Evidence-based conservation education in Mexican communities: Connecting arts and science

Franquesa‐Soler, Montserrat; Jorge-Sales, Lucía; Aristizabal, John F.; Moreno‐Casasola, Patricia; Serio-Silva, Juan Carlos

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0228382

Cited by 13 publications

(24 citation statements)

References 57 publications

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“…Thus, local efforts to conserve remaining natural habitat and to increase landscape connectivity could help to maintain stable populations by facilitating dispersal across fragments, helping to avoid inbreeding, and increasing genetic diversity and population fitness. Indeed, positive communitybased conservation strategies have been implemented in some areas in Mexico, where local people actively participate in creating public awareness of the ecological importance of primates and their habitat (Franquesa-Soler et al, 2020;Serio-Silva et al, 2015). Moreover, genetic information can be further employed to identify hot spots of primate illegal trade; for example, genetic data enabled a highly confident assignment of the population of origin of confiscated individuals of A. caraya, as well as their later release into their native localities (Oklander et al, 2020).…”

Section: Implications For Conservationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Conservation implications of living in forest remnants: Inbreeding and genetic structure of the northernmost mantled howler monkeys

2021

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The current unprecedented rates of environmental perturbation, particularly in rain forest ecosystems, are jeopardizing the persistence of a variety of tropical species.The development of adequate conservation programs requires incorporating the evolutionary history and population genetic information of species, especially in those threatened by habitat loss and fragmentation. Mexican mantled howler monkeys (Alouatta palliata mexicana) represent the northernmost distribution of primates in America, a Critically Endangered species mainly inhabiting forest remnants. We assessed historical and contemporary patterns of genetic variation in A. p. mexicana populations from five regions across its geographic distribution in Mexico. We employed non-invasive sampling techniques and evaluated microsatellite loci and mitochondrial cytochrome b sequences from 127 individuals from 15 wild and two semi-captive populations. Our data demonstrate negative genetic effects on A. p. mexicana as a result of isolation, fragmentation, and small effective population size.Results revealed two mitochondrial lineages and three genetically differentiated nuclear clusters, along with reduced nuclear genetic diversity, limited gene flow, and significant inbreeding, associated with concurrent processes of historical dispersion and contemporary landscape changes. Accordingly, we argue that A. palliata mexicana in Mexico is an independently evolving unit that meets the criteria for being assigned as an Evolutionarily Significant Unit, crucial for the preservation of the howler monkeys' phylogenetic and functional diversity. The three genetic clusters identified are essential for the maintenance of the adaptive diversity and long-term survival of this howler subspecies. Our genetic approach and conservation recommendations may be useful for other endangered primates inhabiting fragmented populations.

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Section: Implications For Conservationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Conservation implications of living in forest remnants: Inbreeding and genetic structure of the northernmost mantled howler monkeys

2021

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“…PLs can include, but are not limited to, principal investigators, teaching professors, extension specialists, research scientists, chief scientists, staff scientists, postdoctoral researchers, and graduate students. Outside of a pandemic, PLs and their teams engage in a multitude of activities, including field work, laboratory analyses, data science, stakeholder engagement, ongoing skill development, manuscript writing, and science communication ( Franquesa-Soler et al, 2020 ; Grant et al, 2007 ; Januchowski-Hartley et al, 2018 ; Manolis et al, 2009 ). Often the goal of these activities is to inform and encourage changes in human behavior, policy, or governance ( Zavaleta et al, 2018 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mentorship, equity, and research productivity: lessons from a pandemic

Nocco

McGill

MacKenzie

et al. 2021

Biological Conservation

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The coronavirus pandemic is more fully exposing ubiquitous economic and social inequities that pervade conservation science. In this time of prolonged stress on members of the research community, primary investigators or project leaders (PLs) have a unique opportunity to adapt their programs to jointly create more equitable and productive research environments for their teams. Institutional guidance for PLs pursuing field and laboratory work centers on the physical safety of individuals while in the lab or field, but largely ignores the vast differences in how team members may be experiencing the pandemic. Strains on mental, physical, and emotional health; racial trauma; familial responsibilities; and compulsory productivity resources, such as high-speed internet, quiet work spaces, and support are unequally distributed across team members. The goal of this paper is to summarize the shifting dynamics of leadership and mentorship during the coronavirus pandemic and highlight opportunities for increasing equity in conservation research at the scale of the project team. Here, we (1) describe how the pandemic differentially manifests inequity on project teams, particularly for groups that have been structurally excluded from conservation science, (2) consider equitable career advancement during the coronavirus pandemic, and (3) offer suggestions for PLs to provide mentorship that prioritizes equity and wellbeing during and beyond the pandemic. We aim to support PLs who have power and flexibility in how they manage research, teaching, mentoring, consulting, outreach, and extension activities so that individual team members' needs are met with compassion and attention to equity.

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“…People’s positive feelings towards the monkeys suggests opportunities for a more holistic community-driven approach to their conservation, for example, the organisation of cultural and recreational events focused on spreading awareness of primate conservation issues (Franquesa-Soler and Serio-Silva 2017 ; Franquesa-Soler et al 2020 ). Educational events could serve to clarify misconceptions and the consequences of the illegal pet trade for survival of wild populations.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Attitudes towards urban howler monkeys (Alouatta caraya) in Paraguay

et al. 2022

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Increasing urbanisation is encroaching into natural habitats and sometimes forcing wildlife into urban centres. Whether or not wildlife can thrive in an urban environment is dependent on many factors, one of which is how the species is perceived by local people. This study focuses on the city of Pilar in south-west Paraguay, which is home to a population of urban-dwelling black and gold howler monkeys (Alouatta caraya). Using semi-structured interviews, we assessed peoples’ attitudes towards the presence of howlers, whether they perceived the monkeys to cause problems in the city, what they believed were the biggest threats to the monkeys, and whether they felt that the presence of monkeys in the city was compatible with their way of life in the long term. Overall, we found that the majority of interviewees had positive attitudes towards the monkeys, believing that they brought benefits to the city and that they should be protected from potential risks in the urban environment. Our results provide the basis for collaborative, community-based development of management strategies for the long-term survival of these urban monkeys.

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Evidence-based conservation education in Mexican communities: Connecting arts and science

Cited by 13 publications

References 57 publications

Conservation implications of living in forest remnants: Inbreeding and genetic structure of the northernmost mantled howler monkeys

Conservation implications of living in forest remnants: Inbreeding and genetic structure of the northernmost mantled howler monkeys

Mentorship, equity, and research productivity: lessons from a pandemic

Attitudes towards urban howler monkeys (Alouatta caraya) in Paraguay

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