Conservation Letters最新文献

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.

The growing literature on “climate-resilient” ecosystem restoration reflects increased interest in restoration interventions and paradigms that better account for climate change. However, this interest has not broadly translated into practice. Current paradigms in resource and environmental management, and associated regulatory structures, can unintentionally contribute to the implementation gap in climate-resilient restoration. We present examples of regulatory approaches for emerging (“disruptive”) technologies, such as regulatory greenhouses/sandboxes and risk-weighted regulation, that could support the practice of climate-resilient restoration. These approaches are intended to support and keep pace with private sector innovation, while still protecting society and nature from unintended consequences. We then compare these regulatory approaches along three dimensions (coerciveness, directness, and automaticity) to discuss key considerations for their application to restoration.

Quantifying restoration success is a key objective for the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration. We evaluated the potential of acoustic indices to predict the recovery success of bird communities within abandoned agricultural areas in a biodiversity hotspot in Ecuador. Using audio recordings from a lowland tropical forest region, we identified 334 bird species and calculated established acoustic indices. Community composition was analyzed using Hill numbers, accounting for incomplete sampling. Acoustic indices effectively predicted verified species data (R² = 0.59–0.76), capturing not only taxonomic but also functional and phylogenetic composition. Taxonomic composition was best predicted for common and dominant species, while functional and phylogenetic composition was more accurately predicted for rare and common species. Our findings demonstrate that a small set of acoustic indices, once validated by stratified ground truth data, provides a powerful tool for assessing restoration success over large tropical areas, including functional composition of rare tropical birds.

Climate-induced species range shifts alter ecological assemblages, yet little is known of the consequences for ecosystem functioning. We combine species distribution model (SDM) projections with species traits to develop a spatially explicit risk index for assessing climate change impacts on ecosystem functioning. The “Climate Ecological Disruption Index” (CEDI) is an easy-to-interpret metric that builds on existing approaches to quantifying functional diversity, providing a novel foundation for evaluating functional consequences of climate-induced species range shifts and identifying areas at risk. We applied CEDI to a marine protected area network on Canada's east coast, where it indicated high potential for ecological disruption, with a maximum value of 0.35 (more than one-third turnover in functional groups). Our approach is generalizable, aiding spatial conservation planning by translating projected species range shifts from SDMs into potential ecological disruption, thereby supporting the integration of climate resilience into management strategies and informing conservation planning efforts in a warming world.

Understanding stakeholder perception is crucial for developing effective conservation strategies. Nevertheless, it is usually unclear which aspects are favored by different actors involved in environmental management. Here, we surveyed 354 stakeholders from 22 countries across the Mediterranean Basin to identify areas of agreement in their preferences. Despite broad variation in individual choices, we found a general consensus emerging across stakeholder groups (scientists, nongovernmental, and governmental organizations) on preferred ecosystem services, biodiversity facets, protected areas characteristics, and their relative importance. Specifically, our model identifies regulating ecosystem services, taxonomic diversity, and intrinsic value of nature as priorities for stakeholders. Conversely, the preferred characteristics of protected areas (e.g., size and accessibility) vary mostly based on individual preferences. We suggest that considering areas of stakeholder agreement when discussing management actions in the Mediterranean Basin will facilitate the adoption of area-based conservation actions expected by the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework. In the Mediterranean Basin, therefore, policymakers should strive to protect areas with high regulating ecosystem services, use taxonomic diversity to engage stakeholders, prioritize ecological targets to different characteristics of protected areas, and maintain the focus of area-based conservation on nature itself. Implementing these action points should enhance support for conservation action in the region.

Recent global policy developments have highlighted the need for straightforward, robust, and meaningful biodiversity metrics. However, much of conservation science is dominated by the use of a single metric, species richness, despite several known limitations. Here, we review and synthesize why species richness (i.e., the number of species in a local area) is a poor metric for a variety of topical- and policy-relevant conservation problems. We identify the following three key issues: (1) increasing evidence emphasizes that species richness is often not a robust metric for identifying biodiversity change, (2) species richness ignores species identity and so may often not reflect impacts on species of concern, and (3) species richness does not provide information needed on the persistence of biodiversity or the provision of ecosystem services. We highlight the unappreciated practical outcomes of these limitations with examples from three ongoing conservation debates: whether local biodiversity is declining, how habitat fragmentation affects biodiversity, and the extent to which land sharing or sparing is more beneficial for biodiversity conservation. To address these limitations, we offer a set of guidelines for the use of biodiversity metrics in conservation policy and practice.

The European Union (EU) established the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD) to achieve good environmental status (GES) in European seas through an ecosystem-based approach to management. EU Member States implementing the MSFD must assess the environmental status of their marine waters, as well as the human pressures and impacts affecting them. The MSFD follows a 6-year cycle, with assessments made based on 11 descriptors linked to specific pressure, state and impact-related criteria. Member States assessments should determine the extent to which GES is achieved. However, for coherent management of EU seas, comparable assessments across Member States and EU-wide overview of the status and MSFD progress are essential. This study developed pressure, state, and impact indices, by integrating available MSFD data reported by EU Member States. For the first time, MSFD data across all descriptors have been integrated to produce a European regional assessment. Findings indicate that most European regions are far from demonstrating GES, suffering from intense pressures and impacts. Significant knowledge gaps were identified, particularly in the eastern Mediterranean. The findings highlight the urgent need for enhanced ecological monitoring and setting environmental targets to improve the dire state of European seas, advocating for stronger regional cooperation and standardized methodologies.

DNA barcoding has revolutionized the identification of illegally traded material of endangered species as it overcomes the lack of resolution encountered with morphological identification. Nonetheless, in recently evolved and highly diverse clades, such as the relatives of Aloe vera, the lack of interspecific sequence variation in standardized markers compromises the barcoding efficacy. We present a new DNA barcoding tool using 189 nuclear markers, optimized for aloes (Asphodelaceae, Alooideae). We built a comprehensive sequence reference dataset from taxonomically verified sources for >300 species and validated its reliability for identification using phylogenomic inference. Seven anonymized samples from verified botanical collections and ten plants seized at London Heathrow Airport were correctly identified to species level, including a critically endangered species from Madagascar. Commercially purchased samples were confirmed to be the species as advertised. An accurate, reliable DNA barcoding method for aloe identification introduces new assurance to regulatory processes for endangered plants in trade.

Seed dispersal is threatened in fragmented landscapes by the loss of frugivores, significantly undermining the persistence of large-fruited plant species that rely on large-bodied animals. However, we lack a quantitative understanding of the roles of small-bodied frugivores in seed dispersal through fruit transportation. In an insular fragmented landscape formed by dam construction in 1959, we employed camera traps to document frugivory of a large-fruited plant species (Diospyros kaki) by camera trapping at both ground and arboreal levels. Our results reveal that reduced habitat size led to mutualism breakdown of seed dispersal of D. kaki mediated by large-bodied mammalian frugivores compared to the nearby mainland sites. However, underrated links involving fruit transportation by small-bodied frugivores, often present yet overlooked dispersal processes, may help mitigate these interaction losses. These findings highlight the importance of preserving large, continuous habitats and underrated mutualistic links in sustaining seed dispersal of large-fruited plants in fragmented landscapes.

Deforestation remains a prominent contributor to climate change and biodiversity loss. Yet while 76 million hectares of primary tropical forest have been lost since 2000, two thirds of tropical forests remain. What factors have been most important for protecting these forests? Unlike policies, which often have clearly defined spatial and temporal boundaries, the roles played by dynamic underlying political and economic structures, and their interactions with policies and emergent factors, can be challenging to identify. Expert knowledge can bridge this gap by revealing the full range of factors needed to achieve forest protection. Here, we conducted a Delphi study with 36 experts, focusing on the Brazilian Amazon and Indonesia. Our results highlight the importance of political will, civil society advocacy, and intergovernmental diplomacy, and shifts in the importance of different factors over time. These findings illuminate the interactions between international and national structures and policies in generating the conditions for forest protection.