Aim: Mapping species distributions is a crucial but challenging requirement of wildlife management. The frequent need to sample vast expanses of potential habitat increases the cost of planned surveys and rewards accumulation of opportunistic observations. In this paper, we integrate planned‐survey data from roost counts with opportunistic samples from eBird, WikiAves and Xeno‐canto citizen‐science platforms to map the geographic range of the endangered Vinaceous‐breasted Parrot. We demonstrate the estimation and mapping of species occurrence based on data integration while accounting for specifics of each dataset, including observation technique and uncertainty about the observations.Location: Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay.Methods: Our analysis illustrates (a) the incorporation of sampling effort, spatial autocorrelation and site covariates in a joint‐likelihood, hierarchical, data integration model; (b) the evaluation of the contribution of each dataset, as well as the contribution of effort covariates, spatial autocorrelation and site covariates to the predictive ability of fitted models using a cross‐validation approach; and (c) how spatial representation of the latent occupancy state (i.e. realized occupancy) helps identify areas with high uncertainty that should be prioritized in future fieldwork.Results: We estimate a Vinaceous‐breasted Parrot geographic range of 434,670 km², which is three times larger than the “Extant” area previously reported in the IUCN Red List. The exclusion of one dataset at a time from the analyses always resulted in worse predictions by the models of truncated data than by the Full Model, which included all datasets. Likewise, exclusion of spatial autocorrelation, site covariates or sampling effort resulted in worse predictions.Main conclusions: The integration of different datasets into one joint‐likelihood model produced a more reliable representation of the species range than any individual dataset taken on its own, improving the use of citizen‐science data in combination with planned‐survey results.

Amazona is the largest genus of the Psittacidae, one of the most threatened bird families. Here, we study four species of Amazona (Amazona brasiliensis, A. pretrei, A. vinacea, and A. rhodocorytha) that are dependent on a highly vulnerable biome: the Brazilian Atlantic Forest. To examine their distribution and abundance, we compile abundance estimates and counts, and develop site-occupancy models of their geographic range. These models integrate data from formal research and citizen science platforms to estimate probabilistic maps of the species’ occurrence throughout their range. Estimated range areas varied from 15,000 km² for A. brasiliensis to more than 400,000 km² for A. vinacea. While A. vinacea is the only species with a statistical estimate of abundance (~8000 individuals), A. pretrei has the longest time series of roost counts, and A. rhodocorytha has the least information about population size. The highest number of individuals counted in one year was for A. pretrei (~20,000), followed by A. brasiliensis (~9000). Continued modeling of research and citizen science data, matched with collaborative designed surveys that count parrots at their non-breeding roosts, are essential for an appropriate assessment of the species’ status, as well as for examining the outcome of conservation actions.

Many ornithologists seek tools to work more equitably with people from historically marginalized and exploited groups. We developed a process to promote the collective construction of ornithological knowledge in the Special Feature series “Ecology and conservation of cavity nesters in the Neotropics’‘ for the journals Ornithology and Ornithological Applications. Colonialism produces systems that consecrate Eurocentric ideas from dominant nations (including Canada, the USA, and countries of Western Europe) and reinforce hierarchies of power between and within regions. Recognizing these systems, we proposed a Special Feature to support, highlight, and connect teams from Latin America, a region historically exploited by imperial powers. We adopted sociocracy, a governance model that promotes the sharing of power, to create the proposal and organize the call for papers and to write a Review article and this Perspective article. We adopted and developed transparent, consent-based decision-making processes, including a process for determining authorship order. We crafted open invitations, used collective proposals (structured brainstorming), encouraged citation of work from regional journals, tested a system for manuscript submission and review in Spanish, and introduced mechanisms for multi-way feedback. This framework helped reduce some barriers commonly faced by historically marginalized authors, distribute power more equitably, and recognize a broader diversity of contributions to ornithology. Despite these efforts, several challenges remained. For example, the publishing interests of Ornithology, Ornithological Applications, and most high-impact ornithological journals are often poorly aligned with current research priorities in many parts of Latin America (e.g., reproductive biology of endangered species). We encourage scientists at all career stages, technicians, and non-academics to reflect on their citation politics (which sources they cite, and how their citation practice may unintentionally reproduce inequities), and to implement collective workflows that promote equitable sharing of power within research teams. Translated versions of this article are available in Supplementary Material 1 (Spanish) and Supplementary Material 2 (Portuguese).

Accurate estimates of abundance and density for geographically open populations must account for the effective sampling area (ESA) of sampling gears. We describe a Marked N-Mixture model to estimate ESA and density (number of individuals/unit area) from repeated counts of unmarked and marked individuals, integrating mark-resight, camera counts, and telemetry data of red snapper ( Lutjanus campechanus) at a 1.6 km² reef off North Carolina, USA. Cameras recorded observations of unmarked and marked individuals, whereas telemetry data indicated the number of tagged fish present on the reef. We estimated density (95 individuals/km², 95%CI: 58–149), ESA (which was lower when current direction was towards the camera), detection probability (0.06, 95%CI: 0.03–0.09), and covariate relationships. Simulation studies under different scenarios of data quality and space use identified positive bias in density estimates from N-mixture models due to fish movement. In contrast, the Marked N-Mixture model returned unbiased estimates of density, ESA, and detection parameters, and appears to be a more robust method for modeling density given the data available for this analysis. This approach can be applied to other populations where count and telemetry data overlap in space and time.

Ascorbate is the most abundant water-soluble antioxidant in plants and an essential molecule for normal plant development. Although present in all green plants, ascorbate concentrations vary among plant species and tissues. While ascorbate accumulation is a trait of nutritional, and therefore, agronomical interest, the impact of different concentrations on cellular homeostasis remains elusive. To shed light on this question, we compared Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) lines with very low (vtc2 mutant, 20% of wild-type (WT) levels), low (vtc4 mutant, 65% of WT levels), and high (vtc2/OE-VTC2, 165% of WT levels) ascorbate concentration in 4-wk-old rosette leaves. An 80% reduction of ascorbate increased the expression of genes implicated in defense against pathogens but repressed genes associated with abiotic stress responses. Unexpectedly, lines with increased (165% of WT) and decreased (65% of WT) ascorbate levels shared 85% of induced transcription factors and the gene ontology terms associated with their transcriptional programs. We identified TRYPTOPHAN AMINOTRANSFERASE OF ARABIDOPSIS 1 (TAA1), a gene encoding the enzyme that catalyzes the first step of auxin biosynthesis, among the group of genes whose expression was positively correlated with ascorbate content. Using a combination of genetic and pharmacological approaches in fluorescent and histochemical reporter lines for auxin biosynthesis and signaling activity, we revealed that TAA1- and TAA1 RELATED 2 (TAR2)-mediated auxin biosynthesis is necessary for plants to cope with increased ascorbate concentration in a light-dependent manner, revealing a layer of complexity in the regulatory landscape of redox homeostasis.