Academic publications
Here you find a list of my publications in academic journals. Some, but not all, are open-access and can be freely downloaded. Others are behind a paywall; do not hesitate to write me at <gchapron@carnivoreconservation.org> or <guillaume.chapron@slu.se> for a PDF. Publications and citations are also listed on my Google Scholar, ORCID or Scopus pages. Papers of particular conservation significance are highlighted in red.
Most recent
Chapron, G., Epstein, Y. & López-Bao, J.V. (2019). A rights revolution for nature. Science 10.1126/science.aav5601.
SIGNIFICANCE: We highlight recent efforts to recognize intrinsic rights of nature. Rights of nature focus on natural communities, ecosystems and other natural entities. Several jurisdictions around the world have recognized rights of nature for examples to rivers, providing a potential means to protect natural entities even when their needs conflict with those of humans. Successful expansion and implementation of this concept will depend on legal systems’ ability to integrate ecological knowledge.
Epstein, Y, Christiernsson, A, López-Bao, J.-V. & Chapron, G. (2019). When is it legal to hunt strictly protected species in the European Union? Conservation Science and Practice 1:e18.
Washington, H., Chapron, G., Kopnina, H., Curry, P., Gray, J. & Piccolo, J.J. (2018). Foregrounding ecojustice in conservation. Biological Conservation 228: 367-374.
Milleret, C., Ordiz, A., Chapron, G., Andreassen, H.P., Kindberg, J., Månsson, J., Tallian, A., Wabakken, P., Wikenros, C., Zimmermann, B., Swenson, J.E. & Sand, H. (2018). Habitat segregation between brown bears and gray wolves in a human-dominated landscape. Ecology and Evolution.
2018
Epstein, Y. & Chapron, G. (2018). The Hunting of Strictly Protected Species: The Tapiola Case and the Limits of Derogation under Article 16 of the Habitats Directive. European Energy and Environmental Law Review 27(3): 78-87.
SIGNIFICANCE: Whether or under what circumstances the hunting of species listed as strictly protected in the Habitats Directive's Annex IV can be allowed has been the subject of extensive controversy. In fall 2017, Finland has asked the Court of Justice for a preliminary ruling on several questions, the answers to which will have wide-reaching consequences for how species are protected in the EU. This article addresses these questions, in particular the permissibility of the management hunting of strictly protected species and the permissibility of allowing hunting with the goal of preventing poaching.
López-Bao, J.V., Fleurke, F., Chapron, G. & Trouwborst, A. (2018). Legal obligations regarding populations on the verge of extinction in Europe: Conservation, Restoration, Recolonization, Reintroduction. Biological Conservation 227: 319-325.
Courchamp, F., Jaric, I., Albert, C., Meinard, Y., Ripple, W.J. & Chapron, G. (2018). The paradoxical extinction of the most charismatic animals. PLoS Biology 16(4): e2003997.
Chapron, G., Levrel, H., Meinard, Y. & Courchamp, F. (2018). Satire for Conservation in the 21st Century. Trends in Ecology and Evolution 33(7): 478-480.
Chapron, G., Epstein, Y. & López-Bao, J.V. (2018). Don’t let triage put a gloss on extinctions. Nature 554(7692): 300.
Chapron, G., Levrel, H., Meinard, Y. & Courchamp, F. (2018). A Final Warning to Planet Earth. Trends in Ecology and Evolution 33(9): 651-652.
SATIRE: Planet Earth, get lost!
Eklund, A., López-Bao, J.V., Tourani, M., Chapron, G. & Frank, J. (2018). Author Correction: Limited evidence on the effectiveness of interventions to reduce livestock predation by large carnivores. Scientific Reports 8(1): 5770.
van Eeden, L.M., Eklund, A., Miller, J.R.B., López-Bao, J.V., Chapron, G., Cejtin, M.R., Crowther, M.S., Dickman, C.R., Frank, J., Krofel, M., Macdonald, D.W., McManus, J., Meyer, T.K., Middleton, A.D., Newsome, T.M., Ripple, W.J., Ritchie, E.G., Schmitz, O.J., Stoner, K.J., Tourani, M. & Treves, A. (2018). Carnivore conservation needs evidence-based livestock protection. PLOS Biology 16(9): e2005577.
Darimont, C.T., Paquet, P.C., Treves, A., Artelle, K.A. & Chapron, G. (2018). Political populations of large carnivores. Conservation Biology 32(3): 747-749.
2017
López-Bao, J.V., Chapron, G. & Treves, A. (2017). The Achilles heel of participatory conservation. Biological Conservation 212: 139-143.
Treves, A., Chapron, G., López-Bao, J.V., Shoemaker, C., Goeckner, A.R. & Bruskotter, J.T. (2017). Predators and the public trust. Biological Reviews 92(1): 248-270.
Chapron, G. & Treves, A. (2017). Reply to comments by Olson et al. 2017 and Stien 2017. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 284(1867):
Chapron, G. & Treves, A. (2017). Reply to comment by Pepin et al. 2017. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 284(1851):
Bruskotter, J.T., Vucetich, J.A., Manfredo, M.J., Karns, G.R., Wolf, C., Ard, K., Carter, N.H., López-Bao, J.V., Chapron, G., Gehrt, S.D. & Ripple, W.J. (2017). Modernization, Risk, and Conservation of the World’s Largest Carnivores. BioScience 67(7): 646-655.
Chapron, G., Epstein, Y., Trouwborst, A. & López-Bao, J.V. (2017). Bolster legal boundaries to stay within planetary boundaries. Nature Ecology and Evolution 1(3): 0086. Read online the full paper in epdf.
SIGNIFICANCE: Environmental laws are binding and enforceable tools that constrain human impacts on the environment, but how effective are they at keeping humanity away from critical planetary boundaries? We identify five broad categories of tactics used to weaken nature protection laws: i) changing the targets of protection, ii) changing the mechanisms of protection, iii) changing the importance of biodiversity relative to other considerations, iv) limiting access to justice and v) weakening the rule of law.
Eklund, A., López-Bao, J.V., Tourani, M., Chapron, G. & Frank, J. (2017). Limited evidence on the effectiveness of interventions to reduce livestock predation by large carnivores. Scientific Reports 7(1):
Carter, N.H., López-Bao, J.V., Bruskotter, J.T., Gore, M., Chapron, G., Johnson, A., Epstein, Y., Shrestha, M., Frank, J., Ohrens, O. & Treves, A. (2017). A conceptual framework for understanding illegal killing of large carnivores. Ambio 46(3): 251-264.
Trouwborst, A., Chapron, G., Fleurke, F., Epstein, Y. & López-Bao, J.V. (2017). Europe's biodiversity avoids fatal setback. Science 355(6321): 140.
Ripple, W.J., Chapron, G., López-Bao, J.V., Durant, S.M., MacDonald, D.W., Lindsey, P.A., Bennett, E.L., Beschta, R.L., Bruskotter, J.T., Campos-Arceiz, A.,
Corlett, R.T., Darimont, C.T., Dickman, A.J., Dirzo, R., Dublin, H.T., Estes, J.A., Everatt, K.T., Galetti, M., Goswami, V.R., Hayward, M.W., Hedges, S., Hoffmann, M., Hunter, L.T.B., Kerley, G.I.H., Letnic, M., Levi, T., Maisels, F., Morrison, J.C., Nelson, M.P., Newsome, T.M., Painter, L., Pringle, R.M., Sandom, C.J., Terborgh, J., Treves, A., Van Valkenburgh, B., Vucetich, J.A., Wirsing, A.J., Wallach, A.D., Wolf, C., Woodroffe, R., Young, H. & Zhang, L. (2017). Conserving the world’s megafauna and biodiversity: The fierce urgency of now. BioScience 67(3): 197-200.
Trouwborst, A., Blackmore, A., Boitani, L., Bowman, M., Caddell, R., Chapron, G., Cliquet, A., Couzens, E., Epstein, Y., Fernández-Galiano, E., Fleurke, F.M., Gardner, R., Hunter, L., Jacobsen, K., Krofel, M., Lewis, M., López-Bao, J.V., Macdonald, D., Redpath, S., Wandesforde-Smith, G. & Linnell, J.D.C. (2017). International Wildlife Law: Understanding and Enhancing Its Role in Conservation. BioScience 67(9): 784-790.
Lindsey, P.A., Chapron, G., Petracca, L.S., Burnham, D., Hayward, M.W., Henschel, P., Hinks, A.E., Garnett, S.T., Macdonald, D.W., Macdonald, E.A., Ripple, W.J., Zander, K. & Dickman, A. (2017). Relative efforts of countries to conserve world’s megafauna. Global Ecology and Conservation 10: 243-252.
Rust, N.A., Abrams, A., Challender, D.W.S., Chapron, G., Ghoddousi, A., Glikman, J.A., Gowan, C.H., Hughes, C., Rastogi, A., Said, A., Sutton, A., Taylor, N., Thomas, S., Unnikrishnan, H., Webber, A.D., Wordingham, G. & Hill, C.M. (2017). Quantity Does Not Always Mean Quality: The Importance of Qualitative Social Science in Conservation Research. Society and Natural Resources 30(10): 1304-1310.
Chapron, G. (2017). The environment needs cryptogovernance. Nature 545(7655): 403-405.
Chapron, G. (2017). Le loup et le scientifique. La pensée écologique 1: 1.
Macdonald, D.W. & Chapron, G. (2017). Outbreeding ideas for conservation success. Oryx 51(2): 206.
López-Bao, J.V., Bruskotter, J. & Chapron, G. (2017). Finding space for large carnivores. Nature Ecology and Evolution 1(5): 0140.
2016
Ripple, W.J., Chapron, G., López-Bao, J.V., Durant, S.M., Macdonald, D.W., Lindsey, P.A., Bennett, E.L., Beschta, R.L., Bruskotter, J.T., Campos-Arceiz, A.,
Corlett, R.T., Darimont, C.T., Dickman, A.J., Dirzo, R., Dublin, H.T., Estes, J.A., Everatt, K.T., Galetti, M., Goswami, V.R., Hayward, M.W., Hedges, S., Hoffmann, M., Hunter, L.T.B., Kerley, G.I.H., Letnic, M., Levi, T., Maisels, F., Morrison, J.C., Nelson, M.P., Newsome, T.M., Painter, L., Pringle, R.M., Sandom, C.J., Terborgh, J., Treves, A., Van Valkenburgh, B., Vucetich, J.A., Wirsing, A.J., Wallach, A.D., Wolf, C., Woodroffe, R., Young, H. & Zhang, L. (2016). Saving the World’s Terrestrial Megafauna. BioScience 66(10): 807-812.
Epstein, Y., López-Bao, J.V. & Chapron, G. (2016). A Legal-Ecological Understanding of Favorable Conservation Status for Species in Europe. Conservation Letters 9(2): 81-88.
SIGNIFICANCE: We provide legal and ecological clarifications of the most contested aspects of the concept of favorable conservation status (FCS) defined in the European Habitats Directive. Specifically, we clarify at what level should FCS be measured, what it means for a species to be a “viable component of its natural habitat”, what is a “long‐term basis”, what does it mean for a species to “maintain itself”, whether FCS should be measured from extinction or carrying capacity and whether FCS requires that a population approaches historical levels.
Kutal, M., Váňa, M., Suchomel, J., Chapron, G. & López-Bao, J.V. (2016). Trans-Boundary edge effects in the western carpathians: The influence of hunting on large carnivore occupancy. PLoS ONE 11(12):
Newsome, T.M., Boitani, L., Chapron, G., Ciucci, P., Dickman, C.R., Dellinger, J.A., López-Bao, J.V., Peterson, R.O., Shores, C.R., Wirsing, A.J. & Ripple, W.J. (2016). Food habits of the world’s grey wolves. Mammal Review 46(4): 255-269.
Nelson, M.P., Bruskotter, J.T., Vucetich, J.A. & Chapron, G. (2016). Emotions and the Ethics of Consequence in Conservation Decisions: Lessons from Cecil the Lion. Conservation Letters 9(4): 302-306.
Loveridge, A.J., Valeix, M., Chapron, G., Davidson, Z., Mtare, G. & Macdonald, D.W. (2016). Conservation of large predator populations: Demographic and spatial responses of African lions to the intensity of trophy hunting. Biological Conservation 204: 247-254.
Chapron, G. & López-Bao, J.V. (2016). Coexistence with Large Carnivores Informed by Community Ecology. Trends in Ecology and Evolution 31(8): 578-580.
Chapron, G. & Treves, A. (2016). Correction to ‘blood does not buy goodwill: Allowing culling increases poaching of a large carnivore’. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 283(1845):
Chapron, G. & Treves, A. (2016). Blood does not buy goodwill: Allowing culling increases poaching of a large carnivore. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 283(1830):
SIGNIFICANCE: We evaluate the hypothesis that liberalizing culling will reduce poaching and improve population status of an endangered carnivore. We show that allowing wolf culling was substantially more likely to increase poaching than reduce it. Our results suggest that granting management flexibility for endangered species to address illegal behaviour may instead promote such behaviour.
Chapron, G., Wikenros, C., Liberg, O., Wabakken, P., Flagstad, Ø., Milleret, C., Månsson, J., Svensson, L., Zimmermann, B., Åkesson, M. & Sand, H. (2016). Estimating wolf (Canis lupus) population size from number of packs and an individual based model. Ecological Modelling 339: 33-44.
Ripple, W.J., Abernethy, K., Betts, M.G., Chapron, G., Dirzo, R., Galetti, M., Levi, T., Lindsey, P.A., Macdonald, D.W., Machovina, B., Newsome, T.M., Peres, C.A., Wallach, A.D. & Wolf, C. (2016). Bushmeat hunting and extinction risk to the world’s mammals. Royal Society Open Science 3(10):
Bauer, H., Chapron, G., Nowell, K., Henschel, P., Funston, P., Hunter, L.T.B., Macdonald, D.W., Dloniak, S.M. & Packer, C. (2016). Reply to Riggio et al.: Ongoing lion declines across most of Africa warrant urgent action. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 113(2): E109.
2015
Bauer, H., Chapron, G., Nowell, K., Henschel, P., Funston, P., Hunter, L.T.B., Macdonald, D.W. & Packer, C. (2015). Lion (Panthera leo) populations are declining rapidly across Africa, except in intensively managed areas. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 112(48): 14894-14899.
SIGNIFICANCE: At a regional scale, lion populations in West, Central, and East Africa are likely to suffer a projected 50% decline over the next two decades, whereas lion populations are only increasing in southern Africa. Many lion populations are either now gone or expected to disappear within the next few decades to the extent that the intensively managed populations in southern Africa may soon supersede the iconic savannah landscapes in East Africa as the most successful sites for lion conservation. The rapid disappearance of lions suggests a major trophic downgrading of African ecosystems with the lion no longer playing a pivotal role as apex predator.
Krofel, M., Treves, A., Ripple, W.J., Chapron, G. & López-Bao, J.V. (2015). Hunted carnivores at outsized risk. Science 350(6260): 518-519.
Chapron, G. (2015). Wildlife in the cloud: A new approach for engaging stakeholders in wildlife management. Ambio 44: 550-556.
López-Bao, J.V., Blanco, J.C., Rodríguez, A., Godinho, R., Sazatornil, V., Alvares, F., García, E.J., Llaneza, L., Rico, M., Cortés, Y., Palacios, V. & Chapron, G. (2015). Toothless wildlife protection laws. Biodiversity and Conservation 24(8): 2105-2108.
Wikenros, C., Sand, H., Bergström, R., Liberg, O. & Chapron, G. (2015). Response of moose hunters to predation following wolf return in Sweden. PLoS ONE 10(4):
Persson, J., Rauset, G.R. & Chapron, G. (2015). Paying for an Endangered Predator Leads to Population Recovery. Conservation Letters 8(5): 345-350.
SIGNIFICANCE: We show that paying Sámi reindeer herders for wolverine (Gulo gulo) reproductions has been instrumental in the recovery of wolverines in Sweden. Adult female wolverines were significantly less exposed to illegal killing and this allowed the population to more than double in a decade. We argue that this program provides protection for adult female wolverines through a combination of direct monetary value and indirect protection because of monitoring activities.
Quenette, P.-Y., Bombillon, N., Sentilles, J., Chapron, G. & Camarra, J.-J. (2015). Monitoring of Two Small Subpopulations of Brown Bears in the Pyrenees, 1993 to 2014. International Bear News 24(3): 16-19.
López-Bao, J.V., Kaczensky, P., Linnell, J.D.C., Boitani, L. & Chapron, G. (2015). Carnivore coexistence: Wilderness not required. Science 348(6237): 871-872.
2014
Chapron, G. (2014). Challenge the abuse of science in setting policy. Nature 516(7531): 289.
Chapron, G., Kaczensky, P., Linnell, J.D.C., Von Arx, M., Huber, D., Andrén, H., López-Bao, J.V., Adamec, M., Álvares, F., Anders, O., Balečiauskas, L., Balys, V., Bedõ, P., Bego, F., Blanco, J.C., Breitenmoser, U., Brøseth, H., Bufka, L., Bunikyte, R., Ciucci, P., Dutsov, A., Engleder, T., Fuxjäger, C., Groff, C., Holmala, K., Hoxha, B., Iliopoulos, Y., Ionescu, O., Jeremić, J., Jerina, K., Kluth, G., Knauer, F., Kojola, I., Kos, I., Krofel, M., Kubala, J., Kunovac, S., Kusak,
J., Kutal, M., Liberg, O., Majić, A., Männil, P., Manz, R., Marboutin, E., Marucco, F., Melovski, D., Mersini, K., Mertzanis, Y., Mysłajek, R.W., Nowak, S., Odden, J., Ozolins, J., Palomero, G., Paunović, M., Persson, J., Potoečnik, H., Quenette, P.-Y., Rauer, G., Reinhardt, I., Rigg, R., Ryser, A., Salvatori, V., Skrbinšek, T., Stojanov, A., Swenson, J.E., Szemethy, L., Trajçe, A., Tsingarska-Sedefcheva, E., Váňa, M., Veeroja, R., Wabakken, P., Wölfl, M., Wölfl, S., Zimmermann, F., Zlatanova, D. & Boitani, L. (2014). Recovery of large carnivores in Europe’s modern human-dominated landscapes. Science 346(6216): 1517-1519.
SIGNIFICANCE: We report that populations of brown bear, Eurasian lynx, gray wolf, and wolverine are recovering in Europe.
Chapron, G. & López-Bao, J.V. (2014). Conserving carnivores: Politics in play. Science 343(6176): 1199-1200.
Chadès, I., Chapron, G., Cros, M.-J., Garcia, F. & Sabbadin, R. (2014). MDPtoolbox: A multi-platform toolbox to solve stochastic dynamic programming problems. Ecography 37(9): 916-920.
2013
Rauset, G.R., Mattisson, J., Andrén, H., Chapron, G. & Persson, J. (2013). When species’ ranges meet: Assessing differences in habitat selection between sympatric large carnivores. Oecologia 172(3): 701-711.
Jonzén, N., Sand, H., Wabakken, P., Swenson, J.E., Kindberg, J., Liberg, O. & Chapron, G. (2013). Sharing the bounty-Adjusting harvest to predator return in the Scandinavian human-wolf-bear-moose system. Ecological Modelling 265: 140-148.
Chapron, G., López-Bao, J.V., Kjellander, P. & Karlsson, J. (2013). Misuse of scientific data in wolf policy. Science 340(6127): 1521.
Inman, R.M., Brock, B.L., Inman, K.H., Sartorius, S.S., Aber, B.C., Giddings, B., Cain, S.L., Orme, M.L., Fredrick, J.A., Oakleaf, B.J., Alt, K.L., Odell, E. & Chapron, G. (2013). Developing priorities for metapopulation conservation at the landscape scale: Wolverines in the western United States. Biological Conservation 166: 276-286.
Chapron, G., Wielgus, R. & Lambert, A. (2013). Overestimates of maternity and population growth rates in multi-annual breeders. European Journal of Wildlife Research 59(2): 237-243.
Marescot, L., Chapron, G., Chadès, I., Fackler, P.L., Duchamp, C., Marboutin, E. & Gimenez, O. (2013). Complex decisions made simple: A primer on stochastic dynamic programming. Methods in Ecology and Evolution 4(9): 872-884.
2012 and before
Hobbs, N.T., Andrén, H., Persson, J., Aronsson, M. & Chapron, G. (2012). Native predators reduce harvest of reindeer by Sámi pastoralists. Ecological Applications 22(5): 1640-1654.
Liberg, O., Chapron, G., Wabakken, P., Pedersen, H.C., Thompson Hobbs, N. & Sand, H. (2012). Shoot, shovel and shut up: Cryptic poaching slows restoration of a large carnivore in Europe. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 279(1730): 910-915.
SIGNIFICANCE: We obtain rigorous estimates of the effects of poaching relative to other sources of mortality in a large carnivore population with a hierarchical state–space model combined with multiple sources of data. Poaching accounted for approximately half of total mortality of Scandinavian wolves and more than two-thirds of total poaching remained undetected by conventional methods, a source of mortality we term ‘cryptic poaching’.
Marescot, L., Gimenez, O., Duchamp, C., Marboutin, E. & Chapron, G. (2012). Reducing matrix population models with application to social animal species. Ecological Modelling 232: 91-96.
Arlettaz, R., Chapron, G. & Braunisch, V. (2011). Active scepticism must drive biodiversity conservation science. Trends in Ecology and Evolution 26(8): 379-380.
Chapron, G., Arlettaz, R. & Boitani, L. (2010). Why the inaction on biodiversity? Nature 467(7314): 401.
Chapron, G., Wielgus, R., Quenette, P.-Y. & Camarra, J.-J. (2009). Diagnosing mechanisms of decline and planning for recovery of an endangered brown bear (Ursus arctos) population. PLoS ONE 4(10):
Chapron, G. & Samelius, G. (2008). Where species go, legal protections must follow. Science 322(5904): 1049.
Chapron, G., Miquelle, D.G., Lambert, A., Goodrich, J.M., Legendre, S. & Clobert, J. (2008). The impact on tigers of poaching versus prey depletion. Journal of Applied Ecology 45(6): 1667-1674.
Chapron, G., Andrén, H. & Liberg, O. (2008). Conserving top predators in ecosystems. Science 320(5872): 47.
Chapron, G. & Arlettaz, R. (2008). Conservation: Academics should ‘conserve or perish’. Nature 451(7175): 127.
Ciucci, P., Chapron, G., Guberti, V. & Boitani, L. (2007). Estimation of mortality parameters from (biased) samples at death: Are we getting the basics right in wildlife field studies? A response to Lovari et al. (2007). Journal of Zoology 273(2): 125-127.
Chapron, G. & Arlettaz, R. (2006). Using models to manage carnivores. Science 314(5806): 1682-1683.
Chapron, G. (2006). Scientists are well placed to speak up for biodiversity. Nature 442(7103): 627.
Chapron, G. & Husté, A. (2006). Open, fair, and free journal ranking for researchers. BioScience 56(7): 558-559.
Chapron, G., Veron, G. & Jennings, A. (2006). New carnivore species in Borneo may not be new. Oryx 40(20): 138.
Linkie, M., Chapron, G., Martyr, D.J., Holden, J. & Leader-Williams, N. (2006). Assessing the viability of tiger subpopulations in a fragmented landscape. Journal of Applied Ecology 43(3): 576-586.
Chapron, G. (2005). Re-wilding: Other projects help carnivores stay wild. Nature 437(7057): 318.
Chapron, G., Quenette, P.-Y., Legendre, S. & Clobert, J. (2003). Which future for the French Pyrenean brown bear (Ursus arctos) population? An approach using stage-structured deterministic and stochastic models. Comptes Rendus - Biologies 326: S174-S182.
Chapron, G., Legendre, S., Ferrière, R., Clobert, J. & Haight, R.G. (2003). Conservation and control strategies for the wolf (Canis lupus) in western Europe based on demographic models. Comptes Rendus - Biologies 326(6): 575-587.
Website of Guillaume Chapron © 2019.
The views and opinions expressed in this website are mine only and do not whatsoever reflect the official policy or position of any other agency, organization, employer or company I am or have been associated with.
Contact: gchapron@carnivoreconservation.org or guillaume.chapron@slu.se