Is wildlife research useful for wildlife conservation in the tropics? A review for Borneo with global implications

The urgency of the tropical biodiversity crisis continues to be a major justification for wildlife research and its funding. To examine the benefits of this research for on-the-ground conservation, we focused on Borneo, where conservation has a long history and we have direct experience. We compiled, categorized and evaluated 284 publications from a broad variety of sources, 153 from peer-reviewed journals. We found that few studies address threats to species and fewer still provide input for or guidance to effective management. We consider various reasons for these shortcomings. Research is seldom judged on its relevance to pragmatic problem solving. Furthermore, many research programs lack the necessary long-term vision and organizational structure for useful applied research. We consulted conservation leaders about our conclusions and all responses suggest that our concerns are not unique to Borneo but reflect wider problems. We conclude that conservation research across most of the tropics is failing to address conservation needs. We make a number of recommendations based on our findings. Conservation biologists should place a higher priority on addressing practical conservation needs and goals.     

Is the philosophy of mechanism philosophy enough?

Recognition of the widespread use of the word 'mechanism' in bio-molecular research has resulted in the concept of 'mechanism' becoming a focal point for a highly visible group of philosophers of biology. Rather, however, than grasping and elucidating the situated aims and practices of biologists themselves, the philosophical investigation of the contemporary meaning of mechanism in biology has been commandeered by the needs of 'hard naturalists' to replace the old deductive-nomological model of the 'received view' with a new normative-explanatory gold-standard. It is argued that rather than an orientation toward an increasingly precise characterization of mechanisms as being an ultimate end in biological research, in actual biological practice 'mechanism' means different things in different contexts, pragmatically draws on our embodied know-how in the use of machines and is not, nor should be, an ultimate end of biological research. Further, it is argued, that classic work on low-level mechanisms became taken up qualitatively as parts of the scaffolding for investigating higher level regulatory processes and that in so doing, and in light of new findings such as that of the regulatory significance of 'pleiomorphic ensembles' and 'intrinsically unstructured proteins' the explanatory limits of the mechanism image have already come into view.     

Should we expect population thresholds for wildlife disease?

Host population thresholds for the invasion or persistence of infectious disease are core concepts of disease ecology and underlie disease control policies based on culling and vaccination. However, empirical evidence for these thresholds in wildlife populations has been sparse, although recent studies have begun to address this gap. Here, we review the theoretical bases and empirical evidence for disease thresholds in wildlife. We see that, by their nature, these thresholds are rarely abrupt and always difficult to measure, and important facets of wildlife ecology are neglected by current theories. Empirical studies seeking to identify disease thresholds in wildlife encounter recurring obstacles of small sample sizes and confounding factors. Disease control policies based solely on threshold targets are rarely warranted, but management to reduce abundance of susceptible hosts can be effective.     

Cryptosporidium and wildlife: a risk for humans?

The present review underlines the knowledge of Cryptosporidium, especially its biodiversity and transmission. The presence of the parasite in different mammal host species is discussed with real, potential risk of transmission to humans. The potential role of insects in mechanical transmission of the parasite is evaluated by experimental protocols. The cost of cryptosporidiosis at health and economic levels are mentioned, which emphasises the importance of detection and identification of the parasite in the environment and in wild mammal species, using specific molecular tools. Potential measures to be accomplished in order to fight off cryptosporidiosis are also noted.     

Is my study system good enough? A case study for identifying maternal effects

In this paper, we demonstrate how simulation studies can be used to answer questions about identifiability and consequences of omitting effects from a model. The methodology is presented through a case study where identifiability of genetic and/or individual (environmental) maternal effects is explored. Our study system is a wild house sparrow (Passer domesticus) population with known pedigree. We fit pedigree‐based (generalized) linear mixed models (animal models), with and without additive genetic and individual maternal effects, and use deviance information criterion (DIC) for choosing between these models. Pedigree and R‐code for simulations are available. For this study system, the simulation studies show that only large maternal effects can be identified. The genetic maternal effect (and similar for individual maternal effect) has to be at least half of the total genetic variance to be identified. The consequences of omitting a maternal effect when it is present are explored. Our results indicate that the total (genetic and individual) variance are accounted for. When an individual (environmental) maternal effect is omitted from the model, this only influences the estimated (direct) individual (environmental) variance. When a genetic maternal effect is omitted from the model, both (direct) genetic and (direct) individual variance estimates are overestimated.     

Is the historical war against wildlife over in southern Europe?

Most southern European regions have experienced a rapid economical change during the last decades, moving from a historical economy based on agriculture to a society based on industry and technology. We test here whether causes of admission of birds admitted to a large southern European rehabilitation centre, during a 14-year period (1994–2007), reflect these socio-economical changes. Specifically, we estimated the trends in the number of birds admitted to the centre by shooting (S) over the number of birds admitted due to impacts caused by infrastructures (I), for the 10 most commonly admitted species with complete time series available. Species were grouped in three groups following ecological traits: raptors (diurnal and nocturnal) and aquatic birds. Trends were estimated by means of the slope of a linear regression of the log-transformed S/I ratio over time, which provided the finite population growth rate ( λ ) and its 95% confidence intervals. We used the ratio to prevent possible biases caused by changes in wild population densities over the years. We conclude that the overall trend in the S/I ratio, as well as the trends for all three bird groups considered, were negative, and indicated a c . 10% annual reduction in the number of birds admitted by shooting in relation to those admitted by infrastructure-related injuries. Causal relationships were analysed by means of Poisson regressions on absolute numbers. Importantly we show that despite the direct historical war against wildlife seems to be coming to an end in southern Europe, impact to wildlife continues in an indirect way, as collateral damages caused by our post-industrial way of life. So the overall scenario is most likely not one of improved conservation status in southern Europe, but rather one of shifting ways of impacting wildlife in parallel with socio-economic changes.     

Helminth immunogenetics: Why bother?

The importance of host genotype as a determinant of protective responses against helminth infection is well established. In contrast, there have been relatively few investigations of the role of helminth genotype, despite the importance accorded to the genetics of other disease-causing organisms. Here, Andrew Read and Mark Viney discuss the reasons for this oversight. They argue that it is not for any compelling empirical reason: there is at least as much evidence that worm genetics affects host protective responsiveness as there is that it does not.     

Is innate enough? The innate immune response in Drosophila

In recent years, the innate immune system has emerged from the shadow of adaptive immune responses as a major area of research in its own right. One of the most significant model systems that has been used to investigate this phenomenon has been the fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster. Exploration of the differential immune response presented by Drosophila led to the discovery of important signalling events and transduction pathways, which were thereafter shown to be specific for the type of infecting pathogen. These factors and pathways were subsequently found to have homologues in many other organisms, including those with adaptive immune responses. In light of the present status of studies in innate immunity, this review describes the current state of understanding of the Drosophila immune response.     

COPII-coated vesicles: flexible enough for large cargo?

Cargo proteins exiting the endoplasmic reticulum en route to the Golgi are typically carried in 60-70 nm vesicles surrounded by the COPII protein coat. Some secretory cargo assemblies in specialized mammalian cells are too large for transport within such carriers. Recent studies on procollagen-I and chylomicron trafficking have reached conflicting conclusions regarding the role of COPII proteins in ER exit of these large biological assemblies. COPII is no doubt essential for such transport in vivo, but it remains unclear whether COPII envelops the membrane surrounding large cargo or instead plays a more indirect role in transport carrier biogenesis.     

Unintended irradiation of internal mammary chain – Is that enough?

Aim

To evaluate the unintentional coverage of the internal mammary chain (IMC) with tangential fields irradiation to the breast, and its relation with the type of surgery employed.

Background

The dose distribution in regions adjacent to the treatment targets (mammary gland or chest wall), with incidental irradiation of the IMC, could translate into clinical benefit, due to the proximity of these regions.

Materials and methods

One hundred and twelve consecutive conformal radiotherapy plans were correlating the average dose to the IMC with the type of surgery employed, the extent of disease and the irradiation techniques.

Results

The mean doses to IMC after modified radical mastectomy (MRM), modified radical mastectomy with immediate reconstruction (MRM + R), and breast conservative surgery (BCS) were 30.34 Gy, 30.26 Gy, and 18.67 Gy, respectively. Significant differences were identified between patients who underwent MRM or MRM + R over BCS (p = 0.01 and 0.003, respectively), but not between MRM and MRM + R (p = 0.88). Mean doses to IMC were greater in patients with T3–T4 tumors when compared with more initial stages (≤T2) (p = 0.0096). The lymph node involvement also correlated with higher average doses to IMC (node positive: 26.1 Gy × node negative: 17.8 Gy, p = 0.0017).

Conclusions

The moderate dose level to the IMC in the unintentional irradiation scenario seems to be insufficient to treat the subclinical disease, although it could have an impact in patients undergoing mastectomy.