TY - JOUR

T1 - Biodiversity conservation research challenges in the 21st century

T2 - A review of publishing trends in 2000 and 2011

AU - Velasco, David

AU - García-Llorente, Marina

AU - Alonso, Blanca

AU - Dolera, Agustín

AU - Palomo, Ignacio

AU - Iniesta-Arandia, Irene

AU - Martín-López, Berta

PY - 2015/12/1

Y1 - 2015/12/1

N2 - The Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011-2020 recognizes the increasing importance of scientific knowledge to support conservation policies and decision making. In this study, we assessed the tendency of such knowledge in the first decade of the 21st century. We carried out a systematic review of publications in biodiversity conservation, considering the following aspects: type of research, main topic of study, object of study (i.e. biodiversity organizational level, taxonomic groups and ecosystems), pressures and drivers of change, as well as geographical distribution. In total, 966 publications were analyzed within the three journals with higher academic reach in the field under study: Biodiversity & Conservation, Biological Conservation, and Conservation Biology. Our results show that there are several biases in scientific knowledge associated with the object of study, and analyzed drivers of changes, as well as geographical distribution. However, research trends are not uniform along the first decade of 21st century, as there are some differences between 2000 and 2011 regarding the main topic of the study, the spatial scale and geographical region, and the analyzed ecosystems. We finally discuss the implications of current knowledge trends in biodiversity conservation for achieving the targets delineated by the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011-2020.

AB - The Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011-2020 recognizes the increasing importance of scientific knowledge to support conservation policies and decision making. In this study, we assessed the tendency of such knowledge in the first decade of the 21st century. We carried out a systematic review of publications in biodiversity conservation, considering the following aspects: type of research, main topic of study, object of study (i.e. biodiversity organizational level, taxonomic groups and ecosystems), pressures and drivers of change, as well as geographical distribution. In total, 966 publications were analyzed within the three journals with higher academic reach in the field under study: Biodiversity & Conservation, Biological Conservation, and Conservation Biology. Our results show that there are several biases in scientific knowledge associated with the object of study, and analyzed drivers of changes, as well as geographical distribution. However, research trends are not uniform along the first decade of 21st century, as there are some differences between 2000 and 2011 regarding the main topic of the study, the spatial scale and geographical region, and the analyzed ecosystems. We finally discuss the implications of current knowledge trends in biodiversity conservation for achieving the targets delineated by the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011-2020.

KW - Aichi targets

KW - Conservation biology

KW - Geographical bias

KW - Scientific knowledge

KW - Systematic review

KW - Taxonomic bias

KW - Sustainability Science

KW - Aichi targets

KW - Conservation biology

KW - Geographical bias

KW - Scientific knowledge

KW - Systematic review

KW - Taxonomic bias

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84936856762&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1016/j.envsci.2015.06.008

DO - 10.1016/j.envsci.2015.06.008

M3 - Journal articles

AN - SCOPUS:84936856762

VL - 54

SP - 90

EP - 96

JO - Environmental Science & Policy

JF - Environmental Science & Policy

SN - 1462-9011

ER -