Special Issue "Wildlife Conservation: Managing Resources for a Sustainable World"

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

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 22 April 2022.

Special Issue Editor

Prof. Dr. Vasilios Liordos
E-Mail Website1 Website2
Guest Editor
Department of Forest and Natural Environment Sciences, International Hellenic University, P.O. Box 172, 66100 Drama, Greece
Interests: wildlife ecology; biology and management; human–wildlife coexistence; natural and modified habitats; ornithology; conservation conflicts; biological invasions; population dynamics; spatial ecology; environmental monitoring

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The unprecedented rate of vertebrate species loss over the last century, up to 100 times higher than the pre-human background rate, indicates that a sixth mass extinction is already underway. Human activities, particularly habitat loss, overexploitation for economic gain, and climate change, are considered responsible for the exceptionally rapid loss of animal species.

Sustainability is achieved when the goals of its three basic components, society, environment, and economy, are satisfied. The loss and decline of wildlife species and populations destabilizes trophic webs, thus compromising ecosystem function and health. Such consequences also negatively affect society and the economy. There is, therefore, an urgent need for research on wildlife conservation and management in order to avert a true sixth mass extinction, maintain healthy wildlife populations, and thus contribute towards a sustainable world for future generations.

The scientific community has recognized this need and current research has been increasingly involved in multidisciplinary studies including disciplines related to all sustainability components, such as ecology, wildlife biology and management, conservation biology, social sciences, environmental psychology, humanities, and environmental economics.

In this Special Issue, we aim to present a collection of state-of-the-art research on the conservation and management of wildlife species under the framework of sustainability. In doing so, wildlife conservationists and managers will be presented with a holistic view of the current problems and proposed solutions that could be useful as a guide for successfully designing and implementing conservation and management plans. Research might involve the study of:

  • species, their habitats, and factors that might influence their temporal dynamics and spatial distribution from the local to the global scale (e.g., climate change, poaching, biological invasions, logging, forest fires, wetland loss, urbanization);
  • human–wildlife relationships: attitudes and behaviors towards species and conservation and management practices, hunting, and conservation conflicts; or
  • wildlife economics: the willingness to pay for species conservation and management, wildlife recreation and tourism, game and hunting, and wildlife farming.

We eagerly welcome your contributions related to wildlife conservation for sustainability, including quantitative and qualitative research, methodological advances, and reviews.

Prof. Dr. Vasilios Liordos
Guest Editor

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 papers will be 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 1900 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
  • global change
  • anthropogenic pressures
  • resource management
  • ecosystem health
  • human well-being
  • sustainable development
  • wildlife resources
  • conservation conflicts
  • conservation biology

Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

Article
Niche Analysis and Conservation of Bird Species Using Urban Core Areas
Sustainability 2021, 13(11), 6327; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13116327 - 02 Jun 2021
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 720
Abstract
Knowing the ecological requirements of bird species is essential for their successful conservation. We studied the niche characteristics of birds in managed small-sized green spaces in the urban core areas of southern (Kavala, Greece) and northern Europe (Rovaniemi, Finland), during the breeding season, [...] Read more.
Knowing the ecological requirements of bird species is essential for their successful conservation. We studied the niche characteristics of birds in managed small-sized green spaces in the urban core areas of southern (Kavala, Greece) and northern Europe (Rovaniemi, Finland), during the breeding season, based on a set of 16 environmental variables and using Outlying Mean Index, a multivariate ordination technique. Overall, 26 bird species in Kavala and 15 in Rovaniemi were recorded in more than 5% of the green spaces and were used in detailed analyses. In both areas, bird species occupied different niches of varying marginality and breadth, indicating varying responses to urban environmental conditions. Birds showed high specialization in niche position, with 12 species in Kavala (46.2%) and six species in Rovaniemi (40.0%) having marginal niches. Niche breadth was narrower in Rovaniemi than in Kavala. Species in both communities were more strongly associated either with large green spaces located further away from the city center and having a high vegetation cover (urban adapters; e.g., Common Chaffinch (Fringilla coelebs), European Greenfinch (Chloris chloris), Eurasian Blue Tit (Cyanistes caeruleus)) or with green spaces located closer to the city center and having high gray area cover and anthropogenic disturbance level (urban exploiters; e.g., Western Jackdaw (Corvus monedula), House Sparrow (Passer domesticus), Eurasian Magpie (Pica pica)). The eleven species that were common to both study areas similarly used the environmental variables and had similar niches, indicating that birds respond similarly to urbanization irrespective of latitude. Sixteen species in Kavala and eleven species in Rovaniemi were identified as conservation priority species, based on their niche specialization level and conservation status. The management actions proposed for the conservation of priority species will also benefit other species with similar ecological requirements and ultimately help maintain diverse bird communities in small-sized green spaces in urban core areas. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Wildlife Conservation: Managing Resources for a Sustainable World)
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