Abstract Detail

Conservation Biology

Mammides, Christos [1], Chen, Jin [2], Corlett, Richard T. [3], Ewing, Harry T. [3], Goodale, Uromi Manage [4], Hariya, Hetal [5], Xia, Xue [6], Goodale, Eben Bowditch [6].

Changes in publication rates and the research productivity of tropical countries in conservation science: implications for inclusive conservation.

It is indisputable that tropical countries hold the most biodiversity in the worldand also that biodiversity there faces particularly high threats, yet because most of these countries have historically been underdeveloped, much of the research in conservation science has come from the outside. Here we ask whether economic developments over the last thirty years, and changes in the publications industry, have affected the research productivity of tropical and/or non-high income (NHI) countries. An analysis of data from SCImago demonstrated that conservation science was slightly beneath average in the proportion of publications contributed by NHI countries in 2013 and lagged substantially in the change in this measure over time. A literature review of 740 articles, found that approximately 50% of the research in tropical countries was conducted by temperate institutions for recent samples (2006-2012), down from 57% in 1980-1990, but unchanged from 1995-2003. Acceptance rate data from 12 journals in conservation showed that the acceptance rate for the five largest contributing NHI countries was approximately 0.55 times that of the largest HI countries. Although the link between publications and actual conservation action is debatable, we see potential negative effects of low research productivity in the tropics, including a “brain-drain” of the best young scientists, important to conservation if local actors are more effective, and a lack of awareness about the importance of conservation, not limited to academia.

1 - Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, Key Laboratory of Tropical Forest Ecology, Menglun, Mengla, Yunnan, 666303, China
2 - Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, Key Laboratory of Tropical Forest Ecology, Menglun, Mengla, Yunnan, 530005, China
3 - Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, Menglun, Mengla, Yunnan, 666303, China
4 - Guangxi University, Plant Ecophysiology And Evolution Group, State Key Laboratory Of Conservation And Utilization Of Subtropical Agro-bioresources, College Of Forestry,, Daxuedonglu 100, Mengla, Nanning, Guangxi, 530005, China
5 - AshokaTrust for Research in Ecology and the Environment, Royal Enclave, Sriramapura, Jakkur Post, Bangalore, Karnataka , 560064, India
6 - Guangxi University, College of Forestry, Nanning, Guangxi, 530005, China

Keywords:
Publication rates
Conservation science
Acceptance rates
biodiversity
Ecnomic development.

Presentation Type: Oral Paper:Papers for Topics
Session: 66
Location: Salon 19/20/The Shaw Conference Centre
Date: Wednesday, July 29th, 2015
Time: 2:30 PM
Number: 66005
Abstract ID:1409
Candidate for Awards:None