Global Ecology and Conservation最新文献

{"title":"Survey bias in sampling François’s langur in the Karst mountains: An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) and accessibility perspective","authors":"Wei Gou ,&nbsp;Yin Yang ,&nbsp;Linzheng Hu ,&nbsp;Manfang He ,&nbsp;Wanhai Wang ,&nbsp;Zhonghai Wei ,&nbsp;Guangmei Yang ,&nbsp;Haijun Su ,&nbsp;Yixin Diao","doi":"10.1016/j.gecco.2025.e04049","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.gecco.2025.e04049","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Roadless areas in forested and rugged mountains pose unavoidable challenges to field surveys, often leading to wildlife sampling bias in terms of population, behaviour, and response to human interference. Using the endangered François's langur (<em>Trachypithecus francoisi</em>) as a model species, we aimed to compare the impacts of different survey methods, with varying levels of road accessibility on the evaluation of population size, the response of species to human disturbance, and the habitat distribution prediction by an ensemble species distribution model in the Dashahe National Nature Reserve, Guizhou, China. François's langurs live in some of the most inaccessible habitat among primates. To date, the best methods of survey have been interviews with locals and line transects along existing roadways. These methods may be biased by human presence and activities. Drones provide a means by which langur densities can be assessed across an inaccessible landscape, reducing researcher accessibility bias. We found that, compared to the interview survey, which have long been the only survey method in this region, the UAV survey significantly increased the species detection accessibility (SDA) of François's langur in roadless areas (population size estimation: interview survey recorded 37 individuals at mean SDA of 46.92 ± 21.06 km vs. UAV survey recorded 62 individuals at mean SDA of 57.96 ± 15.85 km). The unmanned aerial vehicle -methods vehicle (UAV) survey indicated that the occurrence of François's langurs decreased when the intensity of human modification exceeded 0.4, whereas the transect method showed a higher modification threshold that reached 0.6. This indicated that UAV survey exhibited a higher degree of sensitivity to human activities. Furthermore, while the suitable area identified by the UAV model (74.8 km²) was positively correlated with road accessibility (<em>p</em> &lt; 0.01), the results of the all-survey model (84 km²) showed a different pattern (<em>p</em> &lt; 0.001), with larger area identified as suitable habitat compared to those predicted using the other two survey methods. Our results suggest that, compared to other traditional surveys, UAVs increase the probability of detecting François's langurs in roadless areas (30.1 %), eliminate overestimation of their tolerance to human disturbance, and help refine species distribution modelling. We recommend that UAV surveys be incorporated into routine wildlife surveys and conservation management studies to enhance our understanding of threatened species and reduce underestimation of human disturbance on these species.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":54264,"journal":{"name":"Global Ecology and Conservation","volume":"66 ","pages":"Article e04049"},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2026-01-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145981606","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Uncertain role of conservation areas to protect soil biodiversity and functioning","authors":"Romy Zeiss ,&nbsp;Manuel Delgado-Baquerizo ,&nbsp;Bala Singavarapu ,&nbsp;Nico Eisenhauer ,&nbsp;Concha Cano-Díaz ,&nbsp;Irene Calderón-Sanou ,&nbsp;Rui P. Carvalho ,&nbsp;Sofia R. Costa ,&nbsp;A. Carolina Duarte ,&nbsp;Paulo Fernandes ,&nbsp;Arwyn Jones ,&nbsp;Kirsten Küsel ,&nbsp;Susana Mendes ,&nbsp;Alberto Orgiazzi ,&nbsp;Brajesh K. Singh ,&nbsp;Carlos A. Guerra","doi":"10.1016/j.gecco.2026.e04052","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.gecco.2026.e04052","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Soil biodiversity and functioning are the foundation of ecosystem sustainability, but we do not know whether current nature conservation areas are efficiently protecting soils. Here, we investigated the contribution of terrestrial nature conservation areas to protect soil biodiversity and functioning across scales. We found no general positive effect on diversity of bacteria, fungi, protists, invertebrates, and nematodes, captured as richness, Shannon diversity and dissimilarity, and 5 soil functions (pathogen control, nutrient provision, soil carbon, soil organic matter decomposition, and soil aggregate stability). Our findings suggest that nature conservation areas show an inconsistent role in protecting soil biodiversity and functioning, as we found mostly non-significant and otherwise mixed effects across scales. Despite few positive and negative effects of protection status, our work highlights the urgent need to directly target soils in nature conservation.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":54264,"journal":{"name":"Global Ecology and Conservation","volume":"66 ","pages":"Article e04052"},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2026-01-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146024376","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Differences in physiological and ecological adaptations of Ipomoea pes-caprae in sandy beaches and coral islands","authors":"Xu Li ,&nbsp;Zhipeng Li ,&nbsp;Zhiyuan Shi ,&nbsp;Ting Wu ,&nbsp;Guopeng Wu ,&nbsp;Han Sheng ,&nbsp;Shu-Yi-Dan Zhou ,&nbsp;Linhua Wang ,&nbsp;Xuli Tang ,&nbsp;Juxiu Liu","doi":"10.1016/j.gecco.2025.e04043","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.gecco.2025.e04043","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div><em>Ipomoea pes-caprae</em> has potential ecological restoration value as a salt- and drought-tolerant pioneer plant, while fewer studies on its environmental and physiological adaptations in different habitats. Here, we selected <em>I. pes-caprae</em> populations from Sansha (coral soil, CS) and Huizhou (sandy soil, SS), measured key physiological and ecological characteristics, and explored the mechanism of its adaptation. The results showed that the leaf water content and the δ¹³C of <em>I. pes-caprae</em> in the CS habitat were significantly lower than those in SS, indicating that it adapted to the arid environment by improving water use efficiency. The carbon and nitrogen contents of <em>I. pes-caprae</em> leaves in the SS habitat were significantly higher than CS, while phosphorous content was lower. <em>I. pes-caprae</em> leaves from the CS habitat had a higher soluble sugars and non-structural carbohydrates content, suggesting that they may enhance stress tolerance by accumulating osmoregulatory substances. Still, its higher malondialdehyde content and lower superoxide dismutase and glutathione activities indicated that it may be subjected to stronger oxidative stress. In contrast, <em>I. pes-caprae</em> from SS habitats exhibited a stronger antioxidant system. <em>I. pes-caprae</em> in the CS habitat had lower chlorophyll content and higher carotenoid accumulation, suggesting that they may reduce high light damage by lowering photosynthetic activity, whereas SS habitat had higher photosynthetic capacity. In summary, <em>I. pes-caprae</em> in CS habitats adapted to arid, infertile, and hypersaline environments mainly through water conservation, osmoregulation, and reduced photosynthetic activity, whereas SS habitats relied on higher nutrient utilization efficiencies, photosynthesis, and antioxidant systems to maintain rapid growth.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":54264,"journal":{"name":"Global Ecology and Conservation","volume":"65 ","pages":"Article e04043"},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2026-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145925596","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Flexible changes in mountain gorilla (Gorilla beringei beringei) ranging patterns in response to snare encounters","authors":"Lauren M. Wiseman-Jones ,&nbsp;Diane Ishimwe ,&nbsp;Winnie Eckardt ,&nbsp;Tara S. Stoinski ,&nbsp;Krista M. Milich","doi":"10.1016/j.gecco.2025.e04046","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.gecco.2025.e04046","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Human activities, including hunting within protected areas, are reshaping the spatiotemporal behavior of wildlife by creating anthropogenic landscapes of fear. In nonhuman primates, these landscapes can drive flexible alterations in movement that reflect adaptive responses to perceived risks. However, given the rapid pace of anthropogenic change, it remains unclear whether behavioral flexibility is adequate for survival. Mountain gorillas <em>(Gorilla beringei beringei)</em> in Volcanoes National Park, Rwanda, are vulnerable to entrapment in snares set by human communities hunting other species to sustain their livelihoods. In this study, we investigated how the ranging behavior of eight gorilla groups changed in response to snare encounters, using GPS data collected between 2009 and 2024 to estimate site fidelity and revisit frequency, and data from 2023 to 2024 to calculate daily travel distances (DTDs). We applied generalized linear mixed models and Wilcoxon signed-rank tests to compare each measure of space-use following encounters to baseline values. We found that snare encounters significantly influenced ranging patterns, with DTDs increasing by 55 % and site fidelity decreasing by 22 % following these events. Additionally, groups revisited encounter sites less frequently. These results demonstrate that gorillas have the capacity to flexibly alter ranging behavior to avoid the immediate risks associated with snare encounters. However, these encounters may have cascading negative effects on their fitness and survival. To mitigate the impacts of illegal activities, conservation efforts must also be flexible and monitor the effects of anthropogenic stressors on mountain gorillas while also addressing the underlying needs of communities adjacent to protected areas.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":54264,"journal":{"name":"Global Ecology and Conservation","volume":"65 ","pages":"Article e04046"},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2026-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145925844","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Ghost economy: The forbidden trade of the Himalayas","authors":"Babar Khan ,&nbsp;Kesang Wangchuk","doi":"10.1016/j.gecco.2025.e04045","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.gecco.2025.e04045","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The Hindu Kush Himalayas, a region with diverse ecosystems and rich biodiversity, faces widespread illegal wildlife crime. We reviewed available literature to gain insights into the scale and patterns of illegal wildlife crime in the HKH, hotspots, transit routes, consumers, and the significant causes of wildlife trafficking. Wildlife trade and seizure data for the eight HKH countries were accessed from the trade database of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) and the Wildlife Trade Portal of the Trade Records Analysis of Flora and Fauna in Commerce (TRAFFIC) for the period 2001–2020. The review findings showed that each year, millions of wild plants and animals, valued at $ 8–23 billion, were traded to meet the demand for wildlife, its parts, and products worldwide. In the illegal wildlife trade, about 24 % of terrestrial birds, mammals, amphibians, and reptiles originated from biologically diverse tropical regions, including the HKH mountains. The illegal wildlife trade in HKH covered a range of commodities, including live individuals, their parts, and their derivatives. The primary drivers of the illicit trade and commercial exploitation of rare and unique species from the wild were the ever-increasing demand for traditional Chinese and Tibetan medicines, folk remedies, weak law enforcement, the high price of wildlife and their parts, and mountain poverty. Efforts to combat wildlife poaching, trafficking, and trade in the region were hampered by weak wildlife law enforcement, insufficient institutional capacity and resources, and a lack of practical regional networks and other mechanisms for regional cooperation. Porous borders and high mountain passes, with harsh climates and physical conditions, further restrained the vigilance of law enforcement agencies. A lack of understanding of wildlife supply chains' social, economic, and ecological dimensions hindered informed policy and legislation. Lack of awareness among communities and other stakeholders about biodiversity conservation made them partners in the wildlife trade rather than custodians. The region needs to strengthen institutional capacities for effective legislation and action, and greater regional cooperation for intra-regional law enforcement to control the illegal trade of wildlife across borders and online. Scientific studies on the scale, trend, and patterns of illicit wildlife trade are crucial for understanding the social, economic, and ecological dimensions of unlawful wildlife supply chains in HKH. Mass awareness about biodiversity conservation values will help create responsible stewards among mountain communities.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":54264,"journal":{"name":"Global Ecology and Conservation","volume":"65 ","pages":"Article e04045"},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2026-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145925743","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Corrigendum to “Community structure characterization and diversity analysis of Schizothoracinae in four important tributaries of the middle Yarlung Zangbo River, Tibet plateau, China: Facing crisis and conservation significance” [Glob. Ecol. Conserv. 62 (2025) e03782]","authors":"Haoxiang Han ,&nbsp;Chi Zhang ,&nbsp;Hongchi Li ,&nbsp;Lin Wang ,&nbsp;Bo Ma","doi":"10.1016/j.gecco.2025.e04031","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.gecco.2025.e04031","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":54264,"journal":{"name":"Global Ecology and Conservation","volume":"65 ","pages":"Article e04031"},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2026-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145973019","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Unlocking agroecology: A meta-analytical perspective on barriers and drivers","authors":"L. Sanchez-Mata ,&nbsp;M. Salazar-Ordóñez ,&nbsp;J. Berbel ,&nbsp;M. Rodríguez-Entrena","doi":"10.1016/j.gecco.2025.e04028","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.gecco.2025.e04028","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Agroecology applies ecological principles to the design and management of agri-food systems. Yet its adoption at the farm level remains limited, despite becoming a prominent approach to addressing these systems’ sustainability challenges. Although a growing body of literature analyses the factors influencing farmers’ willingness to adopt agroecological practices, comprehensive quantitative syntheses are still scarce. This study assesses factors influencing farmers’ adoption of agroecological practices by conducting a quantitative meta-analysis and meta-regressions of 29 European econometric studies, selected following the PRISMA methodology. The results indicated that older age and dependence on farm income emerged as main barriers, whereas schooling level, training, and participation in agricultural organisations are consistent key drivers. The estimated effects of subsidies were small and inconsistent; similar patterns were found for farm size, livestock, family labour, and gender. While the evidence is exclusively European, limiting generalizability to other regions with different tenure regimes and policy and culture contexts, our findings point to the value of pairing education and training with the development of social capital and promoting farm income diversification. Together, these strategies can accelerate the transition toward agroecology.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":54264,"journal":{"name":"Global Ecology and Conservation","volume":"65 ","pages":"Article e04028"},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2026-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145925839","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Extensive chameleon mortality in mechanized harvest of grapes suggests that wildlife biodiversity in the agricultural matrix may be a double-edged sword","authors":"Liran Sagi ,&nbsp;Akiva Topper ,&nbsp;Oded Keynan ,&nbsp;Amos Bouskila ,&nbsp;Oren Kolodny","doi":"10.1016/j.gecco.2025.e04038","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.gecco.2025.e04038","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The global pervasiveness of agriculture and its profound effects on biodiversity increasingly mandate developing sustainable agricultural methods to support healthy ecosystems within agricultural landscapes. However, increasing the attractiveness of agricultural landscapes for wildlife may negatively impact biodiversity if animals or their reproduction are adversely affected in such habitats. While the effects of agricultural practices were investigated across various crop types and wildlife species, reptiles remain largely overlooked. Additionally, although reptiles in croplands were monitored throughout the farming season, little attention has been directed towards the effects of harvest at the season’s end. To illustrate the potential impacts of mechanical harvest on wildlife in permanent crops, we present a case-study concerning reptiles in vineyards. We scanned the waste of a medium-sized winery over four nights and found 105 reptiles, 69 % of them chameleons. Though chameleons are considered carnivorous, approximately half had consumed grapes, potentially attracted by them. Vineyards, like many crops, offer resources including sugar, moisture, and shelter, likely attracting many wildlife species. However, mortality during mechanical harvest may be high, potentially rendering such crops an ecological trap. For chameleons the effects may be particularly devastating, as harvest closely precedes the egg-laying season. While our case study focuses on reptiles in vineyards, its implications extend to many species in croplands. Ultimately, ecological traps affect biodiversity by attracting animals to habitats in which their fitness is impaired.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":54264,"journal":{"name":"Global Ecology and Conservation","volume":"65 ","pages":"Article e04038"},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2026-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145925594","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Functional ecological role of slime moulds (Eumycetozoa) in forest biodiversity and conservation","authors":"Tomasz Pawłowicz","doi":"10.1016/j.gecco.2025.e04032","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.gecco.2025.e04032","url":null,"abstract":"&lt;div&gt;&lt;div&gt;Forest ecosystems derive much of their stability from the efficiency of detrital pathways, yet the functional roles of slime moulds (Eumycetozoa) in forest detrital food webs remain poorly synthesised and are rarely incorporated into forest management or conservation frameworks. As phagotrophic protists, slime moulds link microbial decomposers to higher consumers and thus act as regulators and connectors in forest detrital networks. This review presents a qualitative evidence synthesis integrating field inventories, moist-chamber cultures, enzyme assays, microcosm experiments, DNA-based surveys and behavioural studies in forest and forest-relevant habitats to evaluate how slime moulds influence detrital processes, biodiversity and resilience. Evidence is organised by interaction guild (bacteria and yeasts; saprotrophic fungi; bryophytes, lichens, algae and cyanobacteria; invertebrates; vertebrates; vascular plants) and mapped onto a conservation-relevant, mechanistic trophic network framework. Slime moulds act as bacterivores, mycophages and facultative algivores, and their grazing coupled with secreted enzymes alters bacterial and yeast assemblages, interacts with fungal decay and contributes to the mobilisation and redistribution of carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus and selected metals in detrital pathways. Cryptogam layers function as humid refugia and prey fields that extend foraging space across corticolous, lignicolous and foliicolous substrates and support sporocarp formation. Invertebrates exploit plasmodia and sporocarps as nutrient-rich patches and disperse viable propagules at local to stand scales, while vertebrates occasionally add long-distance dispersal that links otherwise isolated microhabitats. Plasmodial transport networks provide efficient, fault-tolerant allocation of assimilated resources across patchy substrates and maintain connectivity among detrital compartments under fluctuating microclimates. Deterministic community assembly driven by microclimatic filtering, substrate chemistry and prey fields, together with cryptic diversity revealed by molecular surveys, indicates that overlapping species pools provide functional redundancy capable of stabilising these roles under environmental change. Together, these lines of evidence frame slime moulds as active regulators and connectors in forest detrital networks with direct implications for nutrient cycling, ecosystem resilience and biodiversity conservation. The available data suggest testable hypotheses that slime mould diversity and trophic guild composition can serve as indicators of detrital habitat quality and forest soil health; that plasmodial network architecture mirrors and influences the routing of detrital energy and associated C, N and P fluxes; and that microclimatic variation at microsite scales is a primary driver of community assembly and functional redundancy. Targeted field experiments, trait-based surveys and network models are needed to test these hypo","PeriodicalId":54264,"journal":{"name":"Global Ecology and Conservation","volume":"65 ","pages":"Article e04032"},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2026-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145925747","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Implementing an emergency headstarting program for a critically endangered day gecko using demographic insights","authors":"Arthur Choeur ,&nbsp;Matthieu Le Corre ,&nbsp;Thibaut Couturier ,&nbsp;Johanna Clémencet ,&nbsp;Aurélien Besnard ,&nbsp;Mickaël Sanchez","doi":"10.1016/j.gecco.2025.e04034","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.gecco.2025.e04034","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Conservation interventions are often implemented urgently, with limited empirical feedback to inform their design. Among these, headstarting programs (captive-rearing of young) may be promising for populations suffering from low recruitment and when effective <em>in-situ</em> actions are not yet identified, but may fail without robust demographic knowledge. Knowledge gaps hinder the implementation of effective conservation interventions for many threatened species, including insular reptiles like geckos, whose demography remains poorly understood. Here, we investigated the demography of the Critically Endangered Manapany day gecko (<em>Phelsuma inexpectata</em>) to identify drivers of population decline and guide the implementation of an emergency headstarting program, applied for the first time to a gecko species. Using five years of capture-mark-recapture data (2015–2019) from two populations, we estimated demographic parameters and conducted population viability analyses (PVA), including headstarting scenarios with different rearing durations and delays. Despite stable survival of older individuals, abundance halved after 2016 due to near-zero young survival, causing a 90 % decline in recruitment. Low annual adult female survival (0.59) required high adult turnover to sustain population size, increasing vulnerability to stochastic events. We observed male-biased recruitment, which, combined with lower female survival, led to a male-skewed adult sex-ratio (3:1 by 2019). Consequently, predicted extinction probabilities exceeded 38 % over 20 years. PVA revealed that immediate and continuous headstarting could reduce extinction risk below 2 % over 20 years. Our comprehensive demographic study identifies low young survival as the key driver of population decline, supporting targeted headstarting as an emergency measure for a Critically Endangered gecko.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":54264,"journal":{"name":"Global Ecology and Conservation","volume":"65 ","pages":"Article e04034"},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2026-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145925842","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}