The cognition of ‘nuisance’ species

Barrett, Lisa P.; Stanton, Lauren A; Benson‐Amram, Sarah

doi:10.1016/j.anbehav.2018.05.005

Cited by 112 publications

(159 citation statements)

References 193 publications

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“…Zoo‐based research has also highlighted species differences in elephant digestive physiology, links between nutrition and reproduction, and milk‐composition changes during lactation. Improved understanding of the sensory biology and behaviour of elephants has contributed to mitigation of human–elephant conflict, which is expected to intensify through time as human populations continue to expand, and elephants learn and adapt to new environments (McComb et al ., ; Barrett et al ., ). Much research has been done to characterize the unique reproductive cycle of female elephants, which includes two LH surges; and AI has led to more than 50 births worldwide.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 98%

Zoo elephant research: contributions to conservation of captive and free‐ranging species

Bechert

Brown

Dierenfeld

et al. 2019

International Zoo Yearbook

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African elephants Loxodonta africana and Asian elephants Elephas maximus are not thriving in many captive settings and are threatened throughout their native ranges. Many zoos support in situ conservation projects and provide opportunities to conduct ex situ research in controlled settings with comparably approachable animals. Zoo elephant projects may facilitate fieldwork with free‐ranging elephants (e.g. development of non‐invasive sampling and analytical tools), which may then also improve the husbandry of elephants in human care. Free‐ranging elephants also benefit from drug therapies and veterinary care when they are orphaned, kept as working elephants or brought in as rehabilitation cases – especially as human–elephant conflicts become more common as a result of ever‐expanding human populations. Much has been learned about the basic biology and husbandry needs of elephants but, often, the more we learn, the more questions arise. There are physiological differences between African and Asian elephants, and this should affect the management of these animals. This paper will provide brief overviews of the current state of knowledge regarding the pharmacology, nutrition, reproduction, sensory biology and diseases (primarily elephant endotheliotropic herpesvirus infections) relevant to elephants with recommendations for future research.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 98%

Zoo elephant research: contributions to conservation of captive and free‐ranging species

Bechert

Brown

Dierenfeld

et al. 2019

International Zoo Yearbook

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“…Combined, this information improves understanding of which interventions or conservation policies are likely to be most effective. For cognitively advanced species, for example, the simultaneous use of lights, audio playbacks, and adverse taste or scent conditioning can be effective nonlethal methods for reducing wildlife disservices, such as crop damage or livestock depredation (Barrett et al 2018). Detailed information on an animal's ecology, habitat, and food requirements can also help predict services and disservices.…”

Section: Define the Wildlife Units (Step 2)mentioning

confidence: 99%

Governing trade‐offs in ecosystem services and disservices to achieve human–wildlife coexistence

Ceauşu

Graves

Killion

et al. 2019

Conservation Biology

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Sustaining wildlife populations, which provide both ecosystem services and disservices, represents a worldwide conservation challenge. The ecosystem services and Ostrom's social–ecological systems frameworks have been adopted across natural and social sciences to characterize benefits from nature. Despite their generalizability, individually they do not include explicit tools for addressing the sustainable management of many wildlife populations. For instance, Ostrom's framework does not specifically address competing perspectives on wildlife, whereas the ecosystem services framework provides a limited representation of the social and governance context wherein such competing perspectives are embedded. We developed a unified social–ecological framework of ecosystem disservices and services (SEEDS) that advances both frameworks by explicitly acknowledging the importance of competing wildlife perspectives embedded in the social and governance contexts. The SEEDS framework emulates the hierarchical structure of Ostrom's social–ecological systems, but adds subsystems reflecting heterogeneous stakeholder views and experiences of wildlife‐based services and disservices. To facilitate operationalizing SEEDS and further broader analyses across human–wildlife systems, we devised a list of variables to describe SEEDS subsystems, such as types and level of services and disservices, cost and benefit sharing, and social participation of stakeholders. Steps to implement SEEDS involve engaging local communities and stakeholders to define the subsystems, analyze interactions and outcomes, and identify leverage points and actions to remedy unwanted outcomes. These steps connect SEEDS with other existing approaches in social–ecological research and can guide analyses across systems or within individual systems to provide new insights and management options for sustainable human–wildlife coexistence.

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“…There is a critical need for empirical data on population‐dynamics resulting from traps, their eco‐evolutionary interactions with other causes of population decline to help inform and prioritize evolutionary trap management options. Deeper understanding of the sensory‐cognitive mechanisms that are undermined in the creation of evolutionary traps will be useful in developing a wealth of new management approaches for species of conservation concern caught in evolutionary traps, and for designing ways to intentionally create evolutionary traps that target “nuisance” species and hasten their decline and control their distribution (Barrett, Stanton, & Benson‐Amram, ; Robertson et al ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

How to disarm an evolutionary trap

Robertson

Blumstein

2019

Conservat Sci and Prac

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Evolutionary traps occur when rapid environmental change leads animals to prefer resources (e.g., food, mates, habitats) that reduce their fitness. Traps can lead to rapid population declines, extirpation, and species extinction, yet they have received little attention within the context of wildlife conservation efforts. We first demonstrate that traps are affecting a taxonomically diverse range of animals including key pollinators and important human food species and commonly impact threatened and endangered species. We then provide a conceptual framework for wildlife scientists and practitioners that outlines: (1) the detectable symptoms of evolutionary traps which require further investigation if a trap is affecting the target of existing conservation management; (2) management options for eliminating traps or mitigating their demographic impacts; (3) case studies illustrating how practitioners have applied these mitigations in specific cases; and (4) a structure for considering how these management options should be integrated into existing decision‐making frameworks. Management to eliminate evolutionary traps is a new challenge for conservationist scientists requiring a deeper understanding of the sensory‐cognitive world experienced by nonhuman animals. To do so, it will be essential to diagnose the behavioral mechanisms causing traps and then identify solutions to restore adaptive behavior in target populations.

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The cognition of ‘nuisance’ species

Cited by 112 publications

References 193 publications

Zoo elephant research: contributions to conservation of captive and free‐ranging species

Zoo elephant research: contributions to conservation of captive and free‐ranging species

Governing trade‐offs in ecosystem services and disservices to achieve human–wildlife coexistence

How to disarm an evolutionary trap

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