The changing nature of collaboration in tropical ecology and conservation

Abstract

Collaboration can improve conservation initiatives through increases in article impact and by building scientific understating required for conservation practice. We investigated temporal trends in collaboration in the tropical ecology and conservation literature by examining patterns of authorship for 2271 articles published from 2000 to 2016 in Biotropica and the Journal of Tropical Ecology. Consistent with trends in other studies and scientific disciplines, we found that the number of authors per article increased from 2.6 in 2000 to 4.2 in 2015 using a generalized linear model (glm). We modeled changes in multinational collaboration in articles using a glm and found that the mean number of author‐affiliated countries increased from 1.3 (±0.6 SD) to 1.7 (±0.8 SD) over time and that increases were best explained by the number of authors per article. The proportion of authors based in tropical countries increased, but the probability of tropical–extratropical collaboration did not and was best explained solely by the number of authors per article. Overall, our analyses suggest that only certain types of collaboration are increasing and that these increases coincide with a general increase in the number of authors per article. Such changes in author numbers and collaboration could be the result of increased data sharing, changes in the scope of research questions, changes in authorship criteria, or scientific migration. We encourage tropical conservation scientists continue to build collaborative ties, particularly with researchers based in underrepresented tropical countries, to ensure that tropical ecology and conservation remains inclusive and effective.

Ecosystem services research trends in Indonesia: a bibliometric analysis

“…It is constant with a prior study (Lakitan et al 2012) that Indonesian researchers have a greater dependency on international collaborators. However, research collaboration on the topic is imperative to promote natural resource and biodiversity conservation initiatives by increasing the impact of scholarly articles, stimulating scientific innovation, and building effective communication between stakeholders and policy-makers (Perez and Hogan 2018). Nevertheless, it increases the dependence of researchers from developing countries on multinational actors and institutions and probably disregards the context and local dynamics (Chaudhary et al 2015;Suominen et al 2019).…”

Decolonizing field ecology

“…There are some moves by ecologists to acknowledge such complicity: The Intergovernmental Science‐Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) has now included indigenous and local knowledges in their assessments of the state of ecosystems and services, and a recent panel discussion at the 2018 conference of the Association for Tropical Biology and Conservation highlighted that scientists from outside arrive in poorer parts of the world with preconceived conservation values that demean local knowledge and traditions (Gokkon, ). Several papers in Biotropica have reflected on biases in the composition of contributing authors (Cayuela, Granzow‐de la Cerda & Méndez, ; Stocks et al., ) and provided suggestions to improve engagement and knowledge exchange with local stakeholders (Duchelle et al., ; Perez & Hogan, ). In a similar vein, political ecologists, who are interested in the relationships between political, economic and social factors with environmental issues and changes (Biersack, ), have explored the social impacts of protected areas and conservation practices, demonstrating that environmental conservation can lead to “winners and losers” (Brockington, Duffy & Igoe, ) with the losers usually being the rural, indigenous and poor (Ybarra, ).…”

Students as ecologists: Strategies for successful mentorship of undergraduate researchers

“…Peer mentoring experiences have positive impacts for all students involved, building confidence, motivation, and communication skills (Lopatto, ). Collaboration is an essential part of scientific research and is becoming increasingly important in the field of ecology (Goring et al, ; Perez & Hogan, ). By working as a team, undergraduates have the opportunity to develop and practice the skills necessary for collaboration.…”