Threats to seabirds: A global assessment Dias, Maria P.; Martin, Rob; Pearmain, Elizabeth J. ...
Biological conservation,
September 2019, 2019-09-00, Letnik:
237
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Odprti dostop
We present the first objective quantitative assessment of the threats to all 359 species of seabirds, identify the main challenges facing them, and outline priority actions for their conservation. We ...applied the standardised Threats Classification Scheme developed for the IUCN Red List to objectively assess threats to each species and analysed the data according to global IUCN threat status, taxonomic group, and primary foraging habitat (coastal or pelagic). The top three threats to seabirds in terms of number of species affected and average impact are: invasive alien species, affecting 165 species across all the most threatened groups; bycatch in fisheries, affecting fewer species (100) but with the greatest average impact; and climate change/severe weather, affecting 96 species. Overfishing, hunting/trapping and disturbance were also identified as major threats to seabirds. Reversing the top three threats alone would benefit two-thirds of all species and c. 380 million individual seabirds (c. 45% of the total global seabird population). Most seabirds (c. 70%), especially globally threatened species, face multiple threats. For albatrosses, petrels and penguins in particular (the three most threatened groups of seabirds), it is essential to tackle both terrestrial and marine threats to reverse declines. As the negative effects of climate change are harder to mitigate, it is vital to compensate by addressing other major threats that often affect the same species, such as invasive alien species, bycatch and overfishing, for which proven solutions exist.
•Invasive species, bycatch and climate change are the top threats to seabirds globally.•380 million individual seabirds would benefit from reversing these 3 threats.•Overfishing, hunting/trapping and disturbance are also top threats to seabirds.•89% of seabirds affected by climate change are also affected by other threats.
We present V.PhyloMaker, a freely available package for R designed to generate phylogenies for vascular plants. The mega‐tree implemented in V.PhyloMaker (i.e. GBOTB.extended.tre), which was derived ...from two recently published mega‐trees and includes 74 533 species and all families of extant vascular plants, is the largest dated phylogeny for vascular plants. V.PhyloMaker can generate phylogenies for very large species lists (the largest species list that we tested included 314 686 species). V.PhyloMaker generates phylogenies at a fast speed, much faster than other phylogeny‐generating packages. Our tests of V.PhyloMaker show that generating a phylogeny for 60 000 species requires less than six hours. V.PhyloMaker includes an approach to attach genera or species to their close relatives in a phylogeny. We provide a simple example in this paper to show how to use V.PhyloMaker to generate phylogenies.
As the world grows less biologically diverse, it is becoming less linguistically and culturally diverse as well. Biologists estimate annual loss of species at 1,000 times or more greater than ...historic rates, and linguists predict that 50-90% of the world's languages will disappear by the end of this century. Prior studies indicate similarities in the geographic arrangement of biological and linguistic diversity, although conclusions have often been constrained by use of data with limited spatial precision. Here we use greatly improved datasets to explore the co-occurrence of linguistic and biological diversity in regions containing many of the Earth's remaining species: biodiversity hotspots and high biodiversity wilderness areas. Results indicate that these regions often contain considerable linguistic diversity, accounting for 70% of all languages on Earth. Moreover, the languages involved are frequently unique (endemic) to particular regions, with many facing extinction. Likely reasons for co-occurrence of linguistic and biological diversity are complex and appear to vary among localities, although strong geographic concordance between biological and linguistic diversity in many areas argues for some form of functional connection. Languages in high biodiversity regions also often co-occur with one or more specific conservation priorities, here defined as endangered species and protected areas, marking particular localities important for maintaining both forms of diversity. The results reported in this article provide a starting point for focused research exploring the relationship between biological and linguisticcultural diversity, and for developing integrated strategies designed to conserve species and languages in regions rich in both.
This paper examines the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on environmental protection and legislation in Brazil. We evaluate major legislative actions, environmental fines and deforestation since ...January 2019. We show that 57 legislative acts aimed at weakening environmental protection in Brazil during the current administration, almost half of which in the seven-month period of the pandemic in Brazil, with September 2020 as the month with the most legislative acts (n = 16). These acts either deregulated or weakened current environmental legislation, with a number of them aimed at dismantling the main federal institutions in charge of environmental protection. We also found a 72% reduction in environmental fines during the pandemic, despite an increase in Amazonian deforestation during this period. We conclude that the current administration is taking advantage of the COVID-19 pandemic to intensify a pattern of weakening environmental protection in Brazil. This has the potential to intensify ongoing loss of biodiversity, greenhouse gas emissions, and the likelihood of other zoonotic disease outbreaks, and inflict substantial harm to traditional and indigenous peoples. We highlight the key role of the scientific community, media and civil society, national and international levels, in order to reverse these harmful actions.
•57 legislative acts have aimed to weaken the environmental legislation during the current administration.•49% of changes in environmental legislation occurred during the 7-months period of the pandemic.•A reduction of about 70% of environmental fines occurred from March to August 2020.•Protected areas were weakened through exoneration of chief staff during the pandemic.•The administration is pushing rules and simplifying norms, especially since the pandemic began.
The cumulative impact of human activities has driven many species into severe declines across the globe. However, the recent focus on conservation optimism has begun to highlight case studies that go ...against this trend. Reforestation, agricultural abandonment, reintroduction and legislative change have led to a situation where large mammals have recovered and are now widespread across the European continent. This study summarizes the knowledge about wild ungulate distribution in Europe and review the diversity of ways in which they interact with humans. Drawn from a wide range of sources, we built distribution maps of European wild ungulates. Results show that 90% of Europe is home to at least 1 species of wild native ungulate, with roe deer and wild boar occupying 74% and 64% of Europe respectively. In contrast, wild native mountain ungulates only occupy 5% of Europe, and are often associated with protected areas. The wide distribution of most European ungulates combined with the extensive human activity within Europe result in a wide range of interactions between ungulates and humans. These interactions can be classified as services or disservices depending on the value orientation and economic position of the various stakeholders perceiving this relationship. Overall, our survey highlights the success of wildlife management policies in Europe and the potential for continental scale conservation of large mammals in human-dominated landscapes. However, maintaining the success of wild ungulate conservation requires actions from national and European institutions to improve coordinated management across jurisdictional borders and sectorial coordination for the whole landscape.
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•We summarize knowledge on wild ungulates distribution in Europe.•About 90% of Europe is home to at least one species of wild ungulates.•75% of wild ungulate distribution is located outside protected areas.•We explore the complex interactions between ungulates and humans in Europe's anthropogenic landscape.•More than 7 million ungulates are harvested each year in Europe.
This book was published in 2007. Protected areas have emerged as major arenas of dispute concerning both indigenous and environmental protection. In the Malay Archipelago, which contains two of the ...twenty-five biodiversity hotspots identified globally, rampant commercial exploitation is jeopardizing species and rural livelihoods. While protected areas remain the only hope for the imperiled biota of the Malay Archipelago, this protection requires consideration of the sustenance needs and economic aspirations of the local people. Putting forward the views of all the stakeholders of protected areas - conservation practitioners and planners, local community members, NGO activists, government administrators, biologists, lawyers, policy and management analysts and anthropologists - this book fills a niche in the area of biodiversity, and is a highly valuable and original reference book for graduate students, scientists and managers, as well as government officials and transnational NGOs.
Implementing any conservation intervention, including Payments for Ecosystem Services (PES), in the context of weak institutions is challenging. The majority of PES programs have been implemented in ...situations where the institutional framework and property rights are strong and target the behaviours of private landowners. By contrast, this paper compares three PES programs from a forest landscape in Cambodia, where land and resource rights are poorly defined, governance is poor, species populations are low and threats are high. The programs vary in the extent to which payments are made directly to individuals or to villages and the degree of involvement of local management institutions. The programs were evaluated against three criteria: the institutional arrangements, distribution of costs and benefits, and the conservation results observed. The most direct individual contracts had the simplest institutional arrangements, the lowest administrative costs, disbursed significant payments to individual villagers making a substantial contribution to local livelihoods, and rapidly protected globally significant species. However, this program also failed to build local management organisations or understanding of conservation goals. By contrast the programs that were managed by local organisations were slower to become established but crucially were widely understood and supported by local people, and were more institutionally effective. PES programs may therefore be more sustainable when they act to empower local institutions and reinforce intrinsic motivations.
Abstract The Arrayán tree (Calycolpus moritzianus) is an endemic species from northern South America and it is important for its potential in the medical and cosmetic industry. However, to take ...advantage of its applied potential different biological aspects, such as genetic diversity, must be characterized. We evaluated 5 RAMs markers on 45 individuals of C. moritzianus collected from 5 locations in Norte de Santander, Colombia, to estimate its genetic diversity. The cluster analysis indicated heterogeneity between populations; however, Ocaña individuals were genetically more different, when compared with other populations. A multiple correspondence analysis revealed 2 population groups: the first one including individuals from Ocaña, and the second one that includes individuals from Salazar, Chinácota, Pamplonita and Toledo. This last group showed a higher degree of genetic diversity. We found an average heterozygosity (H e ) of 0.34 and a fixation index (F ST) of 0.13 among populations. These results are likely due to the relatively high genetic distance, observed between Ocaña and the other populations, and because of the effect of geographical barriers in the area. This is the first study in population genetics of this important native timber resource in the northern Andes, and provides relevant information for future conservation strategies and its sustainable use.
•Calls to ban wildlife trade have been a key response to COVID-19 but are not the solution.•The major drivers of the emergence of infectious diseases include habitat destruction and industrialised ...livestock production.•Indiscriminate wildlife trade bans risk doing more harm than good, both from a conservation and development perspective.•Conservation-linked responses to COVID-19 need to address the key drivers, respect rights and ensure local participation in decision-making.
One of the immediate responses to COVID-19 has been a call to ban wildlife trade given the suspected origin of the pandemic in a Chinese market selling and butchering wild animals. There is clearly an urgent need to tackle wildlife trade that is illegal, unsustainable or carries major risks to human health, biodiversity conservation or meeting acceptable animal welfare standards. However, some of the suggested actions in these calls go far beyond tackling these risks and have the potential to undermine human rights, damage conservation incentives and harm sustainable development. There are a number of reasons for this concerns. First calls for bans on wildlife markets often include calls for bans on wet markets, but the two are not the same thing, and wet markets can be a critical underpinning of informal food systems. Second, wildlife trade generates essential resources for the world’s most vulnerable people, contributing to food security for millions of people, particularly in developing countries. Third, wildlife trade bans have conservation risks including driving trade underground, making it even harder to regulate, and encouraging further livestock production. Fourth, in many cases, sustainable wildlife trade can provide key incentives for local people to actively protect species and the habitat they depend on, leading to population recoveries. Most importantly, a singular focus on wildlife trade overlooks the key driver of the emergence of infectious diseases: habitat destruction, largely driven by agricultural expansion and deforestation, and industrial livestock production. We suggest that the COVID-19 crisis provides a unique opportunity for a paradigm shift both in our global food system and also in our approach to conservation. We make specific suggestions as to what this entails, but the overriding principle is that local people must be at the heart of such policy shifts.
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