Are we working towards global research priorities for management and conservation of sea turtles?

This is the final version. Available from Inter Research via the DOI in this recordThere is another ORE record for this publication: http://hdl.handle.net/10871/24817In 2010, an international group of 35 sea turtle researchers refined an initial list of more than 200 research questions into 20 metaquestions that were considered key for management and conservation of sea turtles. These were classified under 5 categories: reproductive biology, biogeography, population ecology, threats and conservation strategies. To obtain a picture of how research is being focused towards these key questions, we undertook a systematic review of the peer-reviewed literature (2014 and 2015) attributing papers to the original 20 questions. In total, we reviewed 605 articles in full and from these 355 (59%) were judged to substantively address the 20 key questions, with others focusing on basic science and monitoring that may lead to innovations or inform subsequent interpretation of effectiveness of conservation interventions and/or severity of threats. Progress to answering the 20 questions was not uniform and there were biases regarding focal turtle species, geographic scope and publication outlet. Whilst it offers some meaningful indications as to effort, quantifying peer-reviewed literature output is obviously not the only, and possibly not the best, metric for understanding research progress towards informing key conservation and management goals. Along with the literature review, an international group based on the original project consortium, with additional members, were assigned in groups of two or three (based on core expertise) to critically summarise recent progress towards answering each of the 20 questions. We found that significant research is being expended towards global priorities for management and conservation of sea turtles. Although highly variable, there has been significant progress in all the key questions identified in 2010. Undertaking this critical review has highlighted that it may be timely to undertake one or more new prioritizing exercises. For this to have maximal benefit we make a range of recommendations for its execution. These include a far greater engagement with social sciences, widening the pool of contributors and focussing the questions, perhaps disaggregating ecology and conservation.K.R.W-S is supported by the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship under Grant No. DGE-125252

Global research priorities for sea turtles: informing management and conservation in the 21st century

Over the past 3 decades, the status of sea turtles and the need for their protection to aid population recovery have increasingly captured the interest of government agencies, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and the general public worldwide. This interest has been matched by increased research attention, focusing on a wide variety of topics relating to sea turtle biology and ecology, together with the interrelations of sea turtles with the physical and natural environments. Although sea turtles have been better studied than most other marine fauna, management actions and their evaluation are often hindered by the lack of data on turtle biology, human-turtle interactions, turtle population status and threats. In an effort to inform effective sea turtle conservation a list of priority research questions was assembled based on the opinions of 35 sea turtle researchers from 13 nations working in fields related to turtle biology and/or conservation. The combined experience of the contributing researchers spanned the globe as well as many relevant disciplines involved in conservation research. An initial list of more than 200 questions gathered from respondents was condensed into 20 metaquestions and classified under 5 categories: reproductive biology, biogeography, population ecology, threats and conservation strategies. © Inter-Research 2010

Are we working towards global research priorities for management and conservation of sea turtles?

In 2010, an international group of 35 sea turtle researchers refined an initial list of more than 200 research questions into 20 metaquestions that were considered key for management and conservation of sea turtles. These were classified under 5 categories: reproductive biology, biogeography, population ecology, threats and conservation strategies. To obtain a picture of how research is being focused towards these key questions, we undertook a systematic review of the peer-reviewed literature (2014 and 2015) attributing papers to the original 20 questions. In total, we reviewed 605 articles in full and from these 355 (59%) were judged to substantively address the 20 key questions, with others focusing on basic science and monitoring. Progress to answering the 20 questions was not uniform, and there were biases regarding focal turtle species, geographic scope and publication outlet. Whilst it offers some meaningful indications as to effort, quantifying peer-reviewed literature output is ob viously not the only, and possibly not the best, metric for understanding progress towards informing key conservation and management goals. Along with the literature review, an international group based on the original project consortium was assigned to critically summarise recent progress towards answering each of the 20 questions. We found that significant research is being expended towards global priorities for management and conservation of sea turtles. Although highly variable, there has been significant progress in all the key questions identified in 2010. Undertaking this critical review has highlighted that it may be timely to undertake one or more new prioritizing exercises. For this to have maximal benefit we make a range of recommendations for its execution. These include a far greater engagement with social sciences, widening the pool of contributors and focussing the questions, perhaps disaggregating ecology and conservation

Terraced Subtropical Farming: Sustainable Strategies for Soil Conservation

47 páginas.- 5 tablas.- 8 figuras.- 208 referenciasTerracing is a soil conservation strategy applied worldwide to prevent erosion and runoff on sloping lands. Orchard terraces can considerably reduce soil loss due to water erosion if they are well planned, correctly constructed and properly maintained. Terraces have to be combined with additional soil conservation practices, of which the most important is the maintenance of a soil cover, especially during the rainy period. On the coastal strip of the provinces of Granada and Malaga (south-eastern Spain), irrigated subtropical fruit species have been introduced and cultivated on terraces with a considerable importance as the only European producer region. The subtropical farming in this zone also has strong socio-economic impact. In the present chapter, land-use changes were analysed in a selected representative watershed over 29 years. According to the findings, formerly, 97.5% of the watershed was devoted to traditional Mediterranean crops; however, after this period, due to abandonment, this area was reduced to 17.6% and increased in subtropical fruit crops (26.6%), shrubland (29.8%) and abandoned cropland (24.6%). The main driving force in land-use change has been intensive irrigation on terraces planted with subtropical crops, which are economically more profitable than traditional rainfed crops, almond and olive, which have been replaced or abandoned. The intensification of subtropical farming in terraces provokes environmental effects, especially those regarding soil and water resources, which need to be minimized. The results support the recommendation of using plant covers on the taluses of subtropical crop terraces in order to control soil erosion and improve the soil quality in the taluses of orchard terraces. In this sense, compared to bare soil, thyme and native spontaneous vegetation plant covers reduced the runoff with 94% and 93% and declined erosion with 71% and 79%, respectively. That is to avoid the collapse of the structure and make more feasible the subtropical fruit cultivation in the study area. Thus, it is possible to mitigate the impact of subtropical farming on terraces by adopting sustainable measures for soil and water conservation.Part of this publication was sponsored by the research project, ‘Impact of deficit irrigation on productivity of subtropical fruit crops: tools for sustainable water stress management’ (PP.AVA.AVA201601.8), and cofinanced by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) within the Operational Programme Andalusia 2014–2020 ‘Andalucía is moving with Europe’.Peer reviewe