protected areas (pAs) are a foundational and essential strategy for reducing biodiversity loss. However, many pAs around the world exist on paper only; thus, while logging and habitat conversion may be banned in these areas, illegal activities often continue to cause alarming habitat destruction. in such cases, the presence of armed conflict may ultimately prevent incursions to a greater extent than the absence of conflict. Although there are several reports of habitat destruction following cessation of conflict, there has never been a systematic and quantitative "before-and-after-conflict" analysis of a large sample of pAs and surrounding areas. Here we report the results of such a study in colombia, using an open-access global forest change dataset. By analysing 39 PAs over three years before and after colombia's peace agreement with the Revolutionary Armed forces of colombia (fARc), we found a dramatic and highly significant increase in the deforestation rate for the majority of these areas and their buffer zones. We discuss the reasons behind such findings from the Colombian case, and debate some general conservation lessons applicable to other countries undergoing post-conflict transitions. The growing warfare ecology literature reports both negative and positive effects of conflict for biodiversity and the natural environment 1-3. This also applies to deforestation, which can be either increased or decreased depending on the specific complex socio-ecological dynamics linked to the conflict itself 3-5. Increased deforestation during conflict is reported for several regions of the world 6 , including Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Liberia 7 or Myanmar and Cambodia 8. In some cases, conflict reduces the institutional capacity to enforce laws and effectively manage the use or protection of natural resources, e.g. as reported for Kenya 9 , DRC 10 , Nepal 11 , and Colombia 5. In other cases, the displacement of people escaping or forced to leave conflict areas, the basic mechanism for the 'refuge effect' 12 , can prove beneficial for habitat and biodiversity protection, e.g. by limiting the pressure of resource extraction 13-15. The demilitarized Zone between North and South Korea is a good example of such a refuge 16. Conflict can largely disrupt economic activities 1 , such as timber logging in Nicaragua 17 , or farming, as in Sierra Leone 18. In the Chechen wars and in the nearby Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, agricultural land was abandoned in warzones, along with reported low re-cultivation rates after the cessation of the conflict 19,20. In other cases post-conflict development results in higher threats to forested ecosystems than conflict

En contraste con la visión tradicional de que el levantamiento de los Andes impulsó la diversificación biótica causando vicarianza en varios grupos con distribuciones que antes eran continuas, investigaciones recientes sugieren que eventos de dispersión a través de los Andes sucedidos después de los principales episodios de levantamiento fueron catalizadores principales de la especiación en aves neotropicales, y que la habilidad de los linajes para persistir y dispersarse en el paisaje predice fuertemente los patrones de especiación. Sin embargo, se desconoce cuándo y dónde sucedieron dichos eventos de dispersión, y el papel de las fluctuaciones climáticas y el consecuente desplazamiento de la vegetación como promotores de la dispersión a través de los Andes en distintos momentos no ha sido estudiado. Empleamos modelos de la distribución potencial de especies basados en datos de clima actual e histórico para examinar escenarios de dispersión a través de los Andes en 41 especies de aves neotropicales de tierras bajas con diferentes afinidades de hábitat. Nuestros resultados indican que la conectividad ecológica que favorecería la dispersión a través de los Andes en el presente es mayor en pasos bajos de la cordillera del sur de Ecuador y el norte de Perú que en pasos bajos de Colombia, y este patrón espacial parece haberse mantenido en cuatro momentos diferentes de los últimos 130,000 años. También encontramos que aunque algunas áreas actualmente no serían propicias para la dispersión de las aves a través de los Andes, bajo condiciones climáticas del pasado (i.e. durante períodos más fríos y secos) presentaron condiciones climáticas sustancialmente más idóneas para permitir la conectividad ecológica de poblaciones a través de la cordillera. No encontramos diferencias consistentes en la conectividad ecológica presente y pasada a través de los Andes entre especies de diferentes tipos de hábitat. Sugerimos que los valles andinos impulsan la diversificación evolutiva no solo porque aíslan las poblaciones de especies de montaña, sino porque permiten la dispersión episódica de especies de las tierras bajas. Nuestros modelos permiten hacer predicciones sobre flujo genético que pueden ser evaluadas en estudios futuros que examinen patrones de intercambio genético a escala fina usando herramientas de genética del paisaje. © Acad. Colomb. Cienc. Ex. Fis. Nat. 2016.

BackgroundUnderstanding the forces that shaped Neotropical diversity is central issue to explain tropical biodiversity and inform conservation action; yet few studies have examined large, widespread species. Lowland tapir (Tapirus terrrestris, Perissodactyla, Tapiridae) is the largest Neotropical herbivore whose ancestors arrived in South America during the Great American Biotic Interchange. A Pleistocene diversification is inferred for the genus Tapirus from the fossil record, but only two species survived the Pleistocene megafauna extinction. Here, we investigate the history of lowland tapir as revealed by variation at the mitochondrial gene Cytochrome b, compare it to the fossil data, and explore mechanisms that could have shaped the observed structure of current populations.ResultsSeparate methodological approaches found mutually exclusive divergence times for lowland tapir, either in the late or in the early Pleistocene, although a late Pleistocene divergence is more in tune with the fossil record. Bayesian analysis favored mountain tapir (T. pinchaque) paraphyly in relation to lowland tapir over reciprocal monophyly, corroborating the inferences from the fossil data these species are sister taxa. A coalescent-based analysis rejected a null hypothesis of allopatric divergence, suggesting a complex history. Based on the geographic distribution of haplotypes we propose (i) a central role for western Amazonia in tapir diversification, with a key role of the ecological gradient along the transition between Andean subcloud forests and Amazon lowland forest, and (ii) that the Amazon river acted as an barrier to gene flow. Finally, the branching patterns and estimates based on nucleotide diversity indicate a population expansion after the Last Glacial Maximum.ConclusionsThis study is the first examining lowland tapir phylogeography. Climatic events at the end of the Pleistocene, parapatric speciation, divergence along the Andean foothill, and role of the Amazon river, have similarly shaped the history of other taxa. Nevertheless further work with additional samples and loci is needed to improve our initial assessment. From a conservation perspective, we did not find a correspondence between genetic structure in lowland tapir and ecogeographic regions proposed to define conservation priorities in the Neotropics. This discrepancy sheds doubt into this scheme's ability to generate effective conservation planning for vagile species.

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Due to the fast deforestation rates in the tropics, multiple international efforts have been launched to reduce deforestation and develop consistent methodologies to assess forest extension and change. Since 2010 Colombia implemented the Mainstream Sustainable Cattle Ranching project with the participation of small farmers in a payment for environmental services (PES) scheme where zero deforestation agreements are signed. To assess the fulfillment of such agreements at farm level, ALOS-1 and ALOS-2 PALSAR fine beam dual imagery for years 2010 and 2016 was processed with ad-hoc routines to estimate stable forest, deforestation, and stable nonforest extension for 2615 participant farms in five heterogeneous regions of Colombia. Landsat VNIR imagery was integrated in the processing chain to reduce classification uncertainties due to radar limitations. Farms associated with Meta Foothills regions showed zero deforestation during the period analyzed (2010-2016), while other regions showed low deforestation rates with the exception of the Cesar River Valley (75 ha). Results, suggests that topography and dry weather conditions have an effect on radar-based mapping accuracy, i.e., deforestation and forest classes showed lower user accuracy values on mountainous and dry regions revealing overestimations in these environments. Nevertheless, overall ALOS Phased Array L-band SAR (PALSAR) data provided overall accurate, relevant, and consistent information for forest change analysis for local zero deforestation agreements assessment. Improvements to preprocessing routines and integration of high dense radar time series should be further investigated to reduce classification errors from complex topography conditions. played an especially important role in landscape change dynamics within the country [2]. Currently, ranching represents one of the key economic subsectors in Colombia, contributing to approximately 3.5% of the overall Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and 27% of the agricultural and livestock GDP [3]. Cattle ranching exploited more than 38 million hectares over the last 50 years, holding approximately 23.5 million heads, supporting 7% and 28% of national and rural employment, respectively.Information related to forest trends are critical to different actors involved in the decision-making of policies and investments promoting the conservation of forests and their ecosystem services. Globally, several efforts have been put in place to develop consistent and robust methodologies to assess forest extension and change [4][5][6][7][8][9][10]. As a response to the rapid advance of global forest loss and degradation, the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) launched the Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation program (REDD+). The general aim of REDD+ is to contribute to the mitigation of climate change by reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by decreasing and reversing forest loss and degradation, and by increasing the removal of GHGs through conservation and the expansion of forests [11]...

Comment by James J. Gallagher: The re-emergence of excellence as a national educational goal has turned the attention of the media to the education of gifted students. The result of this new attention is that many of us have been, or will shortly be, contacted by representatives of the media and asked our opinion on gifted education or an entire range of complex issues. How do we cope with this desired, but somewhat anxiety-producing, situation? Carlos Pedraza, Deputy Press Secretary to the Governor of Washington has, through the kind offices of Felice Kaufmann, agreed to provide some thoughts on how to interact with the media. We felt that this message was so timely and so on-target that we have made this into a guest editorial; one which we hope our readers will xerox and post by their telephones or up on their walls. Paying attention to any or all of this message could prevent many of the disappointments and surprises that can come from our adventures with the media.