Animal Conservation最新文献

{"title":"Primate extinction, the legacy of 40 years' road expansion in Colombia","authors":"A. Ceia-Hasse,&nbsp;M. A. Thomson,&nbsp;E. A. Noguera-Urbano,&nbsp;J. C. Carrillo-Restrepo,&nbsp;C. A. Cruz-Rodríguez,&nbsp;C. A. Correa-Ayram,&nbsp;J. M. Ochoa-Quintero,&nbsp;I. M. D. Rosa","doi":"10.1111/acv.12901","DOIUrl":"10.1111/acv.12901","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Primates are declining worldwide and rapid infrastructure expansion, particularly roads, threatens their habitat. New roads fragment habitats allowing anthropogenic activities to occur in once pristine ecosystems; this is particularly impactful in tropical areas with high endemic biodiversity, as is occurring with primates in Colombia. However, temporal assessments of how roads impact local biodiversity are rare. We conducted a comprehensive assessment of the exposure of Colombian primates to roads from 1970 to 2015. Using a spatially explicit and species-specific approach, we estimated the critical road density and the critical patch size primate species can withstand before going locally extinct. Then, overlapping 15 primate species (~40% of the primate species present in Colombia) ranges with Colombia's road networks over time, we determined the road expansion scope within each habitat and consequent fragmentation. Comparing the species critical road density and patch size, we determined the degree of road exposure of each species over time and its vulnerability to local extinction. Our results show that between 1970 and 2015, there were nearly 40 000 km² where at least one species was at risk of local extinction, due to road expansion, principally in the Andean and Caribbean regions. Primates in these regions faced the greatest exposure to road impacts, with an average 16% increase in the amount of affected habitat during this period. Species in most need of conservation based on road exposure rankings are: <i>Cebus versicolor</i>, <i>Aotus griseimembra</i>, <i>Ateles hybridus</i>, <i>Saguinus leucopus</i> and <i>Saguinus oedipus</i>. Our study contributes to understanding road impacts on local biodiversity in one of the biodiversity hotspots across the tropics and highlights the need of infrastructure accounting for the necessary mitigation and conservation actions.</p>","PeriodicalId":50786,"journal":{"name":"Animal Conservation","volume":"27 2","pages":"226-239"},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2023-08-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"49136103","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":"How virtual representations of ecotourists' experiences on social media may shape meanings and preferences: insights for future research complementing visitation data","authors":"A. Hausmann","doi":"10.1111/acv.12897","DOIUrl":"10.1111/acv.12897","url":null,"abstract":"&lt;p&gt;The opportunity to spot charismatic megafauna in the wild, such as large-bodied mammals, has been promoted in ecotourism marketing to attract visitors and represents a popular wildlife-watching activity in African protected areas. However, increasing evidence shows that ecotourists' preferences to visit protected areas may be more diverse, expanding beyond charismatic megafauna. The wide-scale analysis carried out by Eyster, Naidoo, &amp; Chan (&lt;span&gt;2022&lt;/span&gt;) in Sub-Saharan Africa by using revealed preference methods identifies factors explaining higher visitation, as a proxy for protected areas' attractiveness. The results contribute to the literature, especially by identifying areas and species which are more likely to attract more visitors and be affected by both positive and negative impacts of ecotourism. The authors raise important questions regarding the need to further understand these impacts, which may include receiving higher revenues to support management but also neocolonial pressures, according to different contexts.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Eyster, Naidoo, &amp; Chan (&lt;span&gt;2022&lt;/span&gt;) found that beyond charismatic megafauna, areas with high bird diversity may also attract more visitors. Birdwatching is a growing niche in nature-based tourism attracting bird enthusiasts to diverse locations worldwide. In more remote and rural areas where charismatic megafauna do not occur (e.g., either naturally or as a consequence of human activities), birdwatching ecotourism may represent an important economic activity that could help align biodiversity conservation goals with rural development (Biggs &lt;i&gt;et al&lt;/i&gt;., &lt;span&gt;2011&lt;/span&gt;). However, the authors point out that other unmeasured park attributes or reasons may be driving visitation and the outcome of their models. Triangulating various sources of information (e.g., quantitative and qualitative information from surveys, and in-depth interviews) may contribute to complementing visitation data. This includes integrating insights from how preferences and perceptions are constructed in virtual social environments, such as social media platforms.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Content shared on social media (e.g., images, videos, and texts) has been used as a cost-efficient proxy for understanding a wide set of people-nature interactions, including ecotourists' preferences, visitation, and broader experiences in protected areas (Teles da Mota &amp; Pickering, &lt;span&gt;2020&lt;/span&gt;). Place-specific content from social media (e.g., geotagged photographs) could help unveil how factors of attractiveness found by Eyster, Naidoo, &amp; Chan (&lt;span&gt;2022&lt;/span&gt;) interplay with the plurality of reasons underpinning visitation at more local scales, for example, by assessing whether bird diversity or birdwatching activities are reflected in social media content posted in relation to bird-rich areas. Moreover, social media data could provide further insights into complementary results by unveiling emerging preferences and meanings which may not ","PeriodicalId":50786,"journal":{"name":"Animal Conservation","volume":"26 4","pages":"446-447"},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2023-08-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/acv.12897","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45040699","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"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":"Towards ecotourism that nurtures local visions for landscapes and wildlife","authors":"H. N. Eyster,&nbsp;R. Naidoo,&nbsp;K. M. A. Chan","doi":"10.1111/acv.12900","DOIUrl":"10.1111/acv.12900","url":null,"abstract":"&lt;p&gt;We thank Scholte, Kamgang, &amp; Sabuhoro (&lt;span&gt;2023&lt;/span&gt;) and Hausmann (&lt;span&gt;2023&lt;/span&gt;) for their perceptive commentaries on our study of what attracts ecotourists to Sub-Saharan African protected areas (Eyster, Naidoo, &amp; Chan, &lt;span&gt;2022&lt;/span&gt;).&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Because our study relied on tourist visit data that lacked any demographic information, we were unable to differentiate between the preferences of different tourist segments, but we agree with Scholte, Kamgang, &amp; Sabuhoro (&lt;span&gt;2023&lt;/span&gt;) that this is a critical next step in understanding how ecotourism can aid conservation. Specifically, domestic, intra-African, and diasporic ecotourists likely have different “ecotourist gazes”—i.e., “way[s] in which tourists view the people and places they visit”—that our paper was unable to disentangle (Stone &amp; Nyaupane, &lt;span&gt;2019&lt;/span&gt;, p. 2; Lindsey &lt;i&gt;et al&lt;/i&gt;., &lt;span&gt;2007&lt;/span&gt;; Urry, &lt;span&gt;1992&lt;/span&gt;). Indeed, our results that bird diversity appears to matter to tourists may be particularly representative of intra-African ecotourists: Lindsey &lt;i&gt;et al&lt;/i&gt;. (&lt;span&gt;2007&lt;/span&gt;) showed that bird diversity was much more important to African than non-African visitors to South African protected areas. Disentangling the varied preferences of different types of tourists will be essential to help protected areas adapt to the possibility of future pandemics and growing African populations (Scholte, Kamgang, &amp; Sabuhoro, &lt;span&gt;2023&lt;/span&gt;).&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Our study sought to examine the importance of the Big Five across Sub-Saharan Africa (specifically: elephants, rhinos, lions, buffalo, and leopards), but we agree with Scholte, Kamgang, &amp; Sabuhoro (&lt;span&gt;2023&lt;/span&gt;) that regional analyses are key to supporting the full diversity of African protected areas and wildlife. In particular, Scholte, Kamgang, &amp; Sabuhoro (&lt;span&gt;2023&lt;/span&gt;) note the longstanding underrepresentation of Central African wildlife and ecotourism in the published literature. Our study did not consider range-restricted species like mountain gorilla (&lt;i&gt;Gorilla beringei&lt;/i&gt;), which is found only in the forests of the Congo basin. While we believe that general, large-scale analyses examining continent-wide patterns are useful, complementing this level of insight with analyses of the relationships between regional species and ecotourists will be key for sustaining protected areas across the continent.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Hausmann (&lt;span&gt;2023&lt;/span&gt;) suggests that social media data might help fill these research gaps. Images, text, and videos shared on social media platforms could indeed help reveal “tourist gazes” (Stone &amp; Nyaupane, &lt;span&gt;2019&lt;/span&gt;). Moreover, these data could better show the variation in tourist gazes across locations and ecotourist origins. Yet Hausmann also cautions that these data must be critically considered, since they may exaggerate certain shareable ‘tourist imaginaries’ and underrepresent less viral but still important elements of the relationships e","PeriodicalId":50786,"journal":{"name":"Animal Conservation","volume":"26 4","pages":"448-449"},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2023-08-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/acv.12900","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43843478","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"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":"Beyond the Big Five and Birds: Divergent ecotourism perspectives in rapidly changing Africa","authors":"P. Scholte,&nbsp;S. A. Kamgang,&nbsp;E. Sabuhoro","doi":"10.1111/acv.12891","DOIUrl":"10.1111/acv.12891","url":null,"abstract":"&lt;p&gt;Ecotourism has increasingly been recognized as an important source of revenue for protected areas as well as their surrounding communities (Hausmann &lt;i&gt;et al&lt;/i&gt;., &lt;span&gt;2016&lt;/span&gt;; Eyster, Naidoo, &amp; Chan, &lt;span&gt;2022&lt;/span&gt;; Gupta &lt;i&gt;et al&lt;/i&gt;., &lt;span&gt;2023&lt;/span&gt;). Particularly in southern and eastern Africa, ecotourism is linked with charismatic species - the Big Five-, i.e., African elephant (&lt;i&gt;Loxodonta africana&lt;/i&gt;), rhinoceros (&lt;i&gt;Diceros bicornis&lt;/i&gt;, &lt;i&gt;Ceratotherius simum&lt;/i&gt;), lion (&lt;i&gt;Panthera leo&lt;/i&gt;), African buffalo (&lt;i&gt;Syncerus caffer&lt;/i&gt;), and leopard (&lt;i&gt;Panthera pardus&lt;/i&gt;). In ‘Not just the Big Five: African ecotourists prefer parks brimming with bird diversity’, Eyster, Naidoo, &amp; Chan (&lt;span&gt;2022&lt;/span&gt;) show how ecotourists also value birdwatching and viewing other wildlife. Ecotourism-based initiatives founded on local cultures can also be found (Hausmann &lt;i&gt;et al&lt;/i&gt;., &lt;span&gt;2016&lt;/span&gt;). This recent research shows that reigning conservation interventions such as reintroducing Big Five species, which drain scarce budgets, may be directed to other attractions -birds, culture-, more effectively in the long run (Mbaiwa, &lt;span&gt;2015&lt;/span&gt;). This has significant implications for biodiversity conservation and how tourism may benefit local economies in sub-Saharan Africa (Mbaiwa, &lt;span&gt;2015&lt;/span&gt;; Gupta &lt;i&gt;et al&lt;/i&gt;., &lt;span&gt;2023&lt;/span&gt;).&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Eyster, Naidoo, &amp; Chan (&lt;span&gt;2022&lt;/span&gt;) explicitly mention their focus on southern Africa and East Africa (SSE), a regional perspective that is very common (Bauer &lt;i&gt;et al&lt;/i&gt;., &lt;span&gt;2020&lt;/span&gt;). The authors' choice of ‘Big Five alternatives’ – giraffe (&lt;i&gt;Giraffa&lt;/i&gt; spp.), cheetah (&lt;i&gt;Acinonyx jubatus&lt;/i&gt;), wild dog (&lt;i&gt;Lycaon pictus&lt;/i&gt;), birds – is limited to savannas species, thereby neglecting African forest species, such as mountain gorilla (&lt;i&gt;Gorilla beringei&lt;/i&gt;) and chimpanzee (&lt;i&gt;Pan troglodytes&lt;/i&gt;), the backbone of a flourishing ecotourism industry in Rwanda, Uganda and beyond (Sabuhoro &lt;i&gt;et al&lt;/i&gt;., &lt;span&gt;2017&lt;/span&gt;). This also holds for burgeoning ecotourism targeting lowland gorillas (&lt;i&gt;Gorilla gorilla&lt;/i&gt;) (Cameroon, Central African Republic, Gabon) and Ethiopian mountain endemics such as walia ibex (&lt;i&gt;Capra walie&lt;/i&gt;) and mountain nyala (&lt;i&gt;Tragelaphus buxtoni&lt;/i&gt;).&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;COVID-19 was a wake-up call, demonstrating too much reliance on ecotourism in Africa and beyond, a lesson all too easy to forget (Gupta &lt;i&gt;et al&lt;/i&gt;., &lt;span&gt;2023&lt;/span&gt;). Much less known have been the consequences of a degrading security situation in West-Central-Horn (WCH) of Africa over the recent decade (Bauer &lt;i&gt;et al&lt;/i&gt;., &lt;span&gt;2020&lt;/span&gt;). The WCH part of the annual ecotourism visit map that Eyster, Naidoo, &amp; Chan (&lt;span&gt;2022&lt;/span&gt;) present has turned since 2007, with the exception of the western coastal parts, completely red or orange, i.e. (formally) advising against travel, invalidating, amongst other things, travel insurance policies (Figure 1). In WCH Africa, on","PeriodicalId":50786,"journal":{"name":"Animal Conservation","volume":"26 4","pages":"443-445"},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2023-08-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/acv.12891","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41257494","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"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":"Distance to the edge and other landscape features influence nest predation in grey partridges","authors":"A. Laux,&nbsp;K. Mayer,&nbsp;W. Beeke,&nbsp;M. Waltert,&nbsp;E. Gottschalk","doi":"10.1111/acv.12898","DOIUrl":"10.1111/acv.12898","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Predation and habitat deterioration are the main reasons for the strong decline of ground-nesting farmland birds such as the grey partridge <i>Perdix perdix</i> in Europe. Grey partridge nests and incubating females are especially vulnerable to predation. We have previously demonstrated that predator activity is much lower inside flower blocks (agri-environment schemes sown with a flower seed mix) than at their edges and that predator activity in flower blocks depends on the surrounding landscape. Here, we investigate whether these differences in predator activity translate into differences in grey partridge nest predation and assess predation patterns relative to landscape and nest site characteristics. We recorded the success of 56 nests of radio-tagged grey partridges between 2009 and 2017 in an agricultural landscape in Central Germany. We used Bayesian logistic regression to analyse the effects of nest site and landscape characteristics on nest predation on a subset of 46 nests (21 nests successful, 25 predated). Distance to the edge of the nesting habitat was the most important predictor, reducing predation probability from 66.8% at the edge to 18.5% at 85.5 m. Predation probability decreased with increasing length of habitat borders, habitat diversity and the area of permanent grasslands and fallows. Predation probability was higher further from settlements and increased with increasing woodland area in the agricultural matrix. When considering linear landscape structures, nest predation patterns matched the patterns of predator activity from our previous studies. Results suggest that the distance to the edge of the nesting habitat is most important and that nest predation may be reduced by providing sufficiently broad nesting habitats. Nest predation may further be minimized by increasing habitat diversity and coverage of extensive vegetation types and by establishing conservation measures for grey partridges further away from woodlands. These measures may also benefit other ground-nesting farmland birds.</p>","PeriodicalId":50786,"journal":{"name":"Animal Conservation","volume":"27 2","pages":"196-211"},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2023-08-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/acv.12898","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"49445834","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"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":"Meta- and subpopulation estimation with disparate data: coconut crabs in the Western Indian Ocean","authors":"T. Caro,&nbsp;R. S. Rashid,&nbsp;J. Zeltman,&nbsp;L.-M. Gierse,&nbsp;R. Sollmann","doi":"10.1111/acv.12896","DOIUrl":"10.1111/acv.12896","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Widely dispersed fragmented populations are a challenge to monitor because subpopulation sizes may be very small, difficult to access and time consuming to sample regularly. We use the coconut crab (<i>Birgus latro</i>) on Pemba, United Republic of Zanzibar as a case study for estimating highly fragmented populations and metapopulation sizes. The species is a very large terrestrial decapod threatened by exploitation and habitat alteration and now classified as vulnerable. We developed an integrated model to analyse capture-mark-recapture (CMR) data from five sites jointly with count data from 24 sites to estimate site-level densities and population sizes, predicted total population size across the Pemba archipelago, and investigated the effect of six predictors of human influence on density. We fitted separate models to test the effect of the same predictors on raw counts and individual body mass. We estimate the total population of coconut crabs on the Pemba archipelago to be <i>c</i>. 6700 terrestrial individuals. We show that government protection generally affects crabs positively, whereas presence of agriculture negatively affects their densities. This study highlights that time-consuming CMR data can be leveraged to estimate densities on less visited sites, and that fully protected islands are critical for maintaining relatively high population densities. Our overall population estimate suggests that Pemba still hosts a viable coconut crab population in a part of its range where the species is otherwise in steep decline.</p>","PeriodicalId":50786,"journal":{"name":"Animal Conservation","volume":"27 2","pages":"184-195"},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2023-08-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/acv.12896","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42035054","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"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":"Balancing conservation and welfare in ex situ management of the extinct-in-the-wild sihek: sex- and age-specific causes of mortality and contributions to population growth rate","authors":"A. E. Trask,&nbsp;C. Carraro,&nbsp;R. Kock,&nbsp;R. McCrea,&nbsp;S. Newland,&nbsp;E. Royer,&nbsp;S. Medina,&nbsp;D. Fontenot,&nbsp;J. G. Ewen","doi":"10.1111/acv.12895","DOIUrl":"10.1111/acv.12895","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Ex situ threatened species management has both conservation and welfare objectives and these objectives often align, but can diverge. Areas of agreement can present win-wins for achieving welfare and conservation objectives, while identifying areas of divergence is important to ensure management strategies achieve balance across objectives. We examined welfare and conservation objectives in the ex situ population of Extinct in the Wild sihek (Guam kingfisher, <i>Todiramphus cinnamominus</i>) by quantifying mortality rates, determining sex- and age-specific causes of mortality and identifying associated welfare domains, as well as quantifying sex- and age-specific differences in reproductive value and contributions to variation in population growth rate (<i>λ</i>). Females had significantly higher mortality rates than males, potentially impacting population viability and suggesting females may be more vulnerable to experiencing lower welfare than males. Mitigating causes of female mortality would therefore present a clear win-win for both welfare and conservation objectives. Both causes of mortality and contributions to variation in <i>λ</i> were found to differ across sex- and age-classes. In particular, nutritional and metabolic diseases tended to impact younger age-classes and these age-classes had large contributions to variation in <i>λ</i>. Mitigation of these diseases could therefore also present a win-win for welfare and conservation objectives. However, we also identified a potential divergence between objectives: a major cause of female mortality was reproductive disease with older aged females primarily affected, but older aged females contributed little to variation in <i>λ</i> and had low reproductive value. Developing mitigation strategies for reproductive disease could therefore aid welfare objectives but have little benefit for conservation objectives, suggesting careful balancing across objectives is required. Our results highlight the need to explicitly consider conservation and welfare objectives in threatened species management, in particular in the context of an increasing conservation need for ex situ population management, coupled with increasing social concern for animal welfare.</p>","PeriodicalId":50786,"journal":{"name":"Animal Conservation","volume":"27 2","pages":"171-183"},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2023-07-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48333543","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":"Combining species distribution models and moderate resolution satellite information to guide conservation programs for reticulated giraffe","authors":"R. D. Crego,&nbsp;J. Fennessy,&nbsp;M. B. Brown,&nbsp;G. Connette,&nbsp;J. Stacy-Dawes,&nbsp;S. Masiaine,&nbsp;J. A. Stabach","doi":"10.1111/acv.12894","DOIUrl":"10.1111/acv.12894","url":null,"abstract":"<p>The conservation of threatened and rare species in remote areas often presents two challenges: there may be unknown populations that have not yet been documented and there is a need to identify suitable habitat to translocate individuals and help populations recover. This is the case of the reticulated giraffe (<i>Giraffa reticulata</i>), a species of high conservation priority for which: (a) there may be unknown populations in remote areas, and (b) detailed maps of suitable habitat available within its range are lacking. We implemented a species distribution modeling (SDM) workflow in Google Earth Engine, combining GPS telemetry data of 31 reticulated giraffe with Landsat 8 OLI, Advanced Land Observing Satellite Phased Arrayed L-band Synthetic Aperture Radar, and surface ruggedness layers to predict suitable habitat at 30-m spatial resolution across the potential range of the species. Models had high predictive power, with a mean AUC-PR of 0.88 (SD: 0.02; range: 0.86–0.91), mean sensitivity of 0.85 (SD: 0.04; range: 0.80–0.91), and mean precision was 0.81 (SD: 0.02; range: 0.79–0.83). Model predictions were also consistent with two independent validation datasets, with higher predicted suitable habitat values at known occurrence locations than at a random set of locations (<i>P</i> &lt; 0.01). Our model predicted a total of 5519 km² of potentially suitable habitat in Kenya, 963 km² in Ethiopia, and 147 km² in Somalia. Our results indicate that is possible to combine moderate spatial resolution imagery with telemetry data to guide conservation programs of threatened terrestrial species. We provide a free web app where managers can visualize and interact with the 30 m resolution map to help guide future surveys to search for existing populations and to inform future reintroduction assessments. We present all analysis code as a framework that could be adapted for other species across the globe.</p>","PeriodicalId":50786,"journal":{"name":"Animal Conservation","volume":"27 2","pages":"160-170"},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2023-07-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46789542","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":"Assessing the potential for successful translocation and co-management of two endangered aquatic species","authors":"S. K. Snowden,&nbsp;D. M. Shier,&nbsp;K. M. Stemp,&nbsp;G. F. Grether","doi":"10.1111/acv.12893","DOIUrl":"10.1111/acv.12893","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Translocation programmes for endangered species typically focus on a single species, but in areas where little native habitat remains, it may be necessary to translocate multiple species to the same sites. Interactions between translocated species, such as predation and competition, are among the factors that need to be considered when planning multispecies translocations. Translocation sites for aquatic species are particularly scarce in southern California, where a limited number of sites exist for historically co-occurring endangered mountain yellow-legged frogs <i>Rana muscosa</i> and unarmoured three-spine sticklebacks <i>Gasterosteus aculeatus williamsoni</i>. To determine how these species would interact if translocated to the same sites, we carried out experiments ex situ with <i>R. muscosa</i> tadpoles and a surrogate subspecies of stickleback (<i>G. a. microcephalus</i>). We found that (1) adult sticklebacks preyed on hatchling tadpoles but did not consume <i>R. muscosa</i> eggs or large tadpoles; (2) tadpoles did not consume stickleback eggs or disturb sticklebacks nests; and (3) both species' microhabitat use shifted slightly when the other was present. Our results suggest that these species can likely be co-managed successfully, if measures are taken to curb stickleback predation on tadpoles until the <i>R. muscosa</i> population is well established. Using ex situ studies to evaluate species interactions prior to translocation is an approach that could prove useful in other species recovery programmes. Multispecies translocations could make better use of available resources when habitat is limited and promote ecosystem recovery by re-establishing interactions among native species.</p>","PeriodicalId":50786,"journal":{"name":"Animal Conservation","volume":"27 2","pages":"148-159"},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2023-07-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/acv.12893","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42094669","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"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":"Evaluation of the genetic viability of metapopulation scenarios for the Iberian lynx","authors":"C. Pacín,&nbsp;G. Garrote,&nbsp;J. A. Godoy","doi":"10.1111/acv.12890","DOIUrl":"10.1111/acv.12890","url":null,"abstract":"<p>The Iberian lynx has shown a favourable demographic trajectory in the last decade as a result of the conservation measures adopted which are still ongoing. However, the viability of the species is still compromised by genetic factors. Here, we used the GESP software that predicts the effective population size (Ne) and inbreeding accumulation (∆f) over time in metapopulations, to find realistic scenarios that guarantee the genetic viability of this species. We proposed as genetic targets that Ne of the metapopulation (Ne_Meta) should exceed 500 in 20 generations (long term), whereas ∆f of the subpopulations (∆f_x) should not exceed 0.05 in five generations (short term). The current Iberian lynx metapopulation configuration, with the expected subpopulations sizes at carrying capacity (5 subpops.; Ne₁ = 100, Ne_2,3,4,5 = 25), does not reach the long-term goal, with a Ne_Meta ~ 150 in 20 generations. The results indicate that the long-term genetic viability of the metapopulation requires an increase in the subpopulation size of 50–200%, the creation of at least 8 new subpopulations, and migration rates close to 0.1 between neighbouring subpopulations, comprising 2165 effective individuals (ca. 1100 breeding females). In addition, a minimum migration rate of 0.05 into the smallest subpopulations of Ne = 25 (i.e. 1.25 migrants/generation) is needed to avoid excessive inbreeding accumulation (short-term goal). Larger subpopulations are preferable to several smaller subpopulations with the same number of effective individuals, even when the latter are well connected. Although these requirements seem challenging to achieve in the short-medium term, the study provides key information for informed decision making by environmental managers and policymakers. The conclusions drawn here apply to other carnivores in need of conservation.</p>","PeriodicalId":50786,"journal":{"name":"Animal Conservation","volume":"27 1","pages":"112-123"},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2023-06-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/acv.12890","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41469336","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"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}