CNRS, EDB (Laboratoire Evolution et Diversité Biologique), Toulouse, France.
Ann N Y Acad Sci. 2010 May;1195:149-68. doi: 10.1111/j.1749-6632.2010.05477.x.
Public information is an emerging major topic in ecology and evolution. We review the literature about the role of public information in ecology and conservation while mainly focusing on inadvertent social information (ISI), which constitutes a major form of public information. We first define the terms of biological information that we use. We then review the accruing evidence for ISI use in many fitness-affecting decisions in plants and animals. We generalize concepts of information to encompass interspecific interactions. We then develop how intra- and interspecific information flows actually shape ecological and evolutionary dynamics. We then discuss some of the application of adopting an information-driven approach to ecology and evolution in conservation biology. Our hope is to favor the transfer of knowledge from ecology and evolution to conservation biology. We claim that this is the only way to design efficient conservation actions and illustrate how ignoring concepts of information may lead us to design conservation actions that drive endangered populations toward rather than away from extinction.
公众信息是生态学和进化领域的一个新兴主题。我们综述了有关公众信息在生态学和保护生物学中作用的文献，主要集中于无意识的社会信息（ISI），它构成了公众信息的主要形式。我们首先定义了我们使用的生物信息术语。然后，我们综述了在植物和动物的许多影响适应度的决策中 ISI 被使用的累积证据。我们将信息的概念推广到包含种间相互作用。然后，我们发展了信息是如何实际塑造生态和进化动态的。接着，我们讨论了在保护生物学中采用信息驱动方法的一些应用。我们希望促进从生态学和进化到保护生物学的知识转移。我们声称，这是设计有效保护措施的唯一途径，并说明忽视信息概念可能导致我们设计的保护措施会使濒危种群走向灭绝，而不是远离灭绝。
