68 research outputs found

    Reducing publication delay to improve the efficiency and impact of conservation science.

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    Evidence-based decision-making is most effective with comprehensive access to scientific studies. If studies face significant publication delays or barriers, the useful information they contain may not reach decision-makers in a timely manner. This represents a potential problem for mission-oriented disciplines where access to the latest data is required to ensure effective actions are undertaken. We sought to analyse the severity of publication delay in conservation science-a field that requires urgent action to prevent the loss of biodiversity. We used the Conservation Evidence database to assess the length of publication delay (time from finishing data collection to publication) in the literature that tests the effectiveness of conservation interventions. From 7,447 peer-reviewed and non-peer-reviewed studies of conservation interventions published over eleven decades, we find that the raw mean publication delay was 3.2 years (±2SD = 0.1) and varied by conservation subject. A significantly shorter delay was observed for studies focused on Bee Conservation, Sustainable Aquaculture, Management of Captive Animals, Amphibian Conservation, and Control of Freshwater Invasive Species (Estimated Marginal Mean range from 1.4-1.9 years). Publication delay was significantly shorter for the non-peer-reviewed literature (Estimated Marginal Mean delay of 1.9 years ± 0.2) compared to the peer-reviewed literature (i.e., scientific journals; Estimated Marginal Mean delay of 3.0 years ± 0.1). We found publication delay has significantly increased over time (an increase of ~1.2 years from 1912 (1.4 years ± 0.2) to 2020 (2.6 years ± 0.1)), but this change was much weaker and non-significant post-2000s; we found no evidence for any decline. There was also no evidence that studies on more threatened species were subject to a shorter delay-indeed, the contrary was true for mammals, and to a lesser extent for birds. We suggest a range of possible ways in which scientists, funders, publishers, and practitioners can work together to reduce delays at each stage of the publication process

    Terrestrial Mammal Conservation

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    "Terrestrial Mammal Conservation provides a thorough summary of the available scientific evidence of what is known, or not known, about the effectiveness of all of the conservation actions for wild terrestrial mammals across the world (excluding bats and primates, which are covered in separate synopses). Actions are organized into categories based on the International Union for Conservation of Nature classifications of direct threats and conservation actions. Over the course of fifteen chapters, the authors consider interventions as wide ranging as creating uncultivated margins around fields, prescribed burning, setting hunting quotas and removing non-native mammals. This book is written in an accessible style and is designed to be an invaluable resource for anyone concerned with the practical conservation of terrestrial mammals. The authors consulted an international group of terrestrial mammal experts and conservationists to produce this synopsis. Funding was provided by the MAVA Foundation, Arcadia and National Geographic Big Cats Initiative. Terrestrial Mammal Conservation is the seventeenth publication in the Conservation Evidence Series, linked to the online resource www.ConservationEvidence.com. Conservation Evidence Synopses are designed to promote a more evidence-based approach to biodiversity conservation. Others in the series include Bat Conservation, Primate Conservation, Bird Conservation and Forest Conservation and more are in preparation. Expert assessment of the evidence summarised within synopses is provided online and within the annual publication What Works in Conservation.

    Noise-driven oscillations in microbial population dynamics

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    Microbial populations in the natural environment are likely to experience growth conditions very different from those of a typical laboratory xperiment. In particular, removal rates of biomass and substrate are unlikely to be balanced under realistic environmental conditions. Here, we consider a single population growing on a substrate under conditions where the removal rates of substrate and biomass are not necessarily equal. For a large population, with deterministic growth dynamics, our model predicts that this system can show transient (damped) oscillations. For a small population, demographic noise causes these oscillations to be sustained indefinitely. These oscillations arise when the dynamics of changes in biomass are faster than the dynamics of the substrate, for example, due to a high microbial death rate and/or low substrate flow rates. We show that the same mechanism can produce sustained stochastic oscillations in a two-species, nutrient-cycling microbial ecosystem. Our results suggest that oscillatory population dynamics may be a common feature of small microbial populations in the natural environment, even in the absence of complex interspecies interactions.Comment: 25 pages, 11 figure

    Oviposition behaviour and emergence through time of the small blue butterfly (Cupido minimus) in a nature reserve in Bedfordshire, UK.

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    ABSTRACT: Climate change affects butterflies in many ways, influencing the timing of emergence and reproduction, habitat preferences, and behaviour. The small blue (Cupido minimus Fuessley, 1775) is highly specialised in its host plant requirements, feeding on the seeds of a single species, kidney vetch (Anthyllis vulneraria), on which the larvae occur singly to avoid cannibalism. The butterfly is likely to be vulnerable to temperature-related changes in oviposition, adult emergence, and host plant flowering times, and is, therefore, a good model species for investigating climate change-related impacts. Using 26 years of data from the national UK Butterfly Monitoring Scheme (1993-2019) from one nature reserve, and 4 years of targeted egg searches (2006, 2007, 2008, 2020) from three reserves in Bedfordshire, UK, we investigated the effects of local temperature on small blue emergence date and total abundance, whether flowerhead or local environmental characteristics predicted small blue oviposition behaviour, and whether this changed between years. Small blue adults emerged on earlier dates over time, and earlier in years with higher maximum February temperatures. Total adult abundance was not predicted by monthly temperatures or total abundance in the previous year. Oviposition behaviour was broadly consistent across years, with egg presence more likely and egg abundance higher on kidney vetch flowerheads that were taller than the surrounding vegetation, and surrounded by taller vegetation and fewer mature flowerheads. The effect of solar radiation differed between years, with a negative effect on the probability of egg presence in 2007 and 2008, but a positive effect in 2020. Egg abundance per flowerhead was highly variable between years, with 2006 having four times more eggs per flowerhead than other years. This was likely driven by high adult abundance in 2006, which could have increased competition for flowerheads. IMPLICATIONS FOR INSECT CONSERVATION: Our results indicate that management for greater availability of taller kidney vetch amongst taller vegetation would encourage small blue oviposition on a greater number of flowerheads, providing a possible means of reducing competition and increasing larval survival, and that this would be effective despite variation in adult abundance between years. The high level of competition we observed in the year with the highest adult abundance indicates that higher numbers of host plants should be encouraged to reduce competition and larval cannibalism in peak years, increasing the likelihood of long-term population persistence and growth. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s10841-021-00360-5.SITA Trust Landfill Community, Bedfordshire and Northamptonshire Butterfly Conservation, Balfour Browne fund, Natural England, Isaac Newton Trust/Wellcome TrustISSF/University of Cambridge Joint Research Grants Scheme (RG89529

    Thermoregulatory ability and mechanism do not differ consistently between neotropical and temperate butterflies

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    Climate change is a major threat to species worldwide, yet it remains uncertain whether tropical or temperate species are more vulnerable to changing temperatures. To further our understanding of this, we used a standardised field protocol to (1) study the buffering ability (ability to regulate body temperature relative to surrounding air temperature) of neotropical (Panama) and temperate (the United Kingdom, Czech Republic and Austria) butterflies at the assemblage and family level, (2) determine if any differences in buffering ability were driven by morphological characteristics and (3) used ecologically relevant temperature measurements to investigate how butterflies use microclimates and behaviour to thermoregulate. We hypothesised that temperate butterflies would be better at buffering than neotropical butterflies as temperate species naturally experience a wider range of temperatures than their tropical counterparts. Contrary to our hypothesis, at the assemblage level, neotropical species (especially Nymphalidae) were better at buffering than temperate species, driven primarily by neotropical individuals cooling themselves more at higher air temperatures. Morphology was the main driver of differences in buffering ability between neotropical and temperate species as opposed to the thermal environment butterflies experienced. Temperate butterflies used postural thermoregulation to raise their body temperature more than neotropical butterflies, probably as an adaptation to temperate climates, but the selection of microclimates did not differ between regions. Our findings demonstrate that butterfly species have unique thermoregulatory strategies driven by behaviour and morphology, and that neotropical species are not likely to be more inherently vulnerable to warming than temperate species
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