Conservation science
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Interactions among ecosystem stressors and their importance in conservation Open
Interactions between multiple ecosystem stressors are expected to jeopardize biological processes, functions and biodiversity. The scientific community has declared stressor interactions—notably synergies—a key issue for conservation and m…
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Languages Are Still a Major Barrier to Global Science Open
While it is recognized that language can pose a barrier to the transfer of scientific knowledge, the convergence on English as the global language of science may suggest that this problem has been resolved. However, our survey searching Go…
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Mainstreaming the social sciences in conservation Open
Despite broad recognition of the value of social sciences and increasingly vocal calls for better engagement with the human element of conservation, the conservation social sciences remain misunderstood and underutilized in practice. The c…
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When and how to use Q methodology to understand perspectives in conservation research Open
Understanding human perspectives is critical in a range of conservation contexts, for example, in overcoming conflicts or developing projects that are acceptable to relevant stakeholders. The Q methodology is a unique semiquantitative tech…
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Biodiversity conservation gaps in the Brazilian protected areas Open
Although Brazil is a megadiverse country and thus a conservation priority, no study has yet quantified conservation gaps in the Brazilian protected areas (PAs) using extensive empirical data. Here, we evaluate the degree of biodiversity pr…
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Prospects and challenges for social media data in conservation science Open
Social media data have been extensively used in numerous fields of science, but examples of their use in conservation science are still very limited. In this paper, we propose a framework on how social media data could be useful for conser…
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Drones for Conservation in Protected Areas: Present and Future Open
Park managers call for cost-effective and innovative solutions to handle a wide variety of environmental problems that threaten biodiversity in protected areas. Recently, drones have been called upon to revolutionize conservation and hold …
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A Comprehensive Overview of Technologies for Species and Habitat Monitoring and Conservation Open
The range of technologies currently used in biodiversity conservation is staggering, with innovative uses often adopted from other disciplines and being trialed in the field. We provide the first comprehensive overview of the current (2020…
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Tapping into non-English-language science for the conservation of global biodiversity Open
The widely held assumption that any important scientific information would be available in English underlies the underuse of non-English-language science across disciplines. However, non-English-language science is expected to bring unique…
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A guideline to improve qualitative social science publishing in ecology and conservation journals Open
A rise in qualitative social science manuscripts published in ecology and conservation journals speaks to the growing awareness of the importance of the human dimension in maintaining and improving Earths ecosystems. Given the rise in the …
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Conservation Research Is Not Happening Where It Is Most Needed Open
Target 19, set by the Convention on Biological Diversity, seeks to improve the knowledge, science base, and technologies relating to biodiversity. We will fail to achieve this target unless prolific biases in the field of conservation scie…
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Statistical matching for conservation science Open
The awareness of the need for robust impact evaluations in conservation is growing and statistical matching techniques are increasingly being used to assess the impacts of conservation interventions. Used appropriately matching approaches …
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Using conservation science to advance corporate biodiversity accountability Open
Biodiversity declines threaten the sustainability of global economies and societies. Acknowledging this, businesses are beginning to make commitments to account for and mitigate their influence on biodiversity and report this in sustainabi…
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A systematic survey of the integration of animal behavior into conservation Open
The role of behavioral ecology in improving wildlife conservation and management has been the subject of much recent debate. We sought to answer 2 foundational questions about the current use of behavioral knowledge in conservation: To wha…
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The Importance of Human Emotions for Wildlife Conservation Open
Animals have always been important for human life due to the ecological, cultural, and economic functions that they represent. This has allowed building several kinds of relationships that have promoted different emotions in human societie…
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The challenge of biased evidence in conservation Open
Efforts to tackle the current biodiversity crisis need to be as efficient and effective as possible given chronic underfunding. To inform decision‐makers of the most effective conservation actions, it is important to identify biases and ga…
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Citizen science and marine conservation: a global review Open
Climate change, overfishing, marine pollution and other anthropogenic drivers threaten our global oceans. More effective efforts are urgently required to improve the capacity of marine conservation action worldwide, as highlighted by the U…
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Understanding audiences: Making public perceptions research matter to marine conservation Open
There is increasing awareness of the need to meaningfully engage society in efforts to tackle marine conservation challenges. Public perceptions research (PPR) in a marine conservation context provides tools to see the sea through the mult…
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What Is the Zoo Experience? How Zoos Impact a Visitor’s Behaviors, Perceptions, and Conservation Efforts Open
Modern zoos strive to educate visitors about zoo animals and their wild counterparts' conservation needs while fostering appreciation for wildlife in general. This research review examines how zoos influence those who visit them. Much of t…
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Unstructured citizen science data fail to detect long‐term population declines of common birds in Denmark Open
Aim Long‐term monitoring of biodiversity is necessary to identify population declines and to develop conservation management. Because long‐term monitoring is labour‐intensive, resources to implement robust monitoring programmes are lacking…
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Measuring the difference made by conservation initiatives: protected areas and their environmental and social impacts Open
Success in conservation depends on our ability to reduce human pressures in areas that harbour biological diversity and ecosystem services. Legally protecting some of these areas through the creation of protected areas is a key component o…
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A typology of barriers and enablers of scientific evidence use in conservation practice Open
Over the last decade, there has been an increased focus (and pressure) in conservation practice globally towards evidence-based or evidence-informed decision making. Despite calls for increased use of scientific evidence, it often remains …
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The past and future role of conservation science in saving biodiversity Open
Global biodiversity losses continue despite tremendous growth in the volume of conservation science and many local successes. Research that can achieve conservation science's aims—arresting declines in biodiversity and preventing extinctio…
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Assessing population structure in the face of isolation by distance: Are we neglecting the problem? Open
Aim To investigate how the potential bias from isolation by distance ( IBD ) in inferences of population structure has been addressed, in studies aiming biodiversity conservation. Location Global. Methods We reviewed the literature on the …
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How to close the science-practice gap in nature conservation? Information sources used by practitioners Open
Professionals working in practical conservation management and scientists often complain about an information gap between science and practice. Which kinds of information sources are important to professionals and which do they use in thei…
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Drivers of taxonomic bias in conservation research: a global analysis of terrestrial mammals Open
Scientific knowledge of species and the ecosystems they inhabit is the cornerstone of modern conservation. However, research effort is not spread evenly among taxa (taxonomic bias), which may constrain capacity to identify conservation ris…
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Ethical considerations when conservation research involves people Open
Social science is becoming increasingly important in conservation, with more studies involving methodologies that collect data from and about people. Conservation science is a normative and applied discipline designed to support and inform…
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Are fieldwork studies being relegated to second place in conservation science? Open
The collection of biological information, including data gathered in the field, is fundamental to improve our understanding of how human impacts on biological systems can be recognized, mitigated or averted. However, the role of empirical …
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Publishing social science research in <i>Conservation Biology</i> to move beyond biology Open
Conservation biology arose as a field of academic science and management practice to intervene in what biologists and related professionals identified and perceived as a biodiversity extinction crisis (Soulé 1985). Although it has earlier …
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FORUM: Ecologists need robust survey designs, sampling and analytical methods Open
Summary Research that yields conflicting results rightly causes controversy. Where methodological weaknesses are apparent, there is ready opportunity for discord within the scientific community, which may undermine the entire study. We use…