Papers by Barbara Livoreil
Conservation Research, Policy and Practice
We should not be surprised by the scale of the challenge when trying to link a body of scientific... more We should not be surprised by the scale of the challenge when trying to link a body of scientific knowledge to the complex, shifting and seemingly unpredictable world of policy, or to the massively decentralised, globally distributed world of conservation practice (Young et al., 2014). One side of the challenge is developing a consensual understanding of the science itself. By nature, scientific knowledge is continually progressing, with theories, empirical data and new interpretations emerging all the time. Even within a single discipline, it can be hard to convey what is known at a particular point in time, and this often involves presenting different scientific viewpoints. For instance, there is substantial variation around the world in public health advice regarding alcohol consumption, with 'safe' limits in the UK being 50% of those in the USA (Wood et al., 2018). In conservation, the challenge is even greater, as relevant research cuts across the natural, physical and social sciences.
Le Centre pour la Communication Scientifique Directe - HAL - Inria, Jul 1, 2021
Environmental Evidence
The internal validity of conclusions about effectiveness or impact in systematic reviews, and of ... more The internal validity of conclusions about effectiveness or impact in systematic reviews, and of decisions based on them, depends on risk of bias assessments being conducted appropriately. However, a random sample of 50 recently-published articles claiming to be quantitative environmental systematic reviews found 64% did not include any risk of bias assessment, whilst nearly all that did omitted key sources of bias. Other limitations included lack of transparency, conflation of quality constructs, and incomplete application of risk of bias assessments to the data synthesis. This paper addresses deficiencies in risk of bias assessments by highlighting core principles that are required for risk of bias assessments to be fit-for-purpose, and presenting a framework based on these principles to guide review teams on conducting risk of bias assessments appropriately and consistently. The core principles require that risk of bias assessments be Focused, Extensive, Applied and Transparent (...
Environmental Evidence
Accurate, unbiased and concise synthesis of available evidence following clear methodology and tr... more Accurate, unbiased and concise synthesis of available evidence following clear methodology and transparent reporting is necessary to support effective environmental policy and management decisions. Without this, less reliable and/or less objective reviews of evidence could inform decision making, leading to ineffective, resource wasteful interventions with potential for unintended consequences. We evaluated the reliability of over 1000 evidence syntheses (reviews and overviews) published between 2018 and 2020 that provide evidence on the impacts of human activities or effectiveness of interventions relevant to environmental management. The syntheses are drawn from the Collaboration for Environmental Evidence Database of Evidence Reviews (CEEDER), an online, freely available evidence service for evidence users that assesses the reliability of evidence syntheses using a series of published criteria. We found that the majority of syntheses have problems with transparency, replicability...
Additional file 3. Tests related to the screening of titles and abstract, and Kappa scores
Additional file 2. Results of the bibliographic search and screening of articles for each one of ... more Additional file 2. Results of the bibliographic search and screening of articles for each one of the 14 diseases
Additional file 6. Codebook of the systematic map database.
Additional file 4. Details on database indexation of the articles in the test list for the compre... more Additional file 4. Details on database indexation of the articles in the test list for the comprehensiveness calculation.
Additional file 3. Web of Science Core Collection database subscription details.
A structured, step-wise methodology following an a priori protocol to comprehensively collate, cr... more A structured, step-wise methodology following an a priori protocol to comprehensively collate, critically appraise and synthesise existing research evidence (traditional academic and grey literature). This method is applicable to specific questions such as: What is the effectiveness of an intervention? What is the effect of X on Y? What is the prevalence of a phenomenon? How reliable is a specific method? Systematic review relies on the existence of scientific knowledge and is not usually appropriate for emerging topics or knowledge gaps (although 'empty reviews' may be valuable). Systematic reviews should be conducted according to the rigorous standards demanded by review coordinating bodies such as the Cochrane Collaboration 7 , the Collaboration for Environmental Evidence 8 and the Campbell Collaboration 9 (see references below). Reporting requirements include: protocol of methods, fates of all articles screened at full text, transparent documenting of all methods used. The method includes tertiary reviews, or systematic reviews of reviews.
mtDNA 12S sequences and frequecies in European populations of Testudo hermann
The Hermanni’s tortoise (Testudo hermanni) is an endangered land tortoise distributed in disjoint... more The Hermanni’s tortoise (Testudo hermanni) is an endangered land tortoise distributed in disjoint populations across Mediterranean Europe. We investigated its genetic variation by typing one mitochondrial locus and nine nuclear microsatellites in approximately 300 individuals from 22 localities. Our goal was to understand the relative impact of natural and human-mediated processes in shaping the genetic structure, and to identify the genetic priorities for the conservation of this species. We found that i) all geographic areas are highly differentiated, mainly as a function of their distance but with a clear genetic discontinuity (Fst values larger than 0.4) between the Eastern and the Western subspecies; ii) the contact zone between subspecies is located farthest to the west than previously believed, and it probably coincides with the delta of the largest Italian river; iii) extinction events due to climatic conditions in the Upper Palaeolithic and subsequent human-mediated translocations in the Neolithic possibly explain the unexpected similarity among Spain, Sicily and Corsica. For conservation purposes, the large majority of genetic pools appears autochthonous, although hybridization among subspecies, related to extensive 20th century trade of tortoises across Europe, is observed in Spain and some Italian samples. Most populations do not seem at immediate risk of low genetic variation, except the French population, which has very low nuclear genetic diversity (heterozygosity = 0.25) and where 50 out of 51 sampled animals shared the same mitochondrial sequence. In general, restocking and reintroduction plans should carefully consider the genetic background of the individuals
Additional file 2. Test lists, and number of articles from the test lists retrieved by the biblio... more Additional file 2. Test lists, and number of articles from the test lists retrieved by the bibliographic search.
Additional file 1. Names of the I) diseases, II) pathogen agents, and III) vector species.
Additional file 2. List of eligible studies identified by subject experts.
Additional file 1: Table S1. List of search terms. Key search terms used in scientific publicatio... more Additional file 1: Table S1. List of search terms. Key search terms used in scientific publication databases.
Effects of landscape features and demographic history on the genetic structure of Testudo marginata
ng timber production impact of silviculture on tropical forests and to identify silvicultural pra... more ng timber production impact of silviculture on tropical forests and to identify silvicultural practices appropriate for the current conditions in
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Papers by Barbara Livoreil