When all life counts in conservation

Conservation science involves the collection and analysis of data. These scientific practices emerge from values that shape who and what is counted. Currently, conservation data are filtered through a value system that considers native life the only appropriate subject of conservation concern. We examined how trends in species richness, distribution, and threats change when all wildlife count by adding so-called non-native and feral populations to the International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List and local species richness assessments. We focused on vertebrate populations with founding members taken into and out of Australia by humans (i.e., migrants). We identified 87 immigrant and 47 emigrant vertebrate species. Formal conservation accounts underestimated global ranges by an average of 30% for immigrants and 7% for emigrants; immigrations surpassed extinctions in Australia by 52 species; migrants were disproportionately threatened (33% of immigrants and 29% of emigrants were threatened or decreasing in their native ranges); and incorporating migrant populations into risk assessments reduced global threat statuses for 15 of 18 species. Australian policies defined most immigrants as pests (76%), and conservation was the most commonly stated motivation for targeting these species in killing programs (37% of immigrants). Inclusive biodiversity data open space for dialogue on the ethical and empirical assumptions underlying conservation science.     

Estimating total species using a weighted combination of expected mixture distribution component counts

Environmental and Ecological Statistics - In this paper we present a weighted mixture distribution component counts (MDCC) approach for estimating total number of species. The proposed method...     

The moral residue of conservation

Should conservationists use lethal management to control introduced wildlife populations? Should they kill individual animals to protect endangered species? Are trade-offs that prioritize some values at the expense of others morally appropriate? These sorts of ethical questions are common in conservation. In debating such questions, conservationists often seem to presume 1 of 2 possible answers: the act in question is right or it is wrong. But morality in conservation is considerably more complex than this simple binary suggests. A robust conservation ethic requires a vocabulary that gives voice to the uncertainty and unease that arise when what seems to be the best available course of action also seems to involve a measure of wrongdoing. The philosophical literature on moral residue and moral dilemmas supplies this vocabulary. Moral dilemmas arise when one must neglect certain moral requirements to fulfill others. Under such circumstances, even the best possible decision leaves a moral residue, which is experienced emotionally as some form of grief. Examples of conservation scenarios that leave a moral residue include management of introduced rabbits in Australia, trophy hunting in Africa, and forest management trade-offs in the Pacific Northwest. Moral residue is integral to the moral experience of conservationists today, and grief is an appropriate response to many decisions conservationists must make. Article impact statement: Defensible conservation decisions may neglect moral requirements, leaving a moral residue; conservationists should respond with grief.     

Effects of pond salinization on survival rate of amphibian hosts infected with the chytrid fungus

The chytrid fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis has been implicated in the decline and extinction of amphibian populations worldwide, but management options are limited. Recent studies show that sodium chloride (NaCl) has fungicidal properties that reduce the mortality rates of infected hosts in captivity. We investigated whether similar results can be obtained by adding salt to water bodies in the field. We increased the salinity of 8 water bodies to 2 or 4 ppt and left an additional 4 water bodies with close to 0 ppt and monitored salinity for 18 months. Captively bred tadpoles of green and golden bell frog (Litoria aurea) were released into each water body and their development, levels of B. dendrobatidis infection, and survival were monitored at 1, 4, and 12 months. The effect of salt on the abundance of nontarget organisms was also investigated in before and after style analyses. Salinities remained constant over time with little intervention. Hosts in water bodies with 4 ppt salt had a significantly lower prevalence of chytrid infection and higher survival, following metamorphosis, than hosts in 0 ppt salt. Tadpoles in the 4 ppt group were smaller in length after 1 month in the release site than those in the 0 and 2 ppt groups, but after metamorphosis body size in all water bodies was similar . In water bodies with 4 ppt salt, the abundance of dwarf tree frogs (Litoria fallax), dragonfly larvae, and damselfly larvae was lower than in water bodies with 0 and 2 ppt salt, which could have knock‐on effects for community structure. Based on our results, salt may be an effective field‐based B. dendrobatidis mitigation tool for lentic amphibians that could contribute to the conservation of numerous susceptible species. However, as in all conservation efforts, these benefits need to be weighed against negative effects on both target and nontarget organisms.     

Minimizing the cost of translocation failure with decision‐tree models that predict species’ behavioral response in translocation sites

The high number of failures is one reason why translocation is often not recommended. Considering how behavior changes during translocations may improve translocation success. To derive decision‐tree models for species’ translocation, we used data on the short‐term responses of an endangered Australian skink in 5 simulated translocations with different release conditions. We used 4 different decision‐tree algorithms (decision tree, decision‐tree parallel, decision stump, and random forest) with 4 different criteria (gain ratio, information gain, gini index, and accuracy) to investigate how environmental and behavioral parameters may affect the success of a translocation. We assumed behavioral changes that increased dispersal away from a release site would reduce translocation success. The trees became more complex when we included all behavioral parameters as attributes, but these trees yielded more detailed information about why and how dispersal occurred. According to these complex trees, there were positive associations between some behavioral parameters, such as fight and dispersal, that showed there was a higher chance, for example, of dispersal among lizards that fought than among those that did not fight. Decision trees based on parameters related to release conditions were easier to understand and could be used by managers to make translocation decisions under different circumstances. Minimizar el Costo del Fracaso de la Reubicación con Modelos de Árboles de Decisión que Predigan la Respuesta Conductual de la Especie en los Sitios de Reubicación     

A human-centered framework for innovation in conservation incentive programs

The promise of environmental conservation incentive programs that provide direct payments in exchange for conservation outcomes is that they enhance the value of engaging in stewardship behaviors. An insidious but important concern is that a narrow focus on optimizing payment levels can ultimately suppress program participation and subvert participants’ internal motivation to engage in long-term conservation behaviors. Increasing participation and engendering stewardship can be achieved by recognizing that participation is not simply a function of the payment; it is a function of the overall structure and administration of the program. Key to creating innovative and more sustainable programs is fitting them within the existing needs and values of target participants. By focusing on empathy for participants, co-designing program approaches, and learning from the rapid prototyping of program concepts, a human-centered approach to conservation incentive program design enhances the propensity for discovery of novel and innovative solutions to pressing conservation issues.     

Effectiveness of lowering the blood alcohol concentration (BAC) limit for driving from 0.10 to 0.08 grams per deciliter in the United States

Objective: The current study evaluates of the effects of lowering the blood alcohol concentration (BAC) limit from 0.10 to 0.08?g/dL across all 50 states in the United States. Our objectives were to (1) estimate the effects of the 0.08?g/dL BAC limit on drinking driver fatal crash rates; (2) compare the effects from early-adopting states to the effects of late-adopting states; (3) determine the effects on drivers with low BACs (0.01–0.07?g/dL) and high BACs (0.08+ g/dL); and (4) estimate the lives saved since 1983 due to the adoption of 0.08?g/dL BAC laws.

Methods: Our study examined annual data from the Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) for each jurisdiction from 1982 through 2014. Our basic outcome measure was the ratio of drinking drivers (BAC ≥0.01?g/dL) to nondrinking drivers (BAC?=?0.00?g/dL). Covariates included 0.10 BAC laws, administrative license revocation (ALR) laws, seat belt laws, minimum legal drinking age (MLDA) laws, and unemployment rates. We utilized autoregressive integrated moving average (ARIMA) models for each state, where the implementation date of the law was modeled as a zero-order transfer function in the series, in addition to any extant trends that may have been occurring simultaneously. Before determining the specific impact of the implementation of 0.08?g/dL BAC laws, we conducted a time series analysis for each state. We tested for between-state mediating factors relating to our covariates.

Results: A total of 38 of the 51 jurisdictions showed that lowering the BAC limit was associated with reduced drinking driver fatal crash ratios, with 20 of those reductions being significant. The total effects showed a 10.4% reduction in annual drinking driver fatal crash rates, which is estimated to have saved an average of 1,736 lives each year between 1983 and 2014 and 24,868 lives in total. Implementing a BAC limit of 0.08?g/dL had significant impacts on both high- and low-BAC fatal crash ratios. Though early-adopting jurisdictions (1983–1999) demonstrated a larger decrease in fatal drinking driver crash ratios than did late-adopting jurisdictions (2000–2005), the results were not statistically significant (P?>?.05).

Conclusions: Our study of the effects of lowering the BAC from 0.10 to 0.08?g/dL in the United States from 1982 to 2014 showed an overall effect of 10.4% on annual drinking driver fatal crash rates, in line with other multistate studies. This research provides strong evidence of the relationship between lowering the BAC limit for driving and the general deterrent effect on impaired-driving fatal crash rates.