Species distribution models (SDMs) are increasingly proposed to support conservation decision making. However, evidence of SDMs supporting solutions for on-ground conservation problems is still scarce in the scientific literature. Here, we show that successful examples exist but are still largely hidden in the grey literature, and thus less accessible for analysis and learning. Furthermore, the decision framework within which SDMs are used is rarely made explicit. Using case studies from biological invasions, identification of critical habitats, reserve selection and translocation of endangered species, we propose that SDMs may be tailored to suit a range of decision-making contexts when used within a structured and transparent decision-making process. To construct appropriate SDMs to more effectively guide conservation actions, modellers need to better understand the decision process, and decision makers need to provide feedback to modellers regarding the actual use of SDMs to support conservation decisions. This could be facilitated by individuals or institutions playing the role of ‘translators’ between modellers and decision makers. We encourage species distribution modellers to get involved in real decision-making processes that will benefit from their technical input; this strategy has the potential to better bridge theory and practice, and contribute to improve both scientific knowledge and conservation outcomes.

As the terrestrial human footprint continues to expand, the amount of native forest that is free from significant damaging human activities is in precipitous decline. There is emerging evidence that the remaining intact forest supports an exceptional confluence of globally significant environmental values relative to degraded forests, including imperilled biodiversity, carbon sequestration and storage, water provision, indigenous culture and the maintenance of human health. Here we argue that maintaining and, where possible, restoring the integrity of dwindling intact forests is an urgent priority for current global efforts to halt the ongoing biodiversity crisis, slow rapid climate change and achieve sustainability goals. Retaining the integrity of intact forest ecosystems should be a central component of proactive global and national environmental strategies, alongside current efforts aimed at halting deforestation and promoting reforestation.

Citizen science is on the rise. Aided by the internet, the popularity and scope of citizen science appears almost 30 limitless. For citizens the motivation is to contribute to "real" science, public information and conservation. For 3 1 scientists, citizen science offers a way to collect information that would otherwise not be affordable. The 32 longest running and largest of these citizen science programs are broad-scale bird monitoring projects. There 33 are two basic types of protocols possible: a) cross-sectional schemes such as Atlases-collections of surveys of 34 many species contributed by volunteers over a set period of time, and b) longitudinal schemes such as 35 Breeding Bird Surveys (BBS)-ongoing stratified monitoring of sites that require more coordination. We review 36 recent applications of these citizen science programs to determine their influence in the scientific literature. 37 We use return-on-investment thinking to identify the minimum investment needed for different citizen science 38 programs, and the point at which investing more in citizen science programs has diminishing benefits. Atlas and 39 BBS datasets are used to achieve different objectives, with more knowledge-focused applications for Atlases 40 compared with more management applications for BBS. Estimates of volunteer investment in these datasets 41 show that compared to cross-sectional schemes, longitudinal schemes are more cost-effective, with increased 42 BBS investment correlated with more applications, which have higher impact in the scientific literature, as 43 measured by citation rates. This is most likely because BBS focus on measuring change, allowing the impact of 44 management and policy to be quantified. To ensure both types of data are used to their full potential we 45 recommend the following: elements of BBS protocols (fixed sites, long-term monitoring) are incorporated into 46 Atlases; regional coordinators are in place to maintain data quality; communication between researchers and 47 the organisations coordinating volunteer monitoring is enhanced, with monitoring targeted to meet specific 48 needs and objectives; application of data to under-explored objectives is encouraged, and data are made freely 49 and easily accessible. 50 51 impossible to collect because of limitations in time and resources (Dickinson et al. 2010). The field of 57 ornithology has the longest history of citizen science (Greenwood 2007), with thousands of amateur and 58 professional ornithologists worldwide. The National Audubon Society's Christmas Bird Count in the United 59 States, started in 1900, is the longest-running citizen science project with over 110 years of data collected so 60 far. Advances in technology have led to new citizen science internet applications that use crowd-sourcing to 61 invite large numbers of the public to monitor biodiversity over broad geographic regions, and allow volunteers 62 to access and interpret the data they collect (Howe 2006).This has resulted in datasets that are often very large 63 and readily ac...

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Spatial representations of threatening processes – “threat maps” – can identify where biodiversity is at risk, and are often used to identify priority locations for conservation. In doing so, decision makers are prone to making errors, either by assuming that the level of threat dictates spatial priorities for action or by relying primarily on the location of mapped threats to choose possible actions. We show that threat mapping can be a useful tool when incorporated within a transparent and repeatable structured decision‐making (SDM) process. SDM ensures transparent and defendable conservation decisions by linking objectives to biodiversity outcomes, and by considering constraints, consequences of actions, and uncertainty. If used to make conservation decisions, threat maps are best developed with an understanding of how species respond to actions that mitigate threats. This approach will ensure that conservation actions are prioritized where they are most cost‐effective or have the greatest impact, rather than where threat levels are highest.

Conservation science is advancing rapidly, yet the majority of research overlooks a key factor that can play a major role in shaping the outcomes of conservation initiatives: collaboration. Here, we review the importance, benefits and limitations of incorporating collaboration into conservation and specifically into systematic conservation planning, providing a general framework for considering collaboration in conservation planning. Recent work shows that cross-boundary collaboration can have positive and negative impacts on the outcomes of conservation and management efforts for protected areas, ecosystems, threatened and invasive species. The feasibility of collaboration, its likely effects and associated trade-offs should be explicitly incorporated into conservation science and planning. This will ensure that conservation decisions avoid wasted funding when collaboration is infeasible, promoting collaboration when the benefits outweigh the costs.

Societal, economic and scientific interests in knowing where biodiversity is, how it is faring and what can be done to efficiently mitigate further biodiversity loss and the associated loss of ecosystem services are at an all-time high. So far, however, biodiversity monitoring has primarily focused on structural and compositional features of ecosystems despite growing evidence that ecosystem functions are key to elucidating the mechanisms through which biological diversity generates services to humanity. This monitoring gap can be traced to the current lack of consensus on what exactly ecosystem functions are and how to track them at scales beyond the site level. This contribution aims to advance the development of a global biodiversity monitoring strategy by proposing the adoption of a set of definitions and a typology for ecosystem functions, and reviewing current opportunities and potential limitations for satellite remote sensing technology to support the monitoring of ecosystem functions worldwide. By clearly defining ecosystem processes, functions and services and their interrelationships, we provide a framework to improve communication between ecologists, land and marine managers, remote sensing specialists and policy makers, thereby addressing a major barrier in the field.

Effective conservation management interventions must combat threats and deliver benefits at costs that can be achieved within limited budgets. Considerable effort has focused on measuring the potential benefits of conservation interventions, but explicit quantification of the financial costs of implementation is rare. Even when costs have been quantified, haphazard and inconsistent reporting means published values are difficult to interpret. This reporting deficiency hinders progress toward a collective understanding of the financial costs of management interventions across projects and thus limits the ability to identify efficient solutions to conservation problems or attract adequate funding. We devised a standardized approach to describing financial costs reported for conservation interventions. The standards call for researchers and practitioners to describe the objective and outcome, context and methods, and scale of costed interventions, and to state which categories of costs are included and the currency and date for reported costs. These standards aim to provide enough contextual information that readers and future users can interpret the cost data appropriately. We suggest these standards be adopted by major conservation organizations, conservation science institutions, and journals so that cost reporting is comparable among studies. This would support shared learning and enhance the ability to identify and perform cost-effective conservation.