New Research on Biodiversity and Nature
A round-up of recent work published in scientific journals
Consumer demand for fish swim bladders increases threats to globally endangered marine wildlife: The swim bladders (maws) of fish called croakers can sell for thousands of dollars per kilogram. A new study by the Wildlife Conservation Society shows how the trade threatens several endangered croaker species and other wildlife — including sharks, sea turtles and cetaceans. Read the WCS press release, from which you can access the full research paper in the journal Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems.
Academic paper on rewilding in Argentina generates legal threat and public debate: More than 100 conservation scientists and practitioners in Argentina have raised concerns about academic freedom after being threatened with a lawsuit when they published a paper about rewilding initiatives in the country. Writing in the November 2023 issue of the journal Biological Conservation, they say they welcome the public discussion of rewilding that the case caused, as such debate was “previously silenced or unfolding in the shadows”.
Nature-based solutions can put Brazil on track towards net-zero emissions by 2050: Researchers say ecosystem protection is Brazil’s most critical cost-effective climate mitigation measure, and that relying on costly, not-yet-mature engineered solutions will jeopardize Brazil's chances of achieving its net-zero pledge. Read the full paper in Global Change Biology here.
How to fairly share benefits from using digital sequence information: In 2022, Parties to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity agreed to set up a multilateral mechanism for sharing benefits from the use of ‘digital sequence information’ such as genetic data. Writing in Science, researchers suggest breaking away from past approaches used to regulate access and benefit sharing for physical biological and genetic material. As intergovernmental negotiations on the new mechanism progress, they say it is essential to create a simplified, effective, and transformative benefit-sharing framework. Read the press release, from which you can access the full analysis.
Indigenous Peoples' Lands are critical for safeguarding vertebrate diversity across the tropics: Researchers looked at the distribution of forest-dependent vertebrates inside and outside of Indigenous Peoples' Lands across the world. They say their findings suggest that these lands “provide critical support for tropical forest-dependent vertebrates, highlighting the need for greater inclusion of Indigenous Peoples in conservation target-setting and program implementation, and stronger upholding of Indigenous Peoples' rights in conservation policy”. Read the full paper in Global Change Biology.
Scientists say the United States needs a national biodiversity strategy: Writing in the journal Conservation Science and Practice, Leah Gerber and colleagues proposed a process for developing a national strategy and identify five elements of such a strategy. Read the full paper here.
Text message survey reveals extent of songbird ownership and shark consumption in Indonesia: Researchers in Indonesia sent text messages to hundreds of thousands of recipients to find out about songbird ownership and shark fin consumption. They conclude that 80 million Indonesians keep songbirds, which exceed 175 million in number. The researchers confirmed known hotpots for songbird ownership but also identified new ones. They also conclude that 33.5 million Indonesians have consumed shark products. Read the full paper in the journal Oryx.
Gaps in the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework and how to fill them: This paper looks at weaknesses in the text, targets and indicators of the Global Biodiversity Framework agreed by Parties to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity in 2022. It also looks ahead to what might replace the framework in 2030. Read the full paper in Frontiers in Environmental Science.
Extinction risks have been underestimated: A study of the status of nearly 15,000 species found in Europe suggests that extinction risks are greater than those assumed in the global assessment by the Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services in 2019. The authors say agricultural land-use changes, including tree plantations, are the main threat to European species. Read the full paper in PLOS One.