Conservation Letters最新文献

Power is frequently acknowledged in conservation as a limiting factor, something to be cited, problematized, or managed, less frequently is it engaged with as a lived, situated, and multidimensional force. This primer responds to a recurring issue in conservation: The tendency to name power without examining how we, as re-searchers, policy-makers, and practitioners, are entangled in its production and reproduction. Conservation is not neutral; it is interventionist. As such, it demands rigorous reflection on how our assumptions about the world, about who or what can act, change, or matter, shape the problems we see and the solutions we pursue. This paper introduces a reflexive framework that combines three onto-epistemological frames (objectivist, constructivist, and relational) with six dimensions of power (material, structural, discursive, symbolic, networked, and relational), each linked to differing assumptions of agency. It is intentionally reductive, reflecting how conservation often treats power as separable and locatable, enabling interventions to be rationalized and evaluated. A cross-cutting matrix enables users to trace how their own position shapes what they see, do, and make possible in conservation contexts; without such conscious engagement, even well-intended actions risk entrenching the inequalities and dynamics they aim to undo.

Hector's dolphins, endemic to New Zealand, suffer from bycatch in fishing gear. Fishing restrictions in inshore areas have reduced bycatch, although dolphins have been recorded outside these areas. We studied the subsurface movements and foraging behavior of 11 Hector's dolphins using high-resolution biologging tags to gain insight into their bycatch risk. Tagged dolphins traveled up to 15 km offshore, well beyond the boundaries of fishery exclusion zones, and regularly dove to the seafloor to forage at depths of up to 122 m. During these dives, the dolphins exhibited specific body postures that could increase their risk of bycatch. In addition, some dolphins produced very few echolocation clicks while traveling throughout the water column, potentially limiting their ability to detect nets. These subsurface behaviors may make Hector's dolphins more vulnerable to bycatch than previously thought, highlighting the need to reassess the efficacy of current protection measures.

Much recent research has focused on the impact of human recreation on wildlife, but relatively few studies have used causal inference approaches; doing so would strengthen recreation management and decision-making. Here, we use tools from the causal analysis literature and a multi-year observational dataset to assess how human road- and trail-use affects an apex predator, the grizzly bear (Ursus arctos horribilis). Our study leverages a natural experiment that reduced—via access restrictions and changes to tourism operator conditions—peak-season human recreation by ∼ 85% in 2023 compared to levels in 2018–2022.We used structural time series forecasting to quantify how weekly detection rates of grizzly bears changed in 2023 versus previous years, and “placebo tests” to strengthen causal inference and rule out competing hypotheses. We show that grizzly bear detections and temporal trends were 185% higher in late summer 2023 due to reduced human trail-use, providing robust evidence that human recreation can cause reduced wildlife activity in protected areas.

Transnational monitoring frameworks are crucial for tracking progress and guiding biodiversity conservation policies at continental and global levels. Yet their development is constrained by the lack of comprehensive analyses of biodiversity monitoring gaps. Focusing on Europe, we quantified the shortfall between data integrated by transnational initiatives and the requirements for producing 48 Essential Biodiversity Variables (EBVs) identified with stakeholders for continent-wide monitoring. About 20% of EBVs lacked transnational data integration, and existing initiatives often covered fewer than 70% of countries. Even where integration occurred, major deficiencies remained in sampling standardization, taxonomic and ecosystem coverage, spatial and temporal resolution, data collection frequency, and data accessibility. Monitoring shortfalls varied widely across countries. Addressing monitoring gaps will require sustained funding for new transnational initiatives, stronger alignment between national and supranational efforts, improved sampling designs, novel technologies, and equitable open data sharing. Establishing such a framework could offer a model for global biodiversity monitoring.

As conservation efforts accelerate to meet global targets like 30 × 30, they risk deepening exclusion, enclosure, and ecological fragmentation. We interrogate the legal and institutional foundations of conservation to reveal how territorialization, centralized authority, and human-nature separation persist in dominant governance models. In response, we propose relational commons as “an ontological and governance framework that centers the interdependence of human and more-than-human beings, and the abiotic entities and ecological processes that sustain them, where care for these dynamic relations becomes the basis for shared responsibility and decision-making.” Relational commons are not tenured spaces but practices that unsettle the illusion that individual rights, fixed boundaries, independence, or human-centered governance ever provided a meaningful foundation for conservation. Extending commons scholarship, this approach shifts focus from managing resources to cultivating the conditions for multispecies flourishing. We articulate four principles: (1) relations, where rights structure reciprocal responsibilities; (2) power-sharing, where boundaries become interfaces of collaboration; (3) interdependence, which foregrounds care and co-flourishing; and (4) multispecies–ecosystem justice, which distributes agency across human and more-than-human worlds. Together, these principles offer an inclusive and future-oriented alternative to fragmented conservation logics.

Scenario analysis allows assessing how complex socio-ecological systems might respond to different policy pathways. We used an expert-based participatory approach to explore how four different European socio-ecological scenarios could impact (1) the implementation of the Kunming–Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (KM-GBF) and (2) the achievement of priority conservation actions for safeguarding European steppe ecosystems. KM-GBF targets were expected to be met only under the scenario with increased commitment for sustainable development goals and global cooperation, but hardly achievable under the most environment-adverse and resource-demanding scenarios. Integrating different views from these scenarios, we identified six overarching recommendations for the conservation of European steppe ecosystems, including improving public awareness, empowering local communities, and promoting the engagement of private companies into conservation planning. Our approach identifies how socioeconomic drivers influence the success of the KM-GBF and the conservation of European steppes, providing a range of general conservation actions structured and prioritized to be effective under a wide range of likely future developments.

Nutrient enrichment is one of the greatest threats to seagrass ecosystems globally. Current management is based on a temperate conceptual model of seagrass eutrophication where epiphytes and then phytoplankton cause light limitation and seagrass die-off. However, producers in tropical and subtropical systems respond differently to nutrients, suggesting a need for an updated conceptual model for these ecosystems. Using a long-term multifactorial seagrass enrichment experiment of nitrogen and phosphorus supply rates and ratios, we showed that seagrass growth was enhanced with increased phosphorus but not nitrogen supply and was never inhibited by epiphytes or shifts in seagrass community structure. A parallel experiment showed phytoplankton primarily responded to nitrogen enrichment. Our findings provide evidence for a new nutrient enrichment conceptual model in subtropical and tropical seagrass ecosystems, with a larger role played by phytoplankton. We suggest that management efforts to mitigate nitrogen supply alone may offer an effective starting point for reducing negative impacts of eutrophication, one of the most ubiquitous stressors to these imperiled ecosystems.

The market extinction vortex is a self-fueled process by which a species is more intensively exploited as it becomes rarer, due to human eagerness to pay for the possession or use of scarce items. We use a long-term price-abundance longitudinal monitoring of glass eels in Spain to show that a market extinction vortex is pushing the European eel (Anguilla anguilla) to extinction. Glass eel landings increased from the mid-20th until the late 1970s, to then decline sharply, while glass eel price augmented exponentially along a century (1925–2024). The collapse in glass eel landings was linked to acceleration in the increase of prices, so that the overall value of constantly declining glass eel landings has remained relatively constant. There is an urgent need to avoid perverse market processes related to rarity valuation, ideally establishing limitations or a moratorium on eel commercialization, for the eel to escape this vortex.

Heatwaves are now pervasive stressors to marine ecosystems, and it is urgent to consider mitigation tools that support ecosystem resilience and persistence in the immediate future. We modeled a system of kelp, herbivorous urchin, and predatory fish to compare how potential management actions (kelp seeding, urchin removal, and fishery closures) could reduce the likelihood of a heatwave shifting a kelp forest into a degraded urchin barren state. We found that those interventions were most effective when begun alongside or before the start of a heatwave. Closing the predatory fish fishery was more effective when done earlier and for longer, while urchin removal and kelp seeding were more effective when begun alongside and continued throughout the heatwave. Kelp seeding was notably less effective than other interventions. Our results suggest the need for improved heatwave forecasting and nimble management protocols to enact mitigation actions quickly if a heatwave is forecasted or occurs.

The field of conservation biology is gradually integrating new perspectives to better respond to accelerating environmental change. In this article, we build on recent insights to promote a forward-looking approach that fully embraces the dynamic nature of ecosystems. Traditional conservation efforts have aimed to preserve historical conditions, but in a rapidly changing world, such static goals may no longer be viable. Instead, we advocate for strategies that guide ecological change toward desirable outcomes. We present 10 practical guidelines to support researchers, policymakers, and land managers in navigating and managing ecological change. These guidelines include acknowledging shifting species compositions, focusing on ecosystem functionality, and using proactive, science-based interventions. Together, the guidelines represent a shift away from resistance-based strategies toward proactive stewardship of ecosystem transitions. By fully acknowledging ecological change and managing it intentionally, conservation science can more effectively respond to complex environmental challenges. This perspective offers a robust foundation for enhancing ecosystem resilience and maintaining biodiversity in a rapidly evolving world.