Preprints
There are 2503 Preprints listed.
El histórico Acuerdo de Escazú: una oportunidad para integrar democracia, derechos humanos y conservación transfronteriza
Published: 2021-04-13
Subjects: Life Sciences, Other Life Sciences
América Latina y el Caribe (ALC) es una de las regiones con mayor biodiversidad, sin embargo, esta se encuentra amenazada por la sobreexplotación de recursos naturales y por conflictos sociales internos. En el 2018, 33 países de la región ALC fueron invitados a firmar y ratificar el histórico Acuerdo de Escazú, el cual es el primer acuerdo de carácter vinculante que integra de manera explícita [...]
Broad-scale Applications of the Raspberry Pi: A Review and Guide for Biologists
Published: 2021-04-13
Subjects: Biology, Biotechnology, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Life Sciences, Plant Sciences, Social and Behavioral Sciences
The field of biology has seen tremendous technological progress in recent years, fuelled by the exponential growth in processing power and high-level computing, and the rise of global information sharing. Low-cost single-board computers are predicted to be one of the key technological advancements to further revolutionise this field. So far, an overview of current uptake of these devices and a [...]
Spillback in the Anthropocene: the risk of human-to-wildlife pathogen transmission for conservation and public health
Published: 2021-04-11
Subjects: Bacteriology, Biodiversity, Biology, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Immunology and Infectious Disease, Life Sciences, Medicine and Health Sciences, Microbiology, Public Health, Veterinary Infectious Diseases, Veterinary Medicine, Veterinary Microbiology and Immunobiology, Veterinary Preventive Medicine, Epidemiology, and Public Health, Virology
The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has led to increased concern over transmission of pathogens from humans to animals (“spillback”) and its potential to threaten conservation and public health. To assess this threat, we reviewed published evidence of spillback events, including instances where spillback could threaten conservation and human health. We identified 97 verified examples of spillback, involving [...]
Understanding determinants of the intention to purchase rhino horn in Vietnam through the Theory of Planned Behaviour and the Theory of Interpersonal Behaviour
Published: 2021-04-11
Subjects: Psychology, Social and Behavioral Sciences, Social Psychology
Demand for rhino horn in Asian markets is driving a rhino poaching crisis in Africa. This study examined rhino horn demand using the theory of planned behaviour and the theory of interpersonal behaviour. We conducted a survey of 427 individuals in Hanoi, Vietnam, including 281 rhino horn users and 146 non-users. We empirically tested all constructs of the two theories predicting intention to [...]
Conserving rhinos by legal trade: Insights from a choice experiment on rhino horn consumers
Published: 2021-04-11
Subjects: Agricultural and Resource Economics, Economic Theory, Economics, Environmental Studies, Social and Behavioral Sciences
A legal rhino horn trade is suggested to reduce poaching. To examine this proposition we conducted a choice experiment with 345 rhino horn consumers in Vietnam investigating their preferences for legality, source, price and peer experience of medicinal efficacy as attributes in their decision to purchase rhino horn. We calculated consumers’ willingness to pay for each attribute level. Consumers [...]
Welcome to the Pyrocene: animal survival in the age of megafire
Published: 2021-04-10
Subjects: Behavior and Ethology, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Life Sciences, Terrestrial and Aquatic Ecology
Planet Earth is entering the age of megafire, pushing ecosystems to their limits and beyond. While fire causes mortality of animals across vast portions of the globe, scientists are only beginning to consider fire as an evolutionary force in animal ecology. Here, we generate a series of hypotheses regarding animal responses to fire by adopting insights from the predator-prey literature. Fire is a [...]
Methods for testing publication bias in ecological and evolutionary meta-analyses
Published: 2021-04-08
Subjects: Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Life Sciences, Other Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
1. Publication bias threatens the validity of quantitative evidence from meta-analyses as it results in some findings being overrepresented in meta-analytic datasets because they are published more frequently or sooner (e.g., ‘positive’ results). Unfortunately, methods to test for the presence of publication bias, or assess its impact on meta-analytic results, are unsuitable for datasets with [...]
BetaBayes - A Bayesian approach for comparing ecological communities
Published: 2021-04-08
Subjects: Biodiversity, Biology, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Life Sciences, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Statistics and Probability
Ecological communities change due to both natural and human factors. Distinguishing between the two is critical to ecology and conservation science. One of the most common approaches for modelling species composition changes is calculating Beta diversity indices and then relating index changes to covariates changes. The main difficulty with these analyses is that Beta diversity indices are paired [...]
Fungus-bacterium associations are widespread in fungal cultures isolated from a semi-arid natural grassland in Germany
Published: 2021-04-06
Subjects: Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Life Sciences, Terrestrial and Aquatic Ecology
We here report on a study that aimed at establishing a large soil-fungal culture collection spanning a wide taxonomic diversity and systematically screening the collection for bacterial associations.
Ecological mechanisms underlying aridity thresholds in global drylands
Published: 2021-04-01
Subjects: Desert Ecology, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Life Sciences
With ongoing climate change, the probability of crossing environmental thresholds promoting abrupt changes in ecosystem structure and functioning is higher than ever. In drylands (sites where it rains less than 60% of what is evaporated), recent research has shown how the crossing of three particular aridity thresholds (defining three consecutive phases, namely vegetation decline, soil disruption [...]
Astatotilapia species (Teleostei, Cichlidae) from Malawi, Mozambique and Tanzania, excluding the basin of Lake Victoria.
Published: 2021-04-01
Subjects: Biodiversity, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Life Sciences
The haplochromine cichlid fauna of the rivers and smaller lakes of Tanzania and SE Africa are of key importance in understanding the origins and inter-relationships of the great lake cichlid radiations of Malawi, Tanganyika and Victoria. Prior to formal taxonomic investigations, here we present the results of investigations of the type specimens, identification of type localities and superficial [...]
Supporting actionable science for environmental policy: Advice for funding agencies from decision makers
Published: 2021-04-01
Subjects: Environmental Policy, Environmental Studies, Life Sciences, Public Affairs, Public Policy and Public Administration, Social and Behavioral Sciences
Successful incorporation of scientific knowledge into environmental policy and decisions is a significant challenge. Although studies on how to bridge the knowledge-action gap have grown rapidly over the last decade, few have investigated the roles, responsibilities, and opportunities for funding bodies to meet this challenge. In this study we present a set of criteria gleaned from interviews [...]
Applying the FEW nexus concept at the local scale
Published: 2021-04-01
Subjects: Civil and Environmental Engineering, Engineering, Environmental Studies, Social and Behavioral Sciences
The food-energy-water (FEW) nexus describes interactions among domains that yield gains or tradeoffs when analyzed together rather than independently. In a project about renewable energy in rural Alaska communities, we applied this concept to examine the implications for sustainability and resilience. The FEW nexus provided a useful framework for identifying the cross-domain benefits of renewable [...]
Contrasting climate velocity impacts in warm and cool locations show that effects of marine warming are worse in already warmer temperate waters
Published: 2021-04-01
Subjects: Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Life Sciences, Marine Biology, Population Biology, Terrestrial and Aquatic Ecology
Species responses to climate change are often measured at broad spatiotemporal scales, which can miss fine-scale changes that are relevant to conservation and fisheries management. We develop a scale-able geostatistical approach to assess how juvenile and adult fish distributions have been shaped by changes in bottom temperature and dissolved oxygen over a recent decade of warming in the [...]
Forest Conservation in Madagascar: Past, Present, Future
Published: 2021-03-31
Subjects: Biodiversity, Life Sciences
To be published in the upcoming book The New Natural History of Madagascar, edited by S. M. Goodman, published by Princeton University Press. A French translation of the chapter "Conservation des forêts à Madagascar : Passé, Présent, et Futur" is included at the end of the preprint. At this critical time for the future of Madagascar’s biodiversity, we first review the past: touching upon [...]