The role of invasive alien species in the transmission dynamics of zoonotic pathogens is often overlooked, despite the rapid escalation in biological invasions globally. Here we synthesise available ...information on the influence of invasive alien species on zoonotic pathogen dynamics in invaded ranges, focussing on Europe, and identify key associated knowledge gaps. We identified 272 documented interactions between alien species and zoonotic pathogens within invaded ranges. The majority of these involved invasive alien mammals followed by birds with only a few occurrences of other taxa documented. A wide range of potential interactions between invasive alien species and zoonotic pathogens were identified but few studies considered transmission to humans and so there was limited evidence of actual impacts on human health. However, there is an urgent need to raise awareness of the potential risks posed to human health by the transmission of zoonotic diseases by invasive alien species; the role of invasive alien species in zoonotic disease transmission may exceed that of native wildlife and occur in a relatively short period following the arrival of an invasive alien species within a new region. Ecological and social mechanisms govern the dynamics of zoonotic disease transmission but wildlife diseases are not consistently included within animal, plant and human policies. Rapid advances in the development of systems frameworks that integrate the ecological, economic and social processes promoting spillover in rapidly changing environments will increase understanding to inform decision-making.
Citizen science is gaining increasing prominence as a tool for science and engagement. However, despite being a potentially valuable tool for sustainable development, citizen science has little ...visibility in many developing countries.
We undertook a collaborative prioritisation process with experts in conservation and the environment to assess the potential of environmental citizen science in East Africa, including its opportunities, benefits and barriers. This provided principles that are applicable across developing countries, particularly for large‐scale citizen science.
We found that there was great potential for citizen science to add to our scientific knowledge of natural resources and biodiversity trends. Many of the important benefits of citizen science were for people, as well as the environment directly. Major barriers to citizen science were mostly social and institutional, although projects should also consider access to suitable technology and language barriers.
Policy implications. Citizen science can provide data to support decision‐making and reporting against international targets. Participation can also provide societal benefits, informing and empowering people, thus supporting the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals. In developing countries, innovation is needed to further develop culturally relevant citizen science that benefits participants and end users. This should be supported through regional networks of stakeholders for sharing best practice.
Foreign Language Swahili
Sayansi ya wananchi inaendelea kuongezeka kwa umaarufu kama chombo cha sayansi na ushiriki. Hata hivyo, licha ya kuwa chombo cha thamani cha maendeleo endelevu, sayansi ya wananchi haionekani sana katika nchi nyingi zinazoendelea.
Tulifanya mchakato wa ushirikiano wa kutoa vipaumbele pamoja na wataalamu wa uhifadhi na mazingira ili kuchunguza uwezekano wa sayansi ya wananchi ya mazingira katika Afrika ya Mashariki, ikijumuisha fursa, faida na vikwazo. Hii ilitoa kanuni zinazoweza kutumika katika nchi zinazoendelea, hasa kwa sayansi ya wananchi kwa kiwango kikubwa.
Tuligundua kuwa kuna uwezo mkubwa wa sayansi ya wananchi ili kuongeza ujuzi wetu wa kisayansi kuhusu nyenzo za asili na mielekeo ya bioanuwai. Faida muhimu nyingi za sayansi ya wananchi zilikuwa kwa watu, lakini moja kwa moja kwa mazingira pia. Vikwazo vikuu kwa sayansi ya wananchi vilikuwa kijamii na kitaasisi hasa, ingawa miradi inapaswa pia kufikiria upatikanaji wa teknolojia zinazofaa na vikwazo vya lugha.
Athari za sera ni kama ifuatavyo. Sayansi ya wananchi inaweza kutoa data kusaidia kuunda maamuzi na kuandika ripoti ili kufikia malengo ya kimataifa. Ushiriki unaweza pia kutoa faida za jamii, kuwajulisha na kuwawezesha watu na kwa hiyo kuunga mkono Malengo ya Maendeleo ya Umoja wa Mataifa. Katika nchi zinazoendelea kunahitaji kuwa na ubunifu ili kuendeleza sayansi ya wananchi inayofaa utamaduni inayopata washiriki na watumiaji wa mwisho. Hii inapaswa kuungwa mkono kupitia mitandao ya kikanda ya washikadau kwa kugawana taratibu bora.
Invasive alien species (IAS) are considered one of the greatest threats to biodiversity, particularly through their interactions with other drivers of change. Horizon scanning, the systematic ...examination of future potential threats and opportunities, leading to prioritization of IAS threats is seen as an essential component of IAS management. Our aim was to consider IAS that were likely to impact on native biodiversity but were not yet established in the wild in Great Britain. To achieve this, we developed an approach which coupled consensus methods (which have previously been used for collaboratively identifying priorities in other contexts) with rapid risk assessment. The process involved two distinct phases: Preliminary consultation with experts within five groups (plants, terrestrial invertebrates, freshwater invertebrates, vertebrates and marine species) to derive ranked lists of potential IAS. Consensus‐building across expert groups to compile and rank the entire list of potential IAS. Five hundred and ninety‐one species not native to Great Britain were considered. Ninety‐three of these species were agreed to constitute at least a medium risk (based on score and consensus) with respect to them arriving, establishing and posing a threat to native biodiversity. The quagga mussel, Dreissena rostriformis bugensis, received maximum scores for risk of arrival, establishment and impact; following discussions the unanimous consensus was to rank it in the top position. A further 29 species were considered to constitute a high risk and were grouped according to their ranked risk. The remaining 63 species were considered as medium risk, and included in an unranked long list. The information collated through this novel extension of the consensus method for horizon scanning provides evidence for underpinning and prioritizing management both for the species and, perhaps more importantly, their pathways of arrival. Although our study focused on Great Britain, we suggest that the methods adopted are applicable globally.
There are large variations in the responses of species to the environmental changes of recent decades, heightening interest in whether their traits may explain inter-specific differences in range ...expansions and contractions. Using a long-term distributional dataset, we calculated range changes of grasshoppers and crickets in Britain between the 1980s and the 2000s and assessed whether their traits (resource use, life history, dispersal ability, geographic location) explain relative performance of different species. Our analysis showed large changes in the distributions of some species, and we found a positive relationship between three traits and range change: ranges tended to increase for habitat generalists, species that oviposit in the vegetation above ground, and for those with a southerly distribution. These findings accord well with the nature of environmental changes over this period (climatic warming; reductions in the diversity and increases in the height of vegetation). However, the trait effects applied mainly to just two species, Conocephalus discolor and Metrioptera roeselii, which had shown the greatest range increases. Once they were omitted from the analysis, trait effects were no longer statistically significant. Previous studies on these two species emphasised wing-length dimorphism as the key to their success, resulting in a high phenotypic plasticity of dispersal and evolutionary-ecological feedback at their expanding range margins. This, combined with our results, suggests that an unusual combination of traits have enabled these two species to undertake extremely rapid responses to recent environmental changes. The fact that our results are dominated by two species only became apparent through cautious testing of the results' robustness, not through standard statistical checks. We conclude that trait-based analyses may contribute to the assessment of species responses to environmental change and provide insights into underlying mechanisms, but results need to be interpreted with caution and may have limited predictive power.
The Environmental Impact Classification for Alien Taxa (EICAT) can be used to classify alien taxa according to the magnitude and type of their environmental impacts. The EICAT protocol, ...classifications of alien taxa using the protocol (EICAT classification) and the data underpinning classifications (EICAT data) are increasingly used by scientists and practitioners such as governments, NGOs and civil society for a variety of purposes. However, the properties of the EICAT protocol and the data it generates are not suitable for certain uses. Therefore, we present guidelines designed to clarify and facilitate the appropriate use of EICAT to tackle a broad range of conservation issues related to biological invasions, as well as to guide research and communication more generally. Here we address common misconceptions and give a brief overview of some key issues that all EICAT users need to be aware of to take maximal advantage of this resource. Furthermore, we give examples of the wide variety of ways in which the EICAT protocol, classifications and data can be and have been utilised and outline common errors and pitfalls to avoid.
Substantial progress has been made in understanding how pathways underlie and mediate biological invasions. However, key features of their role in invasions remain poorly understood, available ...knowledge is widely scattered, and major frontiers in research and management are insufficiently characterized. We review the state of the art, highlight recent advances, identify pitfalls and constraints, and discuss major challenges in four broad fields of pathway research and management: pathway classification, application of pathway information, management response, and management impact. We present approaches to describe and quantify pathway attributes (e.g., spatiotemporal changes, proxies of introduction effort, environmental and socioeconomic contexts) and how they interact with species traits and regional characteristics. We also provide recommendations for a research agenda with particular focus on emerging (or neglected) research questions and present new analytical tools in the context of pathway research and management.
A roadmap for ladybird conservation and recovery Soares, António O.; Haelewaters, Danny; Ameixa, Olga M. C. C. ...
Conservation biology,
February 2023, 2023-02-00, 20230201, 2023-02, Volume:
37, Issue:
1
Journal Article
Peer reviewed
Open access
Ladybirds (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae) provide services that are critical to food production, and they fulfill an ecological role as a food source for predators. The richness, abundance, and ...distribution of ladybirds, however, are compromised by many anthropogenic threats. Meanwhile, a lack of knowledge of the conservation status of most species and the factors driving their population dynamics hinders the development and implementation of conservation strategies for ladybirds. We conducted a review of the literature on the ecology, diversity, and conservation of ladybirds to identify their key ecological threats. Ladybird populations are most affected by climate factors, landscape composition, and biological invasions. We suggest mitigating actions for ladybird conservation and recovery. Short‐term actions include citizen science programs and education, protective measures for habitat recovery and threatened species, prevention of the introduction of non‐native species, and the maintenance and restoration of natural areas and landscape heterogeneity. Mid‐term actions involve the analysis of data from monitoring programs and insect collections to disentangle the effect of different threats to ladybird populations, understand habitat use by taxa on which there is limited knowledge, and quantify temporal trends of abundance, diversity, and biomass along a management‐intensity gradient. Long‐term actions include the development of a worldwide monitoring program based on standardized sampling to fill data gaps, increase explanatory power, streamline analyses, and facilitate global collaborations.
Resumen
Las catarinas (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae) proporcionan servicios que son críticos para la producción de alimento, y juegan un papel ecológico como fuente de alimento para depredadores. Sin embargo, la riqueza, abundancia y distribución de catarinas están en peligro debido a muchas amenazas antropogénicas. La carencia de conocimiento sobre el estatus de conservación de la mayoría de las especies y los factores que inciden en su dinámica poblacional dificulta el desarrollo e implementación de estrategias de conservación para las catarinas. Realizamos una revisión de la literatura sobre la ecología, diversidad y conservación de catarinas para identificar sus amenazas ecológicas clave. Las poblaciones de catarinas fueron afectadas mayormente por factores climáticos, composición del paisaje e invasiones biológicas. Proponemos acciones de mitigación para la conservación y recuperación de catarinas. Acciones a corto plazo incluyen programas de ciencia y educación ciudadana, medidas de protección para la recuperación de hábitat y de especies amenazadas, prevención de la introducción de especies no nativas y el mantenimiento y restauración de áreas naturales y la heterogeneidad del paisaje. Acciones a mediano plazo implican el análisis de datos obtenidos de programas de monitoreo y colecciones de insectos para desenmarañar el efecto de las diferentes amenazas a las poblaciones de catarinas, comprender el uso del hábitat por taxa de los que se tiene conocimiento limitado y cuantifica las tendencias temporales de la abundancia, diversidad y biomasa a lo largo de un gradiente de intensidad de manejo. Acciones a largo plazo incluyen el desarrollo de un programa de monitoreo a nivel mundial basado en muestreos estandarizados para subsanar la falta de datos, incrementar el poder explicativo, optimizar los análisis y facilitar colaboraciones globales.
Article impact statement: In light of major ecological threats, mitigating actions at different timescales are crucial for ladybird conservation and recovery.
【摘要】
随着世界范围内人类与野生动物的冲突不断升级, 对野生动物的宽容和接纳等概念变得越来越重要。然而, 当代保护研究表明, 人们对人类与野生动物积极互作的认识有限, 导致可能难以准确描述人类与动物的相遇。如果不解决这些局限性, 就会导致野生动物和景观管理计划的设计和实施存在不足, 以及对本土生态知识的否定。我们利用印度喀拉拉邦瓦亚纳德野生动物保护区森林中的阿迪瓦西族Kattunayakans部落的民族志证据, 来研究印度原住民对于人类与野生动物共存的观点。通过定性的实地研究(包括访谈和在森林样带调查), 我们发现Kattunayakans部落表现出对野生动物的宽容和接纳, 其特点是深入的共存, 包括三个中心思想:野生动物是有理性的交流者;野生动物是神、老师和平等的族群;野生动物是实行 “dharmam”的具有共同起源的亲戚。我们认为, 充分理解以上几点有助于将Kattunayakan部落的观点引入印度的森林管理, 并更广泛地解决人类与野生动物的冲突。
Biological invasions represent a growing threat to islands and their biodiversity across the world. The isolated sub‐Antarctic island of South Georgia in the South Atlantic Ocean is a highly ...protected area that relies on effective biosecurity including prevention, surveillance and eradication to limit the risk of biological invasions. Based on an opportunistic field discovery, we provide the first report of an introduced ladybird beetle on South Georgia. All specimens discovered belong to the Eurasian species Coccinella undecimpunctata Linnaeus (1758) (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae). Tens of individuals of both sexes were discovered at a single location, indicating that the species may already be established on South Georgia. Transport connectivity with this site suggests that the species most likely arrived recently from the Falkland Islands as a stowaway on a ship. We discuss the implications of our discovery for the continued development of South Atlantic biosecurity.
During a scientific expedition in South Georgia, we incidentally discovered the presence of the introduced ladybird beetle Coccinella undecimpunctata. The species may already be established and reproducing on the island and likely arrived from the Falkland Islands as a stowaway on a ship. This discovery has implications for the continued optimisation of South Atlantic biosecurity and global island conservation.
The status of pollinating insects is of international concern, but knowledge of the magnitude and extent of declines is limited by a lack of systematic monitoring. Standardized protocols are urgently ...needed, alongside a better understanding of how different methods and recorders (data collectors) influence estimates of pollinator abundance and diversity.
We compared two common methods for sampling wild pollinating insects (solitary bees, bumblebees and hoverflies), pan traps and transects, in surveys of 1 km countryside squares (agricultural and semi‐natural habitats) and flowering crop fields across Great Britain, including the influence of local floral resources (nectar sugar availability or crop flower density) on the insects sampled. Further, we compared the performance of recorders with differing expertise (non‐specialist research staff, taxonomic experts and non‐expert volunteers) in applying methods.
Pan traps and transects produced compositionally distinct samples of pollinator communities. In the wider countryside, pan traps sampled more species of solitary bee and hoverfly. In flowering crops, transects recorded a greater number of individual bumblebees, but fewer species.
Across all taxonomic groups and countryside and crop samples, transects generally had lower rates of species accumulation per individual collected than pan traps. This demonstrates that differences between methods in estimating richness are not due to sampling effort alone. However, recorders possessing greater taxonomic expertise can produce species accumulation data from transects that are almost commensurate with pan trapping.
The abundance and species richness of pollinators (except solitary bees) on transects in the wider countryside was positively related to the availability of estimated nectar sugar. In crops, pollinator abundance responses to flower densities were idiosyncratic according to crop type, but overall the response was positive and negative for transects and pan traps, respectively.
Given these taxonomic and context‐specific differences in method performance, we assess their suitability for monitoring pollinating insect communities and pollination services. We discuss the relevance of these findings within the context of achieving standardized, large‐scale monitoring of pollinating insects.
Aim Biological invasions are one of the major threats to biodiversity. Usually highly disturbed anthropogenic habitats favour invasion by alien species such as the coccinellid Harmonia axyridis. The ...spread and impact of this species has been documented in Europe and North America, but no information exists for South America. The aims of this study were to: (1) document the process of invasion of H. axyridis in Chile, (2) compare the abundance of H. axyridis in different habitats with varying degrees of disturbance and (3) assess change in the coccinellid assemblages in alfalfa fields over the 6 years following invasion. Location Chile. Methods The spread of H. axyridis was estimated using information from citizen scientists alongside records from the National Pest Surveillance System. The abundance of H. axyridis in different habitat types and of all coccinellids in alfalfa fields was assessed using yellow sticky traps. In alfalfa, the variations in species richness, Shannon and Simpson diversity and equitability indices through time were compared. Results Harmonia axyridis has rapidly increased in distribution: there have been 1875 records along 2863 km up to 2015 following the first observation in 2008 from Central Chile. The records span from sea level to 3200 m a.s.l. in the Andes. It has spread at an average rate of 184.8 km per year, preferentially colonizing disturbed habitats, but also invading native habitats. In alfalfa, it is particularly abundant and has become the dominant species, with a concomitant decrease in species richness and diversity of co-occurring species. Main conclusion Citizen science, alongside professional surveillance, has provided an effective method for studying invasion by H. axyridis, which is now well established and distributed across Chile. The rate of spread has been dramatic and the associated changes to the coccinellid community could disrupt the functioning, and ultimately resilience, of invaded ecosystems.
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