Conservation biology articles within Nature Communications

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  • Article
    | Open Access

    Conservation biologists often assume that rare (or less abundant) species are more likely to be declining under anthropogenic change. Here, the authors synthesise population trend data for ~2000 animal species to show that population trends cover a wide spectrum of change from losses to gains, which are not related to species rarity.

    • Gergana N. Daskalova
    • , Isla H. Myers-Smith
    •  & John L. Godlee

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The average body size of salmon has declined rapidly over recent decades. Here the authors quantify changes in body size distributions for Pacific salmon in Alaska and examine the causes and consequences of size declines for ecosystems, food security, and commercial fisheries.

    • K. B. Oke
    • , C. J. Cunningham
    •  & E. P. Palkovacs

  • Comment
    | Open Access

    As investment in urban conservation grows, researchers must balance the needs of residents and conservation targets. We discuss some of the challenges we have encountered and the importance of taking a transdisciplinary approach informed by design and social knowledge.

    • Katherine J. Turo
    •  & Mary M. Gardiner

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Coastal restoration tends to be failure-prone and expensive. Temmink and colleagues improve seagrass and cordgrass transplant survival in field experiments using biodegradable structures which temporarily mimic self-facilitation occurring in mature vegetation stands, and combine onsite and laboratory measurements on sediment stability and stem movement to test the biophysical mechanisms.

    • Ralph J. M. Temmink
    • , Marjolijn J. A. Christianen
    •  & Tjisse van der Heide

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Biomonitoring via environmental DNA (eDNA) is an important conservation tool for freshwater ecosystems, but this is complicated by eDNA movement downstream. Here, Carraro et al. develop and test an approach to reconstruct high-resolution spatial biodiversity patterns from freshwater eDNA.

    • Luca Carraro
    • , Elvira Mächler
    •  & Florian Altermatt

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Roads are widespread and can impact ecological communities. Cooke et al. use data for 75 bird species across Great Britain to show that common species are disproportionately abundant near roads, whereas rarer, smaller-bodied and migrant species are more likely to be negatively associated with roads.

    • Sophia C. Cooke
    • , Andrew Balmford
    •  & Alison Johnston

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Understanding why certain alien species become naturalized can shed light on biological invasion patterns. In this global analysis on thousands of taxa, van Kleunen and colleagues show that plant species of economic use are more likely to become naturalized, and that this underlies geographic patterns and phylogenetic signals in naturalization

    • Mark van Kleunen
    • , Xinyi Xu
    •  & Trevor S. Fristoe

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Safeguarding protected areas from invasive species is recognised as a global conservation objective. Here, Liu et al. analyse the occurrence of terrestrial alien animal invaders in protected areas and potential drivers globally, suggesting an impending risk for uninvaded protected areas in absence of preventive actions.

    • Xuan Liu
    • , Tim M. Blackburn
    •  & Yiming Li

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Understanding why many species ranges are contracting while others are stable or expanding is important to inform conservation in an increasingly human-modified world. Here, Pacifici and colleagues investigate changes in the ranges of 204 mammals, showing that human factors mostly explain range contractions while life history explains both contraction and expansion.

    • Michela Pacifici
    • , Carlo Rondinini
    •  & Moreno Di Marco

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Endemism is an important metric for conservation, but it may be sensitive to the measurement approach. Here Daru et al analyze global datasets of birds and amphibians and show that both weighted and phylogenetic endemism are scale dependent, across grain sizes, spatial extent and taxonomic treatment.

    • Barnabas H. Daru
    • , Harith Farooq
    •  & Søren Faurby

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Countries are adopting ecological compensation policies aimed at achieving no net loss of biodiversity and ecosystem services. Here, Sonter and colleagues apply spatial simulation models to case studies in Australia, Brazil, Indonesia, and Mozambique to show that compensation alone is not sufficient to preserve biodiversity.

    • Laura J. Sonter
    • , Jeremy S. Simmonds
    •  & Martine Maron

  • Article
    | Open Access

    It is unclear whether rapid climate change will alter the effectiveness of marine reserves. Here Graham et al. use a 20-year time-series from the Seychelles to show that marine reserves may not prevent climate-driven shifts in community composition, and that ecological responses to reserves are substantially altered.

    • Nicholas A. J. Graham
    • , James P. W. Robinson
    •  & Shaun K. Wilson

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Europe hosts isolated remnants of the steppe belt that once covered much of Eurasia. Here the authors combine genomic data and ecological niche modelling on three plant and three insect species to show evolution independent of the zonal steppe and high conservation value of these extrazonal steppes.

    • Philipp Kirschner
    • , Eliška Záveská
    •  & Peter Schönswetter

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Measurement of species abundance is fundamental in ecology, yet challenging at large spatial scales. Here, the authors show estimates of abundance of 1248 woody plant species over the East Asian islands that highlight macroevolutionary processes of biodiversity and the status of the national red listing.

    • Keiichi Fukaya
    • , Buntarou Kusumoto
    •  & Yasuhiro Kubota

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Identifying economic and ecological trade-offs of land-use transitions is important to ensure sustainability. Here, Grass et al. find biodiversity-profit trade-offs in tropical land-use transitions in Sumatra, and show that targeted landscape planning is needed to increase land-use efficiency while ensuring socio-ecological sustainability.

    • Ingo Grass
    • , Christoph Kubitza
    •  & Meike Wollni

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Conservation actions focused on flagship species are effective at raising funds and awareness. Here, McGowan et al. show that prioritizing areas for conservation based on the presence of flagship species results in the selection of areas with ~ 79-89% of the total species that would be selected by maximizing biodiversity representation only.

    • Jennifer McGowan
    • , Linda J. Beaumont
    •  & Hugh P. Possingham

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Although there is extensive theory predicting the effects of population bottlenecks on mutation load, there is little empirical evidence from recent bottlenecks. Here, Grossen et al. compare the consequences of population bottlenecks in six ibex species for genome-wide variation and mutation load.

    • Christine Grossen
    • , Frédéric Guillaume
    •  & Daniel Croll

  • Article
    | Open Access

    There are concerns that expansion of marine protected areas could have negative effects on the fishing industry. Here Lynham et al. demonstrate that the expansion of two of the world’s largest protected areas did not have a negative impact on catch rates in the Hawaii longline fishery.

    • John Lynham
    • , Anton Nikolaev
    •  & Juan Carlos Villaseñor-Derbez

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Understanding to what extent geographic patterns in threatened species diversity are driven by environmental features or human activities could aid conservation. Here, Howard et al. investigate broad scale patterns in species richness of threatened vertebrates and test the role of environmental and anthropogenic drivers.

    • Christine Howard
    • , Curtis H. Flather
    •  & Philip A. Stephens

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Zoos contribute to conservation actions in the wild. Here, Mooney et al. use a global dataset to show that, while zoos with more and larger animals attract the most visitors and contribute the most to conservation projects, there are viable alternative strategies to maximise attendance and conservation activity.

    • Andrew Mooney
    • , Dalia A. Conde
    •  & Yvonne M. Buckley

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Human-driven losses of megafauna and megaflora may have disproportionate ecological consequences. Here, the authors combine metabolic scaling theory and global simulation models to show that past and continued reduction of megabiota have and will continue to decrease ecosystem and biosphere functioning.

    • Brian J. Enquist
    • , Andrew J. Abraham
    •  & Christopher E. Doughty

  • Comment
    | Open Access

    Gardner and colleagues argue that efforts to conserve biodiversity should capitalise on current momentum in the realm of climate change policy.

    • Charlie J. Gardner
    • , Matthew J. Struebig
    •  & Zoe G. Davies

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Healthy coral reefs have an acoustic signature known to be attractive to coral and fish larvae during settlement. Here the authors use playback experiments in the field to show that healthy reef sounds can increase recruitment of juvenile fishes to degraded coral reef habitat, suggesting that acoustic playback could be used as a reef management strategy.

    • Timothy A. C. Gordon
    • , Andrew N. Radford
    •  & Stephen D. Simpson

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Many species’ life cycles have moved earlier in the year because of climate change, but we do not know the consequences for range expansions. The authors show that these advances promote range expansions in species with multiple reproductive cycles per year, but not in species with only one.

    • Callum J. Macgregor
    • , Chris D. Thomas
    •  & Jane K. Hill

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Protected areas are important refugia for wildlife, so if climate conditions within them change, wildlife could lose critical suitable habitat. Here the authors calculate the projected gain and loss of climate conditions within terrestrial protected areas worldwide.

    • Samuel Hoffmann
    • , Severin D. H. Irl
    •  & Carl Beierkuhnlein

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Predicted responses to climate change may be informed by evolutionary history. Here, the authors reconstruct the phylogeny of lacertid lizards and investigate how the evolution of this clade has varied with paleoclimates and how closely adapted extant species are to modern climates.

    • Joan Garcia-Porta
    • , Iker Irisarri
    •  & Katharina C. Wollenberg Valero

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Conservation planning rarely considers the uncertainty in management outcomes. Here, the authors develop a value of information approach to quantify uncertainty of threat management success and show that it can improve efficiency of interventions across a large sample of threatened species.

    • Sam Nicol
    • , James Brazill-Boast
    •  & Iadine Chadès

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The U.S. Endangered Species Act (ESA) requires that federal agencies consult with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) or National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) to ensure federal actions do not jeopardize the existence of listed species. Here, the authors analyze recorded from 2000–2017 and investigate the role of NMFS in the consultations.

    • Michael J. Evans
    • , Jacob W. Malcom
    •  & Ya-Wei Li

  • Article
    | Open Access

    It is unclear whether species’ responses to climate change tend to be adaptive or sufficient to keep up with climate change. Here, Radchuk et al. perform a meta-analysis showing that in birds phenology has advanced adaptively in some species, though not all the way to the new optima.

    • Viktoriia Radchuk
    • , Thomas Reed
    •  & Stephanie Kramer-Schadt

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Risk estimates are important measures for the study and practice of conservation ecology. Here, the authors show that such estimates can be substantially biased, and propose an approach to improve accuracy.

    • Kotaro Ono
    • , Øystein Langangen
    •  & Nils Chr. Stenseth

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Random walk movement patterns with specific step size distributions are commonly associated with resource search optimization strategies in mobile organisms. Here, the authors show that clonal expansion of beach grasses follows a Lévy-type step size strategy that optimizes early dune building.

    • Valérie C. Reijers
    • , Koen Siteur
    •  & Tjisse van der Heide

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Multiple aspects of anthropogenic change threaten coral reefs. Here, the authors show that bleaching associated with thermal stress was low when local dredging released moderate amounts of suspended sediments, but high sediment loads coupled with high temperatures had synergistic negative effects on coral survival.

    • Rebecca Fisher
    • , Pia Bessell-Browne
    •  & Ross Jones

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Habitat loss could affect ecological communities in variable ways depending on its structure. Here, the authors show that contiguous rather than random loss is more damaging to the stability of multitrophic communities, regardless of the fraction of mutualistic interactions within the community.

    • Chris McWilliams
    • , Miguel Lurgi
    •  & Daniel Montoya

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Animal diversity, measured in numbers of species, is rapidly being lost to extinction. Here, Cooke et al. show that the diversity of ecological strategies employed by land mammals and birds is also expected to narrow towards small, fecund, insect-eating generalists with fast-paced life histories.

    • Robert S. C. Cooke
    • , Felix Eigenbrod
    •  & Amanda E. Bates

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Artisanal fish fences are used for fishing along many tropical coastlines. Here, Exton et al. examine the impact footprint of artisanal fish fences, showing that they are highly non-selective, cause direct harm across the tropical seascape, disrupt ecological connectivity and create social conflict.

    • Dan A. Exton
    • , Gabby N. Ahmadia
    •  & David J. Smith

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The relationships between people can have important consequences for the systems they depend on. Here the authors show that when coral reef fishers face commons dilemmas, the formation of cooperative communication with competitors can lead to positive gains in reef fish biomass and functional richness.

    • Michele L. Barnes
    • , Örjan Bodin
    •  & Nicholas A. J. Graham

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Conservation decisions to protect land used by migratory birds rely on understanding species’ dynamic habitat associations. Here the authors identify conservation scenarios needed to maintain >30% of the abundances of 117 migratory birds across the Americas, considering spatial and temporal patterns of species abundance.

    • Richard Schuster
    • , Scott Wilson
    •  & Joseph. R. Bennett

  • Article
    | Open Access

    While several studies have documented early warning signals of population collapse, the use of such signals as indicators of population recovery has not been investigated. Here the authors use models and empirical fisheries data to show that there are statistical indicators preceding recovery of cod populations.

    • Christopher F. Clements
    • , Michael A. McCarthy
    •  & Julia L. Blanchard

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Tackling wildlife crimes requires determining their occurrence and distribution, but they are often difficult to detect. Here, the authors use hen harrier tracking data to show patterns of unexpected tag failure that suggest widespread illegal killing on moors managed for recreational shooting of red grouse.

    • Megan Murgatroyd
    • , Stephen M. Redpath
    •  & Arjun Amar

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Antarctic biodiversity is increasingly under threat. Here, Wauchope et al. provide a continent-wide assessment of its terrestrial biodiversity, and find biodiversity protection is regionally uneven and biased towards easily detectable and charismatic species.

    • Hannah S. Wauchope
    • , Justine D. Shaw
    •  & Aleks Terauds

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Stocking of hatchery produced fish is widely used to supplement wild fish populations. Here, the authors show that supplementary stocking can unintentionally favour introgressed individuals with domestic genotypes and compromise the fitness of a wild population of Atlantic salmon.

    • Ingerid J. Hagen
    • , Arne J. Jensen
    •  & Sten Karlsson

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Primates utilise human-modified landscapes, and how they do so can provide key conservation insights. This study shows that primates using anthropic lands are less often threatened with extinction, but more often diurnal, not strictly arboreal, with medium or large body sizes, and habitat generalists.

    • Carmen Galán-Acedo
    • , Víctor Arroyo-Rodríguez
    •  & Robert M. Ewers

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