Chronic declines and Red Listing: Are hazel dormice Endangered?

Ellie Scopes describe her team’s latest article re-assessing the extinction risk and conservation status of hazel dormice (Muscardinus avellanarius) using long-term monitoring data. Threats assessments and conservation priority often become entangled, despite different aims. Whilst threat assessments focus on the proximity of the species to extinction, usually with objective guidelines, conservation priority is more subjective and will involve considerations of the economic and cultural value … Continue reading Chronic declines and Red Listing: Are hazel dormice Endangered?

Optimizing disease management in an endangered carnivore

In their new article, Gilbertson et al. discuss how combining preventative and reactive disease interventions synergistically reduces disease-induced mortalities in a simulated carnivore population, whilst at the same time preventing unexpected negative impacts associated with inadequate vaccination. As the COVID-19 pandemic has demonstrated, controlling outbreaks of infectious diseases is incredibly challenging—and that is no less true in wildlife. In fact, wildlife management faces significant hurdles … Continue reading Optimizing disease management in an endangered carnivore

Habitat selection modelling reveals sea turtles use protected areas in greater proportion to their availability

Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) are designated regions to help conserve wildlife but how are they used by the species they protect? In their latest research, Kelsey Roberts and colleagues evaluate the use of these protected areas by sea turtles to help inform better design and management of MPAs. Scientists agree that area-based conservation efforts are key to preserving biodiversity and ecosystems, as well as ocean-based … Continue reading Habitat selection modelling reveals sea turtles use protected areas in greater proportion to their availability

Predator and scavenger movements as opportunities for pathogen spread among endangered seabirds

Infectious diseases have recently been acknowledged as an important threat for wild populations, notably seabirds. In order to implement efficient surveillance and management programmes, it is critical to look beyond the sick individuals to identify the individuals or species involved in cryptic epidemiological processes, such as pathogen spread. Amandine Gamble et al. summarise their recent research on the potential role of predators and scavengers in … Continue reading Predator and scavenger movements as opportunities for pathogen spread among endangered seabirds

Cover stories: protecting the Sumatran rhino

With approximately 100 individuals left in the wild, the Sumatran rhinoceros (Dicerorhinus sumatrensis) is one of four charismatic megafauna species in Sumatra used as flagship and umbrella species for conservation. Our cover image photographer for issue 56:5, Marsya Sibarani tells us about her interaction with this endangered species. In 2015, I got the chance to visit the Sumatran Rhino Sanctuary (SRS) in Way Kambas National … Continue reading Cover stories: protecting the Sumatran rhino

GPS and satellite tags as surveillance devices to detect animal deaths – including the illegal killing of protected species

Fabrizio Sergio explains how the development of biologging tools can help protect some of our most vulnerable species.  Detecting animal casualties is often a major goal for wildlife biologists and managers. Conservationists may need to know which mortality agents are driving the decline of an endangered species, while game managers may want to estimate mortality causes as precisely as possible in order to plan sustainable … Continue reading GPS and satellite tags as surveillance devices to detect animal deaths – including the illegal killing of protected species

Issue 55:5

Read the highlights from our September issue. Value of information: when to learn and when to manage in conservation This issue’s Editor’s Choice article Better many small than a few large: how landscape configuration affects arthropod communities in rice Can splitting agricultural ecosystems help reduce yield losses for rice farmers? Mejor muchos pequeños que pocos grandes: sobre como la configuración del paisaje afecta las comunidades … Continue reading Issue 55:5

Demographic response to patch destruction in an endangered amphibian

Is rehabilitation always a good thing? Hugo Cayuela suggests alternative approaches for forest managers following the recently published article, Demographic response to patch destruction in a spatially structured amphibian population. Economic activities such as logging and mineral extraction can result in the creation of new anthropogenic habitats (e.g. temporary aquatic habitats) that may host specific biodiversity, including protected species. However, legislation in many Western European … Continue reading Demographic response to patch destruction in an endangered amphibian

How to recover endangered raptor species: the Spanish imperial eagle as a case study

Rounding up our Endangered Species Day series, Miguel Ferrer demonstrates how scientists and managers can work together and succeed in conservation efforts. Ferrer et al.’s paper, Reintroducing endangered raptors: A case study of supplementary feeding and removal of nestlings from wild populations, was our Editor’s Choice article for issue 55:3.  Recently, we published a paper about supplementary feeding of large raptors as a method to increase productivity … Continue reading How to recover endangered raptor species: the Spanish imperial eagle as a case study

Stress on the ski slope: individual capercaillies show different coping styles

As part of our cross-journal series for Endangered Species Day, Journal of Applied Ecology Associate Editor, Marc-André Villard considers Coppes et al.’s research around human-induced stress, and what this means for vulnerable populations. The full article, The importance of individual heterogeneity for interpreting faecal glucocorticoid metabolite levels in wildlife studies is available in Journal of Applied Ecology. Ecologists have long been aware that individual animals vary … Continue reading Stress on the ski slope: individual capercaillies show different coping styles