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Scientific Literature

All of Raincoast’s published scientific papers, abstracts, and conference proceedings.

Research: Trophy hunters pay more to target larger-bodied carnivores

A polar bear rolls on their back with their mouth open, and there's a graph floating in the top right.

Published on 2019.09.18 | by Raincoast | in Scientific Literature

The behaviour of human hunters diverges from other animals. Other predators tend to target vulnerable individuals in prey populations. Humans, often males, tend to hunt large, reproductive-aged individuals. In the case of guided trophy hunting these species are likely perceived as costly, by increasing failure risk and risk of injury, and providing lower nutritional returns.

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Research: Habitat use by juvenile salmon, other migratory fish, and resident fish species underscores the importance of estuarine habitat mosaics

An expansive view of a Raincoast scientist working in the field in the Fraser River estuary.

Published on 2019.09.09 | by Raincoast | in Scientific Literature

Pacific salmon, especially Chinook and Chum, reside and feed in estuaries during downstream migrations. But the extent to which they rely on estuaries, and which habitats within estuaries, is not well understood. We need to understand this complexity if we are going to enact effective conservation policies. This is especially important in urban systems where habitat loss is ongoing, and at different rates across the estuarine mosaic. The Fraser River estuary, for example, supports a multitude of fish species…

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Research: Publication reform to safeguard wildlife from researcher harm

A wolf rests on the beach in the Great Bear Rainforest, with a chart from Figure 1 overlaid.

Published on 2019.04.17 | by Raincoast | in Scientific Literature

Scientists from Raincoast Conservation Foundation, University of Victoria, Alpha Wildlife Research & Management, and University of Saskatchewan reviewed more than 200 peer-reviewed academic journals that commonly publish wildlife research, evaluating the presence and comprehensiveness of ‘Animal Care’ requirements of authors. The study, “Publication reform to safeguard wildlife from researcher harm,” published as an open access article…

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Research: Differentiating between regulation and hunting as conservation interventions

A giant pile of bison bones loom over a person standing beside it.

Published on 2019.02.11 | by Raincoast | in Scientific Literature

Wildlife conservation literature and public discourse, too often gloss over the important difference between hunting and the regulation of hunting. This is so common that there is a persistent, misinformed idea that extinctions have been avoided through the act of hunting. Historically, the regulation of hunting, not hunting itself, has averted extinction…

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Salmon species diversity predicts salmon consumption by terrestrial wildlife

A collage of images and graphs from a published peer reviewed article on salmonid species diversity and bear health: Hakai, Raincoast, University of Victoria, and Spirit Bear Foundation logos at the bottom.

Published on 2019.01.07 | by Raincoast | in Scientific Literature

Research by scientists at Spirit Bear Research Foundation, Raincoast Conservation Foundation, and the University of Victoria, led by Christina Service, shows that salmon species diversity – the number of spawning salmon species available – is far more important and positively related to salmon consumption in coastal black bears than biomass abundance…

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Pacific herring spawn events influence nearshore subtidal and intertidal species

A Pacific herring stops moving for a moment; figures from the research about herring are on the right hand side.

Published on 2018.05.18 | by Raincoast | in Scientific Literature

Although we know that herring play a pivotal ecological role in nearshore ecosystems, from a scientific perspective little is known about the amount of energy and nutrients they transfer from the ocean to the land. Therefore, researchers at Raincoast Conservation Foundation, University of Victoria, and Dalhousie University, aimed to determine if the nutrients that herring […]

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Conservation Letters: The elephant (head) in the room: A critical look at trophy hunting

A lion head is attached as a trophy to a post overlooking a large expanse of desert, and several University logos on the right hand side.

Published on 2018.05.16 | by Raincoast | in Scientific Literature

Writing in the scientific journal, Conservation Letters, an international team of conservation scientists argue that trophy hunting – hunting that involves the collection of animal body parts, or “trophies,” – is morally wrong. Led by Chelsea Batavia from the Department of Forest Ecosystems and Society at Oregon State University, the authors identify trophy hunting as […]

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Predictions from machine learning ensembles: marine bird distribution and density on Canada’s Pacific coast

Maps of marine birds distributions and densities overlaid onto a tufted puffin.

Published on 2018.04.30 | by Raincoast | in Scientific Literature

In February of 2017, a team of researchers, including Raincoast senior scientist Dr. Paul Paquet, from five research facilities published their findings in Marine Ecology Progress Series: “Predictions from machine learning ensembles: Marine bird distribution and density on Canada’s Pacific coast”…

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Criteria for a good catch: A conceptual framework to guide sourcing of sustainable salmon fisheries

FACETS, Canadian Science Publishing, Patagonia Provisions, University of Montana and Raincoast: salmon research.

Published on 2018.04.17 | by Raincoast | in Scientific Literature

The proposed new framework for identifying sustainably harvested salmon suggests that individual retailers develop criteria (or adopt others) that comply with this place-based foundation. Patagonia Provisions is one retailer requesting this high standard of certification because their customers want higher standards than are currently available…

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Mismeasured mortality: correcting estimates of wolf poaching in the United States

Journal of Mammalogy cover for research published on mismeasured risks of poaching due to bias.

Published on 2018.04.13 | by Raincoast | in Scientific Literature

This research tests and rejects the long-held idea that data lost when known animals disappear were unbiased, under conditions common to most, if not all, studies using marked animals. Published government estimates are affected by the biases discovered. And so government estimates of systemically underestimating risks of poaching…

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Applied Ecology: Hallmarks of science missing from North American wildlife management

A map of North America and then in text it says, An assessment of 667 wildlife management systems across Canada and the USA found that key hallmarks of science were missing...

Published on 2018.03.07 | by Raincoast | in Scientific Literature

A new study, “Hallmarks of science missing from North American wildlife management”, published by Science Advances , challenges a widespread assumption that wildlife management in North America is science-based. Scientists from Raincoast Conservation Foundation, Simon Fraser University, University of Victoria, and the University of Wisconsin – Madison examined management documents relating to most hunted species across […]

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Political populations of large carnivores

Mashup of maps and population distribution graphs overlaid onto wolf skull illustrations.

Published on 2018.01.24 | by Raincoast | in Scientific Literature

A team led by researchers from Raincoast, UVic, and Simon Fraser University reviewed the scientific literature for cases in which independent scientists scrutinized government reporting of wildlife population sizes, trends and associated policy. The findings are reported in a new paper, “Political populations of large carnivores,” ….

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