Kin discrimination in the spotted hyena (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Crocuta crocuta</Emphasis>): nepotism among siblings

We examined patterns of affiliation, association, and aggression to inquire whether spotted hyenas (Crocuta crocuta) can distinguish among various groups of maternal and paternal siblings. If so, and if these animals conform to predictions of kin selection theory, then behavioral interactions among hyenas should vary with relatedness. We also considered familiarity-based recognition and phenotype matching as mechanisms hyenas might use to recognize kin. Patterns of affiliative behavior indicated that hyenas favored full-sibling littermates over half-sibling littermates or any other group of half-siblings. Rates of dyadic aggression generally did not vary with kinship. Hyenas associated more closely with half-sibling littermates than with non-littermate half-siblings, and hyenas affiliated more with maternal half-siblings than with paternal half-siblings, suggesting that familiarity-based cues might mediate discrimination among these sibling classes. In addition, operation of a phenotype-matching mechanism was suggested by the preference hyenas demonstrated during affiliative interactions for full- over half-sibling littermates, and by their lack of preference in these interactions for half-sibling littermates over non-littermate half-siblings. Phenotype matching was also suggested by our observation that paternal half-siblings cooperated more, and fought less, than did non-kin. Our data indicate that hyenas can discriminate among various types of siblings, that their social behavior conforms to predictions of kin selection theory, and that they recognize kin using mechanisms of both familiarity and phenotype matching.Communicated by S. Alberts     

Correction to: Ecological restoration as a strategy for mitigating and adapting to climate change: lessons and challenges from Brazil

Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change - The original version of the article unfortunately contained an error.     

Cleaner red mud residue production at an alumina plant by applying experimental design techniques in the filtration stage

Red mud is a residue obtained by the Bayer process during alumina production, and its disposal is an environmental problem due to its caustic nature, metal and radionuclide content and alkalinity. The present study analyzed five different filtration factors with two levels each in order to improve filtration and, thus, reduce the caustic content of this residue. This study was conducted at the Alumina do Norte do Brasil S.A (ALUNORTE) alumina plant, located in Pará, Brazil, in one of the six filters at the plant. Results show that the condensate is the primary factor in caustic red mud concentrations, followed by dilution, rotation and level of the basin filter. The interactions between dilution and the level of the basin filter were considered significant, as was the interaction amongst the three effects: dilution, level of the basin filter and vacuum. The model adjustment regarding the filtration process allows for the production of a final red mud product with lower caustic concentrations, resulting in economic advantages due to higher caustic recovery in filtration and lower caustic concentration in the red mud residue, which leads to an environmentally safer residue.     

Protected area downgrading,downsizing, and degazettement as a threat to iconic protected areas

Protected areas (PAs) are expected to conserve nature and provide ecosystem services in perpetuity, yet widespread protected area downgrading, downsizing, and degazettement (PADDD) may compromise these objectives. Even iconic protected areas are vulnerable to PADDD, although these PADDD events are often unrecognized. We identified 23 enacted and proposed PADDD events within World Natural Heritage Sites and examined the history, context, and consequences of PADDD events in 4 iconic PAs (Yosemite National Park, Arabian Oryx Sanctuary, Yasuní National Park, and Virunga National Park). Based on insights from published research and international workshops, these 4 cases revealed the diverse pressures brought on by competing interests to develop or exploit natural landscapes and the variety of mechanisms that enables PADDD. Knowledge gaps exist in understanding of the conditions through which development pressures translate to PADDD events and their impacts, partially due to a lack of comprehensive PADDD records. Future research priorities should include comprehensive regional and country-level profiles and analysis of risks, impacts, and contextual factors related to PADDD. Policy options to better govern PADDD include improving tracking and reporting of PADDD events, establishing transparent PADDD policy processes, coordinating among legal frameworks, and mitigating negative impacts of PADDD. To support PADDD research and policy reforms, enhanced human and financial capacities are needed to train local researchers and to host publicly accessible data. As the conservation community considers the achievements of Aichi Target 11 and moves toward new biodiversity targets beyond 2020, researchers, practitioners, and policy makers need to work together to better track, assess, and govern PADDD globally.     

Climate and predation dominate juvenile and adult recruitment in a turtle with temperature-dependent sex determination

Conditions experienced early in life can influence phenotypes in ecologically important ways, as exemplified by organisms with environmental sex determination. For organisms with temperature-dependent sex determination (TSD), variation in nest temperatures induces phenotypic variation that could impact population growth rates. In environments that vary over space and time, how does this variation influence key demographic parameters (cohort sex ratio and hatchling recruitment) in early life stages of populations exhibiting TSD? We leverage a 17-year data set on a population of painted turtles, Chrysemys picta, to investigate how spatial variation in nest vegetation cover and temporal variation in climate influence early life-history demography. We found that spatial variation in nest cover strongly influenced nest temperature and sex ratio, but was not correlated with clutch size, nest predation, total nest failure, or hatching success. Temporal variation in climate influenced percentage of total nest failure and cohort sex ratio, but not depredation rate, mean clutch size, or mean hatching success. Total hatchling recruitment in a year was influenced primarily by temporal variation in climate-independent factors, number of nests constructed, and depredation rate. Recruitment of female hatchlings was determined by stochastic variation in nest depredation and annual climate and also by the total nest production. Overall population demography depends more strongly on annual variation in climate and predation than it does on the intricacies of nest-specific biology. Finally, we demonstrate that recruitment of female hatchlings translates into recruitment of breeding females into the population, thus linking climate (and other) effects on early life stages to adult demographics.     

SCRAM: A scoring and ranking system for persistent, bioaccumulative, and toxic substances for the North American Great Lakes

Hundreds of chemical contaminants have been identified in the Great Lakes System of North America. Depending on the agency or organization, various subset lists of these contaminants have been identified as chemicals of potential concern. However, there is no agreement on the method that should be used to make management decisions. Except for consensus on approximately 40 chemicals that most North American agencies agree can cause deleterious effects if released into the environment, no agreement has been reached regarding the priority that contaminants should receive for further action. That leaves hundreds of chemicals that have been, are being, or potentially could be released into the environment that have not been evaluated yet. A profile for potential chemicals of concern is generally thought to include persistence in the environment, potential to bioaccumulate, and ability to cause toxic effects at environmentally relevant concentrations. Except for the International Joint Commission’s definition of persistence (> 8 weeks residence time in air, water, soil or sediment), there is little concurrence about what defines these characteristics. For instance, the State of Michigan currently has no established definitions or profiles of persistent, bioaccumulative, toxic substances. Furthermore, there is no standard process to rank chemicals relative to these characteristics. The Chemical Scoring and Ranking Assessment Model (SCRAM) has been developed to provide a process to rank-order chemicals based on these characteristics. The SCRAM system was developed primarily for use in the Great Lakes region of North America and particularly in Michigan, but it is not site-specific. Use of this system may assist in pollution prevention activities and other future chemical control efforts, allowing attention to be focused first on those chemicals likely to present the greatest hazard.     

Equity trade‐offs in conservation decision making

Conservation decisions increasingly involve multiple environmental and social objectives, which result in complex decision contexts with high potential for trade‐offs. Improving social equity is one such objective that is often considered an enabler of successful outcomes and a virtuous ideal in itself. Despite its idealized importance in conservation policy, social equity is often highly simplified or ill‐defined and is applied uncritically. What constitutes equitable outcomes and processes is highly normative and subject to ethical deliberation. Different ethical frameworks may lead to different conceptions of equity through alternative perspectives of what is good or right. This can lead to different and potentially conflicting equity objectives in practice. We promote a more transparent, nuanced, and pluralistic conceptualization of equity in conservation decision making that particularly recognizes where multidimensional equity objectives may conflict. To help identify and mitigate ethical conflicts and avoid cases of good intentions producing bad outcomes, we encourage a more analytical incorporation of equity into conservation decision making particularly during mechanistic integration of equity objectives. We recommend that in conservation planning motivations and objectives for equity be made explicit within the problem context, methods used to incorporate equity objectives be applied with respect to stated objectives, and, should objectives dictate, evaluation of equity outcomes and adaptation of strategies be employed during policy implementation.     

Threats to biodiversity from cumulative human impacts in one of North America's last wildlife frontiers

Land‐use change is the largest proximate threat to biodiversity yet remains one of the most complex to manage. In British Columbia (BC), where large mammals roam extensive tracts of intact habitat, continued land‐use development is of global concern. Extant mammal diversity in BC is unrivalled in North America owing, in part, to its unique position at the intersection of alpine, boreal, and temperate biomes. Despite high conservation values, understanding of cumulative ecological impacts from human development is limited. Using cumulative‐effects‐assessment (CEA) methods, we assessed the current human footprint over 16 regional ecosystems and 7 large mammal species. Using historical and current range estimates of the mammals, we investigated impacts of human land use on species’ persistence. For ecosystems, we found that bunchgrass, coastal Douglas fir, and ponderosa pine have been subjected to over 50% land‐use conversion, and over 85% of their spatial extent has undergone either direct or estimated indirect impacts. Of the mammals we considered, wolves were the least affected by land conversion, yet all species had reduced ranges compared with historical estimates. We found evidence of a hard trade‐off between development and conservation, most clearly for mammals with large distributions and ecosystems with high levels of conversion. Rather than serve as a platform to monitor species decline, we strongly advocate these data be used to inform land‐use planning and to assess current conservation efforts. More generally, CEAs offer a robust tool to inform wildlife and habitat conservation at scale.     

Back-pedaling or continuing quietly? Assessing the impact of ICLEI membership termination on cities’ sustainability actions

Over the past decade, cities have emerged as leaders in sustainability and climate protection in the United States. ICLEI, a voluntary network of local governments, played an important role driving this trend. After years of steady growth, ICLEI became a target of political opposition and its membership dropped significantly from 2010 to 2012. This begs the question of whether cities’ termination of their ICLEI affiliation diminishes their implementation of sustainability actions. Two surveys administered in 2010 and 2014 provide data on cities’ implementation of an array of sustainability actions. Using a difference-in-differences (DiD) method, the impact of ICLEI termination on local governments’ administrative and policy commitments to sustainability is assessed. The results suggest that ending ICLEI membership does not significantly impact local sustainability actions, and also indicate that the durability of policy actions may be only loosely linked to the policies that justify them.