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1. Successful information exchange between restoration science and practice

   https://doi.org/10.1111/rec.12979  

   Clark, Lisa B. ; Henry, Annie L. ; Lave, Rebecca ; Sayre, Nathan F. ; González, Eduardo ; Sher, Anna A. ( June 2019 , Restoration Ecology)

   The science‐practice gap is often cited as a limitation to successful restoration outcomes; however, the existence of such a gap in information exchange is rarely measured. Here, we quantify the gap by focusing on common recommendations from both scientists (i.e. researchers) and managers (i.e. practitioners, land managers) on what is needed for successful restoration. We surveyed 45 managers associated with 244 invasive species (Tamarixspp.) removal projects across the southwestern U.S. to determine the degree to which they have utilized four strategies advocated by scientists: (1) collaborate widely, (2) monitor beyond cursory visual methods, (3) use a variety of information sources, and (4) consider project goals beyond invasive species removal. Half of these managers were also interviewed to assess managers' perceptions of the role of science in restoration. Twenty‐three scientists specializing inTamarix‐related research in this region were also surveyed to assess how much they understood and/or shared the concerns of land managers. We found that managers were following scientists' recommendations and that managers' perceptions of the role of science in land management did not have any bearing on the management actions taken. Scientists reported being influenced by managers, and the concerns of scientists and managers were more overlapping than expected. Boundary organizations and river‐wide partnerships were often cited as important in facilitating effective communication between land managers and scientists. A lack of funding for monitoring and for longer‐term projects was cited by both groups as a limitation to incorporating scientists' recommendations into restoration.

    

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2. Weighting effective number of species measures by abundance weakens detection of diversity responses

   https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2664.13345  

   Cao, Yong ; Hawkins, Charles P. ; Magrach, ed., Ainhoa ( February 2019 , Journal of Applied Ecology)

   The effective number of species (ENS) has been proposed as a robust measure of species diversity that overcomes several limitations in terms of both diversity indices and species richness (SR). However, it is not yet clear ifENSimproves interpretation and comparison of biodiversity monitoring data, and ultimately resource management decisions.

   We used simulations of five stream macroinvertebrate assemblages and spatially extensive field data of stream fishes and mussels to show (a) how differentENSformulations respond to stress and (b) how diversity–environment relationships change with values ofq, which weightENSmeasures by species abundances.

   Values ofENSderived from whole simulated assemblages with all species weighted equally (true SR) steadily decreased as stress increased, andENS‐stress relationships became weaker and more different among assemblages with increased weighting.

   The amount of variation inENSacross the fish and mussel assemblages that was associated with environmental gradients decreased with increasingq.

   Synthesis and applications. Species diversity is valued by many human societies, which often have policies designed to protect and restore it. Natural resources managers and policy makers may use species richness and diversity indices to describe the status of ecological communities. However, these traditional diversity measures are known subject to limitations that hinder their interpretation and comparability. The effective number of species (ENS) was proposed to overcome the limitations. Unfortunately, our analyses show thatENSdoes not improve interpretability of how species diversity responds to either stress or natural environmental gradients. Moreover, incorporating the relative abundance of individuals in different species (evenness) into diversity measures as implemented inENScan actually weaken detection of diversity responses. Natural resources managers and policy makers therefore need to be cautious when interpreting diversity measures, includingENS, whose values are jointly influenced by richness and evenness. We suggest that both researchers and practitioners measure and report three aspects of diversity (species richness, evenness, and composition) separately when assessing and monitoring the diversity of ecological communities.

    

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3. Harnessing the Power of Community Science to Address Data Gaps in Arctic Observing: Invasive Species in Alaska as Case Examples

   https://doi.org/10.14430/arctic73773  

   Schwoerer, Tobias ; Spellman, Katie V. ; Davis, Tammy J. ; Lee, Olivia ; Martin, Aaron ; Mulder, Christa P.H. ; Swenson, Nicole Y. ; Taylor, Audrey ; Winter, Genelle ( October 2021 , ARCTIC)

   The Arctic is undergoing large-scale changes that are likely to accelerate in future decades such as introductions and expansions of invasive species. The Arctic is in a unique position to prevent new introductions and spread of existing invasive species by adopting policies and actions aimed at early detection. Responding to threats from invasive species to minimize impacts to ecosystems, communities, food security, and northern economies will necessitate extensive observations and monitoring, but resource managers often face decisions without having adequate data and resources at hand. Local observing programs such as citizen science and community-based monitoring programs present attractive methods for increasing observing capacity that span contributory and co-created approaches while raising awareness of an issue among stakeholders. While the co-created model has been widely applied and encouraged in the Arctic context, contributory citizen science programs offer an additional tool for addressing observing needs in the Arctic. We showcase three contributory citizen science programs related to freshwater, terrestrial, and marine environments that have supported the objectives of the Alaska Invasive Species Partnership. We discuss criteria for achieving ARIAS priority actions at the participant scale related to participants’ motivation and participants’ understanding of the value of their contributions, at the programmatic scale, for example promoting accessible, reciprocal, and transparent knowledge exchange, and at the policy and science scale where management action is data driven. The approach is aimed at successful integration of citizen science into Arctic policy making. Finally, we discuss challenges related to broader global data collection and future directions for contributory citizen science within Arctic observing networks. 

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4. Scientific Cooperation: Supporting Circumpolar Permafrost Monitoring and Data Sharing

   https://doi.org/10.3390/land10060590  

   Bouffard, Troy J. ; Uryupova, Ekaterina ; Dodds, Klaus ; Romanovsky, Vladimir E. ; Bennett, Alec P. ; Streletskiy, Dmitry ( June 2021 , Land)

   null (Ed.)

   While the world continues to work toward an understanding and projections of climate change impacts, the Arctic increasingly becomes a critical component as a bellwether region. Scientific cooperation is a well-supported narrative and theme in general, but in reality, presents many challenges and counter-productive difficulties. Moreover, data sharing specifically represents one of the more critical cooperation requirements, as part of the “scientific method [which] allows for verification of results and extending research from prior results”. One of the important pieces of the climate change puzzle is permafrost. In general, observational data on permafrost characteristics are limited. Currently, most permafrost data remain fragmented and restricted to national authorities, including scientific institutes. The preponderance of permafrost data is not available openly—important datasets reside in various government or university labs, where they remain largely unknown or where access restrictions prevent effective use. Although highly authoritative, separate data efforts involving creation and management result in a very incomplete picture of the state of permafrost as well as what to possibly anticipate. While nations maintain excellent individual permafrost research programs, a lack of shared research—especially data—significantly reduces effectiveness of understanding permafrost overall. Different nations resource and employ various approaches to studying permafrost, including the growing complexity of scientific modeling. Some are more effective than others and some achieve different purposes than others. Whereas it is not possible for a nation to effectively conduct the variety of modeling and research needed to comprehensively understand impacts to permafrost, a global community can. In some ways, separate scientific communities are not necessarily concerned about sharing data—their work is secured. However, decision and policy makers, especially on the international stage, struggle to understand how best to anticipate and prepare for changes, and thus support for scientific recommendations during policy development. To date, there is a lack of research exploring the need to share circumpolar permafrost data. This article will explore the global data systems on permafrost, which remain sporadic, rarely updated, and with almost nothing about the subsea permafrost publicly available. The authors suggest that the global permafrost monitoring system should be real time (within technical and reasonable possibility), often updated and with open access to the data (general way of representing data required). Additionally, it will require robust co-ordination in terms of accessibility, funding, and protocols to avoid either duplication and/or information sharing. Following a brief background, this article will offer three supporting themes, (1) the current state of permafrost data, (2) rationale and methods to share data, and (3) implications for global and national interests. 

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5. MetaIPM: Placing integral projection models into a metapopulation framework

   https://doi.org/10.1111/2041-210X.14156  

   Erickson, Richard A. ; Peirce, James P. ; Sandland, Greg J. ; Thompson, Hannah M. ; Coulter, Alison A. ; Glover, David C. ( June 2023 , Methods in Ecology and Evolution)

   Metapopulation models include spatial population dynamics such as dispersion and migration between subpopulations. Integral projection models (IPMs) can include demographic rates as a function of size. Traditionally, metapopulation models do not included detailed populaiton models such as IPMs. In some situations, both local population dynamics (e.g. size‐based survival) and spatial dynamics are important.

   We present a Python package,MetaIPM, which places IPMs into a metapopulation framework, and allow users to readily construct and apply these models that combine local population dynamics within a metapopulation framework.

   MetaIPMincludes an IPM for each subpopulation that is connected to other subpopulations via a metapopulation movement model. These movements can include dispersion, migration or other patterns. The IPM can include for size‐specific demographic rates (e.g. survival, recruitment) as well as management actions, such as length‐based harvest (e.g. gear specific capture sizes, varying slot limits across political boundaries). The model also allows for changes in metapopulation connectivity between locations, such as a fish passage ladders to enhance movement or deterrents to reduce movement. Thus, resource managers can useMetaIPMto compare different management actions such as the harvest gear type (which can be length‐specific) and harvest locations.

   We demonstrate howMetaIPMmay be applied to inform managers seeking to limit the spread of an invasive species in a system with important metapopulation dynamics. Specifically, we compared removal lengths (all length fish versus longer fish only) for an invasive fish population in a fragmented, inland river system.MetaIPMallowed users to compare the importance of harvesting source populations away from the invasion front, as well as species at the invasion front. The model would also allow for future comparisons of different deterrent placement locations in the system.

   Moving beyond our example system, we describe howMetaIPMcan be applied to other species, systems and management approaches. TheMetaIPMpackages includes Jupyter Notebooks documenting the package as well as a second set of JupyterNotebooks showing the application of the package to our example system.

    

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