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Insect monitoring is pivotal for assessing biodiversity and informing conservation strategies. This study delves into the complex realm of insect monitoring in the Global South—world developing and least-developed countries as identified by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development—highlighting challenges and proposing strategic solutions. An analysis of publications from 1990 to 2024 reveals an imbalance in research contributions between the Global North and South, highlighting disparities in entomological research and the scarcity of taxonomic expertise in the Global South. We discuss the socio-economic factors that exacerbate the issues, including funding disparities, challenges in collaboration, infrastructure deficits, information technology obstacles and the impact of local currency devaluation. In addition, we emphasize the crucial role of environmental factors in shaping insect diversity, particularly in tropical regions facing multiple challenges including climate change, urbanization, pollution and various anthropogenic activities. We also stress the need for entomologists to advocate for ecosystem services provided by insects in addressing environmental issues. To enhance monitoring capacity, we propose strategies such as community engagement, outreach programmes and cultural activities to instill biodiversity appreciation. Further, language inclusivity and social media use are emphasized for effective communication. More collaborations with Global North counterparts, particularly in areas of molecular biology and remote sensing, are suggested for technological advancements. In conclusion, advocating for these strategies—global collaborations, a diverse entomological community and the integration of transverse disciplines—aims to address challenges and foster inclusive, sustainable insect monitoring in the Global South, contributing significantly to biodiversity conservation and overall ecosystem health. This article is part of the theme issue 'Towards a toolkit for global insect biodiversity monitoring'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: The chemical arms race between plants and insects is foundational to the generation and maintenance of biological diversity. We asked how the evolution of a novel defensive compound in an already well‐defended plant lineage impacts interactions with diverse herbivores. Erysimum cheiranthoides (Brassicaceae), which produces both ancestral glucosinolates and novel cardiac glycosides, served as a model.We analyzed gene expression to identify cardiac glycoside biosynthetic enzymes in E. cheiranthoides and characterized these enzymes via heterologous expression and CRISPR/Cas9 knockout. Using E. cheiranthoides cardiac glycoside‐deficient lines, we conducted insect experiments in both the laboratory and field.EcCYP87A126 initiates cardiac glycoside biosynthesis via sterol side‐chain cleavage, and EcCYP716A418 has a role in cardiac glycoside hydroxylation. In EcCYP87A126 knockout lines, cardiac glycoside production was eliminated. Laboratory experiments with these lines revealed that cardiac glycosides were highly effective defenses against two species of glucosinolate‐tolerant specialist herbivores, but did not protect against all crucifer‐feeding specialist herbivores in the field. Cardiac glycosides had lesser to no effect on two broad generalist herbivores.These results begin elucidation of the E. cheiranthoides cardiac glycoside biosynthetic pathway and demonstrate in vivo that cardiac glycoside production allows Erysimum to escape from some, but not all, specialist herbivores. See also the Commentary on this article by Agosto-Ramos et al., 242: 2388–2390. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Brief introduction: What are microclimates and why are they important? Microclimate science has developed into a global discipline. Microclimate science is increasingly used to understand and mitigate climate and biodiversity shifts. Here, we provide an overview of the current status of microclimate ecology and biogeography in terrestrial ecosystems, and where this field is heading next. Microclimate investigations in ecology and biogeography: We highlight the latest research on interactions between microclimates and organisms, including how microclimates influence individuals, and through them populations, communities and entire ecosystems and their processes. We also briefly discuss recent research on how organisms shape microclimates from the tropics to the poles. Microclimate applications in ecosystem management: Microclimates are also important in ecosystem management under climate change. We showcase new research in microclimate management with examples from biodiversity conservation, forestry and urban ecology. We discuss the importance of microrefugia in conservation and how to promote microclimate heterogeneity. Methods for microclimate science: We showcase the recent advances in data acquisition, such as novel field sensors and remote sensing methods. We discuss microclimate modelling, mapping and data processing, including accessibility of modelling tools, advantages of mechanistic and statistical modelling and solutions for computational challenges that have pushed the state‐of‐the‐art of the field. What's next?: We identify major knowledge gaps that need to be filled for further advancing microclimate investigations, applications and methods. These gaps include spatiotemporal scaling of microclimate data, mismatches between macroclimate and microclimate in predicting responses of organisms to climate change, and the need for more evidence on the outcomes of microclimate management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Geodiversity—the diversity of abiotic features and processes of the Earth's surface and subsurface—is an increasingly used concept in ecological research. A growing body of scientific literature has provided evidence of positive links between geodiversity and biodiversity. These studies highlight the potential of geodiversity to improve our understanding of biodiversity patterns and to complement current biodiversity conservation practices and strategies. However, definitions of geodiversity in ecological research vary widely. This can hinder the progress of geodiversity–biodiversity research and make it difficult to synthesize findings across studies. We therefore call for greater awareness of how geodiversity is currently defined and for more consistent use of the term 'geodiversity' in biodiversity research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: Patterns of benthic biodiversity at the macroecological scale remain poorly characterised throughout the Chilean latitudinal gradient, in part due to the lack of integrated databases, uneven sampling effort, and the use of species richness alone to quantify biodiversity. Different diversity measures, encompassing taxonomic and functional components, may give us extra information on biodiversity relevant to conservation planning and management. Thus, evaluating the spatial complementarity of these measures is essential. Location: Coast and continental shelf of Chile. Methods: The latitudinal gradient of Chile was divided into five ecoregions according to the Marine Ecosystems of the World classification. Using a 55 × 55 km equal area grid, we estimated the incidence coverage‐based estimator (ICE), taxonomic distinctness (Δ+) and three measures of functional diversity: functional richness (FRic), functional evenness (FEve) and functional divergence (FDiv). For each measure, we described spatial patterns, identified hotspots, evaluated hotspot congruence and evaluated complementarity between measures. Results: Diversity patterns varied between ecoregions and over the latitudinal gradient. ICE and Δ+ peaked in the Chiloense and Channels and Fjords ecoregions. Δ+ and FRic present a similar pattern at mid‐latitudes. FEve showed a contrary pattern, principally with FRic. Areas with high numbers of hotspots differed spatially according to each metric, and three latitudinal bands were observed. ICE, Δ+ and FRic were positively correlated, but the hotspot overlap at the grid cell level was more limited. Main Conclusions: The complementarity between taxonomic and functional diversity measures is limited when we observe the overlap between grid cells representing hotspots. However, some regions are consistently identified as highly diverse, with the Magellanic Province (Chiloense and Channels and Fjords ecoregions) being the most important for the richness, taxonomic and functional diversity of benthos. Confirmation of the importance of this region can help prioritise conservation efforts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Individual responses to changes in the environment by different species drive a better understanding of the dynamics of diversity and habitat filtering. Hypotheses based on functional and morphometric characteristics of the species are especially useful for accounting for different interpretations of biological responses.This study aimed to determine the responses of semiaquatic species of insects to habitat changes from the elaboration of hypotheses based on the importance of species traits facing environmental variations. We tested these hypotheses with maximum likelihood models to explain the occurrence of the species in streams of the central Amazon region.In a total of 17 collected Gerromorpha species, we used 14 to develop five predictive models of occurrence considering the bionomic characteristics of each species and their possible relationships with habitat changes in 33 streams in the central Amazon region. We used maximum likelihood models to assess the fit of the models to the observed occurrence, with environmental characteristics as covariates affecting the occurrence probability, and sampling effort affecting the detection probability.A total of five species exhibited changes in the probability of occurrence in streams related to an environmental condition (riparian forest disturbance, flow heterogeneity, and surface habitat heterogeneity). The probability of occurrence tended to reduce for four of the five species and increase for one with increase of environmental impacts. Furthermore, the sampling effort covariate did not affect the probability of detection in most species, indicating that the group showed a high detection.The use of functional characteristics of Gerromorpha species to develop ecological hypotheses proved relevant and indicated unexpected relationships, expanding our knowledge of this community of aquatic insects. Therefore, including the individual responses of organisms to environmental variations helps in studies on aquatic biodiversity, both for basic ecology and for conservation and bioassessment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Identification of natural hybrids considered as endangered species is of vital importance in taxonomy and biodiversity conservation, as natural hybrids will usually waste the conservation resource and efforts. During field surveys in the Sanqing Mountain, we found the endangered endemic species, Ilex sanqingshanensis, strictly co-occurred with I. ficoidea and I. pernyi and then hypothesized a hybrid origin for this taxon. Combing molecular analyzes of the nrDNA ITS and cpDNA (petA-psbJ + psbA-trnH) with morphological analyzes of eight leaf characters, we confirmed that this taxon is truly a hybrid between I. ficoidea and I. pernyi and we therefore to rename it as I. × sanqingshanensis. Despite the presence of intermediate morphological characteristics, this hybrid is sharply distinct from the two parents in almost all tested traits, misleading botanists who treated it as a species. Considering the inadequacies of morphological distinctions in distinguishing holly hybrids, we have emphasized the necessity of molecular evidence for erecting Ilex species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Expanding and managing current habitat and species protection measures is at the heart of the European biodiversity strategy. A structured approach is needed to gain insights into such issues is systematic conservation planning, which uses techniques from decision theory to identify places and actions that contribute most effectively to policy objectives given a set of constraints. Yet culturally and historically determined European landscapes make the implementation of any conservation plans challenging, requiring an analysis of synergies and trade-offs before implementation. In this work, we review the scientific literature for evidence of previous conservation planning approaches, highlighting recent advances and success stories. We find that the conceptual characteristics of European conservation planning studies likely reduced their potential in contributing to better-informed decisions. We outline pathways towards improving the uptake of decision theory and multi-criteria conservation planning at various scales, particularly highlighting the need for (a) open data and intuitive tools, (b) the integration of biodiversity-focused conservation planning with multiple objectives, (c) accounting of dynamic ecological processes and functions, and (d) better facilitation of entry-points and co-design practices of conservation planning scenarios with stakeholders. By adopting and improving these practices, European conservation planning might become more actionable and adaptable towards implementable policy outcomes. This article is part of the theme issue 'Ecological novelty and planetary stewardship: biodiversity dynamics in a transforming biosphere'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Invertebrates account for over 90% of all described species and provide crucial ecosystem services. Land clearing, including the removal of abiotic habitat features, threatens invertebrate biodiversity, making environmental restoration crucial for conservation. However, little is known about the effects of abiotic restoration compared to the restoration of biotic features. To determine if rock addition increased invertebrate biodiversity, we introduced 120 t of rocks to 10 sites across five grassland reserves in the Australian Capital Territory in a before‐after‐control‐impact design. We sampled invertebrates using pitfall traps before treatment in 2016 and after rock addition in 2019 (during record‐breaking drought). We recorded 29,164 individual invertebrates from 19 orders and undertook a functional trait‐based analysis of rock effects on the invertebrate community. No effects of rock addition were observed on the probability of occurrence, richness, diversity, community similarity, or abundance of any taxonomic or functional group. The abundance of snare‐building spiders and large ants was higher in the control plots at the end of the experiment. These abundance responses in 2019 did not differ from the control or treatment plots in 2016. Thus, some combination of drought and rock addition appears to have neutralized a positive temporal change that was evident without rocks. Despite a regionwide, replicated restoration effort and an extensive functional analysis of invertebrate communities, very little positive response to rock addition was recorded. Rock addition did not have a negative effect on grassland invertebrate biodiversity and may still be beneficial to the long‐term conservation and restoration of vertebrate and invertebrate communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To achieve the goals of the Kunming–Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (KMGBF), agreed by Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity, there is an urgent need to address the economic drivers of biodiversity loss. The KMGBF includes a target to encourage businesses and financial institutions to disclose their impacts and dependences on biodiversity. While transparent biodiversity disclosures could help shift business operations away from activities that harm biodiversity, the weak target wording implies voluntary and unstandardized disclosures, which tend to be low quality and ineffective. Moreover, examination of scientific and practical insights strongly indicates that the evolving strategy of disclosures led by businesses may prioritize short‐term business and investment interests while neglecting biodiversity outcomes and the wider systemic risks they pose. We argue that there is a risk of limited if not altogether perverse outcomes from the target, where businesses provide ambiguous disclosures that fail to reduce impacts on biodiversity, yet an increase in volume and frequency of disclosures suggests progress toward the target. Consequently, we advocate for a regulatory approach, supported by scientific engagement in the development of disclosure standards and associated policy indicators, to ensure that the emerging response to the KMGBF target on disclosures avoids perverse outcomes and instead results in positive impacts on biodiversity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Growing understanding of decision‐making and environmental science is essential to carry out a successful wetland renewal. To foster this understanding and integrate knowledge on wetland renewal, we convened a diverse group of researchers, policymakers, and practitioners at an online symposium held on 23 November 2021. Following the symposium, we curated 22 papers from a global community of wetland experts for the special feature on “Wetland Renewal” in Restoration Ecology. This special feature encompasses findings from 15 field‐based experiments and 7 data‐based papers (P). The research spans various scientific fields such as: Biodiversity Conservation (P15), Coastal Engineering (P4, P8, and P9), Plant Ecology (P1, P2, P10, P12, and P13), Invasion Ecology (P7), Social Science (P3), Peat Soil Science (P6), Wildlife Ecology (P5, P11, and P22), Ecological Modeling (P16, P17, P18, P19, and P20), Microbiology (P22), and Policy and Law (P21). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Alalili system is one among the fewest remnant African indigenous and local knowledge systems that is traditionally practiced by Maasai pastoral communities to conserve certain portions of rangeland resources such as pastures and water for subsequent grazing during dry seasons. Despite its existence, East African rangelands face diverse threats from tenure security, unsustainable practices, climate, and land-use change that are notably endangering the biodiversity, livelihoods, and ecosystems in the landscape. Like other indigenous conservation systems, the sustainability of Alalili systems is being threatened, as Maasai communities are in transition due to continuous socio-cultural transformations coupled with increased livestock and human populations. We aimed to capture and document the existing occurrence and potential of Alalili systems as a pathway to improve resilience and sustain both biodiversity conservation and community livelihoods in rangeland areas of northern Tanzania. A cross-sectional research design was applied with the adoption of both purposive and stratified random sampling techniques to distinctively characterize the Alalili systems by land use and tenure types. Our results identified the existence of both communal and private Alalili systems. Their sizes varied significantly across types (t = 4.4646, p < 0.001) and land uses (F = 3.806, df = 3, p = 0.0123). While many (82%) of these Alalili systems are found in the communal land, our observations show a re-practice of Alalili systems in the private land is considered largely a re-emerging strategy for securing pastures in the face of local and global change. More than half (73%) of Alalili systems were found within game-controlled areas with little representation (about 8%) in non-protected land. Therefore, their sustainability is threatened by anthropogenic and climatic pressures, making their persistence more vulnerable to extinction. We recommend mainstreaming these practices into core pasture production and management areas, facilitating their reinforcement into policy and practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: Understanding the complex interactions between trees and fungi is crucial for forest ecosystem management, yet the influence of tree mycorrhizal types, species identity, and diversity on tree‐tree interactions and their root‐associated fungal communities remains poorly understood.Our study addresses this gap by investigating root‐associated fungal communities of different arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) and ectomycorrhizal (EcM) tree species pairs (TSPs) in a subtropical tree diversity experiment, spanning monospecific, two‐species, and multi‐species mixtures, utilizing Illumina sequencing of the ITS2 region.The study reveals that tree mycorrhizal type significantly impacts the alpha diversity of root‐associated fungi in monospecific stands. Meanwhile, tree species identity's influence is modulated by overall tree diversity. Tree‐related variables and spatial distance emerged as major drivers of variations in fungal community composition. Notably, in multi‐species mixtures, compositional differences between root fungal communities of AM and EcM trees diminish, indicating a convergence of fungal communities irrespective of mycorrhizal type. Interestingly, dual mycorrhizal fungal communities were observed in these multi‐species mixtures.This research underscores the pivotal role of mycorrhizal partnerships and the interplay of biotic and abiotic factors in shaping root fungal communities, particularly in varied tree diversity settings, and its implications for effective forest management and biodiversity conservation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The biodiversity of freshwater ecosystems especially macrophytes are threatened by various anthropogenic factors. We performed this study to investigate the beta diversity pattern of macrophyte communities in the Ganga River to find out their relationship with the physio-chemical properties of the habitat and to identify their life forms with conservation priorities and ensuring priority areas for conservation and restoration. We found that the species replacement (Repl) contributes more to beta diversity than similarity (S) and richness difference (RichDiff) component indicating continuous macrophyte turnover along the Ganga river. We found that the local contribution to beta diversity (LCBD) has a significant positive relationship with organic carbon and nitrate. We identified seven sites in the middle and lower reach of the Ganga River whose LCBD values lie within the top 75% indicating that these sites have unique species composition. The species with the highest species contribution to beta diversity (SCBD) values were mostly emergent macrophytes, which have a greater influence on the beta diversity in the studied region. Thus, when developing models and action plans for Ganga River management, which includes both biodiversity conservation and restoration, the middle and lower sections of the river, as well as emergent macrophytes, should be considered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Biodiversity is in rapid decline globally with agriculture being one of the leading causes. Within agricultural landscapes, some features provide a benefit to biodiversity that is disproportionate to their spatial area. An interesting example is artificial ponds–or farm dams–which can support a large variety of taxa. Here, we present a global review of farm dam research related to biodiversity conservation objectives to provide an overview of the topics, key research insights, and the characteristics of current research. We used a three-stage process to screen literature and identified 104 relevant papers across 27 countries encompassing studies of 13 different taxa. Most of the studies were short-term (less than 5 years) with small sample sizes (less than 20 sites). Of the 104 papers, 88 were focussed primarily on ecological outcomes, such as species richness or abundance, and 15 on primary production outcomes, such as crop and livestock yield, despite addressing or measuring ecological metrics. Only one study measured both ecological and primary production outcomes. Studies frequently examined how the features of dams (79 studies) and attributes of the surrounding landscape (47 studies) impact particular species and communities. Terrestrial mammals (1 study) were under-represented in the literature with macrophytes (28 studies), macroinvertebrates (26 studies), and amphibians (19 studies) receiving the most attention. Our results reveal a growing trend towards recognizing farm dams as habitats for various taxa, including amphibians, beetles, dragonflies, and other macroinvertebrates within agricultural environments. Significant knowledge gaps exist in understanding how dam age, invasive species, and effective management practices impact the biodiversity conservation values of farm dams. Future research should emphasize enhancing biodiversity by collaborating with landholders to increase habitat through strategic vegetation planning, minimizing runoff and nutrient inflow, and restricting stock access. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The conservation–invasion paradox (CIP) refers to a long‐term phenomenon wherein species threatened in their native range can sustain viable populations when introduced to other regions. Understanding the drivers of CIP is helpful for conserving threatened species and managing invasive species, which is unfortunately still lacking. We compiled a global data set of 1071 introduction events, including 960 CIP events (successful establishment of threatened species outside its native range) and 111 non‐CIP events (unsuccessful establishment of threatened species outside its native range after introduction), involving 174 terrestrial vertebrates. We then tested the relative importance of various predictors at the location, event, and species levels with generalized linear mixed models and model averaging. Successful CIP events occurred across taxonomic groups and biogeographic realms, especially for the mammal group in the Palearctic and Australia. Locations of successful CIP events had fewer native threat factors, especially less climate warming in invaded regions. The probability of a successful CIP event was highest when species introduction efforts were great and there were more local congeners and fewer natural enemies. These results can inform threatened species ex situ conservation and non‐native invasive species mitigation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A major obstacle to preventing and reversing biodiversity loss in the Anthropocene lies in the scarcity of tools and data for monitoring the health and trajectory of ecosystems. Sentinel species can provide insight into unobserved ecosystem change, but it is unclear how effective sentinels are due to the local, context‐dependent nature of past research. Here, we present the first global evaluation on the effectiveness of sentinel species as indicators of ecosystem change. We conducted a meta‐analysis on 372 case studies to identify the ecological and methodological factors that correlate with the most effective sentinel species. Sentinel performance did not vary consistently across taxa or system; instead, sentinels that were more directly linked to ecosystem change due to their trophic role as predators were more effective. In addition, sentinel responses that were measured on a shorter timescale were more effective at indicating ecosystem change. Policy Implications. These results contribute to the longstanding debate on “what makes a good sentinel” and demonstrate the importance of both ecological and methodological factors when selecting sentinels to detect ecosystem change. For example, sentinel species which are trophically linked and measured on short timescales may be more effective for managers seeking to monitor ecosystem change than other species. By identifying effective traits for the use of sentinel species, scientists and policymakers will be able to develop rapid and adaptable management plans in response to global change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The global restoration agenda can help solve the biodiversity extinction crisis by regenerating biodiversity-rich ecosystems, maximising conservation benefits using natural regeneration. Yet, conservation is rarely the core objective of restoration, and biodiversity is often neglected in restoration projects targeted towards carbon sequestration or enhancing ecosystem services for improved local livelihoods. Here, we synthesise evidence to show that promoting biodiversity in restoration planning and delivery is integral to delivering other long-term restoration aims, such as carbon sequestration, timber production, enhanced local farm yields, reduced soil erosion, recovered hydrological services and improved human health. For each of these restoration goals, biodiversity must be a keystone objective to the entire process. Biodiversity integration requires improved evidence and action, delivered via a socio-ecological process operating at landscape scales and backed by supportive regulations and finance. Conceiving restoration and biodiversity conservation as synergistic, mutually reinforcing partners is critical for humanity's bids to tackle the global crises of climate change, land degradation and biodiversity extinction. David Edwards and Gianluca Cerullo discuss how promoting biodiversity in restoration planning and delivery is integral to delivering long-term restoration aims, including carbon sequestration, timber production, enhanced local farm yields, reduced soil erosion, recovered hydrological services and improved human health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: Children can play a key role in biodiversity conservation as they pass knowledge on to their families who, in turn, can further disseminate it, and as children will be future citizens. This research focused on the relationship between the knowledge and perception of honeybees, which provide essential ecosystem services, in 12–14-year-old children. A survey was conducted with 231 students in Palermo (Sicily, Italy) for which they were given a questionnaire to assess their perception and knowledge of honeybees. The results indicate that the students have a good understanding of the role of honeybees in nature but lack a clear idea of their interactions with the environment. The study also reveals that children feel a certain fear of honeybees but still have respect for them. Interestingly, the average score for ecological knowledge surpassed the average score for perception, indicating that the subjects had a more positive education about honeybees than actual perception. The global decline in the number of pollinators has elicited considerable public attention. To the general public, honeybees are considered to be the primary pollinators. Also, a decline in managed honeybee stocks is alarming and could lead to declining pollination services and reduced ecosystem biodiversity, although the Apis mellifera is the least likely pollinator species on the planet to be at risk of extinction. A less-than-complete understanding of honeybees and their ecology may hinder their conservation. Ascertaining the public's level of knowledge about, and perception of, a problem can help in solving it. This research focused mainly on honeybees because people are unlikely to be able to recognize the different species of Apoidea. Schools are ideal places for understanding the basic knowledge and attitudes regarding this insect. We aimed to understand the perception and knowledge of 12–14-year-old children towards honeybees as well as to verify the existence of a correlation between knowledge level and positive perception. Secondary school students can play a key role in the conservation of biodiversity as they are carriers of knowledge in families and will be future citizens. To this end, 231 students were given a 26-item questionnaire related to their perception and knowledge of honeybees. Results indicate that the students have a good understanding of the role that bees play in nature but do not have a completely clear idea of this insect's interactions with the environment. Results also show that the children feel a certain fear of honeybees, although they respect them. The average score of the ecological branch test exceeded the average score of the perceptual one, indicating that the subjects had a more positive education than perception. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: Water colour is an important physicochemical property of water that affects aquatic communities. Land-use change has led to water colour darkening in lotic habitats, such as streams and rivers. Here, I evaluate whether urban land-use change affects water colour in urban ponds, a type of lentic habitats, and how diving beetles (Dytiscidae) respond to the water colour gradient in the Helsinki Metropolitan Area, Finland. The results show that urbanisation may not drive water darkening in urban ponds, possibly because urban ponds are often not connected to stormwater pipes. Diving beetles responded to the increasing pond water colour differently in the presence or absence of fish. Diving beetle species richness and abundance significantly increased along the water colour gradient in ponds with fish, but not in ponds without fish. Some species, such as the great diving beetle (Dytiscus marginalis), appear tolerant to brown water, whereas some species, such as the cherrystone beetle (Hyphydrus ovatus), prefer clear water. This study highlights that not all species benefit from increasing water colour. It is important to provide ponds with a gradient of water colour from clear to brown water in the landscape to meet the habitat requirements of different species for urban biodiversity conservation. Dramatic land-use changes in urban landscapes can drive water colour darkening by washing compounds, such as organic matter and iron, from terrestrial ecosystems into urban blue space, consequentially affecting aquatic communities. Here, I studied how pond water colour changes along an urban gradient and how diving beetles (Dytiscidae) respond to the water colour gradient in 11 ponds with fish and 15 ponds without fish in the Helsinki Metropolitan Area, Finland. I found that the pond water colour exhibited a non-significant decreasing pattern along the urban gradient, indicating that urbanisation may not necessarily drive brownification in urban ponds. Dytiscid species richness and abundance exhibited significant positive correlations with increasing water colour in ponds with fish but no significant correlation in ponds without fish. Some species, such as Agabus spp. and Dytiscus spp., appeared tolerant to highly coloured water, whereas some species, such as Hyphydrus ovatus and Hygrotus spp., tended to occur in clear water, indicating that brown water may provide dytiscids with prey refuges, but some species are intolerant to brown water. The study highlights the importance of urban pondscape heterogeneity to meet the needs of aquatic invertebrates that prefer different water colours and for the multifunctioning of urban ponds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Salento peninsula in southern Italy (Mediterranean Sea) is a strip of land between the Adriatic and the Ionian Seas, both characterized by local regimes of currents, different geological and physical backgrounds, and quite diversified fauna. In this area, specimens of the sea cucumber Holothuria tubulosa (Brünnich, 1768) (Echinodermata) were collected at four stations in the spring and autumn of 2020 to investigate a possible symbiotic association with the inquiline fish Carapus acus (Brünnich, 1768). Among the collected holothurians, five pearlfish specimens were found in the body cavity of four H. tubulosa collected at 10 m of depth, in autumn, at "Grotta Verde" in Marina di Andrano, Lecce (Ionian Sea). More than half of the sea cucumbers from the latter station hosted the symbiont, suggesting the presence of a shallow population of C. acus inhabiting this coastal area. Furthermore, morphometric analysis carried out on the collected fish helped to shed light on the population dynamics characterizing this neglected species. This is the first report of C. acus from Apulian waters, allowing us to unite previously disjoined areas and providing essential baseline knowledge for planning future in-depth analysis of this difficult-to-study fish in a geographical area that is strategic in terms of the conservation of Mediterranean biodiversity. Furthermore, the range of preferred host species is extended, as C. acus was previously known to prefer other sea cucumber species such as Parastichopus regalis (Cuvier, 1817) instead of H. tubulosa. Finally, the finding of C. acus in a single station and in only one season is not trivial and delivers baseline useful information for future conservation purposes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Under the dual pressures of climate change and human activities, the restrictions imposed by conservation policies, along with the increasing overlap between wildlife protected areas (PAs) and community living areas, have intensified the contradictions and conflicts between PAs and surrounding communities. Effective governance of such conflicts is particularly crucial to reconciling the contradictions between conservation and development. This study takes the Mikumi–Selous areas in Tanzania, Africa, as a case study. Through questionnaires and semi-structured interviews, it explores the current state of conflicts between PAs and communities in the study area and summarizes conflict governance measures. Moreover, this research focuses on identifying various factors that influence the conservation willingness and action of community residents, further validating the relationships between residents' household characteristics, conservation costs and benefits, conservation cognition, willingness, and behaviors through empirical analysis methods. The results indicate that residents' conservation cognition significantly positively impacts their conservation willingness and behaviors, while conservation willingness also positively affects their conservation behaviors. Additionally, it was found that conservation costs inhibit residents' conservation willingness and behaviors. This study primarily explores, from a community governance perspective, the participation willingness and behaviors of core stakeholders in conflict governance, emphasizing the critical role of community involvement in achieving biodiversity conservation and coordinated community development and providing a new perspective for alleviating conservation and development issues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Biodiversity plays an important role in maintaining the ecological balance of the earth. The study of traditional knowledge related to biological resources is a hot issue in the field of international biodiversity conservation. Xishuangbanna is a key area of biodiversity and a cultural hotspot of international significance. According to the Technical Regulation for Classification, Investigation, and Inventory of Traditional Knowledge Relating to Biological Diversity issued by the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, we investigated and catalogued the traditional knowledge related to biodiversity of the Jino people who have lived in Xishuangbanna for generations, and collected 490 entries of traditional knowledge related to biodiversity of the Jino people. Drawing on the traditional knowledge diversity index calculation method proposed by Wang Guoping, the overall traditional knowledge α-diversity index of the Jino people is 0.63, indicating that the richness of the traditional knowledge of the Jinuo people is relatively high. The traditional culture related to biodiversity, the traditional knowledge related to agricultural genetic resources, and the traditional technology related to the sustainable utilization of biological resources are relatively rich and diverse. The diversity index is 0.86, 0.82 and 0.79, respectively. In addition, Xishuangbanna has invested a lot of energy in biodiversity protection, including the establishment of nature reserves, botanical gardens, zoos, ecological tea gardens and other species reserves, and the promulgation of laws and policies related to biodiversity protection, and has achieved remarkable results in in situ protection and ex situ protection. On the basis of analyzing the progress and achievements of biodiversity conservation in Xishuangbanna, this study points out that Xishuangbanna faces challenges such as the loss of traditional knowledge, insufficient conservation efforts, and great changes in land use, and puts forward corresponding suggestions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The diversity‐habitat complexity relationship has been utilised widely in conservation and biodiversity enhancement interventions, but few studies have attempted to tease apart the components of complexity that drive this relationship. The ecological engineering of seawalls is one area where this topic has advanced, albeit not often at scales relevant to fish.We constructed habitat enhancement units (Simple, Complex and Freestyle 'fish houses') out of hollow concrete blocks and installed them at the base of tropical rip‐rap seawalls. Simple and Complex fish houses were cuboid, had the same surface area and volume and included 100 holes (microhabitats). The holes in Simple fish houses were all the same size, whereas 25 size variations were used in the Complex design (volume‐independent manipulation of a single complexity element). The Freestyle fish house was non‐cuboid and had more overall volume, microhabitat types and sizes.We examined the volume‐independent (Simple vs. Complex fish houses) and volume‐dependent (Freestyle fish house) effects of microhabitat complexity on fish taxonomic and functional assemblage metrics at two spatial scales and across diel cycles. We also investigated diurnal and nocturnal fish‐microhabitat size relationships.There was a modest, but not significant, volume‐independent effect of complexity on fish assemblages. The Freestyle design, however, supported significantly greater abundance, species richness, and distinct taxonomic and functional compositions. These results were dependent on spatial scales and diel cycles. Diel variation in fish activity patterns resulted in stronger size‐matching relationships between fish and microhabitats at night than during the day.Synthesis and applications. Our study shows that, to enhance fish diversity, it is important to provide three‐dimensional habitat architecture that incorporates a wide range of microhabitat sizes and types. Our findings also highlight some key considerations when assessing the performance of intervention designs, including spatial‐scale dependent effects of structural complexity, diel variation in fish‐microhabitat relationships, and choice of intervention assessment metric (i.e. taxonomic vs. functional diversity). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Agricultural intensification has simplified landscape composition and configuration, which has led to biodiversity declines. Increasing landscape‐wide crop heterogeneity can promote farmland biodiversity. However, knowledge is still lacking on how the effects of configurational and compositional crop heterogeneity (i.e. field size and crop diversity) are modulated by the amount of semi‐natural habitats in the landscape, especially across large scales.We tested how mean field size and functional crop diversity affect farmland bird diversity and abundance over three consecutive years, and how these effects are modulated by the amount of small woody features (SWF) in the landscape. We related data from a national bird monitoring scheme to field‐level information from a novel, high‐resolution remote sensing‐based crop type map.Smaller field sizes and higher functional crop diversity were not generally associated with a higher diversity or abundance of farmland birds. Associations varied with species' breeding habitat preferences and were modulated by the amount of SWF.In landscapes with a low SWF amount, species diversity and the abundance of species breeding in field edges or shrubs were negatively associated with increasing field size. However, where the amount of SWF was high, larger field size was associated with higher species diversity and abundance of field and shrub breeders. Diversity increased with higher functional crop diversity, as did the abundance of non‐field breeders in landscapes with a medium to high SWF amount. Field size tended to have a stronger effect on bird diversity and abundance than functional crop diversity.Policy implications: National and EU agricultural policies should adopt a landscape perspective by considering the amount of semi‐natural habitats when designing biodiversity‐enhancing measures that target field size and functional crop diversity. In landscapes with low SWF amount, decreasing field sizes may be particularly effective to promote farmland bird diversity and the abundance of non‐field breeders. In landscapes with a medium to high SWF amount, increasing functional crop diversity is likely more effective than reducing field sizes. Field and shrub breeders may be promoted by maintaining landscapes with large fields, only if these offer a high SWF amount, low agronomic yield potential and low productivity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Secondary forests are increasingly important for biodiversity conservation and ecosystem functioning. Yet, we know little on how species interactions shift across the wide range of life history strategies in the context of forest succession, especially for non‐trophic animal social systems.Using data from mixed‐species flocks (hereafter MSFs) and life history and morphological traits from the 'fast‐slow' continuum, we utilized a novel combination of network theory and trait‐based ecology to examine the assembly of associations of MSFs among species with different fast‐slow strategies across stages of forest succession that exhibit different degrees of forest complexity.MSFs formed the most connected and cohesive network in the intermediate successional stage. In contrast, we observed the least connected and cohesive network in the early stage, and a strongly connected but intermediately cohesive network in the late stage. Fast species with smaller body size and mass, and larger clutch size, were gradually replaced by slow species during succession. Interspecific associations generally shifted from those among similarly fast species (early stage) to associations between fast and slow species (intermediate stage), and finally to those among similarly slow species (late stage).We suggest that vegetation complexity (e.g. tree size, height, diversity and canopy cover), related to the availability of resources and number of niches, shaped the network structure and functional composition of MSFs. Although the late successional forests play an irreplaceable role in protecting forest specialists (i.e. slow species), intermediate stage forests should be also protected, because the large‐sized networks formed by MSFs at intermediate stages can simultaneously conserve more species with varying ecological strategies. Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Environmental sustainability lies at the centre of the sustainable development goals (SDGs). Many developing economies, including Bangladesh, undertook massive institutional and policy reformulation initiatives to accomplish the respective environmental targets of the SDGs. However, effective policy implementation and obtaining the desired impact on people and the planet remain challenging. Against this backdrop, using the typical case of Bangladesh, the study hypothesises whether environmental (including forest and climate change) policy changes beget optimal policy outcomes and bring innovative policy ideas. Or they deliver sub‐optimal policy outcomes and prioritise traditional policy substances in achieving the SDGs. The study uses a policy typology and does content analysis for a large number of policy changes (n = 82). It applies the analytical framework of policy planning and a coherent–consistent policy approach. The result shows a tremendous shortfall in policy planning and a lack of technical policy capacities to implement innovative policy substances, for example, sustainable and scientific resources management, pollution control, science‐based study and data generation, and so forth. Also, incoherent goal settings (e.g., biodiversity conservation versus infrastructure development) and inadequate policy solutions for long‐standing problems (e.g., land tenure conflict) can obstruct achieving transformative changes. The sustainable development targets demand an all‐inclusive sectoral approach and technical‐legal policy solutions to achieve environmental sustainability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Data acquisition for sustainable forest management has focused on obtaining high quality information to estimate biomass. Improving the quality of non-timber sustainability indicators, like deadwood volume, has been a minor interest. To explore how inventory approaches could be improved, we applied a Global Uncertainty and Sensitivity Analysis (GUSA) to evaluate which factors propagate more errors in deadwood modelling and how better data collection can minimize them. The impact of uncertainty on deadwood characteristics (diameter, collapse ratio, decay class, tree species, and position) was explored under stakeholders´ preferences, management actions, and climate change scenarios. GUSA showed that removing the prediction error in deadwood tree species and diameter would alter the most the total uncertainty in deadwood volume. We found that assessment of high deadwood volume was less uncertain for the scenarios where small deadwood items were left decaying on the forest floor (BAU) and for high-end climate change scenario (RCP8.5) which resulted in lower deadwood accumulation in forest stands and therefore also in lower likelihood of erroneous estimates. Reduced uncertainty in tree species and diameter class will elevate the certainty of deadwood volume to a similar level achieved in living biomass estimation. Our uncertainty and sensitivity analysis was successful in ranking factors propagating errors in estimate of deadwood and identified a strategy to minimize uncertainty in predicting deadwood characteristics. The estimation of uncertainty in deadwood levels under the scenarios developed in our study can help decision makers to evaluate risk of decreasing deadwood value for biodiversity conservation and climate change mitigation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A significant research focus is placed on identifying animal species and areas at future risk to human‐induced alterations of the environment and long‐term changes in climatic conditions. Yet, the extent to which exposure to extreme climatic events and intense human pressure can increase the risk of harmful impacts on species remains poorly investigated. Focusing on terrestrial mammals in China, one of the world's megadiverse countries, we investigated patterns of contemporary exposure to floods and human pressures and determined their taxonomic representation and distribution across three major area‐based conservation schemes, namely, national nature reserves (NNRs), priority areas for biodiversity conservation (PABCs), and key biodiversity areas (KBAs). Among the 440 species assessed with moderate or high exposure to floods, 327 (∼75%) also qualified as moderate or high in exposure to intense human pressure. These species mainly belong to the orders Chiroptera, Eulipotyphla, and Rodentia. Likewise, there were 305, 311, and 311 species with moderate or high exposure to flood and intense human pressure represented across NNRs, PABCs, and KBAs, respectively. Our findings support the prioritization of KBAs for expansion of site‐based protection efforts such as NNRs in China, considering threats to species from exposure to adverse effects from both extreme climate and human pressure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The cement industry is responsible for more greenhouse gas emissions than international air traffic, it takes up massive amounts of water and energy in the production process and creates highly destructive stone pit mines. The case we are presenting here stands for a complex transnational struggle for environmental justice involving the indigenous Sedelur Sikep community and a subsidiary of the German HeidelbergCement AG linking the Javanese lime stone landscapes of the Kendeng mountains with nodes of decision-making in Jakarta and Germany. The Kendeng mountains on the island of Java are important sites of social and cultural reproduction for the Sedelur Sikep, providing important ecosystem services. The community rejects the market economy and in particular the trading of products they have not produced themselves. Their practices have contributed to the conservation of this biodiversity rich landscapes for centuries. The plans of the HeidelbergCement AG to construct a cement factory raises concerns among the Sedelur Sikep. The group worries that the factory and the stone pit mine alter the hydrological cycle affecting their wet-rice fields and ultimately their lifestyles. Despite protests by Sedelur Sikep and allied conservation and human-rights organizations, the subsidiary of Heidelberg Cement AG hold son to its plans, referring to a completed environmental impact assessment and related permits.Building on the concepts of environmental justice and epistemic justice, we investigate how the Sedelur Sikep, together with conservation and human-rights organizations have (so far) successfully prevented the construction of the cement factory by challenging the procedural aspects of the permit process, stressing their role as indigenous communities and by challenging dominant forms of knowledge production used in environmental impact assessments. We show how successful resistance is organized employing the mainstream nature conservation narrative. We also show that the employment of different knowledge system is part of a strategy, while the groups own understanding of respecting and living with the mountain goes beyond this mainstream narrative. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper we examine and critique adaptive management (AM) practices for protected areas (PAs), in pursuit of practices that can account for more-than-human relations. Engaging with empirical research from Australian PAs, we reflect on the formation of PAs as "exceptional places" where Nature is implicitly/explicitly to be controlled. We find that AM practices harness the spatial and temporal characteristics of the PAs to deliberatively construct a static and timeless scene, creating a particular vision of Nature. This metaphoric vision is captured "like a postcard." It reinforces and justifies static protectionism as Nature conservation, arraigning a series of material objects that are meant to assist with maintaining that image: that "reality." Using sentipensar as an exemplar, we explore and highlight relational and everchanging human-nonhuman engagements to contest the ontological dimensions of a static Nature and ideas of control and power associated with the binaries of Nature and culture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When the book Wild mammals of Myanmar (Tun Yin 1993) was published, a total of 252 mammal species were reported. Since that publication, numerous new species have been described, taxonomic revisions published, and additional distribution records produced that have expanded Myanmar's mammals considerably. Therefore, we aimed to provide an updated checklist of the mammals of Myanmar, which includes the scientific and common names, global and Myanmar distributions, remarks on taxonomy, and conservation information including the IUCN Red List status and legal protection status under The Conservation of Biodiversity and Protected Areas Law 2018 of Myanmar. Our new checklist includes 365 (33 marine and 332 terrestrial) mammal species belonging to 13 orders and 49 families. We also confirmed that Myanmar is home to at least nine endemic mammal species. Our results highlight the areas that require further exploration to gain a more comprehensive understanding of Myanmar's diverse fauna. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: Glacial refugia are areas of primary importance for the evolution and conservation of biodiversity. Yet, their geographic location remains loosely defined even in intensively studied areas, preventing a thorough understanding of their role in the spatiotemporal biodiversity dynamics. With this study, we aim to locate the major glacial refugia within the biodiversity hotspot of the Italian peninsula, to understand the processes that warranted the long‐term persistence of biodiversity in the face of climate changes. Location: Italian peninsula. Taxon: Terrestrial vertebrates. Methods: We calibrated species distribution models (SDM) for 22 lineages of terrestrial vertebrates endemic to the Italian peninsula and projected the SDMs to the last‐glacial maximum conditions. Then, we combined single‐lineage projections to investigate the location and spatiotemporal dynamics of multi‐species glacial refugia. Results: Multi‐species refugia were mostly found in coastal areas that have been flooded by the post‐glacial marine transgressions, and that are currently below the sea level. Indeed, we identified six major areas acting as glacial refugia, mainly located outside the current coastline in the southern part of the peninsula and along the western coast. These areas were close to previously inferred locations of glacial refugia and genetic diversity hotspots, but none coincided with them. Conclusions: Results from this study outline glacial refugia as highly dynamic units. Most of the identified refugial areas have been lost by post‐glacial sea‐level rise. Accordingly, species persistence through the Late Pleistocene was not granted by long‐term environmental stability, but by the opportunity to shift species' distributions along altitudinal gradients, following changes in climate and habitat suitability. Notably, our results decouple glacial refugia from hotspots of genetic diversity. Thus, the current location of a hotspot should not be taken as evidence for the occurrence of a glacial refugium in that location—even though a refugium is likely to be located somewhere nearby. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Birding for nature conservation becomes violent in war when foreign states and industry use it to extract value from countries like Iraq. In wartime Iraq, birding became a pathway to multinational resource extraction by producing "eco‐value," a form of economic value for species life and, by extension, the ecosystems they inhabit. Iraqi marshland conservationists, including private contractors, produced eco‐value in the context of extreme violence for the purposes of environmental rehabilitation. This eco‐value was then leveraged to mine natural resources that were embedded in the same geological field. Compounding the violence of extraction was the violence conservation introduced for Iraqi citizens who alone performed the dangerous labor of birding; they were recruited to do this in order to safeguard the lives of foreign experts, who did not travel to the marshes of Iraq. The result was a form of nature conservation that made Iraqi lives uniquely expendable in the project of building the occupation's lifeforce. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: Combining different biodiversity dimensions can reveal new diversity patterns disclosing the relative roles of historical, environmental and anthropogenic factors in shaping global seed plant diversity. Location: Global. Time period: Present. Major taxa studied: Vascular plants. Methods: We collated a database encompassing taxonomic (249,000 species), functional and phylogenetic information (34,694 species) of seed plants across different regions of the world. Species richness in each region was weighted accounting for their phylogenetic and functional distinctiveness, obtaining a new metric—μ‐diversity—which was modelled to disentangle the relative roles of historical factors such as climate variability since the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM), environmental features (e.g. actual evapotranspiration—AET) and anthropogenic factors (past and current). Results: Higher μ‐diversity was observed in Papuasia, South East Asia, Australia and Central America, whereas the lowest values were primarily located in the Northern Hemisphere. Climate variability and AET were the most important determinants of μ‐diversity and individual diversity facets, whereas the importance of past human impacts (i.e. the onset of pastoralism) equated or exceeded those of the present ones. Main conclusions: Our integrative approach proved more sensitive in describing species diversity patterns. Few areas on Earth host high and unique proportions of multiple diversity facets and individual diversity facets contribute differently to μ‐diversity across continents. Historical climate stability and water‐energy dynamics strongly affect species diversity, but we also observed that past land‐use legacy may have influenced current plant diversity, which is under intense anthropogenic pressure, especially in Asia as well as in Central and South America. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rangelands face threats from climate and land-use change, including inappropriate climate change mitigation initiatives such as tree planting in grassy ecosystems. The marginalization and impoverishment of rangeland communities and their indigenous knowledge systems, and the loss of biodiversity and ecosystem services, are additional major challenges. To address these issues, we propose the wilder rangelands integrated framework, co-developed by South African and European scientists from diverse disciplines, as an opportunity to address the climate, livelihood, and biodiversity challenges in the world's rangelands. More specifically, we present a Theory of Change to guide the design, monitoring, and evaluation of wilder rangelands. Through this, we aim to promote rangeland restoration, where local communities collaborate with regional and international actors to co-create new rangeland use models that simultaneously mitigate the impacts of climate change, restore biodiversity, and improve both ecosystem functioning and livelihoods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In forests, the amount and diversity of structural features with high value for biodiversity, such as large trees and dead wood, are affected by productivity, stand age, and forest management. For efficient conservation of forest biodiversity, it is essential to understand the combined effects of these drivers. We used data from the Swedish National Forest Inventory to study the combined effects of productivity, stand age, and management for wood production on structures with high value for biodiversity: tree species richness, large living trees, dead wood volume, and specific dead wood types. Forest management changed the relationship between productivity and amount or diversity of some of the structures. Most structures increased with productivity and stand age, but decreased due to management. The negative effect of management was greatest for structures occurring mainly in high-productivity forests, such as deciduous dead wood. Thus, biodiversity conservation should target high-productivity forests to preserve these structures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The expansion of roads into wilderness areas and biodiversity hotspots in the Global South seems inevitable and is predicted to bring about significant biodiversity loss. Even so, existing widespread strategies aiming to mitigate the direct and indirect impacts of roads on the environment have been of limited effectiveness. These tactics, including construction of fencing, wildlife crossings on paved roads, and establishment of protected areas along the roads, are unlikely to be sufficient for protecting diverse species assemblages from roadkill, habitat fragmentation, and anthropogenic activity in tropics. This indicates the need for integration of more ambitious approaches into the conservation toolkit, such as the constructing tunnels, covered ways, and elevated roads. Although these tools could significantly support conservation efforts to save tropical biodiversity, to date, they are rarely considered. Here, we discuss factors which determine the need for application of these approaches in the Global South. We highlight the often-overlooked long-term benefits associated with the application of the proposed tools. We also discuss the potential challenges and risks, and the ways to minimise them. Hopefully this article will encourage practitioners to integrate these strategies into conservation toolkits and allow policy-makers and investors to make informed decisions on sustainable road infrastructure development in the Global South. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Protected areas (PAs) are established to conserve wildlife habitats and biodiversity. To this end, the Chinese central government has initiated a pioneering environmental planning and management policy known as the Ecological Conservation Redline (ECR). While the ecological benefits of ECR policy have been extensively evaluated, spatially explicit assessment of the ECR remains understudied. Here, we propose an element-function-structure framework for assessing the concurrence of ECR areas and ecological conservation hotspots to further outline priority areas for conservation. Results show that 67% of existing PAs are protected by ECR areas, while that of ecological corridors is only 11%. Regional variation in the ECR representativeness can be leveraged by deliberately protecting tailored ecological conservation hotspots in specific locations and stepping stones in ecological corridors. This study highlights the substantial space for ecological management to achieve the goals of ECR policy, and discourses on the co-production of knowledge from researchers and policy makers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Target 3 in the Kunming–Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) calls for protecting at least 30% of the world's lands and waters in area‐based conservation approaches by 2030. This ambitious 30×30 target has spurred great interest among policy makers, practitioners, and researchers in defining and measuring the effectiveness of these types of approaches. But along with this broad interest, there has also been a proliferation of terms and their accompanying abbreviations used to describe different types of conservation areas and their governance, planning, management, and monitoring. The lack of standard terms is hindering the use and assessment of area‐based approaches to conserve the world's biodiversity. It is difficult to track progress toward GBF Target 3 or to share learning with other practitioners if different groups of people are using different words to describe the same concept or similar words to talk about different concepts. To address this problem, the International Union for Conservation of Nature's World Commission on Protected Areas commissioned a task force to review existing terms and recommend a standard English‐language lexicon for this field based on key criteria. The results were definitions of 37 terms across 6 categories, including types of protected and additional conservation areas (e.g., protected area, additional conservation area), sets of these areas (protected area network, protected area system), their governance and management (governance, rightsholders), assessment (effectiveness, equitability), spatial planning (key biodiversity area), and action planning (value, outcome, objective). Our standard lexicon can provide a common language for people who want to use it and a shared reference point that can be used to translate various terms used by different groups. The common understanding provided by the lexicon can serve as a foundation for collaborative efforts to improve the policies, implementation, assessments, research, and learning about this important set of conservation approaches. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Payments for ecosystem services (PES) are widely applied incentive‐based instruments with diverse objectives that increasingly include biodiversity conservation. Yet, there is a gap in understanding of how to best assess and monitor programs’ biodiversity outcomes. We examined perceptions and drivers of engagement related to biodiversity monitoring through surveys among current PES participants in 7 communities in Mexico's Selva Lacandona. We conducted workshops among survey participants that included training and field deployment of tools used to monitor biodiversity and land cover, including visual transects, camera traps, acoustic recorders, and forest cover satellite images. We conducted pre‐ and postworkshop surveys in each community to evaluate changes in respondents’ perceptions following exposure to biodiversity monitoring training and related field activities. We also reviewed existing research on participatory environmental management and monitoring approaches. One quarter of current PES participants in the study area participated in our surveys and workshops. The majority stated interest in engaging in diverse activities related to the procedural aspects of biodiversity monitoring (e.g., planning, field data collection, results dissemination) and acknowledged multiple benefits of introducing biodiversity monitoring into PES (e.g., knowledge and capacity building, improved natural resource management, and greater support for conservation). Household economic reliance on PES was positively associated with willingness to engage in monitoring. Technical expertise, time, and monetary constraints were deterrents. Respondents were most interested in monitoring mammals, birds, and plants and using visual transects, camera traps, and forest cover satellite images. Exposure to monitoring enhanced subsequent interest in monitoring by providing respondents with new insights from their communities related to deforestation and species’ abundance and diversity. Respondents identified key strengths and weaknesses of applying different monitoring tools, which suggests that deploying multiple tools simultaneously can increase local engagement and produce complementary findings and data. Overall, our findings support the relevance and usefulness of incorporating participatory biodiversity monitoring into PES. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Restoring the heterogeneity of farmland mosaics can help mitigate the ongoing global decline of biodiversity. It has been shown that semi‐natural habitats in viticultural landscapes influence biodiversity in vineyards. However, less attention has been paid to the influence of the extent of vineyard fields and their arrangement in the landscape. Using previously published data, we investigated the influence of both semi‐natural habitats and vineyard fields on arthropod diversity in vineyards in 35 viticultural landscapes located in South Africa and Austria. Effects on several arthropod groups were assessed using standardised landscape predictors that integrate compositional (total area) and configurational (shape and spatial arrangement) heterogeneity of semi‐natural habitats and vineyards. In addition, we assessed the influence of within‐vineyard vegetation cover and farming system (organic or non‐organic) to explore local‐scale effects. Within‐vineyard vegetation and flower cover had a consistent positive influence on most arthropod taxa, whereas farming system had little effect. In addition, configurational heterogeneity of semi‐natural vegetation and vineyards influenced several taxa. However, different taxa showed contrasting relationships with configurational heterogeneity, hindering general recommendations for optimal configuration of semi‐natural elements and vineyards in the landscape. The only significant response to compositional heterogeneity was bug abundance in South Africa, which increased with increasing proportion of semi‐natural elements. We found that increasing vegetation cover in vineyards is an effective and easily implementable measure to improve biodiversity in vineyards. In addition, the spatial arrangement of vineyards influences within‐vineyard arthropod diversity as much as the spatial arrangement of semi‐natural vegetation in the landscape, which expands the possibilities for planning viticultural landscapes with high overall biodiversity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As one of the important biodiversity conservation areas in China, the ecosystem in the lower reaches of the Yarlung Zangbo River is fragile, and is particularly sensitive to global changes. To reveal the diversity pattern of phytoplankton, the metabarcode sequencing was employed in the Medog section of the lower reaches of the Yarlung Zangbo River during autumn 2019 in present study. The phytoplankton assemblies can be significantly divided into the main stem and the tributaries; there are significant differences in the phytoplankton biomass, alpha and beta diversity between the main stem and the tributaries. While both the main stem and the tributaries are affected by dispersal limitation, the phytoplankton assemblages in the entire lower reaches are primarily influenced by heterogeneous selection. Community dissimilarity and assembly process were significantly correlated with turbidity, electrical conductivity, and nitrogen nutrition. The tributaries were the main source of the increase in phytoplankton diversity in the lower reaches of the Yarlung Zangbo River. Such diversity pattern of phytoplankton in the lower reach may be caused by the special habitat in Medog, that is, the excessive flow velocity, and the significant spatial heterogeneity in physical and chemical factors between stem and tributaries. Based on the results and conclusions obtained in present study, continuous long-term monitoring is essential to assess and quantify the impact of global changes on phytoplankton. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Threat mapping is a necessary tool for identifying and abating direct threats to species in the ongoing extinction crisis. There are known gaps in the threat mapping literature for particular threats and geographic locations, and it remains unclear if the distribution of research effort is appropriately targeted relative to conservation need. We aimed to determine the drivers of threat mapping research effort and to quantify gaps that, if filled, could inform actions with the highest potential to reduce species’ extinction risk. We used a negative binomial generalized linear model to analyze research effort as a function of threat abatement potential (quantified as the potential reduction in species extinction risk from abating threats), species richness, land area, and human pressure. The model showed that threat mapping research effort increased by 1.1 to 1.2 times per standardized unit change in threat abatement potential. However, species richness and land area were stronger predictors of research effort overall. The greatest areas of mismatch between research effort and threat abatement potential, receiving disproportionately low research effort, were related to the threats to species of agriculture, aquaculture, and biological resource use across the tropical regions of the Americas, Asia, and Madagascar. Conversely, the threat of linear infrastructure (e.g., roads and rails) across regions, the threat of biological resource use (e.g., hunting or collection) in sub‐Saharan Africa, and overall threats in North America and Europe all received disproportionately high research effort. We discuss the range of methodological and sociopolitical factors that may be behind the overall trends and specific areas of mismatch we found. We urge a stronger emphasis on targeting research effort toward those threats and geographic locations where threat abatement activities could make the greatest contribution to reducing global species extinction risk. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The challenge of managing aquatic connectivity in a changing climate is exacerbated in the presence of additional anthropogenic stressors, social factors, and economic drivers. Here we discuss these issues in the context of structural and functional connectivity for aquatic biodiversity, specifically fish, in both the freshwater and marine realms. We posit that adaptive management strategies that consider shifting baselines and the socio‐ecological implications of climate change will be required to achieve management objectives. The role of renewable energy expansion, particularly hydropower, is critically examined for its impact on connectivity. We advocate for strategic spatial planning that incorporates nature‐positive solutions, ensuring climate mitigation efforts are harmonized with biodiversity conservation. We underscore the urgency of integrating robust scientific modelling with stakeholder values to define clear, adaptive management objectives. Finally, we call for innovative monitoring and predictive decision‐making tools to navigate the uncertainties inherent in a changing climate, with the goal of ensuring the resilience and sustainability of aquatic ecosystems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Deciding where to implement actions for biodiversity conservation remains challenging for many reasons, including the increase in maps aimed at prioritizing locations for conservation efforts. Although a growing numbers of maps can create the perception of uncertainty and competing science, a shared set of principles underlie many mapping initiatives. We overlaid the priority areas identified by a subset of maps to assess the extent to which they agree. The comparison suggests that when maps are used without understanding their origin, confusion seems justified: The union of all maps covers 73% of the contiguous United States, whereas the intersection of all maps is at least 3.5%. Our findings support the need to place a strong focus on the principles and premises underpinning the maps and the end users' intentions. We recommend developing a science-based guidance to aid scientists, policymakers, and managers in selecting and applying maps for supporting on-the-ground decisions addressing biodiversity loss and its interconnected crises. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the establishment of a pilot national park system in China, with a focus on the Hainan Tropical Rainforest National Park (HTRNP) and its efforts to save the critically endangered Hainan gibbon. The HTRNP is the largest and most well-preserved tropical rainforest in China, covering 13% of Hainan province. The Hainan gibbon, the world's rarest primate, is facing rapid population decline due to human pressures such as resource exploitation, habitat loss, and hunting. The government has implemented conservation measures, including habitat restoration and the use of innovative technologies, but there is a need for increased education and public awareness to ensure successful conservation. Involving local communities and understanding their customs and values is also crucial for effective conservation efforts. [Extracted from the article]

Conservation areas encompassing elevation gradients are biodiversity hotspots because they contain a wide range of habitat types in a relatively small space. Studies of biodiversity patterns along elevation gradients, mostly on small mammal or bird species, have documented a peak in diversity at mid elevations. Here, we report on a field study of medium and large mammals to examine the impact of elevation, habitat type, and gross primary productivity on community structure. Species richness was observed using a camera trap transect with 219 sites situated across different habitat types from 2329 to 4657 m above the sea level on the western slope of Mt Kenya, the second highest mountain in Africa. We found that the lowest elevation natural habitats had the highest species richness and relative abundance and that both metrics decreased steadily as elevation increased, paralleling changes in gross primary productivity, and supporting the energy richness hypothesis. We found no evidence for the mid‐domain effect on species diversity. The lowest elevation degraded Agro‐Forestry lands adjacent to the National Park had high activity of domestic animals and reduced diversity and abundance of native species. The biggest difference in community structure was between protected and unprotected areas, followed by more subtle stepwise differences between habitats at different elevations. Large carnivore species remained relatively consistent but dominant herbivore species shifted along the elevation gradient. There was some habitat specialization and turnover in species, such that the elevation gradient predicts a high diversity of species, demonstrating the high conservation return for protecting mountain ecosystems for biodiversity conservation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This document discusses the importance of monitoring and information systems in the sustainable management of river basins. It highlights various technologies and methods that have been used to collect and analyze data, including satellite imagery, real-time sensor networks, drones, and machine learning models. The document also emphasizes the need to incorporate human systems into monitoring approaches and the importance of adaptive policies, public awareness, and international cooperation in river basin management. Case studies from different river basins around the world are included to showcase the role of monitoring and information systems in water resource management. [Extracted from the article]

Meadows are the most important source of feed for extensive livestock farming in mountainous conditions, as well as providing many environmental services. The actual socioeconomic situation and climate change risk its conservation. That is why finding its optimal management is important. To do so, predictive models are a useful tool to determine the impact of different practices and estimate the consequences of future scenarios. Empirical models are a good analytical tool, but their applications in the future are limited. Dynamic models can better estimate the consequences of newer scenarios, but even if there are many dynamic models, their adaptation into grassland production estimation is scarce. This article reviews the most suitable predictive models for grass production in mountain meadows when data on agricultural management (mowing, grazing, fertilization) and forage value are available, considering the conservation of plant biodiversity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]