Digital technology and the conservation of nature

There is no author summary for this article yet. Authors can add summaries to their articles on ScienceOpen to make them more accessible to a non-specialist audience.

Abstract

Digital technology is changing nature conservation in increasingly profound ways. We describe this impact and its significance through the concept of ‘digital conservation’, which we found to comprise five pivotal dimensions: data on nature, data on people, data integration and analysis, communication and experience, and participatory governance. Examining digital innovation in nature conservation and addressing how its development, implementation and diffusion may be steered, we warn against hypes, techno-fix thinking, good news narratives and unverified assumptions. We identify a need for rigorous evaluation, more comprehensive consideration of social exclusion, frameworks for regulation and increased multi-sector as well as multi-discipline awareness and cooperation. Along the way, digital technology may best be reconceptualised by conservationists from something that is either good or bad, to a dual-faced force in need of guidance.

Related collections

Most cited references 94

Record: found
Abstract: found
Article: not found

The need for evidence-based conservation.

William J. Sutherland, Andrew S. Pullin, Paul M. Dolman … (2004)

Much of current conservation practice is based upon anecdote and myth rather than upon the systematic appraisal of the evidence, including experience of others who have tackled the same problem. We suggest that this is a major problem for conservationists and requires a rethinking of the manner in which conservation operates. There is an urgent need for mechanisms that review available information and make recommendations to practitioners. We suggest a format for web-based databases that could provide the required information in accessible form.

0 comments Cited 566 times – based on 0 reviews      Review now

Bookmark

Record: found
Abstract: found
Article: not found

Environmental DNA for wildlife biology and biodiversity monitoring.

Kristine Bohmann, Alice Evans, M Gilbert … (2014)

Extraction and identification of DNA from an environmental sample has proven noteworthy recently in detecting and monitoring not only common species, but also those that are endangered, invasive, or elusive. Particular attributes of so-called environmental DNA (eDNA) analysis render it a potent tool for elucidating mechanistic insights in ecological and evolutionary processes. Foremost among these is an improved ability to explore ecosystem-level processes, the generation of quantitative indices for analyses of species, community diversity, and dynamics, and novel opportunities through the use of time-serial samples and unprecedented sensitivity for detecting rare or difficult-to-sample taxa. Although technical challenges remain, here we examine the current frontiers of eDNA, outline key aspects requiring improvement, and suggest future developments and innovations for research. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

0 comments Cited 408 times – based on 0 reviews      Review now

Bookmark

Record: found
Abstract: found
Article: not found

Guidelines for systematic review in conservation and environmental management.

Andrew S. Pullin, Gavin Stewart (2006)

An increasing number of applied disciplines are utilizing evidence-based frameworks to review and disseminate the effectiveness of management and policy interventions. The rationale is that increased accessibility of the best available evidence will provide a more efficient and less biased platform for decision making. We argue that there are significant benefits for conservation in using such a framework, but the scientific community needs to undertake and disseminate more systematic reviews before the full benefit can be realized. We devised a set of guidelines for undertaking formalized systematic review, based on a health services model. The guideline stages include planning and conducting a review, including protocol formation, search strategy, data inclusion, data extraction, and analysis. Review dissemination is addressed in terms of current developments and future plans for a Web-based open-access library. By the use of case studies we highlight critical modifications to guidelines for protocol formulation, data-quality assessment, data extraction, and data synthesis for conservation and environmental management. Ecological data presented significant but soluble challenges for the systematic review process, particularly in terms of the quantity, accessibility, and diverse quality of available data. In the field of conservation and environmental management there needs to be further engagement of scientists and practitioners to develop and take ownership of an evidence-based framework.

0 comments Cited 320 times – based on 0 reviews      Review now

Bookmark

All references

Author and article information

Contributors

Koen Arts: koen.arts@wur.nl

Bio :

Koen Arts

is a Researcher at the Pantanal Research Centre in Brazil, and lecturer at the Forest and Nature Conservation Policy Group at Wageningen University in The Netherlands. He previously worked as a research fellow at dot.rural’s Natural Resource Conservation Group (University of Aberdeen, UK). He focusses on social, political, and conceptual dimensions of nature conservation.

René van der Wal:

Bio :

René van der Wal

is Professor of Ecology at the University of Aberdeen and heads dot.rural’s Natural Resource Conservation Group. He is an ecologist with a strong interest in nature conservation and people’s roles in the ecology of a place, and works frequently in partnership with social scientists and computer scientists.

William M. Adams:

Bio :

William M. Adams

is Head of Department of Geography and Moran Professor of Conservation and Development at the University of Cambridge. He works on the social drivers of the loss and protection of nature.

Journal

Journal ID (nlm-ta): Ambio

Journal ID (iso-abbrev): Ambio

Title: Ambio

Publisher: Springer Netherlands (Dordrecht )

ISSN (Print): 0044-7447

ISSN (Electronic): 1654-7209

Publication date (Electronic): 27 October 2015

Publication date PMC-release: 27 October 2015

Publication date (Print): November 2015

Volume: 44

Issue: Suppl 4

Pages: 661-673

Affiliations

[ ]Forest and Nature Conservation Policy Group, Wageningen University, Droevendaalsesteeg 3, 6700 AA Wageningen, the Netherlands

[ ]Centro de Pesquisa do Pantanal, Universidade Federal de Mato Grosso, Cuiabá, CEP: 78.068-360 Brazil

[ ]Aberdeen Centre for Environmental Sustainability (ACES), School of Biological Sciences, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, AB24 3UU UK

[ ]Department of Geography, University of Cambridge, Downing Place, Cambridge, CB2 3EN UK

Article

Publisher ID: 705

DOI: 10.1007/s13280-015-0705-1

PMC ID: 4623869

PubMed ID: 26508352

SO-VID: 5edb3f94-833e-4d8c-96ad-48c40b716a1c

License:

Open AccessThis article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License ( http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made.

History

Custom metadata

ScienceOpen disciplines: Sociology

Keywords: digital conservation,information and communication technology (ict),the information age,nature conservation,biodiversity,innovation

Data availability:

ScienceOpen disciplines: Sociology

Keywords: digital conservation, information and communication technology (ict), the information age, nature conservation, biodiversity, innovation

Digital technology and the conservation of nature

Read this article at

Abstract

Related collections

Transnational Chinese identity

Most cited references 94

The need for evidence-based conservation.

Environmental DNA for wildlife biology and biodiversity monitoring.

Guidelines for systematic review in conservation and environmental management.

Author and article information

Contributors

Journal

Affiliations

Article

History

Categories

Custom metadata

Comments

Comment on this article

Similar content 44

Cited by 66

Most referenced authors 896