Biological Conservation最新文献

{"title":"Climate and land use drivers of freshwater fish biodiversity in the northeastern United States","authors":"Jennifer B. Rogers ,&nbsp;Graziella V. DiRenzo ,&nbsp;Rebecca M. Quiñones ,&nbsp;Todd Richards ,&nbsp;Allison H. Roy","doi":"10.1016/j.biocon.2025.111337","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.biocon.2025.111337","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Freshwater habitats can sustain high biodiversity, but habitat degradation, species invasion, and overexploitation have imperiled freshwater species. The multiple threats to freshwater habitats and changing stream characteristics due to climate change make it challenging to identify the drivers of fish vulnerability, especially given that the importance of drivers may vary by the biodiversity endpoint. The goals of this study were to 1) describe freshwater (lotic) fish biodiversity across northeastern states in the United States, and 2) identify geographic, climate, and land use drivers of fish biodiversity, toward improving freshwater fish conservation. We predicted habitat suitability for 53 fish species using survey data and corresponding geographic, climate, and land use data. After model fitting, we grouped species using a traditional approach based on traits and a new approach using modeled streamflow and stream temperature to create clusters. We found that climate and land use vulnerable groups did not always have similar geographic patterns or relationships to the climate or land use variables, suggesting that biota vulnerable to changing conditions may be overlooked by reliance on predefined guilds to set conservation goals. Biodiversity groups that were vulnerable to climate variables were also related to land use variables that can be used to identify restoration opportunities. This approach may be useful for managers interested in holistic freshwater management under changing stream conditions.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":55375,"journal":{"name":"Biological Conservation","volume":"310 ","pages":"Article 111337"},"PeriodicalIF":4.9,"publicationDate":"2025-07-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144714124","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":"Megaherbivores facilitate large grazing herbivores and suppress small mammals through vegetation structure and cryptic pathways","authors":"Robert A. McCleery ,&nbsp;Laurence Kruger ,&nbsp;Ara Monadjem ,&nbsp;Donovan Tye ,&nbsp;Philip Mhlava ,&nbsp;Emanuel Zwane ,&nbsp;Alison Bijl ,&nbsp;Maggie Jones ,&nbsp;Jack Hartfelder ,&nbsp;Muzi Sibya ,&nbsp;Corli Coetsee ,&nbsp;Robert J. Fletcher Jr","doi":"10.1016/j.biocon.2025.111378","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.biocon.2025.111378","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Variability in large mammalian herbivores can reshape smaller animal communities in complex ways. Accordingly, conservation strategies require a deeper understanding of the extent to which mesoherbivores (&gt;20–1000 kg) and megaherbivores (&gt;1000 kg) influence on animal communities are mediated by changes to vegetation structure, and the extent to which the influence of megaherbivores overlap with mesoherbivores. Using an exclusion experiment, we examined how megaherbivores altered mesoherbivore activity and how both groups influenced small mammals. We compared influences that were mediated by broad metrics of vegetation structure (i.e., indirect effects) with all other influences that were not mediated by vegetation structure (e.g., direct effects). We found megaherbivores were linked to increased mesoherbivore activity, particularly grazers, through both vegetation structure-mediated and other pathways. Alternatively, we found small mammals were suppressed where megaherbivores were present, and their population fluctuations were explained by both structure-mediated and other pathways. Small mammal abundance was higher where large herbivores were excluded compared to open plots, with no difference between plots excluding only megaherbivores and those excluding all herbivores. This suggests that these effects were produced by either megaherbivores alone, or by megaherbivores in conjunction with the increased mesoherbivore activity they facilitated. While small mammal abundance was linked to mesoherbivore-induced changes in grass biomass, their non-linear response, did not correspond with the exclusion of mesoherbivores. These findings highlight megaherbivores' capacity to reshape animal communities through interactions beyond broad metrics of vegetation structure, underscoring the importance of considering the varied influences of megaherbivores on mammal communities in conservation strategies.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":55375,"journal":{"name":"Biological Conservation","volume":"310 ","pages":"Article 111378"},"PeriodicalIF":4.9,"publicationDate":"2025-07-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144714123","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":"Increased drought drives avian community declines in the warm deserts of the United States","authors":"M. van den Bosch ,&nbsp;Z.L. Steel ,&nbsp;J.K. Costanza ,&nbsp;K.F. Kellner ,&nbsp;R.A. Peek","doi":"10.1016/j.biocon.2025.111393","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.biocon.2025.111393","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The frequencies, intensities, and durations of extreme weather are increasing under climate change, furthering biodiversity loss. In the Southwestern USA, rising drought frequencies and intensities are anticipated to increasingly affect wildlife and their habitat. Particularly in highly arid regions, where species live closer to the limit of physiological tolerances, increasing drought emerges as a major threat to biodiversity. Using North American Breeding Bird Survey data (1998–2022) in combination with the Standardized Precipitation-Evaporation Index (SPEI), we estimated the effects of short-term (3-month), annual (12-month), and prolonged (36-month) drought on avian abundance and apparent species richness in the warm deserts of the USA. We assessed community-level drought effects using six Bayesian relative abundance and apparent species richness models. Our results indicate declines in avian community abundance and richness under multiple drought durations, with the strongest effects associated with annual droughts. Our models estimated that in years where annual drought met the threshold of ‘severe’, 9 out of 38 species would have 18–34 % declines in relative abundance compared to a year with long-term average conditions, and apparent species richness would decline by 10 %. Availability of open water slightly mitigated negative drought effects on the avian community. Our results suggest drought will increasingly contribute to the collapse of aridland avian communities through declines in habitat generalist and obligate aridland species. Beyond mitigating future climate change, developing local adaptation strategies in arid regions, such as the conservation of water sources, appear necessary for biodiversity conservation.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":55375,"journal":{"name":"Biological Conservation","volume":"310 ","pages":"Article 111393"},"PeriodicalIF":4.9,"publicationDate":"2025-07-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144704372","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":"Contemporary genetic adaptation in zoos and conservation breeding programs","authors":"Drew Sauve ,&nbsp;Amy A. Chabot ,&nbsp;Denis Réale","doi":"10.1016/j.biocon.2025.111392","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.biocon.2025.111392","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Conservation breeding programs can be vital for combating biodiversity loss, but optimization of these programs is crucial for success. Genetic adaptation to captivity is suspected to affect reintroductions yet remains largely untested. Using an extensive dataset of breeding programs, we assessed adaptive genetic change in 31 vertebrate populations, marking the broadest estimation of additive genetic variance of fitness to date. Our findings indicate widespread, adaptive genetic change in <em>ex situ</em> populations, with estimates comparable to wild populations. While this adaptation may enhance fitness in captivity, concerns arise regarding how genetic divergence could impact reintroduction success. Our results suggest potential anthropogenic effects on microevolution <em>via</em> human management and highlight the need for a better understanding of genetic adaptation in captivity to ensure breeding populations can fulfill their potential.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":55375,"journal":{"name":"Biological Conservation","volume":"310 ","pages":"Article 111392"},"PeriodicalIF":4.9,"publicationDate":"2025-07-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144704374","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":"Extended storage of Posidonia oceanica seeds and seedlings: A breakthrough for year-round seagrass restoration","authors":"Alberto Sutera,&nbsp;Patrizia Spinelli,&nbsp;Davide Pacifico,&nbsp;Francesco Carimi,&nbsp;Roberto De Michele","doi":"10.1016/j.biocon.2025.111385","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.biocon.2025.111385","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Seagrass meadows are experiencing global declines due to a combination of human-induced pressures and natural disturbances, resulting in the loss of critical ecosystem services. In the Mediterranean, <em>Posidonia oceanica</em> meadows represent one of the most productive coastal ecosystems. Traditional restoration approaches rely on lateral cuttings, which are costly, labor-intensive, impacting donor meadows, and restrictive in terms of genetic diversity. Seed-based propagation offers a promising alternative, preserving genetic variability; however, it is limited by the unpredictability of seed stranding events and the brief timeframe for seed collection and transplantation. To overcome these constraints, we investigated long-term storage methods for seeds and seedlings, aiming to extend restoration windows beyond natural germination periods. Specifically, we assessed the effects of light conditions, storage density, and seedling developmental stage on viability during six months of cold storage at 4 °C. Our findings show that light is essential for maintaining viability, as all seedlings stored in darkness failed to survive. Seedlings aged 1–2 months exhibited significantly higher survival rates (70–90 %) than freshly collected seeds (40 %), while density had no notable impact on viability, supporting scalability. Attempts to induce dormancy using abscisic acid (ABA) and paclobutrazol were ineffective. This study presents the first successful protocol for extended storage of <em>P. oceanica</em> seeds and seedlings, offering a practical tool to improve the flexibility, feasibility, and efficiency of seagrass restoration efforts throughout the year.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":55375,"journal":{"name":"Biological Conservation","volume":"310 ","pages":"Article 111385"},"PeriodicalIF":4.9,"publicationDate":"2025-07-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144704373","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":"Poaching and trafficking of Barbary macaques after the CITES-uplisting","authors":"Daan P. van Uhm","doi":"10.1016/j.biocon.2025.111373","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.biocon.2025.111373","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Over the past century, the wild population of Barbary macaques has been declining at a 50 % rate, due to poaching, habitat destruction, and human-wildlife conflict. To restrict the international trade of the species, the Barbary macaque was uplisted on Appendix I of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) in 2017. With its inclusion on the Appendix I, the species currently enjoys international protection under the highest trading restrictions for endangered species. This research examines the dynamics of poaching and illegal tradensed on both quantitative analyses of confiscation data in Europe and interviews with respondents directly or indirectly involved in the illegal trade. Longitudinal trends in confiscations and requests for shelter at rescue facilities have shown a gradual decline of 90 % in confiscations and a 60 % decline in requests for shelter at rescue centres between 2006-2022. The illegal trade could potentially be around 100 monkeys each year. Fieldwork in trade hotspots supported these declining trends, where most poaching and trading activities have been reduced. However, signals of crime displacement to other places leave space for a remaining opportunistic market. There seems to be an overall reduction in poaching and trade of the Barbary macaques compared to the situation before the uplisting, however, solely ascribing this to the CITES uplisting is too narrow-sighted, due to its intertwined relation with community awareness and engagement projects initiated by governmental and non-governmental organizations.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":55375,"journal":{"name":"Biological Conservation","volume":"310 ","pages":"Article 111373"},"PeriodicalIF":4.9,"publicationDate":"2025-07-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144704375","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":"Interspecific interactions reveal potentially severe risks of China's on-going campaign on wild boar population control","authors":"Zhuojin Zhang ,&nbsp;Tianti Li ,&nbsp;Zhihong Guo ,&nbsp;Yue Weng ,&nbsp;Bojian Gu ,&nbsp;Xihong Wang ,&nbsp;Longchun Zhang ,&nbsp;Fang Wang","doi":"10.1016/j.biocon.2025.111377","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.biocon.2025.111377","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Being among the most adaptive mammals, wild boars are often considered overabundant and pose threats to human and biodiversity. However, significant knowledge gap exists in the interspecific interactions between wild boar and other sympatric species. We conducted camera trap and plot surveys, and evaluated the potential effect of China's wild boar population control campaign from a multi-species perspective. Occupancy modeling indicates that the occurrence probabilities of six of the nine focal species or species group are positively associated with wild boar relative abundance, including three most abundant carnivores, two most common ungulates, and three most abundant ground-dwelling avian species or species groups. The detection probabilities of all species but forest musk deer are either positively or neutrally associated with wild boar activity. Recurrent event analysis indicated wild boar to attract seven species or species groups, as highest visitation rates were observed immediately after wild boar presence, following strict decrease over time. Our research brought strong evidence of consistent positive impacts of wild boar on other sympatric species' habitat utilization, and shed light on wild boars' roles in maintaining species assemblages in well-protected nature reserves. Despite the acute urgency to mitigate human-wild boar conflict at the anthropogenic-natural interface, we strongly advocate China's on-going wild boar population control campaign in biodiversity-rich areas be temporally suspended, until more thorough evaluations of wild boar ecological roles are conducted. Our study has implications for management planning for other species in other ecosystems as well, where interspecific interactions play significant roles but are consistently ignored.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":55375,"journal":{"name":"Biological Conservation","volume":"310 ","pages":"Article 111377"},"PeriodicalIF":4.9,"publicationDate":"2025-07-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144704371","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":"","authors":"Mukhlis Ibrahim ,&nbsp;Teguh Pratama Puji Pamungkas","doi":"10.1016/j.biocon.2025.111389","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.biocon.2025.111389","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":55375,"journal":{"name":"Biological Conservation","volume":"310 ","pages":"Article 111389"},"PeriodicalIF":4.9,"publicationDate":"2025-07-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144703104","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":"A discourse analysis of print media coverage on the recolonization of the wolf in Germany","authors":"Kira Braun ,&nbsp;Stefanie Döringer ,&nbsp;Marco Heurich","doi":"10.1016/j.biocon.2025.111351","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.biocon.2025.111351","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Since the turn of the century, wolves have recolonized large areas in Central Europe. While some view this as a conservation success, others emphasize the problems caused by the renewed presence of the wolf. Media, which both reflects and shapes public attitudes, has increasingly been analyzed to understand the wolf discourse in Europe and the U.S. The present study connects to this research and examines German print coverage from 2000 to 2022, following the natural return of wolves, by applying structural topic modeling to identify prevalent topics, temporal trends, and spatial differences. The media analysis covers two national newspapers—<em>Bild</em> (<em>n</em> = 242) and <em>Süddeutsche Zeitung</em> (<em>n</em> = 125)—and two regional papers, <em>Lausitzer Rundschau</em> (<em>n</em> = 1026) and <em>Passauer Neue Presse</em> (<em>n</em> = 268). The most frequent topics included lethal control, wolf monitoring, and livestock depredation, with educational work being prominent only in regional coverage. Over time, topics on wolf monitoring and educational work decreased in regional newspapers, while management issues increased. Differences were also observed between <em>Bild</em> (tabloid press) and <em>Süddeutsche Zeitung</em> (quality press). <em>Bild</em> focused on livestock attacks, while this was not a key topic in <em>Süddeutsche Zeitung</em>. The results show that in Germany the dissemination of information on monitoring and biological status is often of high-quality from wolf experts, which tends to generate trust. Further, the findings suggest that educational events, such as film festivals, and the reporting of monitoring results, could represent crucial instruments for spreading information about the conservational value of large carnivores, particularly by reaching a wide but also regional audience.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":55375,"journal":{"name":"Biological Conservation","volume":"310 ","pages":"Article 111351"},"PeriodicalIF":4.9,"publicationDate":"2025-07-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144703101","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":"Scale-dependent effects of urban vegetation and artificial lights at night on bird-building collisions in China","authors":"Binbin V. Li ,&nbsp;Yixin Fang ,&nbsp;Shu-Yueh Liao ,&nbsp;Scott R. Loss ,&nbsp;Xi Li ,&nbsp;Lei Zhu","doi":"10.1016/j.biocon.2025.111375","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.biocon.2025.111375","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Bird building collisions are among the leading sources of human-caused avian mortality and present a significant threat to biodiversity with increasing urbanization. Although factors such as artificial light at night (ALAN) and vegetation are known to influence bird building collisions, the specific spatial scales (local or landscape scale) at which these factors are most strongly associated with bird collisions remain unknown. We initiated the first national citizen science project in China and surveyed bird collisions from 2021 to 2023, covering 3078 buildings. We found that bird species that were migratory, non-predatory and with a lower body mass were more likely to be found as collision casualties. ALAN only had a marginally significant effect on bird collisions, including a positive effect in fall migration and a negative effect in spring migration. ALAN within 100 m of buildings was more strongly associated with collision occurrence than ALAN at larger spatial scales. The percentage of vegetation cover around buildings was positively associated with collisions in both seasons, and this effect was greater at larger scales (1 km and 10 km). Buildings with shorter heights and higher glass coverage were more likely to cause bird collisions. Contrary to previous studies, trees within five meters of buildings were associated with reduced collision occurrence, especially during fall. The patterns revealed by our study could facilitate the formulation of more context-based urban planning and conservation measures in China. To devise more targeted interventions, long-term collision monitoring powered by citizen science initiatives, and robust estimates of bird abundance in China are needed.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":55375,"journal":{"name":"Biological Conservation","volume":"310 ","pages":"Article 111375"},"PeriodicalIF":4.9,"publicationDate":"2025-07-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144703100","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}