Conservation Letters最新文献

Fish maw (teleost swim bladder) is a dried seafood product valued highly by Chinese cultures in East Asia, though global supply chains are poorly understood. Here, we describe the rapid development of a fish maw fishery in a low-income nation to illustrate how globalization can affect sustainability. In Papua New Guinea (PNG), fish maw developed into a fishery valued at ∼$831,000 USD annually between 2014–2018. Its development has been driven by Asian expatriates, who provide market access and fishing gear to local communities. The highest valued local species, scaly croaker Nibea squamosa, has a maximum value of $15,615 USD kg⁻¹ (dried) at first-point-of-sale, potentially the highest first-point-of-sale fish maw product globally. Its value has led to high incidental catch rates of threatened species in an area that is a globally significant conservation stronghold. International trade databases need to recognize fish maw as a high value and globally traded product and consider a specific fish maw commodity code to assist nations in identifying emerging fish maw fisheries. Additionally, the Convention on the International Trade of Endangered Species of Flora and Fauna (CITES) could assist in protecting vulnerable fish maw species and facilitate management practices for incidentally caught threatened species.

International wildlife trade data are frequently used by government agencies, conservation organizations, and scientific researchers to study and protect species from overexploitation and prevent the spread of invasive species and introduction of zoonotic pathogens. Inaccurate data can lead to mistaken conclusions by researchers, the development of unsuccessful remedial conservation actions, and provide government officials with incorrect views of detrimental trade. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) maintains the world's most comprehensive national dataset of legal and illegal international wildlife trade recorded by individual shipments and species in its Law Enforcement Management Information System (LEMIS). Although the importance of LEMIS data is not to be understated, the errors and inconsistencies contained therein have not previously been adequately recognized or studied. Based on firsthand experiences with the creation and application of LEMIS data, this manuscript describes a variety of errors, biases, omissions, and an overall lack of data quality assurance. An independent audit of the LEMIS wildlife trade database and the service's policies, procedures, and protocols for managing this system is needed. Additional recommendations are also offered to develop better management standards and bring greater resources for managing LEMIS, asking the nongovernmental organization and intergovernmental organization user communities to play a role.

Of the goals and targets specified by the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, Target 3, often referred to as “30 × 30,” has garnered widespread attention globally. In this paper, we critique India's potential to meet this target. We find that with its vast network of ecosystems that are under some form of protection and through the recognition of other effective area-based conservation measures sites, India has the potential to meet the quantitative target of conserving and managing at least 30% of its area by 2030. However, the qualitative attributes of the target might be more difficult to realize owing to several challenges, such as inadequate landscape connectivity, insufficient representation of habitats in the current protected area model, and the exacerbation of socioeconomic vulnerabilities of resource-dependent communities. To achieve strategic, inclusive, and equitable conservation, we suggest a four-pronged approach involving landscape-level biodiversity conservation, socially just and collaborative safeguarding of biodiversity, and relevant policy (re)formulation, informed and underlain by long-term research and impact monitoring. Although we focus on India, the issues we discuss are of broader relevance, especially for countries across the Global South that are also likely to be significantly impacted by the implementation of the target.

Marine protected areas (MPAs) are a crucial component of international biodiversity conservation commitments, yet are increasingly affected by climate change. No synthesis or analysis exists of the specific on-the-ground management actions that have been taken by MPA managers in response to climate change. Here, we extract, evaluate, classify, and analyze adaptation responses from 646 existing, English-language MPA management plans preselected for their consideration of climate change. Our synthesis documents 213 unique management actions, of which only a fraction (4.7%) were on-the-ground adaptative measures directed at enhancing biodiversity conservation; in contrast, almost half (45.5%) were monitoring measures. Our analysis highlights the apparent paucity of documented management actions addressing the challenging task of limiting climate change impacts on biodiversity within MPAs—a “biodiversity adaptation gap”. By compiling a community resource of adaptation approaches that can be further expanded and disseminated, we hope to contribute to the effort to adapt MPA networks to climate change.

Coastal areas offer a diversity of habitats providing refugia and nursery for fish, promoting their biodiversity and associated contributions to people. Yet, natural coastlines are replaced by artificial infrastructures such as seaports and the influence of this artificialization on fish biodiversity remains poorly known. Here, we assessed fish biodiversity indicators using environmental DNA metabarcoding inside seaports and adjacent natural habitats including no-take marine reserves. We found that species assemblages within seaports were primarily influenced by their area and habitat. We detected a similar species richness in seaports and reserves during lockdown, but seaports host more threatened species than natural habitats. Yet, species turnover between seaports was lower than between natural areas, reflecting biotic homogenization. Seaport managers should consider that complexifying artificial infrastructures could increase habitat diversity and coastal fish biodiversity. Our study illustrates that eDNA-based indicators can be integrated in management and policy applications toward greener marine artificial infrastructures.

As global tree-growing efforts have escalated in the past decade, copious failures and unintended consequences have prompted many reforestation best practices guidelines. The extent to which organizations have integrated these ecological and socioeconomic recommendations, however, remains uncertain. We reviewed websites of 99 intermediary organizations that promote and fund tree-growing projects to determine how well they report following best practices. Nearly half the organizations stated tree or area planting targets, but only 25% had measurable, time-bound objectives. Most organizations discussed the benefits local communities would receive from trees, but only 38% reported measures of these outcomes. Nonprofit organizations with greater prior experience converged more closely on best practices, and their level of scientific expertise was positively associated with clearer project selection standards. Although many tree-growing organizations acknowledge the importance of clear goals, local community involvement, and monitoring, our results raise questions regarding whether long-term benefits are being achieved and emphasize the need for stronger public accountability standards.

Predator Free 2050 (PF2050) is a government initiative aiming to eradicate selected invasive mammals (mustelids, rats, and possums) from New Zealand (NZ) by 2050. Selecting which of 32 introduced mammal species to include has received little evaluation, yet targeting a few species often results in perverse ecological outcomes given interactions within the invasive guild. We explore how PF2050 could be improved strategically by focusing on biodiversity outcomes instead of selectively targeting invasives, using rodents as an example. Current PF2050 targets include all rat species (Rattus exulans, R. norvegicus, and R. rattus), but not the house mouse (Mus musculus). Mice can be as damaging as rats when competition and predation are removed, negating benefits of rat removal. Multirodent eradications are more cost-effective and prevent mesopredator release. Using a case study, we show adding mice to a rat eradication would raise costs modestly, comparing favorably to independent mouse eradication later, which would be riskier and more socially and economically costly than the preceding rat eradication. Missing the opportunity to tackle all rodents simultaneously, leaving mice to multiply in numbers and impacts, could have serious environmental and socioeconomic consequences. Naïve eradication strategies neglecting ecological expertise risk biodiversity outcomes and NZ's eradication science reputation.

In 1992, the UN banned the use of large-scale pelagic driftnets on the high seas (UNGA Resolution 46/215). Three decades later, however, drift gillnets remain one of the primary fishing gears in the Indian Ocean, accounting for approximately 30% of tuna catches in this ocean. Recent estimates indicate that several million small cetaceans have been killed in Indian Ocean gillnets over the past few decades. National agencies and the regional fisheries management organization charged with managing tuna fisheries, the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission, have yet to effectively document the bycatch of small cetaceans in these fisheries. Here, we review current information on cetacean bycatch in Indian Ocean drift gillnets and propose potential solutions to this important conservation issue.

A variety of criteria may influence the efficacy of networks of marine protected areas (MPA) designed to enhance biodiversity conservation and provide fisheries benefits. Meta-analyses have evaluated the influence of MPA attributes on abundance, biomass, and size structure of harvested species, reporting that MPA size, age, depth, and connectivity influence the strength of MPA responses. However, few empirical MPA evaluation studies have used consistent sampling methodology across multiple MPAs and years. Our collaborative fisheries research program systematically sampled 12 no-take or highly protective limited-take MPAs and paired fished reference areas across a network spanning 1100 km of coastline to evaluate the factors driving MPA efficacy across a large geographic region. We found that increased size and age consistently contributed to increased fish catch, biomass, and positive species responses inside MPAs, while accounting for factors such as latitude, primary productivity, and distance to the nearest MPA. Our study provides a model framework to collaboratively engage diverse stakeholders in fisheries research and provide high-quality data to assess the success of conservation strategies.

Translocation is an increasingly used tool in conservation management, but there is a risk that source populations are overcollected. The risk depends critically on the detection probability and the source population size. We quantified this risk for a wingless grasshopper population in a patch of remnant habitat in suburban Melbourne that was condemned to be cleared for housing development. We collected ∼2000 grasshoppers in five samples spread over 1 month and used the results to estimate the initial population size (∼3400) with high confidence. Despite our perception of substantially depleting the population, we removed only an estimated 60%, and this relatively high fecundity (∼50 eggs per lifetime) annual species had recovered by the following year to near its original density. Wild-to-wild translocation is likely to be a low-cost and effective strategy in the conservation of many invertebrates, and our findings highlight the feasibility of using natural source populations.