TY - JOUR

T1 - A poor international standard for trap selectivity threatens carnivore conservation

AU - Virgós, E.

AU - Lozano Mendoza, Jorge

AU - Cabezas-Díaz, S.

AU - Macdonald, D.W.

AU - Zalewski, A.

AU - Atienza, Juan Carlos

AU - Proulx, Gilbert

AU - Ripple, W.J.

AU - Rosalino, L.M.

AU - Santos-Reis, M.

AU - Johnson, Paul J.

AU - Malo, A.F.

AU - Baker, Sandra E.

N1 - Export Date: 27 January 2017 CODEN: BONSE Correspondence Address: Virgós, E.; ESCET, Departamento de Biología y Geología, Universidad Rey Juan Carlos, C/Tulipán s/n., Spain; email: emilio.virgos@urjc.es References: Anderson, D.R., Burnham, K.P., Gould, W.R., Cherry, S., Concerns about finding effects that are actually spurious (2001) Wildl Soc B, 29, pp. 311-316; Bialous, S.A., Yach, D., Whose standard is it, anyway? 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The myths behind the International Humane Trapping Standards, , International Fund for Animal Welfare, Brussels; Harrop, S.R., The Agreement on international humane trapping standards—background, critique and the texts (1998) J Int Wildl Law Pol, 1, pp. 387-394; Harrop, S.R., The international regulation of animal welfare and conservation issues through standards dealing with the trapping of wild mammals (2000) J Environ Law, 12, pp. 333-360; (2015), http://www.iberlince.eu/index.php/esp/component/news/newsarticle/370#.VgV6K8saRde, Iberlince El proyecto Life + IBERLINCE activa exitosamente el protocolo para devolver a Llera a Sierra Morena. Accessed 30 Oct 2015International Organization for Standardization (ISO), (1999) TC191. Animal (mammal) traps. Part 4: methods for testing killing trap systems used on land or underwater. 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Ministerio de Agricultura (2011) Alimentación y Medio Ambiente, , Conferencia Sectorial de Medio Ambiente, Madrid; Manly, B.F.J., McDonald, L.L., Thomas, D.L., McDonald, T.L., Erickson, W.P., (2002) Resource selection by animals, , Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordecht; Monterroso, P., Brito, J.C., Ferreras, P., Alves, P.C., Spatial ecology of the European wildcat in a Mediterranean ecosystem: dealing with small radio–tracking datasets in species conservation (2009) J Zool, 279, pp. 27-35; Muñoz-Igualada, J., Shivik, J.A., Domínguez, F.G., Lara, J., González, L.M., Evaluation of cage-traps and cable restraint devices to capture red foxes in Spain (2008) J Wildl Manag, 72, pp. 830-836; Muñoz-Igualada, J., Shivik, J.A., Domínguez, F.G., González, L.M., Aranda-Moreno, A., Olalla, M.F., García, C.A., Traditional and new cable restraint systems to capture fox in central spain (2010) J Wildl Manag, 74, pp. 181-187; O’Connell, A.F., Nichols, J.D., Karanth, K.U., (2011) Camera traps in animal ecology. Methods and analyses, , Springer, London; Powell, R.A., Proulx, G., Trapping and marking terrestrial mammals for research: integrating ethics, standards, techniques, and common sense (2003) ILAR, 44, pp. 259-276. , COI: 1:CAS:528:DC%2BD3sXntVKksLg%3D; Proulx, G., Cattet, M.R.L., Powell, R.A., Humane and efficient capture and handling methods for carnivores (2012) Carnivore ecology and conservation: a handbook of techniques, pp. 70-129. , Boitani L, Powell RA, (eds), Oxford University Press, London; Reynolds, J.C., Tapper, S.C., Control of mammalian predators in game management and conservation (1996) Mammal Rev, 26, pp. 127-156; Ripple, W.J., Estes, J.A., Beschta, R.L., Wilmers, C.C., Richie, E.G., Hebblewhite, M., Berger, J., Wirsing, A.J., Status and ecological effects of the world’s largest carnivores (2014) Science, 343, p. 1241484. , PID: 24408439; Rodríguez, A., Delibes, M., Patterns and causes of non-natural mortality in the Iberian lynx during a 40-year period of range contraction (2004) Biol Conserv, 118, pp. 151-161; Rosalino, L.M., Macdonald, D.W., Santos-Reis, M., Spatial structure and land cover use in a low density Mediterranean population of Eurasian badgers (2004) Can J Zool, 82, pp. 1493-1502; Shivik, J.A., Martin, D.J., Pipas, M.J., Turnan, J., DeLiberto, T.J., Initial comparison: jaws, cables, and cage-traps to capture coyotes (2005) Wildl Soc Bull, 33, pp. 1375-1383; Sutherland, W.J., (2006) Ecological census techniques. 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PY - 2016/7/1

Y1 - 2016/7/1

N2 - Unintentional mortality of endangered carnivores due to non-selective trapping is important for conservation and warrants urgent attention. Currently, non-selective traps are being approved and used based on trap selectivity tests conducted according to International Organization for Standardization (ISO) guidelines. We review these guidelines and find them inadequate, because: (1) the ISO definition of selectivity does not account for relative abundance of target and non-target species and does not therefore meaningfully reflect selectivity; (2) the guidelines methodology at best quantifies relative selectivity of one trap against another, which is of limited use unless the control trap is known to have an acceptable level of absolute selectivity for the target species; (3) information on relative trap selectivity cannot simply be extrapolated elsewhere, unless species assemblage and relative species abundances are consistent. We demonstrate that the ISO definition of trap selectivity is only a simple capture proportion and therefore does not represent trap selectivity. ISO guidelines on trap selectivity should be reviewed to reflect particular ecological scenarios and we suggest how this might be done. Policy-makers, practitioners and researchers should interpret scientific results more cautiously. Trap approval decisions should be based on scientific evidence to avoid undermining the conservation of biodiversity.

AB - Unintentional mortality of endangered carnivores due to non-selective trapping is important for conservation and warrants urgent attention. Currently, non-selective traps are being approved and used based on trap selectivity tests conducted according to International Organization for Standardization (ISO) guidelines. We review these guidelines and find them inadequate, because: (1) the ISO definition of selectivity does not account for relative abundance of target and non-target species and does not therefore meaningfully reflect selectivity; (2) the guidelines methodology at best quantifies relative selectivity of one trap against another, which is of limited use unless the control trap is known to have an acceptable level of absolute selectivity for the target species; (3) information on relative trap selectivity cannot simply be extrapolated elsewhere, unless species assemblage and relative species abundances are consistent. We demonstrate that the ISO definition of trap selectivity is only a simple capture proportion and therefore does not represent trap selectivity. ISO guidelines on trap selectivity should be reviewed to reflect particular ecological scenarios and we suggest how this might be done. Policy-makers, practitioners and researchers should interpret scientific results more cautiously. Trap approval decisions should be based on scientific evidence to avoid undermining the conservation of biodiversity.

KW - Endangered species

KW - ISO standards

KW - Non-target species

KW - Predator control

KW - Selectivity

KW - Wildlife management

KW - Sustainability Science

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84965036368&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1007/s10531-016-1117-7

DO - 10.1007/s10531-016-1117-7

M3 - Scientific review articles

VL - 25

SP - 1409

EP - 1419

JO - Biodiversity and Conservation

JF - Biodiversity and Conservation

SN - 0960-3115

IS - 8

ER -