Mitigating elasmobranch fin trade: A market analysis for made-to-measure interventions.

The unsustainable trade in elasmobranch products, particularly fins, contributes to the decline of elasmobranch populations worldwide. Designing and implementing context-appropriate solutions to mitigate unsustainable trade requires a thorough analysis of markets. Here we assess the market component of the elasmobranch fin trade in the Bay of Bengal, Bangladesh, using a framework designed to analyse wildlife markets.

New records of elasmobranchs in the Bay of Bengal, Bangladesh: further taxonomic research is essential.

To evaluate the species diversity and strengthen the taxonomic identification of elasmobranchs in the Bay of Bengal, Bangladesh, a study was conducted in the southeast coastal region between January 2016 and March 2018. Using morphological and genetic identification techniques, this study presents 22 species from the region. Thirteen of these are new records.

Evaluating artisanal fishing of globally threatened sharks and rays in the Bay of Bengal, Bangladesh.

Sharks and rays are at risk of extinction globally. This reflects low resilience to increasing fishing pressure, exacerbated by habitat loss, climate change, increasing value in a trade and inadequate information leading to limited conservation actions. Artisanal fisheries in the Bay of Bengal of Bangladesh contribute to the high levels of global fishing pressure on elasmobranchs.

Integrating climate adaptation and biodiversity conservation in the global ocean.

The impacts of climate change and the socioecological challenges they present are ubiquitous and increasingly severe. Practical efforts to operationalize climate-responsive design and management in the global network of marine protected areas (MPAs) are required to ensure long-term effectiveness for safeguarding marine biodiversity and ecosystem services. Here, we review progress in integrating climate change adaptation into MPA design and management and provide eight recommendations to expedite this process.

Valuing biodiversity and ecosystem services: a useful way to manage and conserve marine resources?

Valuation of biodiversity and ecosystem services (ES) is widely recognized as a useful, though often controversial, approach to conservation and management. However, its use in the marine environment, hence evidence of its efficacy, lags behind that in terrestrial ecosystems. This largely reflects key challenges to marine conservation and management such as the practical difficulties in studying the ocean, complex governance issues and the historically-rooted separation of biodiversity conservation and resource management.

The impact of conservation on the status of the world's vertebrates.

Using data for 25,780 species categorized on the International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List, we present an assessment of the status of the world's vertebrates. One-fifth of species are classified as Threatened, and we show that this figure is increasing: On average, 52 species of mammals, birds, and amphibians move one category closer to extinction each year. However, this overall pattern conceals the impact of conservation successes, and we show that the rate of deterioration would have been at least one-fifth again as much in the absence of these.

Disease dynamics in cyclic populations of field voles (Microtus agrestis): cowpox virus and vole tuberculosis (Mycobacterium microti).

The possible role of pathogens in rodent population cycles has been largely neglected since Elton's 'epidemic hypothesis' of 1931. To revisit this question, 12 adjacent, cyclic but out-of-phase populations of field voles (Microtus agrestis) in North East England were studied and the initial results are presented here. The prevalences of antibodies to cowpox virus and of clinical signs of Mycobacterium microti infection (vole tuberculosis) showed delayed (not direct) density dependence (with a lag of three to six months).