The contribution of predators and scavengers to human well-being

O’Bryan, Christopher J.; Braczkowski, Alexander; Beyer, Hawthorne L.; Carter, Neil; Watson, James; McDonald‐Madden, Eve

doi:10.1038/s41559-017-0421-2

Cited by 141 publications

(131 citation statements)

References 98 publications

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“…Quantifying the ecosystem services provided by synanthropic bats and advocating for their contribution to farmers and residents that share their habitats with bats will most likely improve the reputation of bats (Kunz et al, 2011; López‐Baucells, Rocha, & Fernández‐Llamazares, 2018; O’Bryan et al, 2018; Russo et al, 2018). Efforts to preserve the contribution of bats should also be taken into account.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

An appetite for pests: Synanthropic insectivorous bats exploit cotton pest irruptions and consume various deleterious arthropods

et al. 2020

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Conservation biological control (CBC) seeks to minimize the deleterious effects of agricultural pests by enhancing the efficiency of natural enemies. Despite the documented potential of insectivorous bats to consume pests, many synanthropic bat species are still underappreciated as beneficial species. We investigated the diet of Kuhl's pipistrelle (Pipistrellus kuhlii), a common synanthropic insectivorous bat that forages in urban and agricultural areas, to determine whether it may function as a natural enemy in CBC. Faecal samples of P. kuhlii were collected throughout the cotton‐growing season from five roost sites near cotton fields located in a Mediterranean agroecosystem, Israel, and analyzed using DNA metabarcoding. Additionally, data on estimated abundance of major cotton pests were collected. We found that the diet of P. kuhlii significantly varied according to sites and dates and comprised 27 species of agricultural pests that were found in 77.2% of the samples, including pests of key economic concern. The dominant prey was the widespread cotton pest, the pink bollworm, Pectinophora gossypiella, found in 31% of the samples and in all the roosts. Pink bollworm abundance was positively correlated with its occurrence in the bat diet. Furthermore, the bats’ dietary breadth narrowed, while temporal dietary overlap increased, in relation to increasing frequencies of pink bollworms in the diet. This suggests that P. kuhlii exploits pink bollworm irruptions by opportunistic feeding. We suggest that synanthropic bats provide important pest suppression services, may function as CBC agents of cotton pests and potentially contribute to suppress additional deleterious arthropods found in their diet in high frequencies.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

An appetite for pests: Synanthropic insectivorous bats exploit cotton pest irruptions and consume various deleterious arthropods

et al. 2020

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“…However, the extent and value of potential disease control provided by vultures needs to be better demonstrated with empirical evidence (O'Bryan et al. ). At present, this evidence is largely correlative and localized, thereby preventing firm conclusions about the link (or lack thereof) between vultures and disease, including rabies.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…; O'Bryan et al. ). Vultures are threatened by many anthropogenic drivers, such as poisons and other dietary toxins, direct persecution, collision with infrastructures and electrocution, disturbance, and habitat loss and degradation (Buechley & Şekercioğlu ; Botha et al.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Priority areas for conservation of Old World vultures

Santangeli

Girardello

Buechley

et al. 2019

Conservation Biology

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The prosperity and well‐being of human societies relies on healthy ecosystems and the services they provide. However, the biodiversity crisis is undermining ecosystems services and functions. Vultures are among the most imperiled taxonomic groups on Earth, yet they have a fundamental ecosystem function. These obligate scavengers rapidly consume large amounts of carrion and human waste, a service that may aid in both disease prevention and control of mammalian scavengers, including feral dogs, which in turn threaten humans. We combined information about the distribution of all 15 vulture species found in Europe, Asia, and Africa with their threats and used detailed expert knowledge on threat intensity to prioritize critical areas for conserving vultures in Africa and Eurasia. Threats we identified included poisoning, mortality due to collision with wind energy infrastructures, and other anthropogenic activities related to human land use and influence. Areas important for vulture conservation were concentrated in southern and eastern Africa, South Asia, and the Iberian Peninsula, and over 80% of these areas were unprotected. Some vulture species required larger areas for protection than others. Finally, countries that had the largest share of all identified important priority areas for vulture conservation were those with the largest expenditures related to rabies burden (e.g., India, China, and Myanmar). Vulture populations have declined markedly in most of these countries. Restoring healthy vulture populations through targeted actions in the priority areas we identified may help restore the ecosystem services vultures provide, including sanitation and potentially prevention of diseases, such as rabies, a heavy burden afflicting fragile societies. Our findings may guide stakeholders to prioritize actions where they are needed most in order to achieve international goals for biodiversity conservation and sustainable development.

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“…; O'Bryan et al. ). Furthermore, the risks and benefits from carnivores are often unequally distributed in human societies.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Tracking a half century of media reporting on gray wolves

Killion

Melvin

Lindquist

et al. 2018

Conservation Biology

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Natural resource and wildlife managers must balance the disparate priorities of a diversity of stakeholders. To manage these priorities, a firm understanding of topics salient to the public is needed. The media often report on issues of importance to the public; therefore, these reports may be a useful measure of public interest. However, efficient methods for distinguishing diverse topics related to a wildlife management issue reported in the media and changes in the salience of those topics have been lacking. We used latent Dirichlet allocation, a Bayesian mixture model, to quantitatively assess the salience of topics surrounding the gray wolf (Canis lupus), which was reintroduced to Idaho (U.S.A.) in 1995. We analyzed articles published from 1960 to 2015 in an Idaho newspaper. We identified 6 distinct topics associated with gray wolves: policy, hunting, biological status, implementation of management, recovery, and human‐wolf conflict. The salience of topics pre‐ and postreintroduction of wolves (1995) and pre‐ and postdelisting of wolves from the U.S. Endangered Species Act (2009) differed significantly, underscoring that these events were turning points in how issues were being publicly discussed and framed. Articles written by the local reporters were more likely to report on topics regarding conflict between humans and wolves, whereas articles sourced from a national outlet reported more on topics pertaining to wolf policy and biological status. In the context of managing a contentious, far‐ranging, and long‐lived wildlife species, our methods can help guide the location and timing of a suite of management strategies (e.g., media relation plans and stakeholder engagement) that promote human‐wildlife coexistence across different landscapes.

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The contribution of predators and scavengers to human well-being

Cited by 141 publications

References 98 publications

An appetite for pests: Synanthropic insectivorous bats exploit cotton pest irruptions and consume various deleterious arthropods

An appetite for pests: Synanthropic insectivorous bats exploit cotton pest irruptions and consume various deleterious arthropods

Priority areas for conservation of Old World vultures

Tracking a half century of media reporting on gray wolves

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