Novel data show expert wildlife agencies are important to endangered species protection

Nature Communications
Michael J EvansYa-Wei Li

Abstract

To protect biodiversity, conservation laws should be evaluated and improved using data. We provide a comprehensive assessment of how a key provision of the U.S. Endangered Species Act (ESA) is implemented: consultation to ensure federal actions do not jeopardize the existence of listed species. Data from all 24,893 consultations recorded by the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) from 2000-2017 show federal agencies and NMFS frequently agreed (79%) on how federal actions would affect listed species. In cases of disagreement, agencies most often (71%) underestimated effects relative to the conclusions of species experts at NMFS. Such instances can have deleterious consequences for imperiled species. In 22 consultations covering 14 species, agencies concluded that an action would not harm species while NMFS determined the action would jeopardize species' existence. These results affirm the importance of the role of NMFS in preventing federal actions from jeopardizing listed species. Excluding expert agencies from consultation compromises biodiversity conservation, but we identify approaches that improve consultation efficiency without sacrificing species protections.

References

Sep 28, 2006·Conservation Biology : the Journal of the Society for Conservation Biology·Jeremy S BrooksMonique Borgerhoff Mulder
Jul 18, 2009·American Journal of Public Health·Ross C BrownsonKatherine A Stamatakis
Dec 17, 2015·Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·Jacob W Malcom, Ya-Wei Li
Mar 16, 2016·Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·Leah R Gerber

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Citations

Oct 26, 2021·Integrated Environmental Assessment and Management·Leif L RichardsonMichael Winchell

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