140 Briefly INTERNATIONAL
Freshwater fish highlight escalating climate impacts An IUCN update released in November 2023 completed the first comprehensive as- sessment of freshwater fish species, reveal- ing that 25%(3,086 out of 14,898 assessed species) are at risk of extinction. At least 17% of threatened freshwater fishes are af- fected by effects of climate change, includ- ing decreasing water levels, rising sea levels causing seawater to move up rivers, and shifting seasons. This compounds threats from pollution (affecting 57%ofat- risk freshwater fishes), dams and water extraction (45%), invasive species and dis- eases (33%), and overfishing (25%). For ex- ample, the large-toothed Lake Turkana robber Brycinus ferox, an economically important species in Kenya, has moved from Least Concern to Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List because of overfishing, climate-change driven habitat degradation and dams reducing freshwater entering the lake. Source: IUCN (2023)
iucn.org/press-release/ 202312/freshwater-fish-highlight-escalating- climate-impacts-species-iucn-red-list
New open access learning hub for conservationists launched Conservation NGO Fauna & Flora has launched an open access learning hub for conservation professionals. Hosted on its own dedicated website, the hub features over 20 e-learning courses, authored by Fauna & Flora technical specialists. Courses cover a wide range of topics including stake- holder engagement, grievance mechanisms, good fund management, conflict resolution, active listening, achieving work–life balance, learning from failure, effective strategies to motivate people and more. New courses are added continuously, including in lan- guages other than English. The e-learning hub is hosted on the Capacity for Conservation platform, a website managed by Fauna & Flora together with Birdlife International to support self-led organiza- tional development. The many resources hosted on the website, all of which are freely available, are aiming to help conservationor- ganizations to develop themselves to be stronger, more resilient and able to deliver enduring conservation
impacts.The creation of the e-learning hub was made possible through support from Arcadia—a charitable fund of Lisbet Rausing and Peter Baldwin. Source: Capacity for Conservation (2023)
capacityforconservation.org/elearning
Future ofmigratory bird species put at risk by cyclones and droughts Research led by the Zoological Society of London reveals that migratory bird species globally are affected by cyclones and droughts. Combining almost 30 years of global data with information on 383 fully migratory bird species, the team identified that 182 species were highly exposed to cy- clones or drought in either their breeding or wintering ranges, with an additional 67 spe- cies highly exposed to both types of events within a singular range. For example, spe- cies such as common swifts, which provide insect control and crop protection in both their Eurasian breeding grounds and African wintering grounds, are severely ex- posed to drought: more than 95% of popu- lations have experienced extreme drought in the last 30 years. The study also reveals that cranes, crakes, rails and nightjars were most commonly exposed to cyclones, whereas hawks, eagles, vultures and kites were most exposed to droughts. The re- searchers call for collaborative conservation efforts and action to tackle climate change. Source: ZSL (2023)
zsl.org/news-and-events/ news/future-200-migratory-bird-species- put-risk-cyclones-and-droughts
Nearly half of all flowering plants may face the threat of extinction Scientists from the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, built a model that uses artificial intel- ligence (AI) to guess whether plant species are threatened. Only 18%of all plant species have been assessed for the IUCN Red List, which is an important channel for conser- vation funding. The researchers showed the AI all plants that have been evaluated, and taught it to recognize the threatened ones based on shared qualities. The AI picked out geographic risk factors, such as plants in the tropics that will be subjected to more warming in the future. Other plants were identified as threatened because of their precarious habitats, for example epi- phytes that grow on top of other plants. Once the AI reliably reproduced the Red List’s existing classifications, it was pre- sented with information on new, unlisted species, asking whether they more re- sembled the threatened or the non- threatened plants. Of 330,000 species of flowering plants, the AI categorized 45% as threatened. The team hopes the IUCN can now focus its attention on those the AI is most confident are in danger. Sources: bioRxiv (2023)
doi.org/gszn3k & Mongabay (2023)
news.mongabay.com/ 2023/12/nearly-half-of-the-worlds- flowering-plants-face-the-threat-of- extinction-study-says
Endangered vultures protected by international conservation project An international effort is successfully pro- tecting Endangered Egyptian vultures by tackling threats along their migration route between Europe, the Middle East and Africa. The birds are threatened by shooting, poisoning and electrocution as they migrate across 14 countries each year. Their population in Eastern Europe has dropped from 600 breeding pairs in the 1980s to nowjust 50.An EU-funded conser- vation project was launched in 2017 to pro- tect them along their migration route. In the Balkans, the number of poisoning incidents halved between 2018 and 2022 thanks to conservationists working with farmers to reduce the use of poisoned bait for livestock predators. Thirty captive-bred vultures were released in Bulgaria, a key breeding site, between 2016 and 2022. The project also insulated live components on.10,000 electricity poles near perching sites from Bulgaria to Ethiopia, and promoted the use of substitutes for vulture body parts in traditional medicine in Niger and Nigeria. This has led to a small decrease in mortality and a population growth of 0.5% per year. Sources: Animal Conservation (2023) doi. org/md9z & New Scientist (2023)
newscientist.com/article/2403949- endangered-vultures-saved-from-deadly- poisoning-and-electrocution
DNA extracted from paw prints helps study elusive polar bears Polar bears are mostly solitary creatures that roam across huge areas of rugged, re- mote terrain in Canada, Norway, Russia, Greenland and Alaska. This makes it diffi- cult to find them and to study how they are responding to rising global temperatures. Now, an emerging research method may be able to help. Scientists have shown they can identify individual bears by analyzing tiny amounts of DNA they leave behind in footprints in the snow. Past studies have successfully used environmental DNA (eDNA) to detect wildlife, but this is the first time researchers have linked eDNA with individual animals. Researchers now hope to combine eDNA with other techni- ques, such as tracking collars, aerial studies using synthetic aperture radar and artificial intelligence models, to get a more complete picture of polar bear populations. Sources: Frontiers in Conservation Science (2023)
doi.org/gs7s3v & Smithsonian Magazine (2023)
smithsonianmag.com/ smart-news/dna-pulled-from-paw-prints- may-help-researchers-study-elusive-polar- bears-180983384
Oryx, 2024, 58(2), 139–144 © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of Fauna & Flora International doi:10.1017/S0030605324000218
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