Best of both worlds: Combining ecological and social research to inform conservation decisions in a Neotropical biodiversity hotspot

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Micchi de Barros Ferraz, Katia Maria Paschoaletto ; Marchini, Silvio ; Bogoni, Juliano A. ; Paolino, Roberta Montanheiro ; Landis, Mariana ; Fusco-Costa, Roberto ; Magioli, Marcelo ; Munhoes, Leticia Prado ; Saranholi, Bruno H. ; Gomes Ribeiro, Yuri Geraldo ; de Domini, Juan Andrea ; Magezi, Gabriel Shimokawa ; Zecchini Gebin, Joao Carlos ; Ermenegildo, Hiago ; Galetti Junior, Pedro Manoel ; Galetti, Mauro ; Zimmermann, Alexandra ; Chiarello, Adriano Garcia

• Document type: Journal article
• Source: JOURNAL FOR NATURE CONSERVATION; v. 66, p. 14-pg., 2022-04-01.

Abstract

Conservation decision is a challenging and risky task when it aims at prioritizing species or protected areas (PAs) to prevent extinction while ensuring fair treatment of all stakeholders. Better conservation decisions are those made upon a broader evidence base that includes both ecological and social considerations. However, in some of the most biodiverse ecosystems on Earth - tropical forests, for instance - multicriteria decision-making has been constrained by the following (i) ecological and social datasets available have been obtained in an independent, non-integrated manner, with social data typically more scarce than ecological ones, and (ii) capacity in social and/or interdisciplinary data analysis among decision-maker is limited. We describe a conservation prioritization exercise that combined findings from independent ecological and social research conducted in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest, and propose methods to integrate, analyze and visualize data. We found that the outcomes based on combined ecological and social research findings were, in some cases, different from those based on any of these lines of evidence alone. Indeed, the input from relatively basic social research significantly changed the outcomes of decision-making based on the results of ecological research. Results corroborate the importance and cost-effectiveness of broadening the interdisciplinary evidence base for conservation decisionmaking, even when social data is scarce and analytical capacity is limited. (AU)

• FAPESP's process: 14/09300-0 - Trophic ecology, functional diversity and occurrence of terrestrial mammals in the Atlantic Forest
• Grantee: Katia Maria Paschoaletto Micchi de Barros Ferraz
• Support Opportunities: Regular Research Grants
• FAPESP's process: 14/10192-7 - Trophic ecology of carnivorous mammals of the Atlantic Forest: use of stable isotope and functional diversity for conservation
• Grantee: Marcelo Magioli
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Doctorate
• FAPESP's process: 13/24453-4 - Genetic diversity of felids (Puma concolor, Leopardus pardalis, Leopardus tigrinus and Puma yagouaroundi) and the mesopredator (Leopardus pardalis) presence effect on density and genetic diversity of the smaller felid species.
• Grantee: Bruno Henrique Saranholi
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Doctorate
• FAPESP's process: 16/19106-1 - Mammal occurrence and biological invasion in Cerrado remnants of agricultural landscapes
• Grantee: Adriano Garcia Chiarello
• Support Opportunities: Regular Research Grants
• FAPESP's process: 18/16662-6 - Patterns of biological diversity and coexistence human-wildlife: components that sustain ecosystem services
• Grantee: Katia Maria Paschoaletto Micchi de Barros Ferraz
• Support Opportunities: Research Grants - Research in Public Policies
• FAPESP's process: 19/21074-9 - Mammal ecology: CAM traps and fecal samples collection
• Grantee: Juan Andrés de Domini
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Technical Training Program - Technical Training
• FAPESP's process: 14/01986-0 - Ecological consequences of defaunation in the Atlantic Rainforest
• Grantee: Mauro Galetti Rodrigues
• Support Opportunities: Research Projects - Thematic Grants