Connecting animal and human cognition to conservation
Open accessAbstract
Expanding human populations favors a few species while extinguishing and endangering many others (Maxwell et al., 2016; Pimm et al., 2014). Understanding how animals perceive and learn about dangers and rewards can aid conservationists seeking to limit abundant or restore rare species (Schakner and Blumstein, 2016; Greggor et al., 2014; Angeloni et al., 2008; Fernández-Juricic and Schulte, 2016). Cognition research is informing conservation science by suggesting how naïve prey learn novel predators (Griffin et al., 2000; Moseby et al., 2015; Schakner et al., 2016; Blumstein, 2016), the mechanisms underlying variation in tolerance of human disturbance (Bostwick et al., 2014), and when natural aversions and fear learning can be leveraged to humanely control predators (Nielsen et al., 2015; Colman et al., 2014; Norbury et al., 2014; Lance et al., 2010; Cross et al., 2013). Insights into the relationships between cognition and adaptability suggest that behavioral inflexibility often presages species rarity (Amiel et al., 2011; Reif et al., 2011; Sol et al., 2008; Zhang et al., 2014; but see Kellert, 1984). Human compassion and restraint are ultimately required to conserve species. Cognitive science can therefore further inform conservation by revealing the complex inner worlds of the animals we threaten and, in partnership with environmental psychologists, explore how such newfound knowledge affects our empathy for other species and ultimately the public's actions on behalf of species in need of conservation (Collado et al., 2013; Zhang et al., 2014).
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Increased association of ravens with wolves throughout the western USA should benefit land managers by reducing some conflicts and increasing the efficacy of non-lethal raven deterrents.
“Increased association of ravens with wolves throughout the western USA should benefit land managers by reducing some conflicts and increasing the efficacy of non‐lethal raven deterrents, which are increasingly viewed as morally offensive (Marzluff & Swift, 2017).”
From Population responses of common ravens to reintroduced gray wolves (2018) · cites this paper as Marzluff & Swift, 2017
In “Learning to live with humans” (page unavailable), the paper says the ethics of lethal control are increasingly questioned and describes non-lethal approaches as humane—the opposite of the citing sentence’s claim that non-lethal raven deterrents are increasingly viewed as morally offensive. It does not discuss increased raven–wolf association across the western USA or predict that such an association would improve deterrents. (LLM, conf=0.86)
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“Connecting animal and human cognition to conservation John M Marzluff* and Kaeli N Swift* Expanding human populations favors a few species while extinguishing and endangering many others (Maxwell et al., 2016; Pimm et al., 2014).”
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“Connecting animal and human cognition to conservation John M Marzluff* and Kaeli N Swift* Expanding human populations favors a few species while extinguishing and endangering many others (Maxwell et al., 2016; Pimm et al., 2014).”
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Flagged first, then by citations
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The cognition of ‘nuisance’ species
Barrett, L. P., Stanton, L. A., & Benson-Amram, S. (2019) · Animal Behaviour · doi:10.1016/j.anbehav.2018.05.005 · Cited by 166 · see citing works
Population responses of common ravens to reintroduced gray wolves
Walker, L. E., Marzluff, J. M., Metz, M. C., Wirsing, A. J., Moskal, L. M., Stahler, D. R., & Smith, D. W. (2018) · Ecology and Evolution · doi:10.1002/ece3.4583 · Cited by 15 · see citing works
Self-citationHope, S. F., Willgohs, K. R., Dittakul, S., & Plotnik, J. M. (2025) · Learning & Behavior · doi:10.3758/s13420-024-00655-y · Cited by 8 · see citing works
- Authors
- Marzluff, J. M., & Swift, K. N.
- Affiliations
- University of Washington (US)
- Corresponding author
- Marzluff, John M
- Swift, Kaeli N
- Venue
- Current Opinion in Behavioral Sciences
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2017-08
- Volume
- 16
- Pages
- 87-92
- ISSN
- 2352-1546 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC9897287
- OpenAlex
- W2615939963
- Cited by
- 22
- References
- 66
- Citations by year
- 2025: 2 · 2024: 7 · 2023: 1 · 2022: 6 · 2021: 1 · 2020: 2 · 2018: 3
- FWCI
- 0.12
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Locations
- Current Opinion in Behavioral Sciences (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
- Funders
- National Institutes of Health (1s10od017980-01)
- National Center for Research Resources (S10RR024689)
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Ecology › Wildlife Ecology and Conservation
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Management, Monitoring, Policy and Law › Conservation, Ecology, Wildlife Education
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Primate Behavior and Ecology
- Keywords
- animal cognition, conservation science, fear learning, human disturbance tolerance, behavioral flexibility, species rarity, predator control, empathy for animals, environmental psychology, human-animal relations
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