Science for Saving Species Research findings factsheet Project 3.1: Developing a threatened species index

Sharing data to save species

Good decision-making for for scientists not to publish primary conservation hinges on good data. biodiversity data of threatened What are primary Accurate knowledge about where species that reveal their locations. biodiversity data? species occur helps us to manage While we recognise that location Primary biodiversity data provide them well, and this is particularly true data for sensitive species should evidence of the location of a for species that are rare or threatened. be well controlled to avoid such species at a particular time. This However, data are deficient for one in lamentable outcomes, we argue that can include a sighting, a DNA six IUCN-listed species. Filling these withholding such primary biodiversity sample or a verified photograph; or knowledge gaps is urgent if we wish data could unnecessarily disadvantage traces such as scats, tracks, nests or to protect threatened species and conservation efforts, and obstruct burrows that can be attributed with ecosystems. work on behalf of species and confidence to a particular species. Alongside this concern to expand our locations at low risk of exploitation. Primary data can also provide knowledge are increasing concerns biologically useful information The solution we propose is a that it is dangerous to publish the such as age, sex, breeding status decision-tree protocol for scientists locations of species, especially those and population abundance. that allows for systematic assessment at risk of exploitation. Scientists of the risks and benefits of publishing Repositories for primary diversity must balance difficult and uncertain biodiversity data. It aims to enhance data abound, and include wildlife trade-offs when deciding whether conservation efforts, promote atlases and online resources to share information about species’ community engagement and reduce such as http://aekos.org.au. occurrence publicly or privately. For survey duplication. In particular, it aims Citizen science programs such example, shortly after the discovery to improve conservation outcomes as eBird also share such data. of Chinese cave geckos in Vietnam by enabling scientists to understand Further, scientific journals and was made public, poaching for the the benefits of sharing data and the funding agencies are increasingly pet trade contributed to their local costs of not sharing data, rather than requesting transparently archived extinction, which prompted calls focusing solely on the risks. research data.

Illegal poaching is still a major threat to the Endangered Carnaby’s black-cockatoo. Photo: RalphGreen_FlickrCCBYNCND2

AUSTRALIA How biodiversity For species threatened primarily by The matter is compounding, as the data are shared climate change and habitat loss, increase in use of social media is the benefits of revealing population making it more difficult to manage There are different ways of sharing locations may outweigh the overall sensitive information. When black biodiversity data depending on the risks of increasing the likelihood of market prices for threatened species particular conservation sensitivities. human exploitation. For example, range from US$2 for a sea turtle in They can include: rare species with poorly understood Mexico to US$31,000 for an Australian • publishing precise locations distributions are especially likely to black-cockatoo and US$400,000 but changing species identifiers have declined due to habitat loss, for a gorilla, it is necessary to know to “restricted” or to a higher but new populations are often found whether publishing new localities taxonomic resolution such as in unexpected parts of their former or ecological information about a genus or family ranges. Any known location data can population will increase the threats be crucial in conservation planning to the species. • publishing accurate species and management to protect the names but masking or remaining habitats of such species. Other deterrents to publishing changing the location Withholding diversity data can lead Other “risks” of publishing biodiversity • withholding species location to perverse outcomes for species data can have a cultural, social or information entirely. needing management to ensure their economic basis. For example, fishers Currently, the Global Biodiversity persistence. It can do this by giving a may not share data on the location Information Facility provides the false impression of restricted range of threatened species out of concern most comprehensive guidelines or small populations, and by new that the data may be used against for assessing sensitivities around locations remaining undiscovered them to prosecute for violations or species and publishing their locations. or being unknowingly destroyed lead to fishing restrictions. Another These guidelines recommend first in land development. example is research scientists identifying whether a species is at risk concerned at the time and cost in of harm from human activity and then Risks of sharing data sharing data that could be spent instead on publishing more papers assessing the impact of that activity on Poaching is a major risk for species or writing more grants. the species. Following that are rules for that are highly valued for traditional determining the degree of sensitivity of medicine, recreational hunting and A decision tree for sharing a species, and a rule for determining private collections. There is no doubt whether sharing information will that it has caused species declines biodiversity data likely harm the species. and even extinctions, for example the The focus on the risks of sharing However, this protocol does not Javan rhino. It is an ongoing threat primary biodiversity data has failed give consideration to the benefits to many threatened birds, especially to take into account situations when of publishing data. parrots such as Carnaby’s black- the benefits outweigh the risks. cockatoo. And a common threat We propose that scientists follow Benefits of sharing data to many orchids, such as the a decision tree that considers the swamp orchid. benefits of sharing biodiversity data, Sharing primary biodiversity data including locations of threatened has direct conservation benefits, Even where people mean no species. Our decision tree considers by being of use to others. It also harm, but simply want to see a rare all the relevant threats to species, features indirect benefits such as: species, their access to the area can have negative consequences and whether conservation • verifying existing research such as through damage to habitat, mechanisms are in place to mitigate them or could be put in place. • promoting public engagement introduction of invasive species and pathogens, or disturbance of The main risks are exploitation for • stimulating new or collaborative feeding and nesting. trade or resource uses, or disturbance research It is imperative for researchers to or destruction of the habitat due • informing non-researchers understand not only where species to human access. The first step to about key ecological or occur but also the spread and identifying the risk of publishing locality conservation issues. intensity of in situ and ex situ data for a species is identifying how threats to them. valuable it is to collectors, poachers or others with an ex situ interest in it. ArAree therethere conceiconceivavableble IsIs speciesspecies atat riskrisk ofof exexploitationploitation duedue toto NN associationsassociations thatthat couldcould inin situsituoror ex ex situsitu va valuelue oror pepersrsecution?ecution? impactimpact otherother speciesspecies?? Figure 1: A decision tree to guide NN decisions about whether to YY EpipEpiphyhytestes ofof tr treesees 11 PUBLICPUBLIC publish primary biodiversity data. vvaluablealuable to to fo forereststryry YY DADATATA Source: Tulloch, A. et al (2018) IsIs species’species’ primaryprimary threatthreat NN IsIs species’species’ primaryprimary threatthreat exexploitationploitation A decision tree for assessing the wildliwildlifefe trtradeade foforr ffood/medicine/ood/medicine/otherother resoresoururcesces risks and benefits of publishing ((exex situsitu economic economic vavalue)lue)?? ((exex situsitu economic economic oror culturculturalal vavalue)lue)?? biodiversity data, Nature Ecology

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The West Indian Ocean coelacanth The Critically Endangered west Indian Ocean coelacanth (Latimeria chalumnae), had been thought to be extinct for 60 million years when it was discovered and tagged off the South African coast in 2000. Although potentially valuable to collectors, their deep cave habitats are difficult to access and the greatest threat is fisheries bycatch, not poaching. The publicity generated by making the location data available has led to new marine protected areas, fisheries management measures and a US$6 million multinational research program that is also benefitting many other southern African species. Photo: Alberto Fernandez Fernandez, Wikimedia, CC BY-SA 3.0 This will enable assessment of to whom it could be available under Integrating the decision the likely harm to the species or licence. Such habitat maps would tree into conservation population if visitors exploit it or also be recommended for species disturb it at the published localities. with a high in situ value (e.g. for decision-making ecotourism) and no current protective While we acknowledge that it will The decision tree allows for the fact mechanisms (e.g., whale sharks, sometimes be time-consuming and that risks to some species might be rare birds), to prevent disturbance difficult for individual researchers to mitigated by conservation measures to their populations and habitat. obtain the information needed to such as restricting access through walk through our decision tree, all physical barriers (e.g., fencing off When the primary threats to a the same information will be available reserves). Where it is not feasible species are neither in situ or ex to those responsible for evaluating to restrict access, data publication situ exploitation or disturbance, we species for the Convention on protocols can be used to mask recommend making species location International Trade in Endangered characteristics of the data to protect data public. This is due to there being Species of Wild Fauna and Flora the species or its location from little risk of increased visitation to (CITES) and for IUCN Red Listing. being identified. An example of this the site or little chance that visitation Thus, it would be practical for a could be a government conservation would affect population viability. decision tree such as ours to be agency collating all threatened In some cases where a species integrated into these evaluation species location data to create a has a high in situ value, the benefits processes as well as into national and high-resolution habitat map. This of publishing data might still outweigh subnational assessments of species’ could engage the public by supplying the risks of increased visitation. threat status and updated regularly. information about species distribution See the West Indian Ocean while not providing specific location Sharing species information is critical coelacanth example. records, except to researchers, to building biodiversity knowledge and managing the global extinction crisis. Almost all data publication decisions made by governments and individuals focus on the costs of sharing, with benefits never explicitly quantified. Our decision tree for publishing spatial biodiversity data aims to overcome this inefficiency, and enable scientists to make better choices about whether, how and when to publish primary biodiversity data. Our tree will help decision-making to be explicit about the benefits of publishing, weighing them against the risks, and helping to ensure that species are not put in greater danger from Publishing specific location data for the Swamp Orchid (Phaius australis) could facilitate illegal collection which is new data that are made public. an identified major threat to this Endangered species. Photo Kieran Kinney CC BY-NC-ND-2.0.

Further Information For more information please see: Tulloch, A. et al (2018) A decision tree for assessing the risks and benefits of publishing biodiversity data, Nature Ecology & Evolution, DOI: 10.1038/s41559-018-0608-1

This project is supported through funding from the Australian Government’s National Environmental Science Program.