Review of terrestrial temporarily conserved areas in Canada, the United States, and Mexico.

The establishment of protected areas is a cornerstone of conservation, but permanent protection could be inefficient or even impossible in some situations. We synthesized the literature on temporarily conserved areas (TCAs) across Canada, the United States, and Mexico. We used a comprehensive search string to retrieve peer-reviewed articles published from 2000 to 2021 from the Web of Science. We identified 27 relevant peer-reviewed articles that examined the potential benefits of TCAs in the study area, indicating TCA is a relatively understudied area of research in the peer-reviewed literature. The TCA studies were highly clustered; 77% of studies focused on protecting a single life stage of migratory species and 61% of studies related to temporary conservation of breeding or staging habitats for migratory birds. Ninety-three percent of studies focused on preventing human-driven threats, mainly on public lands of coastal areas, the Great Plains, and the Mississippi Valley in the central United States. Short-term and experimental studies were the dominant study types. TCAs have the potential to complement permanently protected areas and provide protection when permanent protection is difficult. Some included studies examined their conservation value, but the ecological, social, and economic outcomes of TCAs are unclear. More TCA research is needed to determine the role they could play in conservation worldwide. Embracing the concept of TCAs as conservation tool could lead to more comprehensive and consistent reporting of the outcomes of temporary area-based conservation measures. However, a global review and analysis of effectiveness of TCAs will be required if they are to play a formal role in meeting international targets for biodiversity conservation.

Revisión de áreas terrestres conservadas temporalmente en Canadá, Estados Unidos y México Resumen La creación de áreas protegidas es una piedra angular de la conservación, aunque en algunos casos la protección permanente podría ser ineficiente o incluso imposible. Condensamos la literatura sobre las áreas de conservación temporal (ACT) en Canadá, Estados Unidos y México. Usamos una cadena completa de búsqueda para obtener artículos revisados por pares publicados del 2000 al 2021 en Web of Science. Identificamos 27 artículos relevantes que analizaban el potencial de las ACT en el área de estudio, lo que indica que las ACT es un área poco estudiada en la literatura revisada por pares. Los estudios sobre ACT estaban muy agrupados: el 77% se enfocaban en la protección de un solo estadio de vida de las especies migratorias y el 61% se relacionaban con la conservación temporal de los hábitats de reproducción o de descanso de las aves migratorias. El 93% de los estudios se enfocó en la prevención de amenazas causadas por humanos, principalmente en los terrenos públicos de las áreas costeras, las Grandes Llanuras y el valle del Mississippi en el centro de los Estados Unidos. Los estudios experimentales y a corto plazo fueron el tipo de estudio dominante. Las áreas de conservación temporal tienen el potencial para complementar las áreas de protección permanente y proporcionar protección cuando es complicado proporcionarla permanentemente. Algunos de los estudios incluidos analizaron el valor para la conservación de las ACT, pero aún no están claros sus resultados ecológicos, sociales y económicos. Se necesita más investigación sobre las ACT para determinar el papel que podrían tener en la conservación mundial. Si se acepta el concepto de ACT como una herramienta de conservación, se podrían reportar los resultados de las medidas de conservación basadas en las ACT de forma más completa y consistente. Sin embargo, se requerirá una revisión y análisis global de la eficiencia de las ACT si se espera que tengan un papel formal en el cumplimiento de los objetivos internacionales de la conservación de la biodiversidad.

Protected area planning to conserve biodiversity in an uncertain future.

Protected areas are a key instrument for conservation. Despite this, they are vulnerable to risks associated with weak governance, land-use intensification, and climate change. We used a novel hierarchical optimization approach to identify priority areas for expanding the global protected area system that explicitly accounted for such risks while maximizing protection of all known terrestrial vertebrate species. To incorporate risk categories, we built on the minimum set problem, where the objective is to reach species distribution protection targets while accounting for 1 constraint, such as land cost or area. We expanded this approach to include multiple objectives accounting for risk in the problem formulation by treating each risk layer as a separate objective in the problem formulation. Reducing exposure to these risks required expanding the area of the global protected area system by 1.6% while still meeting conservation targets. Incorporating risks from weak governance drove the greatest changes in spatial priorities for protection, and incorporating risks from climate change required the largest increase (2.52%) in global protected area. Conserving wide-ranging species required countries with relatively strong governance to protect more land when they bordered nations with comparatively weak governance. Our results underscore the need for cross-jurisdictional coordination and demonstrate how risk can be efficiently incorporated into conservation planning. Planeación de las áreas protegidas para conservar la biodiversidad en un futuro incierto.

Aunque las áreas protegidas son un instrumento clave para la conservación, no dejan de ser vulnerables a los riesgos asociados a una gestión pobre, la intensificación del uso de suelo y al cambio climático. Usamos una estrategia novedosa de optimización jerárquica para identificar las áreas prioritarias para la expansión del sistema global de áreas protegidas. La estrategia consideró de manera explícita los riesgos mencionados y también maximizó la protección de todas las especies conocidas de vertebrados terrestres. Para incorporar a las categorías de riesgo partimos del mínimo problema establecido, en donde el objetivo es lograr los objetivos de protección de la distribución de especies mientras se considera sólo una restricción, como el costo o área del suelo. Expandimos esta estrategia para que incluyera varios objetivos que consideraran el riesgo desde la formulación del problema mediante el manejo de cada nivel de riesgo como un objetivo aparte durante la formulación del problema. La reducción de la exposición a estos riesgos requirió que se expandiera el área total del sistema global de áreas protegidas en un 1.6% y así todavía cumplir con los objetivos de conservación. La incorporación de riesgos a partir de una gestión pobre fue el principal impulsor de cambios en las prioridades espaciales para la protección, mientras que la incorporación de riesgos a partir del cambio climático requirió el mayor incremento (2.52%) del área protegida a nivel mundial. La conservación de especies con distribución amplia requirió que los países con una gestión relativamente fuerte protegieran más suelo al tener fronteras con países con una gestión pobre en comparación son la suya. Nuestros resultados destacan la necesidad de una coordinación entre jurisdicciones y demuestran cómo puede incorporarse el riesgo de manera exitosa a la planeación de la conservación.

Opportunities for the conservation of migratory birds to benefit threatened resident vertebrates in the Neotropics.

Neotropical countries receive financing and effort from temperate nations to aid the conservation of migratory species that move between temperate and tropical regions. If allocated strategically, these resources could simultaneously contribute to other conservation initiatives. In this study, we use novel distribution maps to show how those resources could aid planning for the recovery of threatened resident vertebrates.Using eBird-based relative abundance estimates, we first identified areas with high richness of Neotropical migrant landbirds of conservation concern (23 species) during the stationary non-breeding period. Within these areas, we then identified threatened species richness, projected forest loss and conducted a prioritization for 1,261 red-listed vertebrates using Terrestrial Area-of-Habitat maps.Richness for migrants was greatest along a corridor from the Yucatan peninsula south to the northern Andes but also included south-west Mexico and Hispaniola. Protected areas account for 22% of this region while 21% is at risk of forest loss. Within this focal region for migrants, all four vertebrate groups showed hotspots of threatened species richness along the west and east Andean slopes. Taxa-specific hotspots included montane areas of southern Mexico and central Guatemala (amphibians/reptiles) and the entire east slope of the Colombian East Andes (mammals).Our prioritization highlighted several areas of importance for conservation due to high threatened species richness and projected forest loss including (a) the Pacific dry forests of south-west Mexico, (b) montane regions of northern Central America and (c) the west Andean slope of Colombia and Ecuador. At a landscape scale in southern Colombia, we show how conservation efforts for six Neotropical migrants could benefit 56 threatened residents that share a similar elevational range. Synthesis and applications. Funding and effort for migratory bird conservation also has potential to benefit threatened resident vertebrates in the Neotropics. Our study highlights how novel, high-resolution information on species distributions and risk of forest loss can be integrated to identify priority areas for the two groups at regional and landscape scales. The approach and data can be further modified for more specific goals, such as within-country initiatives.

Los países neotropicales reciben financiamiento y recursos esfuerzos de países templados para ayudar a la conservación de las aves migratorias que se mueven entre estas dos regiones. Si se asignan estratégicamente, estos recursos podrían beneficiar simultáneamente a otras iniciativas de conservación. En esta investigación, usamos novedosos mapas de distribución para mostrar cómo esos recursos podrían ayudar a planificar la conservación de especies residentes amenazadas.Utilizando estimaciones de abundancia de eBird, delineamos la Región Focal con la mayor riqueza de aves migratorias neotropicales de interés para la conservación durante el periodo invernal (23 especies). Dentro de esta región, determinamos la riqueza de especies residentes amenazadas, la proyección de pérdida de bosque, y realizamos una priorización para 1261 especies de vertebrados incluidos en la lista roja de la IUCN utilizando mapas del área de hábitat terrestre.En la Región Focal, la riqueza de aves migratorias fue mayor a lo largo de un corredor desde el sur de la península de Yucatán hasta el norte de los Andes, y en el suroeste de México y la isla La Española. Las áreas protegidas representan 22% de esta región mientras que el 21% está en riesgo de pérdida de bosque. Dentro de la Región Focal para las aves migratorias, todos los vertebrados residentes mostraron puntos de mayor riqueza de especies amenazadas en los Andes occidentales y orientales. Las regiones con mayor riqueza para taxones específicos incluyeron las montañas del sur de México y del centro de Guatemala (anfibios y reptiles) y la vertiente oriental de la cordillera oriental de Colombia (mamíferos).La priorización destacó varias áreas de importancia para la conservación debido a la alta riqueza de especies amenazadas y a la pérdida de bosque proyectada incluyendo 1) los bosques secos del Pacífico del suroeste de México, 2) las regiones montañosas del norte de Centroamérica y 3) la vertiente occidental de los Andes Occidental de Colombia y Ecuador. A escala del paisaje en el sur de Colombia, mostramos cómo los esfuerzos para la conservación de 6 aves migratorias podrían beneficiar a 56 especies residentes amenazadas que comparten un rango altitudinal similar. Síntesis y aplicaciones. La financiación y esfuerzos para la conservación de las aves migratorias tienen el potencial a beneficiar a los vertebrados residentes amenazados en el Neotrópico. Nuestro estudio resalta como se puede integrar información novedosa y de alta resolución acerca de la distribución de especies y el riesgo de pérdida de bosques para identificar áreas prioritarias para los dos grupos a escala regional y paisajística. El enfoque y los datos se pueden modificar para objetivos más específicos, como por ejemplo iniciativas dentro de cada país.

How do changes in flow magnitude due to hydropower operations affect fish abundance and biomass in temperate regions? A systematic review.

BACKGROUND: Altering the natural flow regime, an essential component of healthy fluvial systems, through hydropower operations has the potential to negatively impact freshwater fish populations. Establishing improved management of flow regimes requires better understanding of how fish respond to altered flow components, such as flow magnitude. Based on the results of a recent systematic map on the impacts of flow regime changes on direct outcomes of freshwater or estuarine fish productivity, evidence clusters on fish abundance and biomass responses were identified for full systematic review. The primary goal of this systematic review is to address one of those evidence clusters, with the following research question: how do changes in flow magnitude due to hydropower operations affect fish abundance and biomass? METHODS: This review follows the guidelines of the Collaboration for Environmental Evidence. It examined commercially published and grey literature originally identified during the systematic map process and a systematic search update. All articles were screened using an a priori eligibility criteria at two stages (title and abstract, and full-text) and consistency checks were performed at all stages. All eligible articles were assessed for study validity and specifically designed data extraction and study validity tools were used. A narrative synthesis included all available evidence and meta-analysis using the standardized mean difference (Hedges' g) was conducted where appropriate. REVIEW FINDINGS: A total of 133 studies from 103 articles were included in this systematic review for data extraction and critical appraisal. Most studies were from North America (60%) and were conducted at 146 different hydropower dams/facilities. Meta-analysis included 268 datasets from 58 studies, separated into three analyses based on replication type [temporal (within or between year replication) or spatial]. Fish abundance (226 datasets) and biomass (30 datasets) had variable responses to changes in flow magnitude with estimated overall mean effect sizes ranging from positive to negative and varying by study design and taxa. In studies with temporal replication, we found a detectable effect of alterations to the direction of flow magnitude, the presence of other flow components, sampling methods, season, and fish life stage. However, we found no detectable effect of these moderators for studies with spatial replication. Taxonomic analyses indicated variable responses to changes in flow magnitude and a bias towards salmonid species. CONCLUSIONS: This synthesis did not find consistent patterns in fish abundance or biomass responses to alterations or changes in flow magnitude. Fish responses to flow magnitude alterations or changes were highly variable and context dependent. Our synthesis suggests that biotic responses may not be generalizable across systems impacted by hydroelectric power production and operations, where specific features of the system may be highly influential. Site-specific and adaptive management may be necessary. To improve study validity and interpretability, studies with long-term continuous monitoring, and both temporal and spatial replication are needed. When this gold standard is unfeasible, studies should strive, at minimum, to maximize replication within both intervention and comparator groups for either temporal or spatial designs. To further address knowledge gaps, studies are needed that focus on non-salmonids, multiple seasons, and systems outside of North America. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s13750-021-00254-8.

Closing the knowledge-action gap in conservation with open science.

The knowledge-action gap in conservation science and practice occurs when research outputs do not result in actions to protect or restore biodiversity. Among the diverse and complex reasons for this gap, three barriers are fundamental: knowledge is often unavailable to practitioners and challenging to interpret or difficult to use or both. Problems of availability, interpretability, and useability are solvable with open science practices. We considered the benefits and challenges of three open science practices for use by conservation scientists and practitioners. First, open access publishing makes the scientific literature available to all. Second, open materials (detailed methods, data, code, and software) increase the transparency and use of research findings. Third, open education resources allow conservation scientists and practitioners to acquire the skills needed to use research outputs. The long-term adoption of open science practices would help researchers and practitioners achieve conservation goals more quickly and efficiently and reduce inequities in information sharing. However, short-term costs for individual researchers (insufficient institutional incentives to engage in open science and knowledge mobilization) remain a challenge. We caution against a passive approach to sharing that simply involves making information available. We advocate a proactive stance toward transparency, communication, collaboration, and capacity building that involves seeking out and engaging with potential users to maximize the environmental and societal impact of conservation science.

Cierre de la Brecha entre el Conocimiento y la Acción en la Conservación con Ciencia Abierta 21-311 Resumen La brecha entre el conocimiento y la acción en las ciencias de la conservación y en su práctica ocurre cuando los resultados de las investigaciones no derivan en acciones para proteger o restaurar la biodiversidad. Entre las razones complejas y diversas de esta brecha, existen tres barreras que son fundamentales: con frecuencia el conocimiento no está disponible para los practicantes, es difícil de interpretar o difícil de usar, o ambas. Los problemas con la disponibilidad, interpretabilidad y utilidad son solucionables mediante las prácticas de ciencia abierta. Consideramos los beneficios y los obstáculos de tres prácticas de ciencia abierta para su uso por parte de los científicos y practicantes de la conservación. Primero, las publicaciones de acceso abierto hacen que la literatura científica esté disponible para todos. Segundo, los materiales abiertos (métodos detallados, datos, códigos y software) incrementan la transparencia y el uso de los hallazgos de las investigaciones. Tercero, los recursos educativos abiertos permiten que los científicos y practicantes de la conservación adquieran las habilidades necesarias para utilizar los productos de las investigaciones. La adopción a largo plazo de las prácticas de ciencia abierta ayudaría a los investigadores y a los practicantes a lograr los objetivos de conservación mucho más rápido y de manera eficiente y a reducir las desigualdades que existen en la divulgación de información. Sin embargo, los costos a corto plazo para los investigadores individuales (incentivos institucionales insuficientes para participar en la ciencia abierta y en la movilización del conocimiento) todavía son un reto. Advertimos sobre las estrategias pasivas de divulgación que simplemente hacen que la información esté disponible. Abogamos por una postura proactiva hacia la transparencia, la comunicación, la colaboración y la construcción de las capacidades que incluyen la búsqueda de y la interacción con los usuarios potenciales para maximizar el impacto ambiental y social de las ciencias de la conservación.

Mapping the premigration distribution of eastern Monarch butterflies using community science data.

Knowing the distribution of migratory species at different stages of their life cycle is necessary for their effective conservation. For the Monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus), although its overwintering distribution is well known, the available information on premigration distribution is limited to the studies estimating the natal origins of overwintering Monarchs in Mexico (i.e., postmigration data). However, the premigration distribution and the natal origins of overwintering Monarchs can be equivalent only if we assume that migrating Monarchs have the same mortality rate irrespective of their origins. To estimate Monarchs' premigration distribution, we used data reported by community scientists before Monarchs start their fall migration, that is, before migration mortality, and controlled for sampling bias. Our premigration distribution map indicated that Minnesota, Texas, and Ontario are the states/provinces with the highest abundance of Monarch in North America. Although this higher estimated abundance can be related to the large sizes of these states/provinces, this information is still important because it identifies the management jurisdictions with the largest responsibility for the conservation of the premigration population of Monarchs. Our premigration distribution map will be useful in future studies estimating the rates, distribution, and causes of mortality in migrating Monarchs.

Global assessment of marine and freshwater recreational fish reveals mismatch in climate change vulnerability and conservation effort.

Recreational fisheries contribute substantially to the sociocultural and economic well-being of coastal and riparian regions worldwide, but climate change threatens their sustainability. Fishery managers require information on how climate change will impact key recreational species; however, the absence of a global assessment hinders both directed and widespread conservation efforts. In this study, we present the first global climate change vulnerability assessment of recreationally targeted fish species from marine and freshwater environments (including diadromous fishes). We use climate change projections and data on species' physiological and ecological traits to quantify and map global climate vulnerability and analyze these patterns alongside the indices of socioeconomic value and conservation effort to determine where efforts are sufficient and where they might fall short. We found that over 20% of recreationally targeted fishes are vulnerable to climate change under a high emission scenario. Overall, marine fishes had the highest number of vulnerable species, concentrated in regions with sensitive habitat types (e.g., coral reefs). However, freshwater fishes had higher proportions of species at risk from climate change, with concentrations in northern Europe, Australia, and southern Africa. Mismatches in conservation effort and vulnerability were found within all regions and life-history groups. A key pattern was that current conservation effort focused primarily on marine fishes of high socioeconomic value rather than on the freshwater and diadromous fishes that were predicted to be proportionately more vulnerable. While several marine regions were notably lacking in protection (e.g., Caribbean Sea, Banda Sea), only 19% of vulnerable marine species were without conservation effort. By contrast, 72% of freshwater fishes and 33% of diadromous fishes had no measures in place, despite their high vulnerability and cultural value. The spatial and taxonomic analyses presented here provide guidance for the future conservation and management of recreational fisheries as climate change progresses.

Three lessons conservation science can learn from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Article impact statement: COVID-19 has demonstrated the need to optimize research activity, convey the gravity of loss, and reevaluate merit in conservation science.

Half of resources in threatened species conservation plans are allocated to research and monitoring.

Funds to combat biodiversity loss are insufficient, requiring conservation managers to make trade-offs between costs for actions to avoid further loss and costs for research and monitoring to guide effective actions. Using species' management plans for 2328 listed species from three countries we show that 50% of species' proposed recovery plan budgets are allocated to research and monitoring. The proportion of budgets allocated to research and monitoring vary among jurisdictions and taxa, but overall, species with higher proportions of budgets allocated to research and monitoring have poorer recovery outcomes. The proportion allocated to research and monitoring is lower for more recent recovery plans, but for some species, plans have allocated the majority of funds to information gathering for decades. We provide recommendations for careful examination of the value of collecting new information in recovery planning to ensure that conservation programs emphasize action or research and monitoring that directly informs action.

Do traits of plant species predict the efficacy of species distribution models for finding new occurrences?

Species distribution models (SDMs) are used to test ecological theory and to direct targeted surveys for species of conservation concern. Several studies have tested for an influence of species traits on the predictive accuracy of SDMs. However, most used the same set of environmental predictors for all species and/or did not use truly independent data to test SDM accuracy. We built eight SDMs for each of 24 plant species of conservation concern, varying the environmental predictors included in each SDM version. We then measured the accuracy of each SDM using independent presence and absence data to calculate area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) and true positive rate (TPR). We used generalized linear mixed models to test for a relationship between species traits and SDM accuracy, while accounting for variation in SDM performance that might be introduced by different predictor sets. All traits affected one or both SDM accuracy measures. Species with lighter seeds, animal-dispersed seeds, and a higher density of occurrences had higher AUC and TPR than other species, all else being equal. Long-lived woody species had higher AUC than herbaceous species, but lower TPR. These results support the hypothesis that the strength of species-environment correlations is affected by characteristics of species or their geographic distributions. However, because each species has multiple traits, and because AUC and TPR can be affected differently, there is no straightforward way to determine a priori which species will yield useful SDMs based on their traits. Most species yielded at least one useful SDM. Therefore, it is worthwhile to build and test SDMs for the purpose of finding new populations of plant species of conservation concern, regardless of these species' traits.

Exact integer linear programming solvers outperform simulated annealing for solving conservation planning problems.

The resources available for conserving biodiversity are limited, and so protected areas need to be established in places that will achieve objectives for minimal cost. Two of the main algorithms for solving systematic conservation planning problems are Simulated Annealing (SA) and exact integer linear programing (EILP) solvers. Using a case study in BC, Canada, we compare the cost-effectiveness and processing times of SA used in Marxan versus EILP using both commercial and open-source algorithms. Plans for expanding protected area systems based on EILP algorithms were 12-30% cheaper than plans using SA, due to EILP's ability to find optimal solutions as opposed to approximations. The best EILP solver we examined was on average 1,071 times faster than the SA algorithm tested. The performance advantages of EILP solvers were also observed when we aimed for spatially compact solutions by including a boundary penalty. One practical advantage of using EILP over SA is that the analysis does not require calibration, saving even more time. Given the performance of EILP solvers, they can be used to generate conservation plans in real-time during stakeholder meetings and can facilitate rapid sensitivity analysis, and contribute to a more transparent, inclusive, and defensible decision-making process.

Relative costs of conserving threatened species across taxonomic groups.

Bias toward legally protecting and prioritizing charismatic taxonomic groups, such as mammals and birds, and against others, such as insects and plants, is well documented. However, the relative costs of conserving various taxonomic groups and the potential of these costs to interact with existing biases have been much less explored. We analyzed conservation programs across more than 2,000 species in 3 countries to investigate the costs of conserving species within taxonomic groups and how these costs might affect conservation planning. For each data set, we tested for differences in mean annual cost among taxonomic groups. For the data set from the United States, recovery plans differed in duration, so we also tested for differences in total costs among taxonomic groups. Although the costs for individual species varied widely, there were strong international consistencies. For example, mammals cost 8-26 times more on average to conserve than plants and 13-19 times more to conserve than aquatic invertebrates. On average, bird species cost 5-30 times more to conserve than plants and 6-14 times more to conserve than aquatic invertebrates. These cost differences could exacerbate unequal resource allocation among taxonomic groups such that more charismatic groups both receive more attention and require more resources, leading to neglect of other taxonomic groups.

Costos Relativos de la Conservación de Especies Amenazadas entre Grupos Taxonómicos Resumen El sesgo hacia la protección legal y la priorización de grupos taxonómicos carismáticos, como los mamíferos y las aves, y el sesgo que no favorece a otros grupos, como los insectos y las plantas, está bien documentado. A pesar de esto, los costos relativos de la conservación de varios grupos taxonómicos y el potencial que tienen estos costos para interactuar con los sesgos existentes no han sido explorados a profundidad. Analizamos los programas de conservación para más de 2,000 especies en tres países y así investigar los costos de la conservación de especies limitada a los grupos taxonómicos y cómo estos costos podrían afectar a la planeación de la conservación. Buscamos diferencias en el costo medio anual entre los grupos taxonómicos en cada conjunto de datos. Para el conjunto de datos de los Estados Unidos, los planes de recuperación difirieron en su duración, por lo que también buscamos diferencias en los costos totales entre los grupos taxonómicos. Aunque los costos para cada especie individual variaron ampliamente, hubo consistencias internacionales sólidas. Por ejemplo, la conservación de los mamíferos cuesta en promedio de 8-26 veces más que la de las plantas y de 13-19 veces más que la de los invertebrados acuáticos. En promedio, cuesta de 5-30 veces más la conservación de especies de aves que la de las plantas y de 6-14 veces más que la de los invertebrados acuáticos. Estas diferencias en los costos podrían agravar la asignación desigual de recursos entre los grupos taxonómicos de tal manera que los grupos taxonómicos más carismáticos reciben más atención y requieren de más recursos, resultando en el descuido de otros grupos taxonómicos.

Homogenization of freshwater lakes: Recent compositional shifts in fish communities are explained by gamefish movement and not climate change.

Globally, lake fish communities are being subjected to a range of scale-dependent anthropogenic pressures, from climate change to eutrophication, and from overexploitation to species introductions. As a consequence, the composition of these communities is being reshuffled, in most cases leading to a surge in taxonomic similarity at the regional scale termed homogenization. The drivers of homogenization remain unclear, which may be a reflection of interactions between various environmental changes. In this study, we investigate two potential drivers of the recent changes in the composition of freshwater fish communities: recreational fishing and climate change. Our results, derived from 524 lakes of Ontario, Canada sampled in two periods (1965-1982 and 2008-2012), demonstrate that the main contributors to homogenization are the dispersal of gamefish species, most of which are large predators. Alternative explanations relating to lake habitat (e.g., area, phosphorus) or variations in climate have limited explanatory power. Our analysis suggests that human-assisted migration is the primary driver of the observed compositional shifts, homogenizing freshwater fish community among Ontario lakes and generating food webs dominated by gamefish species.

Environmental sciences benefit from robust evidence irrespective of speed.

Discussions around the "slow science movement" abound in environmental sciences, yet they are generally counterproductive. Researchers must focus on producing robust and transparent knowledge, regardless of speed. Slow versus fast science is irrelevant - what we need is reproducible research to support evidence-based decision making and tackle urgent and costly environmental problems.

Optimizing the conservation of migratory species over their full annual cycle.

Limited knowledge of the distribution, abundance, and habitat associations of migratory species hinders effective conservation actions. We use Neotropical migratory birds as a model group to compare approaches to prioritize land conservation needed to support ≥30% of the global abundances of 117 species. Specifically, we compare scenarios from spatial optimization models to achieve conservation targets by: 1) area requirements for conserving >30% abundance of each species for each week of the year independently vs. combined; 2) including vs. ignoring spatial clustering of species abundance; and 3) incorporating vs. avoiding human-dominated landscapes. Solutions integrating information across the year require 56% less area than those integrating weekly abundances, with additional reductions when shared-use landscapes are included. Although incorporating spatial population structure requires more area, geographical representation among priority sites improves substantially. These findings illustrate that globally-sourced citizen science data can elucidate key trade-offs among opportunity costs and spatiotemporal representation of conservation efforts.

SDMtoolbox 2.0: the next generation Python-based GIS toolkit for landscape genetic, biogeographic and species distribution model analyses.

SDMtoolbox 2.0 is a software package for spatial studies of ecology, evolution, and genetics. The release of SDMtoolbox 2.0 allows researchers to use the most current ArcGIS software and MaxEnt software, and reduces the amount of time that would be spent developing common solutions. The central aim of this software is to automate complicated and repetitive spatial analyses in an intuitive graphical user interface. One core tenant facilitates careful parameterization of species distribution models (SDMs) to maximize each model's discriminatory ability and minimize overfitting. This includes carefully processing of occurrence data, environmental data, and model parameterization. This program directly interfaces with MaxEnt, one of the most powerful and widely used species distribution modeling software programs, although SDMtoolbox 2.0 is not limited to species distribution modeling or restricted to modeling in MaxEnt. Many of the SDM pre- and post-processing tools have 'universal' analogs for use with any modeling software. The current version contains a total of 79 scripts that harness the power of ArcGIS for macroecology, landscape genetics, and evolutionary studies. For example, these tools allow for biodiversity quantification (such as species richness or corrected weighted endemism), generation of least-cost paths and corridors among shared haplotypes, assessment of the significance of spatial randomizations, and enforcement of dispersal limitations of SDMs projected into future climates-to only name a few functions contained in SDMtoolbox 2.0. Lastly, dozens of generalized tools exists for batch processing and conversion of GIS data types or formats, which are broadly useful to any ArcMap user.

How experimental biology and ecology can support evidence-based decision-making in conservation: avoiding pitfalls and enabling application.

Policy development and management decisions should be based upon the best available evidence. In recent years, approaches to evidence synthesis, originating in the medical realm (such as systematic reviews), have been applied to conservation to promote evidence-based conservation and environmental management. Systematic reviews involve a critical appraisal of evidence, but studies that lack the necessary rigour (e.g. experimental, technical and analytical aspects) to justify their conclusions are typically excluded from systematic reviews or down-weighted in terms of their influence. One of the strengths of conservation physiology is the reliance on experimental approaches that help to more clearly establish cause-and-effect relationships. Indeed, experimental biology and ecology have much to offer in terms of building the evidence base that is needed to inform policy and management options related to pressing issues such as enacting endangered species recovery plans or evaluating the effectiveness of conservation interventions. Here, we identify a number of pitfalls that can prevent experimental findings from being relevant to conservation or would lead to their exclusion or down-weighting during critical appraisal in a systematic review. We conclude that conservation physiology is well positioned to support evidence-based conservation, provided that experimental designs are robust and that conservation physiologists understand the nuances associated with informing decision-making processes so that they can be more relevant.

Spending limited resources on de-extinction could lead to net biodiversity loss.

There is contentious debate surrounding the merits of de-extinction as a biodiversity conservation tool. Here, we use extant analogues to predict conservation actions for potential de-extinction candidate species from New Zealand and the Australian state of New South Wales, and use a prioritization protocol to predict the impacts of reintroducing and maintaining populations of these species on conservation of extant threatened species. Even using the optimistic assumptions that resurrection of species is externally sponsored, and that actions for resurrected species can share costs with extant analogue species, public funding for conservation of resurrected species would lead to fewer extant species that could be conserved, suggesting net biodiversity loss. If full costs of establishment and maintenance for resurrected species populations were publicly funded, there could be substantial sacrifices in extant species conservation. If conservation of resurrected species populations could be fully externally sponsored, there could be benefits to extant threatened species. However, such benefits would be outweighed by opportunity costs, assuming such discretionary money could directly fund conservation of extant species. Potential sacrifices in conservation of extant species should be a crucial consideration in deciding whether to invest in de-extinction or focus our efforts on extant species.

Angling into the Future: Ten Commandments for Recreational Fisheries Science, Management, and Stewardship in a Good Anthropocene.

A new geological epoch, the "Anthropocene", has been defined as the period in which humans have had substantial geological and ecological influence on the planet. A positive future for this epoch can be referred to as the "good Anthropocene" and would involve effective management strategies and changes in human behavior that promote the sustainability and restoration of ecosystems. Recreational fisheries hold significant social, cultural, and economic value and can generate many benefits when managed sustainably and thus be an integral part of a "good Anthropocene". Here, we list ten commandments to facilitate persistence and long-term sustainability of recreational fisheries in the "good Anthropocene". This list includes fostering aquatic stewardship, promoting education, using appropriate capture gear, adopting evidence-based management approaches, promoting the concept of resilience, obtaining and using effort data in management, embracing the ecosystem approach, engaging in multilevel collaboration, enhancing accessibility, and embracing optimism. When used singly, or simultaneously, these ten commandments will contribute to the harmonization of sustainable fish populations and angling practices, to create recreational fisheries' "bright spots".

A century of ecosystem change: human and seabird impacts on plant species extirpation and invasion on islands.

We used 116 years of floral and faunal records from Mandarte Island, British Columbia, Canada, to estimate the indirect effects of humans on plant communities via their effects on the population size of a surface-nesting, colonial seabird, the Glaucous-winged gull (Larus glaucescens). Comparing current to historical records revealed 18 extirpations of native plant species (32% of species historically present), 31 exotic species introductions, and one case of exotic introduction followed by extirpation. Contemporary surveys indicated that native species cover declined dramatically from 1986 to 2006, coincident with the extirpation of 'old-growth' conifers. Because vegetation change co-occurred with an increasing gull population locally and regionally, we tested several predictions from the hypothesis that the presence and activities of seabirds help to explain those changes. Specifically, we predicted that on Mandarte and nearby islands with gull colonies, we should observe higher nutrient loading and exotic plant species richness and cover than on nearby islands without gull colonies, as a consequence of competitive dominance in species adapted to high soil nitrogen and trampling. As predicted, we found that native plant species cover and richness were lower, and exotic species cover and richness higher, on islands with versus without gull colonies. In addition, we found that soil carbon and nitrogen on islands with nesting gulls were positively related to soil depth and exotic species richness and cover across plots and islands. Our results support earlier suggestions that nesting seabirds can drive rapid change in insular plant communities by increasing nutrients and disturbing vegetation, and that human activities that affect seabird abundance may therefore indirectly affect plant community composition on islands with seabird colonies.