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Sobral, M., Magrach, A. 2019. Restoration of ecosystem functionality: the value of species interactions. Ecosistemas 28(2): 4-10. Doi.: 10.7818/ECOS.1737 Restoration of natural ecosystems has traditionally focused on recovering specific richness to recover ecosystem functionality. However, species within a natural ecosystem are not isolated, they interact with others forming complex ecological networks. We know that human activities (such as selective logging or agriculture expansion) modify the structure of these interaction networks, with important effects on the functionality of ecosystems. Despite this, we still do not know whether techniques implemented today are able to restore the structure of these networks and their related functionality. In this article, we expose the reasons why we believe that restoration should consider the structure of the networks of species interactions. We review how the different types of disturbances affect this structure and we propose possible avenues for the study and application of these ideas. We hope that this perspective will help improve the management of the natural environment in response to global change.

To contribute to the aspirations of recent international biodiversity conventions, protected areas (PAs) must be strategically located and not simply established on economically marginal lands as they have in the past. With refined international commitments under the Convention on Biological Diversity to target protected areas in places of "importance to biodiversity," perhaps they may now be. We analyzed location biases in PAs globally over historic (pre-2004) and recent periods. Specifically, we examined whether the location of protected areas are more closely associated with high concentrations of threatened vertebrate species or with areas of low agricultural opportunity costs. We found that both old and new protected areas did not target places with high concentrations of threatened vertebrate species. Instead, they appeared to be established in locations that minimize conflict with agriculturally suitable lands. This entrenchment of past trends has substantial implications for the contributions these protected areas are making to international commitments to conserve biodiversity. If protected-area growth from 2004 to 2014 had strategically targeted unrepresented threatened vertebrates, >30 times more species (3086 or 2553 potential vs. 85 actual new species represented) would have been protected for the same area or the same cost as the actual expansion. With the land available for conservation declining, nations must urgently focus new protection on places that provide for the conservation outcomes outlined in international treaties.

Zach Ancona (U.S. Geological Survey, USGS) assisted with preparation of numerous datasets for use in ARIES. Support for Bagstad's time was provided by the USGS Land Change Science Program. Support for Voigt's time was provided by the USGS Sustaining Environmental Capital Initiative. We thank Lisa Mandle for constructive comments on an earlier draft of this paper. Any use of trade, product, or firm names is for descriptive purposes only and does not imply endorsement by the U.S. Government. Appendix A Scientists, stakeholders and decision makers face trade-offs between adopting simple or complex approaches when modeling ecosystem services (ES). Complex approaches may be time- and data-intensive, making them more challenging to implement and difficult to scale, but can produce more accurate and locally specific results. In contrast, simple approaches allow for faster assessments but may sacrifice accuracy and credibility. The ARtificial Intelligence for Ecosystem Services (ARIES) modeling platform has endeavored to provide a spectrum of simple to complex ES models that are readily accessible to a broad range of users. In this paper, we describe a series of five Tier 1 ES models that users can run anywhere in the world with no user input, while offering the option to easily customize models with context-specific data and parameters. This approach enables rapid ES quantification, as models are automatically adapted to the application context. We provide examples of customized ES assessments at three locations on different continents and demonstrate the use of ARIES' spatial multi-criteria analysis module, which enables spatial prioritization of ES for different beneficiary groups. The models described here use publicly available global- and continental-scale data as defaults. Advanced users can modify data input requirements, model parameters or entire model structures to capitalize on high-resolution data and context-specific model formulations. Data and methods contributed by the research community become part of a growing knowledge base, enabling faster and better ES assessment for users worldwide. By engaging with the ES modeling community to further develop and customize these models based on user needs, spatiotemporal contexts, and scale(s) of analysis, we aim to cover the full arc from simple to complex assessments, minimizing the additional cost to the user when increased complexity and accuracy are needed AQUACROSS - Knowledge, Assessment, and Management for AQUAtic Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services aCROSS EU policies (AQUACROSS) (642317) Zach Ancona (U.S. Geological Survey, USGS) assisted with preparation of numerous datasets for use in ARIES. Support for Bagstad's time was provided by the USGS Land Change Science Program. Support for Voigt's time was provided by the USGS Sustaining Environmental Capital Initiative. We thank Lisa Mandle for constructive comments on an earlier draft of this paper. Any use of trade, product, or firm names is for descriptive purposes only and does not imply endorsement by the U.S. Government.

Freshwater biodiversity is declining, despite national and international efforts to manage and protect freshwater ecosystems. Ecosystem-based management (EBM) has been proposed as an approach that could more efficiently and adaptively balance ecological and societal needs. However, this raises the question of how social and ecological objectives can be included in an integrated management plan. Here, we present a generic model-coupling framework tailored to address this question for freshwater ecosystems, using three components: biodiversity, ecosystem services (ESS), and a spatial prioritisation that aims to balance the spatial representation of biodiversity and ESS supply and demand. We illustrate this model-coupling approach within the Danube River Basin using the spatially explicit, potential distribution of (i) 85 fish species as a surrogate for biodiversity as modelled using hierarchical Bayesian models, and (ii) four estimated ESS layers produced by the Artificial Intelligence for Ecosystem Services (ARIES) platform (with ESS supply defined as carbon storage and flood regulation, and demand specified as recreation and water use). These are then used for (iii) a joint spatial prioritisation of biodiversity and ESS employing Marxan with Zones, laying out the spatial representation of multiple management zones. Given the transboundary setting of the Danube River Basin, we also run comparative analyses including the country-level purchasing power parity (PPP)-adjusted gross domestic product (GDP) and each country's percent cover of the total basin area as potential cost factors, illustrating a scheme for balancing the share of establishing specific zones among countries. We demonstrate how emphasizing various biodiversity or ESS targets in an EBM model-coupling framework can be used to cost-effectively test various spatially explicit management options across a multi-national case study. We further discuss possible limitations, future developments, and requirements for effectively managing a balance between biodiversity and ESS supply and demand in freshwater ecosystems. © 2018 The Authors This study was funded by the European Union's Horizon 2020 - Research and Innovation Framework Programme under grant agreement No. 642317 , granting funding to SD, SCJ, KK, SDL, JML, SB, FV, AF, TH, and FB. SDL has received additional funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 - Research and Innovation Framework Programme under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie grant agreement No. 748625 , and SCJ from the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) for the “GLANCE” project (Global Change Effects in River Ecosystems; 01 LN1320A ). VH is funded by a Ramon y Cajal contract (RYC-2013-13979) supported by the Spanish Government. The U.S. Geological Survey Land Change Science Program under the Land Resources Mission Area supported KJB's contributions to this paper. We thank Van Bustic for constructive comments on an earlier draft of this manuscript.

Pollination is an ecosystem service that directly contributes to agricultural production, and can therefore provide a strong incentive to conserve natural habitats that support pollinator populations. However, we have yet to provide consistent and convincing pollination service valuations to effectively slow the conversion of natural habitats. We use coffee in Kodagu, India, to illustrate the uncertainties involved in estimating costs and benefits of pollination services. First, we fully account for the benefits obtained by coffee agroforests that are attributable to pollination from wild bees nesting in forest habitats. Second, we compare these benefits to the opportunity cost of conserving forest habitats and forgoing conversion to coffee production. Throughout, we systematically quantify the uncertainties in our accounting exercise and identify the parameters that contribute most to uncertainty in pollination service valuation. We find the value of pollination services provided by one hectare of forest to be 25% lower than the profits obtained from converting that same surface to coffee production using average values for all parameters. However, our results show this value is not robust to moderate uncertainty in parameter values, particularly that driven by variability in pollinator density. Synthesis and applications. Our findings emphasize the need to develop robust estimates of both value and opportunity costs of pollination services that take into account landscape and management variables. Our analysis contributes to strengthening pollination service arguments used to help stakeholders make informed decisions on land use and conservation practices. © 2019 The Authors. Journal of Applied Ecology © 2019 British Ecological Society

Large river-floodplain systems are hotspots of biodiversity and ecosystem services but are also used for multiple human activities, making them one of the most threatened ecosystems worldwide. There is wide evidence that reconnecting river channels with their floodplains is an effective measure to increase their multi-functionality, i.e., ecological integrity, habitats for multiple species and the multiple functions and services of river-floodplain systems, although, the selection of promising sites for restoration projects can be a demanding task. In the case of the Danube River in Europe, planning and implementation of restoration projects is substantially hampered by the complexity and heterogeneity of the environmental problems, lack of data and strong differences in socio-economic conditions as well as inconsistencies in legislation related to river management. We take a quantitative approach based on best-available data to assess biodiversity using selected species and three ecosystem services (flood regulation, crop pollination, and recreation), focused on the navigable main stem of the Danube River and its floodplains. We spatially prioritize river-floodplain segments for conservation and restoration based on (1) multi-functionality related to biodiversity and ecosystem services, (2) availability of remaining semi-natural areas and (3) reversibility as it relates to multiple human activities (e.g. flood protection, hydropower and navigation). Our approach can thus serve as a strategic planning tool for the Danube and provide a method for similar analyses in other large river-floodplain systems. © 2018 The Authors This work was funded by the projects AQUACROSS (Knowledge, Assessment and Management for AQUAtic Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services aCROSS EU policies, Contract no. 642317 ; http://aquacross.eu ). Support for Bagstad

Human pressures on the environment are changing spatially and temporally, with profound implications for the planet’s biodiversity and human economies. Here we use recently available data on infrastructure, land cover and human access into natural areas to construct a globally standardized measure of the cumulative human footprint on the terrestrial environment at 1 km2 resolution from 1993 to 2009. We note that while the human population has increased by 23% and the world economy has grown 153%, the human footprint has increased by just 9%. Still, 75% the planet’s land surface is experiencing measurable human pressures. Moreover, pressures are perversely intense, widespread and rapidly intensifying in places with high biodiversity. Encouragingly, we discover decreases in environmental pressures in the wealthiest countries and those with strong control of corruption. Clearly the human footprint on Earth is changing, yet there are still opportunities for conservation gains., Nature Communications, 7, ISSN:2041-1723

Resumen Introduccion El mesotelioma peritoneal maligno es la neoplasia primaria mas comun de la serosa peritoneal. Presenta un alto grado de agresividad local y es rara su diseminacion ganglionar y/o a distancia. Su pronostico con el enfoque de tratamiento tradicional es nefasto, con medianas de supervivencia de 4 a 12 meses. La aplicacion de una nueva terapia combinada de cirugia citorreductora junto con quimioterapia intraperitoneal perioperatoria, quimioterapia intraperitoneal intraoperatoria hipertermica (QIIH), seguida de quimioterapia intraperitoneal postoperatoria precoz (QIPP), esta posibilitando buenos resultados, incluso en ocasiones con intencion curativa. Se presenta nuestra serie personal tratada con esta triple terapia combinada. Material y metodo Entre diciembre de 1998 y diciembre de 2005, en nuestro Programa de Carcinomatosis Peritoneal de la Policlinica San Jose de Vitoria, se han realizado 78 citorreducciones en 50 pacientes de diverso origen, de las que en 11 ocasiones en 7 pacientes se trataba de mesotelioma peritoneal difuso primario maligno como causa de la enfermedad. Se estudia a este grupo de pacientes. Resultados Se han realizado 11 citorreducciones en 7 pacientes por mesotelioma peritoneal difuso primario maligno, 4 pacientes varones y 3 mujeres, con edad media de 50 (intervalo, 31-57) anos. Ninguno tenia antecedentes laborales ni de contacto con asbesto. Todos ellos habian recibido mas de una cirugia previa antes de venir a nuestro programa, mientras que solamente 2 pacientes tambien habian recibido quimioterapia sistemica como tratamiento adyuvante tras diagnostico de confirmacion como unica alternativa terapeutica posible. Se realizo un tratamiento con intencion curativa, y en todos los casos se consiguio una citorreduccion completa de la enfermedad macroscopica, seguida de la aplicacion de quimioterapia intraperitoneal perioperatoria para el tratamiento de la enfermedad microscopica residual si la hubiere. La anatomia patologica demostro un mesotelioma bifasico sarcomatoso en 2 ocasiones y un mesotelioma epitelial en los otros 5 pacientes; 5 pacientes presentaron algun tipo de complicacion postoperatoria, lo que justifica una estancia media hospitalaria de 41,5 (17-84) dias. Han fallecido 3 pacientes por progresion de la enfermedad a los 3, 9 y 11 meses de su citorreduccion inicial, 2 de ellos por mesotelioma difuso bifasico sarcomatoso. Los otros 4 pacientes permanecen vivos a los 5, 9, 19 y 54 meses de su primera citorreduccion, sin evidencia de enfermedad en la actualidad. Conclusiones La cirugia citorreductora radical oncologica combinada con la aplicacion intraperitoneal perioperatoria de quimioterapia presenta buenos resultados, con supervivencias prolongadas en casos seleccionados, si bien conlleva una elevada morbilidad. En nuestra experiencia, los mesoteliomas bifasicos sarcomatosos deberian excluirse de este protocolo por lo agresivo de la enfermedad e incluirse unicamente en esquemas terapeuticos convencionales con intencion paliativa.

Resume La presencia de gas venoso portal intrahepatico (GVPH) en adultos es una entidad poco comun, y la causa subyacente mas frecuente es la isquemia intestinal; sin embargo, cada vez se describen mas casos asociados a patologia benigna subsidiarios de tratamiento conservador. Se revisa la bibliografia para definir el significado clinico del gas en la vena porta, el papel de la tomografia computarizada y la necesidad o no de realizar una laparotomia exploradora urgente.

Colorectal cancer is the most frequent digestive tumor. The incidence of abdominal dissemination is high and all studies of the natural history of colorectal carcinomatosis demonstrate that prognosis in these patients is poor, with a mean survival of between 5 and 9 months. Furthermore, the results of systemic adjuvant treatment are disappointing, with a maximum survival of 18 months. Consequently, other treatment strategies need to be studied and developed. We present a review of the principles that underlie Sugarbakers treatment protocol, which includes maximal cytoreductive surgery for the treatment of macroscopic disease through peritonectomy together with perioperative intraperitoneal intensification chemotherapy for residual microscopic disease. We present all the phase II studies with more than 10 treated patients published in the medical literature by the main groups working in this line of treatment, together with the only phase III study published to date. With this new therapeutic alternative, the mean overall survival at 2 and 5 years is 40% and 20% respectively. Based on these results, this new therapeutic approach is recommended as the treatment of choice in these unfortunate patients. The limits of the treatment of advanced colorectal cancer are also discussed.

Resumen Introduccion La deteccion temprana del cancer de mama se ha beneficiado del creciente uso de la mamografia de cribado y de las biopsias de mama para las lesiones no palpables Pacientes y metodo Hemos revisado la efectividad de la biopsia guiada por arpon para lesiones mamograficas de 84 pacientes que acudieron o fueron remitidas a nuestro hospital durante un periodo de 4 anos Resultados Se detecto malignidad en 24 de las 84 biopsias (28%). La rentabilidad de la biopsia fue mayor para los hallazgos mamograficos de masas espiculadas o estrelladas (50%; p Conclusiones Estos resultados demuestran que factores como la edad, la historia personal o familiar de cancer de mama y ciertas caracteristicas mamograficas de lesiones mamarias estan asociados con altas tasas de positividad de las biopsias, siendo la tasa de rentabilidad de la biopsia comparable a la de otros hospitales

Symptomatic perineal herniation after abdominoperineal resection is a rare complication and its management remains challenging. Recurrent symptomatic perineal hernia after a previous laparoscopic mesh repair is exceptional and no standardized procedure has been deemed the "gold standard of care." To date, this redo laparoscopic mesh repair is only the second report that we could find in the English literature.

Riparian forests are often the last remaining areas of natural vegetation in agricultural and plantation forestry landscapes. Covering millions of hectares of land in Indonesia, industrial pulpwood...

Introduction In 1981, Dr. PH Sugarbaker, challenging oncological orthodoxy, considered carcinomatosis to be a locoregional stage of the disease that was still susceptible to treatment with curative intent. To this end he developed a new therapeutic alternative based on the combined treatment. The macroscopic disease treated by maximum radical oncological cytoreductive surgery (through the peritonectomies described by him), followed by treatment of the residual microscopic disease with the direct intra-abdominal application of intraoperative chemotherapy with locoregional intensification, modulated by hyperthermia and early normothermic postoperative intra-abdominal chemotherapy. Using this new therapeutic regimen, known as "Sugarbaker s Protocol", his group has reported 45% survival rates in carcinomatosis of colorectal origin at 5 years, and, in selected groups of patients, 50% survival rates at 5 years. The scientific community, however, has criticized these results considering that: it is a personal experience, with a not homogenous treatment protocol with developmental modifications over time, that it is a retrospective non-randomized study, and finally that the cytostatics used in his protocol are obsolete. Various European groups have replied to these main criticisms confirming the good results that this new therapeutic alternative offers for patients with carcinomatosis of colorectal origin. The purpose of this article is to present these contributions. Material and methods All the articles published in the English language by European groups in the world s medical literature have been reviewed using the Pubmed-MEDLINE database to identify the relevant articles related to the treatment of carcinomatosis of colorectal origin using cytoreduction and intraperitoneal chemotherapy from January 1980 to January 2008. Results The European contribution during these 25 years in favour of the "Sugarbaker s Protocol" has consisted fundamentally in: a) one multicenter retrospective study; b) two randomized prospective phase III studies; and c) the use of oxaliplatin and irinotecan as new cytostatic agents in the protocols for intraperitoneal chemotherapy. At the same time, two new transcendental European contributions have been made in which the possibility has been considered of combined simultaneous treatment for patients with hepatic metastases and carcinomatosis, and the introduction, as a selection factor, of patients responsive to intravenous induction chemotherapy within the regimen of sandwich treatment (with systemic neoadjuvant and adjuvant chemotherapy) complementary to intraperitoneal chemotherapy. Conclusions The results obtained by European groups using "Sugarbaker s protocol" and "Elias protocol" with oxaliplatin compel us to request that these treatments be considered by all professionals involved in the treatment of patients with colorectal carcinomatosis as the best treatment currently available for this condition. Furthermore a randomized, prospective, multicenter study should be carried out to clarify its value and the degree of scientific evidence. A validation of this treatment will change, in the future, the dogmatic consideration of carcinomatosis as an incurable disease stage.

La esperanza media de vida en España se ha más que duplicado a lo largo del siglo XX, llegando en la actualidad a 75 años en el varón y 83 años en la mujer. Las predicciones de la evolución y crecimiento poblacional a nivel mundial y nacional auguran un shock demográfico cuando en España el número de mayores de 65 años alcance el 33,5% de la población en el 2050. Es conocido que el cáncer está intrínseca y directamente relacionado con la edad, siendo una patología de personas mayores, ya que al menos el 60% de ellos aparecen en mayores de 65 años. Los ancianos constituyen el grupo más importante de la práctica oncológica médica. Las predicciones de envejecimiento de la población española, permiten intuir que el cáncer en el anciano y su tratamiento deba ser considerado un problema sanitario de primer orden. El cáncer ya no es sinónimo de muerte para la mayoría de los pacientes. Globalmente el 60% se curan o cronifican. Esta mejora pronóstico tiene un precio tanto en las expectativas de tratamiento como de posterior seguimiento y mantenimiento de las secuelas que pueden generarse. El mayor y mejor conocimiento y comprensión del proceso de envejecimiento, permitirá identificar y seleccionar aquellos pacientes mayores que pueden beneficiarse de medidas de prevención y tratamiento, y lo más importante permitirá identificar aquellos pacientes que no son candidatos de tratamientos con intención curativa por tratarse de población frágil. Los adelantos en el campo de la cirugía, especialmente en la cirugía mínimamente invasiva y su aplicación al campo de la cirugía oncológica, permiten prever que un mayor número de pacientes ancianos podrán beneficiarse de un tratamiento con intención curativa. La edad no prevendrá de tratamientos apropiados en individuos ancianos con cáncer, especialmente aquellos en los que tengan una adecuada expectativa de vida y reserva funcional. Combatir esta discriminación sanitaria constituye una de las principales prioridades en la estrategia para el mantenimiento de la salud del anciano. Presentamos y analizamos en este trabajo los cambios poblacionales que se avecinan de forma particular en España, la vinculación del cáncer con la edad con sus particularidades específicas, los criterios generales de fragilidad del anciano, las limitaciones que la edad suponen para la aplicación de distintos tratamientos adyuvantes complementarios, y las nuevas alternativas quirúrgicas aplicables en pacientes oncológicos ancianos en los cánceres más frecuentes de la práctica clínica.

Colorectal cancer is the most frequent tumor of the digestive tract. The high incidence of abdominal dissemination; the poor prognosis of these patients, with median survival consistently ranging from 5 to 9 months in all studies of peritoneal carcinomatosis from colorectal cancer; the failure of adjuvant systemic chemotherapy treatment with a maximal survival of 18 months despite the development of new cytostatic drugs, and new combinations of use, make it crucial to search for and develop new treatment strategies. We review the principles of Sugarbaker´s treatment protocol, which involves the combination of maximum cytoreductive radical oncological surgery for the treatment of all macroscopically disseminated disease with maximum perioperative intraperitoneal intensification chemotherapy to treat residual microscopic disease. We present the results of several scientific papers, all of them phase II studies with more than 10 patients treated, published in the medical literature by the main groups working in this line of treatment, together with the only phase III study reported and published so far, and finally the results of a recently reported retrospective international multicenter study. With this new alternative therapeutic approach, overall mean survival is 40% at 36 months, and 20% at 5 years. Based on these results, this new therapeutic approach is proposed as the treatment of choice for these unfortunate patients.