Three species of otters are known from China; the Eurasian otter Lutra lutra is widespread throughout the country and the smooth-coated Lutrogale perspicillata and Asian small-clawed otters Aonyx cinereus occur in tropical and subtropical regions. We summarize the past status and distribution of otters in China, and provide an update based on a literature review, interviews and field surveys. Otter populations have undergone a dramatic countrywide decline, and are extirpated over much of their former ranges. Relict populations persist, however, in well-protected nature reserves, in sparsely populated headwaters of the Qinghai–Tibetan Plateau, at remote sites along international borders, and in densely populated deltas and floodplains. Recent records were mostly of the Eurasian otter, and we could find no confirmed recent record of the smooth-coated otter. The otters that survive in certain well-protected sites could act as source populations for recolonization if adequate conservation interventions are implemented. Urgent, focused action is needed to protect the remaining populations, and to study the taxonomy and ecology of China's otters.

The fragmentation of jaguar Panthera onca populations as a result of habitat loss is considered to be one of the main challenges for the conservation of the species. Corridors have been proposed as a means of maintaining connectivity and the long-term viability of jaguar populations. The corridor that connects the jaguar conservation units of Calakmul and Laguna de Terminos in Mexico has been considered to be a link for the movement of individuals between these units but its functionality had yet to be verified. During 2012–2014 we divided the corridor into four sections, where we used camera traps to verify the corridor's functionality. We obtained 106 photographs of jaguars, proving the presence of jaguars (including resident jaguars and females) in three of the corridor sections. We did not record any individuals in more than one section of the corridor. The presence of several resident jaguars and females throughout the corridor suggests that portions of the corridor should be incorporated into the Calakmul and Laguna de Terminos jaguar conservation units. Nevertheless, to confirm that the corridor is fully functional it is necessary to obtain evidence of movement of jaguars among the various sections of the corridor. Our results suggest that the area should be included in regional conservation strategies.

Protected areas, including nature reserves and management areas, are established for the conservation of biological diversity and protection of the associated natural and cultural resources. These objectives, however, are often in conflict with socio-economic development. We investigated the plant communities dominated by the dove tree Davidia involucrata in a nature reserve on Mount Jinfo, China, where people intensively manage large areas of bamboo stands. We found a significant lack of small-sized main stems of D. involucrata (0–25 cm diameter at breast height; height > 1.3 m) and newly emerging sprouts in the reserve. The height-class distribution showed a unimodal pattern, with most individuals (of both D. involucrata and co-occurring species) concentrated in the 16–28 m height-class, and few individuals in the shrub and sub-canopy layer (1.3–8 m). Existing practices to facilitate the spread of bamboo stands, and the need to develop a local market for bamboo shoots received little consideration when the nature reserve was established in 1979 to protect D. involucrata. To conserve D. involucrata on Mount Jinfo the appropriate authorities and local parties involved in bamboo harvesting need to focus on methods that are favourable to the life history of this and other tree species, and strategies for their regeneration. These methods will also benefit the conservation of other highly valued trees that share similar life-history characteristics with D. involucrata.

Over the last few decades botanic gardens worldwide have been encouraged to adopt complementary measures for the conservation of plant species from their own regions, combining in situ conservation efforts with ex situ methods, both in cultivation and in storage. This integrated approach is particularly important for botanic gardens in the tropics, which face the challenge of conserving a highly diverse and often threatened flora. We gathered information on the occurrence of threatened species in the natural vegetation reserves of 21 Brazilian botanic gardens. The data were collected from herbarium records in the database of the National Centre for Flora Conservation, and from the available plant inventories of these reserves. The results indicate that 148 species from the List of Threatened Species of Brazilian Flora are recorded as having been collected in the reserves. Of these, 51 species were maintained in the living collections of 18 botanic gardens and 83 species were recorded in federally protected areas. The occurrence of threatened species in the reserves of botanic gardens highlights the scientific value of these areas, as well as their biological, social and cultural importance for conservation. The results may be used to inform the planning of integrated conservation strategies for threatened species.

Montane biota is vulnerable to climate change, especially in the case of relict species in environmentally extreme areas. The Dades trout Salmo multipunctata is a relict species from the Draa basin, on the southern slopes of the High Atlas Mountains, Morocco. Apart from its genetic and morphological singularity almost nothing is known about this species. We surveyed the whole potential distribution range of the Dades trout and found that only two isolated populations exist (in the Dades and M'Goun catchments), occupying an extremely small range, < 22 km of stream reaches in a narrow altitudinal range (c. 2,150–2,375 m). The species was found more frequently and more abundantly at intermediate elevations within its range, and somatic condition increased with altitude. Climatically suitable areas for the Dades trout will be confined to mountain summits without permanent water bodies by 2070. The Dades trout is a Critically Endangered species in need of active management for its persistence. We propose actions for the long-term conservation of the species, including catchment-scale erosion control, riverbed restoration, local-scale measures to mitigate global warming, and an ex situ breeding programme.

With 30 threatened species (14 categorized as Critically Endangered and 16 as Endangered, sensu IUCN), Coccothrinax (c. 54 species) is the flagship palm genus for conservation in the Caribbean Island Biodiversity Hotspot. Coccothrinax has its centre of taxonomic diversity in these islands, with c. 51 endemic species. We present a conservation framework for the 14 Critically Endangered species, found in Cuba, Haiti or the Dominican Republic. Only two species (C. jimenezii, C. montana) occur in more than one country (Haiti and the Dominican Republic). Immediate threats include oil drilling and nickel mining, intrusion of saline water into soil, urban and agricultural development, low population recruitment, uncontrolled fires, interspecific hybridization, and unsustainable ethnobotanical practices. Coccothrinax bermudezii, C. borhidiana, C. crinita ssp. crinita, C. leonis and C. spissa are not conserved in protected areas. Coccothrinax bermudezii, C. jimenezii, C. leonis and C. nipensis are not part of ex situ collections. Based on results from a conservation project targeting C. jimenezii, we recommend international cooperation between the three range states to implement integrative conservation management plans, plant exploration initiatives, taxonomic revisions, outreach, and fundraising. The ultimate aim of this review is to provide baseline information that will develop conservation synergy among relevant parties working on Coccothrinax conservation in Cuba, Haiti and the Dominican Republic. Such collaborations could also benefit through partnerships with botanists working in other countries.

Habitat loss and climate change are major threats to amphibian species worldwide. We combined niche modelling under various climatic scenarios with analysis of habitat loss and the appropriateness of Cuban protected areas to identify major risk zones for the Endangered Cuban toad Peltophryne longinasus. Four subspecies with disjunct distributions associated with mountain forests are recognized. Our results suggest that the western subspecies, P. longinasus longinasus and P. longinasus cajalbanensis, are at risk from global warming, habitat degradation and potential additive effects. Peltophryne longinasus dunni, in central Cuba, has the lowest threat level related to climate change and habitat loss but could become increasingly threatened by the presence of the infectious disease chytridiomycosis. The eastern subspecies, P. longinasus ramsdeni, faces moderate impacts of climate change and habitat loss; however, low opportunity of migration to new areas and population decline justify a high threatened status for this subspecies. Our results predict minor temperature increases and precipitation decreases in the future. Nevertheless, at the biological level these changes could generate variations in species physiology, vocal behaviour and prey availability, and could probably increase the risk of predation. In Cuba protected areas have contributed to avoiding excessive forest loss but the potential impact of climate change was not considered in their original design. Our findings confirm that all subspecies of P. longinasus are threatened but management measures should be tailored according to the various predicted impacts.

The IUCN Red List is widely used to guide conservation policy and practice. However, in most cases the evaluation of a species using IUCN Red List criteria takes into account only the global status of the species. Although subpopulations may be assessed using the IUCN categories and criteria, this rarely occurs, either because it is difficult to identify subpopulations or because of the effort involved. Using the jaguar Panthera onca as a model we illustrate that wide-ranging species that are assigned a particular category of threat based on the IUCN Red List criteria may display considerable heterogeneity within individual taxa in terms of the level of risk they face. Using the information available on the conservation status of the species, we evaluated the jaguar's current geographical range and its subpopulations. We identified the most threatened subpopulations, using the extent of occurrence, area of occupancy, population size and the level of threat to each subpopulation. The main outcome of this analysis was that although a large subpopulation persists in Amazonia, virtually all others are threatened because of their small size, isolation, deficient protection and the high human population density. Based on this approach, future conservation efforts can be prioritized for the most threatened subpopulations. Based on our findings we recommend that for future Red List assessments assessors consider the value of undertaking assessments at the subpopulation level. For the jaguar, sub-global assessments should be included on the Red List as a matter of urgency.

The unprecedented political and economic reforms taking place in Myanmar offer new opportunities for biodiversity conservation. They also bring new challenges in the form of rapidly growing extractive industry and agriculture sectors that have been weakly regulated and are often unsustainable. The Endangered hog deer Axis porcinus epitomizes many of these conservation challenges, and those facing most deer species in the Indo–Burma hotspot. The hog deer has disappeared from large parts of its range as a result of overhunting and intense conversion of its floodplain grassland habitat for agriculture. We report on a population of hog deer that was discovered in the Indawgyi landscape in central Myanmar in 2012. We conducted the first rigorous assessment of a hog deer population in Myanmar using an occupancy sampling protocol, tested the protocol's robustness using a power analysis, and present the results to guide management intervention. The results from our study site revealed widespread occurrence of the species, with high precision. The population map was then used to inform the development of a conservation management zone within a UNESCO Man and Biosphere Reserve around Indawgyi Lake. The importance of this population for the status of the hog deer in Myanmar remains unknown because documentation of the species has been sparse. Our survey protocol could make a significant contribution to addressing this knowledge gap and setting an informed agenda for conservation of the hog deer both nationally and more widely across the Indo-Burma hotspot.

To meet the international biodiversity targets of the 2011–2020 Global Strategy for Plant Conservation, it is important to assess the success of coordinated ex situ plant conservation initiatives such as the European Native Seed Conservation Network (ENSCONET), which operated during 2005–2009, and the ENSCONET Consortium, which was established in 2010. In particular, analysis of the ENSCONET database (ENSCOBASE) indicates that ex situ seed banks have been making significant progress towards meeting targets 8 (at least 75% of threatened plant species in ex situ collections, preferably in the country of origin, and at least 20% available for recovery and restoration programmes) and 9 (70% of the genetic diversity of crops, including their wild relatives and other socio-economically valuable plant species, conserved, while respecting, preserving and maintaining associated indigenous and local knowledge) for native European species. However, the infraspecific diversity of threatened species stored in ENSCONET seed banks needs to be increased to meet research and conservation objectives.

The Vulnerable fishing cat Prionailurus viverrinus faces a perilous future in South-east Asia. It was last sighted in Cambodia in 2003. We deployed 16 camera traps at four sites in southern Cambodia during January–May 2015 to determine if the fishing cat was still present in the country. Eight photograph/video captures of fishing cats were recorded from the mangroves in Peam Krasop Wildlife Sanctuary and one from Ream National Park, but there were no records from Botum Sakor National Park or Prey Nup. A number of other globally threatened species were also photographed in Peam Krasop Wildlife Sanctuary: the Sunda pangolin Manis javanica, the hog deer Axis porcinus and the large-spotted civet Viverra megaspila. We learnt of the killing of an alleged fishing cat at the Sanctuary in July 2015 in retaliation for raiding fishing nets. Illegal hunting and capture of fishing cats for the wildlife trade were reported by local informants at all sites. We provide photographic and video evidence of the fishing cats and highlight the importance of Cambodia's mangroves for threatened species conservation.

The mitigation hierarchy is a decision-making framework designed to address impacts on biodiversity and ecosystem services through first seeking to avoid impacts wherever possible, then minimizing or restoring impacts, and finally by offsetting any unavoidable impacts. Avoiding impacts is seen by many as the most certain and effective way of managing harm to biodiversity, and its position as the first stage of the mitigation hierarchy indicates that it should be prioritized ahead of other stages. However, despite an abundance of legislative and voluntary requirements, there is often a failure to avoid impacts. We discuss reasons for this failure and outline some possible solutions. We highlight the key roles that can be played by conservation organizations in cultivating political will, holding decision makers accountable to the law, improving the processes of impact assessment and avoidance, building capacity, and providing technical knowledge. A renewed focus on impact avoidance as the foundation of the mitigation hierarchy could help to limit the impacts on biodiversity of large-scale developments in energy, infrastructure, agriculture and other sectors.

Mangroves are heavily threatened globally, with fuelwood harvesting and charcoal production a growing threat in low-income nations. However, the socio-ecological dynamics of mangroves are poorly understood, especially the roles of poverty and wealth in shaping resource use. This is particularly the case with Madagascar's mangroves, which contribute 2% of global mangrove cover. We report on the use of and threats to mangroves in the Bay of Assassins in south-west Madagascar. We document the production of sokay, a sea-shell based lime produced in mangrove wood kilns and used as a render on houses to improve their durability. Lime rendered houses are considered a status symbol. Growth in the use of lime is related to a rise in income in some households, which is partly a result of the increased commodification of marine products such as octopus, seaweed and sea cucumber. These products have experienced rapid commercialization over the last decade, with fishers now supplying global markets. We also document evidence of the emergence of larger-scale lime production. The growth of lime production has major ramifications for mangrove cover. We have observed a worrying development in mangrove harvesting patterns tied to lime production, where mangrove ecosystems are cleared instead of selectively cut. We consider the implications of our findings for broader debates about the relationship between conservation, poverty and natural resource use. We highlight research priorities and discuss the policy implications of our research, especially the need for the integrated management of ecosystems.

Debate about climate change adaptation for biodiversity, and the ethics and consequences of assisted colonization in particular, has polarized professional opinion but the views of the wider community are unknown. We tested four hypotheses about the acceptability of adaptation strategies among a sample of the Australian general public using a combination of direct questions and a choice experiment. We found that (1) among the 80% who wanted extinction avoided, increased in situ management of wild populations was preferred to captive breeding or assisted colonization, (2) preferences for adaptation strategies were not explained by gender, income, education or knowledge about birds, (3) genetically distinctive taxa were not actively preferred, (4) > 60% of respondents were content for conservation managers to make decisions about strategies rather than local communities or the general public. The results provide Australian policy makers with a mandate to bolster efforts to retain existing populations but suggest that assisted colonization and captive breeding could be accepted if essential.

Effective conservation of global species diversity requires a clear understanding of spatial scales that support overall diversity across broad scales. Abandonment of semi-natural grasslands has increased their fragmentation and decreased their areal extent. We quantified diversity patterns of plant communities in Japan across hierarchical scales to facilitate the development of an effective nationwide strategy for conserving species diversity in remnant semi-natural grasslands. We applied additive partitioning of plant species diversity, using a nested hierarchical design at three spatial scales (quadrat, grassland, and western and eastern regions of Japan) for three groups of plant species (all species, grassland species and national Red Listed species). We consistently found lower proportions of among-quadrats diversity, and higher proportions of among-grasslands diversity and between-regions diversity in the overall diversity of the entire species complement than would be expected by chance. The high contribution of among-grasslands diversity to overall diversity suggests that each grassland had a unique species content. The second-ranking contributor to overall diversity differed between grassland species and Red Listed species: the second-ranking contributor for grassland species was diversity at the among-quadrats scale but the second-ranking contributor for all species and for Red Listed species was diversity at the between-regions scale. Thus, effective conservation of diversity of the entire species complement in remnant semi-natural grasslands requires preservation of beta diversity in individual grasslands. Our findings highlight the importance of strengthening local preservation and restoration activities within each grassland, and of nationwide strategies for conserving Red Listed species in remnant semi-natural grassland communities.

The Myanmar snub-nosed monkey Rhinopithecus strykeri was discovered in 2010 on the western slopes of the Gaoligong Mountains in the Irrawaddy River basin in Myanmar and subsequently in the same river basin in China, in 2011. Based on 2 years of surveying the remote and little disturbed forest of the Gaoligong Mountains National Nature Reserve in China, with outline transect sampling and infrared camera monitoring, a breeding group comprising > 70 individuals was found on the eastern slopes of the Gaoligong Mountains in the Salween River Basin. Given the Critically Endangered status of this primate (a total of < 950 individuals are estimated to remain in the wild), efforts to protect the relatively undisturbed habitat of this newly discovered population and to prevent hunting are essential for the long-term survival of this species.

We report on how a long-term study of the reproductive biology of the Critically Endangered Schiedea adamantis (Caryophyllaceae), one of Hawai‘i's rarest plant species, was leveraged for conservation purposes. Our major goals were to provide seeds with the greatest genetic variation possible for reintroduction and to ensure that both female and hermaphroditic plants of this wind-pollinated species were reintroduced in a manner that maximized both outcrossing and seed production. Schiedea adamantis was one of the first Hawaiian plant species listed under the Endangered Species Act (USA). The species has been studied intensively to test hypotheses addressing the evolution of breeding systems. Information on outcrossing levels and the extent of inbreeding depression was integrated into ongoing reintroduction efforts. Population size peaked in 1994, when 267 flowering individuals were found on Lē‘ahi (Diamond Head Crater). By 2016 only 17 flowering individuals were present, with drought and invasive species being possible causes of this decline. Reintroduction attempts in 1998 using genetically diverse seeds were unsuccessful because of drought and a lack of sufficient supplemental irrigation. Additional reintroduction attempts in 2012 and 2014 were more successful because of increased supplemental irrigation. Plants used in reintroductions represent genotypes long since absent in the natural population, and may contain the genetic variability essential for evolutionary responses to climate change and the spread of invasive species. The destruction of many plants reintroduced in 2015 and 2016 by a fire in March 2016 highlights the need for additional restoration areas at Lē‘ahi and elsewhere, and storage of seeds for future use.

Birds are commonly entangled in long-line fisheries, and increases in long-line fishing activity have consistently caused declines in seabird populations. Environmental criminology would posit that the risk of such declines is greater in the case of illegal long-line fisheries, which are less likely to implement bycatch mitigation measures. To investigate this possibility we examined the overlap between data on illegal fishing and albatross at-sea occurrence ranges. Moderate correlations were found between mean exposure to illegal fishing and the Red List status of albatross species, but none were found between Red List status and total fishing pressure. A second analysis overlaid albatross at-sea occurrence ranges with long-lining data for the member countries of the Convention on Conservation of Southern Bluefin Tuna to compare the effect of exposure to legal and illegal hooks on Red List status. Lacking a better measure, Country A's hooks were used as a proxy for illegal hooks. Critically Endangered and Endangered species were 12 and 3.4 times more exposed to illegal hooks, respectively, than Near Threatened species, whereas there was no relationship between Red List status and exposure to legal hooks. Country-level analyses confirmed these findings, which provide evidence that illegal long-line fishing poses a particular threat to the survival of albatrosses. The findings suggest that the bird conservation lobby should work closely with fisheries authorities to tackle illegal fishing, and that research should identify the highest risk areas of overlap between illegal fishing and albatross at-sea ranges.

The spoon-billed sandpiper Calidris pygmaea is a Critically Endangered shorebird that breeds in the Russian arctic and winters in coastal and estuarine habitats in South-east Asia. We report the first formal estimate of its global population size, combining a mark–resighting estimate of the number of leg-flagged individuals alive in autumn 2014 with an estimate of the proportion of birds with flags from scan surveys conducted during the same period at a migration stop-over site on the Jiangsu coast of China. We estimate that the world breeding population of spoon-billed sandpipers in 2014 was 210–228 pairs and the post-breeding population of all age classes combined was 661–718 individuals. This and related methods have considerable potential for surveillance of the population size of other globally threatened species, especially widely dispersed long-distance migrants.

The swamp deer Rucervus duvaucelii is the largest grassland-dwelling endemic cervid of India and Nepal. With a declining population trend across its range, this species is found in fragmented habitats of northern, north-eastern and central India and south-western Nepal. The northern swamp deer subspecies Rucervus duvaucelii duvaucelii occurs in small wetland patches across the states of Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh in India and has lost most of its habitat in the last century. Information about the distribution of the swamp deer in the upper Gangetic plains is limited, except in the Jhilmil Jheel Conservation Reserve in Uttarakhand and around the Bijnor barrage area of Hastinapur Wildlife Sanctuary in Uttar Pradesh. We surveyed the upper Gangetic plains between the Reserve and the Sanctuary, including some adjoining areas and three tributaries of the Ganges, to assess the status of these habitats, current swamp deer distribution and the threats faced by the species. We found several areas harbouring swamp deer within non-protected wetlands along the entire surveyed stretch of the upper Ganges and a previously unreported population in Uttar Pradesh. We documented major threats including habitat conversion, livestock grazing, poaching, conflict and other anthropogenic disturbances. We recommend community driven conservation and management of Rucervus duvaucelii duvaucelii in this fragmented landscape to ensure survival of this species and other threatened fauna of these wetlands and grasslands.