Frontiers in Conservation Science | New and Recent Articles

IntroductionWhale and dolphin watching tourism continues to expand globally, generating substantial economic benefits for coastal communities. However, ensuring that tourism activities remain safe, sustainable, and do not adversely affect cetacean populations remains a significant management challenge. This study evaluated humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) distribution in relation to the in…

In this study, we examine how the Waimiri Atroari (Kinja) articulate environmental conservation through Indigenous territorial governance in the Brazilian Amazon under conditions of sustained external pressure. Using a qualitative case study approach grounded in long-term engagement with the Waimiri Atroari territory and institutional programs, we analyze how biodiversity protection emerges from …

Freshwater mussels (family Unionidae) are among the most endangered aquatic species worldwide, making effective monitoring vital for their conservation. Traditional surveys are laborious, time-consuming, and often miss rare or low-density populations. Environmental DNA (eDNA) is a highly sensitive, non-invasive approach for freshwater mussel detection and monitoring; however, uncertainties in eco…

Range maps are time-consuming for experts to produce, but georeferenced records offer an alternative foundation for range mapping. To test data ranges from records for abundant species, I compared data ranges for 3,960 species globally to expert ranges, which are subjective approximations with errors. I produced kernels that contained 99% of georeferenced records, contributing high-certainty rang…

Ecological grief is usually analyzed among people and communities whose lands, livelihoods, species relations, safety, cultural continuity, and place attachments are directly altered by environmental change. This Perspective extends that scholarship to scientific communities as research-mediated witnesses of ecological loss while maintaining a strict ethical distinction between direct lived harm …

Guiana dolphins (Sotalia guianensis) serve as critical environmental sentinels, yet they face escalating threats from human activities in coastal and estuarine ecosystems. Despite extensive data collection, integrated assessments of large-scale stranding patterns in this endangered species remain limited. This study provides a comprehensive spatiotemporal evaluation of strandings along 2,785 km o…

The rehabilitation of orphaned grizzly bear (Ursus arctos) cubs of the year is often driven by public and animal welfare considerations, yet its efficacy as a functional conservation tool remains poorly understood. This study evaluates a five-year (2019–2023) captive-rear and release initiative in British Columbia (BC), Canada, representing the only systematically monitored program of its kind in…

Kelp forests are highly productive marine ecosystems that face increasing threats from global climate change, particularly in sub-Antarctic regions, where warming and glacial retreat are altering temperature, salinity, and light availability. In this study, we evaluated the responses of different frond types in Macrocystis pyrifera from two contrasting sites in the Magellanic sub-Antarctic ecoreg…

IntroductionPrimary grassland habitats support the year-round occurrence of the critically endangered Lesser florican (Sypheotides indicus) across its range in India. A detailed understanding of the habitat preferences of key grassland-dependent species strengthens effective management of grassland habitats.MethodsWe used Resource Selection Functions (RSFs), implemented as logistic regression mod…

Coral reef degradation is changing benthic habitats globally, with increasing transitions from structurally complex coral frameworks to rubble- and sediment dominated substrates. This study examined how habitat structure influences the abundance and behaviour of two surgeonfish, Naso brevirostris and Naso hexacanthus, across a coral–rubble gradient around Pemba Island, Tanzania, using Baited Remo…

Human societies are increasingly disconnected from the ecological systems upon which they depend, even as access to biodiversity information continues to expand. Biodiversity digitization, natural history collections, biodiversity informatics, and artificial intelligence have transformed how organisms and ecosystems are documented, analyzed, and communicated. While these developments have created…

Rapid socio-cultural transformation and increasing human disconnection from nature have contributed to biodiversity decline, particularly in Indigenous communities where traditional ecological systems are weakening. Guided by the Biocultural Conservation Theory, this study examined the influence of Indigenous cultural values, traditional ecological knowledge, and human–nature relationships on bio…

The Amazon rainforest hosts a remarkable level of biodiversity which, in turn, generates diverse and significant ecosystem services for humanity. Conserving the vast territories of the Amazon requires the active participation of the many traditional indigenous and non-indigenous communities that inhabit the region. For example, the conservation of the giant pirarucu fish through co-management wit…

Anthropogenic underwater noise has become a major environmental and ocean-governance concern affecting marine mammals worldwide, motivating increasing attention within international conservation bodies such as the International Whaling Commission (IWC). Here, we reconstruct how acoustics and anthropogenic underwater noise emerged, expanded, and diversified within the IWC Scientific Committee thro…

Expanding road networks increasingly encroach on wildlife home ranges, intensifying human-animal interactions. While ecological consequences like habitat fragmentation or wildlife mortality from vehicle collisions are well-studied, immediate behavioral responses of human road users during wildlife encounters remain underexplored despite their critical impact on safety and conservation. This study…

Artificial intelligence (AI) is transforming wildlife monitoring through automated analysis of images and acoustic recordings for tasks such as detection, filtering irrelevant events, and species identification. Many current approaches rely on large models trained on extensive datasets and deployed in the cloud, including systems such as MegaDetector or SpeciesNet for camera-trap imagery and Bird…

Climate emotions research is expanding rapidly, yet children under eight remain less visible than adolescents and adults within the field despite evidence that climate concern may emerge early in life. Such an omission is especially consequential in small island states that are more vulnerable to climate change. This Brief Research Report presents a secondary qualitative analysis of empirical stu…

The Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau (QTP) faces an escalating ecological crisis where decades of grassland degradation, amplified by climate change at twice the global average rate, threaten both regional water security for 1.4 billion people and the livelihoods of millions of Tibetan herders. Approximately 58.2% of northern Tibetan grasslands had reached degraded status by 2010, with ‘black soil beach’ …

IntroductionHuman activities are significantly altering the marine soundscape. Seismic exploration generates high-intensity sounds that propagate over large spatial and temporal scales and can adversely affect cetaceans, which rely on sound for communication, foraging, navigation, and survival.MethodsThis study investigates the acoustic responses of pantropical spotted dolphins (Stenella attenuat…

Mental health and psychosocial impacts of climate change – including increased PTSD, depression, and anxiety – are increasingly recognized as a critical impact of the climate crisis. Although the climate crisis is a global phenomenon affecting millions, existing literature predominantly captures individual psychopathological impacts. To date, here is limited understanding of the collective nature…