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Conventional nature conservation has attempted to protect biodiversity, ecological integrity (i.e., composition and biomass/abundance of native species), and ecosystem services in parallel, assuming generally positive relationships among them. However, many native species are potentially weakened by and maladapted to a new, warmer climate. Such native species may not be able to offer ecosystem services at previous levels. If the relationship between ecosystem services and native species is no longer positive due to climate change, pursuing ecological integrity could be ineffective for maximizing ecosystem services. Hence, there is room to investigate future relationships among biodiversity, ecological integrity, and ecosystem services. This investigation can be done by describing the changes in ecosystem services as a function of biodiversity and ecological integrity. Herein, biodiversity and ecological integrity can be expressed by phylogenetic diversity and species intactness indices based on abundance, respectively. According to my hypothetical figure, the metrics of biodiversity and ecological integrity are potentially not positively but rather negatively related to ecosystem services. The hypothetical figure can be examined and improved using three different approaches: computer simulations (e.g., the LANDIS‐II forest simulation model), collection of actual data (e.g., measuring ecosystem services of some sites with psychrophilic and thermophilic species), and questionnaire surveys about cultural services (e.g., using digitally manipulated photographs and generative adversarial networks). Thus, we can successfully enable practitioners to understand new relationships, which will be relevant to ecosystem management under changing climates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ecological constraints on independent breeding are recognised as major drivers of cooperative breeding across diverse lineages. How the prevalence and degree of cooperative breeding relates to ecological variation remains unresolved. Using a large data set of cooperative nesting in Polistes wasps we demonstrate that different aspects of cooperative breeding are likely to be driven by different aspects of climate. Whether or not a species forms cooperative groups is associated with greater short-term temperature fluctuations. In contrast, the number of cooperative foundresses increases in more benign environments with warmer, wetter conditions. The same data set reveals that intraspecific responses to climate variation do not mirror genus-wide trends and instead are highly heterogeneous among species. Collectively these data suggest that the ecological drivers that lead to the origin or loss of cooperation are different from those that influence the extent of its expression within populations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: The field of biogeography is often described as a hub between research disciplines. Here we apply science mapping to study how biogeography has changed and evolved between 1995 and April 2022, and to analyse the mix of disciplines used in this field. We explore how research foci have changed over time and if biogeographical topics have entered the public discourse. Location: Local to global. Taxon: All taxa. Methods: We created a semantic map of the field based on co‐occurrences of keywords or composite keywords from 40,000+ scientific papers published between the 1970s and April 2022, structuring these data into three hierarchical sets. A fourth set of Top 100 researchers was constructed in September 2022. To address our public‐discourse question, we used the Factiva archive of global media. Results: Five core journals contained 14,386 papers (or 35.7% of the full set), while the remaining papers appeared in 2247 journals of which 59% included only one or two biogeographical papers. Since 1995, frequencies of keywords related to core concerns of biogeography have remained stable or even decreased, while 'computing' and 'climate change' have increased. There is an increasing association with Mathematics & Statistics, Computer Sciences, and Planning & Management, and a decreased association with Physical Geography. Biogeography‐related terms increasingly appearing in the public discourse are 'biodiversity', 'urban nature', 'conservation', 'extinction' and 'rewilding', while more technical concepts, such as 'ecoregions', 'macroecology' and 'island biogeography' remain at very low rates. Main Conclusions: Biogeographical research is moving towards the social sciences, probably linked to a growing concern over global environmental issues and the Anthropocene. It is difficult to disentangle to what extent the public discourse is influenced by biogeographical research or vice versa, but 'rewilding' and 'extinction' are examples of topics that began in basic ecological‐biogeographical research and are now debated publicly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The expression of alternative traits that benefit eusocial individuals but are not directly involved in reproductive differences among those individuals, which I call ‘eusocially selected traits’, may vary in response to environmental changes if this increases an individual's inclusive fitness. In this study, I describe traits that separate individuals within the reproductive division of labor of Mischocyttarus mexicanus, a eusocial paper wasp, and determine whether observed eusocially selected traits vary across seasons. I examined M. mexicanus because females initiate new nests throughout most of the year where they experience different conditions depending on the season. Findings from this study suggest two main conclusions: (1) phenotypic differences among M. mexicanus females are mixed, showing specialized, generalized, and context-dependent eusocially selected traits and (2) a female's position within the reproductive division of labor may be influenced by its state. The presence of context-dependent traits, e.g. large females initiated solitary nests in the spring and grouped nests during the summer, suggests that the payoff for pursuing different positions within the reproductive division of labor changes across seasons. The expression of context-dependent eusocially selected traits also suggests that, roles, instead of castes, may better reflect the reproductive division of labor among individuals of eusocial species like M. mexicanus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Remote sensing applications have a long history in treeline research. Recent reviews have examined the topic mainly from a methodological point of view. Here, we propose a question‐oriented review of remote sensing in treeline ecology to relate remote sensing methodologies to key ecological metrics and identify knowledge gaps and promising areas for future research. We performed a meta‐analysis to assess the role of remote sensing as a tool for measuring spatial patterns and dynamics of alpine and Arctic treeline ecotone globally. We assessed the geographic distribution, scale of analysis, and relationships between remote sensing techniques and treeline ecological metrics through co‐occurrence mapping and multivariate statistics. Our analysis revealed that only 10% of treeline ecology studies applied remote sensing tools, often associated with the keyword 'climate change'. Monitoring studies adopted coarser spatial resolutions over longer temporal extents in comparison with other treeline studies. A multiscale and multi‐sensor spatial approach was implemented in just 19% of papers. Long‐term research commonly relied on aerial and oblique photography to measure treeline shifts through photointerpretation within a multidisciplinary framework. More recent treeline dynamics were often quantified using greenness trends derived from the pixel‐based classification of satellite images. Many recent short‐term studies focused on delineating tree scale metrics derived from the object‐based classification of uncrewed aerial vehicle (UAV) images or LiDAR data. Over the past decade, high‐resolution and low‐cost UAV remote sensing has emerged as an interesting opportunity to fill the gap between local‐scale ecological patterns and coarse‐resolution satellite sensors. Additionally, treeline remote sensing applications would strongly benefit from multidisciplinary frameworks that integrate field studies in ecology and environmental science. The multi‐dimensional structural complexity of treelines typically responds to environmental drivers over multiple scales and thus is best described with multiscale and multi‐sensor approaches. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Africa's population is expected to triple by 2050, owing to rapid urbanisation and overall demographic trends. The combined pressures of urbanisation and climate change impact the ecosystem and the services it provides. As a result, additional dangers such as increased flooding, and environmental disruption have risen. Therefore, devising adaptive solutions to mitigate flood risk impacts while also building community resilience is needed. Evidence suggests that Nature‐based Solutions (NbS) can potentially alleviate floods and mitigate climate change impacts while also delivering other societal benefits. Despite rising NbS popularity following its recognition in the last decade, studies on its recognition in Africa remain limited. For this reason, this paper reviewed NbS studies conducted in East Africa (EA) to evaluate opportunities and barriers surrounding NbS adoption in EA. Academic literature published from January 2012 to May 2022 was reviewed using a comprehensive search of the SCOPUS database. Results show 14 papers have been published during the period, with the majority being post‐2020. In addition, the majority of the articles focused on cities and peri‐urban settlements, while public awareness, clear guidelines on performance monitoring, stakeholder inclusion, and diverse demonstration projects were highlighted as potential success factors for the adoption of NbS in EA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The need for facilitation of access to soil information has never been greater. Growing human population, shrinking land and water resources, soil pollution, climate change and unequal distribution of agriculture‐oriented technology impact negatively on global food security. There has been a long‐standing interest in developing low‐cost and easily accessible soil field kits to measure different properties of agricultural soils in order to improve their agronomic capacity. Test strips in particular have provided a favoured method of obtaining soil nutrient status information since the 1970s. Today there is renewed interest in using semi‐quantitative colorimetric methods in soil assessment due to incorporation of modern technological solutions, such as smartphones, which could in turn increase the accuracy and precision of the existing methods. In this paper, we propose streamlined testing procedures based on experience gathered that may be conducted prior to a field kit development involving test strips. Results from laboratory and field experiments are presented, highlighting important factors which ought to be taken into account at the commencement of test strip‐oriented studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The boreal biome represents approximately one third of the world's forested area and plays an important role in global biogeochemical and energy cycles. Numerous studies in boreal Alaska have concluded that growth of black and white spruce is declining as a result of temperature‐induced drought stress. The combined evidence of declining spruce growth and changes in the fire regime that favor establishment of deciduous tree species has led some investigators to suggest the region may be transitioning from dominance by spruce to dominance by deciduous forests and/or grasslands. Although spruce growth trends have been extensively investigated, few studies have evaluated long‐term radial growth trends of the dominant deciduous species (Alaska paper birch and trembling aspen) and their sensitivity to moisture availability. We used a large and spatially extensive sample of tree cores from interior Alaska to compare long‐term growth trends among contrasting tree species (white and black spruce vs. birch and aspen). All species showed a growth peak in the mid‐1940s, although growth following the peak varied strongly across species. Following an initial decline from the peak, growth of white spruce showed little evidence of a trend, while black spruce and birch growth showed slight growth declines from ~1970 to present. Aspen growth was much more variable than the other species and showed a steep decline from ~1970 to present. Growth of birch, black and white spruce was sensitive to moisture availability throughout most of the tree‐ring chronologies, as evidenced by negative correlations with air temperature and positive correlations with precipitation. However, a positive correlation between previous July precipitation and aspen growth disappeared in recent decades, corresponding with a rise in the population of the aspen leaf miner (Phyllocnistis populiella), an herbivorous moth, which may have driven growth to a level not seen since the early 20th century. Our results provide important historical context for recent growth and raise questions regarding competitive interactions among the dominant tree species and exchanges of carbon and energy in the warming climate of interior Alaska. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the context of climate change, research on frozen soils has attracted much attention in recent years, and numerous research papers have been published on these topics in the last decade. However, the present status and developmental trends in frozen soils research have not been reported systematically. Herein, a bibliometric analysis was conducted using 7,108 research papers on frozen soils published between 2010 and 2019. The results indicate that: (a) although the number of articles published increased from 432 in 2010 to 1,066 in 2019, the average number of citations per paper reached a maximum of 5.40 in 2014, and subsequently decreased to 2.99 in 2019; (b) China, the USA, and Canada ranked first to third in terms of total papers; (c) the most popular author keywords were boreal, tundra, Landsat, lakes, decomposition, dissolved organic carbon, permafrost thaw, and carbon cycle; and (d) the five most popular research topics in 2010–2019 were the characteristics and factors influencing frozen soils, the Arctic carbon cycle under the background of its complex environment, permafrost changes on the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau in the context of climate change, ancient frozen soils in various historical periods, and frozen soils in the Arctic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change, land clearing and invasive species are affecting ecosystems in concert, so effective management requires knowledge sharing and collaboration across multiple fields of applied ecological research.We provide an examination of the growth and interconnectivity of four major subfields of applied ecology: climate change biology, conservation biology, invasion biology and restoration ecology; estimated using citations from the entire population of peer‐reviewed journal articles published between 1990 and 2017.Over this period applied ecological research has grown from 2% of new ecology papers to over 20%. The subfields each represented c. 6% of new ecology publications in 2017, with the exception of restoration ecology at c. 3%. Inter‐subfield citation probabilities also increased consistently over our study period.Despite these positive trends, we identified apparent barriers to future integration of these research areas. While the probability that citations in one subfield would include at least one paper from another subfield was high, the magnitude of cross‐subfield citations was low. Subfields also exhibited segregated publishing habits, asynchronous research foci and a strong preference for citing application over theory.Synthesis and applications. Despite strong overall growth in applied ecological research, segregation of subfields in papers and journals may limit opportunities to identify co‐benefits and complementary theoretical frameworks. This has the potential to result in suboptimal ecological management outcomes. Despite strong overall growth in applied ecological research, segregation of subfields in papers and journals may limit opportunities to identify co‐benefits and complementary theoretical frameworks. This has the potential to result in suboptimal ecological management outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An introduction is presented in which the editor discusses physical geography, human geography and climate change.

Extreme high temperatures are associated with increased incidences of rail buckles. Climate change is predicted to alter the temperature profile in the United Kingdom with extreme high temperatures becoming an increasingly frequent occurrence. The result is that the number of buckles, and therefore delays, expected peryear will increase if the track is maintained to the current standard. This paper uses a combination of analogue techniques and a weather generator to quantify the increase in the number of buckles and rail related delays in the southeast of the United Kingdom. The paper concludes by assigning a cost to the resultant rise in delays and damage before making recommendations on how these effects can be mitigated. Copyright © 2008 Royal Meteorological Society [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Metapopulations may be very sensitive to global climate change, particularly if temperature and precipitation change rapidly. We present an analysis of the role of climate and other factors in determining metapopulation structure based on presence and absence data. We compared existing and historical population distributions of desert bighorn sheep ( ) to determine whether regional climate patterns were correlated with local extinction. To examine all mountain ranges known to hold or to have held desert bighorn populations in California and score for variables describing climate, metapopulation dynamics, human impacts, and other environmental factors, we used a geographic information system (GIS) and paper maps. We used logistic regression and hierarchical partitioning to assess the relationship among these variables and the current status of each population (extinct or extant). Parameters related to climate—elevation, precipitation, and presence of dependable springs—were strongly correlated with population persistence in the twentieth century. Populations inhabiting lower, drier mountain ranges were more likely to go extinct. The presence of domestic sheep grazing allotments was negatively correlated with population persistence. We used conditional extinction probabilities generated by the logistic-regression model to rank native, naturally recolonized, and reintroduced populations by vulnerability to extinction under several climate-change scenarios. Thus risk of extinction in metapopulations can be evaluated for global-climate-change scenarios even when few demographic data are available. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Amazon forest has the highest biodiversity on Earth. However, information on Amazonian vertebrate diversity is still deficient and scattered across the published, peer‐reviewed, and gray literature and in unpublished raw data. Camera traps are an effective non‐invasive method of surveying vertebrates, applicable to different scales of time and space. In this study, we organized and standardized camera trap records from different Amazon regions to compile the most extensive data set of inventories of mammal, bird, and reptile species ever assembled for the area. The complete data set comprises 154,123 records of 317 species (185 birds, 119 mammals, and 13 reptiles) gathered from surveys from the Amazonian portion of eight countries (Brazil, Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Peru, Suriname, and Venezuela). The most frequently recorded species per taxa were: mammals: Cuniculus paca (11,907 records); birds: Pauxi tuberosa (3713 records); and reptiles: Tupinambis teguixin (716 records). The information detailed in this data paper opens up opportunities for new ecological studies at different spatial and temporal scales, allowing for a more accurate evaluation of the effects of habitat loss, fragmentation, climate change, and other human‐mediated defaunation processes in one of the most important and threatened tropical environments in the world. The data set is not copyright restricted; please cite this data paper when using its data in publications and we also request that researchers and educators inform us of how they are using these data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

de Senerpont Domis et al. (2013, Freshwater Biology, 58, 463-482) forecasted changes in plankton dynamics in temperate, polar and tropical regions resulting from climate change. For tropical regions, they predicted an increase in precipitation intensity that would increase nutrient loading, increasing phytoplankton biomass and select for plankton adapted to flushing., We do not agree with these predictions, as regional projections from the IPCC did not forecast a major increase in precipitation in tropical regions. The only regions where a slight increase in precipitation was projected were eastern Africa and South- East Asia. In eastern Africa, the major freshwater bodies are large, deep lakes that have very long residence times and are unlikely to be affected by flushing. Moreover, nutrient inputs from their catchment represent a small fraction of their total nutrient loading., Several independent studies carried out in this region have provided evidence of a decrease in primary productivity in some of these large tropical lakes due to climate change. The major process providing nutrients to the euphotic layer is internal loading, which has been reduced as warming of the surface waters has increased the temperature gradient and the water column stability. Moreover, reduced velocity of trade winds during the dry season has affected the mixed layer depth and decreased internal nutrient fluxes. Therefore, the trend for large tropical lakes in a warming climate is oligotrophication, not eutrophication., In tropical South America, the rainfall increase is not the dominant scenario; thus, the predicted changes in plankton dynamics do not stand., Therefore, we believe that the predictions presented in the paper for tropical systems under a changing climate are invalid for most tropical systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To investigate the relative contributions of current vs. historical factors in explaining broad-scale diversity gradients using a combination of contemporary factors and a quantitative estimate of the temporal accessibility of areas for recolonization created by glacial retreat following the most recent Ice Age. The part of the Nearctic region of North America that was covered by ice sheets during the glacial maximum 20 000 BP. We used range maps to estimate the species richness of mammals and terrestrial birds in 48 400 km2 cells. Current conditions in each cell were quantified using seven climatic and topographical variables. Historical conditions were estimated using the number of years before present when an area became exposed as the ice sheets retreated during the post-Pleistocene climate warming. We attempted to tease apart contemporary and historical effects using multiple regression, partial regression and spatial autocorrelation analysis. A measure of current energy inputs, potential evapotranspiration, explained 76–82% of the variance in species richness, but time since deglaciation explained an additional 8–13% of the variance, primarily due to effects operating at large spatial scales. Because of spatial covariation between the historical climates influencing the melting of the ice sheet and current climates, it was not possible to partition their effects fully, but of the independent effects that could be identified, current climate explained two to seven times more variance in richness patterns than age. Factors acting in the present appear to have the strongest influence on the diversity gradient, but an historical signal persisting at least 13 000 years is still detectable. This has implications for modelling changes in diversity patterns in response to future global warming. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Broad-scale spatial patterns of species richness are very strongly correlated with climatic variables. If there is a causal link, i.e. if climate directly or indirectly determines patterns of richness, then when the climatic variables change, richness should change in the manner that spatial correlations between richness and climate would predict. The present study tests this prediction using seasonal changes in climatic variables and bird richness. We used a grid of equal area quadrats (37 000 km2) covering North and Central America as far south as Nicaragua. Summer and winter bird distribution data were drawn from monographs and field guides. Climatic data came from published sources. We also used remotely sensed NDVI (normalized difference vegetation index — a measure of greenness). Bird species richness changes temporally (between summer and winter) in a manner that is close to, but statistically distinguishable from, the change one would predict from models relating the spatial variation in richness at a single time to climatic variables. If one further takes into account the seasonal changes in NDVI and within-season variability of temperature and precipitation, then winter and summer richness follow congruent, statistically indistinguishable patterns. Our results are consistent with the hypothesis that climatic variables (temperature and precipitation) and vegetation cover directly or indirectly influence patterns of bird species richness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: Drought is intensifying globally with climate change, creating an urgency to understand ecosystem response to drought both during and after these events end to limit loss of ecosystem functioning. The literature is replete with studies of how ecosystems respond during drought, yet there are far fewer studies focused on ecosystem dynamics after drought ends. Furthermore, while the terms used to describe drought can be variable and inconsistent, so can those that describe ecosystem responses following drought. With this review, we sought to evaluate and create clear definitions of the terms that ecologists use to describe post‐drought responses. We found that legacy effects, resilience and recovery were used most commonly with respect to post‐drought ecosystem responses, but the definitions used to describe these terms were variable. Based on our review of the literature, we propose a framework for generalizing ecosystem responses after drought ends, which we refer to as 'the post‐drought period'. We suggest that future papers need to clearly describe characteristics of the imposed drought, and we encourage authors to use the term post‐drought period as a general term that encompasses responses after drought ends and use other terms as more specific descriptors of responses during the post‐drought period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Aims: Two main problems the globe currently facing are migration and weather variation. Weather change has a significant impact on the agricultural industry, which affects the majority of poor people. There is a dearth of adequate methodological documentation when examining the relationship between weather variation, agricultural output, and migration. We aimed to identify methodological reporting difficulties by reviewing the quantitative literature on weather‐related migration through agricultural channels. Methods: A systematic evaluation was conducted using papers published between January 2010 and June 2022, indexed in the SCOPUS, PUBMED, and Google Scholar databases. Using inclusion/exclusion criteria, we selected 22 original research articles out of 18,929 distinct articles for review, in accordance with the PRISMA guidelines. We extracted data from each study to understand how various concepts, research designs, and investigative techniques influence our understanding of migration patterns related to weather in the agricultural sector. Results: The majority (64%) of the study's data consisted of time series data. In 50% of the studies, secondary data were used. Additionally, 55% of these studies did not state the sample size. In 40% of the studies, model assumptions were fully adhered to, whereas in 36% of the studies, they were not followed at all. The majority of the articles used the Ordinary Least Squares technique, while about 41% applied the Two‐Stage Least Squares technique. Various tests were conducted across these studies, such as robustness checks (59.1%), endogeneity tests (31.8%), omitted variable bias tests (22.7%), sensitivity analyses (22.7%), and weak instrument tests (13.6%), to name a few. In the research we selected, the methodology section had various shortcomings and lacked organization. Furthermore, the justifications for deviations from model assumptions were unclear, potentially affecting the study outcomes. Conclusion: This study has important indications for researchers in studying climatic (weather) migration through agricultural channels besides for policymakers by giving a thorough review of the methods and techniques. Key points: Providing narrative insights on how various issues, research designs, and analytical techniques shape our understanding of the association between weather variation and migration via agricultural production.Providing a broad overview of the pertinent literature, covering 22 articles, as a complement to earlier studies.Our study has important ramifications for researchers studying climatic (weather) migration through agricultural channels as well as for policymakers by giving a thorough review of the methods and techniques currently used in this sector.Future studies on weather variation, agricultural production, and migration should use prudent and comparable models that capture whole climatic (weather) impacts on migration through mediating factors like agricultural production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The increase in simulated flood inundation areas and depths (6%-31% for different GCMs) in the future showed the importance of improving flood management tools for the sustainable development of urban water environments. The paper by Burch et al. (2010) addresses a different aspect of flood risk management in response to climate change and illustrates an advance in best practice for flood risk management and climate change planning. In terms of flood risk management, NBSs include natural flood management measures (NFMs), and these are the subject of the paper in this VSI by Dittrich et al. (2019). [Extracted from the article]

Governments in the Global South have recently started to align their public procurement regulations considering Green Public Procurement (GPP) guidelines to achieve Sustainable Development Goal 12. In this context, it is important to establish environmental criteria to help decision making after analyzing the variety of options available in the market. Thus, using as examples two of the most acquired products in public procurement in Peru: Medium‐density particleboard melamine furniture and paper offset, the aim of this paper is to determine the main environmental hotspots and therefore show the path to foster GPP in Peru. To achieve this goal, a Life Cycle Assessment was carried out considering it is a suitable environmental management tool to quantify environmental impacts. For this, a set of scenarios were modeled and compared for each of the two products selected, covering different geographical and technological options that are currently purchased by the Peruvian government. Results demonstrated that it is possible to attain considerable reductions in the environmental impact of the products analyzed if the main critical stages throughout their life cycle are identified and adequate solutions are applied to avoid burden shifting. Moreover, we argue that it is important for developing countries to carry out case‐specific life‐cycle inventories as they provide higher‐quality information based on the particular characteristics of regional or local industries, allowing the determination of more realistic environmental impact mitigation benchmarks. Nevertheless, the inclusion of lifecycle‐based criteria in GPP must be performed cautiously, avoiding command and control regulations, as numerous challenges remain in terms of capacity building, environmental awareness, and environmental information, and transparency in emerging and developing economies. Integr Environ Assess Manag 2022;18:1206–1220. © 2021 SETAC Key Points: Latin American governments are currently aligning their public procurement regulations with Green Public Procurement (GPP) guidelines to comply with international environmental recommendations, such as Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) or nationally determined contributions (NDCs).Considering that these nations struggle to develop empirical data to support GPP initiatives, Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is presented as an attractive environmental management tool to quantify environmental impacts and orient GPP regulations.Two of the most acquired public procurement products in Peru, melamine furniture and paper offset, were evaluated using LCA to identify environmental hotspots, the sensitivity of the results through scenario analysis, and improvement actions to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions and other environmental impacts.Despite the existing challenges linked to building environmental information in Peru, case‐specific life‐cycle inventories for regional industries have proved to allow the determination of realistic environmental impact mitigation benchmarks to include in GPP. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper sheds light on an important and under‐researched issue: The sources of information about climate change that teachers use. Utilising a 'scoping review' methodological approach, we analysed over 600 papers to address two main questions: What sources of information about climate change are teachers using? In what ways are teachers using these sources of information? Through our use of inclusive search terms and detailed analysis of papers, we found only 13 studies of relevance, none of which primarily focus on the sources of information teachers use. The 13 studies are all located in the Global North, and within this nearly half are in the USA. Methodologically, all apart from two rely on teachers' reports rather than observation or other methods. Four types of sources of information were frequently mentioned: The Internet; government sources; mass media and professional development courses. The 'superabundance' of information now available to teachers (particularly online), the importance of high‐quality information for students' understandings of climate change, and the limited research on the sources of information about climate change that teachers use makes this is a significant blind spot for research to address. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Near‐term freshwater forecasts, defined as sub‐daily to decadal future predictions of a freshwater variable with quantified uncertainty, are urgently needed to improve water quality management as freshwater ecosystems exhibit greater variability due to global change. Shifting baselines in freshwater ecosystems due to land use and climate change prevent managers from relying on historical averages for predicting future conditions, necessitating near‐term forecasts to mitigate freshwater risks to human health and safety (e.g., flash floods, harmful algal blooms) and ecosystem services (e.g., water‐related recreation and tourism). To assess the current state of freshwater forecasting and identify opportunities for future progress, we synthesized freshwater forecasting papers published in the past 5 years. We found that freshwater forecasting is currently dominated by near‐term forecasts of water quantity and that near‐term water quality forecasts are fewer in number and in the early stages of development (i.e., non‐operational) despite their potential as important preemptive decision support tools. We contend that more freshwater quality forecasts are critically needed and that near‐term water quality forecasting is poised to make substantial advances based on examples of recent progress in forecasting methodology, workflows, and end‐user engagement. For example, current water quality forecasting systems can predict water temperature, dissolved oxygen, and algal bloom/toxin events 5 days ahead with reasonable accuracy. Continued progress in freshwater quality forecasting will be greatly accelerated by adapting tools and approaches from freshwater quantity forecasting (e.g., machine learning modeling methods). In addition, future development of effective operational freshwater quality forecasts will require substantive engagement of end users throughout the forecast process, funding, and training opportunities. Looking ahead, near‐term forecasting provides a hopeful future for freshwater management in the face of increased variability and risk due to global change, and we encourage the freshwater scientific community to incorporate forecasting approaches in water quality research and management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Policies on risk constitute a core topic of risk analysis and risk science, and it is common at risk conferences to present real‐life cases of such policies, for example related to the handling of climate change and pandemics. Although these are of broad interest, showing how important issues in society are dealt with, it can be questioned to what extent and how these cases contribute to enhancing risk analysis and risk science. The present paper addresses this concern. It is argued that, in order to learn from the cases, they need in general to be more thoroughly followed up with discussions of concepts, principles, approaches, and methods for assessing, characterizing, communicating and handling risk. Describing a governmental policy on, for example, the handling of COVID‐19 is a point of departure for interesting discussions concerning its justification and performance, in particular in relation to risk and the most updated knowledge from the risk analysis field. Such discussions are, however, often lacking. The paper points to some key obstacles and challenges for the learning process, including the difficulty of distinguishing between policies, policy analysis, and politics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tropical rainforests in Southeast Asia dominated by Dipterocarpaceae show a unique reproductive event, general flowering. This paper records long‐term seed production of a tropical rainforest in Pasoh Forest Reserve, Peninsular Malaysia. Study site is a lowland dipterocarp forest dominated by Dipterocarpaceae and Fabaceae. Seed and other litter production data are essential for analyzing general flowering and evaluating net primary production (NPP) of rainforest ecosystems under climate change. Unfortunately, there is a lack of long‐term litter production data in Dipterocarp forests. This paper presents such a long‐term litter data from 1992 to 2017. We collected litter samples every month from May 1992 to December 2017 in Pasoh F.R., Peninsular Malaysia (2°59′N, 102°18′E, 120–152 m a.s.l.). Litter was collected using 100 litter traps spaced evenly within a 2‐ha core area of the 6‐ha study plot. Each litter trap was made of 1 mm mesh with a circular area of 0.5 m2 from May 8, 1992 to December 22, 1998. Then litter trap was changed to a square type with 4 mm mesh until now. Litter samples were collected and separated to leaf, flower, seed and others (debris). After sorting litter samples were dried at 85°C for 48 hr and weighed. Seeds and flowers were separated according to tentative morphological types and identified. This data paper contains two data sets. Litter data set contains weight of each litter fractions. Seed data set contains number and weight of morphological seed types and identified scientific name. This data paper presents litter weight and seed production data sets from 1992 to 2017 in a lowland dipterocarp forests in Pasoh Forest Reserve, Peninsular Malaysia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This note offers a glimpse of the author's PhD thesis on the Limits of Bioenergy, which was defended at Imperial College London in 2014. The thesis was also presented as a conference paper in the 59th Annual Meeting of the International Society for the Systems Sciences in Berlin, 2015, receiving the Sir Geoffrey Vickers Memorial Award. This research note gives a brief overview on the proposed complex systems approach to land use dynamics and constraints, as a contribution to the climate change debate. A full scientific article with the whole methodology and original results is already under publication process by the author and his colleagues. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Inland waters are among the most threatened biodiversity hotspots. Ponds located in alpine areas are experiencing more rapid and dramatic water temperature increases than any other biome. Despite their prevalence, alpine ponds and their biodiversity responses to climate change have been poorly explored, reflecting their small size and difficult access. To understand the effects of climate change on alpine pond biodiversity, we performed a comprehensive literature review for papers published since 1955. Through analysis of their geographic distribution, environmental features, and biodiversity values, we identified which environmental factors related to climate change would have direct or indirect effects on alpine pond biodiversity. We then synthesized this information to produce a conceptual model of the effects of climate change on alpine pond biodiversity. Increased water temperature, reduced hydroperiod, and loss of connectivity between alpine ponds were the main drivers of biodiversity geographic distribution, leading to predictable changes in spatial patterns of biodiversity. We identified three major research gaps that, if addressed, can guide conservation and restoration strategies for alpine ponds biodiversity in an uncertain future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents the methodology for the construction of the KNMI'23 national climate scenarios for the Netherlands. We have developed six scenarios, that cover a substantial part of the uncertainty in CMIP6 projections of future climate change in the region. Different sources of uncertainty are disentangled as much as possible, partly by means of a storyline approach. Uncertainty in future emissions is covered by making scenarios conditional on different SSP scenarios (SSP1‐2.6, SSP2‐4.5, and SSP5‐8.5). For each SSP scenario and time horizon (2050, 2100, 2150), we determine a global warming level based on the median of the constrained estimates of climate sensitivity from IPCC AR6. The remaining climate model uncertainty of the regional climate response at these warming levels is covered by two storylines, which are designed with a focus on the annual and seasonal mean precipitation response (a dry‐trending and wet‐trending variant for each SSP). This choice was motivated by the importance of future water management to society. For users with specific interests we provide means how to account for the impact of the uncertainty in climate sensitivity. Since CMIP6 GCM data do not provide the required spatial detail for impact modeling, we reconstruct the CMIP6 responses by resampling internal variability in a GCM‐RCM initial‐condition ensemble. The resulting climate scenarios form a detailed storyline of plausible future climates in the Netherlands. The data can be used for impact calculations and assessments by stakeholders, and will be used to inform policy making in different sectors of Dutch society. Plain Language Summary: To prepare society for the effects of future climate change, we need to know what the future climate will be like. In this paper we explain the method that is used to construct six different scenarios that describe possible future climates of the Netherlands. The scenarios make assumptions about future greenhouse gas emissions, and are based on the outcomes of climate models that simulate the response of the climate to these emissions. The KNMI'23 climate scenarios show that strongly reducing global emissions strongly reduces the expected changes in the climate of the Netherlands. In the scenario in which global emissions continue to rise until 2080, Dutch society will have to adapt to a much stronger increases in heat and precipitation extremes, increased risks of droughts with low river discharge in summer, and increased risk of flooding due to high river discharges in winter. In the coming years the climate scenario data will be used to evaluate what needs to be done to keep the country a safe place for people to live in and to thrive in, under changing climate conditions. Key Points: We present a methodology for the construction of regional climate scenarios using a storyline approach to partition uncertaintyResults from CMIP6 are reconstructed with a GCM‐RCM initial condition ensemble to produce high‐resolution scenario data for end‐usersSix scenario variants cover emission uncertainty (high, moderate, low) and uncertainty in the regional response (dry‐trending, wet‐trending) [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As the Arctic and its rivers continue to warm, a better understanding of the possible future impacts on people would benefit from close partnership with Indigenous communities and scientists from diverse fields of study. We present efforts by the Arctic Rivers Project to conduct community‐engaged research to increase collective understanding of the historical and potential future impacts of climate change on rivers, fish, and Indigenous communities. Working in central to northern Alaska and the Yukon Territory in Canada, the project seeks to engage with Indigenous communities in ethical and equitable ways to produces science that is useful, useable, and used that may serve as an example for future research efforts. Toward this goal, we formed an Indigenous Advisory Council and together developed project‐specific knowledge co‐production protocols. This paper provides a novel model of design and implementation to co‐produce knowledge with communities across a large study domain. Plain Language Summary: The Arctic and rivers located in the Arctic and subarctic are warming due to climate change. To understand the impacts this warming will have on people, partnering with impacted Indigenous communities in the region is important. It is also important that these partnerships are ethical and equitable and produce science that is actionable. This paper discusses efforts undertaken by a specific project, the Arctic Rivers Project, to conduct ethical and equitable research with Indigenous communities and generate science that is useful to those communities. Through this research our goal is to better understand potential future impacts of climate change on rivers, fish, and Indigenous communities in central northern Alaska and the Yukon Territory in Canada. To achieve this goal, the project formed an Indigenous Advisory Council (IAC) and together developed guidelines for how we can work collaboratively with Indigenous communities. Our specific process of forming an IAC and guidelines is, to our knowledge, a new way to approach collaborative research when working across a large geographic area. We present our process here so that it may provide an example for other research efforts. Key Points: Arctic climate information can be made useful, useable, and used by equitably accounting for diverse community adaptation needs through knowledge co‐productionInstitutional and community capacity, including means and ability, is necessary for equitable knowledge co‐production to occurWe present an approach for co‐producing knowledge with Indigenous communities that can serve as an example for other scientific efforts [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Practical experiments drive important scientific discoveries in biology, but theory‐based research studies also contribute novel—sometimes paradigm‐changing—findings. Here, we appraise the roles of theory‐based approaches focusing on the experiment‐dominated wet‐biology research areas of microbial growth and survival, cell physiology, host–pathogen interactions, and competitive or symbiotic interactions. Additional examples relate to analyses of genome‐sequence data, climate change and planetary health, habitability, and astrobiology. We assess the importance of thought at each step of the research process; the roles of natural philosophy, and inconsistencies in logic and language, as drivers of scientific progress; the value of thought experiments; the use and limitations of artificial intelligence technologies, including their potential for interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary research; and other instances when theory is the most‐direct and most‐scientifically robust route to scientific novelty including the development of techniques for practical experimentation or fieldwork. We highlight the intrinsic need for human engagement in scientific innovation, an issue pertinent to the ongoing controversy over papers authored using/authored by artificial intelligence (such as the large language model/chatbot ChatGPT). Other issues discussed are the way in which aspects of language can bias thinking towards the spatial rather than the temporal (and how this biased thinking can lead to skewed scientific terminology); receptivity to research that is non‐mainstream; and the importance of theory‐based science in education and epistemology. Whereas we briefly highlight classic works (those by Oakes Ames, Francis H.C. Crick and James D. Watson, Charles R. Darwin, Albert Einstein, James E. Lovelock, Lynn Margulis, Gilbert Ryle, Erwin R.J.A. Schrödinger, Alan M. Turing, and others), the focus is on microbiology studies that are more‐recent, discussing these in the context of the scientific process and the types of scientific novelty that they represent. These include several studies carried out during the 2020 to 2022 lockdowns of the COVID‐19 pandemic when access to research laboratories was disallowed (or limited). We interviewed the authors of some of the featured microbiology‐related papers and—although we ourselves are involved in laboratory experiments and practical fieldwork—also drew from our own research experiences showing that such studies can not only produce new scientific findings but can also transcend barriers between disciplines, act counter to scientific reductionism, integrate biological data across different timescales and levels of complexity, and circumvent constraints imposed by practical techniques. In relation to urgent research needs, we believe that climate change and other global challenges may require approaches beyond the experiment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article invites research papers from scholars for the special issue of the "British Journal of Management" in 2018, that should focus on topics including global climate change, sustainable marketing, and organizational behaviour.

One key aspect of the Anthropocene is the inherent disparities between the Global North and the Global South. These differences manifest in the causes and impacts of pollution, climate change, and species extinctions, but are they also present in the ways we write about the Anthropocene? We examine 77 peer‐reviewed papers spanning 2009–2019 that explicitly feature conservation in an Anthropocene context. We compare these papers to a control group of papers that feature conservation but do not engage specifically with the Anthropocene literature. We found that both "Anthropocene" and "conservation" papers include a disproportionately large number of authors with affiliations in the Global North, despite half of the research taking place in the Global South. Moreover, this overrepresentation occurs regardless of author position or journal impact factor. We find that 84% of Anthropocene articles and 91% of conservation articles occurring in the Global North had a first author from the country of study, as opposed to only 55% of Anthropocene articles and 62% of conservation articles from the Global South. Studies occurring in the Global North almost always had at least one coauthor from the country of study (96% of Anthropocene articles and 97% of conservation articles). In contrast, only 81% of Anthropocene articles and 83% of conservation articles occurring in the Global South had any local coauthors. We used two text‐mining algorithms to characterize the authorship networks and topics occurring in Anthropocene and conservation papers. These analyses showed that while both groups are interdisciplinary, Anthropocene papers had more distributed authorship networks and greater linkages across topics, and therefore have a flatter "topic surface" than the conservation papers. Our work suggests that conservation research programs that are explicitly grounded in the Anthropocene as a theoretical framework are more likely to reach across disciplinary lines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The papers included in this special issue have been selected from those presented at the 2019 International Conference on Regional Science held in Castellón, Spain, at the University Jaume I on November 20-22, 2019, organized by the Spanish Regional Science Association and the Local Development Institute of University Jaume I. The conference theme on 'Tackling with societal, technological, and climate challenges in pheripheral territories' was selected because peripheral regions have become an essential objective of regional science. In any case, the results suggest that increasing the share of creative industries would have significant positive effects for most Mediterranean regions. They associate the positive results with spillover effects on highly skilled workers' productivity that more than compensate for the low-skilled workers' loss in productivity due to their exclusion. [Extracted from the article]

Collaboration is strongly promoted as an effective means for cities to respond to climate change. While collaboration is perceived to offer opportunities to progress climate action in cities, little is known about how collaboration can enable low‐carbon transformation in practice. Furthermore, while collaboration is largely framed as a positive endeavour, there is a need to more carefully explore the challenges and barriers that may arise. This paper explores the aims, processes, and outcomes of collaboration within urban climate governance. Drawing on a policy review and semi‐structured interviews, we present empirical findings from the case study of Hong Kong. This paper identifies three types of collaboration that are structured by regulations, oriented to policy goals, and emerge as everyday practices within the governance of climate change and the energy system. The forms of collaboration challenge the assumptions that collaboration always brings positive outcomes in mobilising action for climate change. While collaboration opens up different modes of governance within cities, the paper highlights significant barriers in terms of the diverse roles of actors, ongoing power imbalances, and shifting governance spaces for intervention. Given the prevailing interest in working together, it is critical to review carefully how collaboration facilitates cities to achieve their climate goals and create momentum for action. The paper explores the opportunities and challenges of collaborative climate governance. It draws on a case study of Hong Kong and identifies three modes of collaborative climate and energy governance: regulatory, consensual, and participatory. The paper challenges the assumption that collaboration brings positive outcomes for action on climate change and offers new insights into potential barriers for climate action in cities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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An important component of the risks from climate change arises from outcomes that are very unlikely, but whose impacts if they were to occur would be extremely severe. Examples include levels of surface warming, or changes in the water cycle, that are at the extreme of plausible ranges, or crossing of a climate system "tipping point" such as ice sheet or ocean circulation instability. If such changes were to occur their impacts on infrastructure or ecosystems may exceed existing plans for adaptation. The traditional approach of ensemble climate change projections is not well suited to managing these High Impact‐Low Likelihood (HILL) risks, where the objective is to "prepare for the worst" rather than to "plan for what's likely." In this paper we draw together a number of ideas from recent literature, to classify four types of HILL climate outcome and to propose the development of a practical "toolkit" of physical climate information that can be used in future to inform HILL risk management. The toolkit consists of several elements that would need to be developed for each plausible HILL climate outcome, then deployed individually to develop targeted HILL risk management approaches for individual sectors. We argue that development of the HILL toolkit should be an important focus for physical climate research over the coming decade, and that the time is right for a focused assessment of HILL risks by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change in its 7th Assessment Cycle. Plain Language Summary: To prepare for the risks that arise from climate change (and avoid them where possible), it is important to understand how climate is likely to change in future, and what the impacts are likely to be. Over many years, climate science has developed sophisticated climate projections to estimate these likely impacts, and these are widely used to plan how people and societies will need to adapt to climate change. However it is also important to understand possibilities that are unlikely, but would have even more severe impacts if they did occur—for example, global warming levels at the high end of plausible estimates, or crossing a "tipping point" for major changes in ice sheets or ocean currents. A different type of information is needed to plan for these risks. In this paper we propose a new set of climate information "tools" to respond to these high‐impact risks. The tools include plausible scenarios of extreme outcomes, and early warning systems to detect if they are on the horizon. Combining these new tools with existing climate projections will allow society to understand more fully the risks of climate change, and to plan for the likely effects while preparing for the worst. Key Points: Climate outcomes or events that have a high impact are a key component of climate risk, even if their likelihood is lowTraditional climate projections are of limited use to inform management of high impact‐low likelihood risksPhysical climate science needs an increased focus on storylines, early warning and monitoring to inform management of high impact risks [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fire has always been an important component of many ecosystems, but anthropogenic global climate change is now altering fire regimes over much of Earth's land surface, spurring a more urgent need to understand the physical, biological, and chemical processes associated with fire as well as its effects on human societies. In 2020, AGU launched a Special Collection that spanned 10 journals, soliciting papers under the theme "Fire in the Earth System" to encourage state‐of‐the‐art publications in fire‐related science. The completed Special Collection comprises more than 100 papers. Here, we summarize the articles published in this collection, considering them to be grouped into seven themes: paleofire and its ties to climate; evolution of fire patterns in the recent past and the future, including the effects of ongoing climate change; physical (atmospheric) and chemical processes associated with fire; ecosystem effects, including on biogeochemical cycles; physical landscape change after fire and its associated hazards; fire effects on water quality, air quality, and human health; and new methods and technologies applied to fire research. Plain Language Summary: In 2020, AGU launched a Special Collection that spanned 10 journals, soliciting papers under the theme "Fire in the Earth System" to encourage state‐of‐the‐art publications in fire‐related science. The completed Special Collection comprises more than 100 papers. This Introduction summarizes the articles published in the Special Collection. Key Points: This introduction summarizes papers published through the Fire in the Earth System Special Collection [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Water is central to sustainable development as established in the official report of the High Level Panel on Water of the United Nations and World Bank. Such strategic importance of water justifies global demand for investment from all sources in the water sector to not only provide much needed infrastructure but also enhance the capacity of management and governance necessary to cope with complex water problems and risks, particularly under changing conditions characterized by climate change, urbanization, and environmental degradation. Yet, how to finance the investment need to build a strong water sector for sustainability is a practical question that has been gaining wide attention globally. This paper synthesizes current knowledge and understanding of water investment finance. It examines and characterizes water finance and challenges, encompassing economics and practice of financing water investment needs, the commonly considered finance model, and barriers for water finance in relation to the unique features of water investment needs and the water sector. It introduces some promising practices adopted or advocated to address the financing challenges, and highlights key governance and institutional strategies to help bridge the funding gap in the water sector. Based on the synthesis, the paper offers some discussion on the water finance issue in the end. This paper hopes to connect academia and development practice to stimulate communication while informing policy and management reform to better promote financing water investment for sustainability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores whether environmental management activities and corporate commitment to tackle climate change concerns play a role in hedging a company's market valuation after a political or economic shock. Based on the literature on corporate social responsibility (CSR) and insurance‐like effects, this study advances knowledge on the impact of companies' engagement to tackle climate change on share price variation after the 2016 Brexit Referendum. The study also contributes to the limited number of studies using a difference‐in‐differences (DID) methodology in the CSR and climate change research area. Specifically, it uses DID, a natural experimental research design, and a multi‐variate regression analysis. The paper concludes that companies' concrete commitment to climate change has a buffer role in mitigating uncertainty related to Brexit. As the study found that financial markets reward companies that pay attention through the adoption of concrete actions and best practices on environmental issues during uncertain periods with respect to those that do not, the findings are in line with previous literature suggesting that corporate environmental commitment plays a buffering role during troubling periods. Results on the buffer role played by screenings, assessments, or disclosure activities to address environmental issues are unclear. We thus argue that during uncertain times, markets sustain companies taking proactive actions to tackle climate change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Weather and climate‐related human mobility (climate mobilities) including displacement are often viewed as security concerns. The recent coronavirus (COVID‐19) pandemic adds yet another layer of complexity which calls for unpacking these connections. This paper explores how existing patterns of migration and displacement that are driven by climate change impacts are compounded by the ongoing COVID‐19 pandemic. First, the paper outlines the links between extreme weather events and human mobility to then explore how the impacts from COVID‐19 interact, cascade and compound pre‐existing vulnerabilities of people on the move. Examining the ways in which climate change is potentially driving or shifting patterns of climate mobility allows a shared understanding of this complex issue to be gained. This paper contextualises the compounding impacts with a geographical focus on Bangladesh, a well‐known climate hotspot. The paper contributes to the debates on impacts and human responses to climate change and concludes with a set of policy recommendations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper systematically reviews the burgeoning but fragmented body of literature on climate change disclosure in the first two decades of the 21st century. Although there is an increasing trend for organizations to engage in climate change disclosure, the level of transparency, which is the key to allowing organizations to be responsible and accountable, varies significantly. We have synthesized current research findings on disclosure practice, antecedents, and outcomes into an integrative framework. In light of this framework, a more theoretically informed construct of carbon transparency is introduced in this review paper. We further highlight some research gaps supplementing with promising theorizing opportunities to encourage future works that can go beyond the extant scope of inquiry. Given the urgency of the current carbon budget, more studies are encouraged to examine the mechanism under which carbon transparency can lead to enhanced carbon performance in addressing climate change at the micro‐organization level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper assesses the stabilization properties of fixed versus flexible exchange rate regimes and aims to answer this research question: Does greater exchange rate flexibility help an economy's adjustment to weather shocks? To address this question, the impact of weather shocks on real per capita GDP growth is quantified under the two alternative exchange rate regimes. We find that although weather shocks are generally detrimental to per capita income growth, the impact is less severe under flexible exchange rate regimes. Moreover, the medium‐term adverse growth impact of a 1°C increase in temperature under a pegged regime is about −1.4 percentage points on average, while under a flexible regime, the impact is less than one half that amount (−0.6 percentage point). This finding bolsters the idea that exchange rate flexibility not only helps mitigate the initial impact of the shock but also promotes a faster recovery. Importantly, there is evidence of nonlinear effects, whereby greater exchange rate flexibility can be more beneficial for EMDCs with hotter climates. In terms of mechanisms, our findings suggest that the depreciation of the nominal exchange rate under a flexible regime supports real export growth. In contrast to standard theoretical predictions, we find that countercyclical fiscal policy may not be effective under pegged regimes amid high debt, highlighting the importance of the policy mix and precautionary (fiscal) buffers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As we contemplate the future of forest landscapes under changing climate conditions and land‐use demands, there is increasing value in studying historic forest conditions and how these landscapes have changed following past disturbances. Historic landscape paintings are a potential source of data on preindustrial forests with highly detailed, full‐color depictions of overstory and understory environments. They display key details about forest community composition, microhabitat features, and structural complexity from a time well before the advent of color photography. Despite these paintings' potential, their scientific applications have been impeded by questions of validity. How truly accurate are the images portrayed in these paintings? How much of an image is an artist's manipulation of a scene to best illustrate an allegory or romanticized view of nature? Following an established assessment model from historical ecology for evaluating resource validity, we demonstrate how scholarship on art history can be integrated with ecological understanding of forest landscapes to follow this model and address these questions of image veracity in 19th century American art. Further, to illustrate the potential use of these historic images in ecological studies, we present in a case study assessing microhabitat features of 10 different paintings. While this paper explores 19th century landscape art broadly, we focus our art historical review in particular on Asher Durand, a prolific and influential artist associated with the so‐called "Hudson River School" in the mid‐1800s. Durand left clear records about his perspectives on accurately depicting nature, and from a review of images and writings of Durand, we find support for the potential use of many of his paintings and sketches in historic forest ecology research. However, we also identify important caveats regarding potential ecological interpretations from these images. More broadly, because 19th century landscape paintings are not always directly transcriptive, and because regional art cultures differed in the 1800s, we cannot within this paper speak about landscape image veracity across all 19th century landscape art. However, in following established methods in historical ecology and integrating tools from art history research, we show that one can identify accurate historic landscape paintings for application in scientific studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Pitt Review of the 2007 summer floods in the UK, published in 2008, commended the potential of natural flood management (NFM) for reducing flood risk. NFM is a nature‐based approach that has since gained substantial interest from both practitioners and academics. The review further highlighted the need for catchment‐based flood management (CBFM) to enhance resilience to flooding and climate change by incorporating NFM and wider nature‐based solutions into hard flood protection systems. Such integrated approaches are considered to be more sustainable and adaptable than the traditional hard‐engineered measures. More recently, the European Commission's European Green Deal also highlighted the need for greater use of nature‐based solutions including NFM for managing flood risk. Whilst there have been many attempts to quantify the effects of NFM through hydraulic and hydrological modelling, there is still no systematic review conducted for these modelling works. This review aims to summarise the current NFM modelling approaches, as well as discussing their key limitations related to data, model methods, and real‐world applications. This paper then goes further to highlight potential solutions to some of these challenges and provides guidance to assist modellers to improve future modelling and data collection process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Agricultural production systems currently face multiple challenges: Climate change, natural resource depletion, and supply chain disruption, together with global population growth. As sustainable agriculture must simultaneously deliver myriad services (e.g. provide food security, maintain natural resources, retain and improve framers' profitability, and sustain biodiversity), a systemic and multidisciplinary approach is thus needed. In this context, new technologies based on sensors, automatic machines, robots, and digital applications show much potential. The special section of the Agronomy Journal, entitled, "Agricultural and Biological Sciences: Plant, Soil, Animal and Environment Nutrient Management," brings together a coherent set of research studies. All papers published in this special section address current, relevant topics for agriculture, biology and environmental sciences with a multidisciplinary approach aimed at generating new scientific information on digital technologies, bioinformatics, plant science, soil resources, agricultural waste, and environmentally conscious approaches. A total of 58 papers were submitted, each of which was evaluated by expert reviewers using a double‐blind reviewing process and 25 full text papers were accepted for publication in the special section. The present paper highlights the findings of the published papers, with the aim of bringing cutting‐edge innovation to applied research in agriculture and biology. The published papers here provide new knowledge and viable solutions for better performance in agricultural and biological sciences. New technologies will change the concept of farming and agribusiness making it more profitable, efficient, safer, attractive, simple, smart, and finally sustainable. Rural development and food security policies must support and finance the easiest possible access to new technologies for agricultural producers. Core Ideas: New technologies in agriculture are pivotal for innovative cropping systems that improve climate resilience.Modern farms get significant benefits from new technologies.The special section, "Agricultural and Biological Sciences: Plant, Soil, Animal and Environment nutrient Management," provides both new knowledge from the cutting‐edge research and practical solutions to serious problems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change has impacted the world as we know it and will continue to do so unless radical steps are taken. These steps involve complex ethical decisions that will need to be made by leaders worldwide. This systematic literature review on the ethics of climate change from 1992 to 2020 reveals three key areas of research: the ethics of who bears the cost of climate change, market solutions, and geoengineering and non‐market solutions. Emerging research areas relate to the ethics of population, displacement and resettlement, and leadership. This paper reveals an intrinsic relationship between ethics and climate change that extends beyond a purely economic and emissions‐based perspective. An ethical perspective must be utilised to ensure that any amelioration efforts are equitable and consider those at the margins, including those in developing nations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]