Understanding risk perceptions to enhance communication about human-wildlife interactions and the impacts of zoonotic disease

Inclusion of wildlife in the concept of One Health is important for two primary reasons: (1) the physical health of humans, domesticated animals, and wildlife is linked inextricably through shared diseases, and (2) humans' emotional well-being can be affected by their perceptions of animal health. Although an explicit premise of the One Health Initiative is that healthy wildlife contribute to human health, and vice versa, the initiative also suggests implicitly that wildlife may pose threats to human health through zoonotic disease transmission. As people learn more about One Health, an important question surfaces: How will they react to communications carrying the message that human health and wildlife health are linked? In the absence of adequate relevant research data, we recommend caution in the production and dissemination of One Health messages because of possible unintended or collateral effects. Understanding how and why individuals perceive risks related to wildlife diseases is essential for determining message content that promotes public support for healthy wildlife populations, on the one hand, and, on the other, for identifying messages that might inadvertently increase concern about human health effects of diseased wildlife. To that end, we review risk perception research and summarize the few empirical studies that exist on perceived risk associated with zoonoses. We conclude with some research questions that need answering to help One Health practitioners better understand how the public will interpret their messages and thus how to communicate positively and without negative collateral consequences for wildlife conservation.     

Large herbivore responses to surface water and land use in an East African savanna: implications for conservation and human-wildlife conflicts

Water, forage and predation constrain ungulate distributions in savannas. To understand these constraints, we characterized distributions of 15 herbivore species from water, locations of peak density and degree of clustering around the peaks using zero-inflated count data models and mapping census data collected in the Mara reserve and the adjoining pastoral ranches in Kenya during a wet and dry year. Herbivores followed a humped pattern (n = 46), suggesting constrained foraging in which they balance the benefits of proximity to water with the costs of foraging where food is depleted near water and travelling to more abundant food distant from water; an exponentially decreasing pattern (n = 11), indicating strong attraction to water or vegetation near water; or a uniform (n = 3) pattern. The details rather than the types of these patterns varied between years. Herbivores concentrated farther from water and more tightly around locations of their peak densities in the ranches than the reserve. Herbivores were more abundant and widely distributed from water in the wet than the dry year, and segregated along the distance-to-water gradient, presumably to minimize interspecific competition for food. Pastoralism compressed herbivore distributions and partially excluded some species (warthog, hartebeest, topi, wildebeest, zebra, eland, buffalo and elephant) from, while attracting others (Grant’s and Thomson’s gazelles, impala, giraffe) to the ranches, relative to the reserve. Regulating cultivation, fencing, settlements and livestock stocking levels in the ranches would allow continued wildlife access to water, reduce competition with, displacement or harassment of wildlife by people, livestock and dogs near water.     

Water beetles associated with reservoirs on Table Mountain,Cape Town: implications for conservation

Table Mountain maintained internationally high global conservation priority with respect to the aquatic Coleoptera. The study site displayed an overall 77% endemism with 65% of species provisionally of high IUCN international conservation status. Reservoirs were shown to have a dramatic negative impact on the endemic and endangered water beetles of Table Mountain. This comprised of an overall species loss of 73%, all endemics, and a 64% loss of high conservation status species in the Hydraenidae, Dryopidae and Elmidae. Further hydrological alteration in the region was not recommended and the necessary inclusion of water beetles in future EIA assessments stipulated. The necessity for bioinventory methodology in addition to standard netting methodology was conclusively illustrated. A Balanced Scorecard approach to conservation decisions based on species level data including appropriate bioinventory survey methodology, recent survey data, IUCN status, and levels of endemism was proposed. The differentiation of species communities with altitude produced a division between upland and lowland communities on Table Mountain. Distinct differences between the reservoir impacted and natural upland water beetle communities were demonstrated.     

Extinction risk assessments at the population and species level: implications for amphibian conservation

Amphibian populations are declining worldwide and this is causing growing concern. High levels of population declines followed by the expansion of red lists are creating demands for effective strategies to maximize conservation efforts for amphibians. Ideally, integrated and comprehensive strategies should be based on complementary information of population and species extinction risk. Here we evaluate the congruence between amphibian extinction risk assessments at the population level (Declining Amphibian Database––DAPTF) and at species level (GAA––IUCN Red List). We used the Declining Amphibian Database––DAPTF that covers 967 time-series records of amphibian population declines assigned into four levels of declines. We assigned each of its corresponding species into GAA––IUCN red list status, discriminated each species developmental mode, and obtained their geographic range size as well. Extinction risk assessments at the population and species level do not fully coincide across geographic realms or countries. In Paleartic, Neartic and Indo-Malayan realms less than 25% of species with reported population declines are formally classified as threatened. In contrast, more than 60% of all species with reported population declines that occur in Australasia and the Neotropics are indeed threatened according to the GAA––IUCN Red List. Species with aquatic development presented proportionally higher extinction risks at both population and species level than those with terrestrial development, being this pattern more prominent at Australasia, Paleartic, and Neartic realms. Central American countries, Venezuela, Mexico and Australia presented the highest congruence between both population and species risk. We address that amphibian conservation strategies could be improved by using complementary information on time-series population trends and species threat. Whenever feasible, conservation assessments should also include life-history traits in order to improve its effectiveness.     

Gendered perceptions on infant feeding in Eastern Uganda: continued need for exclusive breastfeeding support

Background

In resource-poor settings, HIV positive mothers are recommended to choose between 'Exclusive breastfeeding' (EBF) or 'Exclusive replacement feeding' (ERF). Acceptability, Feasibility, Affordability, Sustainability and Safety (AFASS) has been the World Health Organization (WHO)'s a priori criteria for ERF the last ten years. 'AFASS' has become a mere acronym among many workers in the field of prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV, PMTCT. Thereby, non-breastfeeding has been suggested irrespective of social norms. EBF for the first half of infancy is associated with huge health benefits for children in areas where infant mortality is high. But, even if EBF has been recommended for a decade, few mothers are practicing it. We set out to understand fathers' and mothers' infant feeding perceptions and the degree to which EBF and ERF were 'AFASS.'

Methods

Eight focus groups with 81 informants provided information for inductive content analysis. Four groups were held by men among men and four groups by women among women in Mbale District, Eastern Uganda.

Results

Two study questions emerged: How are the different feeding options understood and accepted? And, what are men's and women's responsibilities related to infant feeding? A mother's commitment to breastfeed and the husband's commitment to provide for the family came out strongly. Not breastfeeding a newborn was seen as dangerous and as unacceptable, except in cases of maternal illness. Men argued that not breastfeeding could entail sanctions by kin or in court. But, in general, both men and women regarded EBF as 'not enough' or even 'harmful.' Among men, not giving supplements to breast milk was associated with poverty and men's failure as providers. Women emphasised lack of time, exhaustion, poverty and hunger as factors for limited breast milk production. Although women had attended antenatal teaching they expressed a need to know more. Most men felt left out from health education.

Conclusion

Breastfeeding was the expected way to feed the baby, but even with existing knowledge among mothers, EBF was generally perceived as impossible. ERF was overall negatively sanctioned. Greater culture-sensitivity in programs promoting safer infant feeding in general and in HIV-contexts in particular is urgently needed, and male involvement is imperative.

Trial Registration

The study was part of formative studies for the ongoing study PROMISE EBF registered at http://clinicaltrials.gov (NCT00397150).     

Extralimital movements of reintroduced bison (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Bison bison</Emphasis>): implications for potential range expansion and human-wildlife conflict

Extralimital movements are of interest to ecologists and wildlife managers alike because they can be used to understand the ecological process of range establishment and to determine if management interventions are necessary. I summarize available information of 17 observations of extralimital movements of 23 bison (Bison bison) from two reintroduced populations in northwestern Canada, during 2000–2016. Distances recorded from the release sites and the centre of their range were 125–260 and 70–285 km, respectively. All observations were of adult (≥5 years old) males, and most (11 of 17) were of lone animals. Most (13 of 17) observations of extralimital bison were made during summer, ≥10 years after reintroduction. Results were similar for both populations. Four extralimital bison were killed by wildlife officials because of conflicts with agricultural interests; the fate of the others was unknown. These data point to the exploratory nature of reintroduced adult male bison during the summer, which may be a precursor to range expansion. Wildlife managers can monitor extralimital movements of reintroduced bison to identify potential areas of future range expansion or human-bison conflict. More generally, these observations may be useful to inform planning efforts for future reintroductions of bison.     

Communicating for conservation: circumventing conflict with communities over domestic dog ownership in north Morocco

Conservationists consider open and direct communication as best practice even when their data conflict with local beliefs. However, ensuring the effective delivery of a controversial message without overtly challenging community identity is difficult. Such a scenario needs high levels of meaningful contact and trust-building dialogue between conservationists and communities as well as innovative means of communicating controversial information. Indirect communication is one such strategy, allowing people to draw their own conclusions about controversial information. We present an example of successful indirect communication of such information in the context of a long-term Barbary macaque community conservation project in Morocco. Dogs in the area kill macaques and domestic livestock in the forest, and local shepherds believed these dogs to be feral. However, our observations identified these dogs as being owned, free-roaming village dogs rather than feral dogs. To impart this controversial information, we developed a dog health programme to communicate our findings and improve the health of domestic dogs to safeguard human and animal health. We administered rabies vaccinations to dogs in three villages and provided their owners with brightly coloured dog collars. After observing collared dogs hunting in the forest, the shepherds realised the dogs had owners. Community participation was high and we vaccinated 242 dogs achieving 60–81% vaccination coverage. An additional benefit of the activity was to successfully convey the message that the conservation team is committed to local people’s welfare as well as to Barbary macaque conservation.     

Coastal-marine discontinuities and synergisms: implications for biodiversity conservation

Coastal-marine biodiversity conservation must focus increasingly at the level of the land- and seascape. Five cases illustrate discontinuities and synergisms and how system changes may take place. For Caribbean coral reefs, the result of overfishing and disease has been a shrinkage in the entire system, the effects of which may cascade through the coastal seascape. For Beringia, patterns of benthic diversity are best understood in a manner that matches the multiscale, integrated dynamics of weather, ice, marine mammal feeding, and community structure. In the case of US East Coast estuaries, oyster reefs may be keystone elements, with important effects on functional diversity. Large-scale coastal systems depend upon the connectivity of fresh and marine waters in the coastal zone, having implications for the apparent stochasticity of coastal fisheries. And, for a coastal barrier-lagoon site, a state change may be described in terms of a combination of succession, the attainment of a quasi-equilibrium state, and disturbance. A profound problem for conservation is that there is very little information about the relationship between species diversity and ecological function. Coastal-marine biodiversity conservation is best addressed at the level of the land- and seascape.     

Functional redundancy in heterogeneous environments: implications for conservation

It has been argued that one of the best ways to conserve biological diversity is to maintain the integrity of functional processes within communities, and this can be accomplished by assessing how much ecological redundancy exists in communities. Evidence suggests, however, that the functional roles species play are subject to the influences of local environmental conditions. Species may appear to perform the same function (i.e. be redundant) under a restricted set of conditions, yet their functional roles may vary in naturally heterogeneous environments. Incorporating the environmental context into ecological experiments would provide a critical perspective for examining functional redundancy among species.     

Birdsong and anthropogenic noise: implications and applications for conservation

The dramatic increase in human activities all over the world has caused, on an evolutionary time scale, a sudden rise in especially low-pitched noise levels. Ambient noise may be detrimental to birds through direct stress, masking of predator arrival or associated alarm calls, and by interference of acoustic signals in general. Two of the most important functions of avian acoustic signals are territory defence and mate attraction. Both of these functions are hampered when signal efficiency is reduced through rising noise levels, resulting in direct negative fitness consequences. Many bird species are less abundant near highways and studies are becoming available on reduced reproductive success in noisy territories. Urbanization typically leads to homogenization of bird communities over large geographical ranges. We review current evidence for whether and how anthropogenic noise plays a role in these patterns of decline in diversity and density. We also provide details of a case study on great tits (Parus major), a successful urban species. Great tits show features that other species may lack and make them unsuitable for city life. We hypothesize that behavioural plasticity in singing behaviour may allow species more time to adapt to human-altered environments and we address the potential for microevolutionary changes and urban speciation in European blackbirds (Turdus merula). We conclude by providing an overview of mitigating measures available to abate noise levels that are degrading bird breeding areas. Bird conservationists probably gain most by realizing that birds and humans often benefit from the same or only slightly modified measures.     

Endemicity of Afromontane grasshopper assemblages: implications for grassland conservation

The Drakensberg escarpment in southern Africa is extensively afforested with pine plantations. The Afromontane grasslands in this area have large numbers of endemic plant taxa, but very little is known of their invertebrate fauna. We report on the microgeographical and broad‐scale geographical characteristics of grasshoppers and their allies (Orthoptera) at the Groenvaly grassland fragmentation experiment site, South Africa. Pre‐fragmentation sampling indicates that control sites and experimental fragments were comparable at the start of the experiment. Of the surveyed species (total 31 species) 25% are endemic to this grassland with another 33% occurring more widely in montane grasslands of south‐eastern South Africa. The level of orthopteran endemicity is therefore similar to that of plants, emphasizing the conservation importance of this threatened habitat. There was a significant inverse relation between the degree of stenotopy of a species within the study site and its geographical range in southern Africa, with implications for interpreting the conservation importance of taxonomically and geographically unknown taxa such as the beetles (Coleoptera) in the Afromontane grassland. This information on endemicity of the Afromontane Orthoptera indicates that these grasslands harbour a diverse endemic fauna representing a significant part of southern African biodiversity.     

Radio-telemetric monitoring of dispersing stag beetles: implications for conservation

Migratory movements of the endangered stag beetles Lucanus cervus (18 males, 38 females) were monitored radio-telemetrically for three reproductive periods (2003–2005). The aim of the study was to estimate the migratory range of free-ranging individuals as a measure of connectivity among neighbouring populations for future conservation measures. Miniature transmitters of c . 350 mg (battery life: 10–15 days) were attached externally to the pronotum. Transmitter/beetle mass ratio was 12.8% on average (7.1–28.0%). Male dispersal behaviour consisted of frequent flights directed to sites with reproductive females and rarely of on-ground movement. Total displacement distance recorded was up to 2065 m, the maximum distance of a single flight being 1720 m. Flights always began at elevated structures such as trees and shrubs and took place in an air temperature range of 11–27°C. Within this range, temperature did not influence flight distance. Female dispersal behaviour consisted mostly of a single flight, followed by mating and consequent ground movements towards oviposition sites. Total displacement distance recorded was up to 762.6 m, the maximum distance of a single flight being 701 m. Climatic constraints of flights were the same as in males. Modelling the dispersal behaviour suggests that about 1% of males are capable of maintaining gene flux among nest sites within a radius of about 3 km. However, the colonization of new nest sites depends on the dispersal ability of females and amounts to less than 1 km. Thus, isolated populations (distance to the next population greater than 3 km) have an increased probability of local extinction.     

Alpha-fetoprotein inhibits frog metamorphosis: implications for protein motif conservation

Alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) is a tumor-associated fetal protein which has served as a marker for both oncogenic and ontogenetic growth. A growth regulatory segment on human AFP contains amino acid sequence identity and similarity with Rana and Xenopus albumin molecules. This study assessed the ability of both intact mammalian AFP and a derived peptide to influence thyroid induction of tail resorption during Rana catesbeiana metamorphosis. After AFP and other proteins/peptides were pre-incubated with triiodothyronine (T3) for 1 h, they were added to intact tadpoles in 300 ml of water. Human and/or mouse AFP, at a concentration of 70 ng/ml, completely inhibited T3-induced tail loss when measured over a 5 day period. In contrast, albumin and other proteins were without affect. A peptide (P149) with the sequence of human AFP residues # 447-480 also completely blocked the tail response at a concentration of 33 ng/ml, whereas a scrambled version of this peptide was without activity. The present peptide segment derived from mammalian AFP might represent a highly conserved serum protein motif in the vertebrate phyla since it is capable of influencing growth, differentiation and transformation phenomenon in amphibians.     

Population and geographic range dynamics: implications for conservation planning

Continuing downward trends in the population sizes of many species, in the conservation status of threatened species, and in the quality, extent and connectedness of habitats are of increasing concern. Identifying the attributes of declining populations will help predict how biodiversity will be impacted and guide conservation actions. However, the drivers of biodiversity declines have changed over time and average trends in abundance or distributional change hide significant variation among species. While some populations are declining rapidly, the majority remain relatively stable and others are increasing. Here we dissect out some of the changing drivers of population and geographic range change, and identify biological and geographical correlates of winners and losers in two large datasets covering local population sizes of vertebrates since 1970 and the distributions of Galliform birds over the last two centuries. We find weak evidence for ecological and biological traits being predictors of local decline in range or abundance, but stronger evidence for the role of local anthropogenic threats and environmental change. An improved understanding of the dynamics of threat processes and how they may affect different species will help to guide better conservation planning in a continuously changing world.