Island ecosystems are highly threatened by invasive rats and mice. Currently, the only effective technology for eradicating rodents from islands is toxicants. Though effective, they are expensive and have high failure rates. They are not species-specific and are potentially dangerous to humans. Gene drive technology is one alternative to toxicants for rodent eradication. Gene drive methods of rodent eradication offer an alternative to killing that has the potential to be more species-specific, more humane, and more biologically safe for use around humans. Technologies in development aim to apply either natural meiotic drive or clustered regularly interspersed short palindromic repeats to influence offspring development so that all offspring are phenotypically male, eventually creating a population that is not reproductively viable. Implementing this technology would involve releasing laboratory-developed engineered mice into wild populations. Some areas for further research include assessing the ecological effects of releasing engineered mice, the potential risks for the accidental or deliberate release of genetically modified organisms into mainland mouse populations, and the social, ethical, and regulatory acceptability of the technology.
SUMMARYEngaging adolescents is critical to encouraging future climate change adaptation and mitigation behaviours. Adolescents are typically more receptive to climate change messages than adults, but educators and communicators need research-based strategies for optimizing engagement, including information about what factors are most influential in changing behaviours. To better understand how communication with teachers, friends and family, climate change knowledge and climate change concern predict climate change behaviour, we administered a survey to a random sample of middle school students in North Carolina, USA (n = 1371). We measured climate change behaviour with a multi-item scale asking respondents about energy conservation, alternative transportation and engagement with environmental issues. We found that climate change concern and discussing climate change with family and friends predicted climate change behaviour. We also found that students from urban, high socioeconomic status schools were more likely to engage in climate change behaviour than students in urban, low socioeconomic status schools or rural schools. These results suggest that education efforts should leverage communication with family and friends in programming designed to encourage climate change behaviour. Further, efforts to promote climate change behaviour among low socioeconomic status urban and rural adolescents may be warranted, but would benefit from further investigation into the ideological, physical and knowledge-based drivers of behaviour differences documented in this study.
Fishery‐dependent communities in coastal environments are often vulnerable to hurricanes, but diverse and accessible fisheries may buffer the effects of extreme storms and promote community resilience. We began evaluating this possibility with a qualitative study in the Lowe Sound and Red Bays communities in The Bahamas immediately after the impact of a category 4 hurricane. We interviewed 68 households, asking about the relationships between the storm's impacts and fisheries resources. Lowe Sound respondents described fisheries as natural insurance that provided food and income. Both communities indicated that retaining access to boats was critically important. Respondents most often blamed impacts on low‐elevation geography, followed by religious interpretations. Fishers linked damages with climate change more often than other community members, suggesting that fishers have an experiential knowledge of climate change. We discuss the importance of fisheries as natural insurance, how recovery efforts can strengthen resilience, and potential outreach strategies that incorporate local knowledge.
Advances in biotechnology may allow for de-extinction. Potential impacts of de-extinct species remain uncertain; they may improve ecosystem function, or hinder conservation efforts and damage socio-ecological systems. To better anticipate de-extinction's outcomes, ethical dilemmas, and governance needs, we surveyed experts from multiple disciplinary backgrounds. We applied a mixed-method approach to our analysis, integrating quantitative responses of perceived outcomes with qualitative responses, to clarify and provide context. Overall, respondents indicated deextinction was more likely to induce hazards, not benefits. Reasons for this viewpoint included a 'moral hazard' argument, suggesting conservation policies could be undermined if society perceives that species need less protection because they can be revived later. Pessimistic views of de-extinction were linked to concerns about unclear development paths. Experts believed the public might be skeptical about de-extinction. Our results suggest future de-extinction efforts may benefit from collaborative efforts to clarify hazards and explore salient concerns among the engaged public.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.