Broadly, the Pacific can be taken to include the lands and waters of the western Pacific (East Asia, South Asia, Southeast Asia and Oceania) the north Pacific (including parts of the Russian Federation), and the islands of the central and south Pacific across to countries on the North American and South American continents bordering on the eastern Pacific. The region includes diverse biotas threatened by resource consumption, management of agricultural lands and climate change. The solutions adopted in different Pacific jurisdictions reflect the diverse cultures of the region, some of which are still adjusting to autonomy after periods of colonial administration. In recognition of cultural and linguistic diversity, there are opportunities for scientists from the Pacific to publish abstracts of their work in their indigenous language.
While Pacific Conservation Biology welcomes papers from across the Pacific, many authors from the countries bordering the eastern Pacific may not realise that the journal is a suitable outlet for their conservation publications. For example, as well as publishing studies from Hawaii on topics as diverse as marine invertebrate communities and indigenous perspectives on conservation, Pacific Conservation Biology has included work from the mainland USA’s Pacific near-coastal terrestrial ecosystems. Moving south, papers on off-shore islands near Mexico and multiple contributions on the Galápagos Islands have made important contributions.
This collection focuses on contributions from researchers studying conservation problems and solutions along the eastern Pacific coast, with some contributions from Hawaii also included to illustrate the opportunities for those locations more commonly regarded as the Pacific. The papers from the eastern Pacific coast include both island and mainland examples, confirming that both are considered within the journal’s scope. They illustrate the range and quality of the work published by Pacific Conservation Biology, as well as the journal’s service to the scientific communities of the eastern Pacific coast.
, Manuel J. Steinbauer and Laura Cotton
, Gunnar Keppel , Chelsea M. Robinson and Gonzalo Rivas-Torres
, Brian L. Cypher and David J. Germano