Border Security Fencing and Wildlife: The End of the Transboundary Paradigm in Eurasia?

Linnell, John D. C.; Trouwborst, Arie; Boitani, Luigi; Kaczensky, Petra; Huber, Djuro; Reljić, Slaven; Kusak, Josip; Majić, Aleksandra; Skrbinšek, Tomaž; Potočnik, Hubert; Hayward, Matt W.; Milner‐Gulland, E. J.; Buuveibaatar, Bayarbaatar; Olson, Kirk A.; Lkhagvasuren, Badamjav; Bischof, Richard; Zuther, Steffen; Breitenmoser, Urs

doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.1002483

Cited by 133 publications

(78 citation statements)

References 15 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Barbed and woven wire fences are laced throughout the agricultural regions of the world, including the prairies and intermountain valleys of western North America (Linnell et al. , Jakes et al. ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Fences reduce habitat for a partially migratory ungulate in the Northern Sagebrush Steppe

et al. 2019

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Few studies have examined differential responses of partially migratory ungulates to human development or activity, where some individuals in a population migrate and others do not. Yet understanding how animals with different movement tactics respond to anthropogenic disturbance is key to sustaining global ungulate migrations. We examined seasonal resource selection of a partially migratory population of pronghorn (Antilocapra americana) in the Northern Sagebrush Steppe of Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Montana from 2003 to 2011. We developed step‐selection functions (SSF) for migrant and resident pronghorn during the summer and winter at two spatial scales (second order and third order) and then integrated SSFs across scales to estimate pronghorn responses to fences and subsequent habitat loss from these features while accounting for responses to other resource use. Both migrant and resident pronghorn showed the strongest responses to natural and anthropogenic features at the second order and weaker responses at the third order. Selection responses of migrant and residents differed the most in response to normalized difference vegetation index, topography, and anthropogenic features. Seasonally, selection for intermediate greenness was strongest in summer, whereas avoidance of roads strongly influenced winter resource selection of both tactics. Both migrant and resident pronghorn showed strong avoidance of fencing at both spatial scales during summer and winter. Model predictions with complete removal of fences from the landscape (i.e., natural conditions) predicted an increase in the area of high‐quality habitat of 16–38%. In contrast, doubling fence density on the landscape decreased the amount of high‐quality habitat by 1–11% and increased low‐quality habitat by 13–21%. Our results suggest that pronghorn winter and summer ranges can be improved by reducing the density of fences on the landscape, or mitigation measures to enhance fence crossings, to alleviate the indirect loss of habitat for this important endemic prairie species.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, the level of fencing on landscapes across the world is not static but continues to proliferate (Linnell et al. , Li et al. , Løvschal et al.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Fences reduce habitat for a partially migratory ungulate in the Northern Sagebrush Steppe

et al. 2019

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Thus, these fences may present a new threat to the viability of wild animal populations. For example, Slovenia has built a razor-wire fence along much of its border with Croatia that may reduce connectivity among transboundary animal populations, including grey wolf Canis lupus, a protected species with a regional population size estimated to be less than 100 [36]. The extent to which species can traverse new border fences, and resulting population-level effects, will depend on how fences are constructed and maintained, and on surrounding land use and cover.…”

Section: Effects Of Border Fences On Wild Animalsmentioning

confidence: 99%

A 2018 Horizon Scan of Emerging Issues for Global Conservation and Biological Diversity

Sutherland

Butchart

Connor

et al. 2018

Trends in Ecology & Evolution

126

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

We present the results of our eighth annual horizon scan of emerging issues likely to affect global biological diversity, the environment, and conservation efforts in the future. The potential effects of these novel issues might not yet be fully recognized or understood by the global conservation community, and the issues can be regarded as both opportunities and risks. A diverse international team with collective expertise in horizon scanning, science communication, and conservation research, practice, and policy reviewed 100 potential issues and identified 15 that qualified as emerging, with potential substantial global effects. These issues include new developments in energy storage and fuel production, sand extraction, potential solutions to combat coral bleaching and invasive marine species, and blockchain technology. Aims of Horizon ScanningWe have conducted an annual horizon scan of global conservation issues since 2010 with the aim of highlighting, by consensus, emerging topics that are not yet widely known in the conservation community but could have substantial effects on biological diversity worldwide in the medium to long term. Our iterative, transferable process of horizon scanning, which is designed to be both transparent and democratic, is carried out by a team with a wide range of experiences and areas of expertise.Our aim has been to focus attention and stimulate debate about these subjects, potentially leading to new research foci, policy developments, or business innovations. These responses should help to facilitate better-informed forward-planning. It is difficult to gauge the direct effects of our horizon scans on the research, policy, or business communities, except through personal communication and hearsay. However, several topics recognized in our previous horizon scans Trends This is the eighth such annual horizon scan.An international team with expertise in horizon scanning, science communication, and conservation research, practice, and policy identified 15 issues, following widespread consultation and a Delphi-like scoring process to identify the most important.The issues were wide ranging, and include sand extraction, blockchain technology, use of robotics to combat invasive species, and new developments in energy storage and fuel production. There is now substantial action on this issue internationally, with several governments, including those of the USA and the UK, introducing legislative bans on microbeads in cosmetics and detergents, and many cosmetics companies voluntarily committing to halt their use of microplastics by 2020 [2,3]. New research on the effects of microbeads has revealed biological responses in both terrestrial and aquatic environments, with evidence demonstrating that microplastics reduce the survival and fitness of earthworms Lumbricus terrestris [4] and facilitate the accumulation of sorbed organic pollutants in fish [5]. Discussion of the use of gene editing to control invasive species or disease vectors, raised in our 2014 horizon scan [6], has increased...

show abstract

“…Border zones also are areas of expansion of security barriers (Linnell et al. ), human populations, and commerce (McCallum et al. ), which suggests that a focus on transboundary protected areas is timely.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Distribution and connectivity of protected areas in the Americas facilitates transboundary conservation

Thornton

Branch

Murray

2019

Ecological Applications

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Large‐scale anthropogenic changes to landscapes will cause species to move and shift their ranges against a backdrop of international political boundaries. Transboundary conservation efforts are therefore key to preserving intact and connected landscapes, particularly if such efforts can be implemented within the framework of protected area networks that provide for resiliency and persistence in the face of threats such as climate change. We studied the distribution, connectivity, and integrity of protected areas in regions near international borders within the Americas. We found that there is a greater proportion of land protected near vs. far from borders, with this effect extending approximately 125 km from the border. This trend was most pronounced when considering multiuse categories of protected areas in the analysis. We also found that there is greater connectivity of protected areas in border regions than more internally within countries, and relatively low rates of habitat loss within border‐situated and internal protected areas. Our results indicate that protected area networks are larger and more connected if considered in a transboundary context and that efforts to conserve species and mitigate effects of long‐term stressors like climate change will be most successful when planning includes neighboring countries. Despite a relative lack of attention to transboundary conservation in the Americas, our results suggest substantial opportunities for linking landscapes via a focus on international border regions and coordination across borders in protected areas management.

show abstract

Border Security Fencing and Wildlife: The End of the Transboundary Paradigm in Eurasia?

Cited by 133 publications

References 15 publications

Fences reduce habitat for a partially migratory ungulate in the Northern Sagebrush Steppe

Fences reduce habitat for a partially migratory ungulate in the Northern Sagebrush Steppe

A 2018 Horizon Scan of Emerging Issues for Global Conservation and Biological Diversity

Distribution and connectivity of protected areas in the Americas facilitates transboundary conservation

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About