In an effort to increase conservation effectiveness through the use of Earth observation technologies, a group of remote sensing scientists affiliated with government and academic institutions and conservation organizations identified 10 questions in conservation for which the potential to be answered would be greatly increased by use of remotely sensed data and analyses of those data. Our goals were to increase conservation practitioners' use of remote sensing to support their work, increase collaboration between the conservation science and remote sensing communities, identify and develop new and innovative uses of remote sensing for advancing conservation science, provide guidance to space agencies on how future satellite missions can support conservation science, and generate support from the public and private sector in the use of remote sensing data to address the 10 conservation questions. We identified a broad initial list of questions on the basis of an email chain-referral survey. We then used a workshop-based iterative and collaborative approach to whittle the list down to these final questions (which represent 10 major themes in conservation): How can global Earth observation data be used to model species distributions and abundances? How can remote sensing improve the understanding of animal movements? How can remotely sensed ecosystem variables be used to understand, monitor, and predict ecosystem response and resilience to multiple stressors? How can remote sensing be used to monitor the effects of climate on ecosystems? How can near real-time ecosystem monitoring catalyze threat reduction, governance and regulation compliance, and resource management decisions? How can remote sensing inform configuration of protected area networks at spatial extents relevant to populations of target species and ecosystem services? How can remote sensing-derived products be used to value and monitor changes in ecosystem services? How can remote sensing be used to monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of conservation efforts? How does the expansion and intensification of agriculture and aquaculture alter ecosystems and the services they provide? How can remote sensing be used to determine the degree to which ecosystems are being disturbed or degraded and the effects of these changes on species and ecosystem functions?

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Protected areas (PAs) represent a central strategy in biodiversity conservation worldwide. Yet many PAs are weakened by people-PA conflicts resulting from the separation of natural resource protection from human considerations. Research at Masoala National Park in Madagascar focused on the following questions: (1) What are the factors that influence residents' perceptions of the Park and restrictions on use of natural resources in the Park area? (2) How do residents of communities on the periphery of the Park perceive and interact with Park staff, and what factors influence interactions and perceptions? A multi-method qualitative research approach was taken, including individual and focus group interviews, participant observation, archival research, and an environmental education and communication workshop. From July to December 2001, 119 semi-structured individual and group interviews were conducted with a total of 181 Masoala National Park staff, employees of non-governmental conservation organizations and community residents, focusing on two villages on the periphery of Masoala National Park. Factors found to influence the perceptions of the Park held by residents living in the Park periphery included the history of Park management, the degree of awareness of Park existence, types of interactions with Park staff and actual or potential benefits received from the Park. Inconsistency in past and present Park management goals has led to community confusion regarding the Park programme. Residents were largely aware of the Park's existence but were unfamiliar with its goals. Pressures on Park natural resources came from a variety of sources and occurred across a range of spatial and temporal scales, some of which were outside the control of Park managers. A conceptual framework represented relations between Park staff and community residents. Understanding people-PA interactions and perceptions can help guide future PA management strategies to increase conservation effectiveness, through efforts such as environmental education and communication programmes.

We examined temporal variability in the handling and dispersal of seeds by two sympatric species of monkeys, the arboreal blue monkey (Cercopithecus mitis doggetti) and the more terrestrial mountain monkey (C. l'hoesti). Ten months of data on phenological patterns and foraging behavior, including details of seed handling based on scan sampling data, were combined with dung sample data to examine patterns of seed handling. The systematic scan sampling observations showed that blue monkeys and mountain monkeys alternated between acting predominately as seed droppers, seed predators, and seed defecators depending on fruit resource availability. All the mountain monkey dung samples examined contained intact seeds, and 94% of the blue monkey dung samples contained intact seeds. Both monkey species defecated a greater number of seeds per dung sample and larger‐sized seeds than found elsewhere for Cercopithecus monkeys. We found a mean of 2.33 and 6.43 seeds >2 mm in blue and mountain monkey dung samples, respectively. The mountain monkeys dispersed relatively higher numbers of seeds and frequented open, disturbed forest, suggesting that terrestrial forest monkeys have been overlooked as potentially important seed dispersal agents. The variability in the ways seeds were handled was dependent on the array of available food resources and may suggest that the monkeys exert weak selective pressures on fruit traits. Am. J. Primatol. 45:83–101, 1998. © 1998 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.