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 Khorozyan; Kensuke 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

doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.3001296

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 journal › Article › peer-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 language	English
Article number	e3001296
Journal	PLoS Biology
Volume	19
Issue number	10
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.3001296
Publication status	Published - 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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Amano, T., Berdejo-Espinola, V., Christie, A. P., Willott, K., Akasaka, M., Baldi, A., Berthinussen, A., Bertolino, S., Bladon, A. J., Chen, M., Choi, C. Y., Kharrat, M. B. D., De Oliveira, L. G., Farhat, P., Golivets, M., Aranzamendi, N. H., Jantke, K., Kajzer-Bonk, J., Cisel Kemahli Aytekin, M., ... Sutherland, W. J. (2021). Tapping into non-English-language science for the conservation of global biodiversity. PLoS Biology, 19(10), Article e3001296. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.3001296

Amano, T, Berdejo-Espinola, V, Christie, AP, Willott, K, Akasaka, M, Baldi, A, Berthinussen, A, Bertolino, S, Bladon, AJ, Chen, M, Choi, CY, Kharrat, MBD, De Oliveira, LG, Farhat, P, Golivets, M, Aranzamendi, NH, Jantke, K, Kajzer-Bonk, J, Cisel Kemahli Aytekin, M, Khorozyan, I, Kito, K, Konno, K, Lin, DL, Littlewood, N, Liu, Y, Liu, Y, Loretto, MC, Marconi, V, Martin, PA, Morgan, WH, Narvaez-Gomez, JP, Negret, PJ, Nourani, E, Ochoa Quintero, JM, Ockendon, N, Oh, RRY, Petrovan, SO, Piovezan-Borges, AC, Pollet, IL, Ramos, DL, Reboredo Segovia, AL, Nayelli Rivera-Villanueva, A, Rocha, R, Rouyer, MM, Sainsbury, KA, Schuster, R, Schwab, D, Sekercioglu, CH, Seo, HM, Shackelford, G, Shinoda, Y, Smith, RK, Tao, SD, Tsai, MS, Tyler, EHM, Vajna, F, Valdebenito, JO, Vozykova, S, Waryszak, P, Zamora-Gutierrez, V, Zenni, RD, Zhou, W & Sutherland, WJ 2021, 'Tapping into non-English-language science for the conservation of global biodiversity', PLoS Biology, vol. 19, no. 10, e3001296. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.3001296

@article{cd7bf999cc674159b7dd904adfeb4275,

title = "Tapping into non-English-language science for the conservation of global biodiversity",

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.",

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

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{\textquoteleft}sExcellenceStrategy EXC2037ProjectNumber390683824(K.J.),Grant SonataBis4no.2014/14/E/NZ8/00165fromthe NationalScienceCentre,Poland(J.K.-B,),German ResearchFoundationgrant2153/5-1(I.K.), EuropeanUnion{\textquoteright}sHorizon2020researchand innovationprogrammeundertheMarie Sk{\l}odowska-Curiegrantagreementno.798091 (M.-C.L.),theNaturalEnvironmentResearch CouncilNE/P012345/1(V.M.),Coordenac ¸{\~a}ode 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{\textquoteright}sHorizon 2020researchandinnovationprogrammeunder theMarieSk{\l}odowska-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. ",

year = "2021",

month = oct,

day = "7",

doi = "10.1371/journal.pbio.3001296",

language = "English",

volume = "19",

journal = "PLoS Biology",

issn = "1544-9173",

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number = "10",

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TY - JOUR

T1 - Tapping into non-English-language science for the conservation of global biodiversity

AU - Amano, Tatsuya

AU - Berdejo-Espinola, Violeta

AU - Christie, Alec P.

AU - Willott, Kate

AU - Akasaka, Munemitsu

AU - Baldi, Andras

AU - Berthinussen, Anna

AU - Bertolino, Sandro

AU - Bladon, Andrew J.

AU - Chen, Min

AU - Choi, Chang Yong

AU - Kharrat, Magda Bou Dagher

AU - De Oliveira, Luis G.

AU - Farhat, Perla

AU - Golivets, Marina

AU - Aranzamendi, Nataly Hidalgo

AU - Jantke, Kerstin

AU - Kajzer-Bonk, Joanna

AU - Cisel Kemahli Aytekin, M.

AU - Khorozyan, Igor

AU - Kito, Kensuke

AU - Konno, Ko

AU - Lin, Da Li

AU - Littlewood, Nick

AU - Liu, Yang

AU - Liu, Yifan

AU - Loretto, Matthias Claudio

AU - Marconi, Valentina

AU - Martin, Philip A.

AU - Morgan, William H.

AU - Narvaez-Gomez, Juan P.

AU - Negret, Pablo Jose

AU - Nourani, Elham

AU - Ochoa Quintero, Jose M.

AU - Ockendon, Nancy

AU - Oh, Rachel Rui Ying

AU - Petrovan, Silviu O.

AU - Piovezan-Borges, Ana C.

AU - Pollet, Ingrid L.

AU - Ramos, Danielle L.

AU - Reboredo Segovia, Ana L.

AU - Nayelli Rivera-Villanueva, A.

AU - Rocha, Ricardo

AU - Rouyer, Marie Morgane

AU - Sainsbury, Katherine A.

AU - Schuster, Richard

AU - Schwab, Dominik

AU - Sekercioglu, Cagan H.

AU - Seo, Hae Min

AU - Shackelford, Gorm

AU - Shinoda, Yushin

AU - Smith, Rebecca K.

AU - Tao, Shan Dar

AU - Tsai, Ming Shan

AU - Tyler, Elizabeth H.M.

AU - Vajna, Flora

AU - Valdebenito, Jose Osvaldo

AU - Vozykova, Svetlana

AU - Waryszak, Pawel

AU - Zamora-Gutierrez, Veronica

AU - Zenni, Rafael D.

AU - Zhou, Wenjun

AU - Sutherland, William J.

N1 - 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.

PY - 2021/10/7

Y1 - 2021/10/7

N2 - 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.

AB - 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.

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

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Funding

ASJC Scopus subject areas

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