Greetings,
Does spring feel like it came early or late? It's not just you! DC leafed out 3 weeks ahead of schedule.
This month is a bit of a grab bag: three papers on fishery management, one on assisted migration for wildlife, one on forests & fire, and one on the role of wildlife in climate mitigation that I found pretty misleading.
If you know someone who wants to sign up to receive these summaries, they can do so at http://bit.ly/sciencejon (no need to email me).
CLIMATE CHANGE & WILDLIFE:
Schmitz et al. 2023 makes a fair point but uses some egregious estimates to do so (please don't trust the estimated climate mitigation benefits). They argue that the role of animals in boosting carbon sequestration (and/or reducing soil carbon and methane emissions) in underappreciated, and they may be right. Fig 1 is a cool thought experiment looking at potential impacts of boosting animal populations in different case studies. BUT the estimate of a huge 6.41 additional Gt CO2e / yr that could be reduced via animals is based on some really weak assumptions. For example, 86% of that 6.41 Gt comes from marine fish (5.5 Gt / yr). But that 5.5 Gt comes from another report, and is actually an estimate of CURRENT fish carbon flux (not potential to increase additional sequestration via conservation) recognizing a ton of uncertainty. Their bison estimate (another 9% of the 6.41 Gt) assumes that bison start grazing ungrazed lands when in fact they'd be displacing cattle in most cases (and one of the papers they cite lists the C benefit of cattle and bison as about the same). The only other animal with a substantial contribution is grey wolves (4% of total), and it's based on a single study on net primary productivity in Michigan which ignores the albedo effect. So overall, this study starts with decent evidence but makes some really flawed assumptions about how to translate them into global climate mitigation potential.
WILDLIFE AND ASSISTED MIGRATION:
Fitzpatrick et al. 2023 looks at the potential for assisted migration (moving individual animals to different habitats, sometimes along w/ targeted captive breeding) as a form of 'genetic rescue' to restore gene flow across fragmented federally listed vertebrate populations in the US via assisted migration. They gave 222 spp a score from -1->4, with 2/3 of spp scoring 2 or higher (and thus may be candidates for assisted migration, see Fig 1b for results by type of animal, or Fig 2 for example candidate spp). Only 5% of spp. had a management plan mentioning "genetic rescue" (or the general concept), but 44% of candidate species had already used assisted migration (more frequent in fishes and mammals)). Note that italicized words are in a glossary at the end. Also note this paper does NOT include other connectivity strategies like habitat restoration, wildlife crossings, etc.
FORESTS & FIRE:
Prichard et al. 2021 is a review of several questions related to fire in US western forests (see Table 1 for the summary of questions & answers). They include whether and when/ how to use cutting trees and prescribed burns as tools for reducing wildfire risk and/or climate mitigation and/or ecological restoration. The authors argue that many dry forests (and some moist forests mixed into dry forest landscapes) historically experienced more frequent fires of low to moderate intensity (often set by Native Americans), but that these forests are now denser and more likely to have severe crown fires (especially as summers become warmer and drier). That in turn will cause some forests to be lost and shift to grasslands or other ecosystems. Read Table 1 for key takeaways, including that for many (not all) Western forests, thinning and prescribed burning are important tools. Side note: given the active debate on this topic, I asked for input from a few forest scientists deep in the lit, and they recommended this article.
FISHERY MANAGEMENT:
Cinner et al. 2019 is a 16 year study of rotational fishing / closure in Papua. They found success in compliance with the system (due to strong social cohesion driven by leaders sharing info, a "carrot and stick" approach, and lots of community participation) BUT even though closed areas rebounded, over the study period fish biomass dropped by about half. So even though the closure program worked as intended, it wasn't enough to offset overfishing when areas were open.
Cinner et al. 2012 is a study of 42 co-management arrangements for coral-dependent fisheries across 5 countries. Co-management led to more biomass than non-locally managed fished areas, and less than no-take closures (Fig 3). But see Fig 4 for key results (fish biomass was higher when markets were farther, and lower when more people replied on fishing for their primary income). They found just 54% of resource users saw co-management as improving their livelihoods (it seemed to benefit wealthier fishers w/ longer history of co-management and more agency).
Hughes et al. 2012 looks at how vulnerable different countries are to declining coral-dependent fisheries leading to reduced food security. Tables 2-4 have ratings of 27 countries vulnerability to declining fisheries impacting food security, as well as ratings of assets, flexibility, learning, and social organization. The most vulnerable countries are Indonesia, Liberia, Ivory Coast, and Kenya.
REFERENCES:
Cinner, J. E., McClanahan, T. R., MacNeil, M. A., Graham, N. A. J., Daw, T. M., Mukminin, A., Feary, D. A., Rabearisoa, A. L., Wamukota, A., Jiddawi, N., Campbell, S. J., Baird, A. H., Januchowski-Hartley, F. A., Hamed, S., Lahari, R., Morove, T., & Kuange, J. (2012). Comanagement of coral reef social-ecological systems. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 109(14), 5219–5222. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1121215109
Cinner, J. E., Lau, J. D., Bauman, A. G., Feary, D. A., Januchowski-Hartley, F. A., Rojas, C. A., Barnes, M. L., Bergseth, B. J., Shum, E., Lahari, R., Ben, J., & Graham, N. A. J. (2019). Sixteen years of social and ecological dynamics reveal challenges and opportunities for adaptive management in sustaining the commons. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 116(52), 26474–26483. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1914812116
Fitzpatrick, S. W., Mittan-Moreau, C., Miller, M., & Judson, J. M. (2023). Genetic rescue remains underused for aiding recovery of federally listed vertebrates in the United States. Journal of Heredity, March, 1–13. https://doi.org/10.1093/jhered/esad002
Hughes, S., Yau, A., Max, L., Petrovic, N., Davenport, F., Marshall, M., McClanahan, T. R., Allison, E. H., & Cinner, J. E. (2012). A framework to assess national level vulnerability from the perspective of food security: The case of coral reef fisheries. Environmental Science & Policy, 23, 95–108. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envsci.2012.07.012
Prichard, S. J., Hessburg, P. F., Hagmann, R. K., Povak, N. A., Dobrowski, S. Z., Hurteau, M. D., Kane, V. R., Keane, R. E., Kobziar, L. N., Kolden, C. A., North, M., Parks, S. A., Safford, H. D., Stevens, J. T., Yocom, L. L., Churchill, D. J., Gray, R. W., Huffman, D. W., Lake, F. K., & Khatri‐Chhetri, P. (2021). Adapting western North American forests to climate change and wildfires: 10 common questions. Ecological Applications, 31(8). https://doi.org/10.1002/eap.2433
Schmitz, O. J., Sylvén, M., Atwood, T. B., Bakker, E. S., Berzaghi, F., Brodie, J. F., Cromsigt, J. P. G. M., Davies, A. B., Leroux, S. J., Schepers, F. J., Smith, F. A., Stark, S., Svenning, J.-C., Tilker, A., & Ylänne, H. (2023). Trophic rewilding can expand natural climate solutions. Nature Climate Change. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-023-01631-6
Sincerely,
Jon
Does spring feel like it came early or late? It's not just you! DC leafed out 3 weeks ahead of schedule.
This month is a bit of a grab bag: three papers on fishery management, one on assisted migration for wildlife, one on forests & fire, and one on the role of wildlife in climate mitigation that I found pretty misleading.
If you know someone who wants to sign up to receive these summaries, they can do so at http://bit.ly/sciencejon (no need to email me).
CLIMATE CHANGE & WILDLIFE:
Schmitz et al. 2023 makes a fair point but uses some egregious estimates to do so (please don't trust the estimated climate mitigation benefits). They argue that the role of animals in boosting carbon sequestration (and/or reducing soil carbon and methane emissions) in underappreciated, and they may be right. Fig 1 is a cool thought experiment looking at potential impacts of boosting animal populations in different case studies. BUT the estimate of a huge 6.41 additional Gt CO2e / yr that could be reduced via animals is based on some really weak assumptions. For example, 86% of that 6.41 Gt comes from marine fish (5.5 Gt / yr). But that 5.5 Gt comes from another report, and is actually an estimate of CURRENT fish carbon flux (not potential to increase additional sequestration via conservation) recognizing a ton of uncertainty. Their bison estimate (another 9% of the 6.41 Gt) assumes that bison start grazing ungrazed lands when in fact they'd be displacing cattle in most cases (and one of the papers they cite lists the C benefit of cattle and bison as about the same). The only other animal with a substantial contribution is grey wolves (4% of total), and it's based on a single study on net primary productivity in Michigan which ignores the albedo effect. So overall, this study starts with decent evidence but makes some really flawed assumptions about how to translate them into global climate mitigation potential.
WILDLIFE AND ASSISTED MIGRATION:
Fitzpatrick et al. 2023 looks at the potential for assisted migration (moving individual animals to different habitats, sometimes along w/ targeted captive breeding) as a form of 'genetic rescue' to restore gene flow across fragmented federally listed vertebrate populations in the US via assisted migration. They gave 222 spp a score from -1->4, with 2/3 of spp scoring 2 or higher (and thus may be candidates for assisted migration, see Fig 1b for results by type of animal, or Fig 2 for example candidate spp). Only 5% of spp. had a management plan mentioning "genetic rescue" (or the general concept), but 44% of candidate species had already used assisted migration (more frequent in fishes and mammals)). Note that italicized words are in a glossary at the end. Also note this paper does NOT include other connectivity strategies like habitat restoration, wildlife crossings, etc.
FORESTS & FIRE:
Prichard et al. 2021 is a review of several questions related to fire in US western forests (see Table 1 for the summary of questions & answers). They include whether and when/ how to use cutting trees and prescribed burns as tools for reducing wildfire risk and/or climate mitigation and/or ecological restoration. The authors argue that many dry forests (and some moist forests mixed into dry forest landscapes) historically experienced more frequent fires of low to moderate intensity (often set by Native Americans), but that these forests are now denser and more likely to have severe crown fires (especially as summers become warmer and drier). That in turn will cause some forests to be lost and shift to grasslands or other ecosystems. Read Table 1 for key takeaways, including that for many (not all) Western forests, thinning and prescribed burning are important tools. Side note: given the active debate on this topic, I asked for input from a few forest scientists deep in the lit, and they recommended this article.
FISHERY MANAGEMENT:
Cinner et al. 2019 is a 16 year study of rotational fishing / closure in Papua. They found success in compliance with the system (due to strong social cohesion driven by leaders sharing info, a "carrot and stick" approach, and lots of community participation) BUT even though closed areas rebounded, over the study period fish biomass dropped by about half. So even though the closure program worked as intended, it wasn't enough to offset overfishing when areas were open.
Cinner et al. 2012 is a study of 42 co-management arrangements for coral-dependent fisheries across 5 countries. Co-management led to more biomass than non-locally managed fished areas, and less than no-take closures (Fig 3). But see Fig 4 for key results (fish biomass was higher when markets were farther, and lower when more people replied on fishing for their primary income). They found just 54% of resource users saw co-management as improving their livelihoods (it seemed to benefit wealthier fishers w/ longer history of co-management and more agency).
Hughes et al. 2012 looks at how vulnerable different countries are to declining coral-dependent fisheries leading to reduced food security. Tables 2-4 have ratings of 27 countries vulnerability to declining fisheries impacting food security, as well as ratings of assets, flexibility, learning, and social organization. The most vulnerable countries are Indonesia, Liberia, Ivory Coast, and Kenya.
REFERENCES:
Cinner, J. E., McClanahan, T. R., MacNeil, M. A., Graham, N. A. J., Daw, T. M., Mukminin, A., Feary, D. A., Rabearisoa, A. L., Wamukota, A., Jiddawi, N., Campbell, S. J., Baird, A. H., Januchowski-Hartley, F. A., Hamed, S., Lahari, R., Morove, T., & Kuange, J. (2012). Comanagement of coral reef social-ecological systems. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 109(14), 5219–5222. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1121215109
Cinner, J. E., Lau, J. D., Bauman, A. G., Feary, D. A., Januchowski-Hartley, F. A., Rojas, C. A., Barnes, M. L., Bergseth, B. J., Shum, E., Lahari, R., Ben, J., & Graham, N. A. J. (2019). Sixteen years of social and ecological dynamics reveal challenges and opportunities for adaptive management in sustaining the commons. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 116(52), 26474–26483. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1914812116
Fitzpatrick, S. W., Mittan-Moreau, C., Miller, M., & Judson, J. M. (2023). Genetic rescue remains underused for aiding recovery of federally listed vertebrates in the United States. Journal of Heredity, March, 1–13. https://doi.org/10.1093/jhered/esad002
Hughes, S., Yau, A., Max, L., Petrovic, N., Davenport, F., Marshall, M., McClanahan, T. R., Allison, E. H., & Cinner, J. E. (2012). A framework to assess national level vulnerability from the perspective of food security: The case of coral reef fisheries. Environmental Science & Policy, 23, 95–108. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envsci.2012.07.012
Prichard, S. J., Hessburg, P. F., Hagmann, R. K., Povak, N. A., Dobrowski, S. Z., Hurteau, M. D., Kane, V. R., Keane, R. E., Kobziar, L. N., Kolden, C. A., North, M., Parks, S. A., Safford, H. D., Stevens, J. T., Yocom, L. L., Churchill, D. J., Gray, R. W., Huffman, D. W., Lake, F. K., & Khatri‐Chhetri, P. (2021). Adapting western North American forests to climate change and wildfires: 10 common questions. Ecological Applications, 31(8). https://doi.org/10.1002/eap.2433
Schmitz, O. J., Sylvén, M., Atwood, T. B., Bakker, E. S., Berzaghi, F., Brodie, J. F., Cromsigt, J. P. G. M., Davies, A. B., Leroux, S. J., Schepers, F. J., Smith, F. A., Stark, S., Svenning, J.-C., Tilker, A., & Ylänne, H. (2023). Trophic rewilding can expand natural climate solutions. Nature Climate Change. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-023-01631-6
Sincerely,
Jon
p.p.s. The photo is of a piece at the Renwick gallery in DC. The caption says: 'A mature oak tree produces about two thousand acorns a year, but only one in ten thousand acorns reaches maturity. Hudnall explains, “I think the idea of constant, repeated, tiny attempts for success, with the understanding that most will go nowhere, became a way for me to think about slow progress toward health in my own life.” '
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