Masters Dissertation Example

2.1.2 Information from outside the scientific literature 
There is an obvious role for the use of sources of information other than scientific literature, 
including knowledge and experience, especially as it is widely believed that practitioners 
cannot absorb the available scientific information on a time scale that allow it to assist species 
recovery (Karanth et al, 2003; Linklater, 2003). Kareiva et al (2002) found that the time taken 
between submittal and publication was longest for conservation journals, although the 
expansion of online publication is likely to have improved this. Relevant information is often 
also contained in grey literature, local reports, and expert knowledge, which should ideally be 
utilised in combination with quantitative data (Bojorquez-Tapia et al, 2003). The value of all 
conservation relevant information has been recognised, and there are websites being 
developed to facilitate its use (Conservation Evidence, 2007).
Many conservation organisations initiate actions based upon their own research, and whilst 
this is as important as the use of existing knowledge, there is a distinction to be made here. 
This was highlighted by Sutherland et al (2004), who gave the example of captive breeding 
survival at any particular zoo being only one ‘data point’, and the need to look at survival 
across many zoos to get the complete picture. This is to say that where knowledge exists, it is 
necessary to combine with the ‘in house’ research. An example of this can be given for the 
management of swamp wallabies in Australia, where international research provided vital 
information for the development of management strategies (Di Stefano, 2004). In the case of 
tigers, conservation measures are out of necessity initiated with incomplete knowledge, and 
the ‘Pugmark census’ method, widely accepted by practitioners in India as a tool for 

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estimating abundance, was later found not to be accurate. (Karanth et al, 2003). This 
emphasises the importance of peer review, as invalid data inhibits conservation action whereas 
lack of data can act as a stimulus (Karanth et al, 2003). It has been suggested that relying on 
the advice of others creates problems because the source of the information is not known or 
credited (Sutherland et al, 2004; Bojorquez-Tapia et al, 2003). Similarly, the ‘entrenched 
management paradigm’, where managers are not receptive to new research that contradicts old 
beliefs, has been noted to be an issue (McCleery et al, in press)