Journals publishing open access (OA) articles often require that authors pay article processing charges (APC). Researchers in the Global South often cite APCs as a major financial obstacle to OA publishing, especially in widely-recognized or prestigious outlets. Consequently, it has been hypothesized that authors from the Global South will be underrepresented in journals charging APCs. We tested this hypothesis using >37,000 articles from Elsevier’s ‘Mirror journal’ system, in which a hybrid ‘Parent’ journal and its Gold-OA ‘Mirror’ share editorial boards and standards for acceptance. Most articles were non-OA; 45% of articles had lead authors based in either the United States of America (USA) or China. After correcting for the effect of this dominance and differences in sample size, we found that OA articles published in Parent and Mirror journals had lead authors with similar Geographic Diversity. However, Author Geographic Diversity of OA articles was significantly lower than that of non-OA articles. Most OA articles were written by authors in high-income countries, and there were no articles in Mirror journals by authors in low-income countries. Our results for Elsevier’s Mirror-Parent system are consistent with the hypothesis that APCs are a barrier to OA publication for scientists from the Global South.

Many OA journals require authors pay an article processing charge (APC), which researchers in the Global South often cite as an insurmountable financial barrier. This has led to speculation that there will be lower representation of these authors in OA journals charging APCs. We used “mirror journals” – APC-charging OA versions of paywalled (PW) titles with whom they share editorial boards and standards for acceptance – to investigate the relationship between APCs and the geographic diversity of authors. Most of the >41,000 articles we reviewed were published in PW journals. Although lead authors were based in >140 countries, ~45% were based in either the United States of America (USA) or China. After correcting for differences in sample size, we found no difference between OA and PW journals in the number of countries in which lead authors were based. After correcting for the dominance of China and the USA, we found that author diversity in OA journals was significantly lower than in PW journals. Most OA articles were written by authors in high-income countries; no articles in OA journals had first authors from low-income countries. Our results suggest APCs are a barrier to OA publication for scientists from the Global South.

Water is crucial for ecosystem health and socioeconomic development, but water scarcity is becoming a global concern. Management of transboundary watersheds is inherently challenging and has the potential to lead to conflict over the allocation of water resources. The metacoupling framework, which explores the relationships between coupled human and natural systems that are nested within multiple different scales, has been proposed to inform more holistic management of transboundary watersheds. This paper provides the first attempt to apply a metacoupling framework to a transboundary watershed for an improved integrated understanding of this complex system at multiple spatial scales. It does so with the transnational Limpopo River watershed in Southern Africa, which covers 1.3% of the continent and supports the livelihoods of 18.8 million people living in Botswana, Mozambique, South Africa, and Zimbabwe. Sub-Saharan Africa is experiencing a growing gap between water availability and demand; the primary drivers are population growth and agriculture expansion. The novelty of the paper is outlining the importance of applying a metacoupling framework to transboundary watersheds, identifying the limitations to this application, and providing a detailed assessment of the steps needed to complete this application. We also identify directions for future research including application of a metacoupling framework to other transboundary watersheds and exploration of spillover effects and externalities within this and other transboundary watersheds.

Efforts to promote human‐wildlife coexistence may be overly focused on wildlife‐related costs and benefits. We conducted research in Mozambique to gain insights into how governance of wildlife influences potential for human‐wildlife coexistence. Mozambique is an under‐studied region with a unique history of Portuguese rule, extended civil unrest, substantial wildlife trafficking, and current re‐wilding efforts. We conducted surveys, logistic regression, and hotspot analysis to assess which variables are correlated with positive attitudes toward living with wildlife. Most respondents (61%) expressed positive attitudes toward living with wildlife. Attitudes were positively correlated with age, gender, distance from the park, wildlife benefits, restricted access to natural resources, and agreement with wildlife rules. Conflict with wildlife (i.e., livestock predation, human harm, and crop loss) were not significant predictors of attitudes. Respondents who agreed with the rules governing wildlife were 30‐times more likely to have positive attitudes. This new and important finding highlights the possibility that institutions that address environmental justice, including the devolution of wildlife to local communities, may be more salient than the conventional measures of costs and benefits for understanding human‐wildlife coexistence. Our results suggest that much more attention should be dedicated to the role of local institutions in promoting human‐wildlife coexistence.

Human–wildlife conflicts are increasing in number and intensity making conflict mitigation and coexistence a top priority for wildlife conservation. Domesticated dogs (Canis lupus familiaris) can mitigate or exacerbate human–wildlife conflict leading to positive and negative impacts on both humans and wildlife. However, the human–dog–wildlife interface is not well understood, particularly in biodiversity hot spots. Madagascar is a tropical biodiversity hot spot with many rare and threatened species of high conservation concern. Here we assess wildlife predation by free‐roaming dogs in communities surrounding Andasibe–Mantadia and Ranomafana National Parks in eastern Madagascar using surveys of dog owners living adjacent to protected areas. Nearly half of survey respondents reported that their dog(s) had killed wildlife. Dogs that spent more time away from home, that traveled to the forest more frequently, that had killed domestic livestock, and that were owned for hunting were more likely to have killed wildlife. Dogs that were fed were approximately 20% less likely to have killed wildlife than dogs that were not fed. Keeping dogs restrained more often and providing food are therefore likely to reduce wildlife predation by dogs provided these are socially acceptable options. Additionally, we found spatial variation in wildlife predation by dogs both between and within our two study regions. These results can help conservation organizations develop targeted, effective interventions appropriately tailored to the local context and prioritize specific areas with higher wildlife predation by dogs. Abstract in French is available with online material.