Abstract A range of interventions have been established to manage international wildlife trade and protect traded species; however, there is little consensus as to whether, when, and how they are effective. Here, through a comprehensive, systematic review of >8000 articles, we appraise the evidence for the effectiveness of interventions on conservation, biological, and/or socio‐economic outcomes. Our systematic review examined four intervention types: “laws and regulations”, “detection and enforcement”, “efforts to reduce threats to species”, and “support local livelihoods”. We find that while laws and regulations were most well‐studied, with some reported positive outcomes, over half of articles reported unintended consequences including shifting exploitation and trade routes, increased illegal trade, and socio‐economic trade‐offs. Detection and enforcement efforts appeared effective in protecting target species but limited for high‐value species especially when combined with low reproductive rates. Efforts to reduce threats to species (particularly through area protection) had positive biological impacts, but some socio‐economic trade‐offs were reported. Evidence on community‐based approaches was limited but our review indicated positive synergies occurring between conservation and socio‐economic outcomes. Overall, socio‐economic outcomes were underrepresented, limiting understanding of potentially important socio‐ecological feedbacks. This review furthers understanding of relevant conditions, risks and enabling factors around effectiveness of wildlife trade interventions.

Abstract The alpine grasslands of the Qiangtang Plateau face significant ecological risks due to extensive human activities, particularly in areas along lakeshores and riverbanks, where overgrazing has caused severe degradation and salinization of the grasslands. Conducting fieldwork in such environments presents significant challenges for long‐term community‐scale landscape ecological research. In this study, the habitat characteristics of dominant plant communities in the alpine basin of Zhari Namco were quantified from three perspectives: topography, hydrology, and fractional vegetation cover. Using Aster GDEM and Landsat imagery, five grassland types were mapped for 2001–2021. Based on the spatial variables of area, shape, and distance, 13 landscape indices were selected to observe spatiotemporal changes. The results revealed several key findings: (1) The patch structure of the zonal vegetation Stipa purpurea steppe has undergone a pattern of dispersion‐aggregation‐dispersion in the past 20 years, yet the core habitat area remains unchanged by more than 52%, indicating fundamental stability in the southern Qiangtang alpine grassland; (2) Using the minimally grazed Kobresia pygmaea meadow as a reference, other communities exhibit stability similar to or approaching it, but with significant differences in aggregation level. The gradual expansion of grazing and economic activities has been a driving factor; and (3) Water conservation projects have diversified the use of water resources in river and lakeside habitats. Stipa purpurea + Carex moorcroftii steppe and Carex swamp meadow exhibit optimal carrying capacity, making them the only areas with relatively high sustainability. The study underscores that the current ecological benefits are a result of effective management. However, without proper management, the region could trend towards landscape fragmentation, becoming the most vulnerable zone in the watershed. Therefore, it is essential to strengthen retrospective analysis of grazing intensity and trend analysis of habitat changes to provide a scientific basis for local economic development and grazing management.

Abstract Many of the proposed solutions to the global biodiversity crisis rely on national governments to act. The conservation movement needs to motivate governments or face an ongoing extinction crisis. Here we explore how linking biodiversity to electoral systems may assist in motivating government action. Using Australia as a case study, we analyze the intersection of 151 electoral districts and 1651 threatened species. We show all districts contain at least 14 threatened species. Half of the species analyzed (n = 801, 49%) are confined to one district (n = 44), with 1345 (81%) species intersecting with less than five. This geographical information shows that alongside local social and economic issues, the threatened species crisis can be made relevant to all Australian elected representatives. Locally relevant information can encourage integration of species needs into the scope of political representation. As such, linking biodiversity to political geography offers a potential pathway to creating transformative change.

Abstract Large carnivores such as wolves (Canis lupus) at times disperse distances of several hundred kilometers, which may enable gene flow over vast distances. Such long‐distance dispersal events, however, often remain undetected, and documenting long‐distance dispersers and their movements typically depend on strong transboundary collaborations. Here, we report the dispersal of a wolf (MSV0FF) from the Alpine region of northern Slovenia to Bavaria in southern Germany, a straight‐line distance of around 300 km. The disperser originated in a pack with a genetically diverse breeding pair, where the father exhibited ancestry from the Dinaric and Italian Alpine populations. Genetic analysis of the mother indicated that she was an immigrant from a divergent population further south in the Dinaric‐Balkan region. Such a varied ancestry augments the probability of immigrants being genetically misclassified as wolf‐dog hybrids in their area of arrival, which increases the risk of unfavorable management decisions toward individuals that would be genetically highly valuable for the recipient population. Wolf MSV0FF therefore demonstrates the benefits of international collaborative monitoring networks and the value of sharing samples and analytical approaches for the monitoring of wide‐ranging species.

Abstract Ambitious European Union (EU) policies are aiming to halt and reverse marine biodiversity loss in the current decade. However, EU environmental and conservation policies have so far fallen short of their targets. This study explores how the key actors in policy interpretation and implementation frame their understandings of these policy objectives, and how these framings influence the protection of marine biodiversity. The results of a Q‐methodological study undertaken with key actors from national, regional sea, and EU governance levels reveal the existence of two predominant frames. Key actors are divided between Environmental Protection and Sustainable Use‐focused understandings, with the first framing further partitioning into four distinct subframes. All the identified frames are internally coherent and are firmly held, therefore begging the question of how EU conservation policy should proceed, given that the same policy texts and the marine biodiversity crisis are perceived in distinctly different ways, with different actions prioritized. It is important to understand and reflect on the different positioning of key actors because these differences directly influence the achievement of marine biodiversity goals.

Abstract Poison and other indiscriminate means are used illegally for wildlife control worldwide. This pervasive phenomenon can significantly damage ecosystems overall and be particularly harmful to certain species (endangered or otherwise) that are susceptible to poisoned baits. Poisoning (and co‐occurring poaching) jeopardizes public administration efforts to reintroduce or support the populations of certain species, while the favored toxic substances used pose a major threat not only to the biodiversity of habitats but also to human health. Both alleged and actual harm to crops and hunting resources are the main driver of illegal vermin and predator control. Previous studies on poisons and other nonselective methods of wildlife elimination have focused on the means used and the species affected. We have instead taken a global empirical approach, also analyzing contextual aspects, what motivates perpetrators and, eventually, the characteristics of the poisoners and users of various indiscriminate means for illegal wildlife control in Spain. This analysis is derived from a thorough examination of incidents based on the investigation of perpetrator by police and judicial records. Furthermore, this work provides a methodological framework that serves as first approach to this issue, gaining insight into the formulation of preventive policies and improving decision taking by law enforcement agencies.

Abstract The conservation and spatial management of marine species with limited adult mobility, such as queen conch, is dictated by larval connectivity. Effectively placed reserves provide larval spillover to harvested areas while replenishing their own population. In past studies proximate to the Exuma Cays Land and Sea Park (ECLSP), surveys and probabilistic larval transport modeling demonstrated a spillover effect from the ECLSP to surrounding fished areas, while suggesting that incoming larval sources are lacking. Previous work was expanded in both upstream and downstream directions, enabling the statistical examination of (1) how queen conch abundance was linked to predicted larval transport from breeding populations in the ECLSP and (2) how age and size changed throughout the island chain as divided by management and connectivity. Biophysical modeling predictions of larval transport from breeding within the ECLSP were significantly associated with the relative abundance of juvenile conch observed across a nearly 200‐km span. Further, the abundance and shell lip thickness (relative age) of adults and the size of juveniles were significantly larger in ECLSP than unprotected areas. This empirical support for an effective, well‐enforced marine reserve and for using biophysical larval transport modeling as a spatial planning tool should be strongly considered in conch conservation and management.

Abstract Hybridization by introgression (“hybridization”) is a complex topic in conservation. Many conservation decision‐makers are concerned about hybridization by introgression because it may threaten species persistence or local phenotypes, among other potential long‐term problems. While attitudes have changed towards hybridization as a conservation threat, there are still concerns about hybridization as a problem, particularly if the hybridization was anthropogenically mediated. I propose that these concerns are overblown and that it is misguided to focus on whether hybridization is unintentionally human‐mediated. I argue that practitioners should still consider the effects of hybridization on conservation, but the reasons should concern the long‐term environmental consequences, such as ecological function and social and cultural that hybridization has, rather than whether humans “caused” the hybrid. I propose a series of steps to think differently about these cases.

Abstract In recent years, the potential to locate endangered animals using scent trained detection dogs (conservation detection dogs) has gained attention. Among vertebrates, conservation detection dogs have demonstrated a remarkable capacity to detect the scent of endangered mammals, reptiles, and birds, but their use in detecting amphibians is only beginning to be explored. A lack of work in this area is surprising given that amphibians are declining faster than any other vertebrate taxa. Moreover, amphibians are generally small, highly cryptic and breed in complex habitats, making them difficult to locate for the purpose of monitoring or establishing conservation breeding programs. This study aimed to provide a preliminary investigation into whether conservation detection dogs can be imprinted on the scent of the critically endangered Baw Baw frog (Philoria frosti) under captive conditions, and then effectively trained to locate wild frogs in their complex natural habitat. Two conservation detection dogs were trained to identify and locate P. frosti scent under controlled conditions before assessing their ability to locate wild P. frosti. Both conservation detection dogs were effective at locating P. frosti scent under controlled conditions, and also demonstrated an ability to detect live frogs under natural conditions. From an applied perspective, our findings provide new evidence that conservation detection dogs are capable of learning to detect the scent of small, cryptic anuran species. They also indicate that detection dogs are capable of locating frogs in highly complex forest habitat, confirming their untapped potential to aid in the management of imperiled species that have previously proven difficult to detect, monitor, and protect. We discuss the limitations of our approach and provide recommendations to help direct future amphibian conservation detection dog research.

Abstract Diversity and functionality of bird communities in tropical agroforests are shaped by their surrounding landscape, particularly the extent and type of natural forest. However, most evidence comes from tropical rainforest landscapes, whereas the bearing of such trends in other forest types remains understudied. We compared functional and beta diversity of bird communities in 23 cacao agroforests embedded in landscapes of two contrasting Peruvian regions: seasonally‐dry tropical forests and subtropical rainforests from the Andean foothills. Strong climatic seasonality affects both landscapes, but forest vegetation structure and complexity differ. We found higher bird species richness ( n = 179 spp) and higher species turnover in the subtropical forest than in the dry forest landscape ( n = 64 spp). Only in the dry forest landscape, distance from forest increased dissimilarity driven by species loss, that is, the nestedness component of beta diversity. This points to the importance of conserving dry tropical forests within the broader landscape matrix, with known benefits for pest control and cacao yield. Functional diversity indices were not influenced by forest distance in either landscape, but the proportion of insects in birds' diet decreased by 27% along a 1 km distance gradient from forest in the subtropical forest landscape. In the dry forest landscape, however, it decreased by only 3% across the same distance gradient. Far from forest (≥1 km), forest specialization decreased by ~33% and 20% in the subtropical and dry forest landscapes, respectively. These differences indicate that regionally‐adapted agroforest management is paramount for conserving bird diversity and ecosystem services as pest control. Procuring high‐canopy shade trees and adequate microhabitats for insectivorous species is essential to maintain biocontrol services in the subtropical forest. Conversely, in the dry forest enhancing low‐canopy vegetation with a focus on frugivores and ensuring forest closeness to agroforests may maximize bird diversity and their ecosystem services. A complete version of this article is translated to Spanish in the supplements.