Global Ecology and Conservation

The Asiatic cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus venaticus), once widespread across West, South, and Central Asia, now survives only in Iran, where its population has declined to the brink of extinction. The current study synthesized 12 years (2012-2024) of monitoring data, including systematic, extensive camera trap surveys across 27 distinct sampling sessions in eight reserves (69,089 trap nights) supplemented by published records of cheetah occurrences on social media to assess the demographic and spatial patterns of this critically endangered subspecies. Our analysis indicates that a total of 24 adult Asiatic cheetahs were identified across the Northern and Southern Landscapes. However, no evidence of reproduction or new individual presence was obtained in the Southern Landscape for over a decade. Meanwhile, the Northern Landscape hosts the remaining population, likely fewer than 30 individuals. Between 2020 and 2024, at least 31 cubs were born in the northern population from six females. However, limited evidence of successful recruitment suggests minimal contribution to population recovery, as only 47.3% of monitored cubs survived beyond their first year. Asiatic cheetahs exhibit extensive mobility across the arid Northern Landscape, frequently traversing unprotected communal lands and a major highway, which increases their vulnerability. While camera trap data have proven effective for individual identification, they are limited in tracking fine-scale movement, emphasizing the urgent need for satellite telemetry. Interventions such as roadside fencing and wildlife underpasses along highways are essential to reduce mortality. These efforts should be complemented by broader conservation measures, including habitat protection and restoration, community-based management of unprotected lands, and enhanced anti-trafficking enforcement. Genetic concerns, especially low effective population size and inbreeding, pose additional threats to viability.

1.The future of species, particularly large-bodied birds, under climate threats, is increasingly unclear. Protected areas (PAs) can mitigate the impacts of global change, but are not completely immune. This makes it imperative to monitor populations even inside PAs. In the forests of the Western Ghats, three hornbill species are found--Malabar Grey Hornbill, Malabar Pied Hornbill and Great Hornbill. Kali Tiger Reserve, of Karnataka state, India, is known for its healthy hornbill populations, yet few systematic surveys have attempted to estimate their abundance, distributions and habitat affiliations. In this study, we documented the distributions of the three hornbills, estimated the density of Malabar Grey Hornbills and assessed correlates of hornbill encounter rates within the reserve. Malabar Grey Hornbills were the most abundant and widely distributed, found in all ranges of the reserve. Gund, Kadra and Phansoli had the most detections of Malabar Pied and Great Hornbills. Encounter rates of Malabar Grey Hornbill were positively correlated with food-tree stem density, those of Malabar Pied Hornbill negatively correlated with basal area, while those of Great Hornbill not significantly associated with any variable. Malabar Grey Hornbills had a density of 5.1 per km2 (mean flock size = 1.2). While encounter rates of Malabar Pied and Great Hornbills were low, these numbers track the breeding season, when vocal activity is low and females are inside nests. This survey represents a partnership between researchers and the Karnataka forest department, aimed towards inculcating the collaborative spirit of research and monitoring.

Grassland habitats currently face severe anthropogenic exploitations leading to cascading effects on the survival of grassland-dependent biodiversity globally, particularly in non-protected areas. Significant amount of such biodiversity-rich grasslands in India are found outside protected areas but lack quantitative information on their status. We evaluated the current and historical (30 years) status of the grasslands using a combination of intensive field surveys and GIS tools across one of the most fertile, human-dominated region: the upper Gangetic Plains of north India. On-ground mapping and visual classifications revealed 57% decline in grassland habitats between 1985 (418 km2) and 2015 (178km2), mostly driven by conversion to croplands (74% contribution). Radio-telemetry data from the largest endemic cervid swamp deer (n=2) showed grassland-dominated average home range (50% BBMM) size of 1.02 km2. The animals highly preferred these patches (average Ivlevs index- 0.85) and showed highest temporal continuity (88%) compared to other LULC classes. Camera trapping within the core habitats suggests critical use of these patches as fawning/breeding grounds. Habitat suitability analysis indicates only [~]18% of the entire area along Ganges is suitable for swamp deer. Accurate mapping (86% accuracy) and characterization of four major grass species revealed a total 144.04 km{superscript 2} vegetation area, dominted by Saccharum sp. (35%). We recommend protection and recovery of these critical grassland patches to maintain dynamic corridors and other appropriate management strategies involving multiple stakeholders to ensure survival of this critical ecosystem. Such evaluations, if spatially expanded, would be critical to restore this rapidly vanishing ecosystem worldwide.

The Shola Sky Islands of the Western Ghats are isolated montane habitats that harbour significant avian diversity and endemism. This study assessed bird species diversity across five mountain ranges in Wayanad, Kerala (Banasura, Brahmagiri, Camels Hump, Kuricharmala, and Manikunnu) situated above 1200 meters. A total of 114 species were recorded, with the Camels Hump range supporting the highest diversity (81 species). Patterns of species richness were found to correspond with mountain area and degree of isolation, consistent with the principles of island biogeography. Birds were classified by taxonomic order and family, with Passeriformes being the most dominant order. Among families, Muscicapidae recorded the highest number of species, followed by Accipitridae and Phylloscopidae. Invertivores constituted the majority of trophic guilds, and species richness showed a general decline with increasing elevation. These findings highlight the importance of habitat area and connectivity in shaping avian communities within sky island ecosystems. They also underline the urgent need for targeted conservation efforts in this ecologically sensitive region, much of which falls under territorial divisions, including reserve and vested forests.

The Golden-cheeked Warbler, Setophaga chrysoparia, is a migratory songbird listed as endangered under the federal Endangered Species Act that breeds exclusively in central Texas and is heavily impacted by habitat conversion. The species relies on mixed Ashe-juniper and oak woodlands for nest-building and shelter during spring and early summer months. Using land cover data spanning the last 25 years, we conduct a geospatial analysis to quantify changes and\ identify shifts in breeding habitat quantity and quality. Since 1985, 13% of all forests within the warblers breeding range were disturbed, with greater incidences near San Antonio (32%) and Austin (24%) metropolitan areas. Additionally, data show a 45% decrease in high-quality habitat (i.e., intact mixed or evergreen core forests) and a decrease in patch size. Habitats within protected areas see a less sharp decline in habitat quality and large increases in warbler sightings, but these only represent 10% of all highest-quality habitat in the breeding range. Drastic declines in habitat quality suggest that generalized metrics of conversion may underestimate true habitat loss as degradation may impact the ecological viability of remaining forests for warbler nesting. Further evidence suggests that the few protected areas within the Texas range continue to play a significant role in warbler breeding. This information will assist researchers and managers prioritizing conservation action and will inform upcoming species status determinations.

Managing visitor-wildlife interactions in high-use protected areas requires identifying not only where visitors concentrate but also where visitor use overlaps with wildlife space use. We estimated relative human- macaque encounter potential in Kamikochi, Chubu Sangaku National Park, Japan, where Japanese macaques (Macaca fuscata) and visitors use the same frontcountry landscape. We integrated Mobile Spatial Statistics derived from mobile phone network data, trail-camera counts, and direct-follow location data from macaques along a frontcountry-backcountry gradient. Broad-scale 500-m grid estimates of daytime visitor presence for the 2023 and 2024 open seasons were allocated to 50-m trail sections and adjusted using counts from 10 trail cameras. Automated video counts based on YOLO11 and ByteTrack showed high agreement with manual counts of 100 validation videos (MAE = 0.10 persons/video, MAPE = 1.26%, exact agreement rate = 92.0%). Visitor-use and macaque-use data were converted into kernel density surfaces, and encounter potential was calculated as their normalized product. High encounter potential was concentrated in the central frontcountry: 87.1% of areas with index values [≥] 0.9 fell within the frontcountry and 12.9% within the backcountry. Areas with high visitor use or high macaque use alone did not necessarily show high encounter potential when the two distributions were spatially offset. These results show that spatial overlap provides management information not captured by visitor counts alone. Relative encounter potential can help prioritize patrols, visitor messaging, viewing management, and other interventions in protected areas where wildlife does not consistently avoid heavily used visitor spaces.

Understanding bird diversity across land use and land cover (LULC) in fragmented land-scapes is essential for effective conservation planning in human-modified landscapes. Using one year of eBird data from 2023, this study assessed bird species richness, diversity indices, and feeding guild composition across ten LULC classes in Wayanad, southern India. We employed rarefaction methods to estimate effort-adjusted species richness due to unequal sampling effort across classes, and analysed community composition using Jaccard dissimilarity and Principal Coordinates Analysis (PCoA). Natural habitats, primarily evergreen and moist deciduous forests, supported the most diverse and functionally specialised bird communities. In contrast, agricultural and urban areas were dominated by generalist guilds such as omnivores and granivores, indicating ecological simplification. Interestingly, tea plantations exhibited high rarefied richness despite lower overall diversity, likely due to uneven sampling patterns. The study demonstrates that citizen science data can reveal meaningful patterns in bird community structure across varied land use types with appropriate analytical corrections. These findings highlight the potential of eBird for landscape-scale biodiversity monitoring and support the value of integrating functional guild perspectives into conservation strategies.

The Northwest Forest Plan (NWFP) Passive Acoustic Monitoring (PAM) program is a large-scale interagency biodiversity monitoring framework designed to assess the status and trends of northern spotted owls (Strix occidentalis caurina), barred owls (Strix varia), marbled murrelets (Brachyramphus marmoratus), and broader forest biodiversity across federally administered lands in the Pacific Northwest. In 2025, we deployed autonomous recording units at 2,095 sampling stations within 532 5-km2 hexagons randomly selected across approximately 24 million acres of federal forest lands in Washington, Oregon, and California. These deployments generated 1.37 million hours of acoustic recordings that we processed using the convolutional neural network PNW-Cnet v5 for automated species identification and subsequent human validation of focal species detections. Northern spotted owls were detected in 28% of sampled hexagons range-wide, including 16% in Washington, 25% in Oregon, and 60% in California. Occupancy patterns remained consistent compared to previous years, with higher occupancy concentrated in southern portions of the geographic range and continued low occupancy across much of the Washington Cascades and Oregon Coast Range. Barred owls were detected in 86% of sampled hexagons and remained broadly distributed throughout most of the NWFP area. Marbled murrelets were detected in 50% of reviewed hexagons within NWFP marbled murrelet management zones, with highest occupancy occurring in coastal forests of Oregon and Washington. The 2025 field season occurred under substantial operational constraints that reduced sampling effort by approximately half relative to 2023 and 2024 because of staffing limitations affecting participating federal agencies. Despite these reductions, the NWFP-PAM framework continued to provide broad-scale, spatially representative ecological information across the NWFP area. Results highlight the growing importance of passive acoustic monitoring and machine learning approaches for long-term biodiversity monitoring under changing environmental and operational conditions.

Area-based conservation remains a pivotal component of global wildlife protection efforts. Mexico hosts a diverse array of area-based approaches, encompassing protected areas (PAs) and other effective area-based conservation measures (OECMs) such as voluntary conservation areas (VCAs) and wildlife management units (UMAs). Indigenous Territories (ITs) also provide heightened conservation potential through traditional ecological knowledge systems. These conservation spaces exhibit significant variations in community involvement, national coverage, and governance. Here, we evaluate the conservation potential of these land management types for 29 terrestrial carnivores, focusing on spatial co-occurrence. We determine areas in Mexico lacking area-based protection and calculate carnivore richness per land management type. Analyzing overlap between land management types and carnivore ranges, we employ heat maps to visualize overlap occurrence and key unprotected areas. We found that across all carnivore ranges, 87% of the area remains unprotected under designated protection areas (PAs & VCAs), decreasing to 65.2% after including non-designated types (ITs and UMAs). We identified several key gaps in the protection estate for Mexican carnivores, most notably on the eastern Mexican coast in the state of Veracruz. Our findings corroborate the importance of including Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities in conservation efforts, emphasizing their contributions to the stewardship of Mexican ecosystems. As the global protected area estate continues to expand under the post-2020 global biodiversity targets, and the importance of a well-designed and diverse portfolio of practices for conservation is recognized, the need for collective action, increased collaboration and inclusivity, and effective communication amongst stakeholders becomes necessary for carnivore conservation.

Growing human populations and human activity intensify human-wildlife conflicts, particularly with wild pigs (Sus scrofa), necessitating consideration of both human and wildlife requirements. This complexity demands a comprehensive assessment of causes, impacts, and mitigation strategies for such conflicts. In order to address these issues, we conducted studies across the forest divisions of Tamil Nadu by collecting secondary data on conflicts from 2016 to 2021. Out of the 3301 incidents we collected, 94.4% were specifically related to crop damage and occurred mostly during the month of December, followed by November. Dharmapuri Forest Division was found to be the highest contributor to overall conflicts. Temporal analysis revealed conflict peaks in December, followed by November and September. Using ensemble modelling we predicted a conflict risk zone of approximately 49,223 km2, which represents 37.8% of the total area of Tamil Nadu. Variables like human modification index and mean annual temperature had the highest contribution to model performance. Our models projections indicate that areas with cultivated lands in close proximity to the fringes of forests, especially in regions where there is a greater degree of human modification, are associated with heightened levels of conflict risk. This study provides a concise overview of a comprehensive study on human-wild pig conflict, encompassing an exploration of conflict triggers and ecological impacts in the state of Tamil Nadu. The study offers a comprehensive roadmap for managing human-wild pig conflicts in Tamil Nadu, highlighting key triggers, ecological impacts, and conflict risk factors.

Over the past century, grassland and forest ecosystems globally have been heavily influenced by land use changes driven by diverse socioeconomic activities. Ski resorts are a modern land-use type associated with biodiversity loss in mountain ecosystems worldwide. Below the treeline, by contrast, some ski slopes have been shown to provide suboptimal semi-natural habitats for native grassland plants and animals, depending on specific construction and management practices. We compared environmental factors and grassland vegetation between two types of ski slopes in central Japan with different land-use histories: slopes constructed on old pastures (pasture slopes) and slopes constructed by clearing secondary forests or Larix kaempferi plantations established on abandoned pastures during the 1940s-1990s (forest slopes). We examined the effects of land use history and machine grading as well as other environmental factors on ski slope vegetation, including total species richness and the richness of native, endangered, and exotic plants, using a total of 108 plots of 2 m x 10 m. Compared to pasture slopes, forest slopes exhibited significantly lower richness of total plants and native grassland species, including endangered species. Forest slopes were more graded than pasture slopes, resulting in lower native and higher exotic grassland species richness. A significantly lower duration of direct sunlight on forest slopes than on pasture slopes possibly decreased endangered species diversity. The lower species richness on forest slopes may be partly caused by seed dispersal limitations. Our findings demonstrate that ski slopes have good potential to support numerous native grassland plant species, including endangered species, but this potential is significantly and negatively affected by forest use history and concomitant environmental changes. The conservation of semi-natural conditions on pasture slopes as habitats for native grassland species can be promoted through the maintenance of annual mowing practices, avoidance of machine grading, and wider ski courses. NomenclatureYonekura & Kajita (2003) BG Plants: index of Japanese names and scientific names (YList; http://ylist.info/index.html)

1. Accurate estimates of wildlife distributions and population persistence are essential for conservation programs. Occupancy models that account for detection probability have been used to characterize the occupancy and habitat selection of imperilled species. However, failure to distinguish between true-presence and pseudo-presence associated with territorial behaviour can result in the overestimation of the occupancy probability of target species in unsuitable habitats, and this can have major implications for the development of conservation strategies. 2. For highly territorial wildlife species requiring high-quality habitat for survival, occasional Presence in unsuitable areas might be related to dispersal or migration, but this does not reflect actual occupancy and habitat use. True-Presence and Pseudo-Presence should be distinguished for target species to better reflect their actual occupancy and habitat use. 3. To investigate the effect of True-Presence and Pseudo-Presence on wildlife occupancy estimation, we developed a modified model (Mm) that considers the territorial behaviour of the Amur tiger in northeast China, which distinguished between True-Presence and Pseudo-Presence. We compared two models, Mm and M0 (conventional occupancy model), and assessed model performance using goodness-of-fit evaluation, detection and occupancy probability, and favourable variable selection. 4. We found that Mm, which has fewer favourable variables, is more powerful than M0 for estimating detection and occupancy probability, as well as characterizing the effect of various factors on the habitat use of Amur tigers. Furthermore, Mm significantly reduced the overestimation of occupancy probability outside the home range compared with M0, and detection probability estimates did not significantly differ between M0 and Mm. Finally, Mm provided more empirical habitat selection variables for the Amur tiger. 5. Our results revealed how True-Presence and Pseudo-Presence affect the occupancy probability and habitat selection of Amur tigers. Our method improves the accuracy of occupancy models; it can also be used to characterize the habitat selection and distribution of wildlife species and be applied to other territorial species.

Ecotourism plays a vital role in conserving ecosystems and revitalising rural economies. Sustainable management requires strategies that effectively balance conservation needs with tourism promotion, necessitating a clear understanding of which landscapes and species attract visitors. However, identifying these "charismatic" assets has traditionally relied on costly and spatially limited surveys. This study leverages crowdsourced biodiversity data from digital platforms (iNaturalist and Biome) to identify nature-based recreation sites and visitor-preferred species in Inabe City, a rural Japanese municipality with high recreational visitation. We analysed 12,764 observations within the city and 238,625 reference observations from across Japan. By applying the Out-of-Area Activity Index (OAAI) to biological recording data, we distinguished visitors from residents with high accuracy. Spatial analyses using hurdle models revealed distinct preferences: while both groups frequented recreational facilities, residents concentrated on lowland forests, whereas visitors were significantly drawn to wetlands and mountain habitats. To quantify specific biological interests, we developed the Visitor Preference Index (VPI). This index highlighted that visitors disproportionately recorded aquatic insects (e.g., dragonflies) and endangered understory plants compared to their observations elsewhere, identifying these taxa as key ecological assets. These findings underscore the critical importance of managing highland forests and wetlands--habitats often vulnerable to degradation--to support both biodiversity and tourism. This study illustrates how crowdsourced biodiversity data can contribute to understanding human-nature interactions and offer a scalable tool for regional planning that integrates ecological conservation with sustainable tourism development.

Effective wildlife monitoring requires innovative methodologies to ensure accurate population assessments for conservation planning. This study focuses on snow leopards (Panthera uncia), a species classified as Vulnerable by the IUCN due to habitat loss, climate change, and over-exploitation. Employing spatial capture-recapture (SCR) models and AI-assisted individual identification, we analyzed camera trapping data from 2012-2013 and 2017-2019 to assess changes in snow leopard density and abundance in Wakhan National Park, Afghanistan. Our analysis used single-session and multi-session models to provide a comprehensive view of population dynamics. Single-session models revealed a substantial increase in density, with the full model estimate rising from 1.38 {+/-} 0.39 SE to 3.57 {+/-} 0.88 SE, while right-only and left-only models showed increases from 1.43 {+/-} 0.53 SE to 3.38 {+/-} 1.01 SE and from 1.04 {+/-} 0.36 SE to 2.21 {+/-} 0.72 SE, respectively. Our findings also highlight the importance of incorporating bilateral asymmetry into population estimates to avoid overestimation. For single-session models, the full model density estimate was 11.7% higher in 2012-2013 and 27.8% higher in 2017-2019 compared to the average of the left-only and right-only estimates. For multi-session models, the full model density estimate was 13.0% higher in 2012-2013 and 46.9% higher in 2017-2019. This emphasizes the importance of addressing asymmetry to avoid potential overestimation. This study demonstrates the potential of combining advanced analytical frameworks with AI to improve wildlife population assessments. By refining SCR methodologies and addressing key biases, these methods provide critical insights for snow leopard conservation and broader applications to wildlife monitoring. While the results indicate a significant increase in snow leopard populations, continued monitoring and long-term studies are essential to account for changes due to environmental and anthropogenic factors.

Long-term monitoring of populations of rare, endangered species is often challenging. Both the availability of baseline historical datasets and appropriate methods for long-term monitoring are often limited. Anthropogenic climate change and landscape change can impact species distributions significantly, sometimes resulting in a distributional shift of species and, in some cases, driving species to extinction. The Forest Owlet is an endangered bird that was considered extinct but was rediscovered after 113 years in 1997. Since its rediscovery, followed by the description of its calls, there have been regular sightings of the species from newer locations, leading to its down-listing in the IUCN Red List from Critically Endangered to Endangered. One area of interest is the Dang region in Gujarat, India, where there have been no historical records despite previous ornithological studies, but there are several recent records. Through field surveys, we repurpose data from the last three decades (1990, 2000, and 2019) to explore if this bird currently occurs in previous study sites where it was not recorded. The period has seen the rise of acoustic data, and we assess if new survey techniques using playback of its call could increase its detection. Additionally, we examined any changes in landscape and climate in this region across the same period. We also developed an acoustic detection framework for detecting the Forest Owlet from co-occurring sympatric owlets using Automated Recording Units (ARU) and sound-analysis software. We assessed appropriate detection distances from vocalizing birds on the field to design a spacing grid for future surveys of the species. We could locate the Forest Owlet from the resurveys at locations where previous studies three decades ago had not. We also find a significant change in the landscape - loss of native forests and increased agriculture, along with a significant change in climatic variables - mean maximum temperature and mean rainfall. Although the detection of the Forest Owlet is higher when accompanied by playback of its call, there is considerable variation across the landscape. Our acoustic detector comparison led us to a detection strategy for long-term monitoring - different approaches for songs and calls, and an effective detection distance of 300m in its habitat. Although the species responds to climate and habitat change, our study cannot determine the cause of the increased reports of this endangered species. All possibilities remain; the increase in the recent records of the species could be from variable detection or changes in climate and land use. However, we do find increased detections with newer survey techniques with bioacoustics, and we recommend they be used with care for future baseline studies that are urgently required.

As habitat destruction intensifies due to expanding human infrastructure, balancing biodiversity conservation with resource extraction has become a global challenge. Thus, quantifying the extent and location of proposed mining operations is key to mitigating the impacts on threatened species. This issue is particularly acute in the biodiversity hotspots of southeast Asia, where rapid economic growth needs to be balanced with sustainable conservation management of the remaining tropical forest. The Philippine Eagle (Pithecophaga jefferyi), a critically endangered tropical forest raptor endemic to the Philippines, faces increasing threats from mining activities that destroy and fragment its tropical forest habitat. Here, we integrate Species Distribution Modelling with gap and hotspot analysis to assess the spatial overlap between Philippine Eagle nest habitat and mining concessions across a protected area network on Mindanao, where the largest population remains. Using a landscape-scale SDM built with remote sensing covariates and eagle occurrence data, we identified high-suitability nest habitats and projected these into the Eastern Mindanao Biodiversity Corridor (EMBC). Hotspot analysis revealed that 41 % of the total mining concessions area contained high-suitability nest habitat, highlighting significant conservation risks. Additionally, 46 % of indigenous ancestral domains contain high-suitability nest habitat, emphasizing the importance of indigenous land management in safeguarding eagle habitats. Our gap analysis demonstrated that 35 % of the EMBC protects high-suitability nest habitat, which here represents the remaining montane tropical forest. To mitigate mining impacts, we propose targeted nest surveys in high-risk areas, implementation of mining moratoriums near critical nesting zones, and strengthening indigenous and protected area land management. By integrating SDMs with spatial analysis, we provide a framework for directing conservation efforts to balance resource extraction with the preservation of the Philippine Eagles habitat. Our findings offer crucial insights for policy development and land-use planning to protect this iconic species and its threatened habitat.

The reliability of citizen science datasets where volunteers are free to choose sampling locations is not clear. This study examined local ( patch) scale spatial sampling patterns in the Atlas of Australian Birds and then compared reporting rates, i.e. the proportion of sampling units in which a given species was present, from a sample of atlas points with those from a regular sample. Three sites that have been were surveyed sequentially between January-May 2017: Killawarra Forest, Victoria, Coolah Tops National Park and Pilliga Nature Reserve, New South Wales. Spatial bias in atlas sampling patterns was evident as clusters at tourist areas and special habitat features and linear patterns along roads and creek lines. Atlas samples overestimated reporting rates for species with spatial distributions that were concordant with those sampling patterns and vice versa. At least two-fold differences in atlas/regular sample reporting rate ratios were detected for between 13-15% of non-rare species (with reporting rates [≥] 0.08). Concerns are raised that spatial sampling bias is common in the atlas and affects a variety of species, that popular sites may not be representative of habitat patches and that a large proportion of surveys are being filtered out in data analyses.

Elephant populations across much of Africa face severe rates of decline due to poaching and habitat loss. The recent decision by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) to separately list African forest (Loxodonta cyclotis) and savanna (L. africana) elephants on the IUCN Red List both highlights the different threats of extinction faced by these two species and emphasizes the need for genetic data to classify taxonomically undefined populations across the continent. This includes western Uganda - a region that harbors the largest known modern hybrid zone between the two species. We combined a new high-throughput amplicon sequencing (HTAS) approach with fecal DNA-based Capture Mark Recapture (CMR) analysis to infer the population sizes and species compositions of elephants living in two forests. We demonstrate that Kibale National Park hosts a relatively large elephant population (573 individuals, 95% CI: 410 to 916; 0.72 elephants/km2) composed primarily of hybrids (81.5%) and savanna elephants (17.7%), while Bwindi Impenetrable National Park hosts a smaller population (96 individuals, 95% CI: 64 to 145; 0.29 elephants/km2) composed of forest elephants (86.8%) and hybrids (13.2%). We then sequenced maternally inherited (mtDNA) and paternally inherited (AMELY) genetic markers and found that the two parks populations exhibit different patterns of sex-linked genetic variation. The contrasting patterns of species identity and genetic variation between these parks demonstrate different histories of hybridization and highlight the importance of site-specific monitoring where elephants are taxonomically undefined.

ContextFire is a key driver of wildlife pattern in northern Australia, and in recent decades there has been concerted efforts to return burning practices from unmanaged wildfire to approaches more in tune with traditional approaches to fire management undertaken by First Nations people. AimsWe examined fire pattern (early and late dry season) and distance from coast in relation to mammal pattern on a Cobourg peninsula, as there was some evidence in variable patterns in fire history and mammal persistence in this landscape. MethodsIn this study we examined data collected from Garig Gunak Barlu (Cobourg) National Park, Northern Territory, between 2004 and 2017. We investigated the relationship between all native mammal abundance and species richness, and abundance for eight species, with the three environmental variables (distance from coast, preceding early dry and late dry season burning frequency), using an information theoretic model selection and averaging framework. Key resultsThere is a distinctive change in the fire and mammal pattern with respect to distance from the coast; that is, early and late dry season burning increasing moving inland from the coast, and a concomitant decrease or persistence in some key species on this fire gradient. ConclusionsOur results suggest that fire management in northern Australia still needs targeted research linked to active management to more effectively prevent declines of mammal populations. ImplicationsThe location and shape of Garig Gunak Barlu (Cobourg) National Park provide an excellent opportunity to undertake some natural experiments in strategic burning to investigate improved approaches to conservation in fire-prone landscapes.

Plant biodiversity DNA banks are scarce despite the current plant biodiversity loss, their value for ex situ conservation, DNA preservation progress and the rapid growth of DNA-dependent research fields. We explore the principles and basic organization of plant biodiversity DNA banking and propose new ways of addressing the biodiversity loss through their implementation. Small Department collections could be created through a 6-step holistic process aiming to interconnect 3 types of collections (DNA extracts, DNA-rich tissues and herbarium vouchers) while generating Extended Specimens that would contribute to local and global plant biodiversity knowledge and conservation efforts. We propose a change in the international biobanking strategy (the Dynamo scheme) as interconnecting many small Department collections would put fewer samples at risk in case of catastrophe, optimise sampling strategies and cover in depth more taxa and distribution ranges, while encouraging national and international collaborations.