Global wildlife trade is a multibillion-dollar industry and a significant driver of vertebrate extinction risk. Yet, few studies have quantified the impact of wild harvesting for the illicit pet trade on populations. Long-lived species, by virtue of their slow life history characteristics, may be unable to sustain even low levels of collecting. Here, we assessed the impact of illegal collecting on populations of endangered broad-headed snakes (Hoplocephalus bungaroides) at gated (protected) and ungated (unprotected) sites. Because broad-headed snakes are long-lived, grow slowly and reproduce infrequently, populations are likely vulnerable to increases in adult mortality. Long-term data revealed that annual survival rates of snakes were significantly lower in the ungated population than the gated population, consistent with the hypothesis of human removal of snakes for the pet trade. Population viability analysis showed that the ungated population has a strongly negative population growth rate and is only prevented from ultimate extinction by dispersal of small numbers of individuals from the gated population. Sensitivity analyses showed that the removal of a small number of adult females was sufficient to impose negative population growth and suggests that threatened species with slow life histories are likely to be especially vulnerable to illegal collecting.
Download full-text PDF |
Source |
|---|---|
| http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7970890 | PMC |
| http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-84745-1 | DOI Listing |
Publication Analysis
Top Keywords
Similar Publications
Growth modeling of the European grayling (Thymallus thymallus L.) in a large alpine river based on age-at-length, mark-recapture, and length-frequency data.
J Fish Biol
January 2025
Aquatic Systems Biology Unit, TUM School of Life Sciences, Technical University of Munich, Freising, Germany.
Animal growth is a fundamental component of population dynamics, which is closely tied to mortality, fecundity, and maturation. As a result, estimating growth often serves as the basis of population assessments. In fish, analysing growth typically involves fitting a growth model to age-at-length data derived from counting growth rings in calcified structures.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBinuclear ruthenium complex linker length tunes DNA threading intercalation kinetics.
Biophys J
January 2025
Department of Physics, Northeastern University, Boston, MA, 02115, USA. Electronic address:
Binuclear ruthenium complexes have been investigated for potential DNA-targeted therapeutic and diagnostic applications. Studies of DNA threading intercalation, in which DNA base pairs must be broken for intercalation, have revealed means of optimizing a model binuclear ruthenium complex to obtain reversible DNA-ligand assemblies with the desired properties of high affinity and slow kinetics. Here, we used single-molecule force spectroscopy to study a binuclear ruthenium complex with a longer semi-rigid linker relative to the model complex.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFNutritional and Microbiota-Based Approaches in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis: From Prevention to Treatment.
Nutrients
December 2024
Department of Experimental and Clinical Medicine, University of Florence, 50134 Firenze, Italy.
Metabolic alterations, including hypermetabolism, lipid imbalances, and glucose dysregulation, are pivotal contributors to the onset and progression of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS). These changes exacerbate systemic energy deficits, heighten oxidative stress, and fuel neuroinflammation. Simultaneously, gastrointestinal dysfunction and gut microbiota (GM) dysbiosis intensify disease pathology by driving immune dysregulation, compromising the intestinal barrier, and altering gut-brain axis (GBA) signaling, and lastly advancing neurodegeneration.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFParkinson's Disease Prediction: An Attention-Based Multimodal Fusion Framework Using Handwriting and Clinical Data.
Diagnostics (Basel)
December 2024
Department of Information Technology, Aylol University College, Yarim 547, Yemen.
Background: Neurodegenerative diseases (NGD) encompass a range of progressive neurological conditions, such as Alzheimer's disease (AD) and Parkinson's disease (PD), characterised by the gradual deterioration of neuronal structure and function. This degeneration manifests as cognitive decline, movement impairment, and dementia. Our focus in this investigation is on PD, a neurodegenerative disorder characterized by the loss of dopamine-producing neurons in the brain, leading to motor disturbances.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEnvironmental DNA Insights into the Spatial Status of Fish Diversity in the Mainstem of the Jialing River.
Animals (Basel)
January 2025
Laboratory of Water Ecological Health and Environmental Safety, School of Life Sciences, Chongqing Normal University, Chongqing 401331, China.
Preserving healthy river habitats is essential for maintaining fish diversity. Over time, anthropogenic activities have severely damaged river habitats, leading to notable changes in fish diversity patterns. Conducting thorough and reliable investigations into fish diversity is crucial for assessing anthropogenic impacts on diversity.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWant AI Summaries of new PubMed Abstracts delivered to your In-box?
Enter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!