Frontiers in Conservation Science最新文献

{"title":"Conservation practitioners’ and researchers’ needs for bridging the knowledge–action gap","authors":"Alexandra N. Sabo, O. Berger‐Tal, D. Blumstein, A. Greggor, J. Swaddle","doi":"10.3389/fcosc.2024.1415127","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3389/fcosc.2024.1415127","url":null,"abstract":"In the field of biodiversity conservation, there is a growing need for research to translate to real-world impacts. Currently there exists a gap between research outcomes and on the ground action, commonly referred to as the knowledge-action gap. Previous research has focused on identifying the causes of the gap, but less research has focused on how to bridge it. We conducted an online survey with conservation researchers and practitioners to identify barriers in the science-to application pipeline and to understand how potential solutions would need to account for their information needs and workflows. Through a qualitative analysis of the open-ended survey responses, we found that information about tools and approaches to address conservation challenges is needed, but decision makers also need information to help them account for context specific barriers and opportunities. Solution-specific information alone, however, is often insufficient for practitioners, who also require the resource capacity and capable personnel to work with that information. Word of mouth and scholarly databases are the most common ways of learning about new tools and techniques, but lack of time, funding and personnel are barriers to implementing them. In addition, respondents identified a need for increased engagement with the conservation social sciences. We argue that a user-centered design approach should underpin any proposed solution to the gap and suggest that an online tool could be one effective solution.","PeriodicalId":507158,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Conservation Science","volume":"77 10","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-07-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141655449","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Editorial: Understanding the role of local knowledge and human emotions in wildlife conservation","authors":"Eduardo J. Naranjo, Dídac Santos-Fita, Nathalia M. Castillo-Huitrón","doi":"10.3389/fcosc.2024.1445681","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3389/fcosc.2024.1445681","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":507158,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Conservation Science","volume":"125 17","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-07-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141666300","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Winning space for conservation: the growth of wildlife conservancies in Kenya","authors":"Munira Anyonge Bashir, Edwin Wanyonyi","doi":"10.3389/fcosc.2024.1385959","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3389/fcosc.2024.1385959","url":null,"abstract":"Kenya’s conservation areas consist of national parks and reserves, national forests, and private and community wildlife conservancies. The historically protected areas only account for 10% of Kenya’s land mass (national parks, reserves, and protected forests). Conserving Kenya’s biodiversity referred to as a “national heritage” is at the core of the country’s conservation agenda. The success of Kenya’s model of free-ranging wildlife is based on allowing as much unhindered movement and distribution of wildlife as possible. However, the human population increase, along with the expansion of agriculture into arid lands and the impacts of climate change, has affected the dynamics of pastoralism, where increased competition for natural resources has escalated in some areas. One of the identified measures to mitigate the current challenges is to increase the space for conservation and provide incentives for communities to conserve. The development and growth of the wildlife conservancy movement in Kenya have been a prominent response. As of 2023, there have been 230 wildlife conservancies in Kenya totaling 9.04 million ha and comprising 16% of Kenya’s total land mass (with 195 being members of the Kenya Wildlife Conservancies Association). To contribute to the global target of protecting 30% of lands, freshwaters, and oceans by 2030, the Kenyan Government considers the expansion of the number and area of wildlife conservancies as an important mechanism to achieve these targets. Here, we discuss Kenya’s wildlife conservancies from legal and policy perspectives, the factors that have enabled their growth, the challenges they face, and the opportunities ahead.","PeriodicalId":507158,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Conservation Science","volume":" 13","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-07-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141676339","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Seals, sharks, and social identity: ocean management preferences and priorities","authors":"Rachel Bratton, Seana Dowling-Guyer, Jerry Vaske, Jennifer L. Jackman","doi":"10.3389/fcosc.2024.1390680","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3389/fcosc.2024.1390680","url":null,"abstract":"Social identity influences policy preferences and actions regarding wildlife. Using data from a survey of residents, commercial fishers, and tourists on Cape Cod, Massachusetts, this study examined the relationships between self-selected social identities (i.e., animal protection, environmental, hunter, and angler) within these stakeholder groups and ocean management priorities, support for the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA), and acceptance of lethal management of seals and white sharks. Results revealed three social identity clusters: (1) identification with environmental and animal protection groups (non-consumptive), (2) identification with both non-consumptive (environmental, animal protection) and consumptive (angler, hunter) groups, and (3) identification with none of the groups. Residents were a mix of identities; tourists primarily identified with the non-consumptive and, to a lesser extent, no identification clusters; and commercial fishers identified with the mixed non-consumptive/consumptive and no identification clusters. The overlap between consumptive and non-consumptive identifications illustrates the heterogeneity of social identity. Participants in the non-consumptive cluster favored policies prioritizing wildlife, the environment, and marine mammal protections more strongly than those in other clusters. Findings contribute to research examining social identity theory to improve understanding of public wildlife management preferences, within the novel context of rebounding populations of marine predators such as pinnipeds and white sharks.","PeriodicalId":507158,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Conservation Science","volume":" 3","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-07-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141673925","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Understanding perceptions that drive conflict over the endangered Hawaiian monk seal","authors":"Leilani Konrad, Arielle Levine, Kirsten Mya Leong, Francesca Koethe","doi":"10.3389/fcosc.2024.1394063","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3389/fcosc.2024.1394063","url":null,"abstract":"As conservation and management actions facilitate the recovery of threatened and endangered marine species, and human populations expand in urbanizing coastal areas, people are increasingly coming into contact with marine wildlife. These increasing human-wildlife interactions can cause conflict, as has been the case with the endangered Hawaiian monk seal. Since 2009, there have been at least sixteen documented monk seal killings by gunshot or head trauma. Drawing on interviews, surveys, and government and media reports, we explored the underlying drivers behind this conflict, examining how social construction of wildlife, levels of conflict, and ideas from risk communication inform these drivers. Across these sources, we found that most people on beaches where seals are present and other members of the public hold positive perceptions of monk seals and are not engaged in conflicts. Rather, conflict is driven by individuals who have strong feelings about seals and what they represent, which in some cases conflicts with their own values and sense of identity. Many monk seal recovery volunteers saw themselves as protectors of endangered seals, seeing the species as an innocent victim of human-caused environmental destruction. Some fishermen viewed seals as resource competitors, and there were those who also saw them as symbolic of federal government restrictions on access to natural resources. Native Hawaiians who disliked seals saw them as invaders in their native homeland, and perceived federal actions to protect seals as a continuation of colonial restrictions on their rights and access. Social media and other platforms also play an emerging role in escalating the conflict over monk seals. Natural resource managers have engaged in multiple intervention strategies to address conflict, including message framing, education and outreach, and efforts to increase public trust. However, these efforts have not always targeted the people most likely to interact with monk seals as populations recover. Ultimately, it is important for resource managers to articulate their own assumptions and values, and to work to understand the assumptions and values of those who may be affected by successful monk seal recovery efforts, to develop effective strategies that prevent and address conflict over this recovering endangered species.","PeriodicalId":507158,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Conservation Science","volume":" 14","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-07-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141679539","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"A rapid assessment methodology for quantifying and visualizing functional landscape connectivity","authors":"N. Schumaker","doi":"10.3389/fcosc.2024.1412888","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3389/fcosc.2024.1412888","url":null,"abstract":"The number of publications that evaluate or use landscape connectivity has grown dramatically in recent years. But the biological realism of common connectivity assessments remains limited. To address this shortcoming, I introduce a flexible methodology for evaluating functional landscape connectivity that can be quick to implement, biologically nuanced, and straightforward to interpret.I combined a US Fish and Wildlife Service land cover map with information from existing empirical studies to develop a movement simulator for the Fender’s blue butterfly, an endangered species in Oregon, USA. I use the resulting butterfly model to explore the concepts and mechanics behind my novel connectivity assessment methodology.My methods are able to identify clusters of connected resource patches, quantify and visualize movement rates between patches, and identify opportunities for enhancing connectivity through restoration and mitigation. My results include an emergent dispersal kernel that captures the influence of movement behavior on connectivity.The methods I introduce are capable of generating detailed yet practical connectivity analyses that can incorporate considerable biological and behavioral realism. My approach is simple to implement, and the requisite data can be modest. The toolkit I developed has the potential to standardize connectivity assessments that use either real or simulated movement data.","PeriodicalId":507158,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Conservation Science","volume":" 31","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-07-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141679367","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"An evaluation of tradeoffs in restoring ephemeral vs. perennial habitats to conserve animal populations","authors":"James T. Peterson, Adam Duarte","doi":"10.3389/fcosc.2024.1428697","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3389/fcosc.2024.1428697","url":null,"abstract":"Habitat loss and degradation pose significant threats to global fish and wildlife populations, prompting substantial investments in habitat creation and restoration efforts. Not all habitats provide equal benefits, leading to challenges in prioritizing restoration actions. For example, juvenile anadromous salmonids require high quality rearing aquatic habitats to achieve the physiological requirements needed to successfully migrate to the ocean. However, there are profound disagreements among anadromous salmon restoration managers whether it is best to focus efforts on restoring in-channel habitats that are available for the entire rearing period or floodplain habitats that, while facilitating greater growth and survival than in-channel habitats, are only available for a few weeks at a time and are typically only activated every two-to-three years.We used an existing fall-run Chinook salmon decision-support model to evaluate under what conditions floodplain restoration would provide greater benefits than in-channel habitat restoration. The simulations included a wide range of floodplain inundation frequencies and durations and floodplain benefits in the form of increased survival and growth relative to in-channel habitats.The simulations results indicated that in-channel habitat restoration was always the best habitat restoration action when there was no existing in-channel habitat despite simulating a wide range of flood frequency, duration, and growth and survival benefits. Floodplain restoration was generally best when there was sufficient in-channel habitat available to successfully rear most of the juveniles produced by the returning adult salmon.We hypothesize that in-channel and floodplain habitats have different roles in salmon population maintenance with in-channel habitats regulating the overall population size and floodplains acting as recurrent resource pulses. Our study provides a quantitative framework to evaluate the benefit of these two habitat types and provides generalizable rulesets that can be used by managers when implementing habitat restoration strategies for species that inhabit both in-channel and floodplain habitats.","PeriodicalId":507158,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Conservation Science","volume":"61 12","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-07-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141688666","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"What bycatch tells us about the diet of harbor and gray seals and overlap with commercial fishermen","authors":"Marjorie C. Lyssikatos, Frederick W. Wenzel","doi":"10.3389/fcosc.2024.1377673","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3389/fcosc.2024.1377673","url":null,"abstract":"Northwest Atlantic harbor (Phoca vitulina vitulina) and gray (Halichoerus grypus atlantica) seal populations are recovering from early to mid-20th century exploitation, increasing their biological interactions and bycatch in Northeastern US commercial fisheries. We evaluated the seals’ diet composition and compared their prey to commercial catches to assess trophic overlap and potential competition with commercial fisherman target catches. We obtained 148 harbor and 178 gray seal stomach samples from bycatch events that occurred between 2004 and 2018. We learned from the hard part remains that the majority of seals bycaught are young-of-the-year (≤12 months old) that consume a wide breadth of prey across three trophic groups. There was a general dichotomy in extrinsic factors associated with seal diet in which 45% trophic niche separation was explained by non-overlapping harbor and gray seal phenology and pup haul-out locations that are adjacent to active fishing areas. Prey size estimated from fish otoliths and squid beaks recovered from stomach contents showed that gray seals consumed larger prey than harbor seals and prey sizes from both seals showed limited overlap with prey sizes caught by commercial gillnet fishermen. The most important prey to both seals included large (>20 cm) and small (≤20 cm) silver hake (Merluccius bilinearis), (≤40 cm) red hake (Urophycis chuss), gulf stream flounder (Citharichthys arctifrons), medium (21–40 cm) white hake (Urophycis tenuis), and (<50 cm) Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua). Important prey to harbor seals that did not overlap with gray seals were Acadian redfish (Sebastes fasciatus), Atlantic herring (Clupea harengus), longfin (Doryteuthis pealeii), and shortfin squid (Illex illecebrosus). They contrasted with prey important to gray seals that did not overlap with harbor seals: yellowtail flounder (Limanda ferruginea), sand lance (Ammodytes spp.), Urophycis spp., and fourspot flounder (Hippoglossina oblonga). Despite the potential bias associated with opportunistic bycatch sampling, this study demonstrates the importance and value of utilizing carcasses retained from bycatch events, is complimentary to newer methodologies (i.e., DNA meta-barcoding), and fills data gaps in our understanding of the role recovering harbor and gray seal populations have on Northeastern US regional food webs.","PeriodicalId":507158,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Conservation Science","volume":"24 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-04-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140717278","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Commentary: The role of palaeoecology in reconciling biodiversity conservation, livelihoods, and carbon storage in Madagascar","authors":"G. Joseph, C. Seymour","doi":"10.3389/fcosc.2024.1389498","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3389/fcosc.2024.1389498","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":507158,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Conservation Science","volume":"15 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-04-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140717659","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Where have all the flowers gone? A call for federal leadership in deer management in the United States","authors":"Bernd Blossey, D. Hare, Donald M. Waller","doi":"10.3389/fcosc.2024.1382132","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3389/fcosc.2024.1382132","url":null,"abstract":"Forests in the United States continue to lose biodiversity and many fail to regenerate due to high deer (family Cervidae) abundance. Declines in biodiversity and overall ecosystem health due to high deer populations increases prevalence of wildlife and human diseases associated with increasing tick abundances and decreases forest resilience and the ability to deliver benefits provided by healthy ecosystems. In the eastern and midwestern United States, white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) are the main stressor, while in the western U.S. elk (Cervus elaphus) and black-tailed and mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus) can become equally problematic. Federal and State Wildlife Agencies are responsible for environmental stewardship and management of deer, migratory and endangered species, yet they lack authority to address human health concerns or commercial interests (we acknowledge tribal authority to manage wildlife as an important contributor to conservation). Furthermore, State Wildlife Agencies have retained their traditional focus to manage wildlife for recreational hunters while neglecting their obligations to manage wildlife in the interest of all citizens rather than special interest groups. Fragmented institutional arrangements and widely scattered responsibilities for human health, environmental conservation and management, agriculture, and commerce among tribal, federal, and state agencies have allowed deer impacts to grow into nationwide conservation and human health crises. Given that local, regional, and state-level initiatives have failed to provide appropriate remedies, federal leadership is now essential to integrate concerns among disciplines, policy domains, regions, habitats, and biota. We recommend developing a National Strategy to build strong collaborative efforts and diverse and inclusive relationships across environmental, human health and economic interests. These should reach beyond state boundaries to comprehensively address interrelated deer, human health, forest, and conservation crises. A well-coordinated and collaborative approach has the potential to overcome traditional turf battles between tribal, state, and federal interests by recognizing joint responsibilities and obligations to manage wildlife as a public trust resource. This collective approach can protect species before they become endangered, avoiding further declines in environmental and human health.","PeriodicalId":507158,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Conservation Science","volume":"318 ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-04-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140749874","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}