Dear colleagues,

My co-authors and I are pleased to share our new perspective article on post-recovery population dynamics in marine mammals:

Joshua D. Stewart, Roxanne S. Beltran, M. Tim Tinker, Rethinking Post-recovery “Stability” in Long-Lived Vertebrates, BioScience (2026) https://doi.org/10.1093/biosci/biaf211

Abstract:

Conservation success stories are often framed as rebounds from scarcity to stability, but what if stability isn’t the right goal? Some of the most dramatic recoveries in the animal kingdom are now revealing that major demographic swings occur even in the absence of human exploitation and may, in fact, be amplified in recovered populations. We propose that extreme demographic variability is not an anomaly but a natural outcome of life history strategies evolved to buffer against environmental fluctuations in dynamic ecosystems. As decades of conservation efforts pay off and more populations reach recovery targets, managers, scientists, and the public should be prepared for increasingly frequent periods of elevated mortality and reduced birth rates as a normal part of the recovery process.

Cheers,

Josh