Can we save large carnivores without losing large carnivore science?
Large carnivores are depicted to shape entire ecosystems through top-down processes. Studies describing these processes are often used to support interventionist wildlife management practices, including carnivore reintroduction or lethal control programs. Unfortunately, there is an increasing tenden...
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ftqueensdpi:oai:jdecs1.ecs.soton.ac.uk:5650 2023-05-15T15:49:55+02:00 Can we save large carnivores without losing large carnivore science? Allen, Benjamin L. Allen, Lee R. Andrén, Henrik Ballard, Guy Boitani, Luigi Engeman, Richard M. Fleming, Peter J. S. Ford, Adam T. Haswell, Peter M. Kowalczyk, Rafał Linnell, John D. C. David Mech, L. Parker, Daniel M. 2017 http://era.daf.qld.gov.au/id/eprint/5650/ unknown http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.fooweb.2017.02.008 http://era.daf.qld.gov.au/id/eprint/5650/ Allen, B. L., Allen, L. R., Andrén, H., Ballard, G., Boitani, L., Engeman, R. M., Fleming, P. J. S., Ford, A. T., Haswell, P. M., Kowalczyk, R., Linnell, J. D. C., David Mech, L. and Parker, D. M. (2017) Can we save large carnivores without losing large carnivore science? Food Webs . ISSN 2352-2496 Animals Animal control and ecology Impact assessment Agricultural conservation Article PeerReviewed 2017 ftqueensdpi https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fooweb.2017.02.008 2022-12-12T21:11:25Z Large carnivores are depicted to shape entire ecosystems through top-down processes. Studies describing these processes are often used to support interventionist wildlife management practices, including carnivore reintroduction or lethal control programs. Unfortunately, there is an increasing tendency to ignore, disregard or devalue fundamental principles of the scientific method when communicating the reliability of current evidence for the ecological roles that large carnivores may play, eroding public confidence in large carnivore science and scientists. Here, we discuss six interrelated issues that currently undermine the reliability of the available literature on the ecological roles of large carnivores: (1) the overall paucity of available data, (2) reliability of carnivore population sampling techniques, (3) general disregard for alternative hypotheses to top-down forcing, (4) lack of applied science studies, (5) frequent use of logical fallacies, and (6) generalisation of results from relatively pristine systems to those substantially altered by humans. We first describe how widespread these issues are, and given this, show, for example, that evidence for the roles of wolves (Canis lupus) and dingoes (Canis lupus dingo) in initiating trophic cascades is not as strong as is often claimed. Managers and policy makers should exercise caution when relying on this literature to inform wildlife management decisions. We emphasise the value of manipulative experiments, and discuss the role of scientific knowledge in the decision-making process. We hope that the issues we raise here prompt deeper consideration of actual evidence, leading towards an improvement in both the rigour and communication of large carnivore science. Article in Journal/Newspaper Canis lupus Queensland Department of Agriculture and Fisheries archive of scientific and research publications - eRA Food Webs 12 64 75 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Queensland Department of Agriculture and Fisheries archive of scientific and research publications - eRA |
op_collection_id |
ftqueensdpi |
language |
unknown |
topic |
Animals Animal control and ecology Impact assessment Agricultural conservation |
spellingShingle |
Animals Animal control and ecology Impact assessment Agricultural conservation Allen, Benjamin L. Allen, Lee R. Andrén, Henrik Ballard, Guy Boitani, Luigi Engeman, Richard M. Fleming, Peter J. S. Ford, Adam T. Haswell, Peter M. Kowalczyk, Rafał Linnell, John D. C. David Mech, L. Parker, Daniel M. Can we save large carnivores without losing large carnivore science? |
topic_facet |
Animals Animal control and ecology Impact assessment Agricultural conservation |
description |
Large carnivores are depicted to shape entire ecosystems through top-down processes. Studies describing these processes are often used to support interventionist wildlife management practices, including carnivore reintroduction or lethal control programs. Unfortunately, there is an increasing tendency to ignore, disregard or devalue fundamental principles of the scientific method when communicating the reliability of current evidence for the ecological roles that large carnivores may play, eroding public confidence in large carnivore science and scientists. Here, we discuss six interrelated issues that currently undermine the reliability of the available literature on the ecological roles of large carnivores: (1) the overall paucity of available data, (2) reliability of carnivore population sampling techniques, (3) general disregard for alternative hypotheses to top-down forcing, (4) lack of applied science studies, (5) frequent use of logical fallacies, and (6) generalisation of results from relatively pristine systems to those substantially altered by humans. We first describe how widespread these issues are, and given this, show, for example, that evidence for the roles of wolves (Canis lupus) and dingoes (Canis lupus dingo) in initiating trophic cascades is not as strong as is often claimed. Managers and policy makers should exercise caution when relying on this literature to inform wildlife management decisions. We emphasise the value of manipulative experiments, and discuss the role of scientific knowledge in the decision-making process. We hope that the issues we raise here prompt deeper consideration of actual evidence, leading towards an improvement in both the rigour and communication of large carnivore science. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Allen, Benjamin L. Allen, Lee R. Andrén, Henrik Ballard, Guy Boitani, Luigi Engeman, Richard M. Fleming, Peter J. S. Ford, Adam T. Haswell, Peter M. Kowalczyk, Rafał Linnell, John D. C. David Mech, L. Parker, Daniel M. |
author_facet |
Allen, Benjamin L. Allen, Lee R. Andrén, Henrik Ballard, Guy Boitani, Luigi Engeman, Richard M. Fleming, Peter J. S. Ford, Adam T. Haswell, Peter M. Kowalczyk, Rafał Linnell, John D. C. David Mech, L. Parker, Daniel M. |
author_sort |
Allen, Benjamin L. |
title |
Can we save large carnivores without losing large carnivore science? |
title_short |
Can we save large carnivores without losing large carnivore science? |
title_full |
Can we save large carnivores without losing large carnivore science? |
title_fullStr |
Can we save large carnivores without losing large carnivore science? |
title_full_unstemmed |
Can we save large carnivores without losing large carnivore science? |
title_sort |
can we save large carnivores without losing large carnivore science? |
publishDate |
2017 |
url |
http://era.daf.qld.gov.au/id/eprint/5650/ |
genre |
Canis lupus |
genre_facet |
Canis lupus |
op_relation |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.fooweb.2017.02.008 http://era.daf.qld.gov.au/id/eprint/5650/ Allen, B. L., Allen, L. R., Andrén, H., Ballard, G., Boitani, L., Engeman, R. M., Fleming, P. J. S., Ford, A. T., Haswell, P. M., Kowalczyk, R., Linnell, J. D. C., David Mech, L. and Parker, D. M. (2017) Can we save large carnivores without losing large carnivore science? Food Webs . ISSN 2352-2496 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fooweb.2017.02.008 |
container_title |
Food Webs |
container_volume |
12 |
container_start_page |
64 |
op_container_end_page |
75 |
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1766384930384773120 |