BioScience最新文献

The role of scavengers is well understood in terrestrial and marine systems but less so in freshwater ecosystems. We synthesized existing knowledge of scavenger ecology in freshwater, particularly within the context of the Anthropocene, including the patchy distribution of carrion, consumer responses, competition, and transfer of energy, nutrients, and diseases. We also explored ecosystem services provided by freshwater scavengers, such as direct material benefits and improvements in water quality. In addition, we examined how human activities-such as climate change, disturbance, exploitation, and fragmentation-are affecting scavenger behavior and abundance. To mitigate these anthropogenic impacts, we identified management options for environmental practitioners and decision-makers, emphasizing the importance of integrating freshwater scavenger roles into management plans and providing adequate policy protections. Finally, we highlighted key knowledge gaps, particularly regarding how changes in scavenger populations and their food sources may alter ecosystem structure and function.

Over half of Australia's threatened and extinct endemic mammal species have been attributed to introduced red foxes (Vulpes vulpes) and cats (Felis silvestris catus). But this claim has so far been based on expert opinion. We conducted a timeline analysis, systematic review, and meta-analysis to assess whether the attribution of decline and extinction to these predators is based on evidence. Records for 43.6% and 19.6% of populations did not confirm that extinctions occurred after fox and cat arrival, respectively. Most threatened species have been attributed to these predators without supportive population studies with data (76.1% of species attributed to foxes, and 79.7% to cats). The meta-analysis showed a negative correlation between threatened mammal and fox abundance for spatial but not for temporal correlations, and we found no evidence for a correlation with cats. We conclude that the hypothesis that foxes and cats cause extinctions has come to be accepted with little evidence.

Snaring is considered to be the most common form of hunting in Africa. Although snaring can provide hunters with valuable food and income, it can also devastate wildlife populations when practiced unsustainably and has significant animal welfare implications. Snaring can also be wasteful, both when animals escape with fatal injuries and when catch is discarded. In the present article, we argue that snaring is a regional-scale threat to wildlife and to the sustainable use of biodiversity in Africa. We show that snaring in Africa is geographically widespread and locally intense, that tens of millions of snares are likely set across the continent annually, and that at least 100 million kilograms of wild meat is probably wasted in Africa every year because of snaring. We discuss opportunities to address these impacts through changes to governance and enforcement and by reducing demand for wild meat in cities.

Natural history collections play a crucial role in our understanding of biodiversity, informing research, management, and policy in areas such as biosecurity, conservation, climate change, and food security. However, the growing volume of specimens and associated data presents significant challenges for curation and management. By leveraging human-AI collaborations, we aim to transform the way biological collections are curated and managed, realizing their full potential in addressing global challenges. In this article, we discuss our vision for improving biological collections curation and management using human-AI collaboration. We explore the rationale behind this approach, the challenges faced in data management, general curation problems, and the potential benefits that could be derived from incorporating AI-based assistants in collection teams. Finally, we examine future possibilities for collaborations between human and digital curators and collection-based research.

The 2022 Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (KMGBF) moves international efforts to conserve biodiversity into a quantitative era. Fair and equitable benefit-sharing is one of the three objectives of the Convention on Biological Diversity, which means that to achieve the KMGBF, its parties will need to begin quantifying the benefits received from access and benefit-sharing (ABS). This mandate represents a big challenge as countries will need to begin to measure both monetary and non-monetary benefits from ABS agreements. Non-monetary benefits, in particular, can be more difficult to measure than monetary benefits, resulting in lower scientific understanding and integration of scientific results into national policy choices. In the present article, we propose a new methodology to deliver data to the KMGBF on non-monetary benefit-sharing indicators using scientific publications that cite ABS permits and put forth recommendations for improving the visibility of non-monetary benefits.

Since 1985, conservation science has been unquestioningly described as a crisis discipline. This narrative entails prioritizing immediate responses to threats despite limited knowledge. Although crisis interventions have grown significantly, biodiversity loss has continued unabated, and those working or living alongside declining ecosystems report increasing levels of emotional distress. Ecological grief is particularly on the rise and is claimed by some as a necessary process to fuel the urgent lifesaving changes. However, I argue that both narratives-the emerging ecological grief and the established crisis approach-can synergically reinforce a loop of resignation, where ecological decline is either passively accepted or inadvertently perpetuated. Such resignation ultimately leads to harmful adaptation to ongoing ecological degradation. Finally, I propose a shift toward a transformative conservation narrative, moving away from the primary focus on crisis thinking to embrace proactive futures. Reframing the underlying narratives is essential, because they can influence the broader conservation agenda.

Thirteen species of North American lizards are remarkable because only females exist, which reproduce by cloning unfertilized eggs. Their closest relatives reproduce sexually, with eggs fertilized by sperm from males, as in most vertebrates. The unisexual species originated through hybridization, dispensing with sex and males in a single generation. These lizards hold tremendous potential in science education as a fascinating model for learning about fundamental biological concepts, and in research for developing knowledge with medical applications for reproductive biology, embryonic development, and genetic interactions. These lizards maintain genome integrity in a hybrid state in which recombination is absent, but do not suffer from conditions or disorders such as Down's Syndrome or cancer that are caused by aneuploidy in humans. The multifarious impacts of hybridization on the diversity of species in this group present an exceptional opportunity to deepen understanding of the complicated process of evolutionary diversification.

Connectivity-the flows and exchanges of organisms, materials, and energy within and among watersheds-is a central paradigm in ecosystem science. Changes in those connections have consequences for ecosystem functioning and water quality downstream and upstream. Therefore, connectivity is a cornerstone for federal water protection under the United States Clean Water Act (CWA). In the present article, we review the science of connectivity, explain the history of changes in CWA jurisdiction defining waters of the United States, discuss implications for US water policy, and highlight key steps to align that policy with science. The Sackett v. EPA (2023) Supreme Court decision significantly reduced federal water protection for wetlands and headwaters, disregarding their connectivity with larger, protected waterbodies. To fulfill the goals of the CWA to restore and maintain the chemical, physical, and biological integrity of U.S. waters, Congress must amend the act, fully recognizing the multidimensional connectivity of aquatic ecosystems and ultimately incorporating these connections into ecosystem-level policy.