Should We Engineer Species in Order to Save Them?

The newly published Conservation Practice Effectiveness (CoPE) Database compiles information on the effectiveness of a suite of conservation practices developed to treat contaminants in surface runoff and tile drainage water from agricultural landscapes. Traditional conservation practices such as no-tillage and conservation crop rotation are included in the CoPE Database, as well as novel practices such as drainage water management, blind inlets, and denitrification bioreactors. This will be particularly useful to conservation planners seeking new approaches to water quality problems associated with dissolved constituents, such as nitrate (NO₃) or soluble phosphorus (SP), and for researchers seeking to understand the circumstances in which such practices are most effective. Another novel feature of the database is the presentation of information on how individual conservation practices impact multiple water quality concerns. This information will be critical to enabling conservationists and policy makers to avoid (or at least be aware of) undesirable tradeoffs, whereby great efforts are made to improve water quality related to one resource concern (e.g., sediment) but exacerbate problems related to other concerns (e.g., NO₃ or SP). Finally, we note that the CoPE Database can serve as a source of the soft data needed to calibrate simulation models assessing the potential water quality tradeoffs of conservation practices, including those that are still being developed.

Water conservation is an urgent necessity in the face of increasing global water stress, climatic instability, and unsustainable water use patterns. Despite the development of various water-saving technologies and traditional conservation practices, awareness and knowledge dissemination among communities remain limited. This paper explores the impact of knowledge dissemination on water conservation with special reference to Ottapalam, a semi-urban region in Palakkad district, Kerala, India. Adopting a multidisciplinary approach that integrates sociological inquiry, environmental education, and communication studies, the research examines the effectiveness of different dissemination channels—digital media, folk media, local institutions, and formal education. Based on a mixed-methods research design, the study combines quantitative data from 300 households with qualitative insights from focus group discussions and key informant interviews. Findings reveal that awareness alone does not ensure behavioural change; socio-cultural, economic, and infrastructural factors deeply influence the adoption of water conservation practices. Local governance bodies, particularly the Krishibhavan and panchayats, play a vital role but face resource and communication barriers. The paper advocates for participatory knowledge dissemination methods using culturally resonant tools and suggests policy interventions to integrate water literacy within educational, administrative, and community development frameworks. This research contributes to the international discourse on environmental sustainability by highlighting community-centric strategies for effective water management

A meta-analysis of agricultural conservation intentions, behaviors, and practices: Insights from 35 years of quantitative literature in the United States

Amphibians around the world are declining from threats that cannot currently be mitigated, making it impossible to safeguard some species in their natural habitats. Amphibians in the mountainous neotropics are one example where severe disease-related declines prompted calls for the establishment of captive assurance colonies to avoid extinctions. We surveyed experts in Panamanian amphibians to determine the probability of avoiding chytridiomycosis-related extinctions using captive breeding programs. We ranked Panamanian amphibian species by perceived susceptibility to chytridiomycosis, then calculated the likelihood of avoiding extinction as the product of three probabilities, which include (1) finding sufficient founder animals, (2) successfully breeding these species in captivity and (3) becoming extinct in the wild. The likelihood of finding enough animals to create a captive founding population was low for many rare species, especially for salamanders and caecilians. It was also low for frogs which were once regularly encountered, but have already disappeared including Atelopus chiriquiensis, Craugastor emcelae, C. obesus, C. punctariolus, C. rhyacobatrachus, Ecnomiohyla rabborum, Isthmohyla calypsa and Oophaga speciosa. Our results indicate that captive breeding could improve the odds of avoiding extinction for species that have severely declined or are likely to decline due to chytridiomycosis including Atelopus certus, A. glyphus, A. limosus, A. varius, A. zeteki, Anotheca spinosa, Gastrotheca cornuta, Agalychnis lemur and Hemiphractus fasciatus. Priority species that experts predicted were highly susceptible to chytridiomycosis that might also benefit from ex situ management include Craugastor tabasarae, C. azueroensis, C. evanesco, Strabomantis bufoniformis and Colostethus panamansis. In spite of high levels of uncertainty, this expert assessment approach allowed us to refine our priorities for captive amphibian programs in Panama and identify priority conservation actions with a clearer understanding of the probability of success.

Contemporary conservation problems are typically positioned at the interface of complex ecological and human systems. Traditional approaches aiming to compartmentalize a phenomenon within the confines of a single discipline and failing to engage non-science partners are outmoded and cannot identify solutions that have traction in the social, economic, and political arenas in which conservation actions must operate. As a result, conservation science teams must adopt multiple disciplinary approaches that bridge not only academic disciplines but also the political and social realms and engage relevant partners. Five reasons are presented that outline why conservation problems demand multiple disciplinary approaches in order to move forward because: (i) socio-ecological systems are complex, (ii) multiple perspectives are better than one, (iii) the results of research must influence practice, (iv) the heterogeneity of scale necessitates it, and (v) conservation involves compromise. Presenting reasons that support multiple disciplinarity demands a review of the barriers that impede this process, as we are far from attaining a model or framework that is applicable in all contexts. Two challenges that impede multiple disciplinarity are discussed, in addition to pragmatic solutions that conservation scientists and practitioners can adopt in their work. Overall, conservation researchers and practitioners are encouraged to explore the multiple disciplinary dimensions of their respective realms to more effectively solve problems in biodiversity and sustainability.

Using open access observational data for conservation action: A case study for birds

Threatened species lists continue to grow while the world’s governments fail to meet biodiversity conservation goals. Clearly, we are failing in our attempts to conserve biodiversity. Yet 37 mammal species genuinely improved in status in the 2009 IUCN Red List, suggesting there are ways to successfully conserve biodiversity. Here, I compare the threats and conservation actions (proposed and implemented) by the expert assessors of the Red List of improving species to a further 144 declining mammal species to determine whether specific threats were more easily remedied, and whether certain conservation actions were more successful than others. Declining species were faced with different threatening processes to mammals improving in status suggesting some threats were easier to treat (e.g. hunting) than others (climate change, invasive species). Declining species had different proposed and implemented conservation actions than improving species suggesting some actions are more successful than others. Threatened species were invariably found in conservation areas, suggesting protected area creation alone is not an overly successful strategy for species at risk of extinction. Conservation actions were more frequently implemented for improving than declining species suggesting active conservation is effective in improving the status of biodiversity. There were significant differences between proposed and implemented conservation actions suggesting some actions are easier to implement than others. Reintroduction, captive breeding and hunting restriction were more effective in conserving mammals than site creation and invasive species control. These findings highlight effective conservation actions for mammals worldwide and allow the rationalisation of threat mitigation measures to ensure economically justifiable biodiversity conservation strategies.

Quail coveys on an experimental area on the Eastern Shore of Maryland increased from 5 to 38 in 8 years. All new coveys could be related to one or more specific management practices, and such practices rather than weather or other factors appeared to be responsible for increased quail numbers. Starting in 1957, a number of soil, water, and wildlife conservation measures were applied on a 3,000acre area of cropland, pasture, and woodland. Practices affecting bobwhite (Colinus virginianus) habitat included (1) creation and seeding of waterways and diversion terraces, (2) retirement and seeding under federal programs of headlands and borders of crop fields, and (3) establishment of plantings designed to improve farm-game habitat. Through 1964, these practices included seeding 49.4 acres to grass and 8.5 miles of 30-ft strips to sericea lespedeza (Lespedeza cuneata), and planting 7.1 miles of multiflora rose (Rosa multiflora) hedges and 14 acres of food-producing shrubs. Survival of plantings was excellent and growth was good. Land-use changes dictated by practical farming considerations, primarily fallowing odd areas and reducing grazing intensity, also improved quail habitat. The most effective habitat-improvement measures were planting multiflora hedges adjoining pasture or with an herbaceous border, planting strips of grass or sericea adjoining woody cover, and reducing grazing. Winter cover and nesting cover, not food, apparently were the most important requirements of the quail population. Coveys formed in conjunction with multiflora hedges appeared on an average of 3.7 years after hedge planting, and 2.6 years if an herbaceous border was planted with the hedge. Response to provision of nesting cover occurred within 2 years after seeding. Total cost of plantings was $2,800. With a 10-year minimum productive lifetime of plantings, cost amounted to approximately 65 cents per bird per year for additional quail produced by 1964. There were few established examples and little practical experience to guide the large-scale habitat improvement projects that followed World War II. And with few exceptions little effort was put forth initially toward realistic project evaluations (Marshall 1953). Under these conditions it is hardly surprising that recent appraisals of postwar habitat management for farm game have found ample grounds for criticism (Klimstra 1956, Wunz 1959, Nelson et al. 1960, Hanson and Miller 1961, Carson 1963, Scott 1965). Failures must be documented and poorly planned programs criticized if habitat management as a supplement to other management techniques is to be fully appraised. It is equally necessary to document instances in which habitat improvement has been a success. This report describes such an instance: the response of a population of bobwhites to habitat improvement efforts over an 8-year period. 1 Present address: Max McGraw Wildlife Foundation, Dundee, Illinois. 2 Present address: U. S. Bureau of Sport Fisheries and Wildlife, Washington, D. C.

This paper explores how the concepts of the slow movements can be applied to conservation. It examines the roots of preventive conservation, the relationship between the museum environment and the global environment and ways in which museums can reduce their environmental footprint. Links are made between sustainability and traditional conservation practices from different countries and periods. It is proposed that the long-term sustainability of museums depends on the value that the public place on them, and this can be built through the engagement of trainees, volunteers and the public through conservation. The impact of international loan exhibitions in driving common environmental specifications which reflect international standards rather than the local climate and the energy consumption that is involved in achieving these conditions is discussed. Finally, a manifesto for slow conservation is proposed.

This chapter focuses on two types of concerns about novel ecosystems. The first concern is connected with misapprehensions that arise, mostly from lack of information or misunderstanding of the implications of managing novel ecosystems. These concerns should not be ignored or underestimated because they can easily obstruct an informed and constructive discussion about novel ecosystems and their management. The first misapprehension is that accepting or acknowledging novel ecosystems implies that managers will surrender any attempt to control invasive species. The second misapprehension addressed here is that acceptance of novel ecosystems will result in the replacement of traditional conservation and restoration practice. The second type of concern includes more persistent concerns about novel ecosystems. These are much more difficult concerns to work through because they require revisiting and possibly altering systemic patterns of social tradition and moral beliefs that pertain to nature and its conservation.

Principles and Practice of Plant Conservation is the first exhaustive and systematic treatment of the issues of plant conservation, other books on the subject having been collections of articles on specialized topics or of a regional nature. This book, growing out of a major sponsorship effort by two of the world's leading conservation organizations to 'assert the fundamental importance of plants in all conservation activities', provides the well-integrated coverage that arises from an expert's thoughtful analysis of the entire subject. Commissioned by the World Wide Fund for Nature and IUCN - The World Conservation Union as part of their joint endeavor of 'building the capacity to conserve', this work by David R. Given elucidates the concepts that underlie successful conservation efforts. Drawing on his own work and involving international collaboration, the author also presents a large number of real-life case studies that illustrate the principles of conservation in action. Chapters are devoted to the natural - and unnatural - causes of plant rarity and endangerment, and the management of plant populations in natural habitats, in modified landscapes, and off-site to preserve germplasm. Going beyond the biology of conservation, other chapters are devoted to the ethical, educational, and economic aspects of plant conservation. Cyrille de Klemm, an expert on international law, has contributed a chapter on conservation legislation. Plants play critical roles in the web of life, providing the food and shelter on which animals depend. As human population and development pressures on the world's biota increase, it is in the best interest of all to use plant resources wisely and sustainably.That will be possible only if plant diversity is maintained, and Principles and Practice of Plant Conservation is an essential reference for those concerned with how best to preserve what we have.

The elongated tortoise (Indotestudo elongata), a Critically Endangered (CR) species, faces numerous threats across its range. Yet, the ecological and anthropogenic factors affecting its conservation in fragmented habitats remain poorly understood. This study integrated field surveys and community questionnaires to assess the distribution drivers and local perceptions, such as attitudes, knowledge, conservation practices, and perceived threats, in the Jalthal Forest, one of the last remnants of suitable habitat for the elongated tortoise in eastern Nepal. Using ArcMap, we established 138 randomly selected grids (500 m × 500 m) to evaluate the environmental covariates of tortoise occurrence and anthropogenic pressures. Generalized linear models revealed that tortoise occurrence was negatively associated with dense ground cover (β = −3.50, p = 0.017) and human disturbance (β = −8.11, p = 0.019). Surveys of local residents from community forest user groups (n = 236 respondents) indicated strong local support for tortoise conservation (69% willing to protect the species). Despite this, the respondents identified persistent threats, including hunting for bushmeat and traditional medicine (74%), habitat degradation (65%), and forest fires. While 60% of the respondents recognized the threatened species status, significant knowledge gaps regarding that status and ongoing illegal exploitation persisted. These findings underscore the need for targeted habitat management, reduced anthropogenic pressures, and community-led initiatives to align local attitudes with conservation actions. This study provides critical baseline data for conserving the elongated tortoise in human-modified landscapes and emphasizes the necessity of integrated ecological and socio-cultural strategies for its long-term survival.

Golden‐winged warblers (Vermivora chrysoptera) are facing population declines in the southern Appalachian Mountains. Breeding habitat loss is considered one of the primary reasons for golden‐winged warbler declines in the region. Expanding breeding habitat availability in a manner that promotes population expansion across an interconnected network of habitat patches is particularly problematic in a landscape dominated by private land ownership. We assessed the connectivity of golden‐winged warbler breeding habitat in a 29,680‐ha landscape with 5,664 ownership parcels between 2 state‐owned game lands in northwestern North Carolina, USA, in fall 2021. We created a connectivity map and provided examples of 3 means of prioritizing parcels for golden‐winged warbler habitat maintenance and management based on dispersal distances of fledglings that could return the following spring with prior familiarity of potential nesting areas. Prioritized parcels can guide land acquisition and conservation easement development as well as active management. Despite being highly parcelized, the area has both well‐connected and disjointed clusters of core habitat patches, but habitat management on privately owned parcels would be needed to connect core habitat patches to enable dispersing golden‐winged warbler fledglings to encounter potential breeding habitat that they could use the following spring.

Currently, more than 20% of extant mammal species are on the verge of extinction. 1 For most of them, in situ conservation is difficult, mainly due to the destruction of their habitat. Therefore, instead of in situ conservation, the demand for ex situ conservation is rapidly increasing. To maintain a certain number of individuals of a given species in captivity without compromising genetic diversity, it is necessary to manage the populations through appropriate breeding programmes. In order to promote breeding in captivity, it is important to estimate the density distribution of fertile individuals and the female oestrous status for breeding. Therefore, there is a need for an analytical method which facilitates easy daily monitoring of oestrus. Near infrared (NIR) spectroscopy has been applied for the rapid and non-invasive qualitative and quantitative analysis of materials in the livestock, agricultural and medical fields. Recently, various groups have tried to use it for species identification and sex discrimination by faecal NIR spectra in captive and wild animals. 2–4 Also, in

Common names: Macquarie perch, white-eye, silver-eye, mountain perch, bream. Conservation status: Endangered (ANZECC 1999). Identification: D VIII–XII, I + 11–14, A III + 8–11, P 14–17, V I + 5, LL 42–60, gill rakers 17–21, vertebrae 28–31. Moderate-sized percoid fish (max. 460 mm, 3.5 kg), almost black or dark silvery grey to light or off-white silvery grey in colour, eye large, jaws equal (Harris & Rowland 1996). The species status is unresolved since investigations indicate that there are putatively two species (‘eastern’ and ‘western’) of Macquarie perch separated by the Great Dividing Range and possibly two sub-species within the ‘eastern’ species. Distribution: Formally widespread throughout the more southerly tributaries of the Murray-Darling River system of south-east Australia, as well as the Hawkesbury and Shoalhaven River systems on the eastern seaboard (Cadwallader 1981, Harris & Rowland 1996). Current distribution is fragmented and only small discrete populations remain. ‘Western’ populations are restricted to the upper reaches of some tributaries of the Murray-Darling River system, in particular, the Mitta Mitta River system above Darmouth Dam, the Goulburn, Murrumbidgee and Lachlan river systems, and one translocated population in the Yarra River. ‘Eastern’ populations are confined to the Shoalhaven and Hawkesbury river systems (Ingram et al. 1990, Harris & Rowland 1996). Abundance: No reliable population estimates exist for either the ‘eastern’ or ‘western’ forms. Habitat and ecology: Macquarie perch occupy a range of habitats from riffle and boulder areas in relatively small upland streams to larger deeper rivers with sand and clay substrates and submerged timber and snags as well as impounded waters. Their diet includes aquatic invertebrates, especially insects and crustaceans. Reproduction: Spawning, which occurs in shallow upland streams, is apparently triggered by increasing daylength and water temperatures and occurs in October to late December when temperatures range between 14◦C and 18◦C. Spawning Macquarie perch (‘western’ form) are oviparous and the demersal and slightly adhesive eggs (2.0–4.0 mm in diameter) appear to be shed into the water upstream of riffle areas. Hatching commences approximately five days after fertilisation and continues for up to six days (at water temperatures of 18–20◦C). Newly-hatched embryos are approximately 4.5–6.5 mm in length. Feeding commences on zooplankton about 3–5 days after hatching is completed (Gooley 1986, Ingram et al. 1994). Threats: A general degradation of the riverine environment caused by a number of contributing factors including modifications to rivers for hydro-electric, flood mitigation and irrigation schemes, increased pollution from domestic, agricultural and industrial sources, sedimentation, over-fishing, and impacts of introduced species, such as competition, predation and spread of disease (Cadwallader 1978, Ingram et al. 1990). Conservation action: Total bans on the capture of Macquarie perch exist in the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) and New South Wales (NSW). The capture, keeping and trading of Macquarie perch is controlled by legislation in Victoria. Captive breeding programs have been undertaken at government fish hatcheries in NSW and Victoria to produce and release juveniles of the ‘western’ form into selected sites within its former range to re-establish natural populations (Gooley 1986, Ingram et al. 1990). However, these programs have ceased due to difficulties associated with inducing spawning in both captive broodfish and mature fish in spawning condition captured from the wild. Between 1986 and 1997 approximately 456 000 juveniles were released into nine sites throughout the Murray-Darling basin. Early results indicate survival at some of these sites only. Attempts to re-establish populations of the ‘western’ form by translocation of mature fish have occurred in Victoria, New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory (ACT Government 1999) with mixed success (Lintermans 2000). Conservation recommendations: Improve state and federal legislation to further protect Macquarie perch and preserve and rehabilitate riverine habitats where both existing and re-introduced (stocked) populations occur. Much basic biological information still needs to be collected for both ‘eastern’ and ‘western’ forms including resolution of species status, habitat requirements, life history patterns in the wild and surveys of existing populations to determine size, distribution and breeding status. Remarks: Since the status of Macquarie perch was upgraded to endangered, fisheries regulations have increased the level of protection from recreational fishing in Victoria, and a three year project has been instigated to investigate the Lake Dartmouth population.