PONE-D-20-38479

Distribution of Trespass Cannabis Cultivation and Its Risk to Sensitive Forest Predators in California and Southern Oregon

PLOS ONE

Dear Dr. Wengert,

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PLOS ONE

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'..We thank those contributing funding to this project: United States Fish and Wildlife Service, Yreka Field Office; California Department of Fish and Wildlife, US Fish and Wildlife Service Endangered Species Conservation and Recovery Grant; USDA Forest Service, Region 5; USDA Forest Service Law Enforcement and Investigations...'

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Additional Editor Comments:

Pleases revised the mansucript fully according to the reviewers' comments. It is possible that the revised manuscript will be re-reviewed before publication.

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Reviewers' comments:

Reviewer's Responses to Questions

Comments to the Author

1. Is the manuscript technically sound, and do the data support the conclusions?

The manuscript must describe a technically sound piece of scientific research with data that supports the conclusions. Experiments must have been conducted rigorously, with appropriate controls, replication, and sample sizes. The conclusions must be drawn appropriately based on the data presented.

Reviewer #1: Partly

Reviewer #2: Yes

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2. Has the statistical analysis been performed appropriately and rigorously?

Reviewer #1: I Don't Know

Reviewer #2: Yes

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3. Have the authors made all data underlying the findings in their manuscript fully available?

The PLOS Data policy requires authors to make all data underlying the findings described in their manuscript fully available without restriction, with rare exception (please refer to the Data Availability Statement in the manuscript PDF file). The data should be provided as part of the manuscript or its supporting information, or deposited to a public repository. For example, in addition to summary statistics, the data points behind means, medians and variance measures should be available. If there are restrictions on publicly sharing data—e.g. participant privacy or use of data from a third party—those must be specified.

Reviewer #1: No

Reviewer #2: Yes

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4. Is the manuscript presented in an intelligible fashion and written in standard English?

PLOS ONE does not copyedit accepted manuscripts, so the language in submitted articles must be clear, correct, and unambiguous. Any typographical or grammatical errors should be corrected at revision, so please note any specific errors here.

Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #2: Yes

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5. Review Comments to the Author

Please use the space provided to explain your answers to the questions above. You may also include additional comments for the author, including concerns about dual publication, research ethics, or publication ethics. (Please upload your review as an attachment if it exceeds 20,000 characters)

Reviewer #1: The study is interesting and original, linking a problem of law enforcement with a problem of wildlife conservation. The map models seem well done with in particular a validation in the field which reinforces the results obtained for the possible presence of cannabis (although I am not a specialist in this question and therefore able to accurately criticize this aspect of the work).

I suggest checking and applying Plos One's criteria for writing, especially for citations.

The study draws a model-based parallel between the presence of a cannabis field and the presence of three protected predators. It begins with the fact that studies have shown that the use of rodenticides seriously affects those predators. However, the study does not provide direct proof of the presence of rodenticides and of their effect on the presence or absence of the predators potentially affected by cannabis plantation. In this way the conclusions offer a perspective about the possibility cannabis trespass cultivation and the possibility of predators' affectation. However, the study does offer the interest of asking, by obtaining modeled distributions, an interesting question: do illegal cannabis camps have an impact on wildlife, due to the cross-checking of the maps and the known effect of rodenticides on predators. This conclusion which is rather an open question offers interesting perspectives but requires more work and future research to ensure that there is really a link between these cannabis cultivation, the presence of rodenticides and the effects on predators. So, I think the work should be reformulated to be published which in my perspective warrants a major review of the work before it can be published.

The introduction could be improved, the authors begin by placing a lot of emphasis on the effect of rodenticides on predators, while this information, even if essential for giving perspectives to work, is not central. Also, this information could be better used in the discussion to justify the perspectives opened by the study. Also, I suggest instead formulating an introduction based on 1) the problem and necessity of researching possible cannabis field distribution, 2) the distribution of 3 predators which is likely to coincide with that of cannabis fields 3) the biology of these predators, in particular their diet and their habitats and to formulate hypotheses on 1) the need to model and know these distributions and 2)if those distributions coincide/overlaps or not.

In discussion it will then be possible to discuss these distributions and their overlaps, with possible effects of rodenticides (according to previous studies) and to formulate an opening on future studies as well as discuss the possible need to join efforts for law enforcement and wildlife protection.

Reviewer #2: In the proposed manuscript, the authors investigated the impact if the illegal cannabis cultivation performed on public lands on wildlife habitats in California and southern Oregon. The addressed problem is valid and the importance of the problem is significant. The depth and scale of this project is very impressive. The model, the methods, the data collection, data analysis and interpretation are appropriate. The results are properly introduced and discussed. The paper is well written.

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Reviewer #1: No

Reviewer #2: No

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Distribution of trespass cannabis cultivation and its risk to sensitive forest predators in California and Southern Oregon

PONE-D-20-38479R1

Dear Dr. Wengert,

We’re pleased to inform you that your manuscript has been judged scientifically suitable for publication and will be formally accepted for publication once it meets all outstanding technical requirements.

Within one week, you’ll receive an e-mail detailing the required amendments. When these have been addressed, you’ll receive a formal acceptance letter and your manuscript will be scheduled for publication.

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Kind regards,

Ji-Zhong Wan

Academic Editor

PLOS ONE

Additional Editor Comments (optional):

Reviewers' comments:

Reviewer's Responses to Questions

Comments to the Author

1. If the authors have adequately addressed your comments raised in a previous round of review and you feel that this manuscript is now acceptable for publication, you may indicate that here to bypass the “Comments to the Author” section, enter your conflict of interest statement in the “Confidential to Editor” section, and submit your "Accept" recommendation.

Reviewer #1: All comments have been addressed

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2. Is the manuscript technically sound, and do the data support the conclusions?

The manuscript must describe a technically sound piece of scientific research with data that supports the conclusions. Experiments must have been conducted rigorously, with appropriate controls, replication, and sample sizes. The conclusions must be drawn appropriately based on the data presented.

Reviewer #1: Yes

**********

3. Has the statistical analysis been performed appropriately and rigorously?

Reviewer #1: Yes

**********

4. Have the authors made all data underlying the findings in their manuscript fully available?

The PLOS Data policy requires authors to make all data underlying the findings described in their manuscript fully available without restriction, with rare exception (please refer to the Data Availability Statement in the manuscript PDF file). The data should be provided as part of the manuscript or its supporting information, or deposited to a public repository. For example, in addition to summary statistics, the data points behind means, medians and variance measures should be available. If there are restrictions on publicly sharing data—e.g. participant privacy or use of data from a third party—those must be specified.

Reviewer #1: No

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5. Is the manuscript presented in an intelligible fashion and written in standard English?

PLOS ONE does not copyedit accepted manuscripts, so the language in submitted articles must be clear, correct, and unambiguous. Any typographical or grammatical errors should be corrected at revision, so please note any specific errors here.

Reviewer #1: Yes

**********

6. Review Comments to the Author

Please use the space provided to explain your answers to the questions above. You may also include additional comments for the author, including concerns about dual publication, research ethics, or publication ethics. (Please upload your review as an attachment if it exceeds 20,000 characters)

Reviewer #1: The authors responded my concerns 1) the introduction is rewritten completely and 2) the author added information about mortality and exposure risk. I consider the article is ready for publication.

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7. PLOS authors have the option to publish the peer review history of their article (what does this mean?). If published, this will include your full peer review and any attached files.

If you choose “no”, your identity will remain anonymous but your review may still be made public.

Do you want your identity to be public for this peer review? For information about this choice, including consent withdrawal, please see our Privacy Policy.

Reviewer #1: No