Current status of the Dalmatian pelican and the great white pelican populations of the Black Sea/Mediterranean flyway

WOS: 000353916400003The Dalmatian pelican (DP) Pelecanus crispus and the great white pelican (GWP) Pelecanus onocrotalus are listed as 'Vulnerable' and 'Least Concern', respectively, in the IUCN Red List. We present an updated estimation of the Black Sea/Mediterranean flyway population status of both species, based on data provided by experts working in all 7 countries of the region where pelicans breed and/or overwinter, who came together at the 1st Workshop on Pelican Research and Conservation in Prespa, Greece. The DP breeding population in the Black Sea and Mediterranean countries increased from 1730-2105 pairs in the years 2000-2010 to 2154-2437 pairs in 2011-2012. Approximately 40% of the Palaearctic breeding population of GWP occurred in Southeast Europe and Turkey. In 2011-2012 the GWP population in this region was estimated to be 4702-5175 pairs, and has remained more or less stable during the last decade. Although all the breeding sites for both species are in protected areas, disturbance at nesting places was considered to be the main threat. Direct persecution and electric power lines still cause occasional problems. In deltaic lagoons, erosion and inundation of nesting sites cause breeding failures in DPs, while in inland wetlands large water level fluctuations are a widespread problem. Decrease of fish stocks is a threat, especially in coastal areas. Many stop-over wetlands along GWP migration routes between Southeast Europe and Africa have been seriously degraded or have disappeared, resulting in serious implications for their populations. Conservation needs are listed, but further research is recommended for both species.TUB TAK research projectTurkiye Bilimsel ve Teknolojik Arastirma Kurumu (TUBITAK) [111T465]; ECEuropean Commission Joint Research CentreEuropean Community (EC) [LIFE05 NAT/RO/000169]; Swarovski Optik; Station Biologique de la Tour du Valat through the Foundation 'Le Balkan'; MAVA Foundation through the Society for the Protection of Prespa; Station Biologique de la Tour du Valat; Society for the Protection of Prespa; WWF GreeceTaej Mundkur, Nyambayar Batbayar, Piotr Cwiertnia, Andrej Vizi, Gennady Molodan, Simba Chan, Menxiu Tong, Zinovey Petrovych and Giannis Roussopoulos are thanked for providing unpublished information and/or for comments on an earlier draft. The Hellenic Ornithological Society provided International WaterBird Census data for both species in Greece. The work of M.S., O.O. and O.G. in Turkey was funded by a TUB TAK research project (No. 111T465). The conservation and monitoring activities in Romania between 2005 and 2009 were co-funded by the EC through the project LIFE05 NAT/RO/000169. The work in Srebarna was funded by Swarovski Optik and the Station Biologique de la Tour du Valat through the Foundation 'Le Balkan'. The work in Prespa, Am vrakikos and Kerkini in Greece was funded by the MAVA Foundation through the Society for the Protection of Prespa and the Station Biologique de la Tour du Valat, and G.C. was supported by the Society for the Protection of Prespa and WWF Greece. D. Tommy King, Dan Chamberlain, Hans Kallander and an anonymous re viewer made many useful suggestions that improved an earlier draft. Julia Henderson corrected our gross mistakes in the use of the English language

Global COVID-19 lockdown highlights humans as both threats and custodians of the environment

The global lockdown to mitigate COVID-19 pandemic health risks has altered human interactions with nature. Here, we report immediate impacts of changes in human activities on wildlife and environmental threats during the early lockdown months of 2020, based on 877 qualitative reports and 332 quantitative assessments from 89 different studies. Hundreds of reports of unusual species observations from around the world suggest that animals quickly responded to the reductions in human presence. However, negative effects of lockdown on conservation also emerged, as confinement resulted in some park officials being unable to perform conservation, restoration and enforcement tasks, resulting in local increases in illegal activities such as hunting. Overall, there is a complex mixture of positive and negative effects of the pandemic lockdown on nature, all of which have the potential to lead to cascading responses which in turn impact wildlife and nature conservation. While the net effect of the lockdown will need to be assessed over years as data becomes available and persistent effects emerge, immediate responses were detected across the world. Thus, initial qualitative and quantitative data arising from this serendipitous global quasi-experimental perturbation highlights the dual role that humans play in threatening and protecting species and ecosystems. Pathways to favorably tilt this delicate balance include reducing impacts and increasing conservation effectiveness

Global COVID-19 lockdown highlights humans as both threats and custodians of the environment

The global lockdown to mitigate COVID-19 pandemic health risks has altered human interactions with nature. Here, we report immediate impacts of changes in human activities on wildlife and environmental threats during the early lockdown months of 2020, based on 877 qualitative reports and 332 quantitative assessments from 89 different studies. Hundreds of reports of unusual species observations from around the world suggest that animals quickly responded to the reductions in human presence. However, negative effects of lockdown on conservation also emerged, as confinement resulted in some park officials being unable to perform conservation, restoration and enforcement tasks, resulting in local increases in illegal activities such as hunting. Overall, there is a complex mixture of positive and negative effects of the pandemic lockdown on nature, all of which have the potential to lead to cascading responses which in turn impact wildlife and nature conservation. While the net effect of the lockdown will need to be assessed over years as data becomes available and persistent effects emerge, immediate responses were detected across the world. Thus initial qualitative and quantitative data arising from this serendipitous global quasi-experimental perturbation highlights the dual role that humans play in threatening and protecting species and ecosystems. Pathways to favorably tilt this delicate balance include reducing impacts and increasing conservation effectiveness