Europe is one of the world's most densely populated continents and has a long history of human-dominated land- and seascapes. Europe is also at the forefront of developing and implementing multinational conservation efforts. In this contribution, we describe some top policy issues in Europe that need to be informed by high-quality conservation science. These include evaluation of the effectiveness of the Natura 2000 network of protected sites, implications of rapid economic and subsequent land-use change in Central and Eastern Europe, conservation of marine biodiversity and sustainability of fisheries, the effect of climate change on movement of species in highly fragmented landscapes, and attempts to assess the economic value of ecosystem services and biodiversity. Broad policy issues such as those identified are not easily amenable to scientific experiment. A key challenge at the science-policy interface is to identify the research questions underlying these problem areas so that conservation science can provide evidence to underpin future policy development.

Background: This paper provides guidance about how to plan, prepare, conduct, report, amend or update a systematic search. It aims to contribute to a new version of the Collaboration for Environmental Evidence (CEE) Guidelines for Systematic Reviews in Environmental Management, and the methods we describe are likely to be broadly applicable across a wider range of topics. In evidence synthesis, searches are expected to be repeatable, fit for purpose, with minimum biases, and to collate a maximum number of relevant articles. Failing to include relevant information in an evidence synthesis may lead to inaccurate or skewed conclusions and/or changes in conclusions as soon as the omitted information is added. Method:The paper takes into account similar documents produced by the Cochrane Collaboration and the Campbell Collaboration, including necessary adjustments for environmental policy and management, and the current version of the CEE Guidelines (version 4.2, 2013). Where possible this guidance is based on evidence from research, and in its absence on expert opinion and experience. Results:Here we aim to provide guidance on the optimal search structure as the basis on which any evidence synthesis should be built. Conclusion:It is aimed at all those who intend to conduct systematic evidence synthesis, including reviews and Ph.D. thesis.

The eligibility screening step of a systematic review or systematic map (sometimes referred to as 'study selection' , 'evidence selection' or 'inclusion screening') determines the scope of the evidence that may answer the review or map question. Eligibility screening involves the development, testing and application of eligibility criteria (inclusion and exclusion criteria) by an evidence synthesis review team, based on methods pre-specified in the review or map protocol. Some parts of the process require judgement, meaning that consistent and transparent reporting of the eligibility criteria and the process for applying them are essential in order to reduce the risk of introducing errors or bias. The existing Collaboration for Environmental Evidence (CEE) Guidelines for Systematic Reviews in Environmental Management (version 4.2, March 2013) give relatively limited guidance on how to conduct eligibility screening. In this paper we provide more in-depth information on good practice methods for this step of evidence synthesis, based on a critical consideration of existing guidance and current practice. Our aim is to provide recommendations to support those conducting CEE systematic reviews or systematic maps for environmental management questions; however, the methods we describe are generic and should be broadly applicable across a wide range of environmental research topics.

Hermann's Tortoise, Testudo hermanni (Family Testudinidae), is a medium-sized terrestrial species (average carapace length ca. 130 to 180 mm), widespread in the European Mediterranean region. Currently two subspecies are distinguished: T. h. hermanni in Western Europe and T. h. boettgeri in Eastern Europe, the border between them being the Po Valley in northeastern Italy. The species inhabits most Mediterranean vegetation habitats, but typically semi-open formations of stony, sun-drenched hills with low and sparse vegetation and grass. Some East European populations are found at up to 1300 m of elevation, but most populations are below 500 m. Sexual dimorphism is moderate, with females on average 12% larger than males. A morphological distinction from most other tortoise species is the presence of a horny claw-like scale at the tip of the tail that is more developed in males than in females. The maximum number of clutches laid annually is 3, but most frequent are 1 to 2 clutches per year. Maximum clutch size is 7 eggs for T. h. hermanni and 9 eggs for T. h. boettgeri, with a mean clutch size of 3.3 and 4.3 eggs, respectively. Annual survival of adults is estimated to range from 85 to 97%. Most western populations of the species are in strong decline and have very restricted distributions. Eastern populations appear to be more stable, though some populations also show a strong decline. Primary threats are destruction and alteration of habitats (mostly by forest fires, expansion of human settlements and infrastructure, and changes to traditional use of forest, pastoral practices, and agriculture), harvesting for the pet trade, and increases in the population size of native predators (mainly mammal carnivores and wild boars). Proposed conservation measures include habitat restoration and improvement, creation of reserves to protect the species, and environmental education. Captive breeding and reintroduction programs are necessary only for the most threatened populations. distribution. -Turkey. Fragmented distribution in southern Europe from northeastern coastal Spain and southern coastal France through much of Italy, and more continuous in the Balkan Peninsula, extending eastward to European Turkey. Distributed also in most western Mediterranean islands (Balearics, Corsica, Tuscan Archipelago, Sardinia, and Sicily) as well as some eastern islands (Ionian and Euboea). synonyMy. -Testudo hermanni Gmelin 1789, Testudo hermanni hermanni, Protestudo hermanni, Agrionemys hermanni, Eurotestudo hermanni, Testudo graeca bettai Lataste 1881, Testudo hermanni robertmertensi Wermuth 1952. subspecies. -Two currently recognized: 1) Testudo hermanni hermanni (Western Hermann's Tortoise) (synonymy: Testudo hermanni robertmertensi, Eurotestudo hermanni) (distribution: Western Europe from Spain through western and southern Italy); and 2) Testudo hermanni boettgeri (Eastern Hermann's Tortoise) (synonymy: Testudo graeca boettgeri Mojsisovics 1889, Testudo boettgeri, Eurotestudo boettgeri, Testudo graeca hercegovinensis Werner 1899, Te...

The Hermann's tortoise (Testudo hermanni) is an endangered land tortoise distributed in disjoint populations across Mediterranean Europe. We investigated its genetic variation by typing 1 mitochondrial locus and 9 nuclear microsatellites in approximately 300 individuals from 22 localities. Our goal was to understand the relative impact of natural and human-mediated processes in shaping the genetic structure and to identify the genetic priorities for the conservation of this species. We found that 1) all geographic areas are highly differentiated, mainly as a function of their distance but with a clear genetic discontinuity (F st values larger than 0.4) between the Eastern and the Western subspecies; 2) the contact zone between subspecies is located farthest to the west than previously believed, and it probably coincides with the delta of the largest Italian river; 3) extinction events due to climatic conditions in the Upper Palaeolithic and subsequent human-mediated translocations in the Neolithic possibly explain the unexpected similarity among Spain, Sicily, and Corsica. For conservation purposes, the large majority of genetic pools appears native although hybridization among subspecies, related to extensive 20th century trade of tortoises across Europe, is observed in Spain and some Italian samples. Most populations do not seem at immediate risk of low genetic variation, except the French population, which has very low nuclear genetic diversity (heterozygosity = 0.25) and where 50 out of 51 sampled animals shared the same mitochondrial sequence. In general, restocking and reintroduction plans should carefully consider the genetic background of the individuals.

The absence of a good interface between scientific and other knowledge holders and decision-makers in the area of biodiversity and ecosystem services has been recognised for a long time. Despite recent advancements, e.g. with the Intergovernmental Communicated by David Hawksworth. This is part of the special issue on Networking Biodiversity Knowledge.

Responding to different questions generated by biodiversity and ecosystem services policy or management requires different forms of knowledge (e.g. scientific, experiential) and knowledge synthesis. Additionally, synthesis methods need to be appropriate to policy context (e.g. question types, budget, timeframe, output type, required scientific rigour). In this paper we present a range of different methods that could potentially be used to conduct a knowledge synthesis in response to questions arising from knowledge needs of decision makers on biodiversity and ecosystem services policy and management. Through a series of workshops attended by natural and social scientists and decision makers we compiled a range of question types, different policy contexts and potential methodological approaches to knowledge synthesis. Methods are derived from both natural and social sciences fields and reflect the range of question and study types that may be relevant for syntheses. Knowledge can be available either in qualitative or quantitative form and in some cases also mixed. All methods have their strengths and weaknesses and we discuss a sample of these to illustrate the need for diversity and importance of appropriate selection. To summarize this collection, we present a table that identifies potential methods matched to different combinations of question types and policy contexts, aimed at assisting teams undertaking knowledge syntheses to select appropriate methods.

We investigated group-size effects on individual vigilance levels and feeding rates in captive groups of spice finches (Lonchura punctulata). The "many-eyes" hypothesis predicts a reduction in vigilance levels in larger groups that can cause higher feeding rates if the time thus saved is used for foraging. We adopted a within-subject procedure whereby in each of six replicates we observed one adult male searching for food in groups varying in size from one to five. As predicted, vigilance levels decreased with group size up to four birds but increased in groups of five. Birds also collected seeds more quickly in larger groups, reflecting (i) a decrease in vigilance levels in larger groups, (ii) a decrease in handling time, and (iii) an increase in search speed. Nearest neighbour distances were smaller in larger groups, a potential confounding factor in the analysis of vigilance time. Although the results are partly consistent with the many-eyes hypothesis, we suggest that the arrow of causation from vigilance to feeding time could be reversed: the increase in feeding rates in larger groups, with a concomitant decrease in vigilance levels, would be caused by increased competition.