Department of Biology, Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS B3H 4R2, Canada.
Trends Ecol Evol. 2012 Oct;27(10):542-6. doi: 10.1016/j.tree.2012.06.005. Epub 2012 Jul 9.
Conservation biology research exhibits a striking but unhelpful dichotomy. Analyses of species decline, extinction risk, and threat mitigation typically encompass broad taxonomic and spatial scales. By contrast, most studies of recovery lack generality, pertaining to specific species, populations, or locales. Narrowly focused analyses offer a weak empirical basis for identifying generic recovery correlates across species, particularly in cases where recovery is not effected by an abatement of threats. We present a research framework for multi-species meta-analyses to identify early-warning signals - 'red flags' - of impaired recovery that can be used as predictors of recovery potential before recovery efforts are initiated. An empirically comprehensive understanding of the demographic, ecological, evolutionary, and threat-related factors affecting the rate and trajectory of species recovery will strengthen conservation efforts to set recovery priorities, targets, and timelines.
保护生物学研究呈现出一种显著但无益的二分法。对物种减少、灭绝风险和威胁缓解的分析通常涵盖广泛的分类和空间尺度。相比之下，大多数恢复研究缺乏普遍性，只涉及特定的物种、种群或地点。狭隘的分析为识别跨物种通用恢复相关性提供了薄弱的经验基础，特别是在恢复不是通过减轻威胁来实现的情况下。我们提出了一个多物种荟萃分析的研究框架，以确定受损恢复的预警信号——“红旗”，这些信号可用作恢复努力开始之前预测恢复潜力的指标。对影响物种恢复速度和轨迹的人口统计学、生态学、进化和与威胁相关因素的全面了解，将加强保护工作，确定恢复重点、目标和时间表。
