Testing a global standard for quantifying species recovery and assessing conservation impact

Grace, Molly K.; Akçakaya, H. Reşi̇t; Bennett, Elizabeth L.; Brooks, Thomas M.; Heath, Anna; Hedges, S. Blair; Hilton‐Taylor, Craig; Hoffmann, Michael; Hochkirch, Axel; Jenkins, Richard; Keith, David A.; Long, Barney; Mallon, David; Meijaard, Erik; Milner‐Gulland, E.J.; Rodrı́guez, Jon Paul; Stephenson, P. J.; Stuart, Simon N.; Young, Richard P.; Acebes, Pablo; Alfaro‐Shigueto, Joanna; Alvarez‐Clare, Silvia; Andriantsimanarilafy, Raphali Rodlis; Arbetman, Marina P.; Azat, Claudio; Bacchetta, Gianluigi; Badola, Ruchi; Barcelos, Luís; Barreiros, João P.; Basak, Sayanti; Berger, Danielle J.; Bhattacharyya, Sabuj; Bino, Gilad; Borges, Paulo A. V.; Boughton, Raoul K.; Brockmann, H. Jane; Buckley, Hannah; Burfield, Ian J.; Burton, James; Camacho-Badani, Teresa; Cano-Alonso, Luis Santiago; Carmichael, Ruth H.; Carrero, Christina; Carroll, John P.; Catsadorakis, G.; Chapple, David G.; Chapron, Guillaume; Chowdhury, Gawsia Wahidunnessa; Claassens, Louw; Cogoni, Donatella; Constantine, Rochelle; Craig, Christie; Cunningham, Andrew A.; Dahal, Nishma; Daltry, Jennifer C.; Das, Goura Chandra; Dasgupta, Niladri; Davey, Alexandra; Davies, Katharine; Develey, Pedro F.; Elangovan, Vanitha; Fairclough, David V.; Febbraro, Mirko Di; Fenu, Giuseppe; Fernandes, Fernando Moreira; Fernandez, Eduardo P.; Finucci, Brittany; Földesi, Rita; Foley, Catherine M.; Ford, Matthew; Forstner, Michael R. J.; García, Néstor; García-Sandoval, Ricardo; Gardner, Penny C.; Garibay‐Orijel, Roberto; Gatan-Balbas, Marites; Gauto, Irene; Ghazi, Mirza Ghazanfar Ullah; Godfrey, Stephanie S.; Gollock, Matthew; González, Benito A.; Grant, Tandora D.; Gray, Thomas N. E.; Gregory, Andrew J.; Grunsven, Roy H. A. van; Gryzenhout, Marieka; Guernsey, Noelle C.; Gupta, Garima; Hagen, Christina; Hagen, Christian A.; Hall, Madison B.; Hallerman, Eric M.; Hare, Kelly M.; Hart, Tom; Hartdegen, Ruston; Harvey-Brown, Yvette; Hatfield, Richard G.; Hawke, Tahneal; Hermes, Claudia; Hitchmough, Rod; Hoffmann, Pablo Melo; Howarth, C.H.; Hudson, Michael A.; Hussain, Syed Ainul; Huveneers, Charlie; Jacques, Hélène; Jørgensen, Dennis; Katdare, Suyash; Katsis, Lydia K.D.; Kaul, Rahul; Kaunda‐Arara, Boaz; Keith-Diagne, Lucy W.; Kraus, Daniel; Lima, Thales Moreira de; Lindeman, Kenyon C.; Linsky, Jean; Louis, Edward E.; Loy, Anna; Lughadha, Eimear Nic; Mangel, Jeffrey C.; Marinari, Paul E.; Martín, Gabriel M.; Martinelli, Gustavo; McGowan, Philip J.K.; McInnes, Alistair; Mendes, Eduardo Teles Barbosa; Millard, Michael J.; Mirande, Claire; Money, Daniel; Monks, Joanne M.; Morales, Carolina; Mumu, Nazia Naoreen; Negrão, Raquel; Nguyen, Anh Ha; Niloy, Nazmul Hasan; Norbury, Grant; Nordmeyer, Cale; Norris, D. Ryan; O’Brien, Mark; Oda, Gabriela Akemi Macedo; Orsenigo, Simone; Outerbridge, Mark E.; Pasachnik, Stesha A.; Pérez‐Jiménez, Juan Carlos; Pike, Charlotte; Pilkington, Fred; Plumb, Glenn E.; Portela, Rita de Cássia Quitete; Prohaska, Ana; Quintana, Manuel; Rakotondrasoa, Eddie Fanantenana; Ranglack, Dustin H.; Rankou, Hassan; Rawat, Ajay Prakash; Reardon, James T.; Rheingantz, Marcelo Lopes; Richter, Stephen C.; Rivers, Malin; Rogers, Luke Rollie; Rosa, Patrícia da; Rose, Paul; Royer, Emily; Ryan, Catherine; Mitcheson, Yvonne J. Sadovy de; Salmon, Lily; Salvador, Carlos Henrique; Samways, Michael J.; Sanjuán, Tatiana; Santos, Amanda Souza; Sasaki, Hiroshi; Schütz, Emmanuel; Scott, Heather Ann; Scott, R. Michael; Serena, Fabrizio; Sharma, Surya Prasad; Shuey, John A.; Silva, Carlos Julio Polo; Simaika, John P.; Smith, David R.; Spaet, Julia L. Y.; Sultana, Shanjida; Talukdar, Bibhab Kumar; Tatayah, Vikash; Thomas, Philip; Tringali, Angela; Trinh-Dinh, Hoang; Tuboi, Chongpi; Usmani, Aftab Alam; Vasco-Palacios, Aída M.; Vié, Jean Christophe; Virens, Jo; Walker, Alan; Wallace, Bryan P.; Waller, Lauren J.; Wang, Hongfeng; Wearn, Oliver R.; Weerd, M. van; Weigmann, Simon; Willcox, Daniel; Woinarski, John C. Z.; Yong, Jean Wan Hong; Young, Soogil

doi:10.1111/cobi.13756

Cited by 66 publications

(37 citation statements)

References 35 publications

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“…With a comprehensive, global assessment of the extinction risk of reptile species now available, these data can be incorporated into the toolbox of conservation practice and policy. At the species level, they can serve as the starting point for ‘green status’ (formerly ‘green list’) assessments that define, measure and incentivize species recovery 29 . More generally, they can be integrated into the calculation of species threat abatement and restoration metrics 2 , the identification of key biodiversity areas 30 and resource allocation using systematic conservation planning 31 , all of which have primarily been dependent on data from birds, mammals and amphibians among animals to date.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A global reptile assessment highlights shared conservation needs of tetrapods

Cox

Young

Bowles

et al. 2022

Nature

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223

130

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Comprehensive assessments of species’ extinction risks have documented the extinction crisis1 and underpinned strategies for reducing those risks2. Global assessments reveal that, among tetrapods, 40.7% of amphibians, 25.4% of mammals and 13.6% of birds are threatened with extinction3. Because global assessments have been lacking, reptiles have been omitted from conservation-prioritization analyses that encompass other tetrapods4–7. Reptiles are unusually diverse in arid regions, suggesting that they may have different conservation needs6. Here we provide a comprehensive extinction-risk assessment of reptiles and show that at least 1,829 out of 10,196 species (21.1%) are threatened—confirming a previous extrapolation8 and representing 15.6 billion years of phylogenetic diversity. Reptiles are threatened by the same major factors that threaten other tetrapods—agriculture, logging, urban development and invasive species—although the threat posed by climate change remains uncertain. Reptiles inhabiting forests, where these threats are strongest, are more threatened than those in arid habitats, contrary to our prediction. Birds, mammals and amphibians are unexpectedly good surrogates for the conservation of reptiles, although threatened reptiles with the smallest ranges tend to be isolated from other threatened tetrapods. Although some reptiles—including most species of crocodiles and turtles—require urgent, targeted action to prevent extinctions, efforts to protect other tetrapods, such as habitat preservation and control of trade and invasive species, will probably also benefit many reptiles.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A global reptile assessment highlights shared conservation needs of tetrapods

Cox

Young

Bowles

et al. 2022

Nature

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223

130

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“…A robust understanding of the impacts of hydropower dams is necessary to enable development of effective minimization and mitigation actions. Actions are required not only to prevent extinctions (Rhodin et al, 2018), but also to facilitate the recovery of populations (Norris et al, 2019; Tickner et al, 2020; Grace et al, 2021). The nesting density of yellow‐spotted river turtle ( P. unifilis ) was adversely affected by distance to a run‐of‐river dam reservoir.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Amazonian run‐of‐river dam reservoir impacts underestimated: Evidence from a before–after control–impact study of freshwater turtle nesting areas

Bárcenas-García

Michalski

Gibbs

et al. 2022

Aquatic Conservation

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Hydropower dams are associated with adverse impacts on biodiversity, yet there remains a lack of robust scientific evidence documenting the magnitude of these impacts, particularly across highly biodiverse tropical waterways. Aquatic and semi‐aquatic vertebrates are disproportionately affected by human changes to aquatic environments and hydropower expansion is an increasing threat to the Endangered yellow‐spotted river turtle (Podocnemis unifilis) across its tropical South American range. Yellow‐spotted river turtle nesting areas were monitored as an indicator of dry season river level changes following run‐of‐river dam reservoir filling. A before–after control–impact (BACI) study design was used with multi‐year field campaigns monitoring turtle nesting areas upstream of the dam. The cause and extent of changes in nesting areas were established using generalized additive models. Nesting area density was evaluated in relation to time (before vs. after), treatment (control vs. impact), time–treatment interaction (BACI), distance to the dam and precipitation. The extent of changes was examined by comparing the remaining proportion of nesting areas after reservoir filling. Dam construction generated an immediate and apparently permanent dry season river‐level rise that extended more than 20 km beyond impact assessment limits. On average the density of nesting areas declined by 69% (from 0.48 to 0.15 per km) across 33 km of river directly affected by the dam. This loss was reflected in a significant BACI interaction. Nesting area density was not explained by seasonal precipitation. Monitoring of freshwater turtle nesting areas provided an effective means to quantify hydropower dam impacts across biodiverse yet rapidly changing waterways. The adverse impacts documented in this study should be preventable by mitigation actions including habitat creation and dry season flow regulation. Such measures are also likely to benefit multiple sandbar‐nesting species (including turtles, crocodiles and birds) in tropical rivers increasingly influenced by run‐of‐river dams.

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“…The inclusion of functional diversity could greatly aid international, national, and local efforts to preserve functionally unique species, and recently, new indexes have been developed to include some aspects of species functionality. The IUCN Green Status of Species (Grace et al 2021; IUCN 2021), a new part of the Red List assessment, quantifies species recovery and explicitly includes ecological function (Akçakaya et al, 2020). Incorporating the functional diversity of life history strategies in conservation assessments constitutes a promising approach to help prioritise conservation efforts to maintain high levels of functional diversity against current and future threats.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Anthropogenic impacts on threatened species erode functional diversity in turtles and crocodilians

Rodríguez-Caro

Graciá

Blomberg

et al. 2022

Preprint

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The Anthropocene is tightly associated with a drastic loss of species worldwide, and consequently, with the disappearance of key ecosystem functions. The on-going reduction in species functionality is driven by global and local threats. The orders Testudines (turtles and tortoises) and Crocodilia (crocodilians and alligators) contain numerous threatened, long-lived species for which their functional diversity and potential erosion by anthropogenic impacts remains unknown. Here, we examine 259 of the existing 375 species of Testudines and Crocodilia quantifying their life history strategies (i.e., schedules of survival, development, and reproduction) from open-access data on their demography, ancestry, and threats. We find that the loss of functional diversity in simulated extinction scenarios of threatened species is greater than expected by chance. Moreover, the effects of unsustainable local consumption, diseases, and pollution are associated to specific functional strategies. Meanwhile climate change, habitat disturbance, and global trade affect all species independent of their life history strategy. Importantly, the loss of functional diversity for threatened species by habitat disturbance is twice greater than for all other threats. Our findings highlight the key importance of conservation programmes focused on preserving the functional diversity of life history strategies jointly with the phylogenetic representativity of these highly threatened groups.

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Testing a global standard for quantifying species recovery and assessing conservation impact

Abstract: This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Cited by 66 publications

References 35 publications

A global reptile assessment highlights shared conservation needs of tetrapods

A global reptile assessment highlights shared conservation needs of tetrapods

Amazonian run‐of‐river dam reservoir impacts underestimated: Evidence from a before–after control–impact study of freshwater turtle nesting areas

Anthropogenic impacts on threatened species erode functional diversity in turtles and crocodilians

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