Elephants in the room

Macdonald, David W.; Willis, Katherine J.

doi:10.1002/9781118520178.ch25

Cited by 9 publications

(14 citation statements)

References 86 publications

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“…To conclude, although positive aspects in the recovery of threatened keystone species are widely recognized 65 , we suggest evaluating whether such recovery programs are cost–effective under changeable environmental conditions such as those supporting intensive human activity and with unstable balances in consumer populations. It has been shown that, in those systems based on a few keystone species supporting complex guilds of vertebrate consumers (whether carnivores or scavengers), the fate of the species in these assemblages may not be independent of the balance between their populations 66 67 68 69 70 71 .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Modeling the consequences of the demise and potential recovery of a keystone-species: wild rabbits and avian scavengers in Mediterranean landscapes

Cortés‐Avizanda

Colomer

Margalida

et al. 2015

Sci Rep

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Restoration of demised keystone-species populations is an overriding concern in conservation biology. However, since no population is independent of its environment, progress is needed in predicting the efficacy of restoration in unstable ecological contexts. Here, by means of Population Dynamics P-system Models (PDP), we studied long-term changes in the population size of Egyptian vultures (Neophron percnopterus) inhabiting a Natural Park, northern Spain, to changes in the numbers of wild rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus), a keystone-species of Mediterranean ecosystems that have suffered >90% population decline after a hemorrhagic disease outbreak. Low availability of rabbit carcasses leads Egyptian vultures to extend their foraging activities to unprotected areas with higher non-natural mortality whereas growing numbers of griffon vultures (Gyps fulvus), a dominant competitor, progressively monopolize trophic resources resulting in a focal population decrease. Modeling shows that, even if keystone-species populations recover in core protected areas, the return to the original studied population size may be unfeasible, due to both the high non-natural mortality rates in humanized areas and long-term changes in the scavenger guild structure. Policy decisions aimed to restore keystone-species should rely on holistic approaches integrating the effects of spatial heterogeneity on both producer and consumer populations as well as within-guild processes.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Modeling the consequences of the demise and potential recovery of a keystone-species: wild rabbits and avian scavengers in Mediterranean landscapes

Cortés‐Avizanda

Colomer

Margalida

et al. 2015

Sci Rep

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“…We only considered general conservation biology textbooks and not region or taxonomic specific books. Based on these criteria we found seven textbooks as follows: Conservation Biology for All [ 12 ]; Key Topics in Conservation Biology 2 [ 13 ]; A Primer of Conservation Biology , 5 th edition [ 14 ]; An Introduction to Conservation Biology [ 15 ]; Fundamentals of Conservation Biology , 3 rd edition [ 16 ]; Conservation Science , Balancing the Needs of People and Nature , 2 nd edition [ 17 ]; and Essentials of Conservation Biology , 6 th edition [ 18 ]. These seven books were published by both US (n = 2) and UK (n = 5) publishers.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evaluating conservation biology texts for bias in biodiversity representation

Stahl

Lepczyk

Christoffel³

2020

PLoS ONE

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A critical component of textbooks is fair representation of the material they cover. Within conservation biology, fair coverage is particularly important given Earth's breadth of species and diversity of ecosystems. However, research on species tends to be biased towards certain taxonomic groups and geographic areas and their associated ecosystems, so it is possible that textbooks may exhibit similar biases. Considering the possibility of bias, our goal was to evaluate contemporary conservation biology textbooks to determine if they are representative of Earth's biodiversity. We found that textbooks did not accurately reflect Earth's biodiversity. Species, ecosystems, and continents were unevenly represented, few examples mentioned genetic diversity, and examples of negative human influence on the environment outweighed positive examples. However, in terms of aquatic versus terrestrial representation, textbooks presented a representative sample. Our findings suggest that modern conservation biology textbooks are biased in their coverage, which could have important consequences for educating our next generation of scientists and practitioners.

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“…Conventional surveys to quantify and monitor species distributions are labor‐intensive and often limited by financial constraints (Bottrill et al, 2008). Even well planned and executed surveys can lead to an underestimation of species occupancy when conducted on populations of cryptic or small species (Macdonald & Willis, 2013). This underestimation can have serious conservation implications (Gu & Swihart, 2004).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Two for the price of one: eDNA metabarcoding reveals temporal and spatial variability of mussel and fish co‐distributions in Michigan riverine systems

et al. 2023

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Freshwater mussels (family Unionidae) are among the world's most endangered taxa, with almost 75% of North American taxa classified as a species of concern, threatened, or endangered. Despite the critical importance of comprehensive distributional data for the conservation of unionids and fishes, these data are often lacking because of the labor and resources associated with traditional survey methods. During their larval stage, unionid mussels use various fish species as obligate hosts, making native fish species vital to unionid persistence and an understanding of host distribution similarly important. Here, we utilized an eDNA metabarcoding approach to evaluate patterns of co‐distribution of unionid mussels and fishes along ~362 km of the densely sampled Grand River network as well as the outlets of 19 tributaries along the eastern shore of Lake Michigan, USA. We detected a total of 21 mussel and 40 fish taxa, with distinctive composition of both mussel and fish assemblages across tributaries and differences in fish taxa between sampling periods. Notably, we detected more mussel taxa within the Grand River watershed than at the outlets of all 20 rivers combined. Within the Grand River network, two fish taxa (Pylodictus olivaris and Cyprinella) were found more frequently in areas of high mussel diversity, and three fish taxa more frequently in areas of low mussel diversity (Umbra, Leuciscidae, and Etheostoma). There was little difference between eDNA detections of mussels from samples collected in June versus August, but we detected significantly more fish taxa in August compared to June. Taken together, our findings demonstrate the value of eDNA metabarcoding for evaluating co‐distribution of ecologically connected taxa. The use of eDNA as a tool for determining distributions of mussels and their obligate hosts may facilitate conservation efforts for these imperiled taxa.

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Elephants in the room

Cited by 9 publications

References 86 publications

Modeling the consequences of the demise and potential recovery of a keystone-species: wild rabbits and avian scavengers in Mediterranean landscapes

Modeling the consequences of the demise and potential recovery of a keystone-species: wild rabbits and avian scavengers in Mediterranean landscapes

Evaluating conservation biology texts for bias in biodiversity representation

Two for the price of one: eDNA metabarcoding reveals temporal and spatial variability of mussel and fish co‐distributions in Michigan riverine systems

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