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White RSA, Stoffels RJ, Whitehead AL. Assigning trend-based conservation status despite high uncertainty. Conserv Biol 2023:e14084. [PMID: 36919474 DOI: 10.1111/cobi.14084] [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] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/07/2022] [Revised: 02/16/2023] [Accepted: 02/23/2023] [Indexed: 05/26/2023]
Abstract
Estimates of temporal trends in species' occupancy are essential for conservation policy and planning, but limitations to the data and models often result in very high trend uncertainty. A critical source of uncertainty that degrades scientific credibility is that caused by disagreement among studies or models. Modelers are aware of this uncertainty but usually only partially estimate it and communicate it to decision makers. At the same time, there is growing awareness that full disclosure of uncertainty is critical for effective translation of science into policies and plans. But what are the most effective approaches to estimating uncertainty and communicating uncertainty to decision makers? We explored how alternative approaches to estimating and communicating uncertainty of species trends could affect decisions concerning conservation status of freshwater fishes. We used ensemble models to propagate trend uncertainty within and among models and communicated this uncertainty with categorical distributions of trend direction and magnitude. All approaches were designed to fit an established decision-making system used to assign species conservation status by the New Zealand government. Our results showed how approaches that failed to fully disclose uncertainty, while simplifying the information presented, could hamper species conservation or lead to ineffective decisions. We recommend an approach that was recently used effectively to communicate trend uncertainty to a panel responsible for setting the conservation status of New Zealand's freshwater fishes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Richard S A White
- National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research, Christchurch, New Zealand
| | - Rick J Stoffels
- National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research, Christchurch, New Zealand
| | - Amy L Whitehead
- Wildlife Ecology & Management, Manaaki Whenua - Landcare Research, Lincoln, Canterbury, New Zealand
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Decaëns T, Martins MB, Feijoo A, Oszwald J, Dolédec S, Mathieu J, Arnaud de Sartre X, Bonilla D, Brown GG, Cuellar Criollo YA, Dubs F, Furtado IS, Gond V, Gordillo E, Le Clec'h S, Marichal R, Mitja D, de Souza IM, Praxedes C, Rougerie R, Ruiz DH, Otero JT, Sanabria C, Velasquez A, Zararte LEM, Lavelle P. Biodiversity loss along a gradient of deforestation in Amazonian agricultural landscapes. Conserv Biol 2018; 32:1380-1391. [PMID: 30113727 DOI: 10.1111/cobi.13206] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [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: 05/25/2017] [Revised: 04/23/2018] [Accepted: 05/16/2018] [Indexed: 06/08/2023]
Abstract
Assessing how much management of agricultural landscapes, in addition to protected areas, can offset biodiversity erosion in the tropics is a central issue for conservation that still requires cross-taxonomic and landscape-scale studies. We measured the effects of Amazonia deforestation and subsequent land-use intensification in 6 agricultural areas (landscape scale), where we sampled plants and 4 animal groups (birds, earthworms, fruit flies, and moths). We assessed land-use intensification with a synthetic index based on landscape metrics (total area and relative percentages of land uses, edge density, mean patch density and diversity, and fractal structures at 5 dates from 1990 to 2007). Species richness decreased consistently as agricultural intensification increased despite slight differences in the responses of sampled groups. Globally, in moderately deforested landscapes species richness was relatively stable, and there was a clear threshold in biodiversity loss midway along the intensification gradient, mainly linked to a drop in forest cover and quality. Our results suggest anthropogenic landscapes with high-quality forest covering >40 % of the surface area may prevent biodiversity loss in Amazonia.
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Affiliation(s)
- Thibaud Decaëns
- Centre d'Ecologie Fonctionnelle et Evolutive, UMR 5175, CNRS-Univ Montpellier-Univ Paul-Valéry-EPHE-SupAgro Montpellier-INRA-IRD, Montpellier, France
| | - Marlúcia B Martins
- Laboratório de Ecologia de Invertebrados, Coordenação de Zoologia, Museu Paraense Emilio Goeldi, Avenida Perimetral 1901, Terra Firma, CEP 66077 530, Belém, Pará, Brazil
| | - Alexander Feijoo
- Universidad Tecnológica de Pereira, Facultad de Ciencias Ambientales, Vereda La Julita, AA 97, 660003, Pereira, Risaralda, Colombia
| | - Johan Oszwald
- COSTEL, UMR CNRS 5654, Université de Rennes 2, 5 place Henri Le Moal, 35 000 Rennes, France
| | - Sylvain Dolédec
- LEHNA, UMR 5023, Université Lyon 1, 43 Bd du 11 novembre 1918, 69 622, Villeurbanne Cedex, France
| | - Jérôme Mathieu
- Sorbonne Universités, UPMC Univ Paris 06, iEES Paris, 4 place Jussieu, 75005, Paris, France
| | - Xavier Arnaud de Sartre
- SET, UMR CNRS 5603, Université de Pau et des Pays de l'Adour, Avenue du Doyen Poplawski, 64 000, Pau, France
| | | | - George G Brown
- Embrapa Florestas, Estrada da Ribeira, km. 111, Caixa-Postal 319, CEP 83411 000, Curitiba, Parana, Brazil
| | - Yeimmy Andrea Cuellar Criollo
- Universidad de la Amazonia, Sede Principal, Calle 17 - Diagonal 17 con Carrera 3F, Barrio Porvenir, Florencia, Caquetá, Colombia
| | - Florence Dubs
- IRD, iEES Paris, Centre IRD Ile de France, 32 Av. Henri Varagnat, 93143, Bondy Cedex, France
| | - Ivaneide S Furtado
- Laboratório de Ecologia de Invertebrados, Coordenação de Zoologia, Museu Paraense Emilio Goeldi, Avenida Perimetral 1901, Terra Firma, CEP 66077 530, Belém, Pará, Brazil
| | - Valérie Gond
- UR B&SEF, CIRAD, Campus international de Baillarguet, 34 398 Montpellier Cedex 5, France
| | - Erika Gordillo
- Universidad de la Amazonia, Sede Principal, Calle 17 - Diagonal 17 con Carrera 3F, Barrio Porvenir, Florencia, Caquetá, Colombia
| | - Solen Le Clec'h
- COSTEL, UMR CNRS 5654, Université de Rennes 2, 5 place Henri Le Moal, 35 000 Rennes, France
- Agricultural Economics and Policy group, ETH Zürich, Zürich, Switzerland
| | | | - Danielle Mitja
- IRD, UMR Espace-DEV, MTD 500 rue Jean François Breton, 34 093 Montpellier, Cedex 5
| | - Izildinha Miranda de Souza
- Universidade Federal Rural da Amazônia (UFRA), Avenida Perimetral 2501, CEP 66077 530, Belém, Pará, Brazil
| | - Catarina Praxedes
- Laboratório de Ecologia de Invertebrados, Coordenação de Zoologia, Museu Paraense Emilio Goeldi, Avenida Perimetral 1901, Terra Firma, CEP 66077 530, Belém, Pará, Brazil
| | - Rodolphe Rougerie
- Institut de Systématique, Evolution, Biodiversité (ISYEB), Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle, CNRS, Sorbonne Université EPHE, 57 rue Cuvier, CP 50, 75005, Paris, France
| | - Darío H Ruiz
- Universidad Tecnológica de Pereira, Facultad de Ciencias Ambientales, Vereda La Julita, AA 97, 660003, Pereira, Risaralda, Colombia
| | - Joel Tupac Otero
- Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Sede Palmira, Carrera 32 No 12 - 00 Chapinero, Vía Candelaria, Palmira, Valle del Cauca, Colombia
| | | | - Alex Velasquez
- Universidad de la Amazonia, Sede Principal, Calle 17 - Diagonal 17 con Carrera 3F, Barrio Porvenir, Florencia, Caquetá, Colombia
| | - Luz Elena M Zararte
- Instituto Tecnológico del Putumayo, Barrio Luís Carlos Galán, Mocoa, Putumayo, Colombia
| | - Patrick Lavelle
- Centro Internacional de Agricultura Tropical (CIAT) - IRD, Cali, Valle del Cauca, Colombia
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Bouget C, Parmain G. Effects of landscape design of forest reserves on Saproxylic beetle diversity. Conserv Biol 2016; 30:92-102. [PMID: 26084716 DOI: 10.1111/cobi.12572] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [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: 12/11/2014] [Accepted: 06/09/2015] [Indexed: 06/04/2023]
Abstract
Increasing the density of natural reserves in the forest landscape may provide conservation benefits for biodiversity within and beyond reserve borders. We used 2 French data sets on saproxylic beetles and landscape cover of forest reserves (LCFR) to test this hypothesis: national standardized data derived from 252 assessment plots in managed and reserve stands in 9 lowland and 5 highland forests and data from the lowland Rambouillet forest, a forested landscape where a pioneer conservation policy led to creation of a dense network of reserves. Abundance of rare and common saproxylic species and total saproxylic species richness were higher in forest reserves than in adjacent managed stands only in highland forests. In the lowland regional case study, as LCFR increased total species richness and common species abundance in reserves increased. In this case study, when there were two or more reserve patches, rare species abundance inside reserves was higher and common species richness in managed stands was higher than when there was a single large reserve. Spillover and habitat amount affected ecological processes underlying these landscape reserve effects. When LCFR positively affected species richness and abundance in reserves or managed stands, >12-20% reserve cover led to the highest species diversity and abundance. This result is consistent with the target of 17% forested land area in reserves set at the Nagoya biodiversity summit in 2010. Therefore, to preserve biodiversity we recommend at least doubling the current proportion of forest reserves in European forested landscapes.
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Affiliation(s)
- C Bouget
- National Research Institute of Science and Technology for Environment and Agriculture, Forest Ecosystems Research Unit, Domaine des Barres, F-45290, Nogent-sur-Vernisson, France
| | - G Parmain
- National Research Institute of Science and Technology for Environment and Agriculture, Forest Ecosystems Research Unit, Domaine des Barres, F-45290, Nogent-sur-Vernisson, France
- National Laboratory of Forest Entomology, National Forest Office, F-11500, Quillan, France
- National Museum of Natural History, Natural Patrimony Department, 36 rue Geoffroy St Hilaire, CP 41 75 231, Paris, CEDEX 05, France
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