Background: Linear transportation infrastructures (roads, railways, oil and gas pipelines, powerlines and waterways) generate well documented fragmenting effects on species habitats. However, the potential of verges of linear transportation infrastructures (road and railway embankments, strips of grass under power lines or above buried pipelines, or waterway banks) as habitat or corridor for biodiversity, remains controversial. In a context of constant loss of natural habitats, the opportunities of anthropogenic areas for compensating the loss of biodiversity they generated have to be considered. This paper is the first synthesis of evidence addressing this topic for vertebrates (mammals, birds, amphibians and reptiles) in temperate ecosystems.Methods: We conducted a systematic literature survey using two online publication databases, three search engines, specialist websites, and by sending a call for literature to subject experts. We successively screened the articles for relevance on titles, abstracts and full texts using criteria detailed in an a priori protocol. We then used six specific questions to categorize the retained studies and to critically appraise them. These questions encompassed the potential of verges as habitats and corridors for vertebrates, and the effects of landscape and management on these potentialities. We critically appraised all studies to assess their risk of bias and created a database of the studies with low and medium risk of bias. We synthesized results for each specific question in narrative syntheses. Finally, studies that met meta-analysis requirements were used for quantitative syntheses.Results: Our initial searches identified 83,565 documents. After critical appraisal, we retained 119 documents that reported 128 studies. Most studies were conducted in Europe (49%) and in the United States of America (22%), and were about mammals (61%) and birds (20%). Results from the narrative synthesis and meta-analyses converged and revealed that the potential of linear transportation infrastructures verges to constitute a habitat for vertebrate species varies according to the infrastructure and the biological group considered. Especially, highway verges may be a refuge for small mammals but seems detrimental to birds. The potential also varied depending on the landscape considered, with urbanisation being related to lower biodiversity hosted by verges. We found a wide variety of verge management practices with few studies on each practice, which prevented us from drawing general conclusions. Likewise, we found too few studies assessing the corridor potential of verges to be able to fully conclude although this potential seems to exist. We did not find any study assessing the effect of landscape context or management on the role of corridor of verges.Conclusions: We identified a major knowledge gap regarding the potential of linear transportation infrastructure verges as corridors for vertebrates, and when they exist studies rarely directly measured movements on verges. We thus encourage more research on this topic and the development of protocols that enable direct measures of vertebrate movements. The effect of management practices on the role of habitat of verges also deserves further investigations, and research efforts should be coordinated to focus on one specific practice (e.g. vegetation management).

Background: For decades, biodiversity has suffered massive losses worldwide. Urbanization is one of the major drivers of extinction because it leads to the physical fragmentation and loss of natural habitats and it is associated with related effects, e.g. pollution and in particular noise pollution given that many man-made sounds are generated in cities (e.g. industrial and traffic noise, etc.). However, all human activities generate sounds, even far from any human habitation (e.g. motor boats on lakes, aircraft in the air, etc.). Ecological research now deals increasingly with the effects of noise pollution on biodiversity. Many studies have shown the impacts of anthropogenic noise and concluded that it is potentially a threat to life on Earth. The present work describes a protocol to systematically map evidence of the environmental impact of noise pollution on biodiversity. The resulting map will inform on the species most studied and on the demonstrated impacts. This will be useful for further primary research by identifying knowledge gaps and in view of further analysis, such as systematic reviews. Methods: Searches will include peer-reviewed and grey literature published in English and French. Two online databases will be searched using English terms and search consistency will be assessed with a test list. No geographical restrictions will be applied. The subject population will include all species. Exposures will include all types of man-made sounds (industrial, traffic, etc.) in all types of environments (or media) (terrestrial, aerial, aquatic), including all contexts and sound origins (spontaneous or recorded sounds, in situ or laboratory studies, etc.). All relevant outcomes will be considered (space use, reproduction, communication, abundance, etc.). An open-access database will be produced with all relevant studies selected during the three screening stages. For each study, the database will contain metadata on key variables of interest (species, types of sound, outcomes, etc.). This database will be available in conjunction with a map report describing the mapping process and the evidence base with summary figures and tables of the study characteristics.

Background: Ecosystem degradation, mainly through overexploitation and destruction of natural habitats, is a well-known threat to the viability and persistence of many species’ populations worldwide. The use of translocations as a viable conservation tool in conjunction with protected areas has been rapidly increasing over the last few decades. Protected areas such as strict nature reserves, national parks, and species management areas continue to be central tools for biodiversity conservation as they provide vital habitats set aside from various human pressures. Because action consistently runs ahead of policy, the need for a clearer evidence base on the outcomes of wildlife translocations undertaken at a global scale is becoming increasingly urgent for scientific and decision-making communities, in order to build clear strategy frameworks around conservation translocations. We therefore conducted a systematic mapping exercise to provide an overview of the existing evidence on the outcomes of wildlife translocations in protected areas. Methods: We searched two bibliographic databases, four web-based search engines with search-by-key-words capacity, 5 specialist websites, and conducted a grey literature call through two project stakeholders. We screened articles by title, abstract, and full text using pre-defined inclusion criteria all the while assessing the consistency of the reviewers. All relevant translocations were coded from retained publications. Key variables of interest were extracted and coded for each translocation event. The quantity and characteristics of the available evidence and knowledge gaps/clusters are summarised. The distribution and frequency of translocations are presented in heat- and geographical maps. Review findings: A total of 613 articles were considered eligible for coding bibliometric data. Metapopulation management and review articles were not coded for quantitative and qualitative variables. Linked data (duplicated translocations) were also excluded. Finally, 841 studies of different translocation events were fully coded from 498 articles. Most of these translocations were carried out in North America and Oceania. The most commonly undertaken intervention types were one-off supplementations and “supplemented reintroductions”. Mammals were by far the most transferred group among animals. Magnoliopsida was the most translocated plant group. Survival, space use, and demography metrics were the most studied outcomes on translocated species. Conclusions: This systematic map provides an up-to-date global catalogue of the available evidence on wildlife translocations to, from, or within protected areas. It should enable protected area managers to better understand their role in the global network of protected areas, regarding translocation practice, both as suppliers or recipients of translocated species. It may help managers and practitioners make their own choices by comparing previous experiences, regarding both the species concerned and the precise translocation modalities (number of individuals, etc.). Finally, it constitutes a decision-making tool for managers as well as for policy makers for future translocations.

La disparition et la fragmentation des habitats naturels font partie des causes majeures d’érosion de la biodiversité. Face à ces pressions, le développement des réseaux écologiques, c’est-à-dire le maintien de milieux naturels connectés, est largement préconisé par les scientifiques et mis en œuvre par les gouvernements. En France, le Ministère de l’environnement pilote à ce sujet une politique publique, la Trame verte et bleue (TVB). Lors de la définition de son cadrage national (ONTVB) en 2007-2010, les relations entre la pollution lumineuse et les réseaux écologiques constituaient une problématique émergente. Aujourd’hui, la connaissance scientifique a nettement progressé. Depuis peu, un effet barrière de la lumière artificielle nocturne est démontré, celle-ci occasionnant des ruptures du noir qui peuvent être infranchissables pour certains animaux. La TVB apparait donc comme un levier évident pour lutter contre la disparition et la fragmentation des habitats engendrées par la pollution lumineuse. Au niveau régional, les schémas d’application de la TVB ont d’ores et déjà fortement mis en avant cette problématique dans leur diagnostic. La pollution lumineuse n’est pas encore concrètement intégrée dans les continuités écologiques régionales. Néanmoins, la majorité des régions ont prévu des actions pour améliorer cette prise en compte à court ou moyen terme, avec, pour plusieurs d’entre elles, l’ambition d’élaborer une trame spécifique, noire. Au niveau local, plusieurs initiatives ont aussi émergé autour de la trame noire ou sombre sous l’impulsion de gestionnaires d’espaces naturels, bureaux d’études ou collectivités, montrant une vraie dynamique sur ce sujet dans les territoires. Au regard de ces évolutions, il est préconisé de renforcer les ONTVB sur la thématique pollution lumineuse. Cela peut se traduire par une meilleure définition des enjeux, par la formulation de pistes méthodologiques, par la définition d’une trame noire ou encore par l’ajout d’un enjeu de cohérence nationale.

Background: Light pollution has been increasingly recognised as a threat to biodiversity, especially with the current expansion of public lighting. Although the impacts of light intensity, spectral composition and temporality are more often studied, another component of light, its flicker frequency, has been largely overlooked. However, flashing light could also have impacts on biodiversity, and especially on animal behaviour and physiology. Objective: This systematic review aimed at identifying the reported physiological and behavioural impacts of flashing light on animals when compared to continuous light. Methods: We followed the standards recommended by the Collaboration for Environmental Evidence (CEE) in order to achieve a comprehensive, transparent and replicable systematic review. Citations were primarily extracted from three literature databases and were then screened for relevance successively on their titles, abstracts and full-texts. Retained studies were finally critically appraised to assess their validity and all relevant data were extracted. Only studies which compared a flashing light to a continuous one were included. Results: At first, we found 19,730 citations. Screening and critical appraisal resulted in 32 accepted articles corresponding to 54 accepted observations—one observation corresponding to one species and one outcome. We collated data on four main taxa: Aves (the most studied one), Actinopterygii, Insecta and Mammalia as well as on plankton. Conclusions: The impacts of flashing light are currently critically understudied and varied between species and many light specificities (e.g. frequency, wavelength, intensity). Therefore, no definitive conclusions could be drawn for now. Thus, research on flashing light should be pressingly carried out in order to better mitigate the impacts of Artificial Light at Night (ALAN) on wildlife. In the meantime, we would recommend precautionary principles to be applied: flashing lighting should be limited when not deemed essential and flicker frequencies managed to prevent animals from experiencing any potential harm from flashing light.