ORCID Profile
0000-0002-1978-615X
Current Organisations
University of Washington
,
University of Oxford
Does something not look right? The information on this page has been harvested from data sources that may not be up to date. We continue to work with information providers to improve coverage and quality. To report an issue, use the Feedback Form.
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 18-04-2018
DOI: 10.1111/COBI.13112
Abstract: Stopping declines in bio ersity is critically important, but it is only a first step toward achieving more ambitious conservation goals. The absence of an objective and practical definition of species recovery that is applicable across taxonomic groups leads to inconsistent targets in recovery plans and frustrates reporting and maximization of conservation impact. We devised a framework for comprehensively assessing species recovery and conservation success. We propose a definition of a fully recovered species that emphasizes viability, ecological functionality, and representation and use counterfactual approaches to quantify degree of recovery. This allowed us to calculate a set of 4 conservation metrics that demonstrate impacts of conservation efforts to date (conservation legacy) identify dependence of a species on conservation actions (conservation dependence) quantify expected gains resulting from conservation action in the medium term (conservation gain) and specify requirements to achieve maximum plausible recovery over the long term (recovery potential). These metrics can incentivize the establishment and achievement of ambitious conservation targets. We illustrate their use by applying the framework to a vertebrate, an invertebrate, and a woody and an herbaceous plant. Our approach is a preliminary framework for an International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Green List of Species, which was mandated by a resolution of IUCN members in 2012. Although there are several challenges in applying our proposed framework to a wide range of species, we believe its further development, implementation, and integration with the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species will help catalyze a positive and ambitious vision for conservation that will drive sustained conservation action.
Publisher: Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
Date: 22-11-2021
DOI: 10.1101/2021.11.22.469568
Abstract: Advances in library-based methods for peptide detection from data independent acquisition (DIA) mass spectrometry have made it possible to detect and quantify tens of thousands of peptides in a single mass spectrometry run. However, many of these methods rely on a comprehensive, high quality spectral library containing information about the expected retention time and fragmentation patterns of peptides in the s le. Empirical spectral libraries are often generated through data-dependent acquisition and may suffer from biases as a result. Spectral libraries can be generated in silico but these models are not trained to handle all possible post-translational modifications. Here, we propose a false discovery rate controlled spectrum-centric search workflow to generate spectral libraries directly from gas-phase fractionated DIA tandem mass spectrometry data. We demonstrate that this strategy is able to detect phosphorylated peptides and can be used to generate a spectral library for accurate peptide detection and quantitation in wide window DIA data. We compare the results of this search workflow to other library-free approaches and demonstrate that our search is competitive in terms of accuracy and sensitivity. These results demonstrate that the proposed workflow has the capacity to generate spectral libraries while avoiding the limitations of other methods.
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 12-05-2022
DOI: 10.1111/COBI.13918
Abstract: The pink pigeon ( Nesoenas mayeri ) is an endemic species of Mauritius that has made a remarkable recovery after a severe population bottleneck in the 1970s to early 1990s. Prior to this bottleneck, an ex situ population was established from which captive‐bred in iduals were released into free‐living subpopulations to increase population size and genetic variation. This conservation rescue led to rapid population recovery to 400–480 in iduals, and the species was twice downlisted on the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List. We analyzed the impacts of the bottleneck and genetic rescue on neutral genetic variation during and after population recovery (1993–2008) with restriction site‐associated sequencing, microsatellite analyses, and quantitative genetic analysis of studbook data of 1112 birds from zoos in Europe and the United States. We used computer simulations to study the predicted changes in genetic variation and population viability from the past into the future. Genetic variation declined rapidly, despite the population rebound, and the effective population size was approximately an order of magnitude smaller than census size. The species carried a high genetic load of circa 15 lethal equivalents for longevity. Our computer simulations predicted continued inbreeding will likely result in increased expression of deleterious mutations (i.e., a high realized load) and severe inbreeding depression. Without continued conservation actions, it is likely that the pink pigeon will go extinct in the wild within 100 years. Conservation rescue of the pink pigeon has been instrumental in the recovery of the free‐living population. However, further genetic rescue with captive‐bred birds from zoos is required to recover lost variation, reduce expression of harmful deleterious variation, and prevent extinction. The use of genomics and modeling data can inform IUCN assessments of the viability and extinction risk of species, and it helps in assessments of the conservation dependency of populations.
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 25-03-2022
DOI: 10.1111/ELE.14004
Abstract: Accelerating rates of bio ersity loss underscore the need to understand how species achieve resilience—the ability to resist and recover from a/biotic disturbances. Yet, the factors determining the resilience of species remain poorly understood, due to disagreements on its definition and the lack of large‐scale analyses. Here, we investigate how the life history of 910 natural populations of animals and plants predicts their intrinsic ability to be resilient. We show that demographic resilience can be achieved through different combinations of compensation, resistance and recovery after a disturbance. We demonstrate that these resilience components are highly correlated with life history traits related to the species’ pace of life and reproductive strategy. Species with longer generation times require longer recovery times post‐disturbance, whilst those with greater reproductive capacity have greater resistance and compensation. Our findings highlight the key role of life history traits to understand species resilience, improving our ability to predict how natural populations cope with disturbance regimes.
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 22-11-2019
DOI: 10.1111/COBI.13220
Abstract: Although evidence-based approaches have become commonplace for determining the success of conservation measures for the management of threatened taxa, there are no standard metrics for assessing progress in research or management. We developed 5 metrics to meet this need for threatened taxa and to quantify the need for further action and effective alleviation of threats. These metrics (research need, research achievement, management need, management achievement, and percent threat reduction) can be aggregated to examine trends for an in idual taxon or for threats across multiple taxa. We tested the utility of these metrics by applying them to Australian threatened birds, which appears to be the first time that progress in research and management of threats has been assessed for all threatened taxa in a faunal group at a continental scale. Some research has been conducted on nearly three-quarters of known threats to taxa, and there is a clear understanding of how to alleviate nearly half of the threats with the highest impact. Some management has been attempted on nearly half the threats. Management outcomes ranged from successful trials to complete mitigation of the threat, including for one-third of high-impact threats. Progress in both research and management tended to be greater for taxa that were monitored or occurred on oceanic islands. Predation by cats had the highest potential threat score. However, there has been some success reducing the impact of cat predation, so climate change (particularly drought), now poses the greatest threat to Australian threatened birds. Our results demonstrate the potential for the proposed metrics to encapsulate the major trends in research and management of both threats and threatened taxa and provide a basis for international comparisons of evidence-based conservation science.
Publisher: Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
Date: 14-03-2022
DOI: 10.1101/2022.03.11.483822
Abstract: The Anthropocene is tightly associated with a drastic loss of species worldwide and the disappearance of their key ecosystem functions. The on-going reduction in ecosystem functionality is driven by global and local threats. The orders Testudines (turtles and tortoises) and Crocodilia (crocodiles, alligators, and gharials) contain numerous threatened, long-lived species for which their functional ersity and potential erosion by anthropogenic impacts remains unknown. Here, we examine 259 (69%) of the existing 375 species of Testudines and Crocodilia, quantifying their life history strategies ( i.e ., schedules of survival, development, and reproduction) from open-access data on their demography, ancestry, and threats. We find that the loss of functional ersity in simulated extinction scenarios of threatened species is greater than expected by chance. Moreover, the effects of unsustainable local consumption, diseases, and pollution are associated with specific functional strategies. In contrast, climate change, habitat disturbance, and global trade affect all species independent of their life history strategy. Importantly, the loss of functional ersity for threatened species by habitat disturbance is twice that for all other threats. Our findings highlight the importance of conservation programmes focused on preserving the functional ersity of life history strategies jointly with the phylogenetic representativity of these highly threatened groups.
Publisher: Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
Date: 07-2021
DOI: 10.1101/2021.06.30.450480
Abstract: Accelerating rates of bio ersity loss underscore the need to understand how species achieve resilience –their ability to resist and recover from a/biotic disturbances. Yet, the factors determining the resilience of species remain poorly understood, due to disagreements on its definition and the lack of large-scale analyses. Here, we investigate how the life history of 785 natural populations of animals and plants predict their intrinsic ability to be resilient. We show that demographic resilience can be achieved through different combinations of compensation, resistance, and recovery after a disturbance. We demonstrate that these resilience components are highly correlated with life history traits related to the species’ pace of life and reproductive strategy. Species with longer generation times require longer recovery times post-disturbance, while those with greater reproductive capacity have greater resistance and compensation. Our findings highlight the key role of life history traits to understand species resilience, improving our ability to predict how natural populations cope with disturbance regimes.
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 21-07-2021
DOI: 10.1111/COBI.13756
Abstract: Recognizing the imperative to evaluate species recovery and conservation impact, in 2012 the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) called for development of a "Green List of Species" (now the IUCN Green Status of Species). A draft Green Status framework for assessing species' progress toward recovery, published in 2018, proposed 2 separate but interlinked components: a standardized method (i.e., measurement against benchmarks of species' viability, functionality, and preimpact distribution) to determine current species recovery status (herein species recovery score) and application of that method to estimate past and potential future impacts of conservation based on 4 metrics (conservation legacy, conservation dependence, conservation gain, and recovery potential). We tested the framework with 181 species representing erse taxa, life histories, biomes, and IUCN Red List categories (extinction risk). Based on the observed distribution of species' recovery scores, we propose the following species recovery categories: fully recovered, slightly depleted, moderately depleted, largely depleted, critically depleted, extinct in the wild, and indeterminate. Fifty-nine percent of tested species were considered largely or critically depleted. Although there was a negative relationship between extinction risk and species recovery score, variation was considerable. Some species in lower risk categories were assessed as farther from recovery than those at higher risk. This emphasizes that species recovery is conceptually different from extinction risk and reinforces the utility of the IUCN Green Status of Species to more fully understand species conservation status. Although extinction risk did not predict conservation legacy, conservation dependence, or conservation gain, it was positively correlated with recovery potential. Only 1.7% of tested species were categorized as zero across all 4 of these conservation impact metrics, indicating that conservation has, or will, play a role in improving or maintaining species status for the vast majority of these species. Based on our results, we devised an updated assessment framework that introduces the option of using a dynamic baseline to assess future impacts of conservation over the short term to avoid misleading results which were generated in a small number of cases, and redefines short term as 10 years to better align with conservation planning. These changes are reflected in the IUCN Green Status of Species Standard.
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 29-11-2019
DOI: 10.1111/COBI.13425
Abstract: Species interactions matter to conservation. Setting an ambitious recovery target for a species requires considering the size, density, and demographic structure of its populations such that they fulfill the interactions, roles, and functions of the species in the ecosystems in which they are embedded. A recently proposed framework for an International Union for Conservation of Nature Green List of Species formalizes this requirement by defining a fully recovered species in terms of representation, viability, and functionality. Defining and quantifying ecological function from the viewpoint of species recovery is challenging in concept and application, but also an opportunity to insert ecological theory into conservation practice. We propose 2 complementary approaches to assessing a species' ecological functions: confirmation (listing interactions of the species, identifying ecological processes and other species involved in these interactions, and quantifying the extent to which the species contributes to the identified ecological process) and elimination (inferring functionality by ruling out symptoms of reduced functionality, analogous to the red-list approach that focuses on symptoms of reduced viability). Despite the challenges, incorporation of functionality into species recovery planning is possible in most cases and it is essential to a conservation vision that goes beyond preventing extinctions and aims to restore a species to levels beyond what is required for its viability. This vision focuses on conservation and recovery at the species level and sees species as embedded in ecosystems, influencing and being influenced by the processes in those ecosystems. Thus, it connects and integrates conservation at the species and ecosystem levels.
Location: United States of America
Location: United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
No related grants have been discovered for Molly Grace.