Pathways towards a sustainable future envisioned by early-career conservation researchers

Scientists have warned decision-makers about the severe consequences of the global environmental crisis since the 1970s. Yet ecological degradation continues and little has been done to address climate change. We investigated early-career conservation researchers' (ECR) perspectives on, and prioritization of, actions furthering sustainability. We conducted a survey (n = 67) and an interactive workshop (n = 35) for ECR attendees of the 5th European Congress of Conservation Biology (2018). Building on these data and discussions, we identified ongoing and forthcoming advances in conservation science. These include increased transdisciplinarity, science communication, advocacy in conservation, and adoption of a transformation-oriented social–ecological systems approach to research. The respondents and participants had diverse perspectives on how to achieve sustainability. Reformist actions were emphasized as paving the way for more radical changes in the economic system and societal values linked to the environment and inequality. Our findings suggest that achieving sustainability requires a strategy that (1) incorporates the multiplicity of people's views, (2) places a greater value on nature, and (3) encourages systemic transformation across political, social, educational, and economic realms on multiple levels. We introduce a framework for ECRs to inspire their research and practice within conservation science to achieve real change in protecting biological diversity.Additional co-authors: Thijs Fijen, Heather Hemmingmoore, Sara Hocevar, Liam Kendall, Jussi Lampinen, Emma-Liina Marjakangas, Jake M. Martin, Rebekah A. Oomen, Hila Segre, William Sidemo-Holm, André P. Silva, Susanna Huneide Thorbjørnsen, Miquel Torrents-Ticó, Di Zhang, Jasmin Ziemack

Pathways towards a sustainable future envisioned by early-career conservation researchers

Scientists have warned decision-makers about the severe consequences of the global environmental crisis since the 1970s. Yet ecological degradation continues and little has been done to address climate change. We investigated early-career conservation researchers' (ECR) perspectives on, and prioritization of, actions furthering sustainability. We conducted a survey (n = 67) and an interactive workshop (n = 35) for ECR attendees of the 5th European Congress of Conservation Biology (2018). Building on these data and discussions, we identified ongoing and forthcoming advances in conservation science. These include increased transdisciplinarity, science communication, advocacy in conservation, and adoption of a transformation-oriented social–ecological systems approach to research. The respondents and participants had diverse perspectives on how to achieve sustainability. Reformist actions were emphasized as paving the way for more radical changes in the economic system and societal values linked to the environment and inequality. Our findings suggest that achieving sustainability requires a strategy that (1) incorporates the multiplicity of people's views, (2) places a greater value on nature, and (3) encourages systemic transformation across political, social, educational, and economic realms on multiple levels. We introduce a framework for ECRs to inspire their research and practice within conservation science to achieve real change in protecting biological diversity.</p

Aquatic ecosystems in change: capturing the impacts of fishing and environmental stressors by utilising ecological network theory

Understanding how wild populations respond to multiple environmental stressors, and how they recover following depletion, is fundamental to conservation biology and the sustainable use of resources. Fisheries represent a major scale system of human-induced mortality in natural populations (1). The theory of density-dependent population growth suggests that at a low abundance populations should grow at a fast rate, yet in reality many stocks fail to recover even after large reductions in fishing pressure (2). The freshwater salmonid vendace (Coregonus albula), is an important target of freshwater fisheries in the Nordic countries. Here, we will utilise the Allometric Trophic Network (ATN) modelling framework (3) to explore the dynamics of a vendace population subjected to fishing in a typical Central Finnish lake. The model will investigate the life history changes induced by fisheries, and describe how those changes may feed back to the entire ecosystem through species interactions, ecosystem stability, and resilience against disturbances. This poster will describe how life history changes may affect the ability of a fish population to sustain fishing and recover from overfishing. Resolving life history dynamics will ultimately help us gain a better understanding of how fishing could be conducted in a sustainable manner while accounting for the impact of multiple stressors at once. (1) Darimont CT, Fox CH, Bryan HM et al. (2015) The unique ecology of human predators. Science 349:858-860 (2) Hilborn R &amp;Walters C (1992) Quantitative fisheries stock assessment. Choice, Dynamics and uncertainty. Chapman and Hall, New York (3) Brose U, Williams RJ, Martinez ND. (2006) Consumer-resource body-size relationships in natural food webs. Ecology 87:2411-2417peerReviewe

The interplay between fish life-history traits, population dynamics, and ecosystems

Aquatic ecosystems are going through an unprecedented decline in biodiversity. This is clearly reflected in the phenomenal declines in fisheries catches and collapses of many fish populations. Different levels of biological organisation interact in complex ways, and changes in fish life-history traits are reflected at population and ecosystem levels. However, the mechanisms behind those interactions are not well understood, and some interactions are completely unknown. This work uses mathematical modelling to explore how senescence, an often-ignored life-history trait affects fish population dynamics and response to fishing. Simulations demonstrate that senescence leads to evolutionary trajectory towards declining asymptotic length and population response to different fishing selection regimes depends on the presence of senescence. The link from population dynamics to life-history evolution is explored through population oscillations. Mathematical simulations show that oscillation wavelength shorter than the maximum lifespan of the fish produce marked differences in the evolution of asymptotic length. Wavelengths longer than the maximum lifespan in turn manifest in ecological effects seen as biomass fluctuations. The combination of the length and amplitude of the oscillation wave determine the direction of the change. Finally, the link between a single species and ecosystem is explored by introducing an invasive species in a food web model. The invasive species sets off a bottom-up effect seen in the decline of biomass. This effect propagates through all trophic levels in the model, including top predator fishes. These findings illuminate some previously unknown or poorly understood links between different levels of biological organisation that will help us better manage and conserve the aquatic nature.Akvaattisten ekosysteemien biologinen monimuotoisuus on viime vuosikymmeninä heikentynyt ennennäkemättömällä tavalla. Tämä heijastuu selvästi kalasaaliiden vähenemisenä ja monien kalakantojen romahtamisena. Eri tasot biologisessa organisaatiossa ovat monimutkaisessa vuorovaikutuksessa keskenään, ja kalojen elinkierto-ominaisuuksien muutokset heijastuvat myös populaatio- ja ekosysteemitasoilla. Näiden vuorovaikutusten takana olevia mekanismeja ei kuitenkaan ymmärretä hyvin, ja jotkut yhteydet ovat täysin tuntemattomia. Vanheneminen on usein huomiotta jätetty elinkierto-ominaisuus. Tässä työssä tutkitaan matemaattisten mallien avulla, kuinka vanheneminen ja kalastus vaikuttavat kalojen populaatiodynamiikkaan. Simulaatiot osoittavat, että vanheneminen on yhteydessä evoluutioon kohti lyhyempää asymptoottista pituutta ja vaikuttaa siihen, kuinka populaatio vastaa kalastukseen. Populaatiodynamiikan yhteyttä elinkierto-ominaisuuksiin tutkitaan simuloimalla populaation biomassan vaihtelua. Matemaattiset simulaatiot osoittavat, että jos vaihtelun aallonpituus on lyhyempi kuin kalojen maksimielinikä, aiheuttaa se merkittäviä eroja asymptoottisen pituuden evoluutiossa. Kun populaation vaihtelun aallonpituus on pidempi kuin kalan maksimielinikä, se näkyy lähinnä ekologisina vaikutuksina biomassan muutoksessa. Vaihtelun aallonpituuden ja amplitudin yhdistelmä määrää muutoksen suunnan. Lopuksi tutkitaan yhden lajin ja ekosysteemin välistä yhteyttä lisäämällä vieraslaji ravintoverkkomalliin. Vieraslaji aiheuttaa alhaalta ylöspäin menevän vaikutuksen, joka näkyy biomassan vähenemisenä. Tämä vaikutus näkyy mallin kaikilla trofiatasoilla, myös ravintoverkon huipulla olevissa kaloissa. Tämä tutkimus paljastaa aiemmin tuntemattomia tai huonosti ymmärrettyjä yhteyksiä biologisten organisaatioiden eri tasojen välillä. Nämä tulokset auttavat meitä suojelemaan vesiluontoamme paremmin

Are there plenty of fish in the sea? How life history traits affect the eco-evolutionary consequences of population oscillations

Understanding fish population oscillations is important for both fundamental population biology and for fisheries science. Much research has focused on the causes of population oscillations, but the eco-evolutionary consequences of population oscillations are unclear. Here, we used an empirically parametrised individual-based simulation model to explore the consequences of oscillations with different amplitudes and wavelengths. We show that oscillations with a wavelength shorter than the maximum lifespan of the fish produce marked differences in the evolutionary trajectories of asymptotic length. Wavelengths longer than the maximum lifespan of the fish, in turn, mainly manifest as ecological effects seen as the population biomass oscillation. The evolutionary and ecological differences increase with increasing amplitude, however, the two-year wavelength causes opposing results from all the other scenarios. This is likely facilitated by the relatively stable number of fish in the population as a poor year is always counteracted by the previous good year and vice versa. Our results highlight the evolutionary signatures and following ecological consequences that natural population oscillations can cause.peerReviewe

Age is not just a number : Mathematical model suggests senescence affects how fish populations respond to different fishing regimes

Senescence is often described as an age-dependent increase in natural mortality (known as actuarial senescence) and an age-dependent decrease in fecundity (known as reproductive senescence), and its role in nature is still poorly understood. Based on empirical estimates of reproductive and actuarial senescence, we used mathematical simulations to explore how senescence affects the population dynamics of Coregonus albula, a small, schooling salmonid fish. Using an empirically based eco-evolutionary model, we investigated how the presence or absence of senescence affects the eco-evolutionary dynamics of a fish population during pristine, intensive harvest, and recovery phases. Our simulation results showed that the presence or absence of senescence affected how the population responded to the selection regime. At an individual level, gillnetting caused a larger decline in asymptotic length when senescence was present, compared to the nonsenescent population, and the opposite occurred when fishing was done by trawling. This change was accompanied by evolution toward younger age at maturity. At the population level, the change in biomass and number of fish in response to different fishery size-selection patterns depended on the presence or absence of senescence. Since most life-history and fisheries models ignore senescence, they may be over-estimating reproductive capacity and under-estimating natural mortality. Our results highlight the need to understand the combined effects of life-history characters such as senescence and fisheries selection regime to ensure the successful management of our natural resources.peerReviewe

An assessment of juvenile Atlantic cod Gadus morhua distribution and growth using diver operated stereo-video surveys

While the relatively infamous Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua) fisheries have recovered in some areas, the cod fishery in the Firth of Clyde on the west coast of Scotland remains depleted. The role of juvenile fish survival in determining the future cohort sizes is important, yet the key habitats for juvenile marine fishes in the U.K. have received little attention. Many juvenile fish inhabit shallow coastal areas, where the monitoring of fish is not possible using fisheries dependent methods. Here, we conducted 31 stereo-video scuba transects during daylight hours from June to September 2013 within a proposed marine protected area (MPA) in the Firth of Clyde. More juvenile Atlantic cod Gadus morhua of fork length (LF) range 6–11 cm were observed in substrata containing mixed gravel, including maerl, than in boulder-cobble substrata with high algal cover, or sand with low density seagrass. Community composition was significantly different between substratum types. A decrease in G. morhua abundance was observed over the period of data collection. Over time, mean and variance in G. morhua LF increased, indicating multiple recruitment events. Protecting mixed gravel substrata could be a beneficial management measure to support the survival and recruitment of juvenile G. morhua; other substrata might be important at night given their diel migratory behaviour. Stereo-video cameras provide a useful non-destructive fisheries-independent method to monitor species abundance and length measurements.peerReviewe

Global trends and biases in biodiversity conservation research

Efforts to conserve biodiversity have been hampered by long-standing biases, including a disproportionate focus on particular taxa and ecosystems with minimal attention to underlying genetic diversity. We assessed whether these biases have persisted over the past four decades by analyzing trends in 17,502 research articles published in four top conservation-focused journals. Overall, we found that historical biases in conservation biology research remain entrenched. Despite increasing numbers of conservation articles published each decade from 1980 to 2020, research effort has increasingly focused on the same suite of taxa. Surprisingly, some of the most-studied species in these conservation articles had low conservation risk, including several domesticated animals. Animals and terrestrial ecosystems are consistently over-represented while plants, fungi, and freshwater ecosystems remain under-represented. Strategically funding investigations of understudied species and ecosystems will ensure more effective conservation effort across multiple levels of biodiversity, alleviate impediments to biodiversity targets, and ultimately prevent further extinctions. [Display omitted] •Biases in conservation research have not changed over time•Conservation research increasingly focuses on the same suite of species•Conservation status of a species does not seem to predict research attention•Targeted funding of understudied systems is necessary to even out research imbalance While efforts to conserve biodiversity are increasing, research and conservation efforts are unequally allocated across different scales of biodiversity, with within-species diversity receiving the least overall attention. One potential solution is to realign funding priorities to promote efforts across different scales, from genetic to species to ecosystem. With limited funding, prioritization approaches seek to maximize impact by returning to ongoing conservation efforts or focusing on high-profile species. However, these approaches reinforce biases against more equitable allocation because a lack of knowledge about understudied groups can be seen as detrimental to conservation success and prohibitively expensive. This study shows that these biases in conservation research are long standing and still ongoing, which will ultimately lead to an uneven loss of biodiversity. Deliberate funding and targeted efforts are needed to investigate both understudied species and ecosystems. Conservation biology research seems biased toward popular species and ecosystems, with seemingly little attention paid to within-species (genetic) diversity. By looking through thousands of conservation-focused research articles, we found that these biases have been notably consistent over the last four decades. We saw that some of the most-studied species have low conservation risk, and some are domesticated animals. Animals and terrestrial ecosystems are consistently over-represented while plants, fungi, and freshwater ecosystems remain under-represented