Abstract While scientific knowledge is consistently increasing for several species of conservation concern, mitigating their population declines continues to be a great challenge globally. This is the case of the Andean condor (Vultur gryphus) in South America. Scientific information on this species has increased steeply in the last years, but their population declines continue. Here, we review and analyze the scientific information available about Andean condors ecology with implications for its conservation. We also evaluate published and unpublished information about the different threats affecting their populations. Finally, we propose conservation actions based on acquired scientific knowledge, which should be of help for conservation managers and policy makers. The increase in scientific information on this species was mainly focused on subject areas as key habitats for roosting and breeding, food sources, intra and interspecific interaction, human-condor relationships, movement ecology, genetic composition, and health information. Worryingly, good demographic information is still lacking (e.g., population density, breeding success, age and sex-specific survival rates) which prevents the assessment of the population viability. The most important threats affecting condor populations that require urgent actions are poisoning with pesticides and lead contamination. Illegal shooting, impacts produced by human infrastructure and cultural threats are other threats affecting this species. There is not much scientific information on the potential effects of veterinary drugs ingestion, impacts of carnivore traps, pathogen microorganisms and disturbances produced by tourism or climbing activities. Importantly, the actual population impacts of most of the mentioned threats are still unknown. Although some basic ecological studies are still needed (e.g., demography), conservation policies should incorporate scientific knowledge acquired in the last years to produce better results and reverse population declines for this species.

中文翻译：

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稀有物种的生态和保护：我们知道什么以及我们可以做些什么来保护安第斯秃鹰？

摘要 虽然对几种保护关注的物种的科学知识不断增加，但减缓其种群数量下降仍然是全球面临的巨大挑战。南美洲的安第斯秃鹰（Vultur gryphus）就是这种情况。在过去几年中，有关该物种的科学信息急剧增加，但其种群数量仍在继续下降。在这里，我们回顾和分析有关安第斯秃鹰生态学及其保护的科学信息。我们还评估有关影响其人口的不同威胁的已发布和未发布信息。最后，我们根据获得的科学知识提出保护行动，这应该对保护管理者和政策制定者有所帮助。关于该物种的科学信息的增加主要集中在作为栖息和繁殖的关键栖息地、食物来源、种内和种间相互作用、人与秃鹰关系、运动生态学、遗传组成和健康信息的学科领域。令人担忧的是，仍然缺乏良好的人口统计信息（例如，人口密度、繁殖成功率、年龄和性别特定的存活率），这阻碍了对种群生存力的评估。影响需要采取紧急行动的秃鹰种群的最重要威胁是农药中毒和铅污染。非法射击、人类基础设施产生的影响和文化威胁是影响该物种的其他威胁。关于摄入兽药的潜在影响、食肉动物陷阱的影响、旅游或登山活动产生的病原体微生物和干扰。重要的是，大多数提到的威胁对人口的实际影响仍然未知。尽管仍然需要一些基本的生态学研究（例如人口学），但保护政策应结合过去几年获得的科学知识，以产生更好的结果并扭转该物种的种群下降趋势。