Call for Papers
- Indigenous and cross-cultural wildlife research in Australia
- Fertility Control for Wildlife in the 21st century
- Wildlife and Human Health
Indigenous and cross-cultural wildlife research in Australia
Guest Editors:
Jack Pascoe, University of Melbourne, Yuin, living on Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung Land
Stephen van Leeuwen, Curtin University, Wardandi Noongar, living on Wadjuk Noongar Boodja
Marlee Hutton, Kimberley Land Council, Bardi Jawi, living on Yawuru Land
Emilie Ens, Macquarie University, Living on Dharug Land
Hannah Cliff, Indigenous Desert Alliance, Living on Wadjuk Noongar Boodja
Sarah Legge, Charles Darwin University, Living on Bundjalung Land
Wildlife Research invites papers on Indigenous knowledge, ecology, management and conservation of wild animals and their habitats. We also encourage work that highlights the expert Indigenous Knowledge of fauna and Country. Submissions can take the form of original research papers, reviews, or perspective articles. The latter could include interviews with respected Elders or knowledge holders.
Overview: The rights, responsibilities and expertise of Indigenous Australians in Caring for Country are increasingly acknowledged in policy and management. Likewise, Traditional Ecological and Biocultural perspectives are becoming more prominent in applied ecological research. Indigenous groups are developing and addressing their own research priorities, thus increasingly driving research agendas rather than responding to requests for collaboration from non-Indigenous scientists. The growing leadership of Indigenous Australians across a range of applied ecological research is fuelling the growth of cross-cultural (or two-way, or right-way) science.
This special issue aims to recognise and celebrate the leadership and collaboration of Indigenous Australians in wildlife research, and to showcase how this is leading to fresh insights for contemporary conservation and wildlife management.
Key topics: We invite contributions from Indigenous scientists and groups, and from collaborations between Indigenous people and groups and other scientists, who are carrying out research on themes that align broadly with the charter of the journal, which focuses on the ecology, management and conservation of wild animals and their habitats1. We encourage work that highlights the expert participation of Indigenous Australians and the inclusion of Indigenous Knowledge of animals and Country. Research themes could cover:
- Indigenous, ecological and/or biocultural research on native animal species (including terrestrial, freshwater, marine, vertebrates or invertebrates) and their habitats.
- Impacts and management of fire, feral animals, diseases, weeds, and other threats including climate change on fauna and/or their habitat.
- Governance, design and implementation of Indigenous or cross-cultural research and monitoring of fauna and their habitat.
- Cultural governance of wildlife management.
- The growth of Indigenous-led fauna science in Australia.
Submission deadline: 31 March 2024
More information is available in the attached Information sheet (PDF 227KB). If you have a manuscript that you think may suit this special issue, please get in touch with one of us guest editors to discuss your idea. As well as being able to confirm the paper is potentially suitable, we would like to make the process as efficient as possible by having a good idea what is coming down the pipes in a few months time. Submissions will undergo the usual rigorous peer-review process. Online submission is through ScholarOne, which can be accessed by clicking the “Submit Article” link on the Journal’s home page: https://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/csiro-wr. You will need to select “Indigenous Wildlife Research” from the dropdown menu within ScholarOne during the submission process. Your paper should conform to the Author Instructions at https://www.publish.csiro.au/wr/forauthors/authorinstructions.
Fertility Control for Wildlife in the 21st century
Guest Editors:
Giovanna Massei (Botstiber Institute for Wildlife Fertility Control Europe and University of York, UK)
Stephanie Boyles Griffin (Botstiber Institute for Wildlife Fertility Control, USA and Humane Society of the United States)
Douglas Eckery (US Department of Agriculture, USA)
Cheryl Asa (Association of Zoos & Aquariums Reproductive Management Center, USA)
Lyn Hinds (CSIRO, Australia)
Wildlife Research invites papers on the fertility control for wildlife. Papers may be original research paper articles, Viewpoint articles, literature reviews, or forum articles addressing any of the topics outlined below.
Overview: Human-wildlife conflicts are increasing worldwide, in parallel with expanding human populations and urbanisation. Wildlife’s economic and environmental impacts include damage to crops, forestry, private and public green spaces and amenities, disease transmission, vehicle collisions and reduction of native plant and animal species. Traditional methods to mitigate these conflicts have included lethal control such as culling and toxicants. However, public opposition to lethal methods is growing, mainly driven by animal welfare concerns, human safety in urban settings, environmental impact of some of these methods, as well as shifts in public attitudes about wildlife. This has promoted interest for alternative options, such as fertility control, to manage conflicts with overabundant wildlife, including iconic native species (e.g., African and Asian elephants, kangaroos, and white-tailed deer) and non-native, iconic species (e.g., free-roaming equids, pigs and cattle, feral livestock, pigeons, parakeets, grey squirrels, and hippos).
In 2008, Wildlife Research published a Special Issue on Fertility Control for Wildlife. The issue included 14 papers, mainly focussed on research articles assessing the effects of contraceptives on individual animals and on populations.
In the last decade, significant progress has been made in developing novel fertility control agents, including oral contraceptives, as well as species-specific identification and delivery systems for wildlife. In addition, new technologies, such as genetic engineering, are currently being explored for fertility control applications to wildlife. The last few years have also brought a broader understanding of contexts and species for which fertility control could be employed, either as a stand-alone method or to complement other site-specific or population management options to mitigate human-wildlife conflicts. Concurrently, the general debate on wildlife management has widened to include public attitudes and perceptions of novel and traditional methods, including fertility control, animal welfare issues, costs, feasibility, regulatory and ethical issues. These topics are reflected in the large spectrum of presentations received for the 9th International Conference on Wildlife Fertility Control, May 23-25, 2022, which comprise contributions from many countries.
This Special Issue will include papers, selected among those presented at the conference, focussed on the use of fertility control in the context of mitigating human-wildlife conflicts and promoting coexistence with both native and non-native species around the world. It will consider challenges and opportunities of implementing wildlife management programmes based on fertility control, examine human dimension aspects and illustrate practical and state-of-the-art applications of fertility control. In doing so, the issue will bring together several disciplines and offer a basis for comparing different methods of reducing human wildlife conflicts within a holistic context that takes into account social, economic and ethical perspectives, as well as animal welfare and feasibility of applications for managing future human-wildlife interactions and for promoting co-existence.
Key topics: We are interested in receiving papers that engage with the following topics:
- Human dimensions
- Recent research in contraceptive development
- Advancement in practical applications
- Modelling the effect of fertility control on populations
- Socio-economic aspects of fertility control applications
- Ethics, health, & welfare
- Advancement in delivery methods
- Regulatory, legal, & political challenges
Submission deadline: 30 September 2022
Papers that take an interdisciplinary approach and/or consider the topic in the context of other methods to manage wildlife will be welcomed. Submissions will undergo the usual rigorous peer-review process and will be published Online Early as they are accepted. Please contact Giovanna Massei or Stephanie Boyles Griffin for additional information or questions about the Special Issue and Piran White for enquiries about the journal.
Guest Editors:
Dr. Peter Coventry (University of York, UK)
Dr. Graziella Iossa (University of Lincoln, UK)
Prof. Piran White (York University, UK)
Wildlife Research invites papers on the interactions between wildlife and human health. Papers may be research articles, literature reviews, or forum articles addressing policy, practice and innovation.
Overview: Expanding human populations and pressures on the environment bring greater contacts with wildlife. Human disturbance of ecosystems can have negative effects on ecosystem functioning and can increase the risks of interactions with wildlife having negative consequences. The threat of wildlife as a source for emerging diseases has received much attention recently in the light of the COVID-19 pandemic. Wildlife populations are also perceived as posing threats to human interests such as damage to property, physical attack, and the spread of antimicrobial resistance.
Much previous research has focused on human-wildlife interactions as ‘conflict’ and how these conflicts should be managed. However, management of wildlife populations to reduce conflict is seldom wholly successful and can generate undesired outcomes, for example in relation to non-target species or different sectors of the human population. Over the last couple of decades, there has been increasing research into the benefits that wildlife populations can bring to people. Wildlife may play a key role in ecosystem functions and services and interactions with wildlife can provide a range of benefits to human health and wellbeing. The recognition that human, animal and environmental health are inextricably linked, has contributed to the concept of ‘One Health’, the idea that wildlife and the environment can be managed in a way that protects the wellbeing of wildlife but also promotes human health and wellbeing. Local application of the One Health approach can also link to the broader concept of ‘Planetary Health’, since interactions between humans and wildlife at local scales may be direct or indirect responses to, or indicators of, wider-scale issues such as land use change, forest loss or degradation, changing climates or displaced populations.
This Special Issue will explore the positive and negative consequences of human-wildlife interactions for human and planetary health and wellbeing. It will consider the opportunities and challenges associated with managing human-wildlife interactions to enhance the health and wellbeing of people, wildlife and the environment. In doing so, it will consider how different disciplines can be brought together to yield new insights into the diverse benefits that wildlife can bring. It will also ask to what extent holistic concepts such as One Health and Planetary Health can contribute to a new approach to understanding and managing human-wildlife interactions in the future and highlight ways in which the co-existence of humans and wildlife can bring mutual benefits.
Key topics: We are interested in receiving papers that engage with the following topics (or other areas of relevance to wildlife and health):
- Urban wildlife, green spaces, health and wellbeing
- Impacts of wildlife on human physical and mental health
- The role of wildlife as hosts or vectors of infectious disease for humans
- The role of wildlife in antimicrobial resistance
- Pests, invasive species and human health
- One Health approaches to wildlife management
- Wildlife, human and planetary health
Submission deadline: 31 December 2022
Papers that take an interdisciplinary approach and/or consider these challenges in the context of wider environmental challenges such as changing climates, land use change and wider environmental changes are particularly welcomed. Submissions will undergo the usual rigorous peer-review process and will be published Online Early as they are accepted. Please contact Piran White for additional information or questions.
