Conservation Biology最新文献

Non-native plant invasions are a cross-boundary conservation challenge, requiring coordinated management and policy responses underpinned by science. Global change is expected to exacerbate this challenge by changing abiotic and biotic drivers of invasive plant distribution, abundance, and impact. Current approaches may no longer be effective, and management must adapt to new threats and conditions. Collaborative personal and institutional partnerships are crucial to link research to practice and policy in order to better manage the complex drivers of invasions and mitigate their impacts under ongoing global change. We used examples from local to global scales to demonstrate how reciprocal knowledge exchange and project codesign among researchers, practitioners, and policy makers can improve conservation outcomes and benefits from invasive species management. Researchers provide expertise needed to apply concepts to new contexts, practitioners hold essential local knowledge, and policy makers balance competing priorities. Combining these strengths leads to more effective and resilient management of plant invasions. This highlights the central importance of collaboration among people, including Indigenous peoples and other local communities, in decision-making and management. Best practices for developing partnerships between individual researchers and local and Indigenous communities, practitioners, and policy makers include engaging respectfully across knowledge and value systems, testing assumptions with data, considering ecological significance, and connecting across spatial scales. Structural solutions to overcome institutional and implementation barriers and develop effective partnerships include funding knowledge brokers and liaisons, collaboratively reviewing policies and practices, incentivizing long-term relationships and goals, and codeveloping data collection and storage. The resulting intentional, long-term partnerships will enable direct application of ecological knowledge to plant invasions and their management, support sustainable and locally backed solutions, and overcome lags in applying science to practice.

Impact evaluation of conservation actions is a crucial step in global efforts to curb the biodiversity crisis. Through robust impact evaluation, practitioners can assess the effectiveness of conservation strategies and optimize the use of limited resources. Despite a proliferation of methods and tools for evaluating conservation impact, no standardized method exists to assess and compare the impact, and global contribution, of species recovery programs. To address this gap, we devised an evaluation framework, based on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Green Status of Species (GSS), a global standard for measuring species recovery. We sought to provide a way for conservation program delivery partners to evaluate the effectiveness of their programs in contributing to global species recovery. We adapted 2 scenarios used in GSS assessments to estimate the impact of worldwide conservation actions on a species (the counterfactual current scenario and the future without conservation scenario), in order to propose a new assessment: the program GSS, a method allowing conservation practitioners to estimate the past and potential future impacts of a conservation program relative to the global impact. To identify the strengths and limitations of applying the GSS method at the program level and to gather proof of concept for our adaptation, we tested the proposed method on 16 species recovery programs. The program GSS approach identified past or future impacts of program actions on species status in 9 of the programs assessed. The detectability of program impact and the relative impact of the program compared with global impact were influenced by time since program establishment and program scope (i.e., proportion of a species' population or distribution included in the program). Our framework for program GSS assessments can provide practitioners with a standard, straightforward, and cost-effective way to communicate conservation successes and expected future impacts. Results from our program GSS framework can be compared with the global recovery of a species (conservation legacy and conservation impact) and thus indicate a program's contribution to the recovery of the entire species.

The Natura 2000 (N2K) network combines biodiversity protection and socioeconomic targets. Human activities, such as agricultural practices, can affect biodiversity in N2K sites in diverse ways. Limiting activities with negative impacts while enforcing land management that supports biodiversity is crucial for effective conservation. Yet, site-level information on how this is addressed in N2K sites is lacking. To fill this knowledge gap, we conducted a European Union-wide survey among N2K site managers. We aimed to assess the implemented conservation measures, their funding sources, and the extent to which different threats are addressed. Of the 341 responses, 61.8% reported the implementation of conservation measures linked to agricultural practices, such as adapting mowing and grazing at levels suitable for the conservation of grassland habitats and species. Sites with management tied to agricultural practices relied more on EU funding, such as the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), whereas other sites depended more on national funding. Threats not addressed by conservation measures were reported by 63.8% of respondents, suggesting that overall management funding may be insufficient or ineffectively allocated. Most of these unaddressed threats resulted from intensive agricultural practices, such as the use of agrochemicals (reported as a threat in 13% of sites). These findings provide insight into how traditional agricultural practices, mostly related to low-intensity grazing and mowing, are frequently used as conservation tools, whereas intensive agriculture is a prominent source of unmitigated threats. Thus, achieving N2K conservation goals requires avoiding intensive agricultural practices and strengthening effective conservation measures in protected areas.

Strengthening research capacity is essential to address the global biodiversity crisis. Yet, parachute science often undermines this goal, and its prevalence, costs, and benefits are unclear. We analyzed 13,502 publications on primate research that we extracted from Scopus (1960-2022) to evaluate the effects of parachute science on local research capacity across primate-range countries. We categorized these publications as local (LRP), collaborative (CRP), or parachute science (PSRP) research publications and categorized countries where the research took place as low- to middle-income countries or high- to upper-middle-income countries. We used generalized linear mixed-effects models to assess how parachute science influenced local research capacity. For 69% of PSRPs, the research was conducted in 59 low- to middle-income countries. For 20% of LRPs, research was led by people from these 59 countries. The disparity in LRPs among country groups was large. Local research publications in high- to upper-middle-income countries were at least 3.6 times higher than those in low- to middle-income countries. Before 2013, parachute science contributed to an increase in LRPs; this trend reversed after 2013, mainly resulting in a decline in LRPs across all countries and both income categories. Strengthening the capacity to share research in low- to middle-income countries is urgent if international conservation commitments are to be met. We recommend establishing true collaborative and interdisciplinary research teams, expanding local research opportunities, and supporting long-term research projects as key strategies for sustainable research capacity strengthening in low-income countries.

An unprecedented marine heatwave in 2023 caused widespread coral bleaching and mortality throughout the Caribbean. In the Florida Keys (USA), 2 foundation species, elkhorn coral (Acropora palmata) and staghorn coral (Acropora cervicornis), were severely affected. These species have been the primary focus of reef restoration in Florida for decades. Substantial losses of these species occurred in outplanted populations, in ocean-based nurseries, and among remnant wild colonies, leading to uncertainty over their future in the Florida Keys, given recent observed trends in climate conditions. However, the past 2 decades of restoration activity created a community of experts, a network of ocean-based and land-based coral-rearing infrastructure, and 2 independent land-based coral gene banks that prevented regional extirpation and preserved much of the genetic richness of these critically endangered coral species. Without the past decades of effort and the emergency response associated with the 2023 bleaching event, Florida acroporids would largely have been lost. This outcome afforded by the restoration network in Florida demonstrates the value of proactively establishing resources prior to major disturbances. We identified several critical strategies that, in the context of existing climate change, are preventing the extirpation of coral species in Florida, including extending collaborative restoration efforts to solidify a network of trained experts; establishing trust-focused relationships among management agencies and restoration groups; testing direct interventions to reduce light and temperature stress early during thermal anomalies; developing redundant ocean-based and land-based nurseries; and establishing living coral gene banks prior to major threats to prevent the extirpation of coral species.

Species experience climate change impacts throughout their life cycle; yet, embryos are rarely considered in vulnerability assessments and conservation planning. We conducted a global-scale analysis of developmental traits and climate change effects on embryonic development in 48 oviparous reptiles. We also compared the climate change effects on embryos and adults to identify geographic areas where the 2 life stages are most vulnerable to such effects. In a comparison between adults and embryos in 5 lizard species, we focused on activity restriction and loss of egg development opportunity associated with climate change impacts. Embryos of tropical oviparous reptiles, particularly those in the Amazon, were predicted to be the most vulnerable to climate change. Climate change impacts on embryos were predicted to exacerbate challenges for 13 threatened species, 11 of which were turtles. Areas where embryos and adults were most vulnerable aligned at broad geographic scales (e.g., both concentrated in the tropics). However, for the 5 representative lizard species, conservation priorities based on the effects of climate change on embryos matched poorly with those based on effects on adults. Embryos of tropical oviparous reptiles warrant increased conservation attention, particularly turtles and threatened species. Our results highlight the importance of considering all life stages when assessing species' vulnerability to climate change.