On the benefits of systematic reviews for wildlife parasitology

Haddaway, Neal R.; Watson, Maggie J.

doi:10.1016/j.ijppaw.2016.05.002

Cited by 24 publications

(27 citation statements)

References 47 publications

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“…We conducted an aggregative scoping review (Haddaway and Watson 2016) of the scientific literature databased online within Web of Science Previews and BIOSIS Previews (University of California Davis subscription) on topics related to urban biodiversity from February to May 2015 ( Supplementary Fig. S1).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ecological spillover dynamics of organisms from urban to natural landscapes

Spear

Grijalva

Michaels

et al. 2018

Journal of Urban Ecology

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Urbanization and anthropogenic development have fundamentally altered ecosystem dynamics on a global scale. Conservation and management of comparatively less modified landscapes adjacent to highly modified landscapes requires careful consideration of interactions between landscape types. Restoration or conservation of habitat within a developed matrix is generally thought to have beneficial effects on landscape-level ecological processes. We propose an ecological spillover framework to critically assess how restoring or conserving species populations within anthropogenically modified landscapes may affect adjacent wildland populations. Within the framework, the spillover process is divided into seven interconnected 'nodes', which identify points at which potential cause-effect relationships may exist between urban and wildland populations. The framework is useful for a wide range of project-specific ecological relationships, and can help scientists and managers identify knowledge gaps and weigh risk in conservation decision-making. We queried the conservation literature to identify research focused on the impacts of urban species populations on regional wildland populations. Our search revealed seven ecological processes that have the potential to be affected by urban to wildland spillover and we found relatively few studies that explicitly analyze spillover effects from urban to wildland areas. Organisms living in urban areas within restored or remnant habitats located in an urban matrix, or within the built environment have largely unknown effects on landscape-level ecological processes. We conclude with a discussion on the critical gaps in research linking these habitats to larger landscape-level ecological understanding, and provide recommendations for research priorities that might illuminate this important aspect of 21st century conservation planning.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ecological spillover dynamics of organisms from urban to natural landscapes

Spear

Grijalva

Michaels

et al. 2018

Journal of Urban Ecology

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“…A systematic review or map should not be undertaken without specialist methods training if review authors wish to produce a reliable synthesis devoid of major limitations or bias [16,17]. While the major systematic review coordinating bodies have been slow to recognise the benefits of training aimed specifically at stakeholder engagement, as described above, training in the technical aspects of systematic methodology is relatively common (see Box 1 for an example of a recent training course).…”

Section: Systematic Review and Map Methods (Point 2 In Table 2)mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In order to make the results readily understandable, review authors often produce summaries that describe the evidence visually (e.g. forest plots, evidence atlases and heat maps [17,19] Table 2). For example, The American Association for the Advancement of Science coordinates such workshops [24].…”

Section: Systematic Review and Map Methods (Point 2 In Table 2)mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Here, relevant training should provide an understanding of the benefits of systematic methods compared to informal narrative literature reviews, and the importance of the central tenets of comprehensiveness, transparency, repeatability and objectivity [4][5][6]. There is a general appreciation for the 'added value' associated with reviews that label themselves as 'systematic' , but there is also a misunderstanding over what is required to make a review reliable [17,25]. This kind of training would be suitable for potential commissioners of syntheses along with endusers (policy stakeholders and practitioners) wishing to integrate review findings into decision-making processes.…”

Section: Training For Stakeholders Education and Outreachmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Furthermore, any information provided can be carefully appraised by a communications expert to ensure it is free from complex terms or unnecessary jargon. Table 2) Many syntheses call themselves systematic reviews, but fail to meet basic qualifying standards of what is considered to be a systematic review [17] as set out by systematic review coordinating bodies [4][5][6]. Training in how to critically appraise reviews can enable stakeholders to highlight common problems with non-systematic reviews.…”

Section: Training For Stakeholders Education and Outreachmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Much at stake: the importance of training and capacity building for stakeholder engagement in evidence synthesis

Eales¹,

Haddaway²,

Webb³

2017

Environ Evid

Self Cite

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Systematic reviews and maps are complex methods for synthesising evidence that involve specialist and resourceintensive activities. Systematic reviewers face challenges when attempting to clearly and precisely communicate their methods to end-users and other stakeholder groups. We propose that these challenges are likely to be a key causal factor in the generally low uptake of systematic reviews and maps by policy and practitioners in environmental science and management. We argue that training and capacity building are inherently important components of systematic reviews and maps for all stakeholders; the reviewers themselves, the end-users of specific reviews, and the broader research and decision-making community. Training can help to build capacity for undertaking reviews and maps, and can help to explain complex methods to stakeholders. Training is important for those wishing to undertake stakeholder engagement activities as part of a review. It allows researchers and decision-makers to critique systematic reviews and maps based on their methods. Finally, training may be necessary to allow reviewers to prepare visualisations and communication media for presenting the findings of systematic reviews and maps. We conclude that a broad approach, by viewing every opportunity of stakeholder engagement as a potential for training and capacity building is appropriate both within a specific review and across reviews as a community of practice in evidence synthesis. We call for systematic reviewers to improve networks across disciplines in relation to training, sharing experiences and course content, and ensuring a consistent approach to capacity building in the conduct and use of evidence syntheses.

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Demography, education, and research trends in the interdisciplinary field of disease ecology

Brandell

Becker

Sampson

et al. 2021

Ecology and Evolution

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Micro‐ and macroparasites are a leading cause of mortality for humans, animals, and plants, and there is great need to understand their origins, transmission dynamics, and impacts. Disease ecology formed as an interdisciplinary field in the 1970s to fill this need and has recently rapidly grown in size and influence. Because interdisciplinary fields integrate diverse scientific expertise and training experiences, understanding their composition and research priorities is often difficult. Here, for the first time, we quantify the composition and educational experiences of a subset of disease ecology practitioners and identify topical trends in published research. We combined a large survey of self‐declared disease ecologists with a literature synthesis involving machine‐learning topic detection of over 18,500 disease ecology research articles. The number of graduate degrees earned by disease ecology practitioners has grown dramatically since the early 2000s. Similar to other science fields, we show that practitioners in disease ecology have diversified in the last decade in terms of gender identity and institution, with weaker diversification in race and ethnicity. Topic detection analysis revealed how the frequency of publications on certain topics has declined (e.g., HIV, serology), increased (e.g., the dilution effect, infectious disease in bats), remained relatively common (e.g., malaria ecology, influenza, vaccine research and development), or have consistently remained relatively infrequent (e.g., theoretical models, field experiments). Other topics, such as climate change, superspreading, emerging infectious diseases, and network analyses, have recently come to prominence. This study helps identify the major themes of disease ecology and demonstrates how publication frequency corresponds to emergent health and environmental threats. More broadly, our approach provides a framework to examine the composition and publication trends of other major research fields that cross traditional disciplinary boundaries.

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On the benefits of systematic reviews for wildlife parasitology

Cited by 24 publications

References 47 publications

Ecological spillover dynamics of organisms from urban to natural landscapes

Ecological spillover dynamics of organisms from urban to natural landscapes

Much at stake: the importance of training and capacity building for stakeholder engagement in evidence synthesis

Demography, education, and research trends in the interdisciplinary field of disease ecology

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