Shining the spotlight on small mammalian carnivores: Global status and threats

Marneweck, Courtney J.; Butler, Andrew; Gigliotti, Laura C.; Harris, Stephen N.; Jensen, Alex J.; Muthersbaugh, Michael S.; Newman, Blaise Ashley; Saldo, Elizabeth A.; Shute, Kyle E.; Titus, Keifer; Yu, Sze Wing; Jachowski, David S.

doi:10.1016/j.biocon.2021.109005

Cited by 61 publications

(64 citation statements)

References 145 publications

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“…By identifying a decline in a formerly abundant genus of small carnivores across North America, our findings echo recent calls to expand investigations into the conservation need of small carnivores [4]. In particular, there should be serious concern for small carnivores in more species-rich and data deficient portion of globe such as Southeast Asia, sub-Saharan Africa, and Madagascar where small carnivores are at greatest risk of extinction [4]. Further, given such underappreciated declines can take place on a continent with relatively long-term monitoring data for carnivores, we encourage similar reviews of small carnivores globally.…”

Section: Plos Onesupporting

confidence: 78%

“…Globally, small carnivores are increasingly recognized as a group of species in need of conservation attention [1][2][3]. Compared to larger carnivores, they are equally endangered with extinction, yet their conservation status is less frequently evaluated [4]. To counteract this trend there is an urgent need to assess the status and trends of small carnivores.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Tracking the decline of weasels in North America

et al. 2021

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Small carnivores are of increasing conservation concern globally, including those formerly thought to be widespread and abundant. Three weasel species (Mustela nivalis, M. frenata, and M. erminea) are distributed across most of North America, yet several recent studies have reported difficulty detecting weasels within their historical range and several states have revised the status of weasels to that of species of conservation concern. To investigate the status and trends of weasels across the United States (US) and Canada, we analyzed four separate datasets: historical harvests, museum collections, citizen scientist observations (iNaturalist), and a recent US-wide trail camera survey. We observed 87–94% declines in weasel harvest across North America over the past 60 years. Declining trapper numbers and shifts in trapping practices likely partially explain the decline in harvest. Nonetheless, after accounting for trapper effort and pelt price, we still detected a significant decline in weasel harvest for 15 of 22 evaluated states and provinces. Comparisons of recent and historical museum and observational records suggest relatively consistent distributions for M. erminea, but a current range gap of >1000 km between two distinct populations of M. nivalis. We observed a dramatic drop-off in M. frenata records since 2000 in portions of its central, Great Lakes, and southern distribution, despite extensive sampling effort. In 2019, systematic trail camera surveys at 1509 sites in 50 US states detected weasels at 14 sites, all of which were above 40o latitude. While none of these datasets are individually conclusive, they collectively support the hypothesis that weasel populations have declined in North America and highlight the need for improved methods for detecting and monitoring weasels. By identifying population declines for small carnivores that were formerly abundant across North America, our findings echo recent calls to expand investigations into the conservation need of small carnivores globally.

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Section: Plos Onesupporting

confidence: 78%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Tracking the decline of weasels in North America

et al. 2021

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“…Mammalian carnivores are often used as flagship species for conservation efforts (Dickman 2010, Western et al 2019, IUCN 2021). Promoting human-carnivore coexistence (Western et al 2019, Teixeira et al 2021) and establishing protected areas (Trajçe et al 2019, Bauer et al 2021, Marneweck et al 2021) are the two most common strategies to conserve carnivores. However, protected areas are decreasing at an alarming rate due to anthropogenic loss of habitat, forcing wildlife to share habitats with humans (Wolf and Ripple 2018).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Studies on the KAP of local people towards coexistence have focused on large-sized carnivores, but small and middlesized carnivores have received less attention (Lozano et al 2019). Although over a quarter of the world's small carnivores are endemic to Africa and provide ecosystem services, they are data deficient (Marneweck et al 2021). Thus, conservation and management of carnivores should give equal emphasis to all-sized carnivores.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Knowledge, attitude and practice of the local people towards human–carnivore coexistence in Faragosa–Fura Landscape, Gamo Zone, southern Ethiopia

2022

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Local people knowledge, attitudes and practices (KAP) have played an important role in human-wildlife coexistence and have received increased attention in biodiversity conservation. However, studies on the KAP of local people towards human-carnivore coexistence (HCC) are scarce, species-specific or limited to the protected areas. Therefore, we investigated the local people KAP towards carnivore coexistence with humans, the problem of livestock and mitigation practices in a human-dominated landscape of southern Ethiopia. We collected the data from 352 households interviews using a semi-structured questionnaire and photographic sampling. The respondents mentioned 13 carnivores coexisting with local people belonging to six families. Eighty-five percent of the respondents perceived carnivores as problematic species and expressed a negative attitude towards them, primarily due to the damage they caused to their livestock. Respondents who had better knowledge of carnivores also showed a positive attitude towards carnivores. The cluster analysis showed that the spotted hyena, serval, leopard, common genet and black-backed jackal were grouped under a high-threat cluster. Chickens and goats were the most threatened livestock reported by respondents. The main predation control methods reported were guarding and fencing for larger livestock and keeping chickens indoors during the night. The regression models predicted that males and literate respondents had better knowledge of carnivores than females and illiterates. The respondents who owned more livestock experienced more damage to livestock, and females showed a negative attitude towards carnivores. Although the study area is the critical conservation value of the 13 carnivore species, livestock predation by carnivores, the local people's negative attitude towards carnivores and lethal predation control methods practiced by local people were affecting HCC in the area. The findings call for conservation actions such as conservation education to raise awareness and develop a positive attitude and non-lethal predation mitigation measures to promote HCC in consultation with the local community.

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“…Globally, many small mammalian carnivores (< 16 kg) face decreasing population trends due to multiple threats including land use change, disease, and overhunting (Belant, Schipper, and Conroy 2009; Marneweck et al 2021). Even small carnivore species that were previously widely distributed and considered “least concern” by the IUCN, such as weasels ( Neogale spp.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Western spotted skunks provide important food web linkages in forest of the Pacific Northwest

Tosa

Lesmeister

Terborgh

2022

Preprint

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There are increasing concerns about the decreasing population trends of small mammalian carnivores around the world. With limited knowledge about their ecology and natural history, small mammal conservation and management remains difficult. To address one of these deficiencies for western spotted skunks (Spilogale gracilis), we investigated their diet in the Oregon Cascades of the Pacific Northwest during 2017 – 2019. We collected 130 spotted skunk scats opportunistically and with detection dog teams and identified prey items using DNA metabarcoding and mechanical sorting. Western spotted skunk diet consisted of invertebrates such as wasps, millipedes, and gastropods, vertebrates such as small mammals, amphibians, and birds, and plants such as Gaultheria, Rubus, and Vaccinium. Diet also consisted of items such as black-tailed deer that were likely scavenged. Comparison in diet by season revealed that spotted skunks consumed more insects during the dry season (June - August) and marginally more mammals during the wet season (September – May). We observed similar diet in areas with no record of human disturbance and areas with a history of logging. Western spotted skunks provide important food web linkages between aquatic, terrestrial, and arboreal systems by facilitating energy and nutrient transfer, and serve important functional roles of seed dispersal and scavenging. Through prey-switching, western spotted skunks may dampen the effects of irruptions of prey, such as wasps during dry springs and summers, which could then provide ecosystem resilience to environmental change.Open Research StatementData are provided as private-for-peer review (shared publicly on a repository). Material is stored at https://github.com/tinytosa/WSpottedSkunkDiet.git and will be published on Dryad if the paper is accepted for publication.

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Shining the spotlight on small mammalian carnivores: Global status and threats

Cited by 61 publications

References 145 publications

Tracking the decline of weasels in North America

Tracking the decline of weasels in North America

Knowledge, attitude and practice of the local people towards human–carnivore coexistence in Faragosa–Fura Landscape, Gamo Zone, southern Ethiopia

Western spotted skunks provide important food web linkages in forest of the Pacific Northwest

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