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Mapping pressures to species is key to identify where biodiversity is at risk and providing relevant information to direct conservation actions. Decision-making to minimise pressures requires the determination of specific target actions at a high level of detail. However, the trade-off between cost and effort to generate this information often leads to the production of generalised pressure maps, named coarse maps, covering the most relevant pressures and their proxies. Here we aimed to disentangle whether the cost and effort of mapping fine pressures is worthwhile to inform decision making, by comparing how fine and coarse maps identify "where" and "how" management actions should be derived. Comparing the extend of both map types as well as its capacity to identify risk areas. We focused on three main pressures: agricultural intensification, human intensification, and land abandonment. The study was carried out in Catalonia for local decision-making, but the results can be applied in other EU regions or elsewhere, also for local decisions-making. We found that the Jaccard's similarity index between coarse and fine pressure maps was always below 0.3 indicating low overlap between fine and coarse maps. In particular, the coincidence between coarse and fine thematic maps within protected areas (PAs) was always below 50%. Both maps differed in the identification of risk areas inside three analysed PAs. Moreover, even when there was a total geographical overlap between coarse and fine maps, coarse maps lack information on which concrete pressure was actually present, making decision on actions needed difficult. Thus, we can conclude that fine maps can estimate more accurately both "where" and "how" to target concrete actions than coarser maps. Even in cases where the answer as to "where" to act is the same, fine maps provide more concrete information to provide guidance on "how" to act. Consequently, despite the high cost and effort involved in mapping pressures at a high level of detail, the final trade-off is positive. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Semi-dry grasslands are among the most species-rich plant communities in the world, harbouring many specialised and threatened species. Most of these grasslands were traditionally maintained by grazing and hay-making. After traditional management ended, protected areas were established and conservation management was introduced to protect the most valuable grassland sites. However, recent changes in land use, eutrophication and climate warming are negatively impacting the biodiversity of these grasslands. In 2022, we resurveyed historical vegetation plots in the Central Moravian Carpathians (Czech Republic), first sampled in the 1980s, to test whether the plant species composition and richness of semi-dry grasslands are changing over time and, if so, whether the decline in habitat quality and plant diversity is absent or less severe in protected areas. We found significant changes in species composition. Species richness and the proportion of habitat specialists and Red-List species decreased, whereas competitively stronger species with higher moisture and nutrient requirements increased. These trends were more pronounced outside the protected areas but also occurred within protected areas. The main factor behind these changes appears to be the cessation of traditional management and natural succession supported by eutrophication. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Maintaining heathlands in early successional stages to sustain heather (Calluna vulgaris) is a common, large-scale management practice in Europe. However, allowing patches of long-term natural vegetation development may increase habitat heterogeneity benefitting insects, but empirical evidence is sparse. We investigated how old-growth heathland (> 30 years abandonment) affect species richness and composition of bees (Anthophila), crane flies (Tipuloidea), ground beetles (Carabidae), hoverflies (Syrphidae) and rove beetles (Staphylinidae) in relation to their hygropreference. Adult insects, vegetation and edaphic explanatory variables were collected in old-growth, managed and wet sites and compared in four lowland heathland locations in Denmark. We found 299 species including 24 nationally red-listed. Species composition differed between managed, old-growth and wet heathland for all taxa. Indicator species and richness analyses showed a predominance of xerophilic bee species in managed heathland. Old-growth heathland showed a predominance of mesophilic indicator species, and higher richness of mesophilic crane flies and of hygrophilic ground and rove beetles compared to managed heathland. Wet heathland was generally dominated by hygrophilic species. Soil moisture, bare soil and vegetation height density were important drivers explaining the contrasting responses in richness and composition between heathland types. Our results demonstrate that heathland management focusing solely on early successional vegetation stages may homogenize insect communities. We suggest that management practices should focus on improving structural vegetation heterogeneity. This can be achieved through management regimes that reset the succession and expose bare soil, but also by allowing patches of old-growth vegetation stages to develop and by conserving existing ones. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Landscape connectivity has traditionally been studied for animal species rather than for plants, especially under a multispecies approach. However, connectivity can be equally critical for both fauna and flora and, thus, an essential point in the selection of key management areas and measures. This paper explores a spatially explicit framework to assess the contribution of habitat patches in the conservation and enhancement of plant functional connectivity and habitat availability in a multispecies context. It relies on graph theory and a habitat availability index and differentiates between two management scenarios: (i) conservation; and (ii) restoration, by considering current and potential species distribution based on species distribution models together with a vegetation survey. The results mapped at high spatial resolution priority target areas to apply management measures. We found that intervening in a small proportion of the study area may lead to double the average overall landscape connectivity of the studied species. This study aimed at proposing an innovative methodology that allows studying connectivity for multiple plant species at landscape scale while integrating their individual characteristics. The proposed framework is a step toward incorporating connectivity concerns into plant biodiversity management, based on a better understanding of landscape structure and functionality. Here, we illustrated its significant potential for local conservation and restoration planning and resource optimization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mediterranean island biodiversity is threatened by invasive plants, especially by Carpobrotus species. Invasive plant control is a major management tool for the restoration of invaded areas, but the effect of Carpobrotus removal on arthropods is poorly understood. In this study, we evaluate how spider assemblages are influenced by Carpobrotus removal on a Mediterranean island. A Carpobrotus patch was manually uprooted, followed by litter removal between November 2011 and February 2012. A nearby site with native matorral vegetation and no management was also studied. Spider communities were sampled using pitfall traps two years before removal (2010–2011), and then every two years after, between 2013 and 2019. Vegetation at the Carpobrotus site changed from a dense mat of Carpobrotus to a diverse halophilous grassland with some chamaephytes, while it remained stable in the matorral. Spider species richness increased significantly after removal and significant changes in assemblage composition were observed between pre- and post-removal years with a high turnover rate, while spider assemblages remained relatively stable in the matorral. Litter-dwelling spiders with trap strategies like Oecobius navus were the most reduced by Carpobrotus removal, while foliage-dwelling spiders which forage on plants like Xysticus benefited the most, likely due to vegetation opening and diversification of microhabitats. The increase in bare ground cover favoured Aelurillus v-insignatus, Nomisia celerima and Zodarion elegans, which are characterized by an affinity for dry sunny environments. Invasive Carpobrotus removal induced a rapid change (7 years) in spider assemblages as well as an enrichment in taxonomic and functional diversities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Valley Elderberry Longhorn Beetle ("VELB," Desmocerus californicus dimorphus) is a rare and cryptic species that is found on or near its host plant, blue elderberry (Sambucus mexicana), and is native to California's Central Valley. Over the past 100 years, the riparian forests of Central California have shrunk by over 90%, resulting in highly fragmented, and often isolated, remaining VELB habitat patches. This has created the need for robust monitoring and demographic data to assess current and future threats to the species. In this study, we investigated VELB population viability and sensitivity to environmental and anthropogenic stochasticity across five major rivers with known VELB populations. Additionally, we assessed how variability in three management scenarios influenced population persistence and extinction times, specifically the effects of increased habitat loss, more frequent drought and wildfires, and increased juvenile mortality due to invasive predators. We found that across all scenarios, the region-wide metapopulation was more robust to extinction than individual rivers and that extinction probabilities were lower for larger rivers than smaller ones. Specifically, we found that modest increases in the annual probability of drought or wildfires and juvenile mortality greatly reduced population persistence at all spatial scales, often leading to rapid within-river extinctions, while increases in habitat loss had moderate impacts. Contrary to previous thinking, we also found that increases in dispersal rates among rivers had negligible effects on improving population viability. Our study highlights the vulnerability of VELB to further environmental and anthropogenic disturbance and emphasizes the importance of maintaining a healthy metapopulation structure with large tracts of suitable habitat for long-term VELB viability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite substantial investment in prescribed burning for biodiversity conservation there has been surprisingly little demonstration of its efficacy in achieving intended conservation aims for fauna. In the case of northern Australia's threatened mammal fauna, most studies have reported negative responses to fire. We used satellite-derived fire scar imagery and small mammal survey data to compare fire regimes and threatened mammal abundance before and after implementation of broad-scale prescribed burning in north-western Australia. Specifically, we tested: (1) whether prescribed burning was effective in changing fire regimes; (2) whether all mammal species and functional groups responded to prescribed burning; and (3) what regional fire and environmental variables explained changes in mammal status. Low-intensity, patchy prescribed burning in the early dry season reduced the extent of high intensity late dry season wildfires. In sandstone habitats the abundance of all mammals, and the large marsupials and specialist rodent functional groups, increased concurrently with early dry season prescribed burning. All mammals and the small dasyurid functional group in woodland habitats also increased during this period. Early dry season prescribed burning extent was the strongest explanatory variable for mammal increases. Early dry season burning was also the strongest explanatory variable for woodland mammal abundance, but these mammals also had a positive association with extent of large patches of old growth vegetation (> 4 years since fire). Generalist rodents did not respond to prescribed burning and two other species declined following prescribed burning in one habitat. Generalist rodents and the two declining species had a negative association with extent of late dry season fire and a positive association with old growth vegetation (interacting with patch size). These results suggest an increased application of patchy early dry season prescribed burning of up to ca. 30% of the area will benefit positive fire responder species of threatened mammals including large specialist rock/arboreal rodents and most marsupial species. For mammals such as generalist terrestrial rodents with predominantly negative associations with fire, managers should seek to increase the size and extent of old growth vegetation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Insect decline has become a major topic in scientific research, yet the relative roles of multiple factors on insect communities are still incompletely known. Our aim was to elucidate the significance of variation in local habitat quality and landscape context on moth diversity in two nature reserves in North-eastern Italy. We evaluated 14 local descriptors like plant diversity or forest structure, and 14 landscape-scale components like habitat diversity and the distance to forest edges, condensed through a Principal Component Analysis. PC-axes served as predictors in linear mixed effects models, with moth diversity and catch size (corrected for the influence of temperature and humidity) as response variables. Furthermore, sites were sorted into four groups: 'high habitat quality', 'high landscape diversity', 'moderate quality' and 'low quality'. This was done to test whether local or landscape factors interact in modulating insect diversity. Our results indicate a strong influence of local factors, especially plant richness and biomass, on small-scale moth diversity. High diversity of nearby natural habitats also had a positive effect, while there was no correlation with landscape-scale attributes. Contrastingly, moth numbers were influenced by landscape diversity in 500–1000 m radius. So, although high local habitat quality supports higher moth alpha diversity, it is also important to maintain the diversity of natural habitats on the landscape-scale to preserve insect biomass and gamma diversity inside isolated reserves. Conservation efforts should be directed to preserve high vegetation and habitat diversity within reserves, while simultaneously keeping more varied landscapes around reserves might help stabilizing local insect assemblages. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change poses significant challenges to the long-term management of threatened species. Pre-emptive assessments of the capacity for threatened species to adapt to climate change are essential for choosing appropriate management actions that minimise extinction risk. Here, we use species traits and range metrics linked to ecological performance to assess the capacity to respond to climate change of 342 plant species, listed as threatened under IUCN-compatible criteria in the Australian state of New South Wales (NSW). Traits capturing variation in phenology, morphology, physiology and geographic range were used to assess species' response(s) to four factors likely to influence their climate change response: Reproduction, Movement Capability, Abiotic Niche Specialisation, and risk spreading across Spatial Coverage. Assessment scores were combined into high, medium and low rankings based on two complementary approaches for assessing climate change risk: (i) fully precautionary, where species were classified as high risk if any one of the four response factors was high; and (ii) integrative, combining scores across all four response factors to assign an overall risk ranking. 84% of threatened species assessed had a high risk ranking for at least one response factor, whereas 30, 55 and 15% of species were ranked high, medium or low respectively, based on our integrative measure of risk. Importantly, basic information for at least one trait for an additional 237 threatened plants in NSW was not available, despite thorough searching across 727 resources. This lack of fundamental baseline data for threatened plants may have wide-ranging implications for their management, including an inability to assess their response capacity to threats, and plan accordingly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The worldwide biodiversity crisis is ongoing. To slow down, or even halt future species loss it is important to identify potential drivers of extinction risk. Species traits can help to understand the underlying process of extinction risk. In a comprehensive study on 464 carabid beetle species, we used ordinal logistic regression to analyze the relationship of species traits to extinction risk in Central Europe, taking phylogenetic relatedness into account. To consider varying trait responses in different habitat types, we also tested models for species groups associated with different habitat types (forest, open, riparian and wetland). Our results identified three traits of particular importance as predictors for high extinction risk: (1) high habitat specialization, (2) small distribution range size (which is not considered in the categorization of the German Red List), and (3) large body size. Furthermore, large macropterous species showed high extinction risk. Overall, species associated with mountainous, coastal and open habitats generally revealed a high risk of extinction, while most forest species showed a low extinction risk. However, forest species with predatory feeding behavior were threatened, as were wetland species that reproduce in autumn. Phylogenetic relatedness had no influence on how species traits predict carabid beetle extinction risk. In the light of these results, management and recovery plans for species which exhibit characteristic traits strongly associated with extinction risks, as well as the conservation and restoration of mountain, coastal and open habitats, have to be prioritized. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Threatened by devil facial tumour disease, the Tasmanian devil ( Sarcophilus harrisii), a carnivorous marsupial confined to Tasmania, Australia, is the subject of conservation management under the Save the Tasmanian Devil Program. Conservation actions such as captive breeding and translocation may impact upon parasite ecology, presenting risk of increased disease through stress and impaired immunity, and by exposing hosts to parasites to which they are immunologically naïve. Given the importance of parasites to ecosystem function, it has been argued from a biodiversity perspective that parasites should be conserved in their own right. In this review we describe current knowledge, and limitations in our knowledge, of Tasmanian devil parasites. We then discuss the potential for changes in host-parasite interactions as a result of host-population decline and conservation management, both generally and with examples from the Tasmanian devil. The review closes with a recommendation for a systematic evaluation of parasites in captive and wild devils to aid conservation of this host-parasite system in its entirety. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Conservation management is expected to increase local biodiversity, but uniform management may lead to biotic homogenization and diversity losses at the regional scale. We evaluated the effects of renewed grazing and cutting management carried out across a whole region, on the diversity of plants and seven arthropod groups. Changes in occurrence over 17 years of intensive calcareous grassland management were analysed at the species level, which gave insight into the exact species contributing to regional homogenization or differentiation. Reponses were compared between species differing in habitat affinity, dispersal ability, food specialisation and trophic level. Local species richness increased over the sampling period for true bugs and millipedes, while carabid beetles and weevils declined in local species richness. Species richness remained unchanged for plants, woodlice, ants and spiders. Regional diversity and compositional variation generally followed local patterns. Diversity shifts were only to a limited extent explained by species' habitat affinity, dispersal ability, trophic level and food specialisation. We conclude that implementation of relatively uniform conservation management across a region did not lead to uniform changes in local species composition. This is an encouraging result for conservation managers, as it shows that there is not necessarily a conflict of interest between local and regional conservation goals. Our study also demonstrates that shifts in diversity patterns differ markedly between taxonomic groups. Single traits provide only limited understanding of these differences. This highlights the need for a wide taxonomic scope when evaluating conservation management and demonstrates the need to understand the mechanisms underlying occurrence shifts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Species distribution models (SDMs) have been widely tagged as valuable tools in a variety of conservation assessments to address pressing conservation problems. However, these solutions could be hampered by difficulties to overcome the knowledge-action boundary between conservation and modelling practice. These difficulties have been well typified in the ecological modelling sphere, but a specific conceptual framework on how to bridge this gap is still lacking. This work reports successful examples on how to use SDMs to identify the most favourable habitats for implementing conservation management actions. We use these examples to discuss about the three main topics that deserve special attention to help enhance information flow between practitioners and modellers: the decision context, the modelling framework and the spatial products. Finally, we suggest some practical solutions to improve applications of effective conservation action on the ground. We emphasize the importance of matching modelling goals and decision targets by a close collaboration of modellers with decision makers and species experts. Moreover, we highlight the key role of clear and useful spatial products to provide relevant and timely feedback to increase understanding and promote utilisation by conservation practitioners, and to inform and involve targeted audiences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Human population growth has led to increased contact between people and wildlife, with adverse impacts for both, such as damage to economic crops and wildlife persecution. Diversionary feeding, where food is used to draw animals away from problem activities or locations, is sometimes proposed as a socially acceptable conservation action, but little information exists on its success or what influences its efficacy. Here, we review literature on diversionary feeding and evaluate factors contributing to its success or failure. Success varied greatly among studies and successful uptake of diversionary food did not consistently produce outcomes that met stakeholder objectives. Studies often failed to report results in sufficient detail to allow a quantitative evaluation of efficiency. Of 30 trials presented in 21 studies, 13 enabled assessment of outcomes related to the ultimate objective of reducing conflict (related to threatened prey density, crop yield or nuisance reports) and only five of these were considered successful by the researchers conducting the study. A grand mean increase of 15 % in respective measures of success at the outcome stage was found across all studies. Although diversionary feeding is considered expensive, cost-effectiveness analyses were rarely conducted. Only a third of studies reported information on costs and benefits that could be used to inform future management actions. We propose a decision-making framework that incorporates ecological knowledge, financial costs and evidence from previous studies to aid the planning and implementation of diversionary feeding in an adaptive format. Future studies of diversionary feeding should clearly report objectives, results, costs and effort to allow the return-on-investment to be calculated for different levels of management effort. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Schultze et al. (Biodiv Conserv 23:3519-3542, ) analysed criteria for the selection of strictly protected forest reserves in central Europe, but did not clarify the value of strict reserves (IUCN type 1a) for scientific research. We suggest that research in protected areas (PAs) should be included in the criteria that are used for their selection; in particular, scientific research is essential for monitoring the reasons (species and habitats) for establishing the reserve, and can contribute to testing the available alternatives for habitat management in PAs. This is particularly true for forest reserves, since most which are designated for strict protection are mid-aged, and typically secondary successions from historically more open habitats. The research may include habitat manipulation and non-manipulated reference areas (minimal intervention) which need long-term studies, since forests develop slowly. Strict reserves are ideal for such scientific research, since the strong protection means strong control of the land, whereas other land may be subject to change. There are many IUCN type 1a strict reserves, and a network of such reserves for scientific research would need to use only a small proportion of them. We encourage conservation organisations and researchers to establish such research networks in cooperation with PA managers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Environmental impact assessments (EIAs) are used globally as the evidence-base for planning decisions, yet their efficacy is uncertain. Given that EIAs are extremely expensive and are enshrined in legislation, their place in evidence-based decision making deserves evaluation. The mean is the most commonly used summary statistic in ecological assessments, yet it is unlikely to be a good summary where the distribution of data is skewed; and its use without any indication of variability can be highly misleading. Here, using bats as an example, we show that EIAs frequently summarise these data using the mean or fail to define the term 'average'. This can lead to the systematic misinterpretation of evidence which has serious implications for assessing risk. There is therefore a pressing need for guidance to specify data processing techniques so that planning decisions are made on a firm evidence-base. By ensuring that data processing is systematic and transparent it will result in mitigation decisions and conservation strategies that are cost-effective and proportionate to the predicted degree of risk. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We propose an improved planning method for priority protected areas (PPAs) to conserve endangered plant species that are threatened by climate change and human disturbance. Recent researches have shown that the actual approaches used in planning PPAs are useful for the conservation of endangered plants. The next required step is to determine how to protect endangered plants effectively in PPAs. Here, we used the case of 84 endangered plants in China to integrate conservation management into the planning of PPAs. First, we identified locations for proposed PPAs based on current and future suitable habitats of species, based on shifts due to climate change, as modelled by Maxent; secondly, we classified the species into different clusters based on the value of protecting them and the factors that threaten them; finally, we determined the best regions for conservation management. We found that species with high material, medicinal, and scientific research values of protection were threatened by over-exploitation and excess reclamation in PPAs. The best candidate PPAs were distributed mainly in southern China-the provinces of Fujiang, Guangxi, Guangdong, Fujian, Hunan, Zhejiang and Guizhou held large potential for the protection of endangered plant species. Given the attention that we paid to conservation management for the planning of PPAs, and the practical value of study, our method will provide an important point of reference for the implementation of policy to protect endangered plants from the effects of climate change, along with information about the values of protecting species and the factors that threaten them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the current loss of biodiversity and threats to freshwater ecosystems, it is crucial to identify hot-spots of biodiversity and on which spatial scale they can be resolved. Conservation and management of these important ecosystems needs insight into whether most of the regional biodiversity (i.e. γ-diversity) can be found locally (i.e. high α-diversity) or whether it is distributed across the region (i.e. high β-diversity). Biodiversity patterns of benthic macroinvertebrates and diatoms were studied in 30 headwater streams in five Swedish catchments by comparing the relative contribution of α- and β-diversity to γ-diversity between two levels of stream habitat hierarchy (catchment and region level). The relationship between species community structure and local environmental factors was also assessed. Our results show that both α- and β-diversity made a significant contribution to γ-diversity. β-diversity remained relatively constant between the two levels of habitat hierarchy even though local environmental control of the biota decreased from the catchment to the region level. To capture most of headwater γ-diversity, management should therefore target sites that are locally diverse, but at the same time select sites so that β-diversity is maximized. As environmental control of the biota peaked at the catchment level, the conservation of headwater stream diversity is likely to be most effective when management targets environmental conditions across multiple local sites within relatively small catchments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Conservation science and conservation action are assumed to have identical goals. However, in reality, there is a strong divide between research and practical conservation that has been mostly discussed with respect to the 'knowing-doing gap', i.e. the results from science are not being translated into practical management. In this commentary, we argue that there is not one but there are at least three different types of gaps impeding a positive impact of science on conservation: (1) the knowing-doing gap; (2) the thematic gap that exists between the topics addressed by conservation science and the problems faced in conservation; and (3) the disciplinary gap, i.e. the lack of communication and cooperation between different fields of science, e.g. between fundamental biodiversity research and conservation research. These different gaps have different origins and require different means to be overcome. In a survey, scientists from the field of conservation research (all contributing to this special issue on European grasslands) assessed the importance of these three gaps. They highlight that the disciplinary gap is just as relevant as the knowing-doing gap, while the importance of the thematic gap between practical conservation needs and theoretical conservation science is, in the view of the authors, of less importance. Also, the respondents identified the complexity of academic content in scientific publications as an additional cause for knowing-doing gaps. Based on our survey and various other studies analysing these gaps, we suggest two ways to overcome the gaps: if you consider yourself to be a conservation scientist make sure to address questions of relevance for conservation issues, if you are a scientist interested in fundamental issues, be open to mutual interaction and translation of scientific results with conservation scientists. The knowing-doing gap could be addressed by more readily translating the theoretical findings into practical advice. 'Conservation Journals' could, for instance, require a second 'Conservation Management Abstract', which has to be published open-access, and back-to-back with the conventional abstract. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Biodiversity is not homogenously distributed over the globe, and ecosystems differ strongly in the number of species they provide. With this special issue we highlight the ecology and endangerment of one of the most diverse ecosystem of Europe: the European grassland ecosystems. The selected 16 contributions describe interactions from below-ground to the atmosphere and focus on (1) effects of abiotic and biotic on species diversity, (2) the impact of various factors along spatial and temporal gradients, (3) the relevance of falling abandoned and eutrophication-including countervailing management strategies like encroachment; and (4) intraspecific effects based on physiology, genetics and intraspecific plasticity. The contributions cover fungi, plants, and invertebrates and highlight effects taking place at the level of ecosystem, species community, species, populations, and also within individuals (physiology and genetics). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Understanding how to restore threatened ecosystems is of special relevance for nature conservation. The aim of this study was to use Orthoptera as ecological indicators for the effects of montane heathland restoration in Central Europe. We analysed the three following treatments: (i) montane heathlands (MONHEATH) ( N = 7), (ii) restoration sites (RESSITE) ( N = 3) and (iii) clear-cuts of spruce forests as unprocessed and ungrazed control sites (CONTROL) ( N = 3). Vegetation structure and microclimate differed considerably between MONHEATH on the one hand and RESSITE and CONTROL on the other hand. Orthoptera species richness and density did so too. MONHEATH was characterised by a high-growing dense dwarf-shrub and moss layer having a cool microclimate and high soil moisture. In contrast, RESSITE and CONTROL had sparse vegetation and a warm microclimate; Orthoptera species richness and density was highest on these sites. Our study clearly showed that heathland Orthoptera responded rapidly to restoration measures, while Ericaceae dwarf shrubs slowly established. The vast majority of Orthoptera species found on the restoration sites are early and mid-successional species. The colonization of the sites by late-successional Orthoptera species in the future will depend on the further development of the heathland vegetation; that is, if Ericaceae will expand to the sites. We conclude that the realised restoration measures are suitable to promote heathland Orthoptera of early and mid-successional stages. However, the current management of montane heathlands is insufficient and needs to be intensified in order to provide structurally diverse habitats with their characteristic orthopteran assemblages. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Invasive species are of increasing concern to conservation organizations due to their ecological and economic impacts. But while many studies have addressed the economic impact of invasive species, few have placed these impacts in a conservation context. In reality invasive species are only one of many challenges facing conservation practitioners. Here we use conjoint analysis, a stated preference method of economic valuation, to determine how invasive plant cover influences the desirability of land for conservation acquisition. In a web-based survey we asked public and private land managers to make choices between hypothetical land parcels that varied in area, plant species composition, and maintenance cost. We received 285 responses from managers directly involved in the management of approximately 12 % of the area of the continental United States. Rare plant richness had the strongest marginal effect on land parcel desirability, followed by invasive plant abundance, area, and finally maintenance cost. While effect ordering was consistent between federal, state, and public managers, effect strengths differed significantly; the choices of federal managers were most sensitive to invasive plant cover. Broadly speaking, our results reframe the economic impact of invasive plants in terms of trade-offs that are relevant to conservation practitioners. They also suggest that land managers, acting as public agents, are measurably concerned about the spread of invasive plants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Anthropomorphism has the potential to aid conservation biologist conserve target species by developing empathy among the public, effectively promoting considerate practice. There is a stigma associated with anthropomorphism in research because it often precludes unbiased data and compromises fact based results. However, I propose that anthropomorphism can be a means to accomplish the goals of conservation and management. Developing public support has been notoriously difficult, but encouraging anthropomorphism (i.e., attributing human characteristics to nonhuman animals) could help conservation biologists develop more empathy toward target species. Highlighting research that promotes animals as being similar to humans could cause the public to exhibit more conservation considerate practices. Therefore, anthropomorphism should be encouraged when appropriate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Threatened species lists continue to grow while the world's governments fail to meet biodiversity conservation goals. Clearly, we are failing in our attempts to conserve biodiversity. Yet 37 mammal species genuinely improved in status in the 2009 IUCN Red List, suggesting there are ways to successfully conserve biodiversity. Here, I compare the threats and conservation actions (proposed and implemented) by the expert assessors of the Red List of improving species to a further 144 declining mammal species to determine whether specific threats were more easily remedied, and whether certain conservation actions were more successful than others. Declining species were faced with different threatening processes to mammals improving in status suggesting some threats were easier to treat (e.g. hunting) than others (climate change, invasive species). Declining species had different proposed and implemented conservation actions than improving species suggesting some actions are more successful than others. Threatened species were invariably found in conservation areas, suggesting protected area creation alone is not an overly successful strategy for species at risk of extinction. Conservation actions were more frequently implemented for improving than declining species suggesting active conservation is effective in improving the status of biodiversity. There were significant differences between proposed and implemented conservation actions suggesting some actions are easier to implement than others. Reintroduction, captive breeding and hunting restriction were more effective in conserving mammals than site creation and invasive species control. These findings highlight effective conservation actions for mammals worldwide and allow the rationalisation of threat mitigation measures to ensure economically justifiable biodiversity conservation strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Livestock grazing is an important management tool of agri-environment schemes initiated within the European Union to maintain and restore biodiversity of grassland birds. However, grazing can affect bird populations negatively by depressing reproduction through nest trampling and increasing nest predation. These effects are, however, considered low when using recommended stocking rates. By simulating wader nests, we experimentally quantify and examine the causes of variation in trampling rates on managed Baltic coastal meadows. Secondly, we examine whether livestock presence increases nest predation of one management target, the critically endangered southern dunlin ( Calidris alpina schinzii). Trampling rates of experimental nests were high. Only 21% of nests would have survived a three week incubating period early in the grazing season. Trampling rates were most severe at the onset of grazing and decreased with time. Thus, timing of grazing plays a crucial role in determining breeding success on managed meadows. Predation rates of dunlin nests were moderate and did not depend on livestock presence suggesting that incubating dunlin are not disturbed by cattle. While grazing is vital in habitat restoration and in conserving grassland biodiversity, our results suggest that grazing may also threaten the viability of populations if negative effects are underestimated. Therefore, management plans, especially for endangered species, should not only rely on general recommendations on stocking rates but instead planners need to evaluate the significance of negative effects in terms of local conditions (timing of breeding and grazing, space use of cattle and birds, measured trampling rates) and adjust grazing practises accordingly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ecologists usually argue for a proactive approach to species conservation-it should start before a species is endangered and under substantial risk of extinction. In reality, however, conservation often only starts when species populations are already in a critical state. This may be the result of a policy process in which those actors who see only little or no benefits from conserving species try to delay conservation as long as possible to avoid its cost. A frequent consequence is that populations decline to critical levels so that once conservation policies set in due to legal obligations, political pressure or any other reason, additional conservation measures are required to re-establish the populations. We show that the costs associated with this policy process may be higher than those of a proactive policy. This is somewhat surprising because the costs of maintaining populations at a level at which they are not endangered may occur over a longer period. However, the costs of bringing species populations back to those levels may be so high that they outweigh the costs of the proactive approach. We develop simple cost functions that capture the main economic and ecological parameters relevant to our argument and apply them for an assessment of the costs of common hamster ( Cricetus cricetus) conservation in the region of Mannheim, Germany. We find that a proactive approach would have saved between €17.2 and €36.4 mn compared to the existing policy where conservation was delayed until legal requirements forced local policy makers to implement a comprehensive hamster protection programme. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Invasive alien species pose one of the highest threats to biodiversity, especially in isolated oceanic islands where high rates of both endemism and extinction risk also usually prevail. Few studies have investigated the impact of invasive alien plants on butterflies in insular ecosystems, despite butterflies representing a key indicator group for terrestrial arthropod diversity. Using the Pollard Technique, we quantified butterfly species richness and abundance in eight wet lowland forest areas invaded by alien plants, principally the strawberry guava ( Psidium cattleianum Sabine) on the tropical volcanic island of Mauritius, and compared the results with paired adjacent forest plots that had been weeded of alien plants between 2 and 12 years previously. Butterfly assemblages in weed-infested and weeded forests were distinctly different with higher species richness and much higher butterfly abundance in the latter. At least some of these differences seemed attributable to weed removal effects on forest structure, but understanding the precise mechanisms involved will require further study. The results suggest that alien plant invasion may have contributed to the extinction of certain endemic taxa and can increase the likelihood of butterfly species extinction by reducing population sizes through reduced habitat quality. Such a shift in a forest's butterfly assemblage is likely to have negative effects on both their indigenous predators and the plants they pollinate. It is argued that in order to maintain butterfly and other arthropod diversity and function in these forests, alien plant control must be maintained and extended beyond the current 1% of surviving forest remnants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Conservation managers are in the unenviable position of trying to conserve and restore biodiversity, without having a definitive timeframe to restore it to. Currently, managers around the world focus on various timeframes from recent to historical, but without a definitive target, countless conservation problems arise. Managers need to determine what constitutes a native species, which species to reintroduce, whether selective breeding should be implemented to resurrect supposedly extinct organisms, targets on population levels, whether assisted migration should be employed when climate change alters the environmental envelope of a species surrounded by human-altered landscapes, and how to manage for stochasticity and evolutionary processes. Without having definitive goals to target, these issues are difficult/impossible to address. It is only by discussing these important issues that some consensus will be attained that allow us to stop responding to crises and start predicting the future of biodiversity and plan and respond accordingly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To investigate recent changes in the floristic composition and nature conservation value of nutrient-poor, semi-natural grasslands of the Swiss Alps, we resurveyed 151 phytosociological relevés in four regions, originally recorded between 1975 and 1985. In the original surveys, the mean number of plant species per plot (25-100 m²) ranged from 47.1 to 58.1 according to region. The flora included a total of 18 species that are protected in Switzerland and a high proportion of habitat specialists of nutrient-poor grasslands (NPG-species). In the second survey, conducted between 2002 and 2004, both mean species number per plot (-3.2 to +11.4) and species evenness (-0.05 to +0.07) were higher in most regions. However, the data revealed clear shifts in community composition, with a higher proportion of nutrient-demanding species (mean nutrient indicator value increased by ?0.07 to +0.24 units) and a lower proportion per plot of NPG-species (-3.6 to -11.6%). These changes were greatest in pastures, and in meadows converted to sheep pastures, while the NPG-species were maintained in unfertilized meadows that were managed as ecological compensation areas. To prevent continuing decline in the conservation value of these grasslands, it is important to support low-intensity management, especially mowing, and to prevent further eutrophication. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The conversion of native habitats to pasture and other working lands, unbuilt lands modified by humans for production, is one of the greatest threats to biodiversity. While some human-dominated landscapes on continents support relatively high native biodiversity, this capacity is little studied in oceanic island systems characterized by high endemism and vulnerability to invasion. Using Hawaii as a case study, we assessed the conservation value of working landscapes on an oceanic island by surveying native and non-native plant diversity in mature native forest and in the three dominant land covers/uses to which it has been converted: native, Acacia koa timber plantations, wooded pasture,and open pasture. As expected, native plant diversity (richness and abundance) was significantly higher and non-native abundance significantly lower in mature native forests than any other site type. A. koa plantations and wooded pasture supported four and three times greater, respectively, species richness of native understory plants than open pasture. Also, A. koa plantations and wooded pasture supported similar species communities with about 75% species in common. Conservation and restoration of mature native forest in Hawaii is essential for the protection of native, rare species and limiting the spread of nonnative species. A. koa plantations and wooded pasture, however, may help harmonize production and conservation by supporting livelihoods, more biodiversity than open pasture, and some connectivity between native forest remnants important for sustaining landscape-level conservation value into the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chinese alligator (Alligator sinensis) is one of the most critically endangered species among 23 extant crocodiles in the world. To prevent the extinction of the species, a captive propagation started at early 1980s, and the total number of alligator was brought up to 10 thousands from dozens of founder in 2000. But several genetic investigations showed those alligators were under an extremely low genetic diversity status with few detectible polymorphic loci. To get more insight into its genetic diversity for the management of captive Chinese alligator, AFLP was adopted to characterize variations in the population. Total of 347 bands were generated from 47 individuals using 3 primer combinations, of which 203 (58.50%) were polymorphic, and 35 AFLP phenotypes were revealed from those individuals. Comparing the results between RAPD and AFLP analysis on almost same sample set clearly indicated that AFLP is more efficient in revealing polymorphic loci, especially in those populations with extremely low genetic diversity. In present three assays, electrophoresis profile also displayed 3 individuals possessing very highly polymorphic AFLP phenotypes that were never been found by RAPD and mtDNA D-loop sequencing, implicating that we should offer these individuals more breeding opportunities to maintain the genetic diversity in the population and restrict those carrying few polymorphic loci from reproduction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Tunbridge Filmy-fern, Hymenophyllum tunbrigense, has been discovered within the last 10 years in several places in a 15 km long by 2 km wide area located in the western part of the Vosges Mountains. After the disappearance of the Saxony and Ardennes sites, these Vosgian locations have to be considered as one of the last continental areas for this fern in Europe, meriting the same level of interest as the well-known Luxembourg locations. In its Vosgian area, the fern occurs in Abies alba forests on small (less than 2.5 m high) and moist sandstone rocks, generally located near running water in wet valleys, at altitudes between 400 and 640 meters a.s.l. As assessed through the impact of the 26 December 1999 storm on one Hymenophyllum location, this fern appears to be sensitive to direct sunlight in the Vosges mountains. Therefore the main measure to ensure its conservation would be to maintain a dense and permanent forest canopy above the Hymenophyllum sites in order to avoid any direct sunlight. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]