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Bellis J, Osazuwa-Peters O, Maschinski J, Keir MJ, Parsons EW, Kaye TN, Kunz M, Possley J, Menges E, Smith SA, Roth D, Brewer D, Brumback W, Lange JJ, Niederer C, Turner-Skoff JB, Bontrager M, Braham R, Coppoletta M, Holl KD, Williamson P, Bell T, Jonas JL, McEachern K, Robertson KL, Birnbaum SJ, Dattilo A, Dollard JJ, Fant J, Kishida W, Lesica P, Link SO, Pavlovic NB, Poole J, Reemts CM, Stiling P, Taylor DD, Titus JH, Titus PJ, Adkins ED, Chambers T, Paschke MW, Heineman KD, Albrecht MA. Identifying predictors of translocation success in rare plant species. Conserv Biol 2024; 38:e14190. [PMID: 37768181 DOI: 10.1111/cobi.14190] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/08/2023] [Revised: 08/10/2023] [Accepted: 09/12/2023] [Indexed: 09/29/2023]
Abstract
The fundamental goal of a rare plant translocation is to create self-sustaining populations with the evolutionary resilience to persist in the long term. Yet, most plant translocation syntheses focus on a few factors influencing short-term benchmarks of success (e.g., survival and reproduction). Short-term benchmarks can be misleading when trying to infer future growth and viability because the factors that promote establishment may differ from those required for long-term persistence. We assembled a large (n = 275) and broadly representative data set of well-documented and monitored (7.9 years on average) at-risk plant translocations to identify the most important site attributes, management techniques, and species' traits for six life-cycle benchmarks and population metrics of translocation success. We used the random forest algorithm to quantify the relative importance of 29 predictor variables for each metric of success. Drivers of translocation outcomes varied across time frames and success metrics. Management techniques had the greatest relative influence on the attainment of life-cycle benchmarks and short-term population trends, whereas site attributes and species' traits were more important for population persistence and long-term trends. Specifically, large founder sizes increased the potential for reproduction and recruitment into the next generation, whereas declining habitat quality and the outplanting of species with low seed production led to increased extinction risks and a reduction in potential reproductive output in the long-term, respectively. We also detected novel interactions between some of the most important drivers, such as an increased probability of next-generation recruitment in species with greater seed production rates, but only when coupled with large founder sizes. Because most significant barriers to plant translocation success can be overcome by improving techniques or resolving site-level issues through early intervention and management, we suggest that by combining long-term monitoring with adaptive management, translocation programs can enhance the prospects of achieving long-term success.
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Affiliation(s)
- Joe Bellis
- Center for Conservation and Sustainable Development, Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis, Missouri, USA
- Center for Plant Conservation, Escondido, California, USA
| | - Oyomoare Osazuwa-Peters
- Department of Population Health Sciences, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, North Carolina, USA
| | - Joyce Maschinski
- Center for Plant Conservation, Escondido, California, USA
- Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden, Coral Gables, Florida, USA
| | - Matthew J Keir
- Department of Land and Natural Resources, Hawai'i Division of Forestry and Wildlife, Honolulu, Hawaii, USA
| | - Elliott W Parsons
- Pacific Regional Invasive Species and Climate Change Management Network, University of Hawaii at Mānoa, Honolulu, Hawaii, USA
| | - Thomas N Kaye
- Institute for Applied Ecology, Corvallis, Oregon, USA
- Department of Botany and Plant Pathology, Oregon State University, Corvallis, Oregon, USA
| | - Michael Kunz
- North Carolina Botanical Garden, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA
| | | | - Eric Menges
- Archbold Biological Station, Venus, Florida, USA
| | - Stacy A Smith
- Archbold Biological Station, Venus, Florida, USA
- Agronomy Department, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, USA
| | - Daniela Roth
- New Mexico Energy, Minerals, and Natural Resources Department, Forestry Division, Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA
| | - Debbie Brewer
- Fort Huachuca Environmental and Natural Resources Division, Fort Huachuca, Arizona, USA
| | | | - James J Lange
- Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden, Coral Gables, Florida, USA
| | | | | | - Megan Bontrager
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada
| | - Richard Braham
- Department of Forestry and Environmental Resources, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina, USA
| | | | - Karen D Holl
- Environmental Studies Department, University of California Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, California, USA
| | - Paula Williamson
- Department of Biology, Texas State University, San Marcos, Texas, USA
| | | | - Jayne L Jonas
- Department of Biology, University of Nebraska at Kearney, Kearney, Nebraska, USA
| | - Kathryn McEachern
- U.S. Geological Survey, WERC-Channel Islands Field Station, Ventura, California, USA
| | | | | | - Adam Dattilo
- Tennessee Valley Authority, Knoxville, Tennessee, USA
| | - John J Dollard
- Croatan National Forest, Forest Service, New Bern, North Carolina, USA
| | | | - Wendy Kishida
- Department of Land and Natural Resources, Hawai'i Division of Forestry and Wildlife, Honolulu, Hawaii, USA
| | - Peter Lesica
- Division of Biological Sciences, University of Montana, Missoula, Montana, USA
| | - Steven O Link
- Department of Natural Resources, Energy and Environmental Sciences Program, Pendleton, Oregon, USA
| | - Noel B Pavlovic
- U.S. Geological Survey, GLSC - Lake Michigan Ecological Research Station, Chesterton, Indiana, USA
| | - Jackie Poole
- Texas Parks & Wildlife Department, Austin, Texas, USA
| | | | - Peter Stiling
- Department of Integrative Biology, University of South Florida, Tampa, Florida, USA
| | - David D Taylor
- Daniel Boone National Forest, USDA Forest Service, Winchester, Kentucky, USA
| | - Jonathan H Titus
- Biology Department, Science Center, State University of New York, Fredonia, New York, USA
| | | | - Edith D Adkins
- Pacific Cooperative Studies Unit, University of Hawai'i at Mānoa, Honolulu, Hawaii, USA
| | - Timothy Chambers
- U.S Army Natural Resources Program on Oahu, Schofield Barracks, Hawaii, USA
| | - Mark W Paschke
- Department of Forest and Rangeland Stewardship, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado, USA
| | | | - Matthew A Albrecht
- Center for Conservation and Sustainable Development, Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis, Missouri, USA
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Collins SM, Hendrix JG, Webber QMR, Boyle SP, Kingdon KA, Blackmore RJ, d'Entremont KJN, Hogg J, Ibáñez JP, Kennah JL, Lamarre J, Mejías M, Newediuk L, Richards C, Schwedak K, Wijekulathilake C, Turner JW. Bibliometric investigation of the integration of animal personality in conservation contexts. Conserv Biol 2023; 37:e14021. [PMID: 36285603 DOI: 10.1111/cobi.14021] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/21/2022] [Revised: 09/15/2022] [Accepted: 09/26/2022] [Indexed: 06/16/2023]
Abstract
Consistent individual differences in behavior, commonly termed animal personality, are a widespread phenomenon across taxa that have important consequences for fitness, natural selection, and trophic interactions. Animal personality research may prove useful in several conservation contexts, but which contexts remains to be determined. We conducted a structured literature review of 654 studies identified by combining search terms for animal personality and various conservation subfields. We scored the relevance of personality and conservation issues for each study to identify which studies meaningfully integrated the 2 fields as opposed to surface-level connections or vague allusions. We found a taxonomic bias toward mammals (29% of all studies). Very few amphibian or reptile studies applied personality research to conservation issues (6% each). Climate change (21%), invasive species (15%), and captive breeding and reintroduction (13%) were the most abundant conservation subfields that occurred in our search, though a substantial proportion of these papers weakly integrated conservation and animal personality (climate change 54%, invasive species 51%, captive breeding and reintroduction 40%). Based on our results, we recommend that researchers strive for consistent and broadly applicable terminology when describing consistent behavioral differences to minimize confusion and improve the searchability of research. We identify several gaps in the literature that appear to be promising and fruitful avenues for future research, such as disease transmission as a function of sociability or exploration as a driver of space use in protected areas. Practitioners can begin informing future conservation efforts with knowledge gained from animal personality research.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sydney M Collins
- Cognitive and Behavioural Ecology Program, Departments of Biology and Psychology, Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada
| | - Jack G Hendrix
- Cognitive and Behavioural Ecology Program, Departments of Biology and Psychology, Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada
| | - Quinn M R Webber
- Cognitive and Behavioural Ecology Program, Departments of Biology and Psychology, Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada
| | - Sean P Boyle
- Department of Biology, Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada
| | - Katrien A Kingdon
- Department of Biology, Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada
| | - Robert J Blackmore
- Cognitive and Behavioural Ecology Program, Departments of Biology and Psychology, Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada
| | - Kyle J N d'Entremont
- Cognitive and Behavioural Ecology Program, Departments of Biology and Psychology, Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada
| | - Jennifer Hogg
- Department of Biology, Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada
| | - Juan P Ibáñez
- Cognitive and Behavioural Ecology Program, Departments of Biology and Psychology, Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada
| | - Joanie L Kennah
- Cognitive and Behavioural Ecology Program, Departments of Biology and Psychology, Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada
| | - Jessika Lamarre
- Cognitive and Behavioural Ecology Program, Departments of Biology and Psychology, Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada
| | - Miguel Mejías
- Department of Biology, Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada
| | - Levi Newediuk
- Department of Biology, Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada
| | - Cerren Richards
- Department of Ocean Sciences, Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada
| | - Katrina Schwedak
- Cognitive and Behavioural Ecology Program, Departments of Biology and Psychology, Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada
| | - Chirathi Wijekulathilake
- Cognitive and Behavioural Ecology Program, Departments of Biology and Psychology, Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada
| | - Julie W Turner
- Department of Biology, Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada
- Wildlife Division, Government of Newfoundland and Labrador, Corner Brook, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada
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Bellis J, Bourke D, Maschinski J, Heineman K, Dalrymple S. Climate suitability as a predictor of conservation translocation failure. Conserv Biol 2020; 34:1473-1481. [PMID: 32304113 DOI: 10.1111/cobi.13518] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/06/2019] [Revised: 04/03/2020] [Accepted: 04/10/2020] [Indexed: 05/28/2023]
Abstract
The continuing decline and loss of biodiversity has caused an increase in the use of interventionist conservation tools, such as translocation. However, many translocation attempts fail to establish viable populations, with poor release site selection often flagged as an inhibitor of success. We used species distribution models (SDMs) to predict the climate suitability of 102 release sites for amphibians, reptiles, and terrestrial insects and compared suitability predictions between successful and failed attempts. We then quantified the importance of climate suitability relative to 5 other variables frequently considered in the literature as important determinants of translocation success: number of release years, number of individuals released, life stage released, origin of the source population, and position of the release site relative to the species' range. Probability of translocation success increased as predicted climate suitability increased and this effect was the strongest among the variables we considered, accounting for 48.3% of the variation in translocation outcome. These findings should encourage greater consideration of climate suitability when selecting release sites for conservation translocations and we advocate the use of SDMs as an effective way to do this.
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Affiliation(s)
- Joe Bellis
- School of Biological and Environmental Sciences, Liverpool John Moores University, James Parsons Building, Byrom Street, Liverpool, L3 3AF, U.K
| | - David Bourke
- School of Biological and Environmental Sciences, Liverpool John Moores University, James Parsons Building, Byrom Street, Liverpool, L3 3AF, U.K
| | - Joyce Maschinski
- San Diego Zoo Global and Center for Plant Conservation, 15600 San Pasqual Valley Road, Escondido, CA, 92027, U.S.A
| | - Katie Heineman
- San Diego Zoo Global and Center for Plant Conservation, 15600 San Pasqual Valley Road, Escondido, CA, 92027, U.S.A
| | - Sarah Dalrymple
- School of Biological and Environmental Sciences, Liverpool John Moores University, James Parsons Building, Byrom Street, Liverpool, L3 3AF, U.K
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Adler PH, Barzen J, Gray E, Lacy A, Urbanek RP, Converse SJ. The dilemma of pest suppression in the conservation of endangered species. Conserv Biol 2019; 33:788-796. [PMID: 30520153 DOI: 10.1111/cobi.13262] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/10/2018] [Revised: 10/22/2018] [Accepted: 12/02/2018] [Indexed: 06/09/2023]
Abstract
In the conservation of endangered species, suppression of a population of one native species to benefit another poses challenges. Examples include predator control and nest parasite reduction. Less obvious is the control of blood-feeding arthropods. We conducted a case study of the effect of native black flies (Simulium spp.) on reintroduced Whooping Cranes (Grus americana). Our intent was to provide a science-driven approach for determining the effects of blood-feeding arthropods on endangered vertebrates and identifying optimal management actions for managers faced with competing objectives. A multiyear experiment demonstrated that black flies reduce nest success in cranes by driving incubating birds off their nests. We used a decision-analytic approach to develop creative management alternatives and evaluate trade-offs among competing objectives. We identified 4 management objectives: establish a self-sustaining crane population, improve crane well-being, maintain native black flies as functional components of the ecosystem, and minimize costs. We next identified potential management alternatives: do nothing, suppress black flies, force crane renesting to occur after the activity period of black flies, relocate releases of cranes, suppress black flies and relocate releases, or force crane renesting and relocate releases. We then developed predictions on constructed scales of 0 (worst-performing alternative) to 1 (best-performing alternative) to indicate how alternative actions performed in terms of management objectives. The optimal action depended on the relative importance of each objective to a decision maker. Only relocating releases was a dominated alternative, indicating that it was not optimal regardless of the relative importance of objectives. A rational decision maker could choose any other management alternative we considered. Recognizing that decisions involve trade-offs that must be weighed by decision makers is crucial to identifying alternatives that best balance multiple management objectives. Given uncertainty about the population dynamics of blood-feeding arthropods, an adaptive management approach could offer substantial benefits.
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Affiliation(s)
- Peter H Adler
- Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences, Clemson University, 130 McGinty Court, Clemson, SC, 29634, U.S.A
| | - Jeb Barzen
- International Crane Foundation, E-11376 Shady Lane Road, Baraboo, WI, 53913, U.S.A
- Current address: Private Lands Conservation LLC, S-12213 Round River Trail, Spring Green, WI, 53588, U.S.A
| | - Elmer Gray
- Department of Entomology, University of Georgia, 413 Biological Sciences Building, Athens, GA, 30602, U.S.A
| | - Anne Lacy
- International Crane Foundation, E-11376 Shady Lane Road, Baraboo, WI, 53913, U.S.A
| | - Richard P Urbanek
- U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Necedah National Wildlife Refuge, N11385 Headquarters Road, Necedah, WI, 54646, U.S.A
| | - Sarah J Converse
- U.S. Geological Survey, Patuxent Wildlife Research Center, 12100 Beech Forest Road, Laurel, MD, 20708, U.S.A
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