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Closing the Knowledge-Implementation Gap in Conservation Science

Interdisciplinary Evidence Transfer Across Sectors and Spatiotemporal Scales

  • Complete summary of the scientific knowledge currently available on closing of the knowledge-implementation gap in both terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems
  • Describes interdisciplinary and innovative uses of knowledge sources and knowledge mobilization practices to halt biodiversity loss under human-driven global environmental change
  • Essential reading for graduate students, researchers, practitioners, and policy-makers working across sectors with biodiversity knowledge and natural resource management around the world

Part of the book series: Wildlife Research Monographs (WIREMO, volume 4)

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Table of contents (15 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-x
  2. Introduction

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 1-1
    2. The Knowledge-Implementation Gap in Conservation Science

      • Vivian M. Nguyen, Catarina C. Ferreira, Cornelya F. C. Klütsch
      Pages 3-21
  3. The Knowledge Production or Co-production

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 23-23
    2. Biodiversity Monitoring and the Role of Scientists in the Twenty-first Century

      • Catarina C. Ferreira, P. J. Stephenson, Mike Gill, Eugenie C. Regan
      Pages 25-50
    3. Publicly Generated Data: The Role of Citizen Science for Knowledge Production, Action, and Public Engagement

      • Tina B. Phillips, Alison Parker, Anne Bowser, Muki Haklay
      Pages 83-107
    4. Recognition of Indigenous Ecological Knowledge Systems in Conservation and Their Role to Narrow the Knowledge-Implementation Gap

      • Emilie Ens, Victoria Reyes-García, Hugo Asselin, Minna Hsu, Elsa Reimerson, Kiri Reihana et al.
      Pages 109-139
  4. The Knowledge Mediation Sphere

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 141-141
    2. Communication: The Bridge Between Knowledge and Implementation

      • Christine O’Connell, Merryn McKinnon
      Pages 171-197
    3. Making an Impact: How to Design Relevant and Usable Decision Support Systems for Conservation

      • David Christian Rose, Katherine Despot-Belmonte, James A. Pollard, Olivia Shears, Rebecca J. Robertson
      Pages 199-226
  5. The Knowledge-Action Outcome(s)

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 227-227
    2. The Use of Boundary-Spanning Organizations to Bridge the Knowledge-Action Gap in North America

      • Mark W. Schwartz, Erica Fleishman, Matthew A. Williamson, John N. Williams, Toni Lyn Morelli
      Pages 229-254
    3. Conservation Science in Africa: Mainstreaming Biodiversity Information into Policy and Decision-Making

      • P. J. Stephenson, Mohamed Bakarr, Nadine Bowles-Newark, Fritz Kleinschroth, Abisha Mapendembe, Yaa Ntiamoa-Baidu et al.
      Pages 287-321
    4. The Marine Conservation Landscape in Europe: Knowledge Support to Policy Implementation and Conservation Action

      • Rita Araújo, Ana Cristina Cardoso, Victoria Tornero, Nikos Zampoukas
      Pages 323-370
  6. Synthesis

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 455-455

About this book

This book aims to synthesize the state of the art on biodiversity knowledge exchange practices to understand where and how improvements can be made to close the knowledge-implementation gap in conservation science and advance this interdisciplinary topic. Bringing together the most prominent scholars and practitioners in the field, the book looks into the various sources used to produce biodiversity knowledge - from natural and social sciences to Traditional Ecological Knowledge and Citizen Science - as well as knowledge mobilization approaches to highlight the key ingredients that render successful conservation action at a global scale. By doing so, the book identified major current challenges and opportunities in the field, for different sectors that generate, mobilize, and use biodiversity knowledge (like academia, boundary organizations, practitioners, and policy-makers), to further develop cross-sectorial knowledge mobilization strategies and enhance evidence-informed decision-making processes globally.


Editors and Affiliations

  • Department of Conservation Biology, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research - UFZ, Leipzig, Germany

    Catarina C. Ferreira

  • Division of Environment and Natural Resources, Norwegian Institute of Bioeconomy Research (NIBIO), Svanvik, Norway

    Cornelya F. C. Klütsch

About the editors

Dr. Catarina C. Ferreira is a broadly trained conservation biologist, with twenty years of international experience in the research, project management and policy arenas. She holds two MSc degrees in Applied Ecology (University of Porto, Portugal) and Wildlife Management (Castilla-La Mancha University, Spain), a PhD in Biology from Castilla-La Mancha University (Spain) and has done 5 years of postdoctoral research between Trent University (Ontario, Canada) and the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research - UFZ (Leipzig, Germany). As an academic, she developed a strong scientific background specializing in terrestrial ecology and wildlife management, having dedicated her career to advance our understanding of the impacts human-induced stressors have on biodiversity. She has published over 30 scientific papers in peer-reviewed top-tier journals, as well as contributed to or co-authored 4 books and participated in multiple science outreach activities. She received numerous grants throughout her career, including a Marie-Skłodowska-Curie International Outgoing Fellowship between 2015-2017 and a Mitacs Canadian Science Policy Fellowship in 2020. As a conservation scientist, she has a rich cross-sectoral experience in the environmental public, private and not-for-profit sectors in Europe and North America, where she acted as a knowledge broker to support evidence-informed policy decisions. Notably, among other roles, she was the Assistant Director of the first and only Iberian Lynx Captive Breeding Centre in Portugal in 2009-2010, and the European Biodiversity Conservation Coordinator at IUCN in Belgium between 2018 and 2020. She is currently working for the Canadian Food Inspection Agency as a Policy and Program Analyst of cross-cutting plant health issues.

Dr. Cornelya F. C. Klütsch works at the interface of molecular ecology, genomics, and conservation. Her main research interests include the use of genetic and genomic tools to address applied and basic conservation as well as eco-evolutionary questions in wildlife species. She received her Master’s degree in zoology at the Martin Luther University of Halle-Wittenberg (Germany). Subsequently, she completed a PhD at the Alexander Koenig Research Museum and the Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms University in Bonn (Germany). She then continued her research by pursuing international postdoctoral research positions at the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm (KTH, Sweden) and at Trent University in Peterborough (Ontario, Canada). Currently, she is a Research Scientist in Molecular Ecology at the Norwegian Institute of Bioeconomy Research (NIBIO, Norway) where she works in a transnational, interdisciplinary, and inter-sectorial framework on local, regional, and international conservation issues. 


Bibliographic Information

  • Book Title: Closing the Knowledge-Implementation Gap in Conservation Science

  • Book Subtitle: Interdisciplinary Evidence Transfer Across Sectors and Spatiotemporal Scales

  • Editors: Catarina C. Ferreira, Cornelya F. C. Klütsch

  • Series Title: Wildlife Research Monographs

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-81085-6

  • Publisher: Springer Cham

  • eBook Packages: Biomedical and Life Sciences, Biomedical and Life Sciences (R0)

  • Copyright Information: Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021

  • Hardcover ISBN: 978-3-030-81084-9Published: 04 January 2022

  • Softcover ISBN: 978-3-030-81087-0Published: 05 January 2023

  • eBook ISBN: 978-3-030-81085-6Published: 03 January 2022

  • Series ISSN: 2366-8733

  • Series E-ISSN: 2366-8741

  • Edition Number: 1

  • Number of Pages: X, 473

  • Number of Illustrations: 12 b/w illustrations, 71 illustrations in colour

  • Topics: Conservation Biology/Ecology, Zoology, Ecology, Biodiversity

Buy it now

Buying options

eBook USD 149.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book USD 199.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book USD 199.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Other ways to access