In urbanized societies that are increasingly disconnected from nature, communicating ecological and species awareness is crucial to revert the global environmental crisis. However, our understanding of the effectiveness of this process is limited. We present a framework for describing how such awareness may be transferred and test it on the popular BBC show Planet Earth 2 by analyzing Twitter and Wikipedia big data activity. Despite lacking explicit conservation themes, this show generated species awareness, stimulating audience engagement for information at magnitudes comparable to those achieved by other conservation‐focused campaigns. Results suggest that natural history films can provide vicarious connections to nature and can generate durable shifts in audience awareness beyond the broadcast of the show—key factors for changing environmental attitudes. More broadly, this study underscores how open‐source big data analysis can inform effective dissemination of ecological awareness and provides a framework for future research for investigating behavioral change.

Wind energy development is the most recent of many pressures on upland bird communities and their habitats. Studies of birds in relation to wind energy development have focused on effects of direct mortality, but the importance of indirect effects (e.g., displacement, habitat loss) on avian community diversity and stability is increasingly being recognized. We used a control-impact study in combination with a gradient design to assess the effects of wind farms on upland bird densities and on bird species grouped by habitat association (forest and open-habitat species). We conducted 506 point count surveys at 12 wind-farm and 12 control sites in Ireland during 2 breeding seasons (2012 and 2013). Total bird densities were lower at wind farms than at control sites, and the greatest differences occurred close to turbines. Densities of forest species were significantly lower within 100 m of turbines than at greater distances, and this difference was mediated by habitat modifications associated with wind-farm development. In particular, reductions in forest cover adjacent to turbines was linked to the observed decrease in densities of forest species. Open-habitat species' densities were lower at wind farms but were not related to distance from turbines and were negatively related to size of the wind farm. This suggests that, for these species, wind-farm effects may occur at a landscape scale.Our findings indicate that the scale and intensity of the displacement effects of wind farms on upland birds depends on bird species' habitat associations and that the observed effects are mediated by changes in land use associated with wind-farm construction. This highlights the importance of construction effects and siting of turbines, tracks, and other infrastructure in understanding the impacts of wind farms on biodiversity. Efectos del Desarrollo de la Energía Eólica y los Cambios Asociados al Uso de Suelo sobre las Densidades de Aves en Tierras AltasResumen: El desarrollo de la energía eólica es la más reciente de muchas presiones ejercidas sobre las comunidades de aves de tierras altas y sus hábitats. Los estudios sobre aves en relación con el desarrollo de la energía eólica se han enfocado en los efectos de la mortalidad directa, pero la importancia de los efectos indirectos (p. ej.: desplazamiento, pérdida de hábitat) sobre la diversidad y estabilidad de las comunidades aviares cada vez se reconoce más. Usamos un estudio de control-impacto combinado con un diseño de gradiente para evaluar los efectos de los campos eólicos sobre las densidades de aves de tierras altas y sobre las especies de aves agrupadas por asociación de hábitat (especies de bosque y de hábitat abierto). Realizamos 506 censos de conteo por puntos en 12 sitios de campos eólicos y 12 sitios control en Irlanda durante dos temporadas de reproducción (2012 y 2013). Las densidades de aves totales fueron más bajas en los campos eólicos que en los sitios control, con las diferencias más importantes ocurriendo cerca de las turbinas. Las densidades de las especies...

What determines the breeding success of colonial animals? Working with data from a long-term monitoring program at four Cinereous Vulture ( Aegypius monachus ) colonies in southern Spain, we evaluated the infl uence of environmental and population factors on breeding performance, both at the nest site and colony scale. At both scales, density-dependent processes regulated breeding productivity and were best explained by interference competition (i.e., at higher densities increased competition for resources reduced productivity). We also detected the existence of a trade-off between the benefi ts of coloniality and the disadvantages of nesting too close to conspecifi cs. We propose that this trade-off may play a role in defi ning how colonies are spatially structured in this and other colonial bird species.

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Summary Hen Harrier Circus cyaneus and Short-eared Owl Asio flammeus are open-country birds of prey with overlapping distributions. Although both species face similar conservation threats across their ranges, work to date has largely been undertaken at a national scale with few attempts to collate and assess factors relevant to their conservation at an international scale. Here we use an expert knowledge approach to evaluate the impact of conservation threats and the effectiveness of conservation strategies for each species across Europe. We report results of responses to a questionnaire from 23 Hen Harrier experts from nine countries and 12 Short-eared Owl experts from six countries. The majority of responses for both species reported declines in breeding numbers. The perceived impact of threats was broadly similar for both species: ecological factors (predation, extreme weather and prey availability), changes in land use (habitat loss and agricultural intensification) and indirect persecution (accidental nest destruction) were considered to be the greatest threats to breeding Hen Harrier and Short-eared Owl. Short-eared Owl experts also highlighted lack of knowledge and difficulties associated with monitoring as a major conservation challenge. Despite broad-scale similarities, geographical variation was also apparent in the perceived importance of conservation threats, with some threats (such as direct persecution, large-scale afforestation or habitat degradation) requiring country-specific actions. Implementation of different conservation strategies also varied between countries, with the designation of protected areas reported as the most widespread conservation strategy adopted, followed by species and habitat management. However, protected areas (including species-specific protected areas) were perceived to be less effective than active management of species and habitats. These findings highlight the overlap between the conservation requirements of these two species, and the need for collaborative international research and conservation approaches that prioritise pro-active conservation strategies subject to continued assessment and with specific conservation goals.

The greatest crises of our time are environmental. To combat the effects of climate change, biodiversity loss and environmental degradation will require the actions of all members of society. However, despite widespread consensus from the scientific community that human actions are driving this rapid environmental degradation, it remains unclear whether and to what extent the public is receiving and engaging with conservation messages. Natural history films have been suggested as one possible medium for generating awareness of conservation issues en masse but some environmental advocates have criticised these shows for lacking strong, focused conservation messaging. This study quantifies audience engagement with conservation themes and species depicted on screen in two BBC natural history super productions (Blue Planet II and Seven Worlds, One Planet) and a stand‐alone documentary with an explicit focus on conservation (Extinction: The Facts) by using big data analyses of Wikipedia page views during and after broadcast of each show and causal impact analysis. Our results indicate that natural history films are more effective at generating species awareness than transmitting conservation messages, but that audience engagement generated by conservation‐focused documentaries can be comparable to that generated by entire film series focused on natural history. With the ultimate goal of contributing to long‐term behavioural change, our results suggest that natural history films have the potential to drive mass audience engagement with conservation themes through better collaboration between filmmakers, conservationists and conservation messaging researchers. Finally, this study underscores how big data approaches can quantify the effectiveness of conservation messages across different mediums. Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog.

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