Conservation Science and Practice最新文献

Optimizing wetland conservation programs requires effective mapping of watershed inundation patterns and the identification of priority areas for future conservation. This study presents a data-driven framework to analyze watershed wetness dynamics and prioritize agricultural lands for wetland conservation. It focuses on mapping areas with the most periodic inundation of agricultural lands from 2018 to 2023. A multi-criteria spatial decision support tool was developed to identify high-priority agricultural parcels for wetland conservation programs. This tool integrates inundation dynamics, soil characteristics, and restoration context to evaluate site suitability for conservation efforts. Using Google Earth Engine, Sentinel-2 imagery was analyzed to assess the frequency of periodic inundation on each pixel of agricultural land, including cropland, forestland, and hay/pasture land. This study calculates the watershed wetness index and evaluates parcel-level suitability for wetland conservation. The analysis ranks watersheds based on the proportion of inundated agricultural lands and identifies approximately 24,000 priority parcels, ranging in size from 0.4 to 20 hectares (1–50 US acres). A scenario-based cost analysis of land acquisition provides further guidance for conservation planning. Statewide agricultural-based conservation programs should prioritize potential sandhill wetlands within the wettest agricultural watersheds in the Sandhills ecoregion, high-potential playa wetlands in the Rainwater Basin area, riverine wetlands along the Missouri, Elkhorn, and Platte Rivers, and saline wetlands in the rural–urban transitional watersheds of eastern Nebraska. This study demonstrates how remote sensing and multi-criteria geospatial analysis can facilitate scalable and cost-effective wetland mapping and site selection, both in the United States and globally.

With rates of biodiversity loss accelerating globally, debate exists regarding the most efficient ways of allocating resources to conserve species. Woodland caribou (Rangifer tarandus caribou, hereafter “caribou”) are the focus of many Canadian conservation strategies. Here we examine the extent caribou-focused conservation can benefit wolverine (Gulo gulo), a Species at Risk that overlaps with caribou in distribution and ecological aspects. We conducted a systematic review of Canadian conservation documentation (51 caribou, 14 wolverine documents) and North American scientific literature (550 caribou, 167 wolverine papers) to quantify for wolverine and caribou: (i) variation in conservation documentation availability and age, (ii) overlap in commonly listed threats and recovery actions, and (iii) the extent threats have been researched across Canada. While we found differences in conservation and research focus, both key threats (including habitat loss, hunting and trapping, sensory disturbance, and linear features) and recovery actions (including management of important habitat, partnerships, and population monitoring) were listed in >50% of conservation documentation for both wolverine and caribou. We identify caribou-focused conservation actions that may support wolverine, and where gaps and uncertainties in wolverine management remain. Actions that effectively protect caribou critical habitat implicitly manage multiple threats relevant to wolverine.

The global loss of coastal habitats has reduced the availability of intact ecosystems to serve as reference systems for marine restoration and conservation, which poses a significant challenge for establishing ecological baselines to evaluate restoration and conservation success. In the Hauraki Gulf of New Zealand, extensive subtidal mussel reefs once played a critical role in maintaining the health of the system. However, due to large-scale exploitation, degradation of the surrounding ecosystem, and a lack of protection, these reefs have failed to recover naturally, leaving only a few remnant subtidal reefs that are at risk of further exploitation. This study compared mussel reef structure and large mobile species assemblages at natural remnant and restored mussel reefs in the Hauraki Gulf to evaluate whether restored reefs resemble remnant reefs in physical structure and support similar mobile species communities. Both reef types exhibited similar structure, with higher mobile species diversity and abundance observed at remnant reefs, likely due to their proximity to complex rocky reef habitats, facilitating a wider range of ecological interactions. This study supports the use of remnant reefs to assist with the evaluation of mussel reef restoration and underscores the importance of conserving the remaining mussel reefs in the region.

Citizen science is a rapidly growing field increasingly used by varied organizations for scientific data collection and public engagement. However, the extent to which these data are used and by whom is less explored. Using Florida, USA, as an exploratory case study, we surveyed 232 natural resource practitioners in various state, county, and municipal government agencies, a university outreach office, and variety of non-profit organizations to examine their citizen science usage, attitudes, and perceptions, as well as their citizen science usage barriers and challenges. Our findings reveal generally positive attitudes towards citizen science among both those who currently use it and those who do not, with usage patterns largely aligning with respondents' job roles. To better integrate citizen science in their roles, natural resource practitioners need tools for data collection and analysis, guidance on integrating citizen science into existing programs, and additional funding. By addressing these needs, organizations can enhance the quantity and quality of citizen science in their work, leading to improved decision-making, advanced research, and expanded opportunities for meaningful public engagement.

We assessed public attitudes toward gray wolves (Canis lupus) in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, focusing on how perceived risks, habitat suitability as a proxy for probability of human–wolf interactions, and socio-cultural factors affected societal acceptance of wolf populations. A survey (n = 883; response rate = 26.9%) revealed 61.7% of respondents favored reducing wolf abundance, driven primarily by concerns over risks to livestock, white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus), and human safety. Conversely, those who valued the ecological role of wolves were less inclined to support population reductions. Perceived risks, particularly to deer, strongly influenced attitudes. Wolf habitat suitability correlated with a greater desire for population reduction. Our predictive model, incorporating perceived risks and habitat suitability, demonstrated high accuracy (area under the curve = 0.94). Findings in the context of other research on human–wolf interactions suggest wolf management will be more effective if it addresses specific local concerns, such as deer and livestock, and employs continuous public engagement. Public engagement, especially in rural areas, is essential to build trust and improve understanding of wolf conservation. Integrating local concerns into broader policy and management strategies can foster coexistence and reduce conflicts, ultimately supporting wolf conservation and community well-being.

Area-based conservation that addresses rural communities' livelihoods may result in both sustainable rural development and improved ecological outcomes. A comparative study was conducted within the context of China's national park pilot initiative, focusing on herders in Qilianshan and tea farmers in Wuyishan. The results show that inertia towards tradition was common among rural communities, regardless of geographical differences, but their perceptions of livelihood risks varied. Generally, herders were more dependent on policy-support, while tea farmers were more reliant on market mechanisms. Specifically, policy risks, especially from the grassland eco-compensation programme, were significant and added to the conventional natural and market risks for herders. Tea farmers, on the other hand, were more exposed to natural, market, and individual health risks that directly affected income from tea production. The herders' strong demand for adequate pastures and high dependence on eco-compensation created a tension that hindered both ecological and economic outcomes. The lack of tea processing facilities among tea farmers indicated a structural mismatch between supply and demand, which negatively impacted income due to restrictions on tea orchard expansion. We argue that national park management should align traditional livelihoods with conservation objectives by capitalizing on the multiple functions of conservation-compatible production systems, and employing targeted measures to address specific risks.

Wildlife consumption in China has been relatively common, which has led to a substantial wildlife farming industry and caused concern among some conservationists. The assumed link between COVID-19 and wildlife consumption attracted significant public attention and led to a change in wildlife management policies in China. However, it is unclear how the Chinese public perceives wildlife consumption and whether they are supportive of the wildlife management policies introduced. We collected and analyzed 488,016 posts from a prominent Chinese social media site—Weibo—from September 1, 2019, to August 31, 2020. Our results suggest that during our study period, COVID-19 dramatically altered people's attitudes toward wildlife consumption; following the emergence of the pandemic, posts spiked and overwhelmingly called for a stop to wildlife consumption. We selected pangolins, bats, wild pigs, and snakes for in-depth analysis, where disease and conservation were the top themes discussed. When the wildlife consumption ban in China was introduced in February 2020, the majority of Weibo users supported it. However, not all users did, including those concerned about the wildlife farming industry and those questioning the link between COVID-19 and wildlife consumption. Users also discussed traditional Chinese medicine, including its impacts on wildlife consumption, conservation, and medical efficacy. Our results indicated that understanding public sentiment is useful for evaluating support for conservation policies and interventions.

Conservation translocations are human-mediated movements of wildlife for conservation purposes. They risk compromising the health of wildlife, and potentially domestic animals and humans, in the short and long term, but these risks vary with project context. Wildlife health risk analysis (disease risk analysis) is a process enabling these risks to be characterized and managed; multiple methods have been developed for conservation translocation. It would be beneficial for the depth of health risk analysis to be proportionate to context; however, few methods currently facilitate this flexibility. We aimed to produce a refined methodological framework for health risk analysis that enabled it to be scalable and adaptable to different translocation scenarios. We developed such a framework by adapting and assimilating elements of existing methods. We describe its key features and application to two wader (shorebird) conservation translocations with differing translocation plans and epidemiological circumstances. We then reflect on the framework's utility in light of the observed project outcomes, which exemplified the uncertain and changeable nature of disease risks over time. Our framework has the potential to expedite health risk analysis for repeat translocations of a particular taxon in a region and has application to other taxa and potentially other forms of wildlife translocation.

Conservation campaigns via digital media are becoming increasingly popular amongst conservationists. However, effectively measuring their impacts remains a challenge, and campaign effectiveness often goes unmeasured. Conservation culturomics, which explores the intricate relationship between people and nature in the digital sphere, can help fill this gap. Here, we used culturomics data to evaluate impacts of two digital conservation campaigns: one regional campaign promoting the importance of the Western Ghats biodiversity hotspot in India and one global campaign using humorous skits to address broader conservation themes. Specifically, we used a synthetic control approach to analyze Wikipedia pageviews of topics featured in the two campaigns and compared these to Wikipedia pageviews of related topics that were not featured in the campaigns. We found that across 21 topics in multiple languages, the regional campaign showed limited success in boosting engagement for specific topics in local languages, whereas the global campaign had no measurable impact on Wikipedia page views. We also found evidence on negative impact for one topic in the regional campaign. Overall, we found a limited effect of the campaigns in increasing online traffic to Wikipedia, with the impact detected being associated with localized topics as opposed to global ones. The study highlights the utility of combining digital data with counterfactual-based methods for rapid, cost-effective evaluations while acknowledging the need for deeper investigation into how digital engagement translates to real-world behavior change. Future research should explore integrating digital and traditional evaluation methods to enhance the evidence base for conservation communication strategies.

Conservation translocations are increasingly important for restoring and augmenting wild populations of extirpated species or those diminishing rapidly. Assessing the effectiveness of translocation outcomes requires a clear understanding of success metrics and long-term monitoring data. As such, the outcomes of conservation translocations remain underreported, limiting their potential for informing adaptive management and future translocation efforts. Here, we assess the post-translocation demography of multiple populations of the critically endangered Nubian giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis camelopardalis) in Uganda. Since 2015, there have been a series of giraffe conservation translocations designed to reintroduce them to habitats where they were previously extirpated and to reinforce a small population. In 2015, Nubian giraffe were found in only two protected areas in Uganda: Murchison Falls National Park (NP) (north of the Nile River) and Kidepo Valley NP. Through several conservation translocations that used Murchison Falls NP as a source population, Nubian giraffe were translocated to Lake Mburo NP, Murchison Falls NP (south of the Nile River), and Pian Upe Wildlife Reserve, while the population in Kidepo Valley NP was reinforced. In this study, we evaluated the post-translocation demography of all Nubian giraffe populations in Uganda. Using individual-based photographic surveys and a combination of complete enumeration and mark-recapture analyses with Cormack Jolly Seber modeling, we estimated abundance and survival rates for all giraffe populations. After an average post-translocation latency period of 36 months, all giraffe populations in Uganda showed subsequent population growth and high survival rates across all age classes. Additionally, the donor population in northern Murchison Falls NP continued to show positive population growth. These results demonstrate the effectiveness of translocations and monitoring as conservation tools for the critically endangered Nubian giraffe in Uganda. Such comparisons allow for critical evaluations of post-translocation ecology and can be used to inform best practices for future translocation activities.