Falk's Conservation Opinion Blog

When snow gets warmed up it melts; virtually every child will know that. However, on a policy and public level, those details are hardly acknowledged, certainly not the vast impacts that relate to lacking 'snow pack', e.g. seasonality, regional climate, and feeding water tables, rivers, estuaries and thus directly contributing to farming, global food security and warfare even - to name just a few. Here I share my first-hand experiences across years from observing snow and ice in winter for areas like Hindu Kush-Himalaya, Antarctica and Alaska, the mountains and ice sheet landscapes. Those 'coldspots' are traditionally known for major ice and snow - cooling areas - of the world as indicators of the global temperature. In this podcast I outline how this crucial subject for humanity -driven by man-made CO2 and Greenhouse Gas (GHGs) - received too little attention but hopefully can get addressed better now for future generations. (Photo credit: Author, Murphy Dome (interior Alaska) area showing a mountain top with a very thin snow layer in January) Additional references Ingels J., R. Aronson, C. Smith, A. Baco, H. Bik, J. Blake, A. Brandt,M .Cape, D. DeMaster, E. Dolan, E. Domack, S. FireH, H Geisz, M. Gigliotti, H. Griffiths, K. Halanych,C. Havermans, F. Huettmann, S.Ishman, S. Kranz,A. Leventer, A. Mahon,J. McClintock,M. McCormick, B.Mitchell, A. Murray, L. Peck, A. Rogers, B. Shoplock, K. Smith, B. Steffel, M. Stukel, A. Sweetman, M. Taylor,A. Thurber, M. Truffer, A. Van de Putte, A. Vanreusel, M. Zamora-Duran (2020). Antarctic Ecosystem Responses following Ice Shelf Collapse and Iceberg Calving: Science Review and Future Research. WIREs Clim Change. 2020;e682. https://doi.org/10.1002/wcc.682 (see also previous podcast in this series by FH) Regmi G.R. and F. Huettmann (2020) Hindu Kush-Himalaya Watersheds Downhill: Landscape Ecology and Conservation Perspectives. Springer Gland, Switzerland . 886 pages The Guardian (2023a) Alpine ski resorts struggle amid snow shortage – in pictures. 6th January 2023. https://www.theguardian.com/travel/gallery/2023/jan/06/alpine-ski-resorts-snow-shortage-in-pictures (accessed 25th January 2023) The Guardian (2023b) In stark contrast: the warming of Europe's ski resorts - photo essay. January 26th 2023. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/jan/26/warming-europe-ski-resorts-photo-essay-satellite-images-winter-lack-of-snow (accessed 26th January 2023) --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/falk-huettmann/support

New Zealand (NZ) is blessed with a unique, quite wild nature and its endemic biodiversity. Also, NZ as a relatively small nation with c. 5.1 mio inhabitants features the world's 4th largest exclusive economic zone (EEZ). But modern NZ also entails many governance problems. Indigenous concepts are becoming now more dominant in NZ, and commercial fisheries there have a governance stronghold. Many of the fisheries products are actually for export, e.g. U.S., Asia and the EU/UK. Like found in many fisheries nations, e.g. Japan, Norway and Iceland, the set up of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) get widely opposed and marine protected areas make just for s very tiny fraction of the EEZ and its conservation. This podcast elaborates on an article by journalist Andrea Vance (2022) presenting an overview of the MPA process in NZ and specifically for the southeastern coastline -the South East Marine Protection (SEMP) network process initiated already in 2013 - featuring great ecosystems and conservation species like yellow-eyed penguins, royal albatross, dolphins, sea lions and rock lobsters. Reference Vance A (2022) A decade of wrangling, but dolphins and seabirds off the South Island's east coast remain unprotected. https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/130147040/a-decade-of-wrangling-but-dolphins-and-seabirds-off-the-south-islands-east-coast-remain-unprotected. 05:00, Oct 29 2022. Stuff, New Zealand --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/falk-huettmann/support

Some environmental patterns appear to be local - but upon closer inspection - then have a wider and larger spill-over and are actually driven by global actors. Based on a recent study by Veit et al. (2021) here a seabird example is presented - the Elegant Tern - and how its conservation management effects spill into the wider Pacific and the Atlantic, including western Europe (Spain and France). It turned global. Most individuals of this tern species breed on just one tiny island in southern California - Isla Raza. However, individual bird vagrants of Elegant Terns are found by bird watchers and researchers in areas far away from this source but directly affected by rodent/predator-removal and other factors - most of them man-made and cultural. The concept of telecoupling (=widely connected sources, sinks and spill-overs) can be applied here and it helps in the Anthropocene to understand how global economies, their cultures/attitudes and actions all affect oceans, species, prey and climate alike - including some of the associated El Nino patterns. References (selection) Liu J., Y. Dou, M. Batistella, E.Challies, T.Conno, C.Friis, J.DA. Millington, E. Parish, C. L Romulo, R.F.Bicudo Silva, H. Triezenberg, H.Yang, Z.Zhao, K. S. Zimmerer, F. Huettmann, M.L. Treglia, Z. Basher, M.G. Chung, A.Herzberger, A.Lenschow, A. Mechiche-Alami, J. Newig, J.Roch and J. Sun (2018) Spillover systems in a telecoupled Anthropocene: typology, methods, and governance for global sustainability. Environmental Sustainability 33:58-69 doi.org/10.1016/j.cosust.2018.04.009 Raya Rey A. and F. Huettmann (2019) Telecoupling analysis of the Patagonian Shelf: a new approach to study global seabird-fisheries interactions to achieve sustainability. Journal for Nature Conservation 3: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/ article/pii/S1617138118301067 Raya Rey, A. N., J. C. Pizarro, C. B. Anderson, and F. Huettmann. (2017) Even at the uttermost ends of the Earth: how seabirds telecouple the Beagle Channel with regional and global processes that affect environmental conservation and social-ecological sustainability. Ecology and Society 22 (4):31. [online] URL: https://www.ecologyandsociety.org/vol22/iss4/art31/ Veit, R. R., E. Velarde, M.H. Horn, and L.L. Manne (2021) Population growth and long-distance vagrancy leads to colonization of Europe by elegant terns Thalasseus elegans. Front. Ecol. Evol, 9: 824. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/falk-huettmann/support

“My dream is to live off-grid”. A sentence that seems to come up more and more frequently throughout the last few years. Who does not want to live sustainably and be self-subsistent ? Yet, how is it really to live off-grid in remote areas, away from modern society, but yet to stay in western countries ? This is what we are discussing with our special guest Moriz Steiner in this episode. Moriz lived in his early teens in remote off-grid mountain huts, looking after cattle, and also discovering nature and himself. We touch upon topics such as the reason for living such off-grid lifestyles, if and how they can be reproduced by others in different countries, the sustainability, impact on wilderness, and how it relates to Steady State Economy, Ecological Economics, and Indigenization efforts. If you want to learn more about it and hear all the sweet details, we appreciate you tuning in. References mentioned https://zalp.ch/stellenboerse/alpstellen https://www.workaway.info/ --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/falk-huettmann/support

Species distributions are an essential feature for a successful species conservation management. Data of presence/absence are quite simple to obtain and they are easily part of most inventory schemes, such as Bird Atlases and survey plots. After +100 years of bird banding, the current flurry of geotagging should improve knowledge on distributions. It should specifically be an easy feature for large species. The Great Grey Owl (Great Gray Owl in North America, Strix nebulosa) is one of those species; it is c. 65cm tall and has a wingspan of 1,2m, occurring in the Old World and the New World from temperate to arctic regions. However, the actual distribution is poorly known and described, even major authorities differ, as discussed here. Rather than an icon of the wild, this species seems to be more of a road- and urban species, as shown with machine learning predictions when modeling best-available data in Alaska (Andrews 2019). Using Great Grey Owls, the presented problems centered around expert-drawn distribution maps are commonly found elsewhere too, while ML and Open Access dat provide progress and new insights crucially needed. References (in order of relevance for this podcast) Andrews P. (2019). First Machine Learning-Based Model Predictions Of Great Gray Owl (Strix Nebulosa) Distribution In Alaska: A Primer For Supporting Conservation Governance. Unpublished M.Sc. University of Alaska Fairbanks. WIKIPEDIA (2022) Great Grey Owl. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_grey_owl BirdLife International (Data Zone) (2023). Great Grey Owl. http://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/great-grey-owl-strix-nebulosa IUCN RedList (2022) Great Grey Owl. https://www.iucnredlist.org/search/map?query=Great%20Grey%20Owl&searchType=species eBIRD (2022) Great Gray Owl. https://ebird.org/species/grgowl/US-WA-063 Sibley, D. (2000). The North American Bird Guide. Pica. König, C., & Weick, F. (2008). Owls of the world. A&C Black. Audubon Guide to North American Birds (2022) https://www.audubon.org/field-guide/bird/great-gray-owl NATURESERVE (2022) Great Gray Owl. https://explorer.natureserve.org/Taxon/ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.100756/Strix_nebulosa --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/falk-huettmann/support

This episode deals with the somewhat overlooked impact on 'deep nature' by the world economy and global trade, it uses a global bottleneck and strategic hotspot: the Panama Canal region. While focusing on a re-interpretation and shifted emphasize of the results by Bellis et al (2018; sea anemones, abundance, diversity and genetics) it also takes further evidence from Karr (1990; birds), Basset et al. (2015; butterflies) and Huettmann (2015) for the Panama Canal region and beyond (Jackson et a;. 2001) as a convenient and subsidized conduit for world trade through international cargo ships connecting virtually all major ports in the world across oceans. This bottleneck now receives increasing pressures due to world-wide economic growth. The science elaboration presented here is not really 'rocket science', but infers a robust evidence for a major issue and effect on earth re. how we live, and towards betterment! References used in this podcast (order of mentioning) Bellis, E. S., Edlund, R. B., Berrios, H. K., Lessios, H. A., & Denver, D. R. (2018). Molecular signatures of host specificity linked to habitat specialization in Exaiptasia sea anemones. Ecology and evolution, 8(11), 5413-5426. Karr, J. R. (1990). Avian survival rates and the extinction process on Barro Colorado Island, Panama. Conservation Biology, 4: 391-397. Basset Y., H. Barrios, S. Segar, R. B. Srygley, A. Aiello, A. D. Warren, F. Delgado et al. (2015) "The butterflies of Barro Colorado Island, Panama: local extinction since the 1930s." PLoS One 10, no. 8: e0136623. Huettmann F (ed.) (2015) Central American Biodiversity: Conservation, Ecology, and a Sustainable Future. Springer New York, 805 pages. ISBN 978-1-4939-2207-9 (25 chapters authored and co-authored out of 32 + data appendix in dSPACE) Jackson, J. BC, M X. Kirby, W. H. Berger, K. A. Bjorndal, L. W. Botsford, B. J. Bourque, R. H. Bradbury et al. (2001) "Historical overfishing and the recent collapse of coastal ecosystems." science 293, no. 5530: 629-637. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/falk-huettmann/support

'Plankton" consists of phytoplankton (~plants) and zooplankton (-animals). It represents the basis of the ocean food chain and it includes many species; it's a very complex 'multi-species soup' representing a true science frontier hardly tackled, understood or managed yet. Copepods are part of that taxonomic set up and they contribute usually to the majority - up to 70% - of zooplankton abundance in oceans. Using field data of the Italian National Antarctic Program from the 1980s and 1990s here we model-predict in an interdisciplinary international team effort for 26 copepod species at three ocean depth classes (0-10m, 11-70m, 71-750m) the relative index of occurrence (RIO) for the wider study area of the Ross Sea Region Marine Protected Area (a world-record MPA and ocean wilderness area of global size and relevance). This research uses Machine Learning/AI ensembles and Open Source Geographic Information System (GIS) methods to generalize from the Open Access dataset available from the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF.org) using the 'Macroscope predictors' (see Huettmann et al. 2015 for details, source and use). Further details are provided in Grillo et al. (2022; compare also with Pinkerton et al. 2010). This work matters as a global workflow template and it allows to obtain 3D models in GIS for plankton abundance, e.g. as needed for foraging estimates of marine mammals, penguins and fisheries. It can also be used for life-history research, carbon sequestration work in climate models as well as for baselines in carrying capacity formulas for fisheries and generic predator-prey studies. The relevance of sound harvest models for krill and fish, e.g. in the so-called 'experimental' fisheries work with CCAMLR and the MPA in the Ross Sea has been outlined by Ainley et al. (2012) and others. Here we offer a solution towards sustainability in times of a generic ocean crisis. References (selection; in order of citation) Grillo M, F. Huettmann, L. Guglielmo and S. Schiaparelli (2022) Three-Dimensional Quantification of Copepods Predictive Distributions in the Ross Sea: First Data Based on a Machine Learning Model Approach and Open Access (FAIR) Data. Diversity 14:355. https://doi.org/10.3390/d14050355 Huettmann, F., M.S. Schmid, and G.R.W. Humphries (2015) A First Overview of Open Access Digital Data for the Ross Sea: Complexities, Ethics, and Management Opportunities. Hydrobiologia 2015, 761, 97–119. Pinkerton, M. H., A.N. Smith, B. Raymond, G.W. Hosie, B. Sharp, J.R. Leathwick and J.M. Bradford-Grieve (2010). Spatial and seasonal distribution of adult Oithona similis in the Southern Ocean: predictions using boosted regression trees. Deep Sea Research Part I: Oceanographic Research Papers 57: 469-485. Ainley, D.G., C.M. Brooks, J.T. Eastman and M. Massaro (2012) Unnatural Selection of Antarctic Toothfish in the Ross Sea, Antarctica. In Protection of the Three Poles; Springer: Berlin/Heidelberg, Germany, pp. 53–75.0 (Photo credit: Andrei Savitsky - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=78800127) --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/falk-huettmann/support

This episode presents on Tropical Mountain and Cloud Forest issues, namely conservation, species diversity and ecology. It uses an interview with Hazel Berrios and her wider tropical plant field experience. This session discusses a multi-year field study experience by the author, and a 2 years M.Sc. thesis field work by HB in the cloud forest of Ometepe Island, Nicaragua. A focus is made on over 200 species of epiphytes and its open access data in Dryad, a topic not much addressed before. References Berríos Alvarez, H. K. (2019). Species richness patterns and plant size of vascular epiphytes along an elevation gradient in the tropical montane forest of volcán maderas, nicaragua (Order No. 13811988). Available from ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global. (2215571077). Retrieved from http://uaf.idm.oclc.org/login?url=https://www.proquest.com/dissertations-theses/species-richness-patterns-plant-size-vascular/docview/2215571077/se-2?accountid=14470 Berrios H, Coronado I, Marsico T. [In review]. High species richness turnover of vascular epiphytes is associated with water availability along the elevation gradient of Volcán Maderas, Nicaragua. Authorea Preprints; 2021. DOI: 10.22541/au.163256507.73120492/v1. Berrios, Hazel (2020), DATASET. Species richness and abundance of vascular epiphytes along an elevation gradient, Dryad, https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.bzkh1896h Huettmann F. (2015) Conservation Research in the Cloud Forest of Central America with Lessons from Maderas Volcano, Ometepe, Nicaragua: A First-Person Narrative About Very Tough Fieldwork, Unfinished Data, and Climate Justice While Running Out of Time. In: F. Huettmann F. (ed.) Central American Biodiversity: Conservation, Ecology, and a Sustainable Future. Springer New York, pages 419-434 --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/falk-huettmann/support

This podcasts elaborates on some supplementary materials in the forestry publication by Zhang et al. (2022). Based on this research it briefly presents details of ten Forestation Programs in China and their contexts and objectives. Those are large-scale and long-term landscape projects with various aims and goals, increasing the forest area in China, and sometimes beyond. Grasslands and steeply sloped mountain areas play a specific role. Those programs improve poverty and rural development but are often not so well known abroad, and thus they are presented and discussed here as first pointers and for consideration and debate with the wider global audience. The increase of forest area and carbon sequestration, as well as avoidance of erosion through designed shelterbelts, often stand as main goals. See also the references by Chen et al. (2018), Elvin (2006) and Harris (2006) for wider context. References Zhang, L., P. Sun, F. Huettmann, and S. Liu (2022). Where should China practice forestry in a warming world? Global Change Biology, 00, 1– 15. https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.16065 Chen J, R. John, G. Sun3, P. Fan, G. M. Henebry, M. E. Fernández-Giménez, Y.Zhang, H. Park, L. Tian, P. Groisman, Z.Ouyang, G. Allington, J. Wu, C. Shao,A..Amarjargal, G.Dong, G. Gutman, F.Huettmann, R.Lafortezza, C. and J.Qu (2018) Prospects for the sustainability of social-ecological systems (SES) on the Mongolian plateau: five critical issues Environmental Research Letters 13: 123004. DOI https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/aaf27b Elvin M. (2006) The Retreat of the Elephants: An Environmental History of China. Yale University Press Harris R. (2006) Wildlife Conservation in China: Preserving the Habitat of China's Wild West, East Gate Books. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/falk-huettmann/support

This podcast provides some deeper insights into our new publication by Solovyeva et al. (2021) dealing with Arctic Geese in the Eastern Russian Arctic. It provides a showcase for the 'New Digital Arctic' as the myriad changes in the Arctic land-, sea- and coastal-scape are unfolding so fast with devastating outcomes (Krupnik and Crowell 2020). This research shows a more nuanced range and distribution pattern for these two species - Tundra Bean Geese & Greater White-fronted Geese - during moult and brood-rearing than previously known for flyway delineations, nesting and summer range maps etc. This was possible by using Machine Learning and many Open Access GIS data ("Big Data"). Based on the first-time online release of 24 years of field data in very remote areas like rivers of Yakutia, Chaun research station, Chukotka and Northern Kamchatka it presents the best-available public and digital information on the topic, added by GBIF.org data as well as compiled and geo-referenced (Russian) literature data for a good model assessment. This podcast emphasizes the experience and suggestions for data sharing in polar regions and elsehere, as stated by D. Carlson for the International Polar Year (IPY; Carlson 2011) making open access approaches a best-professional practice, if not already mandatory by many funders, e.g.Huettmann et al. (2011), Huettmann and Ickert-Bod (2017) for examples. An application is provided how it can affect better management and protection, e.g. for Climate Change forecast and conservation (Spiridonov et al. 2012). This research raises the question why so many data repositories are either empty, locked behind passwords, or underused, and it shows that Open Access and Open Source in 'The Cloud' can provide a generic progress tfor everybody. Here we provide a workflow and baseline across international researchers to achieve such outcomes with ISO-complian metadata to actually understand the data sets, model inference and outcome. References and background readings Carlson, D. A (2011) Lesson in sharing. Nature 469: 293. https://doi.org/10.1038/469293a Huettmann, F. (ed) (2012) Protection of the Three Poles, Springer Tokyo, Japan, p. 337 Huettmann F, Yu Artukhin, O. Gilg, and G. Humphries (2011) Predictions of 27 Arctic pelagic seabird distributions using public environmental variables, assessed with colony data: a first digital IPY and GBIF open access synthesis platform. Marine Biodiversity 41: 141-179 DOI 10.1007/s12526-011-0083-2 Huettmann F and S. Ickert-Bond (2017). On Open Access, data mining and plant conservation in the Circumpolar North with an online data example of the Herbarium, University of Alaska Museum of the North Arctic Science. http://www. nrcresearchpress.com/toc/as/0/ja Krupnik I. and A. L. Crowell (2020) Arctic Crashes: People and Animals in the Changing North. Smithsonian Institutional Press. Washington D.C. Solovyeva D. I. Bysykatova-Harmey. S L. Vartanyan, A. Kondratyev F. Huettmann (2021) Modeling Eastern Russian High Arctic Geese (Anser fabalis, A. albifrons) during moult and brood rearing in the ‘New Digital Arctic. Scientific Reports.https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-021-01595-7 Spiridonov V., M. Gavrilo, Y. Krasnov, A. Makarov, N. Nikolaeva, L. Sergienko, A. Popov and E. Krasnova (2012). Chapter 8 Toward the New Role of Marine and Coastal Protected Areas in the Arctic: The Russian Case. in F. Huettrmann (ed) Protection of the Three Poles. Springer New York. pp. 171 – 201. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/falk-huettmann/support

The Gray-headed Chickadee is part of the app. 50 Parus species with a dominance in the Old World, ranging from Scandinavia (Norway, Sweden Finland) all across Russia and even into the New World, namely Alaska and Yukon/Canada (Hailman and Haftron 1995). This species is often found in pine-dominated lichen stands of the subarctic region. In the last years some studies reported dramatic declines, e.g. in the southern regions of Norway and northern Finland (Krams et al. 2010, Dale and Andreassen 2016). Here I focus on some aspects of the reported and local species loss, namely man-made global warming due to CO2 and old-growth forest loss. A recent study about Alaska by Booms et al. (2020) gets emphasized which reported only three detections for this species during 2010-2017 (formerly, over 150 locations had reports reaching back til 1864, with many consistent sightings over the last 20 years, e.g. done by bird watchers). Alaska has not reported a single Gray-headed Chickadee nest in recent years. While solid songbird population trend data are few for the subarctic, this species might already indicate serious problems for the Anthropocene, e.g. Huettmann (2012) and Krupnik (2018). Photo credit: Wikipedia Further readings Booms, T.L., L. H. DeCicco, C.P. Barger and J. A. Johnson (2020) Current Knowledge and Conservation Status of the Gray-Headed Chickadee in North America. Journal of Fish and Wildlife Management 11: 654–664. doi: https://doi.org/10.3996/082019-JFWM-072 Dale, S and E. Andreassen (2016) Population decline of the Siberian Tit (Poecile cinctus) in southern Norway and an assessment of possible causes. Ornis Fennica 93: 77-87. Hailman J.P. and S. Haftorn (1995) Gray-headed chickadee (Poecile cinctus). In Poole AF, Gill FB, editors. The birds of North America ( Poole AF, Gill FB editors). Ithaca, New York: Cornell Lab of Ornithology. https://doi.org/10.2173/bna.196Huettmann 3 Pole Protection Huettmann, F. (2012) Yet Another, But This Time Realistic, Polar Synthesis, Meta-Analysis, and Outlook: Protecting Ice, Snow, People, Species, Habitats, and Global Temperatures for Good? in F.Huettmann (ed) Protection of the Three Poles, Springer Tokyo, Japan, pp. 265-330 Krams, K., D. Cīrule, T. Krama, M. Hukkanen, S. Rytkönen, M. Orell, T. Iezhova, M. J. Rantala, and L.Tummeleht (2010) Effects of Forest Management on Haematological Parameters, Blood Parasites, and Reproductive Success of the Siberian Tit (Poecile cinctus) in Northern Finland. Annales Zoologici Fennici 47: 335-346. https://doi.org/10.5735/086.047.0504 Krupnik, I. (2018) 'Arctic Crashes:' Revisiting the Human-Animal Disequilibrium Model in a Time of Rapid Change. Hum Ecol 46: 685–700. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10745-018-9990-1 --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/falk-huettmann/support

The segregation in animals is a fundamental topic in wildlife research and conservation policy. It was studied early on within 'deer' (ungulates) and how males and females use space and habitat in different ways. Often, they are not even overlapping, and for parts of the year they may even be treated perhaps as different species ? Here I discuss some key citations and the concept, using sexual segregation, and then extend the concept to birds such as White-naped Cranes from Mongolia and how those species use space and home ranges in different ways, e.g. by age class, subadults vs adult and failed nesters. It's clear that the subject is complex, with research ongoing, but that the conservation law and policy has not really implemented it, yet and that thus, the species - many of them hunted or affected by humans - are not so well and precisely managed. Citations: Bowyer T.R. (2004) Sexual Segregation in Ruminants: Definitions, Hypotheses, and Implications for Conservation and Management, Journal of Mammalogy 85: 1039–1052, https://doi.org/10.1644/BBL-002.1 Kie J.R. and R. Terry Bowyer (1999) Sexual Segregation in White-Tailed Deer: Density-Dependent Changes in Use of Space, Habitat Selection, and Dietary Niche, Journal of Mammalogy 80: 1004–1020, https://doi.org/10.2307/1383271. Li, Z., Z. Jiang (2007) Sexual segregation in Tibetan gazelle: a test of the activity budget hypothesis. Journal of Zoology 274: 327-331. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-7998.2007.00388.x Ruckstuhl K.E. and P. Neuhaus (2002) Sexual segregation in ungulates: a comparative test of three hypotheses. Biol Rev Camb Philos Soc 77:77-96. doi: 10.1017/s1464793101005814. Wearmouth W.J. and D. W Sims (2008) Sexual segregation in marine fish, reptiles, birds and mammals behaviour patterns, mechanisms and conservation implications. Adv Mar Biol 54:107-70. doi: 10.1016/S0065-2881(08)00002-3. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/falk-huettmann/support

This episode elaoborates on the Seascape Ecology scheme and on the concept of defining a global sustainability science agenda without bias. It is based on the new publication of over 30 co-authors by Pittmann et al. (2021) which essentially tried to follow the Sutherland et al. (2009) approach to find and highlight research priorities for the so-complex world ocean scheme reaching sustainability (something that we are currently far away from, e.g. ocean crisis and based on a traditional reductionistic approach/oceanography/research vessels). In the meantime, the concept of Seascape Ecology is presented, e.g. (Pittmann 2017) -stemming initially from Landscape Ecology (e.g. Forman 1995) - allowing for more 'ecumenical' approaches to research and to obtain 'patterns and processes', usually being based on Geographic Information Systems (GIS), Remote Sensing, deep models and more holistic concepts like telecoupling (Liu et al. 2018 ) that are urgently needed to better tackle global sustainability questions. References Pittman S.J. , K. L. Yates, P. J. Bouchet, D. Alvarez-Berastegui, S. Andréfouët, S. S. Bell, C. Berkström, C. Boström, C. J. Brown, R. M. Connolly, R. Devillers, D. Eggleston, B. L. Gilby, M. Gullström, B. S. Halpern, M. Hidalgo, D. Holstein, K. Hovel, F. Huettmann, E. L. Jackson, W. R. James J. B. Kellner, C. Y. Kot, V. Lecours, C. Lepczyk, I. Nagelkerken, J. Nelson, A. D. Olds, R. O. Santos, K. L. Scales, D. C. Schneider, H. T. Schilling, C. Simenstad, I. M. Suthers, E. A. Treml, L. M. Wedding, P. Yates and M. Young. Seascape ecology: identifying research priorities for an emerging ocean sustainability science. Marine Ecology Progress Series 663: 1-29 DOI: https://doi.org/10.3354/meps13661 Pittmann S. (ed) (2017) Seascape Ecology. Wiley Blackwell Forman R.T.T. (1995) Land Mosaics (The Ecology of Landscapes and Regions). Cambridge University Press. Liu J., Y. Dou, M. Batistella, E.Challies, T.Conno, C.Friis, J.DA. Millington, E. Parish, C. L Romulo, R.F.Bicudo Silva, H. Triezenberg, H.Yang, Z.Zhao, K. S. Zimmerer, F. Huettmann, M.L. Treglia, Z. Basher, M.G. Chung, A.Herzberger, A.Lenschow, A. Mechiche-Alami, J. Newig, J.Roch and J. Sun (2018) Spillover systems in a telecoupled Anthropocene: typology, methods, and governance for global sustainability. Environmental Sustainability 33:58-69 doi.org/10.1016/j.cosust. 2018.04.009 Sutherland W.J., W. M. Adams R. B. Aronson R. Aveling T. M. Blackburn S. Broad G. Ceballos I. M. Côté R. M. Cowling G. A. B. Da Fonseca E. Dinerstein P. J. Ferraro E. Fleishman C. Gascon M. Hunter Jr. J. Hutton P. Kareiva A. Kuria D. W. Macdonald K. Mackinnon F. J. Madgwick M. B. Mascia J. Mcneely E. J. Milner‐Gulland S. Moon C. G. Morley S. Nelson D. Osborn M. Pai E. C. M. Parsons L. S. Peck H. Possingham S. V. Prior A. S. Pullin M. R. W. Rands J. Ranganathan K. H. Redford J. P. Rodriguez F. Seymour J. Sobel N. S. Sodhi A. Stott K. Vance‐Borland A. R. Watkinson (2009) One Hundred Questions of Importance to the Conservation of Global Biological Diversity. Conservation Biology 23: Pages 557-567 --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/falk-huettmann/support

The Arts and the Sciences are truly connected; they feed into each other, relate directly, provide inspiration and creativity for the global audience. Following a quote by Berthodl Brecht "Art is not a mirror for reality, but a hammer with which to shape it" it can present a major force to be reckoned with. And in case done 'right' it can effectively achieve progress for the wider common good, sustainability and future generations. While art is beautiful in its own right, linking it with science and power for a valid outcome when using public money and with public institutions it can quickly become a deep - if not controversial - discussion. Here I briefly elaborate on the connection between art and science with a conservation and sustainability outlook, and how it can be done, using a few examples from Leonardo Da Vinci (flight), Salvador Dali (DNA, Religion) and William Badger Bates (Murray Darling river in Australia). Supporting references The Guardian (2021) It's a funeral march': French artist JR's powerful eulogy for Australia's Murray-Darling. https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2021/feb/28/its-a-funeral-march-french-artist-jrs-powerful-homily-for-australias-murray-darling. (Accessed 27th February 2021) Sutherland Z. (2016) Conceptualism and Global-Neo-Avantgarde. The New Left Review Mar/Apr 98: https://newleftreview.org/issues/ii98/articles/zoe-sutherland-the-world-as-gallery (Accessed 2nd April 2021) National Science Foundation (NSF) (2021) When science meets art: 6 NSF research projects that turn STEM into STEAM. https://beta.nsf.gov/science-matters/when-science-meets-art-6-nsf-research-projects-turn-stem-steam (Accessed 2nd April 2021) --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/falk-huettmann/support

Caribou and reindeer are an inherent and co-evolved part of the Circumpolar North. However, the Arctic Report Card 2018 stated that app. 2.6 million reindeers got lost just during the last 20 years. The status of caribou herds further south is equally worrisome, with the lower 48 states of the U.S. having virtually no wild caribou left, and reindeer herds in Mongolia also struggeling, just like many Canadian caribou do. Looking at many herds and publications, here I elaborate on those changes, cycles and generic trends the these animals face in times of the anthropocene, global change and widely unabated increases of man-made CO2. Citations and further references: Collard R.C., J. Dempsey and M Holmberg (2019) Extirpation despite regulation? Environmental assessment and caribou. Conservation Science and Practice DOI: 10.1111/csp2.166 Gailus J. (2010) Grizzly Manifesto, The: In Defense of the Great Bear (RMB Manifesto). Rocky Mountain Books. Banff, Canada. Hegel, T., A. Mysterud, T. Ergon, L. Loe, F. Huettmann and N. Stenseth (2009) Seasonal Effects of Pacific-based climate on recruitment in a predator-limited large herbivore. Journal of Animal Ecology 79: 471-482. Mager, K.H., K. E. Colson and K. J. Hundertmark (2013) High genetic connectivity and introgression from domestic reindeer characterize northern Alaska caribou herds. Conserv Genetics 14:1111–1123 DOI 10.1007/s10592-013-0499-2 Resnick B. (2018) The Arctic has lost 2.6 million reindeer over the past 20 years. The Arctic is changing — fast. That's bad news for reindeer and caribou.https://www.vox.com/science-and-health/2018/12/11/18134411/christmas-reindeer-north-pole-populations-decline-agu-arctic-report-card Sullivan (2018) Arctic Report Card: Reindeer and caribou populations continue to decline. https://www.climate.gov/news-features/featured-images/2018-arctic-report-card-reindeer-and-caribou-populations-continue Yannic, G., L. Pellissier, J. Ortego et al. (2014) Genetic diversity in caribou linked to past and future climate change. Nature Clim Change 4, 132–137. https://doi.org/10.1038/nclimate2074 --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/falk-huettmann/support

Many songbirds are migratory, and they are in a serious conservation trouble! Here we show from a recent publication by Walther and Huettmann (2021) how those trends in the Old World and its African fllyways and wintering grounds can be modeled with Open Access GIS layers and machine learning, how they relate to recent habitat factors over time, and where the trends and hotspots in Africa are predicted to go in the near future for species that are in 'large decline', 'moderate decline' and 'not declining'. This work presents a grim case for flyway managment achievements, lack there of for 1970-1990, and the still ongoing decay along the flyway while the human crisis in those regions is currently accelarating, including warfare, poverty, oil development and mining, human migrants and climate change. One must probably find that this a surprising conclusion considering that so much migratory bird (banding) research has been ongoing, e.g. in former colonial countries, but then it has not really put those topics on the agenda, communicated it in the scientific bird literature, or improved habitat-related questions last 100 years. It seems to present a typical case of Bandura's (2007) argument while conservation is time-critical. Citations (in reverse order to match podcast content) Walther B.A. and F. Huettmann (2021) Palearctic passerine migrant declines in African wintering grounds in the Anthropocene (1970–1990 and near future): A conservation assessment using publicly available GIS predictors and machine learning. Science of the Total Enviroment Feb 27;777:146093. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.146093. Kronenberg J., E. Andersson and P. Tryjanowski. (2017) Connecting the social and the ecological in the focal species concept: case study of White Stork. Nature Conservation 22: 79–105. Berthold P. (2003) Changes in the breeding bird fauna of two southern rural communities during recent decades-lost paradises ? J Ornithol 144:385–410. Bandura A. (2007) Impeding ecological sustainability through selective moral disengagement. Int. J. Innovation and Sustainable Development 2: 8-35. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/falk-huettmann/support

Autocorrelation -the serial correlation - as a correlated signal with a delayed copy of itself is inherent in Nature. It's not just a problem to get rid of, to be modeled away or a Red Herring in time and space, but it should be used to your advantage. In reality though, it's either ignored or disturbing the classic frequentist analysis of data and inference for a science-based analysis. There is virtually no conservation policy and legal text addressing it. Here I elaborate on the meaning and relevance of autocorrelation and how to tackle it and I promote to put it more on the forefront of science-based conservation. Citations and related references: Borcard D., F. Gillet and P. Legendre (2011) Numertial Ecology with R. Springer Textbook. New York. Dale M.R.T. and M.J. Fortin (2001) Spatial autocorrelation and statistical tests in ecology. Ecoscience 9:162-167. DOI: 10.1080/11956860. 2002.11682702 Diggle, P. J. (2005) Spatio-temporal Point Processes: Methods and Applications. Johns Hopkins University, Dept. of Biostatistics Working Papers. Working Paper 78. http://biostats.bepress.com/jhubiostat/paper78 Fortin M.J. and M. R. T. Dale (2009) Spatial Autocorrelation in Ecological Studies: A Legacy of Solutions and Myths Geographical Analysis 41:392 - 397. DOI: 10.1111/j.1538-4632.2009.00766.x Georgescu-Roegen N. (1971) The Entropy Law and the Economic Process. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press. Greig-Smith, P. (1982). Quantitative plant ecology. 3d ed. Studies in Ecology 9. Berkeley: Univ. of California Press. Hawkins, B.A., J.A.F. Diniz‐Filho, B. Mauricio Bini, L., De Marco and T.M. Blackburn (2007) Red herrings revisited: spatial autocorrelation and parameter estimation in geographical ecology. Ecography, 30: 375-384. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.0906-7590.2007.05117.x Huettmann F. and A.W. Diamond (2006) Large-Scale Effects on the Spatial Distribution of Seabirds in the Northwest Atlantic. Landscape Ecology 21: 1089-1108. Papritz A. (2020) Tutorial and Manual for Geostatistical Analyses with the R package georob. https://cran.r-project.org/web/packages/georob/vignettes/georob_vignette.pdf Schneider D. (1990) Spatial autocorrelation in marine birds. Polar Research 8: 89-97. https://doi.org/10.3402/polar.v8i1.6807 Schneider D. (1994) Quantitative Ecology: Spatial and Temporal Scaling. Academic Press --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/falk-huettmann/support

Central America and its Biodiversity is world famous. However, its status and conservation is very worrying, just like many features in the Anthropocene these days. Using over 12 years for field school-based field research in the region -land, marine and atmosphere - this podcast is based, in part, on Bocklett (1998) and Huettmann (2015) elaborating on issues of conservation governance relevance, and many of them otherwise widely overlooked but highly applicable worldwide. Citations Bocklett C.D. (1998) Land, power and poverty: agragian transformation and political conflict in Central America. 2nd ed. (Thematic Studies in Latin America). Westview Press, Boulder. Huettmann F. (2015) Central American Biodiversity: Conservation, Ecology, and a Sustainable Future. Springer New York. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/falk-huettmann/support

The International Polar Years (IPYs) are meant to provide unbiased research and progress - a great leap forward - for polar regions and wider global issues. Starting in 1882 they are organized app. every 50 years by the international community, and the last IPY just finished in 2007/8 as one of the largest internationally coordinated modern research initiatives in the world. While the world moves fully into the Anthropocene, many new and dramatic changes in the polar regions - any region initially covered by ice (e.g. Arctic, Antarctic and Hindu Kush Himalaya) - warrant a new and urgent IPY to tackle truly global research questions relevant for mankind. As conservation is time-critical here I elaborate on the value of IPYs and why a new one is needed so urgently, not just by 2057 or so. This IPY should be global and fully involve the global community and modern science questions for cutting-edge sustainable governance and policy benefitting mankind and Mother Earth through polar regions. Citations (in reverse order to reflect podcast content): The International Polar Year IPY (no date) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Polar_Year The Guardian (2021) Global heating pushes tropical regions towards limits of human livability. https://www.theguardian.com/science/2021/mar/08/global-heating-tropical-regions-human-livability Huettmann, F. (2007) The digital teaching legacy of the International Polar Year (IPY): Details of a present to the global village for achieving sustainability. Eds M. Tjoa and R.R. Wagner. Proceedings 18th International Workshop on Database and Expert Systems Applications (DEXA) 3-7 September 2007, Regensburg, Germany. IEEE Computer Society, Los Alamitos, CA. Pages 673-677. Huettmann, F. (ed) (2012) Protection of the Three Poles, Springer Tokyo, Japan, p. 337 Huettmann F, Yu Artukhin, O. Gilg, and G. Humphries(2011) Predictions of 27 Arctic pelagic seabird distributions using public environmental variables, assessed with colony data: a first digital IPY and GBIF open access synthesis platform. Marine Biodiversity 41: 141-179 DOI 10.1007/s12526-011-0083-2 --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/falk-huettmann/support

Snow leopards have been studied for over a century, specifically by the western world; they got heavily promoted by western media and TV as a rare sensation of the mountains (e.g. Matthiesen 2008). Realities do differ though, and here I show that the snow leopard is virtually free of Open Access data shared with the global public; many of its data are incomplete or come from zoos and captive animals in the U.S. (but not from zoos in Canada or EU etc or from the wild!). This podcast is based on our snow leopard study below (Huettmann 2020) using GBIF.org data, and I elaborate what this lack of data sharing means for an intransparent and not repeatable science and governance, why that is, and that it must be improved for better decisions with NGOs, nations like China & India, development aid agencies, extractive industries, corporations and other funders worldwide based on the snow leopard as a global icon of open access data sharing failure waiting for betterment. Citations Huettmann F. (2020) Chapter 23. A governance analysis of the snow leopard, its habitat and data: Who owns charismatic animals and who drives and uses the agenda for what? In: G.R. Regmi and F. Huettmann (eds). Hindu Kush-Himalaya Watersheds Downhill: Landscape Ecology and Conservation Perspectives. Springer Gland, Switzerland. pp. 459-472. Kandel K, F. Huettmann, M. K. Suwal, G.R. Regmi,V. Nijman, K.A.I. Nekaris,S.T. Lama,A. Thapa,H.P. Sharma and T.R. Subedi (2015) Rapid multi-nation distribution assessment of a charismatic conservation species using open access ensemble model GIS predictions: Red panda (Ailurus fulgens) in the Hindu-Kush Himalaya region.Biological Conservation 181: 150-161. Matthiesen P (2008) The snow leopard. Penguin Classics. London. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/falk-huettmann/support

Home ranges have occupied the Wildlife Management research and literature for decades; they are the bread-and-butter of most species accounts and textbooks. Various software exists computing Minimum Convex Polygons (MCPs), Kernel estimators etc. However, the validity, repeatability and transparency of these methods have been questioned by Signer et al. (2015) and others for years, while the U.S. Endangered Species ACT (ESA) or virtually any other legislation hardly use them anyways. Here I elaborate on sense and mostly non-sense of 'modern' home range work and why it fails in the wider ecology of the species during the Anthropocene when space is finite and widely used up by human industrial-related development. Citations (in reverse alphabetical order to match podcast content) Signer, J., Balkenhol, N., Ditmer, M. et al. (2015) Does estimator choice influence our ability to detect changes in home-range size?. Anim Biotelemetry 3. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40317-015-0051-x Signer, J. and Balkenhol, N. (2015), Reproducible home ranges (rhr): A new, user‐friendly R package for analyses of wildlife telemetry data. Wildl. Soc. Bull., 39: 358-363. https://doi.org/10.1002/wsb.539 Huettmann F. (2015) On the Relevance and Moral Impediment of Digital Data Management, Data Sharing, and Public Open Access and Open Source Code in (Tropical) Research: The Rio Convention Revisited Towards Mega Science and Best Professional Research Practices. In: F. Huettmann F. (ed.) Central American Biodiversity: Conservation, Ecology, and a Sustainable Future. Springer New York, pages 391-418. Huettmann, F. (2009) The Global Need for, and Appreciation of, High-Quality Metadata in Biodiversity work. pp 25-28. In: E. Spehn and C. Koerner (ed). Data Mining for Global Trends in Mountain Biodiversity. CRC Press, Taylor & Francis. Huettmann, F. (2006) Software certification in the profession of wildlife biology and conservation management: A crucial and required task for safeguarding species and habitats worldwide. OFWIM (Organisation of Fish and Wildlife Information Managers) Newsletter 5-6. Huettmann, F. (2005) Databases and science-based management in the context of wildlife and habitat: towards a certified ISO standard for objective decision-making for the global community by using the internet. Journal of Wildlife Management 69: 466-472. Humphries G.W. and F. Huettmann (2018) Machine Learning in Wildlife Biology: Algorithms, Data Issues and Availability, Workflows, Citizen Science, Code Sharing, Metadata and a Brief Historical Perspective. In: G. Humphries, D.R. Magness and F. Huettmann. Machine Learning for Ecology and Sustainable Natural Resource Management. pp 3-26. Bluhm, B, D. Watts, and F. Huettmann (2010) Free Database Availability, Metadata and the Internet: An Example of Two High Latitude Components of the Census of Marine Life. Chapter 13, pp. 233 – 244. In: S. Cushman and F. Huettmann. Spatial Complexity, Informatics and Wildlife Conservation. Springer Tokyo, Japan. pp. 233-244. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/falk-huettmann/support

This is a re-post and a wider conservation science policy context of an earlier podcast interview with STEMM Storytellers with Rachel Villiani's #90 Antarctica Series 12: https://anchor.fm/storytellersofSTEMM/episodes/90---Antarctica-Series-12-Falk-Huettmann-eom8au It is c. 1h long, tackles issues of research directions for sustainability with NSF, the international community and Antarctica, and is based on the initial internationall mass-co-authored publication by Ingels et al. 2020 below. I report that to you because in my view, metling ice in Antarctica is widely due to man-made causes like CO2, Economic Growth, industrial society etc. And for public science in an international wilderness area of global relevance to be effective, it's not really ethical to divorce and magrinalize conservation from the sciences - any sciences -, and it should directly tackle the issue and push for sustainability and such a policy without relevant delay, certainly in the Antarctic Treaty System (ATS) and when collapsing iceshelf and icebergs are concerned. It's quite absurd to do and engage any other, I find. Citations (PDFs available on request): Ingels J., R. Aronson, C. Smith, A. Baco, H. Bik, J. Blake, A. Brandt,M .Cape, D. DeMaster, E. Dolan, E. Domack, S. FireH, H Geisz, M. Gigliotti, H. Griffiths, K. Halanych,C. Havermans, F. Huettmann, S.Ishman, S. Kranz,A. Leventer, A. Mahon,J. McClintock,M. McCormick, B.Mitchell, A. Murray, L. Peck, A. Rogers, B. Shoplock, K. Smith, B. Steffel, M. Stukel, A. Sweetman, M. Taylor,A. Thurber, M. Truffer, A. Van de Putte, A. Vanreusel, M. Zamora-Duran (2020). Antarctic Ecosystem Responses following Ice Shelf Collapse and Iceberg Calving: Science Review and Future Research. WIREs Clim Change. 2020;e682. https://doi.org/10.1002/wcc.682 Huettmann, F. (ed) (2012) Protection of the Three Poles, Springer Tokyo, Japan, p. 337 https://www.springer.com/gp/book/9784431540052 --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/falk-huettmann/support

It remains undisputed for over a century that 'Seabirds are Indicators', the same can be said is true for the Global Ocean Crisis in the Anthropocene. However, considering the reality of oceans and many seabirds, the applied policy concept that seabirds can show us the status of fish stocks - can actually forcast them- and indicate the ocean's health for pre-cautionary action has apparently failed. Seabird scientists in their respective institutions and employments watched and studied their indicators first-hand but did not get active, hardly acknowledged and promoted it or really stopped a desaster unfolding right under our all noses. Conservation principles and the underlying causes of the problem got widely ignored or not addressed well, failing many future generations. Here I elaborate in two sound files on this tragic-surprising problem and I question the effectiveness, structure and validity of 'modern' seabird research and employment - including some legislation - that is currently done for conservation, also involving inherent topics of data sharing, statistics, public office, ethics and biotagging. Citations (PDFs available from the author on request): Bandura A. (2007) Impeding ecological sustainability through selective moral disengagement. Int. J. Innovation and Sustainable Development 2: 8-30 Cairs, D. (1988). Seabirds as indicators of marine food supplies. Biological Oceanography 5 (4), 261-271 Huettmann, F. and B. Czech (2006) Taking Marine Seabird Conservation Seriously: Towards a Steady State Economy for the Pacific and Beyond. Pacific Seabirds Volume 33 Fall 2: 52-54. Huettmann F., T. Riehl and K. Meissner (2016) Paradise lost already? A naturalist interpretation of the pelagic avian and marine mammal detection database of the IceAGE cruise off Iceland and Faroe Islands in fall 2011. Environment, Systems and Decisions DOI: 10.1007/s10669- 015-9583-0 Pauly, D. and M.L. Palomares (2005) Fishing down marine food webs: it is far more pervasive than we thought. Bulletin of Marine Science 76(2): 197-211. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/falk-huettmann/support

The Saiga antelope is a fascinating - albeit tragic- example for Global Governance failure and Western Research Publication Arrogance. While widely distributed in the Asian steppe for millennia, as publicized by George Schaller for the wilderness of Central Asia and Tibetean Plateau region, the Saiga antelope is now critically endangered and went through ~90% population crashes in just the last 20 years or so. Based on the citation below here I briefly review and comment on some of the science done, its actors and players for conservation progress and betterment. Citation (PDF available on request): Huettmann F. (2020) Textbox 2: Making the Gods Angry Through Western Science ?! An Example of the Saiga and Its Habitat Monagement. In Chapter 30. The gods are angry: A first-hand account and an experience of recent Nepal earthquakes in hindsight. By G.R. Regmi and F. Huettmann (eds). Hindu Kush-Himalaya Watersheds Downhill: Landscape Ecology and Conservation Perspectives. Springer Gland, Switzerland. pp. 611-632. Buckley M. (2020) A First-Hand Narrative Account on Tibet's Paper Parks: How China's Greenwashing in Tibet Flies Under the Radar. By G.R. Regmi and F. Huettmann (eds). Hindu Kush-Himalaya Watersheds Downhill: Landscape Ecology and Conservation Perspectives. Springer Gland, Switzerland. pp 197-212 --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/falk-huettmann/support

The Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) is part of a national jurisdiction, but widely out of reach for conservation. Many nations do not even have the gear, funding or the will and knowledge to monitor and enforce it fully. Based on Humphries and Huettmann (supported by E. Woehler; 2012) here emphasize the problems, and elaborate on the wider but hardly known issues of the EEZ, using global seabirds as an example. Citations and related references (PDFs available upon request): Beal M. M. P. Dias, R. A. Phillips, S. Oppel, C. HazinE. J. Pearmain, J. Adams et al. (2021) Global political responsibility for the conservation of albatrosses and large petrels. Science Advances 7 DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.abd7225 Humphries, Grant R. W.; Huettmann, Falk (+ a contribution from Woehler, Eric) (2012) Global Issues for, and Profiles of, Arctic Seabird Protection: Effects of Big Oil, New Shipping Lanes, Shifting Baselines, and Climate Change. in F.Huettmann (ed) Protection of the Three Poles, Springer Tokyo, Japan, pp. 217-245 Huettmann F., T. Riehl and K. Meissner (2016) Paradise lost already? A naturalist interpretation of the pelagic avian and marine mammal detection database of the IceAGE cruise off Iceland and Faroe Islands in fall 2011. Environment, Systems and Decisions DOI: 10.1007/s10669-015-9583-0 --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/falk-huettmann/support

Using best-available data and research, Peregrine Falcons of this world are shown to occur primarily in cities, and they link with predictors like infant mortality and proximity to coast and water. Here I discuss why this finding is so relevant and what the rejected publication means and indicates, while the pre-print achieved record-high downloads, e.g. due to Open Access Data Sharing that commercial publishers with record annual profits are not much interested in. I show that this concept of labor and expertise does not really reward students and public institutions, and that for wider conservation such concepts achieve little. It must be improved ASAP. Citation: Sriram S. and F. Huettmann (unpublished) A Global Model of Predicted Peregrine Falcon (Falco peregrinus) Distribution with Open Source GIS Code and 104 Open Access Layers for use by the global public. Earth System Science Data doi:10.5194/essd-2016-65, 2017. https://essd.copernicus.org/preprints/essd-2016-65/ --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/falk-huettmann/support

Hello Everybody, This episode deals with the fact that species can only live in their respective ecological niches. That's the law of nature. Any species outside of their ecological niche will die...A good example would be when humans trying to fly to MARS, trying to exist outside of their spaceship bubble! It's a generic scheme, and here I have reviewed that concept for mammals of the world. In the Anthropocene one finds that many species now get pushed out of their co-evolved ecological niche. That's a strong change, happening specifically during the last 40 years and it is virtually unprecedented in the history of 'Mother Earth'! Currently, many ecological niches are shifting, e.g. due to man-made climate change, industrialization and unsustainable practices and governance. A citation with the wider story on the issue can be found here; feel free to ask for a PDF for teaching and non-commercial purposes: Huettmann F. (2017) Climate Change Effects on Terrestrial Mammals: A Review of Global Impacts of Ecological Niche Decay in Selected Regions of High Mammal Importance. Encyclopedia of the Anthropocene, Volume 2, 2018, Pages 123-130 https://www.elsevier.com/books/encyclopedia-of-the-anthropocene/dellasala/978-0-12-809665-9 --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/falk-huettmann/support

This episode covers squirrels, their taxonomy and conservation management failures in a globalized world dominated by science, policy and its institutions, but failing to address even the most basic concepts for such species, and for nature overall. We show that specifically species for wealthy nations are affected and propose that this concept is to be improved. Citation of this work and related reference: Steiner M and F. Huettmann (2021) Justification for a taxonomic conservation update of the rodent genus Tamiasciurus: addressing marginalization and mis- prioritization of research efforts and conservation laissez-faire for a sustainability outlook, The European Zoological Journal, 88:1, 86-116, DOI 10.1080/24750263. 2020.1857852 Parise P.A., M. Gabriel, M. Ross, S. L. Fábio, M. Luciane and R. J. Albertino (2021) Are publications on zoological taxonomy under attack?R. Soc. open sci.8201617201617 http://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.201617 --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/falk-huettmann/support