1. Tapping into non-English-language science for the conservation of global biodiversity
- Author
-
Ko Konno, Flóra Vajna, Yifan Liu, Nancy Ockendon, William H. Morgan, Dominik Schwab, Min Chen, Marina Golivets, Wenjun Zhou, Çağan H. Şekercioğlu, Shan Dar Tao, Ricardo Rocha, Violeta Berdejo-Espinola, Andrew J. Bladon, Hae Min Seo, Svetlana Vozykova, Elizabeth H. M. Tyler, Richard Schuster, Kerstin Jantke, Valentina Marconi, Rafael D. Zenni, Juan P. Narvaez-Gomez, Yushin Shinoda, Ana L. Reboredo Segovia, Ana C. Piovezan-Borges, Magda Bou Dagher Kharrat, Igor Khorozyan, Gorm E. Shackelford, Katherine A. Sainsbury, Kensuke Kito, Silviu O. Petrovan, Elham Nourani, Rachel Rui Ying Oh, Jose M. Ochoa Quintero, A. Nayelli Rivera-Villanueva, Anna Berthinussen, Marie Morgane Rouyer, Nataly Hidalgo Aranzamendi, Luis G. de Oliveira, Da-Li Lin, Rebecca K. Smith, Yang Liu, Ingrid L. Pollet, José O. Valdebenito, Danielle L. Ramos, András Báldi, Nick A. Littlewood, Philip A. Martin, M. Çisel Kemahlı Aytekin, Munemitsu Akasaka, William J. Sutherland, Pablo Jose Negret, Alec P. Christie, Tatsuya Amano, Sandro Bertolino, Chang-Yong Choi, Matthias-Claudio Loretto, Ming Shan Tsai, Paweł Waryszak, Joanna Kajzer-Bonk, Perla Farhat, Veronica Zamora-Gutierrez, Kate Willott, Amano, Tatsuya [0000-0001-6576-3410], Berdejo-Espinola, Violeta [0000-0001-9567-8276], Christie, Alec P. [0000-0002-8465-8410], Willott, Kate [0000-0001-5898-5402], Akasaka, Munemitsu [0000-0002-0143-0841], Báldi, András [0000-0001-6063-3721], Bladon, Andrew J. [0000-0002-2677-1247], Choi, Chang-Yong [0000-0002-4519-7957], Bou Dagher Kharrat, Magda [0000-0001-7969-1673], de Oliveira, Luis G. [0000-0002-1152-9239], Farhat, Perla [0000-0002-6134-788X], Golivets, Marina [0000-0003-1278-2663], Jantke, Kerstin [0000-0002-3126-3888], Kajzer-Bonk, Joanna [0000-0003-4063-2785], Kemahlı Aytekin, M. Çisel [0000-0002-6908-7568], Khorozyan, Igor [0000-0002-0657-7500], Kito, Kensuke [0000-0002-0873-934X], Konno, Ko [0000-0002-5319-9178], Lin, Da-Li [0000-0003-0930-2374], Littlewood, Nick [0000-0003-4461-8833], Liu, Yang [0000-0003-4580-5518], Loretto, Matthias-Claudio [0000-0002-1940-3470], Marconi, Valentina [0000-0001-7443-0255], Martin, Philip A. [0000-0001-5401-1176], Morgan, William H. [0000-0002-7594-6453], Narváez-Gómez, Juan P. [0000-0002-7223-6819], Negret, Pablo Jose [0000-0002-4683-839X], Nourani, Elham [0000-0003-4420-3902], Ochoa Quintero, Jose M. [0000-0002-5619-0777], Ockendon, Nancy [0000-0001-5055-1079], Oh, Rachel Rui Ying [0000-0003-2716-7727], Petrovan, Silviu O. [0000-0002-3984-2403], Piovezan-Borges, Ana C. [0000-0003-2779-9820], Pollet, Ingrid L. [0000-0001-7207-8294], Rivera-Villanueva, A. Nayelli [0000-0002-9190-4317], Rouyer, Marie-Morgane [0000-0003-4915-7191], Sainsbury, Katherine A. [0000-0002-5087-3892], Schuster, Richard [0000-0003-3191-7869], Şekercioğlu, Çağan H. [0000-0003-3193-0377], Shackelford, Gorm [0000-0003-0949-0934], Shinoda, Yushin [0000-0002-1605-6303], Smith, Rebecca K. [0000-0003-3294-7592], Tao, Shan-dar [0000-0002-9013-0671], Tsai, Ming-shan [0000-0001-6804-1317], Vajna, Flóra [0000-0003-4451-855X], Valdebenito, José Osvaldo [0000-0002-6709-6305], Waryszak, Paweł [0000-0002-4245-3150], Zamora-Gutierrez, Veronica [0000-0003-0661-5180], Zenni, Rafael D. [0000-0002-4315-7986], Sutherland, William J. [0000-0002-6498-0437], Apollo - University of Cambridge Repository, Christie, Alec P [0000-0002-8465-8410], Bladon, Andrew J [0000-0002-2677-1247], de Oliveira, Luis G [0000-0002-1152-9239], Kemahlı Aytekin, M Çisel [0000-0002-6908-7568], Martin, Philip A [0000-0001-5401-1176], Morgan, William H [0000-0002-7594-6453], Narváez-Gómez, Juan P [0000-0002-7223-6819], Ochoa Quintero, Jose M [0000-0002-5619-0777], Petrovan, Silviu O [0000-0002-3984-2403], Piovezan-Borges, Ana C [0000-0003-2779-9820], Pollet, Ingrid L [0000-0001-7207-8294], Rivera-Villanueva, A Nayelli [0000-0002-9190-4317], Sainsbury, Katherine A [0000-0002-5087-3892], Şekercioğlu, Çağan H [0000-0003-3193-0377], Smith, Rebecca K [0000-0003-3294-7592], Tao, Shan-Dar [0000-0002-9013-0671], Tsai, Ming-Shan [0000-0001-6804-1317], Zenni, Rafael D [0000-0002-4315-7986], Sutherland, William J [0000-0002-6498-0437], Şekercioğlu, Çağan Hakkı (ORCID 0000-0003-3193-0377 & YÖK ID 327589), Aytekin, Mübeccel Çisel Kemahlı, Amano, Tatsuya, Berdejo-Espinola, Violeta, Christie, Alec P., Willott, Kate, Akasaka, Munemitsu, Baldi, Andras, Berthinussen, Anna, Bertolino, Sandro, Bladon, Andrew J., Chen, Min, Choi, Chang-Yong, Kharrat, Magda Bou Dagher, de Oliveira, Luis G., Farhat, Perla, Golivets, Marina, Aranzamendi, Nataly Hidalgo, Jantke, Kerstin, Kajzer-Bonk, Joanna, Khorozyan, Igor, Kito, Kensuke, Konno, Ko, Lin, Da-Li, Littlewood, Nick, Liu, Yang, Liu, Yifan, Loretto, Matthias-Claudio, Marconi, Valentina, Martin, Philip A., Morgan, William H., Narvaez-Gomez, Juan P., Negret, Pablo Jose, Nourani, Elham, Ochoa Quintero, Jose M., Ockendon, Nancy, Oh, Rachel Rui Ying, Petrovan, Silviu O., Piovezan-Borges, Ana C., Pollet, Ingrid L., Ramos, Danielle L., Segovia, Ana L. Reboredo, Nayelli Rivera-Villanueva, A., Rocha, Ricardo, Rouyer, Marie-Morgane, Sainsbury, Katherine, Schuster, Richard, Schwab, Dominik, Seo, Hae-Min, Shackelford, Gorm, Shinoda, Yushin, Smith, Rebecca K., Tao, Shan-dar, Tsai, Ming-shan, Tyler, Elizabeth H. M., Vajna, Flora, Valdebenito, Jose Osvaldo, Vozykova, Svetlana, Waryszak, Pawel, Zamora-Gutierrez, Veronica, Zenni, Rafael D., Zhou, Wenjun, Sutherland, William J., College of Sciences, Graduate School of Sciences and Engineering, and Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics
- Subjects
Psychological intervention ,Biodiversity ,English language ,Biodiversity conservation ,Database and Informatics Methods ,0302 clinical medicine ,030212 general & internal medicine ,Biology (General) ,Database Searching ,Conservation Science ,Mammals ,0303 health sciences ,Ecology ,Geography ,General Neuroscience ,Systematic review ,Collating ,Conservation management ,Publications ,conservation ,Eukaryota ,Grid cell ,Vertebrates ,Meta-Research Article ,General Agricultural and Biological Sciences ,Conservation of Natural Resources ,QH301-705.5 ,Ecology and environmental sciences ,Science ,Biology ,General Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology ,Social sciences ,Birds ,Amphibians ,03 medical and health sciences ,ddc:570 ,Animals ,030304 developmental biology ,Scientific Publishing ,language ,General Immunology and Microbiology ,Global challenges ,Biology and life sciences ,Clinical study design ,Organisms ,Linguistics ,15. Life on land ,Data science ,Research and analysis methods ,Biochemistry and molecular biology ,Amniotes ,Languages ,Zoology ,Language ,Global biodiversity - Abstract
The widely held assumption that any important scientific information would be available in English underlies the underuse of non-English-language science across disciplines. However, non-English-language science is expected to bring unique and valuable scientific information, especially in disciplines where the evidence is patchy, and for emergent issues where synthesising available evidence is an urgent challenge. Yet such contribution of non-English-language science to scientific communities and the application of science is rarely quantified. Here, we show that non-English-language studies provide crucial evidence for informing global biodiversity conservation. By screening 419,679 peer-reviewed papers in 16 languages, we identified 1,234 non-English-language studies providing evidence on the effectiveness of biodiversity conservation interventions, compared to 4,412 English-language studies identified with the same criteria. Relevant non-English-language studies are being published at an increasing rate in 6 out of the 12 languages where there were a sufficient number of relevant studies. Incorporating non-English-language studies can expand the geographical coverage (i.e., the number of 2° × 2° grid cells with relevant studies) of English-language evidence by 12% to 25%, especially in biodiverse regions, and taxonomic coverage (i.e., the number of species covered by the relevant studies) by 5% to 32%, although they do tend to be based on less robust study designs. Our results show that synthesising non-English-language studies is key to overcoming the widespread lack of local, context-dependent evidence and facilitating evidence-based conservation globally. We urge wider disciplines to rigorously reassess the untapped potential of non-English-language science in informing decisions to address other global challenges. Please see the Supporting information files for Alternative Language Abstracts., A survey of 419,680 peer-reviewed papers in 16 languages reveals that non-English-language studies can expand geographical (by 12-25%) and taxonomic (by 5-32%) coverage of English-language evidence on the effectiveness of biodiversity conservation interventions, especially in biodiverse regions.
- Published
- 2021