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Exotic vines threaten biodiversity causing damage to forest structure. We investigated the distribution of exotic vines across different patchily distributed plant communities. We surveyed patches of 12 threatened, mesic forest communities along the coastal plain in New South Wales, Australia to determine how exotic and native vine distribution and density were influenced by characteristics of forest patches and neighbouring land use. Vine density and stem widths were measured in quadrats in the edge and interior of patches. Canopy cover, number of dead trees, area to perimeter ratio and surrounding land use were recorded for each patch. Our results show that exotic vine assemblages were influenced by anthropogenic land use surrounding patches but not influenced by community type. Most exotic vine species were present across the whole region where surveys were undertaken. Exotic vines species were sometimes at high densities but had smaller stem widths than native species and there was no change in density from the edges into the interior. Araujia sericifera and Ipomoea cairica were the most prevalent exotic species and together with the fast edge growing Anredera cordifolia are of key concern. In contrast, native vine assemblages were species rich, with some individuals having large stem widths suggesting greater age and we found species composition varied with plant community type. Native vines showed continual recruitment and appeared more specialized to the attributes of each plant community. Surrounding anthropogenic land uses (residential, agricultural and industrial) were the most important factors predicting invasion of exotic vines and were more important than the length of edges. This suggests that the surrounding matrix characteristics were influencing degradation of the interior of these patches, rather than exotic vines invading along an invasion front from the edge. Exotic vines need to be controlled across the entirety of patches, rather than a focus on edge control practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the past two decades, repeated discoveries of numerous geometric earthworks in interfluvial regions of Amazonia have shed new light onto the territorial extent and the long-term impact of pre-Columbian populations on contemporary landscapes. In particular, the recent development of LiDAR imagery has accelerated the discovery of earthworks in densely forested hinterlands throughout the Amazon basin and the Guiana Shield. This study aimed to evaluate the extent and landscape-scale spatial variations of pre-Columbian disturbances at three ring ditch sites in the French Guiana hinterland. We carried out extensive soil surveys along approximately 1 km-long transects spanning from ring ditches through the surrounding landscapes, and drawn upon multiple indicators, including archaeological artifacts, macro- and micro-charcoals, soil colorimetry, and physicochemical properties to retrace the pre-Columbian history of these sites in terms of occupation periods, anthropogenic soil alteration, and ancient land use. Our results revealed a perennial occupation of these sites over long periods ranging from the 5th and 15th centuries CE, with local enrichments in chemical indicators (Corg, N, Mg, K, Ca) both within the enclosures of ring ditches and in the surrounding landscapes. Physicochemical properties variations were accompanied by variations in soil colorimetry, with darker soils within the enclosure of ring ditches in terra-firme areas. Interestingly however, soil properties did not meet all the characteristics of the so-called Amazonian Dark Earths, thus advocating a paradigm shift towards a better integration of Amazonian Brown Earths into the definition of anthropogenic soils in Amazonia. Soil disturbances were also associated to local enrichments in macro- and micro-charcoals that support in situ fire management that could be attributed to forest clearance and/or slash-and-burn cultivation. Taken together, our results support the idea that pre-Columbian societies made extensive use of their landscapes in the interfluvial regions of the French Guiana hinterlands. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Karimata Island is an island about 100 km west of Borneo, causes geographical isolation and generally always shows an impact on the diversity of animal communities that are less, one of the communities affected is herpetofauna. Herpetofauna is very important in an ecosystem so it is necessary to conduct a survey. The survey was conducted from April 1 to April 7, 2023 in Betok Jaya Village, Karimata Island which was divided in 3 observation areas based on habitat type using the Visual Encounter Survey method. Herpetofauna found consisted in 22 species divided into 5 species of amphibians and 17 species of reptiles with a total of 43 individuals. Herpetofauna located adjacent to human areas is vulnerable to various disturbances such as maritime transportation activities, household waste pollution and land clearing, which can be a threat to the herpetofauna community of Karimata Island. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Human land use changes have altered soil erosion for millennia with extensive consequences on terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems as well as on biogeochemical cycles along the land-ocean continuum. Despite their great importance, past erosion trends have high uncertainties limiting quantitative estimates of long-term erosion dynamics. Here, we applied a new approach combining well-dated paleo-records of soil erosion from lake sediments and a spatially distributed semi-empirical model to simulate annual soil erosion in six lake watershed systems in the Northwestern Alps during the Holocene. Progressive and abrupt changes in soil erosion are detected in the six watersheds. Progressive erosion explains most of the soil exports observed during the Early to Mid-Holocene period (from 11,700 to 3000 cal. yr. BP), while transient erosion crises (i.e., periods of abrupt increase in the erosion rates spanning approximately 1000 ± 500 years) led to massive soil losses during the Late-Holocene period (from 3000 to 1000 cal. yr. BP). Our coupled approach of proxy-model reconstruction shows that the transient erosion crises represent the half of the total soil erosion exports during the Holocene. These estimates defy current representations of large-scale soil erosion during the Holocene that do not consider transient erosion crises, hence potentially underestimating the anthropogenic perturbation of lateral fluxes and fate along the land-ocean continuum. Our results further suggest that erosion and/or land cover proxies need to be consistently integrated into model approaches when attempting to estimate past variations in mass exports from terrestrial to aquatic ecosystems over centennial to millennial timescales. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The analysis of environmental impacts throughout the entire process of coal-fired power plants is imperative to implement effective measures for controlling and reducing pollutant emissions. However, there is still limited research focusing on the cradle-to-gate stage in the life cycle of coal-fired power plants and their environmental impact. This study employs a life cycle assessment (LCA) methodology to assess the environmental impacts of coal-fired power plants in South Sumatra. The primary environmental impact categories of primary emissions include CO2, SO2, NOx, and CH4. The most significant environmental impacts arise from CO2 emissions, notably 98.46% from land clearing and preparation and 86.74% from overburden removal and coal extraction. These stages primarily contribute to global warming throughout the cradle-to-gate process. Sulfur dioxide emissions from land clearing activities are the main contributor to acid rain, followed by overburden removal and coal extraction (96.51%) and coal stockpiling (1.48%), which also play a role. The release of NOx from land clearing and preparation, overburden removal, and coal stockpiling contributes to the potential for eutrophication. Land clearing and preparation have a significant impact on global warming during the coal mining and distribution stages. Practical measures such as enhancing emission reduction facilities and increasing pollutant emission standards for each process are necessary to promote environmentally friendly coal-fired power plants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The coastlines of the southwestern Pacific are dynamic environments that have been repeatedly reshaped by tectonic forces as well as changing global climate and sea level. It has been theorized that much of the north coast of New Guinea was sparsely inhabited until stabilization of coastal flats fallowing the Mid-Holocene Thermal Maximum and resulting marine high stand. We report on environmental proxy indicators measured in core samples taken near modern day Aitape, Papua New Guinea. These cores record the formation of a large lagoonal system on the modern coastal flats by 5800 cal BP. This lagoon infilled over the next several 1000 years as sea level dropped, with the modern coastal flats stabilizing by 1400 cal BP. A charcoal record spanning the period between 6200 and 1400 cal BP documents substantial increases in influx between ~6200 and 6000 cal BP and particularly from ~3000 to 2600 cal BP. Comparison to regional charcoal and ENSO records suggests that increasing aridity and ENSO intensity may drive regional patterning in fire records, however, localized charcoal records are also heavily influenced by human activity. Between 3000 and 2600 cal BP, forest management practices in the Aitape area, currently focused on tree crops and horticulture characterized by long fallowing and limited burning, shifted to a regime characterized by large scale forest clearance and shorter fallowing. We hypothesize that increasing population driven by abundant Mid-Holocene lagoonal resources may have been difficult to maintain as lagoons infilled and climate became more variable, leading to horticultural intensification. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Estuaries worldwide have been altered by anthropogenic modifications including land clearing, dredging, and land reclamation, which impact sediment routing and accumulation on tidal flats. Numerous studies have explored tidal flat and marsh vulnerability to submergence or "drowning" under accelerating sea-level rise, but recent work along the Oregon coast suggests estuaries are maintaining positive accretionary balances (at least in marshes) despite ongoing sea-level rise. In this study, accretion rates (sediment accumulation rates) were evaluated from 210Pb profiles at eight sites on broad intertidal flats in Coos Bay, one of the largest estuaries on the U.S. West Coast and a site of substantial development and logging since the mid-1800s. Based on the century-scale record of sediment accretion represented by 210Pb profiles, tidal flats have been accreting at rates of ~ 1–3 mm/yr with little spatial relationship to relative sea-level rise or patterns of tectonic uplift. Thus, accretion is generally not accommodation- or supply-limited, and therefore likely not regulated by sea-level rise. Peaks in sediment accretion are well-preserved from the last 30 years, and accretion rates averaged over this more modern time span tend to be four times greater than rates averaged over the whole-core (century-scale) 210Pb records. It is unclear whether the higher, more modern rates represent a real change in estuarine accretion patterns over the past decades or a Sadler effect (i.e., an apparent but not real increase in accretion in younger sediments). The results highlight the spatial variability in accretion rates within a single estuary, the potential resiliency of this tectonically active estuary to sea-level rise (in the form of a positive accretionary balance), and raise the issue of whether management decisions are best made based on century-scale accretion rates or multi-decadal accretion rates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The grey parrot (Psittacus erithacus), once abundant, has become increasingly threatened due to the combined effects of capture for the global pet trade and habitat loss. Although grey parrots are well studied in captivity, effective conservation efforts require a better understanding of their ecological requirements in the wild. The aim of this paper is to quantify grey parrot behaviours across the annual cycle. To do that, we studied groups of grey parrots gathering in a natural forest clearing in the Nkuba Conservation Area, eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. Using parrot counts and focal sampling, combined with descriptive statistics, we found that an average of 40 grey parrots visited the clearing each day, following a regular pattern in which they first perched in the trees surrounding the clearing, vocalizing loudly, until the group landed in the clearing to feed, drink and interact with each other. Generalized linear models (GLMs) and generalized additive models (GAMs) showed that the time at which parrots arrived, landed at, and left clearings was influenced by the weather, seasonality and the month of the year. We also found that parrots shortened their visits when disturbed by predators or the presence of humans. Although the underlying mechanisms for grey parrot visits to forest clearings remains unclear, the consistency of this behaviour observed elsewhere in Africa and the feeding observed in the clearing in this study suggest that these area support important foraging habitat for the wild grey parrots. Therefore, ensuring the availability of such clearings is paramount to the long‐term survival of the species. We suggest that future efforts to protect grey parrots in their native habitats focus on identifying clearings visited by parrots, monitoring these clearings and allowing parrots to visit them without disturbance or risk of capture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: Few palaeoenvironmental studies have been performed in Araucaria‐Nothofagus forests, which are highly vulnerable to ongoing threats from climate change and anthropogenic activities. The primary goal of this work is to reconstruct past environmental changes related to fire disturbances over the last 1800 years in Tolhuaca National Park (TNP), Chile. Location: TNP, Araucanian region (38.2°S; 71.8°W), Northwestern Patagonia, Chile. Taxa: Araucaria araucana (Araucariaceae), Nothofagus spp. (Nothofagaceae). Methods: We completed charcoal and pollen analyses to create two new palaeoecological records that span 1800 years. We compared the lake‐based reconstruction with the available local tree‐ring fire scar chronologies from the last 430 years. Using these data, we compute forest index changes, biomass burning trends and compare with estimates of archaeological radiocarbon density. We place our inferences with context of published regional palaeoclimatic proxies from the Patagonian‐Andean region. Results: Our results showed that fire activity was higher than present between 200 and 1500 CE, with peaks around 200–400 CE and 1100–1500 CE. Periods with high fire activity are associated with reduced forest cover, as Araucaria declined when mixed‐severity fire regime occurred for extended periods. Pollen assemblages suggested a shift from dry to wet climate conditions at 1500 CE, and from 1750 CE onward, the arrival of exotic species reflected the land‐use changes related to forest clearance and transhumance practices. Main Conclusions: The palaeoenvironmental reconstructions showed changes in vegetation, fire and climate over the past 1800 years in TNP. Wildfires have been the main disturbance process modifying the vegetation structure in the Araucaria and Nothofagus forests. Since 1750 CE intensive post‐Hispanic land‐use changes (forest clearances by fire and logging) took place in the study area, reducing the native vegetation cover. Climate variability, modulated by SAM‐like and ENSO‐like conditions, influenced the fire activity (availability and flammability of fuels), concomitantly with high archaeological density. The recent (after 2000 CE) increase of catastrophic wildfires may negatively affect the conservation strategies of Araucaria‐Nothofagus forests. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The shea tree (Vitellaria paradoxa C.F. Gaertn.) is an important tree species in agroforestry systems in West Africa and shea nuts constitute a fundamental resource for rural livelihoods in this area. This study investigated the sustainability and interactions in agroforestry systems of shea trees around the village Nakpalli in Northern Ghana. The focus of the study was the population structures and densities of shea trees on different land types, below-canopy microclimate and co-cultivation of yams (Dioscorea rotundata (Poir.) J. Miége) under shea tree canopies, and water stress of the trees in the driest season. Shea tree populations are overall well-conserved in this area, but Weibull-distributions of the tree populations and quantification of seedlings showed a lower tree density in both cultivated and fallowed lands, as compared to undisturbed bushlands. Although farmers may deliberately manage the density of larger trees, the low densities of seedlings and saplings indicate that intensified management practices, including shortened fallow periods and intentional clearing of land by fire before sowing, might negatively affect the long-term regeneration of the shea trees. Co-cultivation of yams below shea tree canopies allowed production of 11.5 t/ha as compared to 20.8 t/ha at open field conditions. The lower yields may have been caused by an almost 74% reduction of photosynthetically active radiation below canopies, relative to outside the canopies. Shea trees in the fields, fallows and bushlands had close-to-zero predawn leaf water potentials, indicating low water stress, even in the middle of the dry season. Thus, shea trees are both well-adapted and highly valued in this area, which underlines the importance of conserving this indigenous tree species in the agroforestry systems of northern Ghana. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The oil palm plantation industry is inseparable from the involvement of women as an important part of clearing land, conducting oil palm nurseries, planting seedlings, fertilizing, and spraying. Given this, it was suggested by the management of a company in the industry to form a gender committee. Data were obtained through in-depth interviews with informants and key informants by purposive sampling, field observations, and focus group discussions. This study aim ed to explore the gender committee in palm oil companies and the mechanisms for its formation, the work function of the gender committee in relation to gender equality, and the implementation of the gender committee work program. The results found that the gender committee was formed through a decision letter from management with a structure that varies according to the needs of the company but the management was based on appointment. There is no gender committee; it can be seen from the work programs that have been carried out or will be carried out only in the form of routines such as meetings and monthly meetings whose discussions are not about evaluating work programs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Green Grant Program (Programa Bolsa Verde - PBV) sought to encourage citizenship, ecosystem conservation, and better living conditions for people living in conservation units, rural settlements, and traditional communities. Despite its benefits, it was suspended by the Michel Temer government in 2017. This paper aimed to find the immediate socio-environmental consequences of interrupting the PBV in rural settlements in the municipality of Inácio Martins in Paraná. The methodology comprised observations, interviews, and a qualitative approach to compose an agrarian diagnosis triangulating three constructs: landscape analysis, history analysis, and socioeconomic analysis. The history analysis showed that human behavior usually follows the actions adopted by the community. The socioeconomic analysis found that securing a fast land rent was the decisive point in choosing the land use and cover change. The landscape analysis indicated that extractivist practices existed in the three communities. However, with the inclusion of the PBV in 2011, this reality changed and the forests began to recover. With its disruption, the acceleration of land clearing was once again noticeable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Silvicultural processes are an essential issue of rational forest management. Both man-made (artificial) and natural restoration methods are used in European forestry. A study of the cost drivers of forest restoration from the early stages of land clearing to cultivation was conducted for Scots pine tracts in a coniferous forest habitat. The cost data were tested for homogeneity of variance (Levene's test) and normality (Shapiro–Wilk test) using a significance level of α = 0.05. The research indicated that the cost of artificial restoration (planting) of a pine forest is about 30% higher than the cost of natural restoration. The research also indicated that the main cost driver (about 35%) of the artificial restoration process was seedlings and planting costs. Further, the viability of supplementing natural planting with artificial planting was confirmed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The subtropical rainforest shrub Graptophyllum reticulatum (Acanthaceae) occurs in only a few populations within a 20‐kilometer range in the Sunshine Coast, south‐east Queensland, Australia. This endangered plant has been subject to habitat degradation and loss, mostly due to land clearing and urbanization. In the past decades, conservation measures such as land protection and translocation have been put in place to protect the species' wild populations. The aim of the study was to analyze the viability of the species' populations in the long term while assessing the effectiveness of land protection and translocation. Demographic data was collected every decade since 2000; for this study, we resurveyed all known populations including a translocated population and two recently discovered populations. We found that the average number of plants per population has doubled since 2000, except in one population that underwent land clearing. However, after being reduced by 70%, plant abundance in this population has been increasing, giving evidence of natural post‐clearing recovery. We developed population growth models for population viability analysis in best, average, and worst‐case scenarios to predict the species' viability over the next 100 years. All populations are expected to grow in the next 100 years, except in the worst‐case scenario in which removing land protection from the model led to an 80% decline in the total number of plants within 100 years, highlighting the importance of land protection for species' conservation. Overall, if current conservation efforts are maintained, this endangered species is likely to persist for the next 100 years. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tropical peatlands in Southeast Asia have experienced widespread subsidence due to forest clearance and drainage for agriculture, oil palm and pulp wood production, causing concerns about their function as a long-term carbon store. Peatland drainage leads to subsidence (lowering of peatland surface), an indicator of degraded peatlands, while stability/uplift indicates peatland accumulation and ecosystem health. We used the Advanced Pixel System using the Intermittent SBAS (ASPIS-DInSAR) technique with biophysical and geographical data to investigate the impact of peatland drainage and agriculture on spatial patterns of subsidence in Selangor, Malaysia. Results showed pronounced subsidence in areas subjected to drainage for agricultural and oil palm plantations, while stable areas were associated with intact forests. The most powerful predictors of subsidence rates were the distance from the drainage canal or peat boundary; however, other drivers such as soil properties and water table levels were also important. The maximum subsidence rate detected was lower than that documented by ground-based methods. Therefore, whilst the APSIS-DInSAR technique may underestimate absolute subsidence rates, it gives valuable information on the direction of motion and spatial variability of subsidence. The study confirms widespread and severe peatland degradation in Selangor, highlighting the value of DInSAR for identifying priority zones for restoration and emphasising the need for conservation and restoration efforts to preserve Selangor peatlands and prevent further environmental impacts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Past and current climatic and environmental changes have contributed to configure actual species distributions and abundances. Knowing their evolution over time allows discrimination between natural and anthropogenic causes in current composition of faunal communities. We evaluate the changes in small mammal assemblages from the north-central Patagonian Andean forests since the Late-Holocene to recent times and their relationship with the environmental modifications driven by human activities. A bone sequence from Población Anticura archaeological site (lower Manso river valley, Río Negro province, Argentina) was studied, which encompasses a time span from the early Late-Holocene (3350 ± 100–2270 ±80 years BP) to final Late-Holocene (1420 ± 70–530 ±50 years BP) and Historical times (480 ± 70–280 ±40 years BP). The species composition indicates that forest environment established in the area from at least the Late-Holocene (dominance of Loxodontomys micropus, with subordinate frequencies of Abrothrix olivacea, A. hirta, Geoxus valdivianus, Irenomys tarsalis, and Paynomys macronyx), with patches of (or near to) open environments (presence of Reithrodon auritus and cavids). It is remarkable the presence of cavids, which increased their abundance in the sequence towards Historical times but disappeared nowadays. The low frequencies (<10%) of the rodent Oligoryzomys longicaudatus along the entire sequence is also relevant, since this rodent is the reservoir of the Andes strain of the Hantavirus (ANDV), which causes pulmonary syndrome. This mouse dominates the small mammal assemblages from forests and ecotonal shrublands of northwestern Patagonia (abundances exceed 50% in owl pellets recently collected from the study area). Current configuration of forest and ecotonal assemblages, particularly the high abundance of O. longicaudatus, should be mainly linked to anthropogenic causes, including the introduction of cattle, land clearing, and the advance of introduced plant species such as the sweet briar (Rosa eglanteria). Particularly, this exotic shrub offers shelter and additional food for O. longicaudatus, turning their shrublands into spaces of high epidemiological risk. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The clearing of native vegetation on private agricultural land has contributed greatly to the loss of ecosystems and biodiversity worldwide. Native vegetation on private land may be cleared for a variety of reasons, of which the expansion of agriculture is only one. In this study, we investigate how the clearing of native vegetation on private land is influenced by (1) the utilitarian, social and hedonic objectives of landholders and (2) the way in which the presence of native vegetation interacts with the farm system to contribute to, or detract from, achieving those objectives. Using data from a survey of agricultural landholders in New South Wales, Australia, we found that the landholders' management of native vegetation was strongly influenced by their perceptions of the opportunities and threats the native vegetation on their properties presented to them. The implications are drawn for predicting the clearing of native vegetation and designing effective policy interventions to influence the extent of clearing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite its perceived historical rarity, fire is an important disturbance in tropical rainforests. Very large rainforest fires have been observed multiple times in recent decades, often during years of strong El Niño‐Southern Oscillation droughts. Fire in rainforest has major short‐term consequences for humans and wildlife by converting forest to fire‐prone fern, shrub, and grass, but the long‐term effects remain to be seen. Borneo's indigenous groups have been using fire to clear land for centuries, yet the prevalence and spatial patterns of premodern fire across forest types in Borneo are not well understood. This research set out to reconstruct fire in a 1500‐ha primary rainforest spanning 800 m of elevation in Indonesian Borneo with the goal of elucidating the role humans have played in rainforest fire. We found that humans played an important role in the occurrence of fire in recent centuries. Evidence of fire—charcoal >2 mm—is more abundant in forest types where humans would be more likely to live and/or practice swidden agriculture. However, pyrogenic material is ubiquitous across the study area, showing that all forest types have experienced fire. A set of 50 radiocarbon dates showed that in lowland areas—where human‐caused fire is most likely—fire occurred throughout the last 3200 years, peaking 1300–1600 ce. The upland areas lacked evidence of fire before 1250 ce but otherwise had a similar pattern to the lowlands. The period of high fire coincides with regional demographic changes as well as regional droughts documented elsewhere in Southeast Asia. In upland areas, fires likely burned only under regional drought when fires could more easily spread upslope. Although forest plot studies at this site show little structural evidence of past fires, tree diversity is lower than expected in the most burned areas (alluvial benches). Thus, our results suggest that land clearance was a major source of fire, but the current intact state of these rainforests indicates that they were largely resilient to fires and land use hundreds of years ago. Recent fires mirror patterns of fire spread that occurred hundreds of years ago, though their severity and extent are likely much greater. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The clearing of native vegetation on private agricultural land has contributed greatly to the loss of ecosystems and biodiversity worldwide. Native vegetation on private land may be cleared for a variety of reasons, of which the expansion of agriculture is only one. In this study, we investigate how the clearing of native vegetation on private land is influenced by (1) the utilitarian, social and hedonic objectives of landholders and (2) the way in which the presence of native vegetation interacts with the farm system to contribute to, or detract from, achieving those objectives. Using data from a survey of agricultural landholders in New South Wales, Australia, we found that the landholders’ management of native vegetation was strongly influenced by their perceptions of the opportunities and threats the native vegetation on their properties presented to them. The implications are drawn for predicting the clearing of native vegetation and designing effective policy interventions to influence the extent of clearing.

Simple Summary: The Calabar angwantibo is a mammal species found only in southeastern Nigeria and southwestern Cameroon. This study tried to assess the abundance and density of this species in the Oban Hills Region of Nigeria. Our results showed that the species has an estimated population of 4456 individuals with an estimated density of 1.56 animals/km2 in the study area. Our research underlines the significance of species monitoring and provides valuable insight into the Calabar angwantibo's population in rainforest ecosystem of Oban Hills Region. Population abundance and density estimates play important roles in biodiversity conservation assessment and can lead to prioritization of conservation efforts, strategies, and management. The Calabar angwantibo (Arctocebus calabarensis) is a poorly studied, Near-Threatened nocturnal, arboreal mammal species occurring only in the lowland moist tropical rainforest blocks of southeastern Nigeria and southwestern Cameroon. Like other arboreal nocturnal mammals, there are gaps in knowledge of the distribution and abundance of this species, which may be facing population declines due to habitat loss and hunting. In this study, we investigated the abundance and density of A. calabarensis in the Oban Hills Region of Nigeria. We conducted systematic distance sampling survey along 32 transects in different habitats in a 1227 km of survey efforts. A total of 41 sightings of A. calabarensis were detected, resulting in an abundance of 7345 individuals (95% CI = 1.51–4.37) with an estimated density of 2.57 animals/km2. The estimated population abundance is 6515 individuals in closed-canopy forests and 830 individuals in secondary forests, with encounter rates of 0.52 individual/km2 and 0.60 individuals/km2 in the closed canopy and secondary forest habitats. The global estimates encounter rate of A. calabarensis across the habitat types is 0.33 individuals/km2 and population abundance of 4456 individuals. Our findings indicate that the A. calabarensis populations can adapt to low changes in forest habitat modifications resulting from increasing and widespread forest disturbance by human-dominated activity, which is giving way to forest clearance for agriculture cultivation and infrastructural development. Our findings help to fill a knowledge gap regarding this species and may help establish a baseline for future management, population monitoring, and conservation of the cryptic population of A. calabarensis in Cross-Sanaga Forests. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hydrological models are widely used to assess the impact of climate variability and land use change on streamflow. However, it is uncertain whether these models are capable of simulating the impact given parameter interactions and inter-annual climate variability for large dry catchments. Two such catchments with extensive land clearing were selected to test three models – AWBM, Sacramento and SimHyd – in terms of their capacity to simulate streamflow during periods of vastly different levels of forest cover. AWBM outperformed others, and thus was further simplified as AWBM_Ca with minimum performance deterioration to have only one transferable parameter: the average storage capacity, Ca. A reduction of 21–28% in the Ca value for the post-clearing period indicates a decrease in the amount of water stored for transpiration and consequently an increase in runoff-generation capacity. AWBM_Ca can be used to predict the impact of forest cover change on streamflow with different Ca values. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Oil palm is an agricultural crop essential to Indonesia's economy. Therefore, the number of oil palm plantations has increased, leading to widespread deforestation in Indonesia, including Jambi Province. In this investigation, remote sensing with a geographic information system approach is used to evaluate deforestation and the land changes caused by oil palm expansion conducted by smallholders that eventually influence environmental change. This study conducts a spatiotemporal (spatial and temporal) analysis of oil palm land clearing in Jambi Province that results in land changes and environmental impacts. METHODS: This research used data from Landsat 8 satellite imagery. The land cover classification was conducted using the Maximum Likelihood approach, whereas the overlay method was used for land change analysis. The accuracy assessment of classification results used a confusion matrix by considering the overall accuracy and Kappa Coefficient. Within the field observation, the validation class was the oil palm class, and documentation and plotting using the global positioning system were conducted. Other classes were validated using the region of interest collected through Google Earth. This research used the Aviation Reconnaissance Coverage Geographic Information System 10.1 software to transform the categorization results into vector data. FINDINGS: This study shows that the land cover classification results have high accuracy and that the area of oil palm land from 2015 to 2019 has increased along with a decrease in land used, such as forests and others. The area of oil palm land in 2014 was 2,071,345 hectares, whereas that in 2019 was 2,110,545 hectares. In particular, the land cover area increased by 39.2 thousand hectares because of land clearing and deforestation. Moreover, the built-up area has increased in the last five years by 165,358 hectares. The number of oil palm plantations in relatively plain areas tends to be greater than that in areas with relatively high altitudes and steep slopes. Small farmers' area of oil palm land has increased by 1,000 hectares from 2014 to 2018. The most remarkable increase of approximately 38,889 hectares has occurred from 2016 to 2017. CONCLUSION: This study demonstrates that using Landsat 8 imagery with Geographic Information System approaches provides the optimal method for an in-depth analysis of land cover changes related to oil palm expansion and land clearing that occur on a broad spatial and temporal scale in Jambi Province. This study shows that smallholder oil palm plantations in the Jambi region play an important role in increasing deforestation not only in Jambi Province but also throughout Indonesia. This study is expected to serve as a valuable resource for informing policy decisions aimed at addressing the issue of deforestation resulting from the prospective increase in oil palm crops in the forthcoming period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ant assemblages have been used as bioindicators of biodiversity response to different types of anthropogenic disturbances. However, usual diversity metrics (e.g., ant species richness and composition) sometimes seem limited in showing an overall panorama of human impacts. Thus, we checked habitat-use guilds of ants as a complementary predictable parameter, based on the ant fauna reported in thirteen forest fragments and pastures in the southwestern Brazilian Amazon. Specifically, we hypothesized that forest specialist, open-habitat specialist, and generalist ants would have distinct responses to forest-pasture shifting. We expected that forest-pasture shifting would cause a decrease in species richness of forest specialists and an increase in open-habitat specialists, while the generalists would have few changes in their richness because they can live in both habitats. As expected, the species richness of forest specialist ants decreased, and open-habitat ants increased with forest-pasture shifting, while generalists had little change. This indicates that human-induced open habitats (e.g., pastures) are essentially comprised of generalist ants and open-habitat ant specialists, which replace forest specialists. Additionally, considering the plasticity of generalist ants, they can be considered as primary elements of ant assemblages. Therefore, a future step is to quantify the limit of forest-cover clearing in human-induced land uses, which might ensure a higher species richness of forest-specialist ants than other habitat-use guilds. Implications for insect conservation: Habitat-use ant guilds (forest specialists, open-habitat specialists, and generalists) have been used as a complementary parameter on bioindication. Here, we provided a standard protocol to classify the ant fauna in these habitat-use guilds, which allows for objective, reproducible and broad use in monitoring programs that consider ant assemblages as bioindicators. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ozarks watersheds have responded to land clearing and settlement disturbances by transporting large amounts of gravel and sediment to main valleys of medium-large river systems. Historical gravel and sediment accumulate in disturbance zones, which are areas of excessive channel activity that can be detected over time using historical aerial photographs. This project uses a series of aerial photos from 1937–2018 to identify disturbance zones in the Big River of southeast Missouri, which has a history of lead mining and ore processing that has caused widespread contamination of the channel and floodplain deposits. Variations in active areas of the historical meander belt show that disturbance zones account for 24 percent of the channel length at an interval of one per 2.5 km of channel. Megabars and extensions are the most prominent types of disturbance zones, but translations and cutoffs are larger with higher potential for sediment storage. From 1937 to 1976, areas of channel activity have cycled between expansion and contraction. However, after a period of recovery prior to 1976, disturbance zone areas have been expanding over the last 40 years likely in response to an increase in flood magnitude and frequency from more high intensity rainfall events since 1973. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Coal mining is known for its contributions to climate change, but its impacts on the environment and human lives near mine sites are less widely recognised. This study integrates remote sensing, GIS, stakeholder interviews and extensive review of provincial data and documents to identify patterns of infringement, risk and impact driven by coal mining expansion across East Kalimantan, Indonesia. Specifically, we map and analyse patterns of mining concessions, land clearing, water cover, human settlement, and safety risks, and link them with mining governance and regulatory infractions related to coal mining permits. We show that excessive, improper permit granting and insufficient monitoring and oversight have led to deforestation, widespread overlaps of concessions with settlements, extensive boundary and regulatory violations, lacking reclamation, and numerous deaths. As the world's largest thermal coal exporter, Indonesia's elevated coal infringements, risks, and impacts translate to supply chain, sustainability, and human rights concerns for global coal markets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This Special Feature explores the negotiated bureaucratic politics shaping urbanization in South Asia. City drafting refers to the flexible and contextual practices, procedures and policies required to haul diverse property regimes into order and provisionally render urban land clear and settled. The drafted city, we argue, is necessarily provisional and uneven, left open to politicised remapping, redrafting and resettlement by a host of institutionally embedded brokers, bureaucrats, clerks and surveyors each wielding their own political and socio-technical vision of land. These drafting practices, not only shape a politics of uneven urbanisation in South Asian cities, but also help to explain the persistent fractal morphology of urban property in South Asia; spanning categories of public, private, non-private, commons, unauthorised, regularised, agrarian, urban and so on. While the South Asian city is commonly understood through the high-resolution imagery of masterplanners, policymakers and investors, city drafting methodologically focuses on the grounded bureaucratic struggles of the map, plot, record and title, through which claims to property rights, exclusions and access are shaped. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Controlled burning is commonly used by farmers on forestry lands to clear the land prior to establishing agricultural crops. The objective of this experimental work was to evaluate the behavior of fire in controlled burning on forestry lands in the Sancán commune, province of Manabí, Ecuador. 10 plots of 1.18 x 5 m were delimited in fuel rows and three plots of 20 x 50 m in dispersed fuels. During the burning, the variables air temperature, relative humidity and wind speed were measured at 0.50 meters above the ground and more than 3.00 m away from the end of the plot where the fire started. The fuel material was characterized considering weight, thickness and moisture content before burning. The fire behavior parameters evaluated were propagation speed, linear fire intensity, flame heights, lethal drying height and heat released per unit area. Fire behavior showed higher mean values for all parameters in the plots located in the fuel rows, except for the case of propagation speed. Besides, in these plots, the standard deviation values obtained for each variable indicate greater dispersion of the data with respect to the mean, which implies less homogeneous fire behavior in a general sense. The results obtained can be used to support the responsible use of fire in forestry lands. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cuscus is marsgupials endemic to the eastern part of Indonesia. Populations and their habitats are under pressure due to deforestation, land clearing and massive utilization of forest resources. Studies on cuscus ecology have mainly focused on protected habitats or conservation areas. This study aims to identify and analyse populations and predict the distribution of cuscus in production forest area, which is PT Wijaya Sentosa. This study was conducted in November 2020 until January 2021 in several land cover categories. The methods used in this study were literature and secondary data studies, field observations using striptransect and camera trap techniques, interviews using purposive sampling techniques. This study found nine individual cuscuses from two families, namely Phalanger and Spilocuscus, as well as four species, namely ground cuscus (Phalanger gymnotis), spotted cuscus (Spilocuscus maculatus), Bohai cuscus (Spilocuscus rufoniger) and gray cuscus (Phalanger orientalis). Individual encounters were obtained from direct observation with transect lines and two cuscus individuals from camera traps. Ground cuscus (P. gymnotis) populations had the highest abundance and density, while spotted cuscus (S. maculatus) populations had the lowest values. The population structure was dominated by males and adult age classes, but no females and young age classes were found. Most cuscus was found alone on the observation path and was not found on every path. The distribution pattern of the cuscus population in the production forest of PT Wijaya Sentosa's concession is grouped/aggregated, based on the dispersion index value and the ratio of the value of variance to the mean value. The most common ground cuscus was found in the 2018 and around the 2013 logged-over areas (LOA). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Quaternary small mammals are important proxies for paleoenvironmental reconstructions. The Brazilian record, although famous and continuously growing, is hampered by poor chronological control due to the nature of most of the published assemblages. Here, we present a taphonomic analysis and paleoenvironmental reconstruction based on marsupials, bats, and rodents (480 remains) from the Gruta do Presépio archeological site (GPR, hereafter), Santa Catarina State, southern Brazil. The site is a rock shelter located in an Atlantic Forest biome, an important biodiversity hotspot. The GPR sedimentary sequence spans the Early Holocene (8330 ± 30 years 14C BP) to recent Historical time (after the arrival of Europeans). Most of the small mammal remains were deposited by strigiforms, although for the oldest units some strongly digested remains could indicate the activity of diurnal birds or carnivorous mammals. The GPR small mammal assemblages include 28 taxa (five marsupials, nine chiropterans, and 14 rodents). Most of them indicate the occurrence and persistence of forested environments during the Holocene around the site, which is in overall agreement with regional palynological data. A major community change, implying the increment of rodents allied to disturbed ecosystems (e.g. Akodon, Oligoryzomys, Mus), is very recent and reflects human forest clearance as a signature of the Anthropocene. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many headwaters across temperate North America have uniform mid‐succession riparian forests recovering from historic land clearing. These young riparian stands contrast with late‐succession forests, which have complex structural characteristics including canopy gaps. Canopy gaps provide structural diversity that can be important for terrestrial species, and they are also hypothesized to be important features for aquatic environments. The light patches below gaps create productivity hotspots in streams and therefore create potential for increased stream apex predator abundances through bottom‐up food web drivers. However, increasing light may also affect stream temperature, a consideration for coldwater fish (salmonids). We established an experimental before‐after control‐impact study to explicitly assess how creating canopy gaps in the riparian forest affects the abundance and biomass of coastal cutthroat trout (Oncorhynchus clarkii clarkii) and Pacific giant salamanders (Dicamptodon tenebrosus) in paired reference and treatment reaches at five replicate streams. Gaps were designed to resemble those in old‐growth forests in the treatment reach of each system although wood was explicitly left out of the stream. At four of five sites, we found small and generally consistent positive responses in adult cutthroat trout and total vertebrate biomass to localized increases in light but only 2 years after treatment. Results suggest that opening riparian canopies adjacent to streams via gaps is a viable tool to enhance structural complexity of riparian forests without negatively impacting stream vertebrates; however, a single gap alone had small effects on aquatic vertebrates. More or larger gaps would likely be needed to notably enhance aquatic apex predators. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Historical chronicles in Southeast Asia often designate the forest as an area where animals and spirits prowl, where heroes meditate or journey across. But the forest is neither a mere setting nor a passive witness to the unfolding of events. Using nineteenth- and twentieth-century historical chronicles from Cirebon, West Java, this article examines how the forest is storied to mediate the past. Discussion is centred around three narrative topoi: the first concerns the establishment of new settlements, as prefigured through forest-clearing; the second accentuates the forest's rhetorical function as a site of disappearance during Islamization; and the third analyses the creaturely figure Menjangan Wulung, who sabotages the Cirebonese sultanate and lurks in the wilderness. An inquisitive reading of these episodes reveals the forest to be a historiographical trope. Conceived as a topography of concealment, the forest exemplifies a withdrawn reality where contentious pasts are subdued yet sustained, preserving continuity amidst change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We used pollen and charcoal analyses of sediments from two lakes at the southern end of Eleuthera Island, the Bahamas, to reconstruct vegetation and fire history over the past 5000 years. We obtained a 254-cm long sediment sequence from Shad Pond on the south end of Eleuthera near the coast. We obtained a 140-cm long sediment sequence from Duck Pond Blue Hole midway from either coast. Shad Pond sediment from 180 to 240 cm is fibrous peat dating from ~ 3800 to 4800 cal yr BP. The pollen spectrum in the peat is dominated by red mangrove (Rhizophora mangle) indicating the presence of a red mangrove swamp during this period. Duck Pond Blue Hole sediment from 100 to 140 cm is fine calcareous mud with only traces of pollen present. Palm pollen dominate the middle portion of both sediment sequences with pollen from rockland and coppice species also present. Palm pollen decline in both lakes ~ 1200 to 1300 cal yr BP, the start of Lucayan occupation. Palm pollen nearly disappear from Shad Pond sediments after ~ 1200 cal yr BP coincident with a spike in charcoal particles. Palm pollen drop by over one-half in Duck Pond Blue Hole after ~ 1200 cal yr BP, but there is only a small increase in charcoal particles. Palm pollen return in modest amounts toward the top of the Shad Pond sediments and there is a second, smaller peak in charcoal ~ 350 cal yr BP. This suggests a recovery of palms near the coast during the Plantation Period. Palm pollen gradually decline, charcoal increases, and pollen from disturbance species become very dominant toward the top of Duck Pond Blue Hole sediments after ~ 350 cal yr BP. The decline of palm pollen and increase in pollen from disturbance species in sediments from both sites ~ 1200 cal yr BP suggests heavy exploitation of palms by Lucayans, particularly near the coast. The later increase in charcoal and the significant increase in pollen from disturbance species in sediments from the inland Duck Pond Blue Hole site ~ 350 cal yr BP suggests inland land clearing during the Plantation Period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A notable characteristic of terrain in non‐urbanized deglaciated areas of northeastern North America is the microtopography created by processes related to surficial geology, deglaciation and mechanical disturbances to surface materials from excavating events, most of which are caused by tree throw in the modern landscape. The features are often on the scale of 1–4 m across and decimetres to a metre in depth, appearing as 'puddles' during intense or high‐magnitude precipitation events. Generalized storage capacity values have been summarized in textbooks for varied landscape conditions, but surprisingly little information is available about how microtopography and related surface water storage varies in dominant physiographic settings in deglaciated landscapes defined by slope, surficial geology and land cover conditions. The increasing availability of elevation data at a horizontal resolution of 2 m or higher has made it possible to remotely evaluate differences in terrain elevation and quantify upland surface water storage capacity from relatively small topographic depressions. Here, we describe and quantify these topographic features in several coastal and inland watersheds in the state of Maine (USA) with measurements of depression volume calculated from digital elevation models (DEMs) using a pit filling approach. Results show that microtopographic storage capacity varies with slope and land cover conditions in deglaciated terrain of northeastern North America. Basin‐average surface water depression storage capacity estimates range from ~4 mm to as low as 0.2 mm. Human interventions such as clearing land for agriculture are associated with lower microtopographic surface water storage capacity than forested landscapes in the region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In New South Wales, legislation governing land clearing and development as it relates to koala conservation acts to prevent the destruction of habitat containing key tree species used by koalas. The identification of these key tree species is therefore critical to koala conservation. We aimed to compile a list of tree species used by koalas within the Wollondilly Shire region and investigate tree-use preferences. We radio-collared one female and four male koalas and tracked their movements over a period of 107--195 days. We conducted surveys within each koala's home range to quantify the relative availability of each tree species, which we compared with their relative frequency of use. Koalas used 19 different tree species (17 during day, 12 during night), despite over 32 species being available. Eight species were preferentially used by one or more koalas; these were Eucalyptuts bosistoana, E. longifolia, E. puncata, E. crebra, E. globoidea, E. pilularis, E. tereticornis and Angophora flohbunda. Two species were avoided: Corymbia gummifera and Acacia decurrens. Koalas consistently used larger trees relative to their availability, and we found a general but non-significant trend towards the use of larger trees at night compared with during the day. To achieve koala conservation, it will be necessary to preserve habitat patches comprising a diverse mixture of tree species and sizes, particularly trees >35 cm diameter at breast height (DBH), and to appropriately revegetate land with these criteria in mind. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The South Coast Police Crime Squad conducted an investigation into the crime of carrying out plantation activities without ministerial permission in forest areas. The difficulty of the South Coast Police Detective Investigator is to implement 'Elements in forest areas'. This happened because of the unclear boundaries of the National Park forest area. In the investigation process, the Investigator applied the provisions of Article 17 paragraph (2) letter b Juncto Article 92 paragraph (1) letter a of Law Number 18 of 2013 concerning the Prevention and Eradication of Forest Destruction as Police Report Number: LP/25/A/II/2019/Res-Pessel dated February 12, 2019. The application of the elements of the criminal act of clearing plantation land in the National Park area consists of subjective elements and objective elements. The subjective element is a person, then what is meant by everyone in this article is the perpetrator as a person who can account for his actions and the objective element is that his actions are unlawful, namely: "Elements intentionally, elements carrying out plantation activities, elements without the permission of the Minister and elements dnature forest area". According to investigators, the suspect's actions have fulfilled the formulation and elements of Article 17 paragraph (2) letter b Juncto Article 92 paragraph (1) letter a of Law Number 18 of 2013. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The role that socioculture plays in promoting sustainable food production and consumption is becoming more widely acknowledged. The fact that socio-culture is now widely acknowledged as one of the primary forces behind sustainable food production and consumption is indicative of this progress. The primary focus of this study is on the sociocultural components of the food production and consumption subsystems in highland communities in the West Sinjai District, Sinjai Regency, South Sulawesi Province. Using a case study methodology, a qualitative approach, comprehensive observation, detailed interviews, documentation, and triangulation as data gathering strategies. so that the highland community's sociocultural reality may be thoroughly observed. The socio-cultural apparatus helps highland people adopt sustainable food production and consumption practices. The socio-cultural apparatus is one of the factors that aids upland people in realizing sustainable food production and consumption. The sociocultural aspect of highland communities' food production places a heavy emphasis on the importance of religious values, community, and collaboration. These ideas are used to food production techniques such as Appada Elo, Appatinro Bine, Passibaling, and Ganre Pare Beru, from clearing the land to harvesting. A strong emphasis is also placed on religious values (serving food to others as a sign of respect and appreciation for their creator and to become closer to their ancestors), the value of community (serving food to others as a symbol of gratitude and appreciation), and prestige values (such as local brown rice varieties) in the sociocultural aspect of food consumption in highland communities. These ideas are embedded in long-standing traditions that protect the sustainability of regional food production and consumption. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Regional carbon budget assessments attribute and track changes in carbon sources and sinks and support the development and monitoring the efficacy of climate policies. We present a comprehensive assessment of the natural and anthropogenic carbon (C‐CO2) fluxes for Australasia as a whole, as well as for Australia and New Zealand individually, for the period from 2010 to 2019, using two approaches: bottom‐up methods that integrate flux estimates from land‐surface models, data‐driven models, and inventory estimates; and top‐down atmospheric inversions based on satellite and in situ measurements. Our bottom‐up decadal assessment suggests that Australasia's net carbon balance was close to carbon neutral (−0.4 ± 77.0 TgC yr−1). However, substantial uncertainties remain in this estimate, primarily driven by the large spread between our regional terrestrial biosphere simulations and predictions from global ecosystem models. Within Australasia, Australia was a net source of 38.2 ± 75.8 TgC yr−1, and New Zealand was a net CO2 sink of −38.6 ± 13.4 TgC yr−1. The top‐down approach using atmospheric CO2 inversions indicates that fluxes derived from the latest satellite retrievals are consistent within the range of uncertainties with Australia's bottom‐up budget. For New Zealand, the best agreement was found with a national scale flux inversion estimate based on in situ measurements, which provide better constrained of fluxes than satellite flux inversions. This study marks an important step toward a more comprehensive understanding of the net CO2 balance in both countries, facilitating the improvement of carbon accounting approaches and strategies to reduce emissions. Plain Language Summary: Human activities—including the extraction and use of fossil fuels (coal, oil, and natural gas), cement production, and land‐use change (e.g., land clearing), release carbon dioxide (CO2) to the atmosphere, while biospheric processes such as the CO2 uptake by forests and revegetation remove CO2 from the atmosphere. In this study, we assess the balance of natural and human‐driven sources and sinks of CO2 for Australia and New Zealand (referred to as the Australasia carbon budget) for 2010–2019. Our findings indicate that Australasia was close to carbon neutral, with large uncertainties, suggesting that the CO2 sinks from vegetation in this region largely offset the CO2 emissions from human activities. An independent assessment using the latest satellite observations and modeling shows consistent results for Australia. For New Zealand, a national system of ground observations and modeling agreed better with the bottom‐up budget than satellite‐derived flux estimates. Key Points: We synthesize Australasia's carbon C‐CO2 budget (together with Australia and New Zealand) based on bottom‐up and top‐down approachesAustralasia's bottom‐up carbon budget suggests that this region was close to neutral (−0.4 ± 77.0 TgC yr−1) from 2010 to 2019Australasia's annual CO2 balance fluctuates significantly, particularly in Australia, shifting from a strong carbon sink to a strong carbon source [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Global ultraviolet (UV) surface reflectivity climatologies are all composed from daylight passive remote sensing observations of reflected UV light, generally integrated over a distribution of attainable reflection directions. We discovered the sensitivity of Aeolus lidar surface returns (LSR) to surface characteristics, providing the first evidence that active remote sensing can be effectively used for retrieving unidirectional UV surface reflectivity on global scales. LSR reproduces surface reflectivity monthly changes in Sahara, which are visible in the Lambertian Equivalent Reflectivity (LER) climatologies from TROPOMI and GOME-2. Very high correlations (r > 0.90) between gridded LSR and the LER climatologies are reported at global and regional scales for 36 different regions. Three clear land cover gradients are discerned from Aeolus LSR signal: (1) water/land, (2) vegetation/arid areas and (3) no snow/snow. The strongest LSR signal was retrieved over snow, while over vegetation, we found moderate negative agreement (r < − 0.60) between LSR and vegetation index proxy. Overall, the success of the first active remote sensing method for retrieving unidirectional UV surface reflectivity using Aeolus is demonstrated. Our approach can be effectively used to detect unresolved land and, especially, snow cover changes in high latitudes because, unlike passive instruments, Aeolus also provided nighttime observations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Humans have influenced island biotas in the last few millennia through widespread forest clearances and the introduction of commensals and pest species, causing the extinction of island endemics around the world. This is particularly evident in Timor, where more than 40,000 years of human habitation produced few if any extinctions until the last few thousand years when Timor lost most of its endemic murids. We present new records and dates for endemic rodents and introduced fauna from archaeological cave deposits in Timor-Leste that captures this human-mediated transition. We discuss the chronology of faunal introductions and losses at these sites, and compare the Timor records to other records in surrounding islands. We find no directly dated evidence for significant overlap between the introduction of exotics and extinction of murid endemics at ecological timescales, although determining true extinction and introduction ages will require direct dating and modelling of taxon occurrences, which may bring extinction and introduction closer together in time. Nevertheless, we suggest that, based on current data, the almost complete loss of Timor’s endemic forests were the primary driving force in rodent extinctions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using an integrative taxonomic approach including genetic and morphological data, we formally describe a new microendemic gecko species belonging to the Paroedura bastardi clade, previously referred to as P. bastardi D. We name this taxon currently known from Anja Reserve and Tsaranoro Valley Forest (south-central Madagascar), as P. manongavato sp. nov. The new species differs from other species of the P. bastardi clade by = 12.4% uncorrected p-distance at the mitochondrial 16S rRNA gene and it forms a monophyletic group in the COI mtDNA phylogenetic tree. It lacks haplotype sharing at the nuclear KIAA1239 and CMOS genes with the other species of the same complex, including the syntopic P. rennerae. Given its limited extent of occurrence and high levels of habitat fragmentation linked to forest clearances and fires, we propose the IUCN Red List Category of Critically Endangered, based on the B1ab(iii) criterion. The conservation value of Anja Reserve and Tsaranoro Valley Forest is remarkable. Preserving the remaining deciduous forest habitat is of paramount importance to protect these narrow-range reptile species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Australia is a global leader in land clearing and biodiversity loss. The overwhelming majority of land clearing within Australia and, globally, is driven by agricultural conversion. The importance of agricultural lands also leads to the concentration of habitat protection in landscapes that do not support productive land uses, which might contribute to species conservation in marginal habitat. Using an integrated agricultural capability map and threatened vertebrate fauna range maps, we show that observed biases in protected area location have varied impacts at the species level. Specifically, threatened vertebrate fauna with habitat capable of supporting high‐value productive lands received less protection and experienced greater habitat loss. Similarly, almost all species assessed received protection in the portions of their ranges less conducive to productive land uses. Finally, we identify regions of Australia at risk of future land clearing and the species likely to bear the brunt of the impacts. Our results demonstrate the importance of protecting land capable of supporting productive uses to conserve the most affected threatened species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The relationship between environmental degradation and poverty has increasingly become the focus of national strategic decision-making in recent years. However, despite several theoretical explorations on the nexus, a dearth of empirical literature on the poverty-environmental degradation nexus, specifically on Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), still exists. In this study, we investigated the poverty-environmental degradation nexus in SSA. We hypothesized that poverty is both a cause and effect of environmental degradation, and this relationship is explained as a vicious cycle. Unlike previous studies, we employed several alternative indicators of environmental degradation to examine the poverty-environmental degradation nexus in this study. We used data from 41 countries of SSA between 1996 and 2019 and employed the generalized method of moments (GMM) approach. The findings suggest a cyclical relationship between poverty and environmental degradation in SSA, which confirms that an increase in poverty leads to an increase in environmental degradation, especially in deforestation and PM2.5 emissions. Similarly, the increase in environmental degradation positively affects poverty in SSA. We also confirmed that exogenous conditioning factors such as population growth rate, education, industrialization, and income inequality, institutional quality indicators such as governance effectiveness, control of corruption, freedom ad civil liberty, and democracy, and endogenous factors including fossil fuel energy use, fuelwood energy use, household health expenditure, infant mortality rate, and agriculture productivity influence the nexus between poverty and environmental degradation. The findings on the relationship between poverty and environmental degradation in SSA are a testimonial evidence that both poverty and environmental degradation are significant issues in SSA. Hence, poverty alleviation policies in SSA should not lead to PM2.5 emissions and deforestation, which may as well force people into a poverty-environmental degradation trap. Instead, poverty reduction policies should simultaneously achieve environmental conservation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Understanding how private landholders make deforestation decisions is of paramount importance for conservation. Behavioural frameworks from the social sciences have a lot to offer researchers and practitioners, yet these insights remain underutilised in describing what drives landholders' deforestation intentions under important political, social, and management contexts. Using survey data of private landholders in Queensland, Australia, we compare the ability of two popular behavioural models to predict future deforestation intentions, and propose a more integrated behavioural model of deforestation intentions. We found that the integrated model outperformed other models, revealing the importance of threat perceptions, attitudes, and social norms for predicting landholders' deforestation intentions. Social capital, policy uncertainty, and years of experience are important contextual moderators of these psychological factors. We conclude with recommendations for promoting behaviour change in this deforestation hotspot and highlight how others can adopt similar approaches to illuminate more proximate drivers of environmental behaviours in other contexts.