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A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Sustainability, Biodiversity and Conservation".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 December 2021) | Viewed by 16297

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Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Emilio Padoa-Schioppa

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Guest Editor

Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Milan-Bicocca, 20126 Milano, Italy
Interests: ecology; biogeography; landscape ecology; anthropocene; conservation biology; ecosystem services; landscape and habitat monitoring and classification

Dr. Raoul Manenti

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Guest Editor

Department of Environental Science and Policy, Università degli Studi di Milano, Via Celoria, 26 20133, Milano, Italy
Interests: zoology; herpetology; cave biology
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Among the different socio-economic, scientific and integrated approaches toward a sustainable development, preservation and management of biodiversity is one of the less considered in scientific journals devoted to a broad readership. With this Special Issue, we want to provide an updated picture of the current challenges involving conservation biology, management and sustainability.

This Special Issue will comprise papers covering a wide range of aspects related to wildlife conservation and sustainability. In particular, we would like to highlight papers that cover successful histories in conservation that directly benefit local human populations. Papers addressing the positive impact of the establishment of protected areas, a reinforcement or a reintroduction of an endangered population, or some aspects of environmental education are especially welcome. We aim to cover examples from different regions of the world and from different anthromes. Integrating the concept of sustainability into conservation biology also means that we will welcome papers discussing the increase of ecosystem services due to conservation programs. Papers selected will offer examples of good practices in conservation actions (including land and aquatic ecosystems maintenance and biodiversity preservation) and in planning conservation programs.

Dr. Emilio Padoa-Schioppa
Dr. Raoul Manenti
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

biodiversity (or wildlife) conservation
reintroduction and reinforcement
protected areas
national parks
ecosystem services
local communities
environmental education

Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

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22 pages, 6690 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Analysis of the Population Structure and Dynamic of Endemic Salvia ceratophylloides Ard. (Lamiaceae)

by Valentina Lucia Astrid Laface, Carmelo Maria Musarella, Agostino Sorgonà and Giovanni Spampinato

Sustainability 2022, 14(16), 10295; https://doi.org/10.3390/su141610295 - 18 Aug 2022

Cited by 5 | Viewed by 2076

Abstract

Understanding how changes of any origin interact with the structure and survival of entire populations is very important for the protection and conservation of threatened, rare and/or endemic species. In this study, structure and population dynamics of Salvia ceratophylloides Ard., a precious endemic species, belonging to the subgenus Sclarea (Moench) Benth., section Plethiosphace Benth. (Lamiaceae) exclusive to the suburban environments of Reggio Calabria (Southern Italy), was analysed. Interactions between this species and its different growth habitats were examined. Moreover, the disturbance factors which directly affect the demographic viability of the species, influencing its growth, reproduction and distribution in its distribution area were identified. From 2019 to 2021, a census by counting individuals of all the known stations, recorded according to a specific protocol, was carried out. The recorded data were statistically analysed and compared with those of the phytosociological surveys carried out using the Braun-Blanquet method and summarised in phytosociological classes, in accordance with the hierarchical floristic classification system of vascular plant communities, accepted at national and European levels. The structure of the different populations was also related to the different threat factors that afflict S. ceratophylloides. It was observed that the most structured populations of S. ceratophylloides were found in natural and semi-natural environments where the anthropogenic disturbance was minor, while populations with an irregular structure were found in sites exposed to disturbances of various origins. The different phytosociological classes do not interact directly on population structure. The most important factors affecting structure and distribution are disturbances of various origins, in particular anthropogenic and phytosanitary disturbances. In order to keep populations balanced and stable over time, it would be useful to adopt conservation measures for the species and the habitat in which they live, with practical solutions for the following: (a) to limit infestations by insects that parasitize stems and seeds; (b) to prevent mowing, fires, grazing and the introduction of invasive alien species. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainability in Conservation Biology)

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21 pages, 3472 KiB

Open AccessEditor’s ChoiceArticle

The Relative Role of Knowledge and Empathy in Predicting Pro-Environmental Attitudes and Behavior

by Marina Ienna, Amelia Rofe, Monica Gendi, Heather E. Douglas, Michelle Kelly, Matthew W. Hayward, Alex Callen, Kaya Klop-Toker, Robert J. Scanlon, Lachlan G. Howell and Andrea S. Griffin

Sustainability 2022, 14(8), 4622; https://doi.org/10.3390/su14084622 - 12 Apr 2022

Cited by 12 | Viewed by 4848

Abstract

Planet Earth is undergoing unprecedented levels of environmental degradation and destruction at a global scale. Incentivizing people to adopt behaviors that are compatible with a sustainable future will help address the current ecological crisis. However, it is first necessary to understand the psychological drivers of pro-environmental behavior. Here, we examined whether greater levels of environmental knowledge and empathy predicted higher levels of pro-environmental behavior in an Australian population sample. We aimed to advance our understanding of the psychological variables that motivate people to act in pro-environmental ways, while also advancing the ongoing debate amongst conservation scientists regarding the relative importance of fostering empathy. Correlational analyses revealed that objective, verifiable knowledge was a strong predictor of pro-environmental attitudes and behavior. Empathy also correlated positively with pro-environmental attitudes and behavior, but with a dissociation with respect to its cognitive and affective components. Multivariate analyses revealed that knowledge was a stronger predictor of both pro-environmental attitudes and behavior after controlling for individual variation in cognitive and affective empathy. This finding casts doubt on the claim by compassionate conservationists that fostering empathy is the key to solving the current environmental conservation crisis. Future research should aim to extend the present findings by testing whether a more exhaustive test of participants’ environmental knowledge and other measures of empathy, including empathic competencies and the recently developed Emotional and Cognitive Scale of the Human–Nature Relationship (ECS-HNR), yield the same dominance of knowledge over empathy. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainability in Conservation Biology)

11 pages, 1128 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Clarifying the Smokescreen of Russian Protected Areas

by Roberto Cazzolla Gatti, Alena Velichevksaya and Luigi Simeone

Sustainability 2021, 13(24), 13774; https://doi.org/10.3390/su132413774 - 14 Dec 2021

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1963

Abstract

Although in strictly protected areas no forest management and logging activities should be evident, a preliminary study detected that, even in the 200 areas with the highest protection of Russia, more than 2 Mha of trees have been lost between 2001 and 2018. Nonetheless, a relevant percentage of the actual drivers of tree loss in Russian strictly protected areas was surrounded by uncertainties due to several factors. Here, in an attempt to “clarify the smokescreen of Russian protected areas”, by validating previous remotely sensed data with new high-resolution satellite imagery and aerial images of land-use change, we shed more light on what has happened during the last 20 years. We used the same layer of tree loss from 2001 to 2020 but, instead of intersecting it with the MODIS data that could have been a source of underestimation of burned surfaces, we overlapped it to the layer of tree cover loss by dominant driver. We analysed the main drivers of tree loss in almost 200 strictly protected areas of Russia. We found that although fire is responsible for 75% of the loss in all strictly protected areas, forestry activities still account for 16%, and 9% is due to undefined causes. Therefore, uncontrolled wildfires (including those started before or after logging) and forestry activities are the main causes of 91% of the total tree loss. The combination of wildfires (often started intentionally) and forestry activities (illegally or barely legally put in place) caused a loss of an astonishing 3 million hectares. The fact that ≈10% of Russian tree cover was lost in two decades since 2001 only in strictly protected areas requires high attention by policymakers and important conservation actions to avoid losing other fundamental habitats and species during the next years when climate change and population growth can represent an additional trigger of an already dramatic situation. We call for an urgent response by national and local authorities that should start actively fighting wildfires, arsonists, and loggers even in inhabited remote areas and particularly in those included in strictly protected areas. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainability in Conservation Biology)

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19 pages, 2278 KiB

Open AccessArticle

A New Long-Term Marine Biodiversity Monitoring Program for the Knowledge and Management in Marine Protected Areas of the Mexican Caribbean

by Susana Perera-Valderrama, Sergio Cerdeira-Estrada, Raúl Martell-Dubois, Laura Rosique-de la Cruz, Hansel Caballero-Aragón, Jaime Valdez-Chavarin, José López-Perea and Rainer Ressl

Sustainability 2020, 12(18), 7814; https://doi.org/10.3390/su12187814 - 22 Sep 2020

Cited by 11 | Viewed by 3195

Abstract

In the Mexican Caribbean, 15 marine protected areas (MPAs) have been established for managing and protecting marine ecosystems. These MPAs receive high anthropogenic pressure from coastal development, tourism, and fishing, all in synergy with climate change. To contribute to the MPAs’ effectiveness, it is necessary to provide a long-term observation system of the condition of marine ecosystems and species. Our study proposes the establishment of a new marine biodiversity monitoring program (MBMP) focusing on three MPAs of the Mexican Caribbean. Five conservation objects (COs) were defined (coral reefs, seagrass beds, mangroves, marine turtles, and sharks-rays) for their ecological relevance and the pressures they are facing. Coral reef, seagrass and mangroves have multiple biological, biogeochemical and physical interactions. Marine turtles are listed as endangered species, and the status of their populations is unknown in the marine area of the MPAs. Elasmobranchs play a key role as top and medium predators, and their populations have been poorly studied. Indicators were proposed for monitoring each CO. As a technological innovation, all information obtained from the MBMP will be uploaded to the Coastal Marine Information and Analysis System (SIMAR), a public, user-friendly and interactive web platform that allows for automatic data management and processing. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainability in Conservation Biology)

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Review

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12 pages, 770 KiB

Open AccessReview

Conservation Studies on Groundwaters’ Pollution: Challenges and Perspectives for Stygofauna Communities

by Raoul Manenti, Beatrice Piazza, Yahui Zhao, Emilio Padoa Schioppa and Enrico Lunghi

Sustainability 2021, 13(13), 7030; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13137030 - 23 Jun 2021

Cited by 7 | Viewed by 2503

Abstract

Assessing the effects of pollution in groundwaters is recently considered among the most relevant aims for subterranean biology; with this perspective, we aim to provide examples of the most relevant effects that pollution may cause on stygofauna community and underline patterns deserving further investigations. We retrieved different cases in which pollution caused alteration of groundwater trophic webs, favored invasions by epigean mesopredators, damaged stygobiont keystone species, and promoted interspecific competition between stygobionts and epigean animals. The results and the remarks derived from our perspective review underline that pollution may play multifaceted effects on groundwaters communities, and the paucity of information that exists on community-level changes and threats underlines the necessity for further studies. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainability in Conservation Biology)

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