A severe lack of evidence limits effective conservation of the world's primates
File(s)
Author(s)
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
Threats to biodiversity are well documented. However, to effectively conserve species and their habitats, we need to know which conservation interventions do (or do not) work. Evidence-based conservation evaluates interventions within a scientific framework. The Conservation Evidence project has summarized thousands of studies testing conservation interventions and compiled these as synopses for various habitats and taxa. In the present article, we analyzed the interventions assessed in the primate synopsis and compared these with other taxa. We found that despite intensive efforts to study primates and the extensive threats they face, less than 1% of primate studies evaluated conservation effectiveness. The studies often lacked quantitative data, failed to undertake postimplementation monitoring of populations or individuals, or implemented several interventions at once. Furthermore, the studies were biased toward specific taxa, geographic regions, and interventions. We describe barriers for testing primate conservation interventions and propose actions to improve the conservation evidence base to protect this endangered and globally important taxon.
Date Issued
2020-09-01
Date Acceptance
2020-08-01
Citation
Bioscience, 2020, 70 (9), pp.794-803
ISSN
0006-3568
Publisher
Oxford University Press
Start Page
794
End Page
803
Journal / Book Title
Bioscience
Volume
70
Issue
9
Copyright Statement
© The Author(s) 2020. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the American Institute of Biological Sciences. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted reuse, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
License URL
Identifier
https://www.webofscience.com/api/gateway?GWVersion=2&SrcApp=PARTNER_APP&SrcAuth=LinksAMR&KeyUT=WOS:000580986300007&DestLinkType=FullRecord&DestApp=ALL_WOS&UsrCustomerID=a2bf6146997ec60c407a63945d4e92bb
Subjects
Biology
conservation interventions
effectiveness
evidence based
IUCN SSC Primate Specialist Group
Life Sciences & Biomedicine
Life Sciences & Biomedicine - Other Topics
NEED
Science & Technology
Publication Status
Published
Coverage Spatial
England
Date Publish Online
2020-08-26