Many large ungulate species, including the banteng (Bos javanicus), are on the verge of extinction. Mae Wong National Park in Thailand was once a haven for banteng due to its abundance of preferred habitat, but the species was extirpated in the 1970s due to logging and hunting, before park designation. Mae Wong is connected with Huai Kha Khaeng Wildlife Sanctuary (HKK), which retains the largest banteng population remaining in Thailand. In 2019, Mae Wong park rangers reported suspected banteng footprints near HKK. We used camera traps to verify the presence of banteng and determine their population structure and activity pattern. We observed at least nine individual bantengs (range 1–7 each month) during the 15-month survey, including three adult males, two adult females, three juveniles, and 1 calf. Solitary males and herds (up to five animals) were observed, reflecting typical social structure. Banteng were detected throughout the survey and across all seasons, suggesting a resident population. Our research confirms the return of banteng to Mae Wong after an absence of over 40 years. The banteng likely dispersed from HKK, emphasizing the importance of landscape connectivity and source sites for recovery of endangered species. Though still small, the Mae Wong population is breeding, which is significant for future population recovery. Protection, community outreach, and habitat management can help secure this population. As banteng is the preferred food of tigers, their recovery will benefit tiger conservation in Mae Wong as well.

Subsistence hunting for obtaining wild meat is a common practice in rural neotropical communities. Like other peasant practices disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic, subsistence hunting could exacerbate pressure on wild mammals whose greater size contributes to feeding the hunter and his family. Thus, in the context of the pandemic, we assessed the subsistence hunting of the white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus), one of the main traditional game species in the Calakmul region, Campeche, Mexico, and compared this activity with its pre-pandemic levels of such vertebrate species. Based on ethnographic information and hunting records from three rural communities, we found that in one trimester (July-September 2020) of the rainy season, a total of 26 white-tailed deer (923 kg of game biomass) were obtained by local peasant-hunters carrying out hunting mostly alone. Most peasant-hunters interviewed (36 of 51) stated that they hunted daily, and only a few hunted once a week or once a month (8 and 3%, respectively). This hunting activity and modalities were carried out at night (68%) versus day, stalking (21%) and opportunist (11%) near their community. The game biomass and hunting frequency in the studied communities were twice as high during the pandemic, compared to similar pre-pandemic periods in the region. Our survey highlights the need to expand monitoring and evaluation (during and after the pandemic) of subsistence hunting on key species, such as white-tailed deer, in order to ensure conservation and sustainable use of wildlife in this important Mesoamerican region.

Chaco Chachalaca (Ortalis canicollis) is a declining Neotropical bird, for which our current knowledge about its natural history is very limited. Here, we evaluated for first time the utility of passive acoustic monitoring, coupled with automated signal recognition software, to monitor the Chaco Chachalaca, described the vocal behavior of the species across the diel and seasonal cycle patterns, and proposed an acoustic monitoring protocol to minimize error in the estimation of the vocal activity rate. We recorded over a complete annual cycle at three sites in the Brazilian Pantanal. The species was detected on 99% of the monitoring days, proving that this technique is a reliable method for detecting the presence of the species. Chaco Chachalaca was vocally active throughout the day and night, but its diel activity pattern peaked between 0500 and 0900. The breeding season of Chaco Chachalaca in the Brazilian Pantanal, based on seasonal changes in vocal activity, seems to occur during the last months of the dry season, with a peak in vocal activity between August and October. Our results could guide future surveys aiming to detect the presence of the species, both using traditional or acoustic surveys, or to evaluate changes in population abundance using passive acoustic monitoring, for which recorders should be left in the field for a minimum period of nine days to obtain a low-error estimate of the vocal activity of the species. Our results suggest that passive acoustic monitoring might be useful, as a complementary tool to field studies, for monitoring other cracids, a family with several threatened species that are reluctant to human presence.

Evidence suggests that a decline in people’s exposure to nature corresponds to decreasing support for nature—a phenomenon we call extinction of nature experience. Here, we evaluate three current trends in conservation research and consider if they contribute to a decrease in exposure to nature. We suggest that while using sensors, algorithms, technocentric thinking, conducting meta-analyses, and taking more lab-based approaches all have significant potential to advance conservation goals, they lead to researchers spending less time in the field and an extinction of nature experience. A reduction of researcher field time will mean fewer local field assistants are hired and trained; lower engagement of researchers with ground realities; and a rift in conservation research, planning, and implementation. We suggest that the field of conservation science should balance how it allocates time and rewards to field versus non-field components. If we are not careful, we will select researchers that are distant from the biodiversity itself and the communities that are affecting it locally. Since the pandemic began many researchers were unable to go to their field sites and if care is not taken, the pressures that promote the extinction of nature experience may be promoted by institutions in a post–COVID-19 world.

Background and Research: Lack of information on the distribution of threatened aquatic species impedes their conservation, thus predisposing them to extinction risk before being reported. Hence, this study reports in Nigeria, for the first time, the occurrence and habitat specificity of the larva of Pentaphlebia stahli (Zygoptera: Pentaphlebiidae) a vulnerable damselfly.

Methods: Samples of P. stahli were collected in July and December 2020 from a rural stream situated at the Ekor Waterfalls in the Cross River State of Nigeria and very close to the Nigeria–Cameroon border. Some water quality parameters were also measured in each sampling period.

Results: A total of 27 larvae of P. stahli and 1 teneral adult emerging from its exuvia were recorded in the two sampling periods. The habitat was a forested stream characterized by rapids, falls, and dark rock substrata. Water flows at a fast rate of 1 m in 3 or 4 seconds, thus characterizing a rifle and headwater stream. Dissolved oxygen concentration was between 8.05 and 8.09 mg/L, while dissolved oxygen saturation was ∼98%. Biological oxygen demand was between 1.04 and 1.08 mg/L, while pH ranged from 7.28 and 7.56.

Conclusion: The stream could be described as having high ecological integrity as evidenced in its optimum range of values for the investigated water parameters and the presence of a threatened species.

Implications for Conservation: Based on habitat specificity, P. stahli is considered an umbrella species required for conserving other co-occurring species in the tropical stream and its riparian forest.

Background and Research Aims: Habitat amount plays an important role in determining the presence and abundance of bird species in modified landscapes, whereas habitat fragmentation has shown little effects. Toucans (Ramphastidae) and parrots (Psittacidae) are large-bodied primary consumers and among the most representative birds in Neotropical forests. They are highly sensitive to habitat loss; nevertheless, their response to fragmentation has been poorly assessed leading to contradictory results. Here, we evaluate the influence of landscape structure on toucans and parrots in the tropical forest of Los Tuxtlas, Mexico. Methods: We censused birds in 12 landscapes of Los Tuxtlas and used a multi-scale landscape approach to assess the influence of landscape composition and configuration on the number of individuals of toucans and parrots. Results: We found that the most important and positive predictor of toucans and parrots was the amount of primary forest cover in the landscape. Forest fragmentation had positive effects on the number of toucan individuals, whereas parrots had negative responses to patch density but positive responses to edge density in the landscape. Conclusion: Our results suggest that primary forest loss is the main threat for toucans and parrots in Los Tuxtlas. Implications for conservation: Future conservation and land management must consider the protection of large and small remnants of primary forest and avoid additional forest loss in order to preserve toucan and parrots and their functional roles in human-modified Neotropical landscapes.

Cracidae is the most threatened avian family in the Neotropics, mainly because of habitat destruction, heavy hunting pressure and poaching. In French Guiana, Black Curassows are heavily hunted, although basic knowledge of the ecological and demographical traits of the species remains limited. Such a gap prevents any attempt to assess the impact of hunting and to help stakeholders to develop proposals ensuring hunting sustainability. The spatial relationship between animals and their habitat is important for conservation management, being related to population densities through complex patterns. Here, we report on a radio-tracking study of Black Curassows in tropical primary rainforest, in Nouragues National Reserve, French Guiana. The aims of the study were to estimate home range size and its variation across seasons, and to quantify movement patterns of the birds. We captured and fitted VHF tags to four adults, and tracked them for 10 to 21.5 months. Daily movements were recorded, and home ranges estimated using the Kernel Density method, for two consecutive wet seasons and one dry season. Using 95% and 50% Kernel densities, the average annual home range and core area were 96.3± 32.6 ha (SE) and 22.8 ± 2.8 ha respectively. Home ranges appeared spatially stable over the two years, and overlapped between neighbouring groups. During the dry season, Black Curassows did not migrate but tended to enlarge their home range, with greater daily movements and higher home range overlap. Although additional data are still needed, our results can help to improve the knowledge and management of this poorly studied species.

Global climate change is associated with changes in precipitation patterns and an increase in extreme weather events, which might shift the geographic distribution of species. Despite the importance of this topic, information is lacking for many species, particularly tropical birds. Here, we developed species distribution models (SDMs) to evaluate future projections of the distribution of the widespread Buff-bellied Hummingbird (Amazilia yucatanensis) and for each of the recognized subspecies (A. y. yucatanensis, A. y. cerviniventris, A. y. chalconota), under climate change scenarios. Using SDMs we evaluate current and future projections of their potential distribution for four Representative Concentration Pathway (RCPs) for the years 2050 and 2070. We also calculated the subspecies climatic niche breadth to test the relationship between their area of distribution and climatic niche breadth and their niche overlap. Future climate-change models suggested a small increase in the potential distribution of the species and the subspecies A. y. yucatanensis, but the predicted potential geographic range decreased in A. y. chalconota and remained unaffected in A. y. cerviniventris. The climatic niche of A. y. cerviniventris contained part niche space of A. y. yucatanensis and part of A. y. chalconota, but the climatic niches of A. y. yucatanensis and A. y. chalconota did not overlap. Our study highlights the importance of correctly choosing the taxonomic unit to be analyzed because subspecies will respond in a different manner to future climate change; therefore, conservation actions must consider intrinsic requirements of subspecies and the environmental drivers that shape their distributions.

The Comoros archipelago is a biodiversity hotspot by virtue of its high level of endemism. However, it suffers one of the highest rates of forest loss worldwide, mainly due to strong anthropogenic pressures. As Comorian populations depend on forest resources for subsistence, establishing relevant conservation strategies for their sustainable management requires the consideration of multiple stakeholders’ perspectives toward biodiversity and habitat conservation. To better understand the relationships between humans and nature; how comorian people use natural resource and the relevance of a protected area for long-term biodiversity conservation, we used Q-methodology to assess local people’s perceptions regarding biodiversity and conservation actions. Three discourses are identified during analysis: “Pro-environment discourse”, “Keeping things as usual” and “Social and environmental concerns”. According to the results, employed respondents, were favorable to long-term forest and biodiversity conservation. In contrast, unemployed respondents were in favor of more immediate benefits while unemployed but educated respondents were in favor to both long-term forest conservation and immediate benefits from forests. This suggests that poverty and a lack of access to basic services is associated with overharvesting of natural resources by rural people. These results suggest that biodiversity conservation of the Comoros archipelagos may benefit for plan aiming at (1) developing tourism and maintaining sustainable production of crops and livestock that could allow enhancing livelihoods and well-being of all social groups, (2) developing projects such as local markets that could allow villagers to sell agricultural productions, (3) setting up awareness campaign for tree-planting and reforestation. Reforestation could allow re-establishing natural plants and make large trees available for long-term purposes.

Though large felids are flagship species for wildlife conservation they are threatened due to various anthropogenic impacts. Mapping spatial patterns and quantification of threats to large felines can help conservation planning and resource allocation. The Leopard Panthera pardus, is categorized as Vulnerable by the IUCN as it faces a variety of threats. However, quantified data on the threats faced by leopards is scant. Hunting of wildlife using wire snares is one of the severest threats in India and elsewhere. Snaring, one of the simplest and most effective hunting techniques impacts other non-target species like the leopard. In this study, we document the spatial and temporal trends of snaring of leopards from India. Through content analysis of newspapers and news portals for the period January 2009-December 2020, we documented 113 incidents of leopards caught in snares of which 59.3% (5.5 leopards/year) resulted in mortality of leopards. Most snares (97.5%) were set to catch wild prey. Of the 84 incidents for which exact location details were available, the proportion of leopards caught in snares (54.7%, n = 46) and resulted in mortality (50%) in human-dense areas was significantly higher depicting an elevated threat from snares in these landscapes. Results from Generalised Additive Model indicated that snaring incidences increased with human population density. Percentage of protected area to the geographical area within a district had little impact on the number of snaring incidents. The study results could help threat monitoring and conservation programs for leopards, especially outside the protected area system.

Background: Ghana is one of the six bat diversity hotspots on the African continent, yet its caves have not been fully explored for the bats they host.

Research Aims: We aimed to assess the species composition and diversity of five caves in central Ghana and identified those needing immediate conservation attention.

Methods: Using mist-nets, we captured bats over 102 full nights between October 2010 and July 2012 from the Upper Guinean forest and Savannah regions in central Ghana.

Results: A total of 10,226 bats belonging to nine species were recorded. PERMANOVA suggested significant variation in species composition among the caves. A SIMPER analysis revealed Coleura afra and Hipposideros jonesi to be the main discriminating species between caves, with a dominance of Hipposideros cf. ruber in all caves. The Bat Cave Vulnerability Index (BCVI) revealed Mframabuom cave from the Upper Guinean forest region as a high priority cave hosting threatened species, yet highly disturbed. The remaining caves were identified as medium priority caves.

Conclusion The results of the study suggest the need for further research and an immediate conservation strategy as essential for approaching national conservation goals.

Background and Aims Research required to clarify leaf nutrient relations of cycad species has been inadequate. Common garden studies are useful for determining the influence of genetics on leaf traits because of the homogeneous environment among experimental units. To date, there have been no common garden studies which included all ten genera of cycads. The full phylogenetic breadth has, therefore, not been included in this important area of study.

Methods We examined macronutrient and micronutrient content of leaves from one representative species from each of the ten cycad genera at Nong Nooch Tropical Botanical Garden in Thailand. Nitrogen content was determined by dry combustion, and the remaining nutrients were quantified by spectrometry.

Results The least variable elements were nitrogen and phosphorus, and the most variable elements were boron and sodium. Nutrient content based on leaflet area was more variable than based on leaflet mass, reflecting species differences in specific leaf area. There were no universal macronutrient or micronutrient signals indicating clear phylogenetic distinctions.

Implications for Conservation: Active management of threatened cycad taxa requires research to develop the knowledge to enable evidence-based decisions. This common garden study inclusive of all 10 cycad genera creates a foundation to determine leaf nutrient sufficiency ranges to inform management decisions.

Information about the presence and population status of pangolins, and the threats they face, remains limited in many parts of Cameroon, a country that is home to three species of pangolin and considered to be a global hub of pangolin trafficking. Local communities living in rural areas can provide valuable information on species presence, local uses of wildlife, and possible threats, that is useful for prioritising conservation actions. Using interview surveys in 20 villages surrounding Mbam and Djerem National Park, we investigated local peoples’ knowledge of pangolin presence, perceptions of population trends, cultural importance, consumptive and non-consumptive uses, and hunting of pangolins. Our results showed that most people recognised the white-bellied and giant pangolins, but only 10% recognised the black-bellied pangolin. Ethnolinguistic group significantly affected the likelihood of respondents recognising and having seen a pangolin before. Giant pangolin populations were perceived to be declining, particularly by older respondents. We found evidence of local use of pangolins for meat, but few respondents reported uses of scales. Cultural significance was reported by few respondents, but when it was reported it mostly referred to giant pangolin. White-bellied pangolins are reportedly hunted using bare hands for local consumption most frequently, whilst giant pangolins were mainly hunted for local consumption and income generation using wire snares. Overall, our study shows the possible value of local knowledge for planning and prioritising conservation actions for pangolins. We highlight the urgent need to monitor pangolin populations, and assess the possible impacts to pangolins from threats such as hunting.

Many plants in New Guinean rainforest have relatively larger fruits than those in other tropical forests and may depend on large animal dispersers, but little is known about the impacts of forest disturbance, especially logging, on the species composition and abundance of these trees. In order to provide a baseline for the understanding of their vulnerability, we counted fruiting plants and measured habitat parameters in primary and human-altered habitats in the little studied lowland forest of northern Papua, Indonesia. During the surveys coinciding with peak fruit season, eighty-nine species were recorded in fruit, with 71 species in 24 families known to be consumed by birds, and most of them (97%) were trees. The diversity of bird-consumed fruiting plants differed among the habitat types and was highest in undisturbed primary forest and hunted primary forest. Secondary forests still had a high number of species and individuals but were dominated by light demanding plants and a low number of uniquely found species. Logged forest and agricultural habitats showed only a low abundance of bird-consumed fruiting plants, being about 2-3 times lower than in primary forests. Plants with large sized fruits (diam. > 20 mm) were mainly found in primary forests, confirming their importance for maintaining interactions between large frugivorous birds and plants that are of relevance for forest regeneration.

Understanding the interactions between local people and chimpanzees is crucial to develop sustainable wildlife conservation strategies and management policy in the Mbam-Djerem National Park (MDNP). The MDNP covers about 416,512 ha and shelters the Nigeria-Cameroon chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes ellioti) being the most endangered of all currently recognized chimpanzee subspecies. Close to 30,000 people live in the periphery of the MDNP and depend on the park’s resources for subsistence. We investigated the extent of, and factors leading to, the interactions between people and chimpanzees through a socio-economic survey focusing on households (124) and individual interviews (38) in 30% of villages around MDNP. About 95% of the respondents stated that human–wildlife conflict is an issue around MDNP. Access to resources (78.9%), crop damage (84%), and animal attack (11.3%) were the main sources of conflicts. The ground squirrel Xerus erythropus (59.7%), the green monkey Chlorocebus aethiops (20.2%), chimpanzees (7.3%) and baboons Papio anubis (5.6%) were identified as the main conflict animals and the destroyed crops included peanuts (70.2%), maize (15%) and cassava (5%). The population perceptions differed between the park’s four sectors and were significantly influenced by education and the main livelihood activity. The study also provided quantitative evidence on the role of personal and religious beliefs on the behavior towards chimpanzees. Our findings suggest that the improvement of income-generating activities and education will contribute to strengthening the conservation of chimpanzees.

Human-elephant conflict (HEC) poses a serious problem in Africa for both local livelihoods and elephant conservation. Elephant damage is the price local people pay for coexisting with this species, and is assumed to reduce tolerance for elephants. However, conservation-related projects, through the benefits they offer may enhance local tolerance toward elephants. This study aimed to examine how crop damage by elephants and the benefits gained from conservation activities affect local people’s tolerance toward elephants around Moukalaba-Doudou National Park in southwest Gabon based on long-term ethnographic research and interview surveys in two periods (2010 and 2019). Based on the results, crop damage by elephants had a significant negative impact on the local social economy, leading to a decrease in human population in the area and making local people highly resentful of elephants. However, in one of the villages where employment from research and conservation activities was concentrated, many acknowledged the benefits associated with wildlife and expressed high tolerance for elephants. These findings suggest that benefits from conservation activities can increase tolerance toward elephants, which is negatively affected by the crop damage they cause. However, it should also be noted that externally generated projects have limitations and drawbacks. It is important to establish a system in which the benefits of conservation are shared widely and distributed appropriately, and wherein income resources are diversified. Multisectoral interventions focusing on local socio-ecological vulnerability are needed to mitigate human-elephant conflict and advance the conservation of African elephants.

Insect pollinators provide numerous ecosystem services that support other living organisms. While pollinators play a large role in cropping systems, little is known about their presence and function in rangeland ecosystems, which have recently become fragmented and overexploited at an extraordinary rate. We assessed local Maasai knowledge on insect pollinators and how pollinators affect livelihood diversification in Simanjiro rangelands, Tanzania. Through questionnaires, key informant interviews, focus group discussions, and field observations, we found varied insect knowledge among Maasai herders. Lasioglossum of sub genus Ipomalictus and Syriphidae were the least commonly recognized pollinators as only 24%, and 7% of participants could identify them, respectively. Responses varied significantly between men and women (F = 7.397, p = .007). Commiphoraafricana, Acacia mellifera and Albizia anthelmintica were noted as most important bee forage plants while observations showed Aspilia mossambicensis, Justicia debile and Acaciatortilis. Most (77%) of Maasai herders showed limited ability to link pollinators and rangeland wellbeing. Beekeeping contributed to livelihood diversification for 61% of respondents, with women participating more frequently than men (χ² = 46.962, p = .0001). Beekeeping was positively influenced by education level (R = .421, p < .0001) and occupation (R = .194, p = .009). Pollinator declines were attributed to climate change (47%), agriculture (37%), and habitat destruction (8%). We conclude that Maasai have limited knowledge of common pollinator groups and their roles. Community outreach and training should bridge the knowledge gap in pastoralist communities to fully realize pollinator benefits and highlight the importance of rangeland health.

Much of the lowland tropical forests in the Solomon Islands have been heavily logged. However, little is known about the recovery status of these forests. We examined factors that influenced the recovery of forest structural attributes within 50 years after selective logging on Kolombangara Island in the western Solomon Islands. Twelve study sites—six logged and six unlogged—were identified across the Island, with two logged sites in each of three recovery-time classes: 10, 30, and 50 years after logging. Within each study site, 12 0.1-ha plots were randomly established, and a series of forest attributes measured in each plot. Our results revealed that local logging intensity and soil attributes have stronger influence on forest-structural recovery than do site attributes such as local topography or tree architecture. Furthermore, half a century of regeneration following logging is insufficient to permit full recovery of forest structure. We conclude that logged forests on Kolombangara and possibly across the Solomon Islands may not fully recover structurally before the next logging cycle, in the absence of a policy on re-entry harvesting. The development of such a policy coupled with robust forest-management measures is pivotal to facilitating sustainable logging while supporting biodiversity conservation in the Solomon Islands. This may be the last best hope for saving lowland forests and their biodiversity on this unique tropical archipelago.

Introduction: Background and Research Aims: Assessing biodiversity recovery is key to determine whether the objectives of habitat restoration for conservation are met. Many restoration initiatives use cross-sectional comparisons of wildlife communities to infer restoration impact instead of longitudinal assessments from a baseline state. Using an indicator of biodiversity in the neotropics— bats— we demonstrate how assessing community diversity and composition in an area targeted for restoration prior to implementation, and when compared to surrounding intact forest, provides the groundwork to track changes in the community post-restoration.

Methods We assessed bat communities by 1) using mist-net surveys to identify species in the family Phyllostomidae (leaf-nosed bats), and 2) conducting acoustic surveys to identify non-phyllostomid species (aerial insectivores).

Results For both groups, we found that areas targeted for restoration had similar diversity as the surrounding forest, but the two habitat types differed in community composition. Phyllostomids were captured at higher rates in forest, but aerial insectivores were detected at higher rates in restoration habitat.

Conclusion Our baseline assessment revealed unexpected diversity in areas targeted for restoration. The presence of all trophic groups in restoration habitat suggests that bats provide key ecosystem services in the restoration process, such as through seed dispersal, pollination and insect pest control.

Implications for Conservation: Conducting a baseline survey of bats in areas targeted for restoration demonstrated that the community was not species poor at the baseline and was different from the surrounding forest, allowing us to better track restoration success and the effects of different restoration treatments.

The COVID-19 pandemic presents a potential threat to wildlife resources in Africa. In this review, using Tanzania as a case, we examine the impacts and risks that wildlife sectors in Africa are facing or are likely to face as a result of this pandemic. We recognize loss of revenues from tourism as a major impact that could negatively influence the management of wildlife species and habitats. Loss of tourism revenues reduces capacity of the conservation agencies to fund conservation operations and support the benefit sharing schemes. Furthermore, it undermines the efficacy of conservation to compete with alternative economic activities which are ecologically damaging. Increased unemployment and household poverty due to closure of businesses may exacerbate wildlife crime and unsustainable activities. Additionally, contributions from donor-funding organizations and development partners cannot be guaranteed as revenues may be diverted to support other sectors including health. In order to address and minimize the impacts and reduce the risks to the wildlife sector, the following policy measures are recommended: ensure adequate budget for conservation; develop a crisis management plan; reconsider protocols for conducting wildlife trade; develop a comprehensive tourism recovery plan; promote scientific studies focusing on zoonoses and adopt a One-Health Approach as a matter of urgency in dealing with COVID-19 and future pandemics.

Neotropical snakes have extremely low detection rates, hampering our understanding of their responses to habitat loss and fragmentation. We addressed this gap using a limited sample (50 individuals, 16 species) across 25 variable-size insular forest fragments within a hydroelectric lake and four adjacent mainland continuous forest sites, in Central Brazilian Amazonia. The number of species recorded on forest islands (1.55 ± 0.78) was much lower than that at continuous forest sites (5.0 ± 3.1), with no snakes being recorded at twelve islands smaller than 30 ha. As such, snake assemblages were positively affected by forest area, explaining 48% of the number of species, and negatively affected by island isolation. The markedly higher number of species recorded across continuous forest sites likely results from the availability of riparian habitats, which have virtually disappeared from the archipelagic landscape given the widespread inundation of lowland areas. To prevent further severe biodiversity loss, including those of poorly known rare taxa, conservation policies should avert the additional construction of mega-dams that create myriad of small islands, in addition to extensive reservoir lakes from which all riparian habitats are eliminated.

Payments for Environmental Services (PES) are premised upon the provision of monetary incentives to induce land-use practices viewed to be beneficial for advancing tropical conservation. A recent article published by Pagiola et al. in this journal claims that PES successfully transitioned land-use from agricultural use in Matiguás-Río Blanco, Nicaragua to silvopastoralism through afforestation and hence associated improvements in carbon sequestration and biodiversity conservation. Building on contrasting perspectives from peasants and local organizations in the region for more than a decade, we illustrate why viewing relations like payment provision and adoption of land-use outcomes that disregard parallel voices of implicated actors is not only analytically imprecise, but risks being anti-ecological if such a decontextualized connection is used to show evidence that tropical conservation is being advanced. We argue that the effect of payments must be contextualized with: a) increasingly globalized and expanding commodity frontiers for which PES programs may actually further advance to the detriment of tropical conservation; and b) the assumptions made in the methodological approaches adopted to determine causality. In sum, we highlight the dangers of uncritically portraying narratives of “success” to scale up investment to further proliferate decontextualized conservation projects that may not ensure long-term outcomes. We propose responding to these potential dangers through more open, horizontal, and long-term engagement on both the criteria and the consequences of defining success in tropical conservation interventions with actors whose lives are directly affected by them.

Public land grabbing, concomitant with hinterland colonization and agrarian reform programs, translocated millions of rural migrants into remote regions of Brazil, most recently to the Amazonian forest domain. Despite state-of-the-art command-and-control and remote sensing monitoring systems in Brazil, effective law enforcement in a country of ~8.5 million km² remains a huge challenge, and particularly difficult in times of lenient central-government environmental policies. Cropland and pasture expansion is the most important factor in land use change in Brazil, and the leading driver of primary habitat conversion worldwide. This essay discusses the most likely business-as-usual agricultural frontiers in Northern and Central Brazil to make room for new farmland: the MaToPiBa region in the transitional Cerrado-Caatinga biogeographic zone; the northernmost Cerrado areas of Amapá; and the opening-up of Indigenous Lands to industrial scale agriculture. We discuss the origins, recent developments and implications to conservation of these new agricultural frontiers.

Emerging carbon markets are posing new challenges for stakeholders. In order to operationalize the selection of feasible areas to promote above-ground carbon capture and quantify its potential as claimed in the norm NMX-AA-173-SCFI-2015, a methodology may be proposed. Above-ground tree biomass geospatial estimates at the pixel level, neighboring land cover, and legal information were combined in order to obtain the potential for above-ground carbon capture. Forest above-ground tree carbon capture estimates were conducted under the assumption that forest cover in bare soil land will be recovered to the most conserved neighboring vegetation type. This approach may be used in other situations around the world where potential carbon estimates are required to design forest carbon capture projects considering native vegetation type.

The term ‘smart forest’ is not yet common, but the proliferation of sensors, algorithms, and technocentric thinking in conservation, as in most other aspects of our lives, suggests we are at the brink of this evolution. While there has been some critical discussion about the value of using smart technology in conservation, a holistic discussion about the broader technological, social, and economic interactions involved with using big data, sensors, artificial intelligence, and global corporations is largely missing. Here, we explore the pitfalls that are useful to consider as forests are gradually converted to technological sites of data production for optimized biodiversity conservation and are consequently incorporated in the digital economy. We consider who are the enablers of the technologically enhanced forests and how the gradual operationalization of smart forests will impact the traditional stakeholders of conservation. We also look at the implications of carpeting forests with sensors and the type of questions that will be encouraged. To contextualize our arguments, we provide examples from our work in Kibale National Park, Uganda which hosts the one of the longest continuously running research field station in Africa.

Natural environment has undergone rapid transformations, primarily attributed to human actions that threaten ecosystems' balance. Understanding the relationship between humans and nature is essential to generate effective strategies for sustainably using resources. In this study, we analyzed the environmental perception and knowledge about the biology of sea turtles through 120 informal interviews with visitors at beaches on the north-central coast of Rio de Janeiro state. Residents noticed garbage more often than tourists, as did women and younger individuals. The perception of initiatives necessary to increase the preservation of the beaches was higher for people with higher education. In general, there were no differences in biological knowledge about sea turtles between residents, tourists and people who work or study at the cities. The results point to the need for oceanic education strategies that can help raise environmental awareness through long-term conservation programs.

Background: Smuggling and illegal trade of pangolins and their scales has drastically reduced the wild population of pangolins. Accurate species identification is currently in urgent need as a powerful weapon for combating pangolin smuggling and trade and conserving the already endangered pangolin species.

Aim of the study: To develop an efficient method based on DNA mini-barcodes for accurate pangolin species identification and authentication of processed pangolin scales against the non-target species.

Materials and methods: The primers for amplifying the DNA mini-barcodes were designed based on cytochrome C oxidase subunit I (COI) gene fragments. The mini-barcodes were compared with the two universal barcodes (COI and Cytb) for performance in pangolin species identification by calculating the Kimura-2-parameter (K2P) distance, assessing the clustering dendrogram, and analyzing the BLAST similarity and barcoding gap. The accuracy of the three barcodes was also compared for authentication of pangolin scales against non-target species.

Results: Comparison of the three barcodes showed that the mini-barcode form COI had the highest amplification success rate (100%) and high variable sites (40.0%), with the ratio of mean inter- to intraspecific distance ratio was 25 and a distinct DNA barcoding gap. In the neighbor-joining (NJ) tree constructed based on the mini-barcode regions, each species of the pangolin family formed an obvious clade respectively, and the clades were all separated from those of the non-target species, indicating that the genetic information in the mini-barcode was sufficient for species identification.

Conclusion: The DNA mini-barcodes based on COI gene fragments provide an effective and accurate method for identification of pangolin species and authentication of pangolin scale products.

We aimed to assess how bats are affected by habitat transformation by comparing bat assemblages in four habitat types: primary forest, secondary forest, cocoa plantations and human habitations in the Dja Biosphere Reserve of southern Cameroon. Bats were sampled in the four habitat types using mist nets. During 126 nights, a total of 413 bats were captured, belonging to four families, 16 genera and 24 species. Ninety three individuals (17 species) were captured in the primary forest, followed by plantations (105 individuals, 14 species), human habitations (159 individuals, 10 species), and secondary forest (55 individuals, eight species). Megaloglossus woermanni was recorded in all the four habitats, and was the most abundant species (105 individuals). The analysis of bat assemblage between habitat types showed a statistically significant difference in species composition. The distribution of the six most abundant species (Epomops franqueti, Megaloglossus woermanni, Rousettus aegyptiacus, Dohyrina cyclops, Hipposideros cf. caffer and Hipposideros cf. ruber) was influenced by habitat types. Our results suggest that the decrease in species richness observed in disturbed habitats may be due to habitat perturbations of primary forest habitats. Therefore, it is important to examine the effects of habitat conversion at species level, as responses are often species-specific.

Habitat loss and degradation are the most widely cited drivers of changes in species abundance and diversity. We explored changes in dung beetle species diversity and composition across different land uses in the north west Tanzanian savannah. We expected a negative response gradient in the diversity and composition of the dung beetle community, from land uses that preserve vegetation and hold native mammal diversity to livestock intensive and heavily grazed areas. Dung beetles were sampled in a protected area and two anthropogenically influenced land use types. Species richness and composition of each land use type, including differences in diversity and functional groups were analyzed and indicator species for each land use gradient were identified. As expected, diversity and community composition varied between areas with less environmental change compared to those impacted anthropogenically. We conclude that conservation of protected areas within African savannahs can provide a functionally rich dung beetle community and subsequently rich ecological functions. The dung beetle species identified by this study as eco-indicators can be used as a benchmark for future studies that use rapid monitoring to assess disturbance in African savannas.

The COVID-19 pandemic is fast driving the ways of life and economies. In this study, we used Zimbabwe as a case study to assess how different forms of media are being utilised to access information of the COVID-19 disease (across age, educational level, and employment status). We investigated people’s perceptions of the origins of COVID-19, its implication on the continued consumption of meat from wildlife species by humans, and management strategies of wildlife species that harbour the coronavirus. We gathered 139 responses using an online structured questionnaire survey. Social media platforms were used to acquire information on the COVID-19 pandemic when compared to traditional sources (television, radio, and newspapers). Most respondents thought that the COVID-19 virus was created by humans (n = 55, mostly the young and middle-aged) while others believed that it originated from animals (n = 54, mostly middle-aged with postgraduate qualifications). The majority (73%) of respondents who cited COVID-19 origin as animals also supported a ban on consumption of meat from the species. The middle-aged respondents (in comparison to the young and older respondents) and those who were employed (compared to the unemployed) were more likely to support the ban in wildlife trade. The likelihood of visiting wildlife centres given the consequences of COVID-19 was significantly lower in the old-aged respondents when compared to the young and the middle-aged respondents. Our results emphasize the need for science to penetrate social media circles to provide appropriate information. The observed perceptions about visiting wildlife centres could negatively impact conservation funding.

Tropical landscape connectivity and matrix quality near large stands of primary forest are important factors that dictate biodiversity trends in communities. Suitable matrix management surrounding primary forest may help conserve biodiversity, but areas with poor matrix management need attention to determine their long-term viability to support native levels of biodiversity. We examined variations in species and functional diversity and community composition using point-count surveys placed in preserved (PRES), transition (TRA), and disturbed (DIS) areas according to percent land cover of forest and cattle pasture along a human disturbance gradient in the northern Neotropics during an 8 month period from 2019–2020. We expected the gradient of human disturbance to drive species diversity loss of forest specialists from PRES to DIS, resulting in changes to functional diversity and community composition. We detected 228 species overall, with 163 in PRES (40 unique species), 159 in TRA (9 unique species), and 152 in DIS (20 unique species). TRA supported an avian community with shared aspects of PRES and DIS, leading to the highest functional, Shannon (85.8 estimated species), and Simpson (57.9 estimated species) diversity. Higher diversity of open-area specialists in TRA and DIS has led to shifts in functional traits and different species and functional community compositions relative to PRES. Land management in Neotropical human-modified landscapes must focus on increasing habitat quality in remnant forest fragments in the vicinity of large stands of primary forest to prevent species and ecosystem service loss from preserved areas and the distancing of local community compositions.

The desiccation of wetlands is a process associated with the dynamics of urban growth and expansion of the agricultural frontier. This article aims to evaluate the influence of the desiccation of the Ciénaga de Aguablanca on regional climate. The periodization of the desiccation and urban growth of Cali was reconstructed under the theoretical contributions of environmental history. As complementary sources, maps, aerial photographs, and diagrams of the city were obtained from 1944 to 2020, with which the hydromorphological changes in the Ciénaga de Aguablanca were represented. Data from six hydroclimatological stations were statistically analyzed with Pettitt’s test, trend analysis, and Rclimdex. The results indicate a reduction of 99% in the area of the wetlands, from 19.2 km² in 1944 to 0.2 km² by 2020. Additionally, a break point was observed in 1970, preceded by the process of wetland desiccation and waterproofing of the eastern part of Cali, along with significant differences between temperature series inside and outside the urban perimeter. Another break point was detected in 1985 in the flow series, associated with the construction of the La Salvajina dam. Monthly rainfall showed a tendency to increase, but its temporal distribution was uneven, given that rainfall volume showed a tendency to increase over short times. Regional climate changes can occur at a much faster rate than global variations due to the anthropogenic actions of wetland intervention.

This study takes the meteorological service of super typhoon Rammasun as an example, and proposes a multi-dimensional quantitative assessment method for meteorological service. Rammasun was the strongest typhoon that landed in China from 1949 to 2019. It hit the coastal areas of China three times, with a rare landing intensity in history. Guangdong, Guangxi, Hainan, Yunnan and other provinces have suffered disasters of varying degrees, with a total affected population of 12.084 million and a direct economic loss of 44.89 billion CNY. During this period, the total investment in meteorological services was approximately 1.213 billion CNY, and the economic benefits of disaster prevention and mitigation in the four disaster-stricken provinces were worth 16.1 billion CNY. According to the cost-benefit analysis of economics, the input-output ratio for disaster prevention and mitigation in Typhoon Rammasun was 1:13.

Knowledge of the genetic diversity of species in a biological community is useful for assessing the ecological and evolutionary processes that define the structure and dynamics of that community. We investigated the potential relationship between the trans-specific genetic diversity (or genetic diversity across tree species) and the diversity of tree species in a tropical subdeciduous forest. The nucleotide variation of the concatenated regions ITS 1 and ITS 3 (ITS1-3) was used to determine the trans-specific genetic diversity of 19 species of trees in five local communities at El Ocote Biosphere Reserve (REBISO), Chiapas, Mexico. Tree diversity was obtained by counting individual trees within 0.1 ha circular plots in each locality. The relationship between trans-specific genetic diversity and species diversity was established through simple linear regressions between genetic diversity parameters and community diversity. A correlation matrix was built with genetic distances (Kimura’s two-parameter model) and differences in species diversity between communities. A significant relationship was observed between nucleotide diversity (π) and species richness (Sp), and a negative association between haplotype diversity and gamma diversity (γgamma;). Our results show species-rich and genetically diverse tree communities and a weak association between trans-specific genetic variation and species diversity in tree communities at REBISO. This research suggests a possible ecological and genetic relationship within each community. Genetic diversity values may provide an important degree of variation upon which environmental selection pressures could operate, which may be helpful to face the current environmental modifications associated with climatic change.

It is now acknowledged that demand stemming from traditional medicine stimulates a continued market for illegal wildlife trade globally. Increasing demand for pangolin fuels widespread unsustainable extraction and an illicit international trade that is threatening pangolin populations worldwide. Vietnam is an important transit country in this trafficking network and a significant consumer country, particularly due to their longstanding tradition of consuming wildlife products as traditional medicine. We conducted 51 semi-structured, questionnaire-based interviews with traditional Vietnamese medicine practitioners in Hanoi, Vietnam to explore the factors influencing their prescription of pangolin. The results show that traditional Vietnamese medicine practitioners are important drivers of pangolin use and that prescription continues despite prohibitive legislation. The main influencing factors were money, illegality (as a deterrent) and supply. Wealthier patients were more likely to use pangolin as medicine and patients generally trusted a doctor’s prescription. Awareness of regulations related to pangolin use in traditional medicine was low and pangolin use continued without fear of the law. Lactation, abscesses and circulation were the most prescribed uses for pangolin scales. All respondents believed that pangolin can be substituted, however, a belief remained that substitutes are inferior to pangolin. This study provides a unique perspective of pangolin use in one of the main pangolin consumption countries in the world. The results suggest that the law is not being implemented effectively and that increased enforcement efforts are necessary. Furthermore, these insights serve to inform future demand-reduction campaigns whereby the most common uses and substitutes for pangolin scales may be targeted.

Background and Research Aims: Although hydropower provides energy to fuel economic development across Amazonia, strategies to minimize or mitigate impacts in highly biodiverse Amazonian environments remain unclear. The growing number of operational and planned hydroelectrics requires robust scientific evidence to evaluate impacts of these projects on Amazonian vertebrates. Here, we investigated the existing scientific knowledge base documenting impacts of hydropower developments on vertebrates across Brazilian Amazonia. Methods: We reviewed the scientific literature from 1945 to 2020 published in English, Spanish, and Portuguese to assess the temporal and spatial patterns in publications and the types of study design adopted as well as scientific evidence presented. Results: A total of 25 published articles documented impacts on fish (n = 20), mammals (n = 3), and reptiles (n = 2). Most study designs (88%) lacked appropriate controls, and only three studies adopted more robust Before-After-Control-Impact designs. The published evidence did not generally support causal inference with only two studies (8%) including appropriate controls and/or confounding variables. Conclusion: Decades of published assessments (60% of which were funded by hydropower developers or their subsidiaries) do not appear to have established robust evidence of impacts of hydropower dams on Amazonian vertebrates. This lack of robust evidence could limit the development of effective minimization and mitigation actions for the conservation of diverse vertebrate groups impacted by hydropower dams across Brazilian Amazonia. Implications for Conservation: To avoid misleading inferences, there is a need to integrate more robust study designs into impact assessments of hydropower developments in the Brazilian Amazon.

Tropical dry forests (TDF) are highly threatened ecosystems that are often fragmented due to land-cover change. Using plot inventories, we analyzed tree species diversity, community composition and aboveground biomass patterns across mature (MF) and secondary forests of about 25 years since cattle ranching ceased (SF), 10–20-year-old plantations (PL), and pastures in a TDF landscape in Ecuador. Tree diversity was highest in MF followed by SF, pastures and PL, but many endemic and endangered species occurred in both MF and SF, which demonstrates the importance of SF for species conservation. Stem density was higher in PL, followed by SF, MF and pastures. Community composition differed between MF and SF due to the presence of different specialist species. Some SF specialists also occurred in pastures, and all species found in pastures were also recorded in SF indicating a resemblance between these two land-cover types even after 25 years of succession. Aboveground biomass was highest in MF, but SF and Tectona grandis PL exhibited similar numbers followed by Schizolobium parahyba PL, Ochroma pyramidale PL and pastures. These findings indicate that although species-poor, some PL equal or surpass SF in aboveground biomass, which highlights the critical importance of incorporating biodiversity, among other ecosystem services, to carbon sequestration initiatives. This research contributes to understanding biodiversity conservation across a mosaic of land-cover types in a TDF landscape.

Tropical forests are under severe threat from over-hunting. Subsistence harvests and poaching have decimated wildlife populations to the extent that nearly 50% of Earth’s tropical forests are partially or fully devoid of large mammals. Declines are particularly acute in Southeast Asia where ongoing defaunation, largely attributable to indiscriminate snare trapping, is widespread. Using the extensively forested Aceh province in northern Sumatra as a case study, we document rampant snaring, which threatens Earth’s last sympatric population of tigers, rhinoceros, elephants, and orangutans. To prevent catastrophic hunting-induced impacts already experienced in mainland Southeast Asia, we call for more comprehensive conservation planning assessments that strengthen wildlife law enforcement, promote collaborative anti-poaching, and research species-specific snaring impacts, particularly in the context of human-wildlife conflict. We conclude with a discussion of the important linkages between poaching, wildlife trade, and zoonotic disease risk.

To design conservation and management strategies for sub-tropical moist forests, it is important to know how storage affects the longevity and germination of desiccation-sensitive seeds. These variables are controlled by a physiological process that is mainly associated with the seeds’ moisture content and reserve content, which can be significantly affected by environmental conditions. The objectives of this study were: (i) to evaluate the relationship between longevity and reserve content of sensitive and non-sensitive desiccation seeds (ii), and to describe how the in situ burial and sub-optimal storage (inside growth chambers) can affect seed longevity. In seeds of six mountain cloud forest tree species, germination and seed reserve content were quantified in seeds collected recently (control) and at five different times, along with storage for 31 or 35 days in situ and under suboptimal conditions. Freshly harvested seeds with higher soluble carbohydrate and lipid content and the presence of thermo-stable proteins had the longest-expected ecological longevity and mean germination time. In contrast to in situ burial, germination was negatively affected by storage time. Burial time significantly affected the rate and mean germination time in most of the species. For two species, a greater soluble carbohydrate or a lower starch and lipid content in seeds was found to be related to the high germination rate in storage. Our results show that the sub-optimal storage reduces the lifespan in most of the study species and increases seed damages through dehydration.