Published October 7, 2021 | Version v1
Journal article Open

Tapping into non-English-language science for the conservation of global biodiversity

Creators

  • 1. School of Biological Sciences, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, 4072 Queensland, Australia; Centre for Biodiversity and Conservation Science, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, 4072 Queensland, Australia
  • 2. Conservation Science Group, Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, The David Attenborough Building, Downing Street, Cambridge CB3 3QZ, UK; BioRISC, St. Catharine's College, Cambridge CB2 1RL, UK
  • 3. Conservation Science Group, Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, The David Attenborough Building, Downing Street, Cambridge CB3 3QZ, UK
  • 4. Faculty of Agriculture, Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology, 183-8509 Tokyo, Japan; Institute of Global Innovation Research, Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology, Fuchu, 183-8509 Tokyo, Japan
  • 5. Lendület Ecosystem Services Research Group, Institute of Ecology and Botany, Centre for Ecological Research, H-2163 Alkotmány u. 2-4, Vácrátót, Hungary
  • 6. Conservation First, Ampleforth, York YO62 4DB, UK
  • 7. Department of Life Sciences and Systems Biology, University of Turin, Via Accademia Albertina 13, 10123 Torino, Italy
  • 8. School of Life Sciences, Institute of Eco-Chongming (IEC), East China Normal University, Shanghai,200241 China
  • 9. Department of Agriculture, Forestry, and Bioresources, Seoul National University, Seoul 08826, Republic of Korea; Yangtze Delta Estuarine Wetland Ecosystem Observation and Research Station, Ministry of Education & Shanghai Science and Technology Committee, Shanghai, 202162, China
  • 10. Laboratoire Biodiversité et Génomique Fonctionnelle, Faculté des Sciences, Université Saint‐Joseph, Campus Sciences et Technologies, Beirut, Lebanon
  • 11. Joint Nature Conservation Committee, Monkstone House, City Road, Peterborough PE1 1JL, UK
  • 12. Department of Community Ecology, Helmholtz-Centre for Environmental Research – UFZ, Theodor-Lieser-Str. 4, 06120 Halle, Germany
  • 13. School of Biological Sciences, Monash University, Melbourne VIC, Australia
  • 14. Center for Earth System Research and Sustainability, University of Hamburg, 20144 Hamburg, Germany
  • 15. Institute of Nature Conservation, Polish Academy of Sciences, Mickiewicza 33, 31-120 Kraków, Poland; Institute of Zoology and Biomedical Research, Faculty of Biology, Jagiellonian University, Gronostajowa 9, 30-387 Kraków, Poland
  • 16. Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Koç University, Rumelifeneri Yolu 34450 Sarıyer, Istanbul, Turkey
  • 17. Department of Conservation Biology, Georg-August-Universität Göttingen, Bürgerstrasse 50, Göttingen 37073, Germany
  • 18. Department of Ecosystem Studies, Graduate School of Agricultural and Life Sciences, The University of Tokyo, 1-1-1 Yayoi, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-8657, Japan
  • 19. School of Natural Sciences, Bangor University, Gwynedd LL57 2UW, UK
  • 20. School of Biological Sciences, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, 4072 Queensland, Australia; Endemic Species Research Institute, 1, Ming-Shen East Road, Jiji, Nantou 55244, Taiwan
  • 21. Conservation Science Group, Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, The David Attenborough Building, Downing Street, Cambridge CB3 3QZ, UK; Department of Rural Land Use, SRUC, Craibstone Estate, Bucksburn, Aberdeen, AB21 9YA, UK
  • 22. State Key Laboratory of Biocontrol, School of Ecology, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China, 510275
  • 23. School of Agriculture and Biology, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240, China
  • 24. Department of Migration, Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior, Am Obstberg 1, 78315, Radolfzell, Germany; Department of Biology, University of Konstanz, Universitätsstraße 10, 78464 Konstanz, Germany
  • 25. Faculty of Natural Sciences, Department of Life Sciences (Silwood Park), Imperial College London, Buckhurst Road, Ascot, Berks SL5 7PY, UK; Institute of Zoology, Zoological Society of London, Regent's Park, London NW1 4RY, UK
  • 26. Departamento de Botânica, Instituto de Biociências, Universidade de São Paulo, Rua do Matão nº 277, Cidade Universitária, São Paulo, SP, CEP 05508-090, Brasil; Forest Ecology and Conservation Group, Conservation Research Institute and Department of Plant Sciences, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, CB2 3EA, UK
  • 27. School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, The University of Queensland, Queensland 4072, Australia; Centre for Biodiversity and Conservation Science, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, 4072 Queensland, Australia
  • 28. Instituto de Investigación de Recursos Biológicos Alexander von Humboldt, Avenida Circunvalar No. 16-20, Bogotá, DC, Colombia
  • 29. Endangered Landscapes Programme, The Cambridge Conservation Initiative, The David Attenborough Building, Cambridge, CB2 3QZ, UK
  • 30. School of Biological Sciences, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, 4072 Queensland, Australia; Centre for Biodiversity and Conservation Science, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, 4072 Queensland, Australia; German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig, Puschstraße 4, 04103 Leipzig, Germany
  • 31. Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ecologia e Conservação, Instituto de Biociências (INBIO), Universidade Federal de Mato Grosso do Sul (UFMS), Campo Grande, Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil
  • 32. Acadia University, Wolfville NS B4P 2R6, Canada
  • 33. Plantem - Plant Tecnology and Environmental Monitoring Ltd., Av. Doutor Altino Bondesan 500, Sao Jose dos Campos, Sao Paulo, Brazil
  • 34. Department of Earth and Environment, Boston University, 685 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston, MA 02215, USA
  • 35. Centro Interdisciplinario de Investigación para el Desarrollo Integral Regional Unidad Durango (CIIDIR), Instituto Politécnico Nacional, Durango, México.
  • 36. Conservation Science Group, Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, The David Attenborough Building, Downing Street, Cambridge CB3 3QZ, UK; CIBIO‐InBIO, Research Center in Biodiversity and Genetic Resources, University of Porto, 4485-661 Vairão, Portugal; CIBIO‐InBIO, Research Center in Biodiversity and Genetic Resources, Institute of Agronomy, University of Lisbon, 1349-017 Lisbon, Portugal
  • 37. CEFE, Univ Montpellier, CNRS, EPHE, IRD, Montpellier, France
  • 38. Conservation Science Group, Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, The David Attenborough Building, Downing Street, Cambridge CB3 3QZ, UK; Faculty of Kinesiology, Sport, and Recreation, University of Alberta, 2-130V Van Vliet Complex (University Hall), Edmonton, Alberta, T6G 2H9, Canada
  • 39. Department of Biology, 1125 Colonel By Drive, Carleton University, Ottawa ON, K1S 5B6 Canada
  • 40. Agroecology, Dept of Crop Sciences, University of Göttingen, Grisebachstrasse 6, 37077 Göttingen, Germany
  • 41. School of Biological Sciences, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah, USA; Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Koç University, Rumelifeneri Yolu 34450 Sarıyer, Istanbul, Turkey
  • 42. Department of Agriculture, Forestry, and Bioresources, Seoul National University, Seoul 08826, Republic of Korea
  • 43. Faculty of Agriculture, Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology, 183-8509 Tokyo, Japan
  • 44. Graduate School of Engineering and Science, University of the Ryukyus, Sembaru, Nakagami Gun Nishihara Cho, Okinawa Ken, 903-0129, Japan
  • 45. Wildlife Conservation Research Unit, Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, 11a Mansfield Road, Oxford OX1 3SZ, UK
  • 46. Lendület Ecosystem Services Research Group, Institute of Ecology and Botany, Centre for Ecological Research, H-2163 Alkotmány u. 2-4, Vácrátót, Hungary; Department of Ecology, Institute for Biology, University of Veterinary Medicine, H-1077 Rottenbiller u. 50, Budapest, Hungary
  • 47. Milner Centre for Evolution, University of Bath, Claverton Down, Bath BA2 7AZ, UK; Department of Evolutionary Zoology and Human Biology, University of Debrecen, H-4010, Debrecen Egyetem tér1, Hungary
  • 48. Faculty of Energy and Ecotechnology (GreenTech), ITMO University, Kronverkskiy Prospekt 49, St Petersburg, 197101 Russia
  • 49. School of Life and Environmental Sciences, Centre for Integrative Ecology, Deakin University, VIC 3125, Australia
  • 50. Cátedras CONACYT—Centro Interdisciplinario de Investigación para el Desarrollo Integral Regional Unidad Durango (CIIDIR), Instituto Politécnico Nacional, Durango, México
  • 51. Departamento de Ecologia e Conservação, Instituto de Ciências Naturais, Universidade Federal de Lavras. Campus Universitário, Lavras, Minas Gerais, CEP 37200-900, Brazil

Description

The widely held assumption that any important scientific information would be available in English underlies the underuse of non-English-language science across disciplines. However, non-English-language science is expected to bring unique and valuable scientific information, especially in disciplines where the evidence is patchy, and for emergent issues where synthesising available evidence is an urgent challenge. Yet such contribution of non-English-language science to scientific communities and the application of science is rarely quantified. Here we show that non-English-language studies provide crucial evidence for informing global biodiversity conservation. By screening 419,679 peer-reviewed papers in 16 languages, we identified 1,234 non-English-language studies providing evidence on the effectiveness of biodiversity conservation interventions, compared to 4,412 English-language studies identified with the same criteria. Relevant non-English-language studies are being published at an increasing rate in six out of the 12 languages where there were a sufficient number of relevant studies. Incorporating non-English-language studies can expand the geographical coverage (i.e., the number of 2° × 2° grid cells with relevant studies) of English-language evidence by 12-25%, especially in biodiverse regions, and taxonomic coverage (i.e., the number of species covered by the relevant studies) by 5-32%, although they do tend to be based on less robust study designs. Our results show that synthesising non-English-language studies is key to overcoming the widespread lack of local, context-dependent evidence and facilitating evidence-based conservation globally. We urge wider disciplines to rigorously reassess the untapped potential of non-English-language science in informing decisions to address other global challenges.

Notes

This work was funded by the Australian Research Council Future Fellowship FT180100354, the University of Queensland strategic funding (T.A.), the Natural Environment Research Council NE/L002507/1 (A.P.C.), National Research, Development and Innovation Office, Hungary ED_18-1-2018-0003 (A. Báldi), University of Turin, local research grant (S.B.), the German Research Foundation under Germany's Excellence Strategy EXC 2037 Project Number 390683824 (K.J.), Grant Sonata Bis 4 no. 2014/14/E/NZ8/00165 from the National Science Centre, Poland (J.K.-B,), German Research Foundation grant 2153/5-1 (I.K.), European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie grant agreement no. 798091 (M.-C.L.), the Natural Environment Research Council NE/P012345/1 (V.M.), Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior – Brasil (CAPES) – Finance Code 001 (J.P.N.G.), Colombian Administrative Department of Science, Technology and Innovation (P.J.N.), Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología-CONACYT 1004537 (A.N.R.V.), European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie grant agreement no. 766417 (Inspire4Nature - INternational training at the Science-Policy Interface for Researchers in Europe, for Nature) (M.-M.R.), Ph.D. fellowship at the University of Veterinary Medicine Budapest (F.V.), Chilean National Agency for Research and Development, BECAS CHILE 72170569 (J.O.V.), CNPq-Brazil 304701/2019-0 (R.D.Z.), Arcadia, MAVA, and the David and Claudia Harding Foundation (W.J.S.). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript, thus this communication reflects only the authors' view.

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Additional details

Related works

Is new version of
Preprint: 10.1101/2021.05.24.445520 (DOI)
Is published in
Journal article: https://journals.plos.org/plosbiology/article?id=10.1371/journal.pbio.3001296 (URL)

Funding

NERC Centre for Doctoral Training in Quantitative and Modelling skills in Ecology and Evolution (QMEE) NE/P012345/1
UK Research and Innovation
ARC Future Fellowships - Grant ID: FT180100354 FT180100354
Australian Research Council
Inspire4Nature – INternational training at the Science-Policy Interface for Researchers in Europe, for Nature 766417
European Commission
FFP-BSS – How to steal food from predators – behavioural strategies of a scavenger 798091
European Commission
The Cambridge Earth System Science DTP: Multi-disciplinary studies of the solid Earth, its atmosphere, oceans, cryosphere and biosphere. NE/L002507/1
UK Research and Innovation