitat distribution and change is crucial for the design and evaluation of conservation efforts. While habitat distribution has been evaluated for many species, information on habitat change is often unclear, particularly across entire geographic ranges. Here we use the iconic giant panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca) as a model species and present an advanced approach to evaluate its habitat change across an entire geographic range through the integration of time-series satellite imagery and field data. Our results show that despite a few areas showing habitat degradation, both the overall habitat suitability and habitat area increased between the early 2000s and the early 2010s. Our results also indicate that conservation efforts in China have achieved success beyond the boundaries of nature reserves, since panda habitat outside nature reserves shows a higher proportional growth than inside the reserves. Despite these promising trends, we found habitat fragmentation remains a threat to the species' long-term survival. These results provide valuable information to assess the appropriateness of recent decision by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) that down-listed the giant panda from endangered to vulnerable species, while laying a good foundation for the design of future conservation efforts. The approach described here may also be easily implemented for evaluating range-wide habitat change for many other species around the world and thus help achieve biodiversity conservation objectives such as those set by the Aichi Biodiversity Targets and the Sustainable Development Goals.

Enhancing the Role of Geoconservation in Protected Area Management and Nature Conservation

Acknowledgement by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) that geodiversity is part of natural diversity and geoheritage is part of natural heritage should help to strengthen the position and delivery of geoconservation through engagement with the wider nature conservation agenda. In particular, we identify six key areas offering opportunities to enhance the standing and mainstreaming of geoconservation: (1) integrating geoconservation principles in protected area management, including the promotion of geoheritage conservation across the full range of IUCN Protected Area Management Categories; (2) supporting biodiversity conservation and adaptation to climate change through the nature-based solutions approach and ‘conserving nature’s stage’; (3) contributing to natural capital and ecosystem services valuation; (4) contributing to conservation in the marine environment; (5) enhancing the connections between people, place, and nature and contributing to human well-being; and (6) promoting ecosystem stewardship and contributing to the achievement of the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Adoption of a more outward-looking approach should help to progress the integration of geoconservation within nature conservation, protected area planning and management, and broader environmental strategies and policies.

Historical mitochondrial diversity in African leopards (Panthera pardus) revealed by archival museum specimens

Once found throughout Africa and Eurasia, the leopard (Panthera pardus) was recently uplisted from Near Threatened to Vulnerable by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN). Historically, more than 50% of the leopard’s global range occurred in continental Africa, yet sampling from this part of the species’ distribution is only sparsely represented in prior studies examining patterns of genetic variation at the continental or global level. Broad sampling to determine baseline patterns of genetic variation throughout the leopard’s historical distribution is important, as these measures are currently used by the IUCN to direct conservation priorities and management plans. By including data from 182 historical museum specimens, faecal samples from ongoing field surveys, and published sequences representing sub-Saharan Africa, we identify previously unrecognized genetic diversity in African leopards. Our mtDNA data indicates high levels of divergence among regional populations and strongly differentiated lineages in West Africa on par with recent studies of other large vertebrates. We provide a reference benchmark of genetic diversity in African leopards against which future monitoring can be compared. These findings emphasize the utility of historical museum collections in understanding the processes that shape present biodiversity. Additionally, we suggest future research to clarify African leopard taxonomy and to differentiate between delineated units requiring monitoring or conservation action.