Janie L. Reavis , Blair E. Witherington , Michael J. Bresette , Kinley Ragan , John H. Wang , Stephen C. Pratt , H. Seckin Demir , Jennifer Blain , Sule Ozev , Dale F. DeNardo , Jesse F. Senko
{"title":"Novel behavioral responses of sea turtles to gillnet fishing gear","authors":"Janie L. Reavis , Blair E. Witherington , Michael J. Bresette , Kinley Ragan , John H. Wang , Stephen C. Pratt , H. Seckin Demir , Jennifer Blain , Sule Ozev , Dale F. DeNardo , Jesse F. Senko","doi":"10.1016/j.biocon.2025.111161","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.biocon.2025.111161","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div><ul><li><span>1.</span><span><div>Fisheries bycatch, or the incidental capture of non-target organisms, results in high sea turtle mortality and is believed to be a contributor to population declines. Field studies have shown visual stimuli to reduce sea turtle bycatch in gillnets. These studies have focused on bycatch outcomes specific to net-gear modifications and have not explored behavioral mechanisms driving sea turtle entanglement.</div></span></li><li><span>2.</span><span><div>To study these behaviors, we used wild-caught green (<em>Chelonia mydas</em>) and loggerhead (<em>Caretta caretta</em>) turtles in controlled tank experiments. We ran binary-choice trials with netted and unnetted passageways in a controlled tank environment. Underwater and overhead cameras recorded initial and subsequent treatment choices in addition to detailed behavior. Trials occurred in daylight, when turtles could presumably see the net. We also recorded time per treatment area, speed and acceleration in the presence of a net, and avoidance behaviors.</div></span></li><li><span>3.</span><span><div>Turtles reduced their speed in the presence of a net, which suggests that they see and respond to it before each encounter. Both species initially avoided the netted passageway. Avoidance included U-turn and reversal behaviors, which have not been described in previous literature. Green turtles exhibited more U-turn behaviors and net interactions, whereas loggerheads became entangled more frequently.</div></span></li><li><span>4.</span><span><div>By using controlled experiments with wild-caught animals, we provide novel insights on fine-scale behavioral interactions with fishing gear.</div></span></li></ul></div></div>","PeriodicalId":55375,"journal":{"name":"Biological Conservation","volume":"306 ","pages":"Article 111161"},"PeriodicalIF":4.9,"publicationDate":"2025-04-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143826193","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":"Spatio-temporal relationship between free-roaming dogs and the critically endangered Chinese pangolin","authors":"Hsiang Ling Chen, Yu-Chuan Liao","doi":"10.1016/j.biocon.2025.111160","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.biocon.2025.111160","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The rapid growth of human populations and urban expansion has led to habitat destruction, fragmentation, and heightened threats to biodiversity. Protected areas are essential for conservation, yet their effectiveness is increasingly challenged by invasive non-native carnivores, particularly domestic dogs (<em>Canis lupus familiaris</em>), which pose growing concerns for wildlife near urban settings. The critically endangered Chinese pangolin (<em>Manis pentadactyla</em>) faces significant threats, including habitat loss and injuries caused by dogs, but the specific impacts of dogs on their distribution and behavior remain poorly understood. Our study explored the spatial and temporal interactions between dogs and the Chinese pangolins in Yangmingshan National Park, situated within the Taipei-Keelung metropolis in northern Taiwan. From June 2018 to November 2019, we detected dogs at 50 camera sites whereas pangolins at 43 sites, and recorded 465 burrows. The habitat uses of dogs and pangolins showed partial overlap, with dogs present in more than one third of the areas where pangolins occurred. Presence of dogs declined with increasing distance from hot springs, areas tied to human activities and food subsidies, while pangolin site use was negatively linked to elevation and positively associated with distance from hot springs. The co-occurrence estimate between dogs and pangolins was −0.51, indicating a reduced likelihood of pangolin site use in areas with dogs. Low diel activity overlap (0.20) indicated limited temporal interaction. This study sheds light on the interactions between free-roaming dogs and the Chinese pangolins, illustrating how human-associated factors and invasive species affect wildlife in protected areas.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":55375,"journal":{"name":"Biological Conservation","volume":"306 ","pages":"Article 111160"},"PeriodicalIF":4.9,"publicationDate":"2025-04-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143827752","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}
Alex Macadam , Carys Morgans , Jessica Cheok , Katarina Damjanovic , Melissa Ciampaglia , Maren Toor , Patrick Laffy , Ira R. Cooke , Jan M. Strugnell , Kate M. Quigley
{"title":"Assessing the potential for “assisted gene flow” to enhance heat tolerance of multiple coral genera over three key phenotypic traits","authors":"Alex Macadam , Carys Morgans , Jessica Cheok , Katarina Damjanovic , Melissa Ciampaglia , Maren Toor , Patrick Laffy , Ira R. Cooke , Jan M. Strugnell , Kate M. Quigley","doi":"10.1016/j.biocon.2025.111155","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.biocon.2025.111155","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Mass coral bleaching and mortality events have increased in frequency over the last 30 years, with ocean temperatures projected to reach bleaching thresholds annually by 2050. Genetic interventions like assisted gene flow may speed up adaptation in reefs with less heat-tolerant corals by increasing the frequency of heat tolerance-associated genetic variants, but the effectiveness of the intervention across species and life stages remains uncertain. To investigate, we generated reproductive crosses of corals from reefs along a thermal gradient on the Great Barrier Reef, comparing fitness traits in intra-region (same region) and inter-region (different region) offspring from three species (Acropora kenti, <em>A. hyacinthus</em>, and <em>Goniastrea retiformis</em>). Juveniles were inoculated with three heat-tolerant symbionts: Durusdinium trenchii, a heat-evolved Cladocopium goreaui strain, and “wild” symbionts from northern reef sediments, to assess symbiosis impacts on heat tolerance. Survival, growth, colour change (proxy for bleaching), and effective quantum yield of photosystem II (YII) were measured across larvae, juveniles, and adults at elevated (32 °C, 35.5 °C) and ambient (27.5 °C) temperatures. Results showed higher survival in some inter-region crosses compared to intra-region crosses from central reefs in larvae and juvenile corals, though enhancement varied by species. Furthermore, heat-tolerant parents did not always produce heat-tolerant offspring, and larval heat tolerance did not always persist to the juvenile stage. Parent genetic background influenced survival more than symbiont treatment. These findings underscore the complexity of heat tolerance acquisition in early coral life stages.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":55375,"journal":{"name":"Biological Conservation","volume":"306 ","pages":"Article 111155"},"PeriodicalIF":4.9,"publicationDate":"2025-04-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143824122","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":"The alien marsh frog cocktail: Distribution, causes and pathways of a global amphibian invasion","authors":"Mathieu Denoël , Christophe Dufresnes","doi":"10.1016/j.biocon.2025.111120","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.biocon.2025.111120","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>While some biological invasions are well documented globally, others, more cryptic, are often underestimated despite multiple local warnings. This is the case of the marsh frog (<em>Pelophylax ridibundus</em> sensu lato), a Palearctic anuran amphibian distribured from Western Europe to Central Asia. Marsh frogs have been introduced into many European countries, where they pose threats to biodiversity, yet an integrative understanding of their invasion is lacking. Therefore, we combined diverse bibliographic sources with recent DNA barcoding to determine the extent and diversity of invasions in Europe and substantiate the causes and pathways of introductions. We document alien frog populations across 167 sub-regional administrative areas in 19 European countries, corresponding to nine phylogeographic lineages originating from three continents. Introduction pathways from the Balkans and the Pannonian Plain, Anatolia and the Levant coincide with the history of live frog imports into Europe, which involved the trade of hundreds of millions of individuals. Introductions were mainly associated with the consumption of frogs' legs, but also with ornamental, educational and research purposes. While some introductions date to the 18th century, most took place in the second half of the 20th century and new cases continue to emerge. Altogether these results show that the marsh frog is a widespread and complex invasive amphibian species in Europe, and ranks among the most worrying amphibian invaders in the world. Our assessment calls for the immediate ban on the commercial import of live water frogs, especially to prevent new lineage combinations in invaded areas, a Pandora's box that, if opened, could further boost the species' invasive potential.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":55375,"journal":{"name":"Biological Conservation","volume":"306 ","pages":"Article 111120"},"PeriodicalIF":4.9,"publicationDate":"2025-04-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143824123","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}
Cara R. Parsons , Maldwyn J. Evans , Darren S. Le Roux , Saul A. Cunningham , Brad Law , Philip Gibbons
{"title":"Large urban trees are keystone structures for Australian microbats","authors":"Cara R. Parsons , Maldwyn J. Evans , Darren S. Le Roux , Saul A. Cunningham , Brad Law , Philip Gibbons","doi":"10.1016/j.biocon.2025.111146","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.biocon.2025.111146","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Large trees are keystone structures for a range of taxa. Insectivorous bats depend on large trees for roosting habitat, such as hollows and peeling bark, as well as habitat for their prey. However, large trees are in decline in urban areas globally. We sought to determine if the richness and activity of insectivorous bats in urban environments is associated with the occurrence of large trees; and in which urban landscape context large trees have greatest benefit for insectivorous bats. Using ultrasonic bat detectors set at 83 sites spanning temperate and subtropical cities in eastern Australia, we identified 20,026 bat passes from 16 microbat species and four species complexes. We found strong positive associations between four bat metrics (mean nightly activity, richness and activity of edge-adapted bats and vespertilionid bat activity) and the number of large trees ≥50 cm DBH. We also found evidence that large trees supported a higher richness of edge-adapted bats in areas with lower woody vegetation cover. Our data indicate that the value of large trees for edge-adapted bats is enhanced when large trees are isolated – a relationship previously demonstrated for birds but not bats. Large trees in urban greenspace, especially trees in isolation, offer valuable habitat that supports a substantial community of insectivorous bats. Our results highlight the importance of retaining large, isolated trees (both native and non-native) in urban greenspace for bat conservation.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":55375,"journal":{"name":"Biological Conservation","volume":"306 ","pages":"Article 111146"},"PeriodicalIF":4.9,"publicationDate":"2025-04-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143817130","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":"Blue-green infrastructures as avian refuges: Evidence from thermal-habitat niche stability across seasons","authors":"Yixue Chen, Yuhong Liu, Jiayuan Liu, Xue Wang","doi":"10.1016/j.biocon.2025.111158","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.biocon.2025.111158","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Many biodiversity trends have been linked to climate and land-use changes, but their effects on local community dynamics at fine regional scales remain underexplored. This study investigated urban blue-green infrastructure's impact on community niche variability, focusing on ecological source areas in Jiangsu, China. We analyzed bird communities' thermal and habitat niche compositions during breeding and overwintering seasons, influenced by climate and habitat variations. The results indicated that ecological source areas provided significant microclimatic buffering, attracting more cold-dwelling species during the breeding season, while warm-dwelling species dominated the overwintering season (<em>p</em> < 0.0001). Furthermore, the range of habitat niches remained consistently broad throughout all seasons (<em>p</em> < 0.0001). Blue-green infrastructure components differed in their composition across seasons in their effect on local and landscape-scale thermal and habitat niche compositions of bird communities. At a landscape scale, the number of patches influenced thermal niche metrics and significantly affected community niche breadth across several scales. Increased wetland area and the number of patches extended a variety of ecological niche types at almost any scale and season, while increased forest area and aggregation benefited certain species with specialized needs. These results indicated the importance of high-quality blue-green infrastructure management and planning to effectively support diverse conservation strategies. It is vital to employ these approaches to combat extreme climate and land-use changes as well as to develop novel adaptation strategies for communities. A biodiversity conservation strategy based on high-value typical BGI areas, ecological nodes, and ecological corridors is expected to promote sustainable development.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":55375,"journal":{"name":"Biological Conservation","volume":"306 ","pages":"Article 111158"},"PeriodicalIF":4.9,"publicationDate":"2025-04-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143820930","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}
Krizler C. Tanalgo , Kier C. Dela Cruz , Danilo Russo
{"title":"Corrigendum to “Susceptibility of bats to ecological and evolutionary traps” [Biol. Conserv. 305 (2025) 111110]","authors":"Krizler C. Tanalgo , Kier C. Dela Cruz , Danilo Russo","doi":"10.1016/j.biocon.2025.111164","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.biocon.2025.111164","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":55375,"journal":{"name":"Biological Conservation","volume":"306 ","pages":"Article 111164"},"PeriodicalIF":4.9,"publicationDate":"2025-04-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143855108","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}
Kathy Overton , Tim Dempster , Stephen E. Swearer , Luke T. Barrett
{"title":"Post-release survival of marine gastropods: A review","authors":"Kathy Overton , Tim Dempster , Stephen E. Swearer , Luke T. Barrett","doi":"10.1016/j.biocon.2025.111153","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.biocon.2025.111153","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Marine gastropods support important artisanal, cultural, and commercial fisheries. However, overexploitation of abalone, conch, topshell, and limpets has resulted in population declines globally, with numerous species on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Various efforts to supplement existing populations by either translocating wild or releasing hatchery-produced stock have suffered from low survival. To understand predictors influencing post-release survival, we conducted a systematic review and quantitative synthesis of literature on marine gastropod releases. Our global review identified 88 studies (575 unique release events) across 18 species. A similar number of releases were conducted in tropical (52 %) and temperate (48 %) regions, although most release events involved either Haliotidae (57 %) or Strombidae (26 %). Most releases used hatchery-produced stock (77 %), highlighting the prominent role of aquaculture. For seven species with sufficient data, we tested the effect of time since release, stock origin (hatchery, translocated), size at release, and density on post-release apparent survival (referred to as ‘survival’ hereafter), where applicable. Survival declined through time regardless of species. Hatchery-produced and translocated <em>Haliotis fulgens</em> had similar survival post-release, but hatchery-produced <em>Aliger gigas</em> had lower survival probability than translocated stock. Size at release increased survival probability for only two (<em>Haliotis discus</em> and <em>A. gigas)</em> of the seven species. Similarly, density had no effect on the post-release survival of <em>Haliotis rubra, Haliotis rufescens</em>, and <em>A. gigas</em>. Overall, we found low long-term predicted survival across the seven species. Our findings highlight that overcoming low post-release survival is a significant hurdle when rehabilitating depleted stocks of marine gastropods.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":55375,"journal":{"name":"Biological Conservation","volume":"306 ","pages":"Article 111153"},"PeriodicalIF":4.9,"publicationDate":"2025-04-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143808629","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}
Werner Ulrich , Patrick Gros , Thomas Schmitt , Jan Christian Habel
{"title":"Altitudinal distributions of endangered butterflies in the Austrian Alps","authors":"Werner Ulrich , Patrick Gros , Thomas Schmitt , Jan Christian Habel","doi":"10.1016/j.biocon.2025.111129","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.biocon.2025.111129","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>In Alpine regions, biodiversity loss is more pronounced in lowland areas intensively used by humans. At higher altitude, topography hardly allows for large-scale agricultural intensification and settlement as observed for the lowland areas. Based on long-term observations of butterflies across Northern Austria, we investigate the degree and trends of endangerment of butterflies, depending on altitude. Our results show that many endangered butterfly species occur mainly at lower altitudes where ongoing habitat loss contributes to their decline. Species relying on oligotrophic grasslands and on wetlands are at particular risk. Butterfly species mainly occurring all over the altitudinal gradient or exclusively at higher altitudes are on average less endangered. The lowland–mountain discrepancy in the proportion of endangered species has increased over the last 30 years. Climate change augments this tendency because common species might keep their thermal niches by altitudinal range expansion while endangered specialists might not find appropriate habitats at higher altitude. The establishing of appropriate lowland nature reserves might counteract these trends.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":55375,"journal":{"name":"Biological Conservation","volume":"306 ","pages":"Article 111129"},"PeriodicalIF":4.9,"publicationDate":"2025-04-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143799075","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":"Smart landscape diversification? Farmers' perspectives on how digital tools can facilitate (collective) agri-environmental action in Brandenburg, Germany","authors":"Margarethe Reichenspurner , Bettina Matzdorf","doi":"10.1016/j.biocon.2025.111108","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.biocon.2025.111108","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Landscape-level diversification in the form of agri-environment-climate measures (AECM) is needed to promote biodiversity and ecosystem services in agricultural landscapes. Effective implementation requires coordination between farmers and other actors. The (collective) implementation of AECM may be facilitated by digital technologies. As the implementation of AECM and the use of digital tools are voluntary, understanding farmers' perspectives is crucial to foster adoption. The results of this Q study with farmers in Brandenburg, Germany, reveal three distinct perspectives on the use of digital applications which could facilitate (collective) AECM: one focusing on the associated benefits, one questioning the meaningfulness of such approaches and one strongly valuing personal exchanges. While all viewpoints are open to the use of digital applications if they provide clear added value, farmers doubt the reliability of more advanced technologies. The different viewpoints highlight the importance of attitudes and subjective perceptions, which vary regardless of farm and farmer characteristics. For the successful development and diffusion of digital innovations and to steer the transition towards a digitally supported implementation of collective AECM, it is crucial to build institutional trust by providing planning security and ensuring the usefulness and viability of new approaches. In general, digital technologies may support the implementation of collective AECM directly through tailored applications or indirectly by increasing farmers' capacity to adapt to changes. They should promote rather than replace in-person exchanges. Finally, results highlight that digital applications will not solve existing flaws of the current AECM system, but future improvements may be supported by digital technologies.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":55375,"journal":{"name":"Biological Conservation","volume":"306 ","pages":"Article 111108"},"PeriodicalIF":4.9,"publicationDate":"2025-04-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143808628","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}