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

Tatsuya Amano, Violeta Berdejo-Espinola, Alec P. Christie, Kate Willott, Munemitsu Akasaka, Andras Baldi, Anna Berthinussen, Sandro Bertolino, Andrew J. Bladon, Min Chen, Chang Yong Choi, Magda Bou Dagher Kharrat, Luis G. De Oliveira, Perla Farhat, Marina Golivets, Nataly Hidalgo Aranzamendi, Kerstin Jantke, Joanna Kajzer-Bonk, M. Cisel Kemahli Aytekin, Igor KhorozyanKensuke Kito, Ko Konno, Da Li Lin, Nick Littlewood, Yang Liu, Yifan Liu, Matthias Claudio Loretto, Valentina Marconi, Philip A. Martin, William H. Morgan, Juan P. Narvaez-Gomez, Pablo Jose Negret, Elham Nourani, Jose M. Ochoa Quintero, Nancy Ockendon, Rachel Rui Ying Oh, Silviu O. Petrovan, Ana C. Piovezan-Borges, Ingrid L. Pollet, Danielle L. Ramos, Ana L. Reboredo Segovia, A. Nayelli Rivera-Villanueva, Ricardo Rocha, Marie Morgane Rouyer, Katherine A. Sainsbury, Richard Schuster, Dominik Schwab, Cagan H. Sekercioglu, Hae Min Seo, Gorm Shackelford, Yushin Shinoda, Rebecca K. Smith, Shan Dar Tao, Ming Shan Tsai, Elizabeth H.M. Tyler, Flora Vajna, Jose Osvaldo Valdebenito, Svetlana Vozykova, Pawel Waryszak, Veronica Zamora-Gutierrez, Rafael D. Zenni, Wenjun Zhou, William J. Sutherland

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

142 Citations (SciVal)

Abstract

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 6 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% to 25%, especially in biodiverse regions, and taxonomic coverage (i.e., the number of species covered by the relevant studies) by 5% to 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.

Original languageEnglish
Article numbere3001296
JournalPLoS Biology
Volume19
Issue number10
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 7 Oct 2021

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
Funding:ThisworkwasfundedbytheAustralian ResearchCouncilFutureFellowshipFT180100354, theUniversityofQueenslandstrategicfunding(T. A.),theNaturalEnvironmentResearchCouncilNE/ L002507/1(A.P.C.),NationalResearch, DevelopmentandInnovationOffice,Hungary ED_18-1-2018-0003(A.Ba ´ ldi),UniversityofTurin, localresearchgrant(S.B.),theGermanResearch FoundationunderGermany‘sExcellenceStrategy EXC2037ProjectNumber390683824(K.J.),Grant SonataBis4no.2014/14/E/NZ8/00165fromthe NationalScienceCentre,Poland(J.K.-B,),German ResearchFoundationgrant2153/5-1(I.K.), EuropeanUnion’sHorizon2020researchand innovationprogrammeundertheMarie Skłodowska-Curiegrantagreementno.798091 (M.-C.L.),theNaturalEnvironmentResearch CouncilNE/P012345/1(V.M.),Coordenac ¸ãode Aperfeic ¸oamento de Pessoal de Nı ´ vel Superior– Brasil(CAPES)–FinanceCode001(J.P.N.G.), ColombianAdministrativeDepartmentofScience, TechnologyandInnovation(P.J.N.),Consejo Nacionalde Ciencia y Tecnologı ´a-CONACY T 1004537(A.N.R.V.),EuropeanUnion’sHorizon 2020researchandinnovationprogrammeunder theMarieSkłodowska-Curiegrantagreementno. 766417(M.-M.R.),Ph.D.fellowshipatthe UniversityofVeterinaryMedicineBudapest(F.V.), ChileanNationalAgencyforResearchand Development,BECASCHILE72170569(J.O.V.), CNPq-Brazil304701/2019-0(R.D.Z.),Arcadia, MAVA,andtheDavidandClaudiaHarding Foundation(W.J.S.).Thefundershadnorolein studydesign,datacollectionandanalysis,decision topublish,orpreparationofthemanuscript.

Funding

Funding:ThisworkwasfundedbytheAustralian ResearchCouncilFutureFellowshipFT180100354, theUniversityofQueenslandstrategicfunding(T. A.),theNaturalEnvironmentResearchCouncilNE/ L002507/1(A.P.C.),NationalResearch, DevelopmentandInnovationOffice,Hungary ED_18-1-2018-0003(A.Ba ´ ldi),UniversityofTurin, localresearchgrant(S.B.),theGermanResearch FoundationunderGermany‘sExcellenceStrategy EXC2037ProjectNumber390683824(K.J.),Grant SonataBis4no.2014/14/E/NZ8/00165fromthe NationalScienceCentre,Poland(J.K.-B,),German ResearchFoundationgrant2153/5-1(I.K.), EuropeanUnion’sHorizon2020researchand innovationprogrammeundertheMarie Skłodowska-Curiegrantagreementno.798091 (M.-C.L.),theNaturalEnvironmentResearch CouncilNE/P012345/1(V.M.),Coordenac ¸ãode Aperfeic ¸oamento de Pessoal de Nı ´ vel Superior– Brasil(CAPES)–FinanceCode001(J.P.N.G.), ColombianAdministrativeDepartmentofScience, TechnologyandInnovation(P.J.N.),Consejo Nacionalde Ciencia y Tecnologı ´a-CONACY T 1004537(A.N.R.V.),EuropeanUnion’sHorizon 2020researchandinnovationprogrammeunder theMarieSkłodowska-Curiegrantagreementno. 766417(M.-M.R.),Ph.D.fellowshipatthe UniversityofVeterinaryMedicineBudapest(F.V.), ChileanNationalAgencyforResearchand Development,BECASCHILE72170569(J.O.V.), CNPq-Brazil304701/2019-0(R.D.Z.),Arcadia, MAVA,andtheDavidandClaudiaHarding Foundation(W.J.S.).Thefundershadnorolein studydesign,datacollectionandanalysis,decision topublish,orpreparationofthemanuscript.

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • General Neuroscience
  • General Biochemistry,Genetics and Molecular Biology
  • General Immunology and Microbiology
  • General Agricultural and Biological Sciences

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