Conservation Biology最新文献

{"title":"Examining critical assumptions in global conservation practice.","authors":"Kendra Opatovsky, Brian Pentz, Philip A Loring","doi":"10.1111/cobi.70102","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/cobi.70102","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The ability of conservation practitioners to design and implement successful conservation projects and scale up positive outcomes depends in large part on their ability to make accurate assumptions about the social and ecological contexts in which their projects operate. To understand the types of assumptions characterizing conservation practice and strategy, we examined 300 assumptions identified by conservation practitioners in project workshops at The Nature Conservancy, a large environmental nongovernmental organization, as being critical to the success of their conservation projects. We identified 7 conservation assumption themes (public attitudes and perceptions; capacity and resources; economic and behavioral factors; government, politics, and policy; impacts and scalability; knowledge and evidence; and organizational or internal factors), which primarily relate to the human dimensions of conservation (e.g., values, human behavior, relationships, policy, and politics). The conservation assumptions focused predominantly on project-level and place-based matters, rather than on the root causes of conservation problems. For people- and equity-centered conservation approaches, our findings suggest that conservation teams should systematically engage with areas of elevated uncertainty and should especially focus on axiomatic assumptions made about the broader contexts in which conservation projects operate. These insights can inform effective project design and adaptive learning and can directly improve project success.</p>","PeriodicalId":10689,"journal":{"name":"Conservation Biology","volume":" ","pages":"e70102"},"PeriodicalIF":5.2,"publicationDate":"2025-07-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144552529","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"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":"Urbanization of seed dispersal networks.","authors":"Sara Beatriz Mendes, Jens Mogens Olesen, Manuel Nogales, Patricia Marrero, Javier Romero, Concepción Nieves, Ruben Heleno","doi":"10.1111/cobi.70097","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/cobi.70097","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Rapid urban expansion is affecting the composition of wild communities and creating novel ecosystems worldwide. Seed dispersal is key for ecosystem persistence, particularly in fragmented landscapes. However, generalizations regarding the impacts of urbanization are still difficult due to the lack of studies encompassing the urban matrix. We examined the seed dispersal networks in natural forests and urban areas in Tenerife Island to explore the effects of urbanization on seed dispersal. For 1 year, we observed frugivory events and identified seeds in animal feces in natural forests and urban areas of the island. We also conducted transect surveys in each area to assess the abundance of fleshy fruits and frugivorous animals. We identified 150 interactions between 83 plant and 18 animal species in the forest and 89 interactions between 41 plant and 9 animal species in urban areas. The urban matrix supported half the species richness of fleshy-fruited plants and frugivorous animals relative to the forest. Urbanization simplified seed dispersal networks, reducing interaction diversity. Novel interactions dominated the urban seed dispersal network, where non-native plants were highly used by native frugivores, accounting for 61% of the interactions (vs. 15% in the forest). Eight frugivore species (42% of the frugivores) likely maintained the functional connectivity between these habitats, potentially facilitating the spread of non-native species from urban areas (where non-native species are more common) into the forests due to their generalist and flexible diets. Six frugivorous species (32%) completely avoided urban areas, which acted as barriers to dispersal, likely hindering the dispersal of many plants across urban landscapes. Our results underscore the importance of promoting the use of native plants as ornamentals, enhancing habitat connectivity between forests and urban areas, and preventing the introduction of non-native fleshy-fruited plants. Ultimately, these findings highlight the need for sustainable urban planning and active stakeholder engagement to protect the seed dispersal service.</p>","PeriodicalId":10689,"journal":{"name":"Conservation Biology","volume":" ","pages":"e70097"},"PeriodicalIF":5.2,"publicationDate":"2025-07-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144552532","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"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":"Importance of connectivity for carnivore richness and occupancy in fragmented biodiversity hotspots.","authors":"Cindy M Hurtado, Gonçalo Curveira-Santos, Alvaro Garcia-Olaechea, Robyn Appleton, Cristian Barros-Diaz, Txomin Hermosilla, Diego J Lizcano, Jaime Salas, Diego Balbuena, Zoila Vega-Guarderas, Ana Benítez-López, Angela Brennan, A Cole Burton","doi":"10.1111/cobi.70096","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/cobi.70096","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Structural connectivity affects wildlife movement between habitat patches, contributing to the persistence of wildlife populations and their resilience to human-induced and environmental changes. However, its importance to wildlife population persistence remains unclear, particularly in fragmented landscapes, where there are additional co-occurring threats and varying protected area coverage (PAC). Using South American carnivore assemblages and fragmented tropical forests as a case study, we assessed the relative effect of structural connectivity on carnivore persistence in fragmented landscapes after accounting for PAC, and the efficacy of single-species connectivity approaches for protecting the habitat of multiple species. We applied a multiscale Bayesian modeling framework to camera-trapping data from 567 cameras in 23 landscapes in the Tumbesian region of Ecuador and Peru. We tested the landscape-scale effects of habitat amount, connectivity, human density, and protected area status on carnivore richness and mean occupancy and the fine-scale effects of forest cover, distance to roads, and hunting on carnivore site occupancy. In 41,861 camera days of sampling, we obtained 5267 independent detections of 12 carnivores across all landscapes. Connectivity, habitat amount, and PAC had a positive effect on carnivore richness, emphasizing that large and well-connected landscapes of natural habitat with greater PAC sustain more species-rich carnivore communities. Mean site occupancy across the carnivore community was positively associated with forest cover at the fine scale and connectivity at the landscape scale. This last relationship varied by species, with occupancy of forest-dependent mesocarnivores being most positively associated with higher connectivity. Our results highlight that increasing connectivity can improve the persistence of vulnerable carnivore populations, even in landscapes with varied amount of PAC. Furthermore, conservation planning to increase connectivity should take a multispecies approach because single-species approaches are unlikely to meet the needs of diverse communities.</p>","PeriodicalId":10689,"journal":{"name":"Conservation Biology","volume":" ","pages":"e70096"},"PeriodicalIF":5.2,"publicationDate":"2025-07-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144552530","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"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":"Key drivers of at-vessel mortality in demersal sharks.","authors":"David Ruiz-García, Claudio Barría, Juan A Raga, David March","doi":"10.1111/cobi.70100","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/cobi.70100","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Chondrichthyans are highly vulnerable to fisheries overexploitation, and postcapture mortality poses a significant threat to most species. Global bycatch mitigation guidelines recommend adopting hierarchical decision-making approaches tailored to species-specific vulnerabilities and socioeconomic and regulatory contexts. Effective implementation of such strategies requires robust understanding of the factors driving vulnerability to postcapture mortality. To address this need, we developed a machine learning method to identify key drivers of at-vessel mortality (AVM) based on a broad set of biological, environmental, and fishing-related parameters. We sought to reveal interactions among predictors, nonlinear responses between these variables and mortality risk, and threshold values beyond which the likelihood of mortality increased markedly. We applied this approach to trawl bycatch data on small-spotted catshark (Scyliorhinus canicula) and blackmouth catshark (Galeus melastomus) in the western Mediterranean. Body size, air temperature, and on-deck time emerged as the primary AVM drivers. Mortality risk increased substantially at temperatures above 20°C for S. canicula and 16°C for G. melastomus, with on-deck exposure exceeding 15 min, and when body size was below 40 and 55 cm, respectively. Identification of these drivers and thresholds provides valuable insights for bycatch mitigation; can inform strategies for more threatened, closely related, or physiologically and ecologically similar species; and may support management authorities in adopting targeted bycatch avoidance strategies, gear selectivity, and mortality reduction measures. Such measures can be tailored to specimens, areas, and periods of heightened mortality risk to maximize effectiveness. Furthermore, our scalable modeling approach offers a robust tool for identifying critical AVM drivers across regions and species, and its applicability can be extended to broader fisheries management and global conservation efforts.</p>","PeriodicalId":10689,"journal":{"name":"Conservation Biology","volume":" ","pages":"e70100"},"PeriodicalIF":5.2,"publicationDate":"2025-07-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144552531","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"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":"Vulnerability of tropical fish communities across depth in the central Indian Ocean.","authors":"Paris V Stefanoudis, Nina M de Villiers, Mariyam Shidha Afzal, Hana Amir, Farah Amjad, Aminath Shaha Hashim, Ahmed Riyaz Jauharee, Ryan Palmer, Alex D Rogers, Mohamed Shimal, Shafiya Naeem, Mohamed Ahusan, Lucy C Woodall","doi":"10.1111/cobi.70085","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/cobi.70085","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Coral reefs and their fish communities below scuba diving depth (>30 m), in mesophotic coral ecosystems (MCEs) (∼30-150 m), in rariphotic (150-300 m), and in upper bathyal waters (300-500 m) are often underexplored, especially in the Indian Ocean. The paucity of data, including on the biodiversity, ecology, and vulnerability of these habitats and the communities they support, leads to their omission from most conservation and management decisions and practices. We investigated for the first time the structure and diversity (taxonomic and functional) of demersal fish communities from the central and southern atolls of the Maldives, spanning a wide bathymetric gradient of 2-500 m to better understand whether and how their vulnerability changes across depth. Abundance and biomass data from transect surveys of demersal fishes were combined with species' trait data representing life histories to estimate a series of taxonomic-based and functional-based diversity metrics. Distinct fish communities occurred across the different surveyed depths, highlighting the unique biological characteristics of MCEs and deep-sea coral habitats in the Indian Ocean. Taxonomic and functional diversity decreased as depth increased, and there was little overlap between species' life-history strategies. This suggests deep habitats are more vulnerable than shallow habitats to disturbance events given low levels of trait redundancy that buffer species' trait loss. Moreover, many fishes living in MCE and deep-sea habitats were among the most functionally unique species (e.g., sharks and rays) and all were threatened with extinction. Given the suite of pressures MCEs and deep-sea habitats are subjected to (fishing, thermal stress, pollution), their vulnerability to disturbance, and the species of conservation concern they support, we suggest they should be considered as priorities in ongoing and future conservation and marine spatial planning initiatives in the region and globally.</p>","PeriodicalId":10689,"journal":{"name":"Conservation Biology","volume":" ","pages":"e70085"},"PeriodicalIF":5.2,"publicationDate":"2025-07-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144552534","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"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":"Using lessons from criminal justice research to improve conservation law enforcement research and practice.","authors":"Freya A V St John, Leejiah Dorward, Harriet Ibbett, Martina Feilzer","doi":"10.1111/cobi.70094","DOIUrl":"10.1111/cobi.70094","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Urgency to save species from extinction has prompted increased investment in law enforcement in protected areas. To date, such law enforcement has largely focused on increasing costs and reducing opportunities for offending. However, these resource-intensive approaches are not always effective and can contribute to conflict between people and conservation authorities, undermining human well-being and conservation goals. Drawing on criminal justice research, we considered how procedural justice theory-which examines how fair process and the perceived legitimacy of rules and enforcers influence behavior- could enhance understanding of compliance dynamics and complement existing law enforcement approaches, particularly in addressing low-level noncompliance in protected areas. We also explored how principles of procedural justice have been incorporated in general policing and outlined challenges and opportunities to integrating this approach into conservation law enforcement. We considered key opportunity-based (e.g., routine activity theory) and actor-based frameworks (e.g., deterrence theory) underpinning most protected areaenforcement. We then focused on procedural justice theory and the role of legitimacy in encouraging compliance. Evidence from general policing shows that when enforcers treat citizens fairly, listen, and make decisions objectively, they gain trust and legitimacy. In turn, people are more inclined to comply with laws and cooperate with enforcers. Procedural fairness can be implemented during encounters by embracing 4 pillars: neutrality, voice, respect, and trustworthiness. Outlining challenges of integrating this approach in conservation law enforcement, we highlight the need to address limited public trust in state authority and other factors including working conditions of enforcers. Alongside ensuring the integrity and accountability of conservation law enforcement, we argue that embedding principles of procedural fairness into interactions between enforcers and citizens could reduce low-level noncompliance. Success, however, requires conservation law enforcement to be reconceptualized by placing procedural fairness and legitimacy on a more equal footing with deterrence in research and practice.</p>","PeriodicalId":10689,"journal":{"name":"Conservation Biology","volume":" ","pages":"e70094"},"PeriodicalIF":5.2,"publicationDate":"2025-07-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7617914/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144552533","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Identifying potentially suitable and accessible refugia to mitigate impacts of an emerging disease on a rare tree.","authors":"Sarah M Herbert, Stephanie A Tomscha, Hao Ran Lai, Rubianca Benavidez, Colan G Balkwill, Pearl R Ruston, Bethanna Jackson, Julie R Deslippe","doi":"10.1111/cobi.70088","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/cobi.70088","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Identifying refugia from emerging threats is vital to ensure the persistence of rare and threatened species, but modeling habitat distribution for these species is challenging and the role of people in refuge management is rarely considered. Myrtle rust is an emerging infectious disease that represents a grave threat to the rare wetland tree species maire tawake (Syzygium maire) in Aotearoa New Zealand. We combined high-resolution hydrological modeling with integrated species distribution modeling of new and existing S. maire records to identify the extent of habitat in the capital city region available for conservation management. We mapped 2 myrtle rust infection risk scenarios throughout the region to identify areas of relatively low disease risk and used distance of S. maire habitat to the nearest road as a proxy for human accessibility to the area. We identified 1230 km² of S. maire habitat (waterlogged areas) in the region. In these areas, 1-52 km² were the most feasible for conservation because they were predicted to support high relative abundances of S. maire, were accessible by road, and offered lower disease risk. However, protecting trees only in low-risk or accessible refugia was predicted by the species distribution model (SDM) to be insufficient to maintain the regional population as the myrtle rust pandemic proceeds. Our highly local approach to refugia modeling enabled rapid collection of new records of a rare species for species distribution modeling and access to high-resolution topographical data for hydrological modeling. However, limitations to understanding the biophysical limits of myrtle rust and S. maire included model-based constraints on inference, poor spatial precision of historical species records, insufficient information on groundwater drainage, and uncertainty in quantifying disease risk. The success of regional conservation efforts for this species will likely depend on human intervention to increase S. maire occupancy in low-risk habitats and to manage myrtle rust. We therefore recommend leveraging human-nature interactions in areas to create, expand, and protect habitat for rare species in a rapidly changing world.</p>","PeriodicalId":10689,"journal":{"name":"Conservation Biology","volume":" ","pages":"e70088"},"PeriodicalIF":5.2,"publicationDate":"2025-06-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144526673","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"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":"Demand for small- and large-ranged reptiles in worldwide wildlife trade.","authors":"Songqi Zhang, Shai Meiri, Marcel Holyoak, Jiang Wang, Yanping Wang, Chuanwu Chen","doi":"10.1111/cobi.70095","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/cobi.70095","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Wildlife trade poses a major threat to biodiversity, yet the drivers determining which species are traded are not fully understood. Through a comprehensive collection of official and online trade data, we applied a binomial test to identify families that contain an unexpectedly large or small number of traded species. We also analyzed which factors predispose reptile species to be traded and explored whether traded species were more likely to be threatened with extinction. Of the 10,919 reptile species in our dataset, 3889 species (35.6%) were traded. There was strong evidence for taxonomic biases in trade risk. In particular, all turtle and crocodilian families had higher trade risk than other reptiles. Species with large body sizes, habitat generalists, insular endemics, and those found in regions with high gross domestic product were traded in greater quantities and more frequently. Species with small and large ranges were more frequently involved in trade, suggesting a demand for rare and common species in wildlife trade. When connecting trade risk to extinction risk, data-deficient and not-evaluated species had fewer traded species and were less likely to be traded than threatened or nonthreatened ones. Nonetheless, these species warrant special conservation attention considering their rarity, limited range size, and insufficient legal protection. Given the increased attention given to wildlife trade, we suggest implementing stronger regulatory measures to monitor and control the trade of reptile species, particularly those belonging to families with a high risk of being traded. Efforts should also prioritize the protection of species exhibiting traits that make them highly susceptible to exploitation. Finally, promoting international collaboration for stricter enforcement of wildlife trade regulations and support of sustainable trade practices can help mitigate the negative impacts on biodiversity.</p>","PeriodicalId":10689,"journal":{"name":"Conservation Biology","volume":" ","pages":"e70095"},"PeriodicalIF":5.2,"publicationDate":"2025-06-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144474172","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"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":"Forest fire smoke as a threat to the health of river dolphins.","authors":"Enzo Aliaga-Rossel, David Edinger, Miriam Marmontel, Luis Guizada Duran, Andreas Fahlman","doi":"10.1111/cobi.70098","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/cobi.70098","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":10689,"journal":{"name":"Conservation Biology","volume":" ","pages":"e70098"},"PeriodicalIF":5.2,"publicationDate":"2025-06-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144474173","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"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":"Improvements for better scaling of locally managed marine areas.","authors":"Emily Lewis-Brown, Hope Beatty, Katrina Davis, Ando Rabearisoa, Jeannot Ramiaramanana, Robert M Ewers, Morena Mills","doi":"10.1111/cobi.70091","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/cobi.70091","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>To protect and restore ecosystems at the speed and scale required to meet current environmental challenges, a greater understanding of how conservation initiatives spread from existing to new adopters is required. According to the diffusion of innovation theory, positive adopter-to-peer communication is a powerful driver of innovation spread, whereas negative communications hinder innovation spread. Aware of this, businesses regularly survey customers and respond accordingly to maximize company growth. Therefore, we used 2 consumer satisfaction research measures commonly used by businesses, importance-performance analysis (IPA), which measures performance on metrics that are most important to customers, and net promoter score (NPS), which measures likely spread through positive referrals, to study satisfaction among adopters of locally managed marine areas (LMMAs) in northeastern Madagascar. Our results identified 4 attributes of LMMAs that adopters viewed as important but rated as worsening over time (funding and livestock provided by a nongovernmental organization, conflict in the village, and connections with others). Adopters considered control over resources and fisheries restrictions important and high performing. Villagers rated their quality of life since adopting LMMAs positively on average, but NPS returned a negative result overall and a strongly negative score for nonleaders. Our findings can be used to improve the design and management of LMMAs, inform pre- and postproject impact assessments to minimize negative impacts from conservation initiatives, and increase the spread of conservation initiatives. More broadly, this study presents a novel outlook for increasing the adoption of conservation initiatives by framing adopters of conservation initiatives as akin to customers whose perceptions of conservation initiatives matter inherently and because of their power to influence the spread of conservation initiatives.</p>","PeriodicalId":10689,"journal":{"name":"Conservation Biology","volume":" ","pages":"e70091"},"PeriodicalIF":5.2,"publicationDate":"2025-06-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144332604","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"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}