Effective governance is crucial for the success of conservation projects aimed at protecting wildlife populations and supporting human well‐being. However, few large‐scale, comprehensive syntheses have been conducted on the effects of different environmental governance types on conservation outcomes (i.e., biological and ecological effectiveness or effects of conservation on human well‐being), and clarity on the quantity and q...

Land use change threatens global biodiversity and compromises ecosystem functions, including pollination and food production. Reduced taxonomic α‐diversity is often reported under land use change, yet the impacts could be different at larger spatial scales (i.e., γ‐diversity), either due to reduced β‐diversity amplifying diversity loss or increased β‐diversity dampening diversity loss. Additionally, studies often focus on taxo...

As ocean warming threatens reefs worldwide, identifying corals with adaptations to higher temperatures is critical for conservation. Genetically distinct but morphologically similar (i.e. cryptic) coral populations can be specialized to extreme habitats and thrive under stressful conditions. These corals often associate with locally beneficial microbiota (Symbiodiniaceae photobionts and bacteria), obscuring the main drivers of...

Deer populations and their impacts on forest ecosystems are increasing globally. Given the imperative and expense to mitigate impacts of invasive deer, we aimed to elucidate critical drivers of (i) deer density, (ii) deer impacts, and (iii) the relationship between them, to facilitate targeted management. We used quantile regression forests to model deer density (faecal pellet counts at 1948 locations) and impacts (browsing an...

Marine kelp forests cover 1/3 of our world's coastlines, are heralded as a nature-based solution to address socio-environmental issues, connect hundreds of millions of people with the ocean, and support a rich web of biodiversity throughout our oceans. But they are increasingly threatened with some areas reporting over 90% declines in kelp forest cover in living memory. Despite their importance and the threats they face, kelp...

Herbivorous fishes are a key functional group in coral reef ecosystems and have been the focus of a vast body of research. While substantial progress has been made in research, challenges persist, especially in respect to quantifying patterns versus processes. Despite this challenge being recognised over 40 years ago. To help clarify such challenges, and work towards solutions, in this perspective we explore how the definition...

Monitoring the governance and management effectiveness of area‐based conservation has long been recognized as an important foundation for achieving national and global biodiversity goals and enabling adaptive management. However, there are still many barriers that prevent conservation actors, including those affected by governance and management systems from implementing conservation activities and programs and from gathering...

Privately protected areas (PPAs) are a potentially innovative conservation tool. Legal recognition is necessary for their success, especially where there are institutional challenges to nature conservation, such as in South America. Although PPAs have increased in South America since the early 2000s, there is a critical information gap pertaining to their legal frameworks. We analyzed the level of landowner commitment to and g...