查看更多>>摘要：? 2021 Elsevier LtdOrnamental fish keeping is a popular hobby worldwide, supporting a significant global aquarium industry. Using export records of live snakeheads (Channa spp.) from India, we show a six-fold increase in the numbers of these (wild-sourced, freshwater) species exported worldwide between 2014 and 2019, driven by an increase in exports from West Bengal to China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong. We highlight issues associated with exploitation of a poorly-known taxonomic group (in this case, the genus Channa), species that have restricted ranges, are rare, recently described, and difficult for non-experts to distinguish from others, and the risks associated with global transport of a potentially invasive species. We outline knowledge gaps relevant to national-level management; more broadly, we suggest a fundamental change of approach whereby traders of ‘luxury’ wildlife products (e.g. exotic pets) are required to demonstrate that trade is sustainable and safe, rather than conservationists to demonstrate that it is not.
查看更多>>摘要：? 2021 The AuthorsNature reserves are an effective tool in protecting species that are threatened by anthropogenic factors. However, various subtle but significant human disturbances still negatively affect wildlife, such as the incursion of domestic dogs (Canis lupus familiaris) into wildlife communities. We conducted camera trap surveys and tracked GPS-collared dogs in and around a network of 17 nature reserves, and examined the spatio-temporal responses of eight abundant large and medium-sized wild animals to domestic dogs, including seven mammals (leopard cat, Prionailurus bengalensis; wild boar, Sus scrofa; Reeve's muntjac, Muntiacus reevesi; tufted deer, Elaphodus cephalophus; hog badger, Arctonyx albogularis; Siberian weasel, Mustela sibirica, and yellow-throated marten, Martes flavigula), and one pheasant (golden pheasant, Chrysolophus pictus). Our occupancy models indicated that the presence of domestic dogs negatively affected the occurrence probability of all focal species except for the yellow-throated marten. For wild boar, Reeve's muntjac, leopard cat and golden pheasant that we had sufficient data to further examine their temporal response to domestic dogs, we found that three species but leopard cat demonstrated temporal avoidance of domestic dogs, and dogs temporally followed the detections of these species. By overlapping the predicted distribution of dogs with nature reserve boundaries, we estimated that wildlife in approximately 19.8% of the 17-nature reserve network were potentially under the negative impact by domestic dog activity. Our study revealed the urgent need for nature reserves within the giant panda range, and possibly elsewhere, to consider domestic dogs as a significant human disturbance.
查看更多>>摘要：? 2021 Elsevier LtdEcosystem restoration is one of the most promising strategies for conservation in the Anthropocene. Within ecosystems, plant-animal interactions are critical to their functioning, biodiversity and to restoration success. However, there is no systematic assessment of such interactions across restoration efforts. We reviewed 127 articles that examined habitat restoration and trophic rewilding to synthesize knowledge on restoration of four key plant-animal interactions: seed dispersal, herbivory, pollination, and seed predation. We conducted a meta-analysis using a subset of 56 studies, which compared restored systems with degraded or reference systems. We addressed four questions: (i) To what extent are interactions recovered in restored sites compared to degraded and reference sites? (ii) Which management practices enhance interaction restoration? (iii) Which interactions and animal taxa were most frequently studied? and (iv) Is interaction restoration being studied in areas deemed critical for conservation? Seed dispersal was the most studied interaction, followed by herbivory, pollination, and seed predation. Mammals were the most studied group, followed by birds, insects, and reptiles. Importantly, occurrence of seed dispersal and pollination was more frequent in restored than degraded sites. While several studies were conducted in critical conservation sites, some biodiversity hotspots, particularly in Southeast Asia, have been understudied. Future research should focus on understudied interactions (e.g., seed predation) and taxa (e.g., insects and reptiles), so this information can be incorporated into practice. Considering the available studies, we find that both habitat restoration and trophic rewilding are effective in bringing seed dispersal and pollination to a better state than in degraded areas.
查看更多>>摘要：? 2021Native bees are declining in many regions, often associated with loss of natural habitat. Urbanisation replaces natural vegetation with a highly-modified landscape, where residential gardens are a major component of urban greenspace. While many cities retain native vegetation remnants within the urban matrix, these are often small, isolated and degraded. However, there is little empirical evidence on the capacity of residential gardens to provide equivalent or beneficial habitat for native bees, and which local and landscape factors influence bee assemblages. We surveyed bee assemblages in the southwest Australian biodiversity hotspot at seven residential gardens and seven bushland remnants over two years. We recorded 153 species/morphospecies of native bees. Native bees were more abundant in bushland remnants than residential gardens. Abundance of the introduced honeybee Apis mellifera was generally high, and did not differ between habitats. Bushland remnants hosted more species, and rare and unique species, than did residential gardens. Native bee body-size and nesting guilds varied in their response to habitat type. Native bee abundance and richness increased with abundance of native plant species, but decreased with total flower species richness. Native bee species richness was negatively impacted by urbanisation (built space and isolation from bushland reserves). There were no significant relationships between honeybee abundance and local and landscape factors. Our study demonstrates that while residential gardens can host native bees, urban bushland remnants harbour a more comprehensive suite of species and are key for the conservation of native bee populations.
查看更多>>摘要：? 2021 Elsevier LtdEndemic species represent an important component of biodiversity. They are functionally and evolutionarily distinct from cosmopolitan species, and are under greater threat of extinction. As a result, endemism hotspots are often used to examine the ecology of range size and to identify the most critical conservation priorities. However, many different definitions and scales have been used to quantify endemism for ecological and conservation research. Here, we review eight distinct, commonly-used metrics of endemism, examining their implications for ecological and conservation studies worldwide. We compare and contrast the spatial distribution and interpretations of the different endemism metrics by applying each of them to a case study of Mesoamerican mammals. We then evaluate the effect of different areal units on the trends in these metrics and their conservation efficacy Hotspots of each metric are identified and overlapped. These overlaps determine consensus endemism hotspots that integrate both the evolutionary history and richness of local endemics. In our case study, both the subdivision of the study region and the endemism metric used influenced the spatial distribution of endemism. Although different biologically-defined subdivisions resulted in similar trends in endemism, endemism hotspots using arbitrary-defined units differed substantially. All eight endemism metrics were positively correlated (r ≥ 0.27), but highlight different hotspots across Mesoamerica. Only one subdivision was a hotspot for all four endemism categories. Despite their small area, these endemism hotspots protect a disproportionate number of species. These results underscore the importance of considering spatial effects and multiple aspects of endemism.
查看更多>>摘要：? 2021 Elsevier LtdThe trafficking of non-human animals is having a profound effect on biodiversity and conservation efforts. This is also the case in Brazil where it is estimated that millions of wild animals are sold each year, particularly for the pet market. The increasing use of social media and private messaging services (i.e., Facebook and WhatsApp) facilitate this illegal activity to a degree that has not yet been explored. This paper shares the findings of a pilot study analysing the patterns and trends from 500 messages containing at least 1682 individual animals in Brazil via social media and private messaging services. We found the vast majority of the wildlife advertised are Brazilian reptiles and birds. All the trade observed was illegal since it was not happening through certified breeders. This means that it is likely tens of millions of wildlife are being illegally traded each year in Brazil, which has conservation and public health implications in Brazil, but also globally. Efforts to reduce the demand for wildlife in and from Brazil and to support law enforcement agencies and technology companies in combating wildlife trafficking are needed.
查看更多>>摘要：? 2021 Elsevier LtdThe ongoing biodiversity decline across taxonomic groups, including insects, is tightly related to land-use changes and habitat degradation. To assess habitat quality, proper bioindicators that allow efficient monitoring of temporal changes in habitat properties and help to understand the role of anthropogenic activities in shaping habitat characteristics, are needed. Orthopterans have been previously proposed as promising bioindicators for grassland ecosystems; however, comprehensive quantitative information on their habitat preferences is lacking, which hinders full utilization of their bioindication potential. In this study, we surveyed orthopteran assemblages and quantified local environmental conditions at 476 grassland sites in Central Europe. To model orthopteran habitat preferences, the Maxent approach was employed, which allowed us to detect continuous species responses to particular habitat characteristics (moisture, vegetation cover, vegetation height, average seasonal temperature, and direct radiation). We calculated ecological niche indices describing niche widths, species optima, and the relative importance of particular environmental variables for a total of 38 analysed species. Evaluation of final Maxent models showed that their predictive power was high for the great majority of investigated species. Red-listed species had significantly narrower niches compared to unlisted orthopterans. In addition, application of the developed quantitative ecological niche indices for ecological and conservation studies was demonstrated on an independent, previously published dataset. The development of quantitative ecological niche indices coupled with the existing time- and cost-effective survey methods, also allowing adoption of citizen science approaches, makes orthopterans an optimal model insect group for assessment of grassland condition and conservation.
查看更多>>摘要：? 2021Understanding the relative importance of threats to species across their range is critical for large-scale conservation planning. Scaling-up localized research to inform the Canada-wide boreal caribou (Rangifer tarandus caribou) recovery strategy epitomizes the challenge. Current policy draws heavily from data obtained at the southern front of range retraction. Here, disturbances benefiting early successional herbivores (e.g., moose [Alces alces]), and hence wolves (Canis lupus) imparts increased predation risk to caribou (via “disturbance-mediated apparent competition” [DMAC]). Anthropogenic linear features (e.g., corridors, roads etc.; LFs) also improve wolf hunting efficiency, exacerbating DMAC, with caribou thereby losing functional habitat. However, ~2/3 of extant caribou range occurs in northern Canadian Shield and Taiga habitat, which contrasts with southern areas in both disturbance regime (fire-dominated) and community assembly (e.g., no deer [Odocoileus spp.]). To test predictions of DMAC and LF-avoidance in a northern caribou population (Saskatchewan Boreal Shield; ~3% of habitat within 500 m of anthropogenic disturbance), we tracked 94 GPS-collared females (2014–2018). Unexpectedly, caribou did not avoid LFs at most scales of observation. Although they responded to vegetation in line with apparent competition, resiliency of conifer-dominated successional trajectories and muted moose-wolf responses to disturbance suggest that poor primary productivity may modulate the strength of DMAC to caribou—including its potential interaction with LFs to influence movements. Before focusing on DMAC as the principal threat to caribou in northern ecoregions, further studies investigating if caribou and predators functionally respond to increasing LF-availability are needed, as it may be most critical for conserving crucial source populations.
查看更多>>摘要：? 2021 The AuthorsBiodiversity is currently experiencing exceptional loss due to the activities of humans, negatively impacting the ecosystem services on which humanity relies. Additionally, human induced climate change is already negatively impacting agriculture worldwide – a trend that will only worsen - leading to reduced yields for some crops and regions. Crop wild relatives (CWR) the wild cousins of domesticated crops, contain a wide breadth of genetic diversity not found in cultivated crops, which can be used for breeding new climate tolerant varieties. However, CWR are under-conserved in the wild, thus jeopardising this resource. Funds for CWR conservation activities are often limited; to conserve efficiently therefore, conservation strategies could prioritise in situ actions in areas of existing biodiversity conservation or protection, so long as CWR diversity overlaps with other components of biodiversity (i.e., other taxa). This analysis examines whether CWR could benefit from being conserved in biodiversity hotspots. Global CWR hotspots were defined from statistically significant spatial clustering of areas of high CWR richness. Biodiversity hotspots had significant overlap with CWR hotspots with the highest coincidence in the Mediterranean basin (91%) and the California Floristic Province (91%). Overall, the Mediterranean basin, Irano-Anatolian, Caucasus and Tropical Andes hotspots showed greatest promise for in situ conservation of CWR, and hence greater efficiency of conservation investments.
查看更多>>摘要：? 2021 The AuthorsPersistent poaching fuelled by demand for elephant ivory and rhino horn continues to threaten these species. Despite international trade restrictions operating since the 1970s, limiting poaching has remained a substantial challenge over the last decade. The poaching economy of such storable goods is driven by a combination of persistent consumer demand and market speculation, and enabled by weak governance, lack of adequate resources for species protection, and alienation of local people who pay the costs of living alongside these species. We argue that restricting the legal supply of such wildlife products has created ideal conditions for the poaching economy — ‘poachernomics’ — to thrive. Strategies that move toward empowering local communities with stronger property rights over wildlife and delivering more benefits to them, including via carefully regulated legal trade, are underused elements in the current fight against the onslaught of the international illegal wildlife trade.
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