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PCR was used to amplify adenoviral DNA, and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) to detect adenovirus particles in tissue and intestinal content samples from red squirrels (Sciurus vulgaris) associated with a reintroduction study on Anglesey (North Wales), from other populations on the island and from stock held at the Welsh Mountain Zoo, 38 km to the east. Samples were collected during the routine surveillance postmortem examinations of all 60 red squirrels with carcases retrieved in a suitable condition between 2004 and 2010, including 29 captive and 31 free-living animals. Following significant clusters of mortality in captive red squirrels, adenovirus was identified retrospectively in faecal material from 12 of 13 (92 per cent) examined carcases from squirrels captive on Anglesey, and 14 of 16 (88 per cent) from the Welsh Mountain Zoo. Virus was identified in 13 of 31 (42 per cent) free-living wild animals, with evidence of both subclinical and clinically significant enteric adenoviral infections in wild squirrels. Without ancillary PCR and TEM testing, the extent of adenovirus infection in such populations would have been underestimated. Screening protocols that include examinations for adenovirus should, therefore, be part of the routine biosecurity measures protecting reintroduction or captive breeding programmes for red squirrels

Conservation scientists, national governments, and internationalconservation groups seek to devise, and implement, governancestrategies that mitigate human impact on the environment. However,few studies to date have systematically investigated the performanceof different systems of governance in achieving successfulconservation outcomes. Here, we use a newly-developed analyticframework to conduct analyses of a suite of case studies, linkingdifferent governance strategies to standardized scores for deliveringecosystem services, achieving sustainable use of natural resources,and conserving biodiversity, at both local and internationallevels. Our results: (i) confirm the benefits of adaptive management;and (ii) reveal strong associations for the role of leadership. Ourwork provides a critical step toward implementing empirically justifiedgovernance strategies that are capable of improving the managementof human-altered environments, with benefits for bothbiodiversity and people., QC 20160524

Conservation scientists, national governments, and international conservation groups seek to devise, and implement, governance strategies that mitigate human impact on the environment. However, few studies to date have systematically investigated the performance of different systems of governance in achieving successful conservation outcomes. Here, we use a newly-developed analytic framework to conduct analyses of a suite of case studies, linking different governance strategies to standardized scores for delivering ecosystem services, achieving sustainable use of natural resources, and conserving biodiversity, at both local and international levels. Our results: (i) confirm the benefits of adaptive management; and (ii) reveal strong associations for the role of leadership. Our work provides a critical step toward implementing empirically justified governance strategies that are capable of improving the management of human-altered environments, with benefits for both biodiversity and people.

We investigated the paradox of why Amazonian manatees Trichechus inunguis undergo seasonal migrations to a habitat where they apparently fast. Ten males were tracked using VHF telemetry between 1994 and 2006 in the Mamirauá and Amanã Sustainable Development Reserves, constituting the only long-term dataset on Amazonian manatee movements in the wild. Their habitat was characterized by analysing aquatic space and macrophyte coverage dynamics associated with the annual flood-pulse cycle of the River Solimões. Habitat information came from fieldwork, two hydrographs, a three-dimensional model of the water bodies and classifications of Landsat-TM/ETM+ images. We show that during high-water season (mid-May to end-June), males stay in várzea lakes in association with macrophytes, which they select. We then show that, during low-water (October–November), the drastic reduction in aquatic space in the várzea leads to the risk of their habitat drying out and increases the manatees' vulnerability to predators such as caimans, jaguars and humans. This explains why males migrate to Ria Amanã. Based on data on illegal hunting, we argue that this habitat variability influences females to migrate too. We then use published knowledge of the environment's dynamics to argue that when water levels are high, the habitats that can support the largest manatee populations are the várzeas of white-water rivers, and we conjecture that rias are the species' main low-water refuges throughout Western Amazonia. Finally, we warn that the species may be at greater risk than previously thought, because migration and low-water levels make manatees particularly vulnerable to hunters. Moreover, because the flooding regime of Amazonian rivers is strongly related to large-scale climatic phenomena, there might be a perilous connection between climate change and the future prospects for the species. Our experience reveals that the success of research and conservation of wild Amazonian manatees depends on c