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Territories are at the forefront of efforts to curtail the trajectory of their environmental impacts and enhance their economic and ecological resilience. To expedite the process of curving the ecological footprint, France has launched the Ecological Transition Plan (ETP). However, environmental programs in France are orchestrated at the national and regional levels, which tends to diminish the heterogeneity of territorial dynamics. This underscores a disparity in scale that might potentially hinder the translation of the ETP's objectives (Top-Down) into feasible local initiatives (Bottom-Up), and vice versa. To bridge this gap, we suggest employing the Ecological Footprint as a monitoring framework, in conjunction with a spatially-nested approach. This combination aims to guarantee the precise conversion of objectives into impactful local actions. Results reveal that only 27% of French territories are encountering an ecological deficit, while the remaining 73% are classified as ecological reserves. The primary sectors contributing to this ecological overshoot are “road transport” (28.8%), followed by “industry” (21.4%), and “agriculture” (19.5%). We posit that this spatially-nested analysis can unravel territorial heterogeneities and facilitate the design of more nuanced and appropriately tailored ecological actions across different scales.

Understanding biodiversity patterns and its environmental drivers is crucial to meet conservation targets and develop effective monitoring tools. Inconspicuous species such as lichens require special attention since they are ecologically important but sensitive species that are often overlooked in conservation planning. Remote sensing (RS) can be particularly beneficial for these species as in combination with modelling techniques it allows planners to assess and better understand biodiversity patterns. This study aims to model the lichen α-diversity (species richness) and β-diversity (species turnover) biodiversity components using high resolution RS variables across a subarctic region in Northern Quebec (∼190.25 km2). Two sensors, one commercial (WorldView-3, WV3) and another freely accessible (Sentinel-2, S2), at different resolutions (1.2 m and 10 m, respectively) were tested separately to develop our variables and feed the models. Lichens were sampled in 45 plots across different habitat types, ranging from forested habitats (coniferous, deciduous) to wetlands (bogs, fens) and rocky outcrops. Two sets of uncorrelated variables (Red and NIR; EVI2) from each sensor were parallelly used to build the α- and β-diversity models (8 models in total) through Poisson regressions and generalized dissimilarity modelling (GDM), respectively. Red and NIR variables were useful for modeling the two biodiversity components at both resolutions, providing information on stand canopy closure and structure, respectively. EVI2, especially from WV3, was only informative for assessing β-diversity, providing similar information than Red. Poisson models explained up to 32 % of the variation in lichen α-diversity, with Red, NIR and EVI2, either from WV3 or S2, showing negative relationships with lichen richness. GDMs described well the relationship between β-diversity and spectral dissimilarity (R2 from 0.25 to 0.30), except for the S2 EVI2 model (R2 = 0.07), confirming that more spectrally and thus environmentally different areas tend to harbor different lichen communities. While WV3 often outperformed the S2 sensor, the latter still provides a powerful tool for the study of lichens and their conservation. This study contributes to improve our knowledge and to inform on the use of RS to understand biodiversity patterns of inconspicuous species, which we consider to be an essential step to enhance their representation in conservation planning.

Seagrass meadows form the foundation of many coastal ecosystems, but are rapidly declining on a global scale. To conserve and restore these key-ecosystems, improved understanding of drivers behind seagrass presence and recovery is needed. Many animals are known to both facilitate and inhibit seagrasses, but biotic factors are still rarely used as indicators of seagrass presence. Hence, we investigate if macrozoobenthos could be used as an indicator for intertidal seagrass (Zostera marina and Zostera noltii) habitat suitability in the international Wadden Sea. Additionally, we explore if macrozoobenthos can explain the differing seagrass recovery rates that have been observed between the Northern (Denmark and Schleswig Holstein) and Southern (Lower Saxony and Netherlands) regions of the Wadden Sea. To achieve this, we performed a Wadden Sea-wide survey at 36 intertidal locations, across three countries, and investigated the importance of 21 abiotic and biotic variables in explaining the presence and absence of intertidal seagrasses. Seagrass presence or absence could be reliably predicted (prediction error: 16.7%) with a multivariate logistic regression with only four variables; chlorophyll a, bivalve, ragworm and mudsnail biomass. We also found higher chlorophyll concentrations and ragworm biomass in the South compared to the Northern Wadden Sea, suggesting that eutrophication and associated community shifts might still inhibit seagrass recovery in the South. Our findings highlight the potential of using macrozoobenthos as indicators for seagrass habitat suitability. In areas, like the Dutch Wadden Sea, where macrozoobenthic surveys are common and where benthic data is readily available, our findings can be used to improve the understanding of seagrass recovery dynamics and the selection of suitable seagrass restoration sites.

• We propose extending monitoring time series for phytoplankton using sedimentary DNA. • A simple two-species ddPCR reaction for a diatom and a dinoflagellate can deliver an index ecosystem assessment. • We reveal the timing of recent anthropogenic changes and evaluate local ecosystem stability and good ecological status across millennia. Marginal sea ecosystems, such as the Baltic Sea, are severely affected by anthropogenic pressures, such as climate warming, pollution, and eutrophication, which increased in the course of the past century. Biodiversity monitoring data and assessment of environmental status in such systems have typically been carried out only for the past few decades, if at all, and knowledge on pre-impact stability and good ecological status is limited. An extension of monitoring time series can potentially be achieved through analyses of paleoecological records, e.g. for phytoplankton, which form the base of the food web and are highly susceptible to environmental changes. Within the phytoplankton community, dinoflagellates and diatoms play a significant role as primary producers, and their relative dominance in the spring bloom, calculated as Dia/Dino index, is used as an indicator for the environmental status of the Baltic Sea. To extend time series on the dominance patterns and include non-fossilized dinoflagellates, we here establish a simple droplet digital PCR (ddPCR) reaction on ancient DNA from sediment cores that decodes phytoplankton dynamics. We focus on two common spring bloom species, the diatom Skeletonema marinoi and the dinoflagellate Apocalathium malmogiense , for which we evaluate a DNA based dominance index. It performs very well in comparison to DNA metabarcoding and modern monitoring and can elucidate past species dominance across the past century and across millennia in different basins of the Baltic. For the past century, we see a dominance shift already starting before the mid-20th century in two of the Baltic Sea basins, thus substantially predating current monitoring programs. Shifts are only partly coeval among the cores and the index shows different degrees of stability. This pattern is confirmed across millennia, where a long-term stable relationship between the diatom and the dinoflagellate is observed in the Eastern Gotland Basin, while data from the Gulf of Finland bear testimony to a much more unstable relationship. This confirms that good ecological status based on the dominance pattern of diatoms and dinoflagellates must be established locally and exemplifies how sediment core DNA can be employed to extend monitoring data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Degraded red spruce (Picea rubens)-northern hardwood ecosystems are the focus of restoration efforts across high-elevation landscapes in the Central Appalachian region of the eastern United States. To promote ecosystem function and long-term sustainability of restored forests, it is important to understand the associated biota, including bird communities. Certain bird species could serve as ecological indicators, with potential applications for evaluating restoration efforts. However, contemporary and statistically rigorous studies of red spruce bird communities in this region are lacking, as is a formal analysis of indicator species. The purpose of this study was to use multivariate regression trees and indicator species analyses to determine if bird communities and individual bird species, respectively, are strongly associated with the red spruce-northern hardwood ecosystem in Central Appalachia. Specifically, we assessed those associations with three distinct but complementary sets of forest characteristics, focusing on (1) red spruce and northern hardwood forest types, (2) classes of percent red spruce cover, and (3) red spruce and northern hardwood stand size classes. Community-wide avian point count survey data were collected in mid-May to mid-July 2010–2019 at 645 sampling points located in forest stands throughout the Monongahela National Forest in West Virginia. We found that red spruce and northern hardwood forest types had distinct bird communities within the study area, and that community composition differed among red spruce cover classes. In addition, forest type was more influential on bird community composition than stand size class (poletimber or sawtimber). Eleven indicator species were consistently associated with red spruce forests, whereas fewer species were identified as indicator species for northern hardwood forests. Ultimately, the distinctiveness of the bird community in red spruce forests and strength of those associations highlight the critical need for and importance of restoration efforts targeting red spruce-northern hardwood ecosystems in the Central Appalachians to ensure long-term maintenance of regional avian diversity.

We investigated the use of multisensory satellite data to determine long-term changes in surface chlorophyll concentrations using a 19-year (1998–2016) time series of chlorophyll data in the Danish Kattegat region of the Baltic Sea. Merged satellite estimates (SeaWiFS-MODIS/Aqua-MERIS-VIIRS) were compared with in situ ship based time series from four monitoring stations situated with increasing distance from land and nutrient sources. In situ and satellite derived estimates showed similar trend in chlorophyll with several fold higher values closer to land. Satellites aligned very well with in situ estimates in the open water stations but showed significant differences in magnitude and inter-annual variability, in particular in shallow coastal waters. Some systematic deviation was observed with satellite underestimating the growing season average for the earlier periods (1998–2002) and overestimating for the later period (2012–2016) compared to in situ estimates. Comparing growing season chlorophyll means over the 19 year period showed increasing magnitude and variability in nearshore and shallower areas, most pronounced for the satellite derived chlorophyll. Satellites overestimated chlorophyll in nearshore areas 2–4 fold, despite excluding shallow nearshore areas with possible benthic interferences from the analyses. This bias needs further validation and requires correction to improve the overall applicability of satellites for long-term monitoring of chlorophyll in the Kattegat region. From analysis of normalized data, we developed a simple correction model, which reduced deviations considerably between methods, underlying the importance of in situ data for application of satellite observations. While significant deviations were observed from in situ data, satellites are clearly advantageous in the much higher temporal and high spatial coverage they provide. Multisensory satellites can, however, not be used currently as a standalone technique for long-term assessment of chlorophyll. They require validation with in situ measurements, which provide essential data for calibration, validation and correction of satellite based estimates. A complementary use of multisensory satellite and in situ measurements therefore remains essential to assess trends in the ecological status of optically complex waters such as the Kattegat region of the Baltic Sea.

Coastal silt soil (CSS), hydraulically transported and filled by dredger and mud pump from the bottom of beach in coastal zone in the process of reclamation project, has a high salinity which poses difficulties for coastal development. The use of salt-tolerant plants to improve CSS is a green and efficient method. In this process, the rhizosphere of predominate salt-tolerant plants should enrich more functional microorganisms, which will exert an indispensable ecological influence on plant growth and benign soil transformation. Therefore, comparing the characteristics of plant rhizosphere bacterial communities with different growth capacities on the same CSS can help to find the key rhizosphere hub microorganisms, which will lay a theoretical foundation for the precise improvement of CSS. High-throughput sequencing technology was used to study rhizosphere bacterial diversity of wild salt-tolerant plants (Suaeda glauca, Tripolium vulgare, and Phragmites australis) in the CSS of Lianyun New-town, Lianyungang City, China, through α-diversity, β-diversity, community composition diversity and environmental correlation analysis, and the rhizosphere bacterial functions were predicted. The results showed that the sulfur-oxidizing bacteria (Sulfurovum, Woeseia, and Thioalkalispira) which were dominant in all samples, might impart important salt-stress resistance. Bacteroidetes and sulfate-reducing bacteria Desulfuromonas were enriched in the rhizosphere of S. glauca and P. australis. Bacteroidetes can increase the degradation of organic matter, provide electrons for sulfate-reducing bacteria, and thus promote efficient sulfur-cycling. Sulfate-reducing bacteria can serve as hub bacteria for the growth of salt-tolerant plants by connecting sulfur cycles and organic matter decomposition. In addition, S. glauca, as the dominant plant in CSS, can enrich more functional dominant bacteria, and its rhizosphere bacterial community composition was significantly positively correlated with TN and TOC. These rhizosphere bacteria include phototrophic bacteria Altererythrobacter and methane-oxidizing bacteria Methylophaga related to C cycling, Geothermobacter and Pelobacter related to Fe cycling, and nitrogen-cycle-related bacteria Marinobacterium, Halomonas, and Motiliproteus involved in nitrification/denitrification. This indicates that S. glauca growth can promote the turnover of soil C, N, S, and Fe by enriching these functional bacteria. The analysis of bacterial diversity, as an important ecological indicator, can help to understand the growth of dominant plants in CSS, and the mechanism of benign soil development. The results show that the rhizosphere of S. glauca can enrich a functionally complete bacterial community, which is beneficial to the positive evolution of CSS.

Grassland insect diversity in many parts of the world is severely threatened by recent deterioration caused by global change and human activities. Insect species richness and abundance are likely sensitive to grassland degradation because of changes in vegetation structure and microclimates, and yet, our understanding of how diversity of insect community, particularly insect guilds responds to grassland degradation is still limited. Here, we conducted a field experiment to examine the responses of richness and abundance of total insects and different insect guilds along degraded levels (i.e., non-degraded, moderately, and severely degraded site) in meadow steppe at northeastern China. We found that higher species richness of total insects was detected in the moderately degraded sites, and there was no difference in abundance between the three sites. Furthermore, the responses of richness and abundance of each insect guild were significantly different. Hemiptera richness was significantly higher at moderately degraded sites, and Orthoptera richness was higher in severely degraded sites. Abundance of Hemiptera and Orthoptera increased with the increasing levels of degraded grasslands, but the abundance of Hymenoptera and Coleoptera decreased. Moreover, effect size of grassland degradation on Orthoptera abundance was larger from non-degraded to moderately degraded grassland; and larger effect size on Coleoptera abundance from moderately to severely degraded grassland. The different responses of insect guilds to grassland degradation are mainly attributed to changes in food and microclimate availability. In the light of convenience and operability, the finding from the study suggested that the abundance of an insect guild, rather than total insects and insect diversity seem to be a useful ecological indicator when assessing the levels of grassland degradation.

Anthropogenic factors have been identified as major stressors of nearshore environments such as estuaries, sea grass meadows and mangroves. We hypothesize that aquatic organisms functionally dependent on these habitats as nurseries respond to disturbances with subtle changes in their habitat-use patterns. We used a novel approach coupling behavioural change point analysis with fish otolith microchemistry to analyse continuous life history information independent of climate and physiological variability. Here we show that pre-industrial (1430–1640 CE) land use and fishing practices had little influence on the well synchronized migration behaviour of juvenile snapper Chrysophrys auratus in the Hauraki Gulf, New Zealand. In contrast, modern human disturbances have resulted in snapper spending less time in brackish nurseries and moving chaotically between habitats. Today, nearshore habitats have largely lost their nursery function for the species. Temporal comparison of habitat-use patterns is a powerful tool to evaluate past and present nursery habitat quality.

In this study, we compare the performance of three ecological indicators (Water Quality Index (WQI), Wetland Macrophyte Index (WMI) and Wetland Fish Index (WFI)), to assess the impact of human activities on ecosystem health of coastal marshes in eastern and northern Georgian Bay (Lake Huron) over two decades (1999–2019), when there had been a minor change in human population (increase of 7%), but a marked difference in the pattern of water-level fluctuations. Lake Huron-Michigan is known to have 8 and 12-year oscillations in water levels, but between 1999 and 2019, water levels remained 0.5 m below the long-term mean for 14 years, and then abruptly rose nearly 1 m, remaining high for the next five years. We compared index scores of wetlands surveyed during 2003–2013 (Period 1; low-water years) with those surveyed during 2014–2019 (Period 2; high-water years). In Wilcoxon signed rank pairwise comparisons, mean WQI scores increased significantly from 1.50 to 1.96 between Periods 1 and 2, respectively (p

Small-to-medium sized rivers play an important role in aquatic ecosystem functioning. In developing countries, limited by the number of monitoring sites in small-to-medium sized rivers, a single standard river health assessment method may not be able to reflect the actual situations under the pressure of increasing human activities and water conservancy projects. How to assess the health status of these rivers is of global concern. In this study, a small-to-medium sized river in China - Qiaobian River (QBR) was assessed by two essential river health assessment methods, i.e., Macroinvertebrate habitat suitable curve (M−HSC) and Pressure-State-Response framework (PSR). The applicability of the two methods was evaluated. The results demonstrated that both methods were suitable and achieved a better accuracy than water quality assessment framework, a standard method that has been widely applied to small-to-medium sized rivers in China, while minor differences in effectiveness were found between the two methods. Although both PSR and M−HSC methods showed the same health degree in wet season, M−HSC is more recommendable due to its convenience. On the contrary, in dry season, PSR better reflected the actual situations of QBR than M−HSC. The PSR was more applicable to urban rivers when evaluating the impacts of anthropogenic disturbances to river health, in contrast to M−HSC which was better suitable for rivers in rural areas to evaluate the effects of water conservancy projects. Our findings provide a new perspective on assessing health of small-to-medium sized rivers and important implications for ecological indication and conservation.

The regulation of reservoirs contributes huge socioeconomic benefits to society at the expense of inducing adverse effects on downstream ecosystems. The reservoir average outflow (such as monthly) can be out of the ecological flow range while the partial daily outflow is suitable due to the outflow fluctuations. To address this issue, the reservoir outflow variations across different time scales (OVDTS) were proposed to form a novel ecological indicator. First, the ecological flow for the full life cycles of indicative native and nonnative species was calculated. Then, the reservoir OVDTS were proposed to describe the streamflow difference between long (e.g., 10-day) and short (e.g., daily) time intervals, and the ecological fitness (namely ecofit) was then formed. Finally, the reservoir operating rule curves were optimized by considering ecofit as well as average annual water supply, water supply reliability, average annual hydropower generation and hydropower generation reliability. The China’s Danjiangkou Reservoir was selected as the case study. It is validated that the established ecofit was almost equal to the proportion of reservoir outflow that met ecological flow range. The ecofit of optimized operating rule curves was improved by 4.19% compared with conventional operation without decreasing the performance of other objectives, also with ecofit improvements of wet, normal, and dry years. It was unexpected that the ecological objective of the optimized operating rule curves was significantly better than that of natural flow mimicry in dry years. The proposed OVDTS and ecofit could be helpful to reservoir ecological operations.

Alarming rate of atmospheric nitrogen (N) deposition through massive uses of N-fertilizers has become a major issue for the sustainability of ecosystem structure and function. N manipulative studies in temperate regions have yielded debated responses of species diversity, root primary productivity, temporal stability of root primary productivity to the increasing N-inputs and these structural and functional attributes of the ecosystem may or may not be interlinked. There is a lacuna of such studies from tropical ecosystems and they are totally missing from the tropical grasslands which are receiving very high rate of N-fertilization and are facing unprecedented loss of biodiversity. The objectives of the present study were to explore the responses of diversity, root primary productivity, stability of root primary productivity (sustainable functioning of ecosystem) and their relationships to six levels of N-fertilization. Also, we tried to find out the optimal level of N-fertilization for sustainable functioning of the tropical grassland and to reveal the mechanism behind it. Within the experimental grassland, 72 1 × 1 m plots with 6 N-input levels (0, 30, 60, 90, 120 and 150 Kg N ha−1yr−1) each having 12 replicates, were established in 2013. For three consecutive years starting from 2013 to 2016, urea as a source of N was applied to the plots for simulating N-deposition. Data on individuals and root biomass of each species were seasonally recorded and statistically analysed. The diversity, root primary productivity and its stability significantly varied and quadratically responded to the N-fertilization doses. 90 Kg ha−1yr−1N fertilization yielded maximum primary productivity and its stability, whereas 60 Kg ha−1yr−1N-fertilization resulted in maximum diversity. Thus a moderate level of N application (90 kg ha−1 yr−1) appeared to be an optimum dose for stable functioning of the tropical grassland. Doses of N-fertilization beyond 90 Kg ha−1 yr−1 inhibited the sustainable ecosystem functioning because the substantially high N-fertilization resulted in increased soil acidity which enhanced soil-Al toxicity to the plant roots and loss of diversity. Nevertheless, further longer-term study could be needed for a more robust conclusion.

Field-based monitoring of deer food availability and browsing on recruiting forest trees is a necessary but labour-intensive task. We explored how such estimates from a low-resolution multipurpose national forest inventory (NFI) (plot density 0.3 km−2) corresponded with estimates from local inventories that specifically and in greater detail monitor the availability of deer food and browsing intensity (LFI) (plot density 2–3 km−2).We used NFI and LFI data from 16 moose Alces alces ranges (mean area 276 ± SE 69 km2) in southern Norway. Only the height segment 30–130 cm of browsable trees could be obtained from the NFI data, while moose can browse trees from 30 to 300 cm in height. According to the LFI, the browse species did not have similar proportions of their browsable stems below 130 cm. Using only the stems from heights of 30–130 cm overestimated the availability of RAS (rowan, aspen and sallow) relative to birch (silver birch and downy birch) and Scots pine.The browsable biomass per stem of each species also varied between ranges, which introduces uncertainty to the food availability estimates that are based on stems only. Nevertheless, the NFI density of stems at 30–130 cm heights can be a useful index for species-specific comparisons of browse availability across ranges, because the variations between ranges in stem densities outweighed the biomass variations per stem. The NFI and LFI estimates of the species-specific densities of stems at 30–130 cm heights were significantly related and close to isometric (1:1), especially for RAS and pine.We did not find strong relationships between NFI and LFI in the browsing intensity (i.e. proportion of shoots that were browsed during the winter). The explained variation was only 11% (R2) for RAS (p = 0.281) and 32% for pine (p = 0.028). This was likely due to the small sample sizes of browsed trees in the NFI and methodological differences between the NFI and LFI in how browsing intensity is estimated. Conclusions: Using data from national forest inventories can be an efficient but low-resolution way to monitor browse availability for deer, provided that the monitoring includes the full range of tree heights reachable for the deer (e.g., 30–300 cm for moose). It is also a prerequisite that the number of NFI plots is sufficient to cover the spatial variability of the area. Regarding browsing intensities, adjustments in both the NFI and LFI approaches are needed to make the two monitoring schemes more comparable.

Highlights • A 74-year otolith-based biochronology of Baltic herring growth was developed. • Interspecific competition with sprat negatively influences herring growth. • Fish growth is positively correlated with precipitation over the catchment area. • Hydroclimatic conditions have contrasting effects on the growth of young and old fish. • The results encourage ecosystem-based approaches in the management of fish resources. Abstract Long-term datasets developed based on measurements of archived fish otoliths may help in the evaluation of climatic impacts on marine resources. The objective of the present study was to identify the factors that influence interannual variations in the somatic growth rate of herring (Clupea harengus) in the Baltic Sea. This work covers otolith samples collected from commercial catches and during scientific surveys from 1951 to 2017 in the Polish zone of the southern part of the Baltic. Otolith increment widths, which represent changes in fish growth, were analyzed with linear mixed models to investigate different intrinsic and extrinsic sources of fish growth variation. The stock biomass of pelagic species (herring and sprat Sprattus sprattus), sea surface temperature, Baltic Sea Index and land precipitation over the catchment area were considered potential predictors of herring growth. Methods to identify the optimal time window for environmental factors were incorporated in the modeling. Moreover, a wavelet coherence analysis, tests for identification of regime shifts in fish growth and a spatial correlation analysis were applied to the data. The developed multidecadal otolith-based biochronology showed that the growth of Baltic herring is under the strong influence of interspecific competition between herring and sprat, but the biochronology also indicated a high correlation with precipitation patterns over the runoff area and hydrological conditions within the Baltic Sea. A detailed investigation revealed that the relationships between herring growth and abiotic conditions or other ecosystem components can vary over time. The recognized complex ecological effects on herring growth necessitate the application of holistic ecosystem-based approaches for sustainable management and exploitation of small pelagic fish resources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Graphical abstract Highlights • Annual growth, growth constants, and asymptotic lengths increased downstream. • Rising summer, spring, and winter temperatures positively affected mussel growth. • Rising autumn temperatures negatively affected annual mussel growth. • Growth and temperature relationships suggest that annuli can document climate. • Unio tumidus may be the best species to document long-term temperature changes. Abstract Sclerochronology provides an important and widely used tool to examine annual environmental patterns in marine systems, but few similar tools have been developed to establish ecological indicators in freshwaters on a seasonal scale. Previous work using marine mussels as ecological indicators have practiced shell ashing, acetate peels, and thin sectioning, all of which destroy the specimens. We studied the external annual rings of three freshwater mussel species with clear annual bands from the River Medway, UK, in order to non-invasively investigate the relationship between banding patterns, growth parameters, location, and seasonal water temperatures. We tested the accuracy and precision of this method through repetition of measurements and the reproduction of results through separate agers. Overall, mussels living downstream had higher length-at-age curves, asymptotic lengths (L ∞), and growth constants (k) than those living upstream. In Unio pictorum and Unio tumidus , there was a negative relationship between asymptotic lengths and growth constants, indicating that larger asymptotic lengths took more time to reach. Unio tumidus had the highest asymptotic lengths and the lowest growth constants across sites while Unio pictorum had the lowest asymptotic lengths and the highest growth constants across sites. Anodonta anatina showed simultaneously increasing asymptotic lengths with increasing growth constants and had the highest overall lengths of all three species. Summer water temperatures had the largest positive effect on annual growth, followed by spring and winter water temperatures, while autumnal temperatures had a negative impact on growth. The findings of this study suggest that through their annual banding, freshwater mussels can be used as tools to document historical water temperatures, especially in the warmer months of spring and summer, and can therefore serve as powerful indicators of spatial and temporal patterns in water temperature. Such tools can help infer palaeoclimatic conditions from fossil and subfossil shells, establish baselines for understanding future climatic change, and support conservation efforts aimed at protecting temperature-sensitive taxa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights • Plant-diversified farming is an important strategy to promote biocontrol services. • The relationship between biocontrol services and niches is not clear. • Impact of plant diversity on biocontrol services was assessed with niche indicators. • Plant diversification altered the niches of herbivores and natural enemies. • Plant diversification promotes the biocontrol services by shaping the niches. Abstract Ecological niche indicators have been scarcely adopted to assess the biological control of insect herbivores by their natural enemies. We hypothesize that plant diversification promotes the biocontrol services by narrowing the niches of herbivores and broadening the niches of natural enemies. In a large-scale experiment, we found that the abundance of natural enemies was increased by 38.1%, and the abundance of insect herbivores was decreased by 16.9% in peach orchards with plant diversification (treatment) compared to ones with monoculture (control). Stratified sampling indicated that the horizontal, vertical, temporal and three-dimensional niches of natural enemies were generally broader while these niches of herbivores were narrower. Additionally, diverse plants give rise to an increase in the temporal synchrony and spatial similarity of the herbivores and natural enemies in peach orchards. Our study reveals that plant diversification promotes the biocontrol services by shaping the niche of herbivores and natural enemies, and provides a new assessment method to understand the biodiversity-niche-ecosystem management interactions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pilot studies indicate that shifts in the nematode species composition, life strategies and feeding behavior during composting appear to be fairly consistent and, therefore, promising as a potential tool to assess compost maturity. However, this has been only based on a limited number of, mainly, non-replicated observations. In this study, we tested whether the nematode community succession patterns are recurrent for parallel processes and assessed the relationship between the changes in the nematode community and potential important variables (i.e., temperature, duration of composting and the microbial community). The nematode and microbial community of three simultaneously running Controlled Farm Composting and a reference Green Waste composting process were analyzed through time. Bacterial-feeding enrichment opportunists were most numerous during and directly after the heat peaks. Subsequently, the bacterial-feeding/predator community dominated and the fungal-feeding nematodes became more dominant during maturation, confirming general community patterns from previous experiments. Nematode abundances significantly fluctuated with temperature and the relative abundance of fungal-feeding nematodes increased as the duration of the curing process increased. The amount of fungal-feeding nematodes was associated significantly with both duration of composting and temperature, and the F/(F + B) ratio was only significantly associated with duration of composting. Based on these results, and additional data from an industrial reference compost process and on available literature, a Nematode-based Index of Compost Maturity (NICM) is proposed, combining four nematode-based criteria (i.e., nematode abundance, F/(F + B) ratio, the presence of more than one fungal-feeding taxon and the presence of diplogasterids). Nevertheless, the NICM should be considered as work in progress which should be tested for a wider range of composts from diverse feedstock mixtures, locations (sites) and composting techniques, to validate the use of the index and allow more reliable interpretation of particular values of this index. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Three dimensions (natural, social and economic factors) in tradeoff analysis have not been focused in ecology. It is necessary to consider the multi-dimensions through a tradeoff analysis of disturbances to find their positive and negative effects (referred to as two-sidedness). We proposed an 11-step approach to integrate the concepts, methods and examples to understand ecological two-sidedness. We recommend that: (1) ecological complexity and large-scale systematic perspectives need to be integrated; (2) disparate disciplines should be integrated to classify the two-sidedness indicators; (3) models should be adopted to define the characteristic metrics of disturbed ecosystems; (4) researchers need to reconsider evaluation standards and for each indicator with marginal changes; and (5) initial decision-making should refer to the two-sidedness value and that final decision-making should be subject to debate. This approach has great significance for ecosystem management because decision-makers can obtain the superiority and inferiority of disturbance strategies and select optimal strategy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examined the inter-relationships between kittiwake breeding success and sandeel abundance, Calanus copepods, chlorophyll and temperature. The validity of past proxies of sandeel prey ( Calanus and temperature) suggested in the literature was also examined. Winter temperature was not found to be a reliable indicator of the abundance of sandeel or lower trophic levels, although the present study did support past evidence for a dependence of kittiwake breeding success on local sandeel abundance as, with the exception of two years, there was a linear relationship with log age-0 sandeel abundance. The abundance of sandeel was positively linked to the dates of predicted peak egg abundance in C. finmarchicus and C. helgolandicus . This supported earlier evidence that the match with prey timing is important to sandeel recruitment. Neither Calanus species was associated with temperature in the February to March period nor in the April–May period, which may explain the lack of a temperature effect that propagates through the trophic levels. Consequently, although kittiwake breeding success appears to show some sensitivity and specificity to changes in their prey, this responsiveness was not found to extend to the lowest trophic level ( Calanus abundance) or to temperature. As such kittiwake breeding success was not a reliable indicator of climate-driven changes in the local food web. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Successful restoration of wetland ecosystems requires knowledge of wetland hydrologic patterns and an understanding of how those patterns affect wetland plant and animal populations. Within the Everglades, Florida, USA restoration, an applied science strategy including conceptual ecological models linking drivers to indicators is being used to organize current scientific understanding to support restoration efforts. A key driver of the ecosystem affecting the distribution and abundance of organisms is the timing, distribution, and volume of water flows that result in water depth patterns across the landscape. American alligators ( Alligator mississippiensis ) are one of the ecological indicators being used to assess Everglades restoration because they are a keystone species and integrate biological impacts of hydrological operations through all life stages. Alligator body condition (the relative fatness of an animal) is one of the metrics being used and targets have been set to allow us to track progress. We examined trends in alligator body condition using Fulton's K over a 15 year period (2000–2014) at seven different wetland areas within the Everglades ecosystem, assessed patterns and trends relative to restoration targets, and related those trends to hydrologic variables. We developed a series of 17 a priori hypotheses that we tested with an information theoretic approach to identify which hydrologic factors affect alligator body condition. Alligator body condition was highest throughout the Everglades during the early 2000s and is approximately 5–10% lower now (2014). Values have varied by year, area, and hydrology. Body condition was positively correlated with range in water depth and fall water depth. Our top model was the “Current” model and included variables that describe current year hydrology (spring depth, fall depth, hydroperiod, range, interaction of range and fall depth, interaction of range and hydroperiod). Across all models, interaction between range and fall water depth was the most important variable (relative weight of 1.0) followed by spring and fall water depths (0.99), range (0.96), hydroperiod (0.95) and interaction between range and hydroperiod (0.95). Our work provides additional evidence that restoring a greater range in annual water depths is important for improvement of alligator body condition and ecosystem function. This information can be incorporated into both planning and operations to assist in reaching Everglades restoration goals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An Environmental Assessment (EA) is one of the steps within the Environmental Impact Assessment process. Birds are often used in EA to help decision makers evaluate potential human impacts from proposed development activities. A “sensitivity to human disturbance” index, created by Parker III et al. (1996) for all Neotropical species, is commonly considered an ecological indicator. However, this parameter was created subjectively and, for most species, there have been no rigorous field test to validate its effectiveness as such. Therefore, in this study, we aim to: (1) evaluate if, at the local scale, birds from forest patches in a human-modified landscape (HML) may differ in sensitivity from Parker's sensitivity classification; (2) evaluate the effectiveness of the species richness value at each sensitivity level as an ecological indicator; (3) gather information on how often and in which manner Parker's classification has been used in EA. To do so, bird sampling was performed in eight forest patches in a HML over one year. Then, we created a local sensitivity to disturbance using information about threat, endemism, spatial distribution and relative abundance of all species in the study area. We found that 37% of the forest birds showed different local sensitivity levels when compared with Parker's classification. Our results show that only the richness of high-sensitivity species from our local classification fitted the ecological indicator assumptions helping the environmental conditions evaluation of the studied patches. We conclude that species richness of each Parker's bird sensitivity levels do not necessarily perform as an ecological indicator at the local scale, and particularly in HML. Nevertheless, Parker's Neotropical bird sensitivity classification was used in 50% of EA we reviewed. In these, 76% assumed that it was an accurate ecological indicator of the local forest conditions for birds. The lack of clear criteria used in Parker's classification allows diverse interpretations by ornithologists, and there is no agreement about the ecological meaning of each sensitivity level and what environmental conditions each level may indicate of. Therefore, the use of Parker's classification in EA may jeopardize accurate interpretations of proposed anthropogenic impacts. Furthermore, because a bird species’ sensitivity often varies between locations, we argue that Parker's generalized classification of bird sensitivity should not be used as an indicator of forest environmental conditions in EA throughout HMLs in Neotropics. Rather, local bird ecological indices should be explored, otherwise, erroneous predictions of the anthropogenic impacts will continue to be common. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Floristic Quality Assessment is a proven technique for evaluating the condition of a variety of habitats including wetlands. Its utility in state monitoring and assessment programs, however, has been curtailed by the additional effort and expertise needed for deployment. In this study, we tested the validity of two prerequisites of floristic quality assessment: the need for a comprehensive species list and the requirement that all taxa be identified to species. The mean coefficient of conservatism (mean C ) was shown to be the most sensitive variable of the index and was used to test its efficacy in a rapid context. Mean C demonstrated a lack of significant response when graminoid taxa were selectively removed and also when scores were calculated based on dominant taxa only ( C ¯ dom ). The muted response observed is likely due to redundancy in the species list (many plants with the same C value) and the averaging of C values. Site ranks did shift when based on C ¯ dom , however, and this result may have implications on how individual sites are prioritized for restoration and protection. Ultimately, resource managers must determine if the decreased level of accuracy obtained from abridged plant lists is an acceptable trade-off for increased savings in time and effort. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Food and drink consumption was found to be responsible for around 20–30% of environmental impacts. Environmental impacts occur during all stages of the food production chain. However, households influence these impacts with through their choice of diet and habits, thus directly affecting the environment through food-related energy consumption and waste generation. With the multiplication of local policies for sustainable consumption, it has become increasingly useful to gather information on the evolution of the ecological impacts associated with household food consumption. Dealing with the indicators of household consumption of fruits and vegetables will enable changes in the population's lifestyles and the effectiveness of local policies to be monitored. The aims of this article are twofold: to provide a conceptual framework on the purposes of ecological indicators of fruit and vegetable consumption (EIFVCs) and to provide a methodological approach for selecting and measuring the most relevant EIFVCs at a local scale. Considering the great diversity of ecological impacts, the large number of potential EIFVCs must be reduced to obtain fewer EIFVCs, but that are relevant at local scale. To be relevant, the EIFVCs must provide information on the three phases of consumption (acquisition, use, and disposal) and on the upstream and downstream phases of the consumption process; they should evaluate the more problematic ecological impacts at the local scale (level of concern); and they have to only point out the ecological impacts that households can significantly reduce through their consumption rates. To measure relevant EIFVCs, three approaches must be combined: monitoring the ecological impacts, measuring the material and energy fluxes associated with household consumption, and analysing the consumer behaviours that result in the observed ecological impacts. As an illustration, the methodology is applied to the Bordeaux Metropolitan Area (France). In this area, eleven EIFVCs seem relevant. The use of surveys characterises all eleven of the EIFVCs, despite the difficulty of establishing quantified relationships between household behaviours and measured ecological impacts. The measuring of fluxes is possible for eight of them, whereas the monitoring of ecological impacts is only feasible for two of them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]