Our commentary explores the increase in cashew cultivation across West Africa, drawing attention to its impacts on biodiversity and livelihoods. We summarize the issue regionally, then showcase Guinea-Bissau, where we unravel the dynamics between cashew expansion, habitat and biodiversity loss, and livelihoods. Finally, we propose concrete policy measures encompassing strengthened conservation, sustainable land...
Functional traits offer a rich quantitative framework for developing and testing theories in evolutionary biology, ecology and ecosystem science. However, the potential of functional traits to drive theoretical advances and refine models of global change can only be fully realised when species-level information is complete. Here we present the AVONET dataset containing comprehensive functional trait data for al...
Avian diversity in fragmented Amazonian landscapes depends on a balance between extinction and colonization in cleared and disturbed areas. Regenerating forest facilitates bird dispersal within degraded Amazonian landscapes and may tip the balance in favor of persistence in habitat patches. Determining the response of Amazonian birds to fragmentation may be hindered because many species use adjacent second grow...
As anthropogenic change continues to fragment terrestrial habitats, conservation biologists are increasingly concerned with how wild animals move through fragmented landscapes. Experimental translocations have recently gained popularity as a technique to determine landscape permeability by wild animals in fragmented landscapes. In experimental translocations, researchers capture individuals — usually adults — a...