Suchergebnisse

Despite progress in recent decades, the conservation management of insects and allied invertebrates in Australia is challenging and remains a formidable task against a background of poor taxonomic and biological knowledge, limited resources (funds and scientific expertise) and a relatively low level of community engagement, education and awareness. In this review, we propose a new, strategic national approach for the conservation of insects and allied invertebrates in Australia to complement and build on existing actions and increase awareness with the general public and government. A review of all species listed under relevant State and Territory Acts, national legislation (EPBC Act) and on international lists (IUCN Red List) indicated that of the 285 species currently listed under these conservation schedules, 10 (3%) are considered extinct, 204 (72%) threatened (Critically Endangered, Endangered or Vulnerable) and 71 (25%) are classified as other (Threatened, Near Threatened, Rare or Least Concern). Comparison of the geographic ranges of listed species in relation to bioregions (IBRA regions) shows a striking discordance in spatial representation across the Australian landscape, reflecting an ad hoc approach to threatened species conservation and the concentration of invertebrate biologists in urban centres of temperate coastal Australia. There is a positive relationship between the number of threatened species and extent of protection according to the National Reserve System within each IBRA region, exemplifying the anomaly in spatial representativeness of listed species. To overcome these shortfalls, we propose a novel educational, regional approach based on selecting, for each of the 89 IBRA regions, a relatively small set of 'flagship taxa' (threatened species and/or 'iconic' species of high scientific/social value), which are then promoted and/or nominated for listing by the scientific community. Such species could be adopted by local community groups whereby a community‐based regional approach would ensure spatial representativeness of insect conservation across the entire Australian continent. This novel approach may ultimately provide a better strategy for the conservation management of habitats and threatened ecological communities, reducing extinction risk of threatened species and addressing key threatening processes. Members of the Australian entomological community are strongly encouraged to nominate candidate taxa as flagship species for wider promotion and/or listing nationally under the EPBC Act. ; The authors, as members of the Australian Entomological Society Conservation Committee, gratefully acknowledge the Australian Entomological Society for financial support towards the preparation of this paper.

Found throughout the tree of life and in every ecosystem, parasites are some of the most diverse, ecologically important animals on Earth-but in almost all cases, the least protected by wildlife or ecosystem conservation efforts. For decades, ecologists have been calling for research to understand parasites' important ecological role, and increasingly, to protect as many species from extinction as possible. However, most conservationists still work within priority systems for funding and effort that exclude or ignore parasites, or treat parasites as an obstacle to be overcome. Our working group identified 12 goals for the next decade that could advance parasite biodiversity conservation through an ambitious mix of research, advocacy, and management. ; Ecological Society of America; Georgetown Environment Initiative; Smithsonian National Museum of Natural HistorySmithsonian InstitutionSmithsonian National Museum of Natural History; Peter Buck Postdoctoral Fellowship from the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History; National Science FoundationNational Science Foundation (NSF) [OCE-1829509]; Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Sloan Research FellowshipAlfred P. Sloan Foundation; University of Washington Innovation Award; University of Washington Royalty Research Fund awardUniversity of Washington ; The authors kindly thank the Ecological Society of America for supporting our workshop, as well as additional participants Kevin Burgio, Tad Dallas, and Roger Jovani; Laura Whitehouse, for her graphic design work on Fig. 1; Jonathan Wojcik for allowing the inclusion of his copyright Diplozoon illustration in Fig. 3; and dozens of collaborators and friends who have been part of the foundational work on parasite conservation, including Anna Phillips, Veronica Bueno, Carrie Cizauskas, Christopher Clements, Graeme Cumming, Eric Dougherty, Kevin Johnson, Wayne Getz, Nyeema Harris, Elizabeth Nichols, Sergey Mironov, Robert Poulin, and Heather Proctor. CJC gratefully acknowledges funding support from the Georgetown Environment Initiative, and research support from Anna Phillips and the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History. KCB was supported by a Peter Buck Postdoctoral Fellowship from the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History. CLW was supported by a grant from the National Science Foundation (OCE-1829509), an Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Sloan Research Fellowship, a University of Washington Innovation Award, and a University of Washington Royalty Research Fund award. Any use of trade, product, or firm names in this publication is for descriptive purposes only and does not imply endorsement by the U.S. Government. ; Public domain authored by a U.S. government employee