A Severe Lack of Evidence Limits Effective Conservation of the World's Primates

Junker, J.; Petrovan, S.O.; Arroyo-RodrÍguez, V.; Boonratana, R.; Byler, D.; Chapman, C.A.; Chetry, D.; Cheyne, S.M.; Cornejo, F.M.; Cortes-Ortiz, L.; Cowlishaw, G.; Christie, A.P.; Crockford, C.; De La Torre, S.; De Melo, F.R.; Fan, P.; Grueter, C.C.; GuzmÁn-Caro, D.C.; Heymann, E.W.; Herbinger, I.; Hoang, M.D.; Horwich, R.H.; Humle, T.; Ikemeh, R.A.; Imong, I.S.; Jerusalinsky, L.; Johnson, S.E.; Kappeler, P.M.; Kierulff, M.C.M.; Kone, I.; Kormos, R.; Le, K.Q.; Li, B.; Marshall, A.J.; Meijaard, E.; Mittermeier, R.A.; Muroyama, Y.; Neugebauer, E.; Orth, L.; Palacios, E.; Papworth, S.K.; Plumptre, A.J.; Rawson, B.M.; Refisch, J.; Ratsimbazafy, J.; Roos, C.; Setchell, J.M.; Smith, R.K.; Sop, T.; Schwitzer, C.; Slater, K.; Strum, S.C.; Sutherland, W.J.; Talebi, M.; Wallis, J.; Wich, S.; Williamson, E.A.; Wittig, R.M.; KÜhl, H.S.

doi:10.1093/biosci/biaa082

A Severe Lack of Evidence Limits Effective Conservation of the World's Primates

Junker, J.; Petrovan, S.O.; Arroyo-RodrÍguez, V.; Boonratana, R.; Byler, D.; Chapman, C.A.; Chetry, D.; Cheyne, S.M.; Cornejo, F.M.; Cortes-Ortiz, L.; Cowlishaw, G.; Christie, A.P.; Crockford, C.; De La Torre, S.; De Melo, F.R.; Fan, P.; Grueter, C.C.; GuzmÁn-Caro, D.C.; Heymann, E.W.; Herbinger, I.; Hoang, M.D.; Horwich, R.H.; Humle, T.; Ikemeh, R.A.; Imong, I.S.; Jerusalinsky, L.; Johnson, S.E.; Kappeler, P.M.; Kierulff, M.C.M.; Kone, I.; Kormos, R.; Le, K.Q.; Li, B.; Marshall, A.J.; Meijaard, E.; Mittermeier, R.A.; Muroyama, Y.; Neugebauer, E.; Orth, L.; Palacios, E.; Papworth, S.K.; Plumptre, A.J.; Rawson, B.M.; Refisch, J.; Ratsimbazafy, J.; Roos, C.; Setchell, J.M.; Smith, R.K.; Sop, T.; Schwitzer, C.; Slater, K.; Strum, S.C.; Sutherland, W.J.; Talebi, M.; Wallis, J.; Wich, S.; Williamson, E.A.; Wittig, R.M.; KÜhl, H.S.

Authors

J. Junker

S.O. Petrovan

V. Arroyo-RodrÍguez

R. Boonratana

D. Byler

C.A. Chapman

D. Chetry

S.M. Cheyne

F.M. Cornejo

L. Cortes-Ortiz

G. Cowlishaw

A.P. Christie

C. Crockford

S. De La Torre

F.R. De Melo

P. Fan

C.C. Grueter

D.C. GuzmÁn-Caro

E.W. Heymann

I. Herbinger

M.D. Hoang

R.H. Horwich

T. Humle

R.A. Ikemeh

I.S. Imong

L. Jerusalinsky

S.E. Johnson

P.M. Kappeler

M.C.M. Kierulff

I. Kone

R. Kormos

K.Q. Le

B. Li

A.J. Marshall

E. Meijaard

R.A. Mittermeier

Y. Muroyama

E. Neugebauer

L. Orth

E. Palacios

S.K. Papworth

A.J. Plumptre

B.M. Rawson

J. Refisch

J. Ratsimbazafy

C. Roos

Professor Jo Setchell joanna.setchell@durham.ac.uk
Professor

R.K. Smith

T. Sop

C. Schwitzer

K. Slater

S.C. Strum

W.J. Sutherland

M. Talebi

J. Wallis

S. Wich

E.A. Williamson

R.M. Wittig

H.S. KÜhl

Abstract

Threats to biodiversity are well documented. However, to effectively conserve species and their habitats, we need to know which conservation interventions do (or do not) work. Evidence-based conservation evaluates interventions within a scientific framework. The Conservation Evidence project has summarized thousands of studies testing conservation interventions and compiled these as synopses for various habitats and taxa. In the present article, we analyzed the interventions assessed in the primate synopsis and compared these with other taxa. We found that despite intensive efforts to study primates and the extensive threats they face, less than 1% of primate studies evaluated conservation effectiveness. The studies often lacked quantitative data, failed to undertake postimplementation monitoring of populations or individuals, or implemented several interventions at once. Furthermore, the studies were biased toward specific taxa, geographic regions, and interventions. We describe barriers for testing primate conservation interventions and propose actions to improve the conservation evidence base to protect this endangered and globally important taxon.

Citation

Junker, J., Petrovan, S., Arroyo-RodrÍguez, V., Boonratana, R., Byler, D., Chapman, C., …KÜhl, H. (2020). A Severe Lack of Evidence Limits Effective Conservation of the World's Primates. Bioscience, 70(9), 794-803. https://doi.org/10.1093/biosci/biaa082

Journal Article Type	Article
Online Publication Date	Aug 26, 2020
Publication Date	2020-09
Deposit Date	Aug 28, 2020
Publicly Available Date	Aug 28, 2020
Journal	Bioscience
Print ISSN	0006-3568
Electronic ISSN	1525-3244
Publisher	American Institute of Biological Sciences
Peer Reviewed	Peer Reviewed
Volume	70
Issue	9
Article Number	biaa082
Pages	794-803
DOI	https://doi.org/10.1093/biosci/biaa082

Files

Published Journal Article (Advance online version) (2.7 Mb)
PDF

Publisher Licence URL
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Copyright Statement
Advance online version © The Author(s) 2020. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the American Institute of Biological Sciences. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which
permits unrestricted reuse, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
doi:10.1093/biosci/biaa082