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Populations and ecological communities are changing worldwide, and empirical studies exhibit a mixture of either declining or mixed trends. Confusion in global biodiversity trends thus remains, while assessing such changes is of major social, political, and scientific importance. Part of this variability may arise from the difficulty to reliably assess global biodiversity trends. Here, we conducted a literature review of studies documenting the temporal dynamics of global biodiversity. We classified the differences among approaches, data, and methodology used by the reviewed papers to reveal common findings and sources of discrepancies. We show that reviews and meta‐analyses, along with the use of global indicators, are more likely to conclude that trends are declining. On the other hand, the longer the data are available, the more nuanced are the trends they generate. Our results also highlight the lack of studies providing information on the impact of synergistic pressures on a global scale, making it even more difficult to understand the driving factors of the observed changes and how to decide conservation plan accordingly. Finally, we stress the importance of taking into account the sources of confusion identified, as well as the complexity of biodiversity changes, in order to implement effective conservation strategies. In particular, biodiversity dynamics are almost systematically assumed to be linear, while non‐linear trends are largely neglected. Clarifying the sources of confusion in global biodiversity trends should strengthen large‐scale biodiversity monitoring and conservation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: This paper provides a critical analysis of the development and current outcomes of Australia's first endorsed strategic assessment under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999, namely, the Melbourne Strategic Assessment. It covers progress towards protection of a number of Nationally Significant Species and Ecological Communities – most notably, the native grassland communities immediately adjacent to Melbourne's Urban Growth Boundary. The Commonwealth approval to protect biodiversity and allow urban development was made in 2010 and it aimed to achieve its outcomes by 2020. These outcomes included providing new land for homes, for new transport corridors, and for conservation of biodiversity. Natural Temperate Grassland (4,667 ha), Grassy Eucalypt Woodland (709 ha) and seven other Matters of National Environmental Significance will be impacted. Mitigation for this is establishment of 15,000 ha of grassland reserves, 1,200 ha of grassy woodland reserves, over 4,000 ha of other land zoned for conservation and 300 ha of wetland restoration. We conclude that the Melbourne Strategic Assessment has been a success in terms of the elegance and comprehensiveness of the approach, in cooperation between the levels of government, in the economic benefits, and in some aspects of social engagement of the agreement. However, the achievement of environmental outcomes must be currently considered a failure due to poor implementation. This failure includes not meeting the agreed 10 year deadline for land acquisition and management, poor monitoring and protection of set‐aside areas, and in reporting. We offer suggestions for how these current shortcomings could be overcome. These align well with the recommendations of the review of the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (The independent statutory review of the Act in 2020) and include the establishment of the proposed Office of Compliance and Enforcement, the adoption of National Environmental Standards and the reforms regarding the role of Indigenous Australians in strategic assessments. If these were adopted, we conclude that the strategic assessment approach should be more widely used because of the more holistic approach and efficiencies that it envisages compared with site by site approaches. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Questions: The cover and abundance of individual plant species have been recorded on ordinal scales for millions of plots world‐wide. Ordinal cover data often need to be transformed to a quantitative form (0%–100%), especially when scrutinising summed cover of multiple species. Traditional approaches to transforming ordinal data often assume that data are symmetrically distributed. However, skewed abundance patterns are ubiquitous in plant community ecology. The questions this paper addresses are (a) how can we estimate transformation values for ordinal data that account for the underlying right‐skewed distribution of plant cover; (b) do different plant groups require different transformations; and (c) how do our transformations compare to other commonly used transformations within the context of exploring the aggregate properties of vegetation? Location: Global. Methods: We assigned Braun‐Blanquet cover‐abundance ordinal values to continuous cover observations. We fitted a Bayesian hierarchical beta regression to estimate the predicted mean (PM) cover of each of six plant growth forms within six ordinal classes. We illustrate our method using a case study (2,809 plots containing 95,812 observations), compare the model‐derived estimates to other commonly used transformations and validate our model using an independent dataset (2,227 plots containing 51,497 observations) accessed through the VegBank database. Results: Our model found that PM estimates differed by growth form and that previous methods overestimated cover, especially of smaller growth forms such as forbs and grasses. Our approach reduced the cumulative compounding of errors and was robust when validated against an independent dataset. Conclusions: By accounting for the right‐skewed distribution of cover data, our alternate approach for estimating transformation values can be extended to other ordinal scales. A more robust approach to transforming floristic data and aggregating cover estimates can strengthen ecological analyses to support biodiversity conservation and management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) have gained increasing popularity worldwide as tools for biodiversity conservation and management of human uses. This rise in popularity has been accompanied by an increasing body of scientific papers and books on MPA design and management, the vast majority of which are almost completely focused on coastal or insular MPAs., A small number of MPAs have also been established in the pelagic domain, however, these pelagic sites have been considered in isolation from coastal/insular MPAs, even when the sites are adjacent or nearby. Pelagic and coastal ecosystems are not at all isolated from each other, but interconnected both physically via the flow of water, and biologically, via the movement of organisms., In order to maximize the effectiveness of MPAs, it is suggested that spatial management planning encompass large areas that span both coastal and pelagic domains. This requires integrated, large-scale spatial management, which may extend across borders and thus require international cooperation., Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The discipline of restoration ecology has grown remarkably in the past decades, providing new ideas and opportunities for conserving biological diversity, managing ecosystems, and testing ecological theories. On the other side, its past-oriented, static, and idealistic approach has been criticized for subjectivity in determining restoration goals, inapplicability to dynamic ecosystems, and inability for restoring certain irreversible losses. Moreover, unpredictable sustainability of the restored ecosystems, which were modeled after its historical fidelity, adds our skepticism under the changing environment. This paper calls for a new paradigm of ecological restoration to the future. A future-oriented restoration should (1) establish the ecosystems that are able to sustain in the future, not the past, environment; (2) have multiple alternative goals and trajectories for unpredictable endpoints; (3) focus on rehabilitation of ecosystem functions rather than recomposition of species or cosmetics of landscape surface; and (4) acknowledge its identity as a “value-laden” applied science within economically and socially acceptable framework. Applicability of ecological theories to restoration practice is also discussed in this paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although the contribution of community members to functional diversity is a key question of conservation ecology, its measurement and interpretation are rather problematic. In this paper, we suggest a novel method for decomposing functional diversity. To do this we consider functional units (i.e. species or a group of species with identical traits) as the functional building blocks of communities. Then we propose the use of a recently developed measure of functional diversity (called modified functional attribute diversity or MFAD) and suggest additive decomposition of MFAD into functional values contributed by the functional units. We point out that functional values are related to changes in MFAD if the functional unit is removed from the community. This property of decomposition allows the quantification of the contribution of community members to functional diversity. By studying artificial and actual communities we compare the performance of our new method with other recently developed contribution measures, which are based on dendrograms and ordinations. Both theoretical considerations and analyses of artificial and actual data sets suggest that the proposed method of calculating functional values expresses more explicitly the contribution of community members to functional diversity and hereby can be used as a simple, yet efficient method for searching for functional keystones in ecological communities or for quantifying the contribution of community members to functional diversity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dispersal is universally considered important for biodiversity conservation. However, the significance of long- as opposed to short-distance dispersal is insufficiently recognized in the conservation context. Long-distance dispersal (LDD) events, although typically rare, are crucial to population spread and to maintenance of genetic connectivity. The main threats to global biodiversity involve excessive LDD of elements alien to ecosystems and insufficient dispersal of native species, for example, because of habitat fragmentation. In this paper, we attempt to bridge the gap in the treatment of LDD by reviewing the conservation issues for which LDD is most important. We then demonstrate how taking LDD into consideration can improve conservation management decisions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This special issue ofDiversity and Distributionspresents six papers that contribute to the assembly of a general research agenda for studying long-distance dispersal (LDD) across a variety of taxonomic groups (e.g. birds, fish, aquatic invertebrates and plants), ecosystems (e.g. terrestrial and marine ecosystems, wetlands and grasslands) and thematic fields (e.g. biological transport, marine biology, biogeochemistry and biodiversity conservation). This editorial emphasizes the need to develop a network integrating different research approaches (‘yellow brick roads’) to address the great challenge (‘finding the end of the rainbow’) of quantifying, understanding and predicting LDD and its implications. I review the key avenues for future research suggested in the special issue contributions, and stress the critical importance of properly considering the spatial and temporal scales relevant to the process and system of interests. I propose combining absolute and proportional definitions of LDD as a default practice in any investigation of LDD processes. When LDD is defined primarily by an absolute critical distance that characterizes key feature(s) of the system of interest, a quantitative assessment of the proportion of dispersal events expected to move beyond this critical threshold distance should also be provided. When LDD is defined primarily by a certain small fraction of dispersal events that travel longer than all others, an estimate of the absolute distance associated with this high percentile at the tail of the dispersal curve should also be added. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Locally observed biodiversity always consists of only a fraction of its site‐specific species pool. Why some suitable species are absent, shaping dark diversity of that site, is a basic yet increasingly crucial question in the face of global biodiversity degradation. The ultimate processes underlying dark diversity associate with either dispersal or persistence limitations, or both. These two limitations in turn link to several characteristics of individual species and sites, making it challenging to detect the exact factors contributing to dark diversity in a particular metacommunity.Here, we propose a metric, dark diversity affinity (DDA), which measures the tendencies of individual species to be absent from suitable sites and of individual sites to miss suitable species. We developed a Bayesian model interrelating four types of datasets: metacommunity matrix of species presences in sites, species‐sites suitability matrix, species functional traits and site characteristics. In the model, DDA operates as an adjustment bridging the disparity between site‐specific suitability and observed presence/absence of each species at each site. Furthermore, DDA can be related to individual properties of species and sites through logistic regression sub‐models. We demonstrated our framework using nine empirical datasets of vertebrate, invertebrate and vascular plant metacommunities.We show the decomposed roles of species traits and site characteristics in defining DDA and, therefore, dark diversity in metacommunities. In the empirical datasets, various functional traits, which related to morphology, reproduction, dispersal ability, population attributes, resource specificity and life history, significantly affected species‐level DDA, while site characteristics regarding habitat types and attributes, resource availability, pollution, and edaphic and water conditions influenced DDA at the site level.Our framework provides a concept and methodological toolbox that allows identification of the processes underlying dark diversity and advances both the theory of community ecology and biodiversity conservation. Conservation actions can be more successful by knowing whether species loss in a particular metacommunity is associated to some species traits or site characteristics and what their relative contributions are. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The interaction between environmental stressors may be a greater threat to biota than any individual ecological threat on its own. Land‐use change and inappropriate fire regimes are known to pose great challenges to biodiversity conservation worldwide. Despite much research being conducted into their singular impacts on ecosystems, very few have investigated how their interaction may be affecting the biota of a region. We used data from surveys in 1998/2000 and 2019/2020 to compare the feeding guild assemblages of bird communities in different habitats within the greater Darwin region. By compiling two sets of spatial data, land‐use change, and fire history mapping, we were able to investigate their interaction and impact on the avian assemblages in the Darwin urban area. Using Generalized Linear Mixed Models (GLMM) we found that an increase in urbanization significantly affected fire occurrence across study sites. Furthermore, we found that the interaction between land‐use change and fire regimes had a significant effect on species that primarily feed on fruit. We conclude that while an increase in urbanization did not directly affect the avian assemblages, the impact of land‐use change on the fire regimes indirectly impacted urban bird community structures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Increasingly the importance of Indigenous participation is acknowledged as central to effective biodiversity conservation. Traditional management emphasizes the importance of a holistic, integrated approach to safeguard species and ecological communities of cultural significance. This is discordant with many instruments for biodiversity conservation. Indigenous Australians have consistently lobbied for domestic laws to be amended to establish comanagement as the preferred approach to managing significant species and ecological communities – an approach that aligns with international obligations such as the Convention on Biological Diversity and the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. We describe amendments to Australia's biodiversity legislation and the use of biocultural indicators that would support Traditional management of Culturally Significant Entities (species and ecological communities), and in turn, assist Australia to effectively conserve biodiversity and meet international obligations. The ongoing challenge will be in empowering Indigenous peoples and their governance structures to implement enduring change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presents a reply on the ecosystem approach to conservation. Importance of changes in the ecosystem processes; Probability on the level of species in the ecosystems; Importance of maintaining the crucial levels of ecosystem function.

Humid tropical alpine environments are crucial ecosystems that sustain biodiversity, biological processes, carbon storage and surface water provision. They are identified as one of the terrestrial ecosystems most vulnerable to global environmental change. Despite their vulnerability, and the importance for regional biodiversity conservation and socio-economic development, they are among the least studied and described ecosystems in the world. This paper reviews the state of knowledge about tropical alpine environments, and provides an integrated assessment of the potential threats of global climate change on the major ecosystem processes. Humid tropical alpine regions occur between the upper forest line and the perennial snow border in the upper regions of the Andes, the Afroalpine belt and Indonesia and Papua New Guinea. Climate change will displace ecosystem boundaries and strongly reduce the total area of tropical alpine regions. Displacement and increased isolation of the remaining patches will induce species extinction and biodiversity loss. Drier and warmer soil conditions will cause a faster organic carbon turnover, decreasing the below-ground organic carbon storage. Since most of the organic carbon is currently stored in the soils, it is unlikely that an increase in above-ground biomass will be able to offset soil carbon loss at an ecosystem level. Therefore a net release of carbon to the atmosphere is expected. Changes in precipitation patterns, increased evapotranspiration and alterations of the soil properties will have a major impact on water supply. Many regions are in danger of a significantly reduced or less reliable stream flow. The magnitude and even the trend of most of these effects depend strongly on local climatic, hydrological and ecological conditions. The extreme spatial gradients in these conditions put the sustainability of ecosystem management at risk. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The provisioning of sustaining goods and services that we obtain from natural ecosystems is a strong economic justification for the conservation of biological diversity. Understanding the relationship between these goods and services and changes in the size, arrangement, and quality of natural habitats is a fundamental challenge of natural resource management. In this paper, we describe a new approach to assessing the implications of habitat loss for loss of ecosystem services by examining how the provision of different ecosystem services is dominated by species from different trophic levels. We then develop a mathematical model that illustrates how declines in habitat quality and quantity lead to sequential losses of trophic diversity. The model suggests that declines in the provisioning of services will initially be slow but will then accelerate as species from higher trophic levels are lost at faster rates. Comparison of these patterns with empirical examples of ecosystem collapse (and assembly) suggest similar patterns occur in natural systems impacted by anthropogenic change. In general, ecosystem goods and services provided by species in the upper trophic levels will be lost before those provided by species lower in the food chain. The decrease in terrestrial food chain length predicted by the model parallels that observed in the oceans following overexploitation. The large area requirements of higher trophic levels make them as susceptible to extinction as they are in marine systems where they are systematically exploited. Whereas the traditional species area curve suggests that 50% of species are driven extinct by an order-of-magnitude decline in habitat abundance, this magnitude of loss may represent the loss of an entire trophic level and all the ecosystem services performed by the species on this trophic level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Plant-soil biota interactions play a crucial role in the assembly of plant communities and the maintenance of plant species diversity. However, few studies have tested how the effect of soil biota on plant species and communities depends on environmental context and whether shifts in plant community composition caused by environmental change are associated with variation in plant-soil biota interactions. 2. We combined a field experiment in a Tibetan alpine meadow and a greenhouse experiment with factorial combinations of nitrogen (N) enrichment and warming to examine the role of plant-soil biota interactions in plant community dynamics. 3. The results showed that plant relative abundances were negatively correlated with the net effects of soil biota on plant growth but only under ambient field conditions. Warming and N enrichment alleviated the negative soil biota effects in the greenhouse, and changed plant community composition and reduced species diversity in the field. Importantly, changes in soil biota effects on plant growth were positively correlated with changes in plant relative abundances caused by warming and N enrichment in field. In a parallel field experiment, the diversity of mycorrhizal fungi increased while the diversity of fungal pathogens remained unchanged under warming and N enrichment, indicating that soil biodiversity may play a critical role in plant responses to environmental change. 4. This study empirically demonstrates that altered plant-soil biota interactions explain shifts in plant community composition under global change, providing new insights into the mechanisms of diversity loss in a changing world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ecological community and ecosystem "red lists" have been developed in several jurisdictions to improve ecosystem‐level biodiversity protection. However, a challenge for the conservation and management of listed ecosystems is consistent identification in the field or from plot records. Ecosystem descriptions must have enough detail for positive identification but be broad enough that most instances are included. In many jurisdictions, descriptions are not supported by dichotomous keys or thresholds of ecosystem collapse and identification relies on the interpretation of trained individuals, with potential for opposing opinions. Using a structured process, we assessed the ability of experts to identify a critically endangered ecological community from vegetation plot samples. We compared the allocations made by experts with a numeric classification that underpinned the legal definition of the community. Overall, experts correctly identified the presence or absence of the community in 81% of samples although individual classification rates ranged from 63% to 94%. False positive rates varied among experts (7–50%) and experienced botanists did not necessarily perform better. Disturbance increased uncertainty and experts differed in their opinion about when the community had collapsed and was no longer recoverable. Inconsistent interpretation, in the absence of diagnostic keys and consensus models of collapse, will have implications for recovery and conservation of listed communities and ecosystems, and could impact the effectiveness of laws and policies designed to protect them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There are growing calls to restore populations of European native oysters (Ostrea edulis), on the premise that restored populations will support a range of ecosystem services with an emphasis placed on restored oyster habitats promoting biological diversity, however benefits associated with naturally occurring O. edulis remain unclear. We undertook biannual surveys in the Blackwater, Crouch, Roach and Colne Estuaries Marine Conservation Zone (BCRC.MCZ), a highly sedimented estuary complex in the southern North Sea, to investigate links between natural densities of O. edulis (0–4.2 m−2), the prevalence of other dominant habitat features such as non‐native slipper limpet (Crepidula fornicata), dead shell abundance and epibenthic macroinvertebrate species richness. Increased epibenthic species richness was associated with O. edulis, even at densities below the OSPAR Commission recognized definition of an oyster bed (5 oysters m−2). Our analysis predicts increased associated species richness with density of native oysters (e.g., +1.6 additional species at 1 oyster m−2 or + 2.8 species at 5 oysters m−2), but only in areas with lower density of C. fornicata. Where C. fornicata are at higher density, the potential benefits of oyster restoration for associated species were curtailed. This may explain the observed asymptotic relationship between oyster density and diversity at 1 oyster m−2. In these and other high Crepidula density areas we recommend extending native oyster habitat even at low density. This may be of particular interest to areas with the protozoan oyster parasite Bonamia ostreae, which spreads more easily in high‐density areas. These lower density thresholds should also be considered for future management decisions—closing harvests so they do not reduce density further and impair biodiversity services of the habitats. In conclusion, while C. fornicata may be a useful oyster settlement substrate, we find that it limits the potential increases in associated species gains of oyster restoration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: Trait data are increasingly being used in studies investigating the impacts of global changes on the structure and functioning of ecological communities. Despite a growing number of trait data collations for terrestrial vertebrates, there is to date no global assessment of the gaps and biases the data present. Here, we assess whether terrestrial vertebrate trait data are taxonomically, spatially and phylogenetically biased. Location: Global. Time period: Present. Major taxa studied: Terrestrial vertebrates. Methods: We compile seven ecological traits and quantify coverage as the proportion of species for which an estimate is available. For a species, we define completeness as the proportion of non‐missing values across traits. We assess whether coverage and completeness differ across classes and examine phylogenetic biases in trait data. To investigate spatial biases, we test whether wider‐ranging species have more complete trait data than narrow‐ranging species. Additionally, we test whether species‐rich regions, which are of most concern for conservation, are less well sampled than species‐poor regions. Results: Mammals and birds are well sampled even in species‐rich regions. For reptiles and amphibians (herptiles), only body size presents a high coverage (>80%), in addition to habitat‐related variables (amphibians). Herptiles are poorly sampled for other traits. The shortfalls are particularly acute in some species‐rich regions and for certain clades. Across all classes, geographically rarer species have less complete trait information. Main conclusions: Trait information is less available on average in some of the most diverse areas and in geographically rarer species, both of which crucial for biodiversity conservation. Gaps in trait data might impede our ability to conduct large‐scale analyses, whereas biases can impact the validity of extrapolations. A short‐term solution to the problem is to estimate missing trait data using imputation techniques, whereas a longer‐term and more robust filling of existing gaps requires continued data‐collection efforts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Plant traits—the morphological, anatomical, physiological, biochemical and phenological characteristics of plants—determine how plants respond to environmental factors, affect other trophic levels, and influence ecosystem properties and their benefits and detriments to people. Plant trait data thus represent the basis for a vast area of research spanning from evolutionary biology, community and functional ecology, to biodiversity conservation, ecosystem and landscape management, restoration, biogeography and earth system modelling. Since its foundation in 2007, the TRY database of plant traits has grown continuously. It now provides unprecedented data coverage under an open access data policy and is the main plant trait database used by the research community worldwide. Increasingly, the TRY database also supports new frontiers of trait‐based plant research, including the identification of data gaps and the subsequent mobilization or measurement of new data. To support this development, in this article we evaluate the extent of the trait data compiled in TRY and analyse emerging patterns of data coverage and representativeness. Best species coverage is achieved for categorical traits—almost complete coverage for 'plant growth form'. However, most traits relevant for ecology and vegetation modelling are characterized by continuous intraspecific variation and trait–environmental relationships. These traits have to be measured on individual plants in their respective environment. Despite unprecedented data coverage, we observe a humbling lack of completeness and representativeness of these continuous traits in many aspects. We, therefore, conclude that reducing data gaps and biases in the TRY database remains a key challenge and requires a coordinated approach to data mobilization and trait measurements. This can only be achieved in collaboration with other initiatives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Theories linking diversity to ecosystem function have been challenged by the widespread observation of more exotic species in more diverse native communities. Few studies have addressed the underlying processes by dissecting how biotic resistance to new invaders may be shaped by the same environmental influences that determine diversity and other community properties. In grasslands with heterogeneous soils, we added invaders and removed competitors to analyze the causes of invasion resistance. Abiotic resistance was measured using invader success in the absence of the resident community. Biotic resistance was measured as the reduction in invader success in the presence of the resident community. Invaders were most successful where biotic resistance was lowest and abiotic resistance was highest, confirming the dominant role of biotic resistance. Contrary to theory, though, biotic resistance was highest where both species richness and functional diversity were lowest. In the multivariate framework of a structural equation model, biotic resistance was independent of community diversity, and was highest where fertile soils led to high community biomass. Seed predation slightly augmented biotic resistance without qualitatively changing the results. Soil-related genotypic variation in the invader also did not affect the results. We conclude that in natural systems, diversity may be correlated with invasibility and yet have little effect on biotic resistance to invasion. More generally, the environmental causes of variation in diversity should be considered when examining the potential functional consequences of diversity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims The 50th anniversary of the publication of the seminal book, The Theory of Island Biogeography, by Robert H. MacArthur and Edward O. Wilson, is a timely moment to review and identify key research foci that could advance island biology. Here, we take a collaborative horizon-scanning approach to identify 50 fundamental questions for the continued development of the field. Location Worldwide. Methods We adapted a well-established methodology of horizon scanning to identify priority research questions in island biology, and initiated it during the Island Biology 2016 conference held in the Azores. A multidisciplinary working group prepared an initial pool of 187 questions. A series of online surveys was then used to refine a list of the 50 top priority questions. The final shortlist was restricted to questions with a broad conceptual scope, and which should be answerable through achievable research approaches. Results Questions were structured around four broad and partially overlapping island topics, including: (Macro)Ecology and Biogeography, (Macro)Evolution, Community Ecology, and Conservation and Management. These topics were then subdivided according to the following subject areas: global diversity patterns (five questions in total); island ontogeny and past climate change (4); island rules and syndromes (3); island biogeography theory (4); immigration-speciation-extinction dynamics (5); speciation and diversification (4); dispersal and colonization (3); community assembly (6); biotic interactions (2); global change (5); conservation and management policies (5); and invasive alien species (4). Main conclusions Collectively, this cross-disciplinary set of topics covering the 50 fundamental questions has the potential to stimulate and guide future research in island biology. By covering fields ranging from biogeography, community ecology and evolution to global change, this horizon scan may help to foster the formation of interdisciplinary research networks, enhancing joint efforts to better understand the past, present and future of island biotas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The preservation of ecosystem processes under ongoing biotic erosion requires that some species within affected communities perform similar functions, a property that is usually defined as functional redundancy. Although functional redundancy has recently become a relevant part of ecological research, so far there is no agreement on its measurement., The scope of this work is thus to propose a consistent framework based on functional dissimilarities among species for summarizing different facets of functional redundancy. The behaviour of the proposed measures is illustrated with one small artificial data set, together with actual examples on the species functional turnover along successional gradients., We believe this new framework provides an important contribution for the clarification and quantification of key metrics of community redundancy and vulnerability. The method, for which we provide a simple r function called 'uniqueness', further allows summarizing the functional contribution of single species to the overall redundancy of any type of biological community. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Guayana Highlands ( GH) are virtually pristine environments and constitute a unique natural laboratory to study the biogeographical and evolutionary origin of the Neotropical biota. In addition, the GH provide most of the water of the Guayana region, which feeds the more important tributaries of the Orinoco and the Amazon basins. However, the biota and the ecosystems of the GH are in danger of being profoundly altered by current human activities. Recent studies have identified the presence of aggressive invader plant species (e.g. Poa annua and Polypogon elongatus) and infectious faecal bacteria ( Helicobacter pilori), both carried by tourists, which could deeply affect biodiversity and ecological performance of terrestrial and aquatic GH ecosystems. If these hazards are not controlled as soon as possible, the potential consequences could disturb not only the GH ecosystems but also those of the rest of the Guayana region. We still have time to find solutions and implement specific regulations before the mentioned threats become uncontrollable. The GH are within a national park and other conservation figures but a management plan is lacking; therefore, current conservation rules are insufficient to deal with the newly detected menaces. We propose an international initiative, including all countries of the Guayana Shield, to take immediate actions. Otherwise, we are in danger of losing one of the few pristine biomes that remain in the world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Brazilian savanna is the second largest ecosystem in Brazil. It is also one of the most endangered, with only 20% of its habitat remaining unchanged. Agriculture and livestock have been indicated as the main agents of destruction of the Brazilian savanna. Brazilian livestock, for example, is the main reason for cultivation of exotic grasses such as Urochloa spp. (from Africa). Dung beetles are widely used in ecological assessment, mainly because they are recognized as bioindicators of environmental changes. Therefore, efficient sampling is required for any research involving the biodiversity of this group. In order to mitigate the lack of information on efficiency of the attractiveness of baits in the endangered Brazilian savanna and in exotic pasturelands, we sampled dung beetles in four native patches of the Brazilian savanna and in four areas of pastures with Urochloa spp. Dung beetles were captured with pitfall traps baited with carcass, cattle dung, human feces and pig dung, with a total sampling effort of 384 traps. We sampled 7544 individuals belonging to 43 species and 18 genera of dung beetles. Thirty-eight species were collected in the Brazilian savanna and 24 species in exotic pastureland. In both ecosystems traps baited with human feces sampled greater abundance and species richness of dung beetles when compared with the other three baits used. Our results showed that human feces is a reliable, easy and inexpensive bait to sample greater abundance and species richness of generalist dung beetles in both native and exotic habitats, with clear structural differences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Conservation Biology is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Conservation Biology is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is currently discussing the development of a Red List of Ecosystems (RLE) that would mirror the categories and criteria used to assess the conservation status of species. The suggested scientific foundations for the RLE are being considered by IUCN for adoption as the backbone of the RLE. We identify conceptual and operational weaknesses in the draft RLE approach, the categories, and criteria. While species are relatively well-described units, there is no consistent means to classify ecosystems for assessing conservation status. The proposed RLE is framed mostly around certain features of ecosystems such as broad vegetation or habitat types, and do not consider major global change drivers such as climate change. We discuss technical difficulties with the proposed concept of ecosystem collapse and suggest it is not analogous to species extinction. We highlight the lack of scientific basis for the criteria and thresholds proposed by the RLE, and question the need to adopt the structure of the Red List of Species for an RLE. We suggest that the proposed RLE is open to ambiguous interpretations and uncertain outcomes, and that its practicality and benefit for conservation should be carefully evaluated before final approval. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim Global conservation policies, such as the Convention on Biological Diversity ( CBD) decision to aim for the protection of 17% of the area of terrestrial ecosystems by 2020, are typically realized at national levels. We investigate the difference between continentally coordinated conservation versus nationally devolved conservation, in a manner relevant for the Nagoya resolution. Location The terrestrial areas of the Western Hemisphere. Methods We used IUCN distribution data for 8463 species of mammals, birds and amphibians in the Western Hemisphere. We investigated the consequences of prioritizing land at a continental scale, versus analysing priorities within each country separately. Spatial prioritization was performed using the Zonation software, which produces a complementarity-based hierarchical priority ranking across the area of interest. Results We found that coordinated continent-wide priorities achieved > 50% higher mean protection levels than national analyses for the top 17% of land. National prioritizations also result in spatial priority patterns that can be considered as artefacts at the continental scale: in bands of high-priority land concentrated at terrestrial political boundaries, such as at low-latitude edges of temperate zone countries. We find that this edge artefact also correlates with the present distribution of conservation areas, with the density of conservation areas within 50 km of a national border being > 50% higher than the density of conservation areas away from national borders. Main conclusions The means by which national priorities are integrated with continental or global conservation prioritization will have considerable influence on how much is achieved by the CBD resolution. Focus on national species distributions and priorities will result in lost performance because of emphasis on nationally rare species that are comparatively common elsewhere. National borders intersect species distributions (and possibly diversity gradients), leading to clustering of nationally rare species and priority areas close to the border. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary 1. The goal of conservation and restoration activities is to maintain biological diversity and the ecosystem services that this diversity provides. These activities traditionally focus on the measures of species diversity that include only information on the presence and abundance of species. Yet how diversity influences ecosystem function depends on the traits and niches filled by species. 2. Biological diversity can be quantified in ways that account for functional and phenotypic differences. A number of such measures of functional diversity (FD) have been created, quantifying the distribution of traits in a community or the relative magnitude of species similarities and differences. We review FD measures and why they are intuitively useful for understanding ecological patterns and are important for management. 3. In order for FD to be meaningful and worth measuring, it must be correlated with ecosystem function, and it should provide information above and beyond what species richness or diversity can explain. We review these two propositions, examining whether the strength of the correlation between FD and species richness varies across differing environmental gradients and whether FD offers greater explanatory power of ecosystem function than species richness. 4. Previous research shows that the relationship between FD and richness is complex and context dependent. Different functional traits can show individual responses to different gradients, meaning that important changes in diversity can occur with minimal change in richness. Further, FD can explain variation in ecosystem function even when richness does not. 5. Synthesis and applications. FD measures those aspects of diversity that potentially affect community assembly and function. Given this explanatory power, FD should be incorporated into conservation and restoration decision-making, especially for those efforts attempting to reconstruct or preserve healthy, functioning ecosystems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The simultaneous proliferation of protected areas for biodiversity conservation and neoliberal market expansion has sparked a growing body of work, which suggests that these are mutually reinforcing processes that reflect alliances between conservationist and capitalist agendas. Because this alliance is so counter intuitive to the ways in which biodiversity conservation is popularly understood, theoretical perspectives concerning these relationships have been slow in emerging. Drawing from Gramsci's ideas of hegemony and historic bloc, we propose a theoretical framework systematically to inform understandings and investigations of these transformations. We suggest that they are driven by the convergence of networks of interests, which work to resolve the apparent contradictions between demands for continued economic growth and growing concerns about what it portends for the future of our planet. These in turn rely on spectacular presentations of conservation interventions, conservation success stories, and their putative linkages to ecosystems and the global economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Can an examination of the interactive effects of soil disturbance by rodents and landscape positions on vegetation response evaluate the ecological role of the keystone species (ecosystem engineers) at a broad scale, thereby providing good approaches to the management of the key engineers for healthy Mongolian steppes? To answer this question, we surveyed plants growing on and off the mounds created by Siberian marmots ( Marmota sibirica) among 14 landscape positions and within a single mountain slope in a forested steppe region of Mongolia. Significant interactions between landscape position and soil disturbance by marmots were seen in forb volume. The impact of soil disturbance on species composition was low in mountain areas and high on depositional plains. Soil disturbance may have changed microenvironments from xeric to more humid or from moist to more xeric, depending on the other site characteristics. Collectively, our results suggest that sedimentation and pre-existing water conditions modify the relationships between soil disturbance and landscape position. Because the landscapes can be divided clearly into those that received only positive influences and those that received only negative influence from the marmot disturbance, zoning becomes more meaningful. Our a priori evaluation of the influence of keystone engineers on ecosystems at a broad scale could provide insights into how to optimize the performance of ecosystem engineering in a way that is beneficial to ecosystem management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The first large systematic collection of benthic invertebrate megafauna from the Australian continental margin (depths > 100 m) revealed high species richness and novelty on the south-western continental slope (∼100–1100 m depth; ∼18° S–35° S). A total of 1979 morphologically defined species was discriminated in seven taxa across all samples: Demospongiae, Decapoda, corals (Octocorallia and Antipatharia), Mollusca, Echinodermata, Ascidiacea, and Pycnogonida. Collectively, 59% were estimated to be new or unnamed species. The distribution pattern of megafaunal communities, analysed with a suite of 17 physical covariates, was most influenced at large spatial scales (>100s km) by bottom temperature, oxygen concentration and latitude, whereas at smaller scales (10s of km), seabed type was most influential. Many covariates are driven by the same physical processes and are correlated ( e.g. to depth or latitude), thus it is not possible to ascribe causal relationships to fauna distributions. However, their identification highlights the spatial scales that determine the composition of megafaunal communities. Regional-scale transitions in bottom temperature and oxygen concentration are determined by water masses and currents that interact with the south-western margin seabed in different ways depending on location. The nested, smaller-scale heterogeneity of seabed type, classified simply as ‘hard’ or ‘soft’ terrain, differentiates consolidated attachment sites for sessile fauna from sediments suited to mobile and burrowing fauna. Different physical factors affect the distribution of benthic fauna at different scales. Collectively, these patterns of heterogeneity can be represented in a hierarchical framework that consists of biogeographic provinces, biomes, biogeomorphic features, terrains, and finer scales. The Australian government is using a hierarchical approach to identify bioregions for management purposes; a key aim is to ensure that a National Representative System of Marine Protected Areas (NRSMPA) will meet the requirement of comprehensiveness, adequacy and representativeness. Important findings from this study are that the provincial structure of invertebrate megabenthos broadly aligns with the provincial structure derived earlier from the distribution of fishes, but there are differences in the distribution of individual major taxa at both provincial and megahabitat scales. Representative coverage of rarer taxa or narrowly distributed taxa might not be feasible at the same time as ensuring main fauna groups are adequately represented. The hierarchical scales of heterogeneity of the megabenthos in this area, the differences between taxa, and the high proportion of apparently rare species make it clear that it will be as important to manage the area outside the NRSMPA as to manage the NRSMPA itself. Management will be required at different scales that correspond to the multiscale spatial heterogeneity of continental margin fauna. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Conservation Biology is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The Habitats Directive is the key instrument for biodiversity conservation in the European Union. In the Habitats Directive, maintenance or restoration of natural habitats and populations of wild species of Community interest at a favourable conservation status (FCS) is defined as an overall objective of conservation measures. We argue that the concept could serve as a realistic and useful measure of conservation success, as for as practical problems related to its application can be solved. The problems with FCS stem primarily from difficulties in organising comprehensive species and habitat monitoring networks at both the national and European scales, lack of data on historical changes in habitat and species distributions, habitat identification problems, difficulties in the study of habitat-specific structures and functions, and scaling problems. We present conceptual clarifications to the concept, and recommend inclusion of within-species genetic variability and functional characteristics of ecosystems into assessment of FCS. We also present recommendations on the establishment of nationally representative species and habitat monitoring networks. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Biotropica is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

South Africa's first national assessment of spatial priorities for biodiversity conservation, released in 2005, aimed to identify conservation priority areas for mainstreaming into all sectors at national and provincial scales. This National Spatial Biodiversity Assessment (NSBA) was based on a planning for implementation approach in order to deliver defensible products useful to decision-makers. The NSBA aimed to produce a map of broad-scale priority areas for future finer-scale assessment and conservation action. This map summarized information on species, ecosystems, ecological processes, and the pressures they face from human activities. Owing to the complexity of the priority area map, two additional user-friendly products — maps of ecosystem status and protection levels — were developed. These products represented the habitat loss and protected area coverage of South Africa's ecosystems relative to their conservation targets. A year after release, we reflect on the NSBA process, products and uptake by implementing agencies (with a specific focus on the terrestrial biodiversity assessment) in order to contribute to the growing body of documented best practice in conservation planning. The ecosystem status product has been widely used at national and provincial scales due in large to its clear and compelling message. The protection level and overall priority map have also witnessed uptake, the former in guiding the expansion of protected areas and the latter as an integrated map of national biodiversity status. The strong collaboration of local planners and implementers with in-depth experience of biodiversity assessment, using a systematic approach and focusing on communicating a few high level messages, appears to have contributed to the initial, successful uptake of the NSBA. We conclude with a call to address data and monitoring shortcomings before the next NSBA in 2010. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Labrador, Canada is the last relatively undeveloped landmass of Boreal and subarctic Canada. Its land area is over 288,000 km2, with less than 1% developed, and a human population of below 30,000. Labrador is greater than 60% forest- and woodland-covered and over 30% tundra, soil and rock barrens. We review the ecology and distribution of forests, woodlands, and related vegetation of Labrador within the context of climate, forest site index, landform, soils, and disturbance. Recent ecosystem management through a public planning process with emphasis on past and future comanagement and development with traditional and western scientific principles is currently underway. Plant–animal interactions, traditional uses by aboriginal groups, and early history are also reviewed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Conservation Biology is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Conservation Biology is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Conservation Biology is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Conservation Biology is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Conservation Biology is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

In 1996, a coalition of diverse and determined organizations launched a new initiative in the Chicago region. Our vision? Chicago Wilderness: a thriving mosaic of natural areas, connected by greenways and wildlife corridors, embedded in the nation's third largest metropolis. In this vision, the region's human communities reclaim a cultural tradition of protecting and restoring the globally outstanding natural communities that enrich our lives. Today, more than 170 organizations join forces to transform this vision into reality. A regional biodiversity recovery plan, the result of 3 years of assessment and planning by scientists, land managers, educators, and policy strategists, sets priorities and determines the lines of action for the coalition. This regional agenda stems from our vision and recovery goals for each ecological community; it encourages targeted research initiatives that focus on characterizing our native biological diversity and on analyzing elements critical to its recovery. Ultimately, though, the long-term survival of our natural wealth rests on the support from the public. Although the challenges to conservation educators and communicators are many, Chicago Wilderness allows us to work together in understanding our audiences, channeling our resources, and creating novel approaches to engage the widest public in our conservation efforts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As a potential mechanism to explain how biodiversity loss may influence variability in ecosystem functioning, we examine the hypothesis that biodiversity loss lowers similarity in species composition among local communities and that this decreased similarity in turn lowers ecosystem reliability. Ecosystem reliability refers to the probability that a system will provide a consistent level of performance over a given unit of time. This hypothesis is compared with other hypotheses that make similar predictions, including the sampling effect, insurance, and resource use complementarity hypotheses. We provide evidence for the similarity hypothesis through a reanalysis of a recent experiment and show that a key assumption of the hypothesis may be robust through computer simulations. We also address problems and possible solutions regarding how to separately test the similarity and other hypotheses in biodiversity experiments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article reports on the Rivularia bullata-balanus community. The occurrence of this community gives rise to a number of ecological considerations especially as featuring an instance of biotic reactions and as emphasizing the relevance of considering the sea shore as a biotic community or biome. The Rivularia genus propagates both by hormogones and spores and the hormogones provides an effective method for increasing the size of the colony and the formation of new colonies. This report of the Rivularia-Balanus community gives evidence of a study of both adelophycean stages and biotic relationships in attempting to clarify problems connected with marine ecology of the littoral region.

Presents several studies on the integration of ecosystems and production. Model evaluation of two regulatory strategies considered to increase egg production of fishes; Importance of remnants on farms for invertebrate biodiversity; Management system in the viticulture industry.

Globally, biodiversity is under increasing pressure from human activities despite protective measures in conservation laws. Climate change will exacerbate those pressures and the effects of habitat loss and species decline. Current approaches to conservation law in most countries focus on establishing protected areas and limiting activities outside reserves that might affect priority species, habitats, and ecological communities. These measures have had mixed success depending on scale and implementation, but are likely to perform poorly under conditions of future change. To prepare for the future, we consider how conservation law and policy needs to anticipate and manage for future change; widen its scope beyond species and ecological communities that are currently threatened; and support adaptive management of priority areas and species. Using Australian conservation law as a case study, we outline three possible routes by which this shift could occur. The first involves enhancing the adaptiveness of conservation law, the second expands the focus of conservation law from protected areas and listed species to include ecosystems and ecosystem services, while the third attempts to do both simultaneously. We examine the legal mechanisms needed to implement each route, examples of their use in practice, and barriers that must be overcome for successful implementation. This article is categorized under: Climate, Ecology, and Conservation > Conservation Strategies Conservation laws must be more responsive to climate change and expand to conserve more than threatened species and protected areas. We suggest pathways for urgent reform. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The authors reflect on the long-term issues of animal conservation. They discuss the definition of fads that embraces enthusiastically and part of conservation on human endeavor whether in business, economics or psychology. They also explores the evidence of fads that relates to biological diversity conservation. It notes that fads include various fields of ecotourism, reduced emissions from deforestation and degradation (REDD) and payment for ecosystem or environmental services (PES).