25 research outputs found
Diversity and inclusion in conservation: A proposal for a marine diversity network
Low diversity among scientists and practitioners is rampant in conservation. Currently,
conservation professionals do not reflect the same diversity of perspectives and
experiences of the world as the communities who bear the largest burden for
implementing—or adverse consequences for failing to implement—conservation action.
Acknowledging and describing the problem is important. But policies and programmes
must also be put in place to correct it. Here, we highlight some measurable benefits
of workforce diversity, and give an overview of some of the barriers to inclusion
in marine conservation that help perpetuate low workforce diversity. Importantly, we
underscore actions that both individuals and groups can take to alleviate such barriers.
In particular, we describe the establishment of an online Marine Diversity Network,
which conference participants proposed during a focus group meeting at the 4th
International Marine Conservation Congress. The network will serve to bring together
people from across the globe, from a variety of backgrounds, and from all career stages,
to share knowledge, experiences and ideas, to provide and receive mentorship in marine
conservation, and to forge new collaborations. Removing barriers to diverse participation
requires coordinated, mindful actions by individuals and organizations. We hope that the
proposed network and other actions presented in this paper find widespread support,
and that they might serve both as inspiration and guide to other groups concerned with
increasing diversity and inclusivity
The Kelp Forest Challenge: A collaborative global movement to protect and restore 4 million hectares of kelp forests
Aggregating behaviour in invasive Caribbean lionfish is driven by habitat complexity
Caribbean lionfish (Pterois spp.) are considered the most heavily impacting invasive marine vertebrate ever recorded. However, current management is largely inadequate, relying on opportunistic culling by recreational SCUBA divers. Culling efficiency could be greatly improved by exploiting natural aggregations, but to date this behaviour has only been recorded anecdotally, and the drivers are unknown. We found aggregations to be common in situ, but detected no conspecific attraction through visual or olfactory cues in laboratory experiments. Aggregating individuals were on average larger, but showed no further differences in morphology or life history. However, using visual assessments and 3D modelling we show lionfish prefer broad-scale, but avoid fine-scale, habitat complexity. We therefore suggest that lionfish aggregations are coincidental based on individuals’ mutual attraction to similar reef structure to maximise hunting efficiency. Using this knowledge, artificial aggregation devices might be developed to concentrate lionfish densities and thus improve culling efficiency
A global perspective on the trophic geography of sharks
Sharks are a diverse group of mobile predators that forage across varied spatial scales and have the potential to influence food web dynamics. The ecological consequences of recent declines in shark biomass may extend across broader geographic ranges if shark taxa display common behavioural traits. By tracking the original site of photosynthetic fixation of carbon atoms that were ultimately assimilated into muscle tissues of 5,394 sharks from 114 species, we identify globally consistent biogeographic traits in trophic interactions between sharks found in different habitats. We show that populations of shelf-dwelling sharks derive a substantial proportion of their carbon from regional pelagic sources, but contain individuals that forage within additional isotopically diverse local food webs, such as those supported by terrestrial plant sources, benthic production and macrophytes. In contrast, oceanic sharks seem to use carbon derived from between 30° and 50° of latitude. Global-scale compilations of stable isotope data combined with biogeochemical modelling generate hypotheses regarding animal behaviours that can be tested with other methodological approaches.This research was conducted as part of C.S.B.’s Ph.D dissertation, which was funded by the University of Southampton and NERC (NE/L50161X/1), and through a NERC Grant-in-Kind from the Life Sciences Mass Spectrometry Facility (LSMSF; EK267-03/16). We thank A. Bates, D. Sims, F. Neat, R. McGill and J. Newton for their analytical contributions and comments on the manuscripts.Peer reviewe