Search

By embedding a spatially explicit ecosystem services modelling tool within a policy simulator we examine the insights that natural capital analysis can bring to the design of policies for nature recovery. Our study is illustrated through a case example of policies incentivising the establishment of new natural habitat in England. We find that a policy mirroring the current practice of offering payments per hectare of habitat creation fails to break even, delivering less value in improved flows of ecosystem services than public money spent and only 26% of that which is theoretically achievable. Using optimization methods, we discover that progressively more efficient outcomes are delivered by policies that optimally price activities (34%), quantities of environmental change (55%) and ecosystem service value flows (81%). Further, we show that additionally attaining targets for unmonetized ecosystem services (in our case, biodiversity) demands trade-offs in delivery of monetized services. For some policy instruments it is not even possible to achieve the targets. Finally, we establish that extending policy instruments to offer payments for unmonetized services delivers target-achieving and value-maximizing policy designs. Our findings reveal that policy design is of first-order importance in determining the efficiency and efficacy of programmes pursuing nature recovery. This article is part of the theme issue 'Bringing nature into decision-making'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Under anthropogenic pressures and climate change, most ecosystems are showing signs of reduced resilience. Unfortunately, some are more at risk of collapse and, without interventions, they may lose biodiversity, ecological integrity and ecosystem services. Here, we describe two tools that were developed under the auspices of the International Union for Conservation of Nature, the Red List of Ecosystems and the Nature-based Solutions Global Standard, and their capacity to first identify the ecosystems at risk of collapse in a nation and then develop solutions based on nature to improve their resilience. Nature-based solutions include, for example ecosystem-based adaptation, where solutions are developed to meet the needs of the local people while protecting nature to ensure greater resilience of the social–ecological system, not only the natural ecosystem. We discuss through a case study in the Andean high mountains and páramo social–ecological system how these approaches have been used in Colombia. We then discuss lessons learned and challenges that may reduce the capacity of a community to initiate such interventions, such as national policies and funding restrictions. We also discuss through another early case in Ecuador the importance to adapt these types of interventions to the geographical and cultural context of the social–ecological systems. This article is part of the theme issue 'Bringing nature into decision-making'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper focuses on the failure to account for the value of standing tropical forests, and of ecosystem services in general, in economic decision-making. This blindness to the values of nature has led to overexploitation, degradation and destruction of tropical forests, which, in turn, has also significantly contributed to greenhouse gas emissions. Forest conservation and restoration has a critical role to play in the fight against climate change and brings a vast array of additional benefits, from security in water, energy, food, health and livelihoods to maintaining biodiversity itself as a core component of our living planet. As first Minister of Environment and Energy under President Oscar Arias (1986–1990), I brought these views into societal decision-making in Costa Rica and here I briefly describe how. This article is part of the theme issue 'Bringing nature into decision-making'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Values play a significant role in decision-making, especially regarding nature. Decisions impact people and nature in complex ways and understanding which values are prioritised, and which are left out is an important task for improving the equity and effectiveness of decision-making. Based on work done for the IPBES Values Assessment, this paper develops a framework to support analyses of how decision-making influences nature as well as whose values get prioritised. The framework is used to analyse key areas of environmental policy: a) the present model for nature protection in market economies, b) the role of valuation in bringing nature values into decisions, and c) values embedded in environmental policy instruments, exemplified by protected areas for nature conservation and payments for ecosystem services. The analyses show that environmental policies have been established as mere additions to decision-making structures that foster economic expansion, which undermines a wide range of nature's values. Moreover, environmental policies themselves are also focused on a limited set of nature's diverse values. This article is part of the theme issue 'Bringing nature into decision-making'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Objective] The aims of this study are to explore the mechanism of villages′ ecosystem services on human well-being, and to promote regional sustainable development, especially in ecologically fragile areas. [Methods] Based on biophysical indicators and human needs theory, the spatial distribution of village ecosystem services and well-being were analyzed. Based on structural equation model, the mechanism of village ecosystem services on well-being was revealed from the perspective of village endowment. [Results] (1) The spatial distribution of crops and meats was similar, and fruits supply concentrated; High soil conservation villages distributed in the southern hilly mountains, and both water conservation and habitat quality were higher in the west than in the east. Landscape aesthetics was higher in the east than in the west, and high recreation villages concentrated in urban areas. (2) The spatial distribution of needs and human well-being in each village was quite different. Villages with high well-being included Chuandao villages, most township centers villages, and rural revitalization model villages. Villages with low human well-being were mainly located in hilly areas in the east and west, and such villages need to be given priority attention by the government. (3) Village ecosystem services positively affected human well-being, with crops, meat, and water conservation being the key ecosystem services affecting village well-being. Village endowments positively influenced ecosystem services and human well-being. Village endowments could indirectly improve the level of village well-being by enhancing its ecosystem services. Height was the key natural endowment, while non-illiteracy rate and aging rate were the key social endowment. Distance from the county seat was the key location endowment. [Conclusion] Spatial differences in village ecosystem services and human well-being are evident, and the endowment-ecosystem service-well-being pathway of influence is significant. Policy implementation based on spatial differences and pathway differences is a necessary requirement to enhance the contribution of ecosystem services to well-being. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Understanding the trophic structure of species assemblages is crucial in order to comprehend how syntropic species coexist in space and time. Bats are the second most taxonomically diverse group of mammals and display a wide range of dietary strategies. Due to their ability to disperse over water, ca. 60% of all extant bat species occur on islands and for the most part their interspecific ecological interactions are poorly known. Using DNA metabarcoding, this study offers the first insights into the diet of Macaronesian bats by providing a holistic overview of prey consumed by all 3 bat species found on Madeira Island (Pipistrellus maderensis , Nyctalus leisleri verrucosus , and Plecotus austriacus) and investigating both interspecific (between P. maderensis and N. l. verrucosus) and intraspecific (between female and male N. l. verrucosus) dietary differences. We identified a total of 110 species of arthropod prey in the diet of the 3 bat species, including multiple agriculture and forestry pest species, a human disease-relevant species, and numerous taxa not previously recorded on the island. Lepidoptera was the primary prey order for all 3 bat species. The diet composition of P. maderensis and N. l. verrucosus differed significantly, with P. maderensis consuming more Diptera and multiple prey taxa not found in the diet of N. l. verucosus. Moreover, male N. l. verrucosus exhibited a broader niche breadth than females. This study is among the first to use DNA metabarcoding to evaluate the diet of insular bats and thus greatly advances knowledge regarding the trophic ecology and pest suppression services of these poorly-known mammals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Restoring native grassland vegetation can substantially improve ecosystem service outcomes from agricultural watersheds, but profitable pathways are needed to incentivize conversion from conventional crops. Given growing demand for renewable energy, using grassy biomass to produce biofuels provides a potential solution. We assessed the techno‐economic feasibility and life cycle outcomes of a "grass‐to‐gas" pathway that includes harvesting grassy (lignocellulosic) biomass for renewable natural gas (RNG) production through anaerobic digestion (AD), expanding on previous research that quantified ecosystem service and landowner financial outcomes of simulated grassland restoration in the Grand River Basin of Iowa and Missouri, United States. We found that the amount of RNG produced through AD of grassy biomass ranged 0.12–45.04 million gigajoules (GJ), and the net present value (NPV) of the RNG ranged −$97 to $422 million, depending on the combination of land use, productivity, and environmental credit scenarios. Positive NPVs are achieved with environmental credits for replacement of synthetic agricultural inputs with digestate and clean fuel production (e.g., USEPA D3 Renewable Identification Number, California Low Carbon Fuel Standard). Producing RNG from grassy biomass emits 15.1 g CO2‐eq/MJ, which compares favorably to the fossil natural gas value of 61.1 g CO2‐eq/MJ and exceeds the US Environmental Protection Agency's requirement for cellulosic biofuel. Overall, this study demonstrates opportunities and limitations to using grassy biomass from restored grasslands for sustainable RNG production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Legumes can be integrated into cereal crop systems as a service crop to fix nitrogen, support cereal grain quality, and provide fodder for animals. However, competitive effects on cereal crop yields need to be avoided as much as possible. Here, we study the effect of seven legume species on yield, yield components and grain quality of rice, in dependence of the relative sowing time of the legume and the spatial configuration of the intercrop. In the first year, legume species were sown simultaneously with rice as well as at 25 days after rice emergence (DARE). Based on the first year, legume species were only sown at 25 DARE in the second year, but in two spatial configurations: alternate and double row design. Rice grain yield and total dry mass were negatively associated, showing the difficulty in obtaining an increased biomass production without giving in on rice grain yield. There are legumes species (Crotalaria spectabilis, jack bean and dwarf pigeon pea) that compete more with upland rice than others and legumes sowing at 25 DARE and in double rows reduces this competitive effect. Overall, upland rice intercropped with C. breviflora presented a higher total dry mass production than sole rice, without affecting grain yield. The crude protein content of rice grains was higher in intercrops in which grain yield was reduced by legumes due to the dilution effect. The adjustments in sowing time and spatial arrangement increased the range of legume species that can be used to promote ecological benefits without negatively affecting rice yield and quality, enabling diversification of species and biomass in the same area, associating food production with the benefits of the legume ecosystem services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to long-term human activity interference, the Hainan Tropical Rainforest National Park (HTRNP) of China has experienced ecological problems such as habitat fragmentation and biodiversity loss, and with the expanding scope and intensity of human activity impact, the regional ecological security is facing serious challenges. A scientific assessment of the interrelationship between human activity intensity and habitat quality in the HTRNP is a prerequisite for achieving effective management of ecological disturbances caused by human activities and can also provide scientific strategies for the sustainable development of the region. Based on the land use change data in 2000, 2010, and 2020, the spatial and temporal variations and the relationship between habitat quality (HQ) and human activity intensity (HAI) in the HTRNP were explored using the integrated valuation of ecosystem services and trade-offs (InVEST) model. System dynamics and land use simulation models were also combined to conduct multi-scenario simulations of their relationships. The results showed that during 2000–2020, the habitat quality of the HTRNP improved, the intensity of human activities decreased each year, and there was a negative correlation between the two. Second, the system dynamic model could be well coupled with the land use simulation model by combining socio-economic and natural factors. The simulation scenarios of the coupling model showed that the harmonious development (HD) scenario is effective in curbing the increasing trend of human activity intensity and decreasing trend of habitat quality, with a weaker trade-off between the two compared with the baseline development (BD) and investment priority oriented (IPO) scenarios. To maintain the authenticity and integrity of the HTRNP, effective measures such as ecological corridor construction, ecological restoration, and the implementation of ecological compensation policies need to be strengthened. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: Spatial assessments of Ecosystem Services (ES) are increasingly used in environmental management, but rarely provide information on the prediction accuracy. Uncertainty estimates are essential to provide confidence in the quality and credibility of ES assessments for informed decision making. In marine environments, the need for uncertainty assessments for ES is unparalleled as they are data scarce, poorly (spatially) defined, with complex interconnectivity of seascapes. This study illustrates the uncertainty associated with a principle‐based method for ES modelling by accounting for model variability, data coverage and uncertainty in thresholds and parameters. Location: Tauranga, New Zealand. Methods: A sensitivity analysis was applied on ES models for marine bivalves (Austrovenus stutchburyi and Paphies australis) and their contribution to Food provision, Water quality regulation, Nitrogen removal and Sediment stabilisation. ES estimates from the sensitivity analysis were compared against baseline ES predictions. Spatial uncertainty patterns were analysed for individual ES through bi‐plots and multiple ES through spatial prioritisation using Zonation. Results: Our study showed spatially explicit differences in uncertainty patterns for ES and between species. Food provision had highest maximum uncertainty (>5 points) but also the largest area of high ES and high certainty conditions. Zonation analysis conducted on baseline and conservative ES values showed overall robust outcomes of top 30% area, but important nuances through shifts in top 5% and 10% areas that allowed for a consistently better representation of ES when accounting for uncertainty. Main Conclusions: The spatial prioritisation in combination with the ES uncertainty biplots provide tools for spatial planning of individual and multiple ES to focus on area of highest value with highest certainty and can thereby help reduce risk and aid decision‐making at acceptable confidence levels. This type of information is urgently needed in marine ES assessments and their management, but likewise extends to other environments to improve transparency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

European agricultural policies increasingly incorporate mechanisms for delivery of public goods. Sustainable public good delivery requires alignment between societal demand and landscape supply. However, the variation of demands or desires regarding future public good delivery among society is hardly known. We inventoried the desires for public goods across Dutch society, and projections of agricultural supply. A multi-method approach was used to find agreement levels between desired and expected change in good delivery. Most stakeholders expressed a desire for biodiversity and climate regulation from agriculture, whilst desire for natural heritage and recreation was less common. The utility of a public good to a stakeholder appears to influence its desire. Scenarios for agriculture focus on extensification, sustainable intensification, regionalization, or meadow bird conservation. Regionalized scenarios showed the highest agreement between public good supply and desire. Maximizing alignment between desire and supply thus requires a challenging transition towards region-specific agricultural sustainability strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent decades, nature has been increasingly acknowledged in the urban environment for its importance to people's well-being and quality of life, as well as for its role in building sustainable cities. The idea of nature in cities and the conceptualization of 'green' (e.g. green structure, green fingers, green infrastructure, parks and ecosystem services) are correlated in planning approaches. This study explores the conceptualization of green by analysing the concepts used in the two regions of Oslo and Helsinki, and by investigating their current master and regional plans through quantitative and qualitative analyses. The findings exhibit a variety of green concepts and complementary features (between planning concepts introduced earlier and newer ones). Over the years, and in the light of evolving ideas of nature, the master and regional plans of both regions have set up a multi-functionality framework, more recently influenced by ecosystem services approaches. The study contributes to understanding the evolving conceptualization of green in urban and regional planning approaches. The discussion is linked to place-specific contexts and regulatory practices, and connected – to some extent – to the wider international debate and planning ideas that incorporate nature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fruit and vegetable crops are affected by numerous arthropods, including aphids and thrips. Hoverfly adults are important pollinators, and their larvae are mainly aphid predators. Molecular studies on the stomach contents of larvae allowed to associate hoverflies with the consumption of other soft‐bodied arthropods, including thrips, with few records found in Neotropical hoverfly species. Allograpta exotica (Wiedemann) (Diptera: Syrphidae), a species widely distributed in the Americas, from the USA to Argentinian Patagonia, has been associated with numerous crops mainly affected by aphids, and to a lesser extent with whiteflies. The objective of this work was to assess the consumption and preference rates of various instars of A. exotica as biocontrol agents for two major insect pests, Myzus persicae (Sulzer) (Hemiptera: Aphididae) and Frankliniella gemina (Bagnall) (Thysanoptera: Thripidae), under controlled laboratory conditions. Additionally, we morphologically characterized the three larval stages of A. exotica. We determined that all three instars of A. exotica consume both M. persicae and F. gemina, and that they kill more thrips than aphids. Still, A. exotica preferred M. persicae over F. gemina, even when the relative aphid availability decreased compared to F. gemina, although consumption of both prey types remained high. Interestingly, A. exotica second instars consumed four times more thrips than aphids. This study explored the potential use of one of the most common hoverfly species in fruit and vegetable crops as a biocontrol agent of aphids and thrips. Further laboratory and field studies should explore more deeply the potential of this Neotropical beneficial dipteran. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Accounting for ecosystem service values in wildfire risk mitigation remains a challenge. In this study we utilize public participatory GIS methods to measure ecosystem service values and overlay those values with maps of wildfire hazard. Our first objective is to understand sociocultural demand for ecosystem services, and our second objective is to show how non-monetary ecosystem service valuation methods can be used to inform wildfire risk mitigation decisions. Regulating ecosystem services, such as water quality, biodiversity/habitat, and air quality, along with recreation and aesthetics, were the most highly valued ecosystem services in our study. These ecosystem service values were clustered around roads, towns, and water features and correlated with accessibility, education, and income. These values also had significant overlap with wildfire hazard, suggesting that this non-monetary mapping approach could provide a more participatory method of incorporating people's preferences into decisions about where to target wildfire mitigation efforts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Today's biodiversity crisis fundamentally threatens the habitability of the planet, thus ranking among the primary human challenges of our time. Much emphasis is currently placed on the loss of biodiversity in the Anthropocene, yet these debates often portray biodiversity as a purely natural phenomenon without much consideration of its human dimensions and frequently lack long-term vistas. This paper offers a deep-time perspective on the key role of the evolving human niche in ecosystem functioning and biodiversity dynamics. We summarize research on past hunter–gatherer ecosystem contributions and argue that human–environment feedback systems with important biodiversity consequences are probably a recurrent feature of the Late Pleistocene, perhaps with even deeper roots. We update current understandings of the human niche in this light and suggest that the formation of palaeo-synanthropic niches in other animals proffers a powerful model system to investigate recursive interactions of foragers and ecosystems. Archaeology holds important knowledge here and shows that ecosystem contributions vary greatly in relation to different human lifeways, some of which are lost today. We therefore recommend paying more attention to the intricate relationship between biodiversity and cultural diversity, contending that promotion of the former depends on fostering the latter. This article is part of the theme issue 'Ecological novelty and planetary stewardship: biodiversity dynamics in a transforming biosphere'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pollinator diversity plays an important role in improving the resilience of pollination services. However, agricultural intensification is causing declines in pollinator diversity. Such losses could be mitigated and even reversed by agroforestry systems, whose structural complexity exceeds that of intensive agricultural systems. Research, primarily conducted in tropical regions, suggests that efficiently managing agroforestry systems can increase pollinator diversity. We performed a global meta‐analysis to explore how coffee agroforestry management practices affect the diversity of bee pollinators. We employed 137 sets of results from 20 studies that had been conducted at widely distributed locations across four of the seven continents. More specifically, we investigated the impact of augmenting floral resources (60 sets of results) and shade‐tree cover (43 sets of results) and reducing the distance to natural forests (34 sets of results). Additionally, we examined key moderating factors, including climatic conditions, pollinator sociality, the metrics used to describe pollinator diversity, pollinator sampling methods, the metrics used to characterise the effects of management practices and floral resource type. We observed that bee pollinator diversity broadly increased as local floral resources increased in tropical coffee agroforestry systems. Shade‐tree cover and proximity to natural forests did not broadly influence bee pollinator diversity. However, the strength and direction of the relationships between the agroforestry management practices and bee pollinator diversity were moderated by different factors, mainly climatic conditions and pollinator sociality. Our findings underscore the importance of managing coffee agroforestry systems to maximise bee diversity, which is crucial for coffee plant pollination. The broader objective should be to ensure the availability of resources that promote pollinator fitness, effective pollination and, as a consequence, crop yields. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Diversity and functionality of bird communities in tropical agroforests are shaped by their surrounding landscape, particularly the extent and type of natural forest. However, most evidence comes from tropical rainforest landscapes, whereas the bearing of such trends in other forest types remains understudied. We compared functional and beta diversity of bird communities in 23 cacao agroforests embedded in landscapes of two contrasting Peruvian regions: seasonally‐dry tropical forests and subtropical rainforests from the Andean foothills. Strong climatic seasonality affects both landscapes, but forest vegetation structure and complexity differ. We found higher bird species richness (n = 179 spp) and higher species turnover in the subtropical forest than in the dry forest landscape (n = 64 spp). Only in the dry forest landscape, distance from forest increased dissimilarity driven by species loss, that is, the nestedness component of beta diversity. This points to the importance of conserving dry tropical forests within the broader landscape matrix, with known benefits for pest control and cacao yield. Functional diversity indices were not influenced by forest distance in either landscape, but the proportion of insects in birds' diet decreased by 27% along a 1 km distance gradient from forest in the subtropical forest landscape. In the dry forest landscape, however, it decreased by only 3% across the same distance gradient. Far from forest (≥1 km), forest specialization decreased by ~33% and 20% in the subtropical and dry forest landscapes, respectively. These differences indicate that regionally‐adapted agroforest management is paramount for conserving bird diversity and ecosystem services as pest control. Procuring high‐canopy shade trees and adequate microhabitats for insectivorous species is essential to maintain biocontrol services in the subtropical forest. Conversely, in the dry forest enhancing low‐canopy vegetation with a focus on frugivores and ensuring forest closeness to agroforests may maximize bird diversity and their ecosystem services. A complete version of this article is translated to Spanish in the supplements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A systematic analysis of the spatiotemporal evolution patterns and factors influencing ecological land (EL) can support the optimization of EL protection policies and ensure the stability of regional ecosystems. Based on remote sensing data, using the gravity center shift model, the landscape pattern index, and the equivalent factor method, the characteristics of EL evolution in the Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei (BTH) region from 1980 to 2020 were analyzed. A fixed-effects model was used to quantitatively explore the factors influencing EL evolution and heterogeneity analysis. The results are as follows: (1) The EL area exhibited a trend of initial decrease followed by a subsequent increase during the study period. The most significant area transfer occurred between cropland and EL, but, after the 21st century, the proportion of area transfer between construction land and EL noticeably increased. (2) The compactness and fragmentation of EL showed a certain spatiotemporal stability, but the spatial distribution of compactness and fragmentation hot and cold spots exhibited significant differences. The fragmentation hot spots mainly displayed a strip distribution, while those of compactness showed a clustered distribution. (3) Although the ecosystem service value in the BTH region demonstrated dynamic "M"-shaped changes, the distribution of hot and cold spots still exhibited spatial stability. Regulating services consistently occupied a higher proportion of the sub-service functions, while cultural services still needed further enhancement. (4) Factors influencing the evolution of areas and values demonstrated similarities. The landscape was significantly influenced by construction land, showing a non-linear "U"-shaped relationship with fragmentation. Different economic development gradients and altitudes exhibited differentiated characteristics in terms of their influencing factors. This study provides scientific support for dynamically and precisely adjusting governmental EL management policies, contributing to the sustainable development of regional socio-economics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hebi is located in the northern part of China's Henan Province and is a typical receiving area for China's South-to-North Water Diversion Project. The assessment of habitat quality and water yield over a long time series is important for evaluating the stability of ecosystem services in Hebi and other receiving areas and for maintaining ecological security and promoting sustainable development. This paper aims to evaluate and dynamically analyse habitat quality and water yield in Hebi, and analyses the characteristics of changes in spatial and temporal patterns of land cover types, habitat quality and water yield in Hebi over the past 20 years, using 2000, 2005, 2010, 2015 and 2020 as horizontal years. The results indicate that: (1) During the study period, the overall land use type in Hebi City has been constantly changing, with the most significant conversion from arable land to other land types; combined with its landscape pattern index, Hebi City has a general characteristic of significant landscape fragmentation and complexity in land use. (2) Habitat quality in Hebi shows an overall trend towards better development, with water availability decreasing and then increasing; the zoning of ecosystem services in Hebi is divided into three classes: superior, good and general, with the area covered by the superior and general classes expanding year by year. (3) Correlation analysis by SPSS software shows that the correlation between habitat quality and landscape pattern index is greater than the correlation between habitat quality and climate change. Additionally, the correlation between water availability and climate change is greater than the correlation between water availability and landscape pattern index. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In mountains, grasslands managed for livestock production sustain local economies, culture and identity. However, their future fodder production is highly uncertain under climate change: While an extended growing season may be beneficial, more frequent and intense summer droughts could also reduce fodder quantity and quality. Land use and land cover (LULC) changes are another major driver of grassland biomass production, but combined effects of future land use transitions and climate change are rarely quantified. We modelled combined climate and LULC scenarios for grassland production of the Maurienne Valley (French Alps) by 2085. We built a Bayesian Belief Network (BBN) from long‐term grassland production monitoring data complemented with expert knowledge. We assessed the potential of two candidate adaptations, intensification as an incremental solution and silvopastoralism as a transformative solution to compensate combined impacts of two climate scenarios and three land use change scenarios. Total biomass production was far more sensitive to LULC than to climate scenarios. Production losses were largest under the conservation LULC scenario (−28% on average between 2020 and 2085), followed by the tourism development scenario (−7%) and the business‐as‐usual scenario (+3%). Climate change under representative concentration pathways (RCP) 8.5 altered the seasonality of production by increasing potential production from May to July while decreasing summer regrowth. Synthesis and applications: Changes in LULC are more decisive for global biomass production than climate change. However, under the most extreme climate change scenario (RCP8.5), the seasonal shift in production and increased interannual variability threaten the current grass‐based protected designation of origin (PDO) production system. Only the intensification adaptation solution showed significant gains in total biomass production. Still, the silvopastoralism would require less investment compared to the intensification and have a similar efficiency when assessing the gains of biomass by the surface concerned with adaptation solutions. Along with decreased total annual production due to decreasing grassland area compounded by more extreme climate change, the seasonal shift in production and increased interannual variability threaten the current grass‐based PDO production system. Further Bayesian modelling co‐developed with local stakeholders and experts could greatly contribute to adaptation planning of the regional production system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: Mycorrhizal symbioses between plants and fungi are vital for the soil structure, nutrient cycling, plant diversity, and ecosystem sustainability. More than 250 000 plant species are associated with mycorrhizal fungi. Recent advances in genomics and related approaches have revolutionized our understanding of the biology and ecology of mycorrhizal associations. The genomes of 250+ mycorrhizal fungi have been released and hundreds of genes that play pivotal roles in regulating symbiosis development and metabolism have been characterized. rDNA metabarcoding and metatranscriptomics provide novel insights into the ecological cues driving mycorrhizal communities and functions expressed by these associations, linking genes to ecological traits such as nutrient acquisition and soil organic matter decomposition. Here, we review genomic studies that have revealed genes involved in nutrient uptake and symbiosis development, and discuss adaptations that are fundamental to the evolution of mycorrhizal lifestyles. We also evaluated the ecosystem services provided by mycorrhizal networks and discuss how mycorrhizal symbioses hold promise for sustainable agriculture and forestry by enhancing nutrient acquisition and stress tolerance. Overall, unraveling the intricate dynamics of mycorrhizal symbioses is paramount for promoting ecological sustainability and addressing current pressing environmental concerns. This review ends with major frontiers for further research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: It is well understood that agricultural management influences arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi, but there is controversy about whether farmers should manage for AM symbiosis.We assessed AM fungal communities colonizing wheat roots for three consecutive years in a long‐term (> 14 yr) tillage and fertilization experiment. Relationships among mycorrhizas, crop performance, and soil ecosystem functions were quantified.Tillage, fertilizers and continuous monoculture all reduced AM fungal richness and shifted community composition toward dominance of a few ruderal taxa. Rhizophagus and Dominikia were depressed by tillage and/or fertilization, and their abundances as well as AM fungal richness correlated positively with soil aggregate stability and nutrient cycling functions across all or no‐tilled samples. In the field, wheat yield was unrelated to AM fungal abundance and correlated negatively with AM fungal richness. In a complementary glasshouse study, wheat biomass was enhanced by soil inoculum from unfertilized, no‐till plots while neutral to depressed growth was observed in wheat inoculated with soils from fertilized and conventionally tilled plots.This study demonstrates contrasting impacts of low‐input and conventional agricultural practices on AM symbiosis and highlights the importance of considering both crop yield and soil ecosystem functions when managing mycorrhizas for more sustainable agroecosystems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is important to assess the rapid land-use/land-cover change (LULCC) and its impact on ecosystem service value (ESV), affecting the socio-economic and climatic stabilization of wetlands. In this study, a multi-resolution image segmentation and k-nearest neighbours algorithm were used for the thematic classification of satellite images of 2003 and 2018 in the Deepor Beel wetland, a lake of international significance. A notable increase in built-up areas was observed from 9.07 to 32.19 sq. km during this period. Proximity analysis in the 500 m buffer from the Deepor Beel boundary revealed an increasing built-up areas in close proximity. The ESV evaluation estimated a net decrease in the monetary value of 4.85 × 104 USD of the wetland for the respective years. The study recommends strict demarcation of zones of influence on the ground and regular monitoring of LULCC to protect important wetlands and preserve their ecosystem services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change and atmospheric deposition of nitrogen (N) and sulfur (S) impact the health and productivity of forests. Here, we explored the potential impacts of these environmental stressors on ecosystem services provided by future forests in the contiguous U.S. We found that all stand-level services benefitted (+ 2.6 to 8.1%) from reductions in N+S deposition, largely attributable to positive responses to reduced S that offset the net negative effects of lower N levels. Sawtimber responded positively (+ 0.5 to 0.6%) to some climate change, but negatively (− 2.4 to − 3.8%) to the most extreme scenarios. Aboveground carbon (C) sequestration and forest diversity were negatively impacted by all modelled changes in climate. Notably, the most extreme climate scenario eliminated gains in all three services achieved through reduced deposition. As individual tree species responded differently to climate change and atmospheric deposition, associated services unique to each species increased or decreased under future scenarios. Our results suggest that climate change should be considered when evaluating the benefits of N and S air pollution policies on the services provided by U.S. forests. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Restoring ecosystems is an imperative for addressing biodiversity loss and climate change, and achieving the targets of the Kunming–Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework. One form of restoration, rewilding, may have particular promise but may also be precluded by requirements for other forms of land use now or in the future. This opportunity space is critical but challenging to assess. We explored the potential area available for rewilding in Great Britain until the year 2080 with a multisectoral land‐use model with several distinct climatic and socioeconomic scenarios. By 2080, areas from 5000 to 7000 km2 were either unmanaged or managed in ways that could be consistent with rewilding across scenarios without conflicting with the provision of ecosystem services. Beyond these areas, another 24,000–42,000 km2 of extensive upland management could provide additional areas for rewilding if current patterns of implementation hold in the future. None of these areas, however, coincided reliably with ecosystems of priority for conservation: peatlands, ancient woodlands, or wetlands. Repeatedly, these ecosystems were found to be vulnerable to conversion. Our results are not based on an assumption of support for or benefits from rewilding and do not account for disadvantages, such as potential losses of cultural landscapes or traditional forms of management, that were beyond the modeled ecosystem services. Nevertheless, potential areas for rewilding emerge in a variety of ways, from intensification elsewhere having a substantial but inadvertent land‐sparing effect, popular demand for environmental restoration, or a desire for exclusive recreation among the wealthy elite. Our findings therefore imply substantial opportunities for rewilding in the United Kingdom but also a need for interventions to shape the nature and extent of that rewilding to maintain priority conservation areas and societal objectives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Driven by the United Nations Decade on Restoration and international funding initiatives, such as the Mangrove Breakthrough, investment in mangrove restoration is expected to increase. Yet, mangrove restoration efforts frequently fail, usually because of ad hoc site‐selection processes that do not consider mangrove ecology and the socioeconomic context. Using decision analysis, we developed an approach that accounts for socioeconomic and ecological data to identify sites with the highest likelihood of mangrove restoration success. We applied our approach in the Biosphere Reserve Marismas Nacionales Nayarit, Mexico, an area that recently received funding for implementing mangrove restoration actions. We identified 468 potential restoration sites, assessed their restorability potential based on socioeconomic and ecological metrics, and ranked sites for implementation with spatial optimization. The metrics we used included favorable conditions for propagules to establish and survive under sea‐level rise, provision of ecosystem services, and community dynamics. Sites that were selected based on socioeconomic or ecological metrics alone had lower likelihood of mangrove restoration success than sites that were selected based on integrated socioeconomic and ecological metrics. For example, selecting sites based on only socioeconomic metrics captured 16% of the maximum attainable value of functioning mangroves able to provide propagules to potential restoration sites, whereas selecting sites based on ecological and socioeconomic metrics captured 46% of functioning mangroves. Our approach was developed as part of a collaboration between nongovernmental organizations, local government, and academics under rapid delivery time lines given preexisting mangrove restoration implementation commitments. The systematic decision process we used integrated socioeconomic and ecological considerations even under short delivery deadlines, and our approach can be adapted to help mangrove restoration site‐selection decisions elsewhere. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Oil palm plantations are typically managed in a monoculture system over large areas. This system contributes to biodiversity loss and promotes pest outbreaks by reducing natural enemies. However, ecosystem functions in oil palm plantations vary spatially and temporally and can still support biodiversity under certain conditions. We conducted a study on the species richness, abundance and species composition of natural enemies in oil palm plantations and investigated the factors influencing natural enemy communities in oil palm plantations at both local and landscape scales. We selected 12 sites in an oil palm plantation in Central Borneo, Indonesia, which were grouped into 4 sub‐areas based on the presence of natural habitats, which varied in local and landscape characteristics. Arthropods were sampled using canopy knockdown fogging with a pyrethroid insecticide. Different taxa of natural enemies responded differently to changes in habitat characteristics within oil palm plantations. Species richness of spiders was not affected by either local or landscape scale, but their species composition was affected by oil palm tree age (local scale) and the total edge of dominant oil palm tree age (landscape scale). Ant species richness was influenced by the class area of natural habitat (landscape scale), whereas their species composition was not influenced by either local or landscape scale. On the other hand, species richness of parasitoid wasps was influenced by light intensity (local scale) and the variation of oil palm tree age within a landscape (landscape scale). However, their species composition was only affected by light intensity. The results suggest that oil palm management practices need to consider both local and landscape scales to maintain biodiversity and biological control and to achieve sustainable management of oil palm plantations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Forest restoration is being scaled up globally, carrying major expectations of environmental and societal benefits. Current discussions on ensuring the effectiveness of forest restoration are predominantly focused on the land under restoration per se. But this focus neglects the critical issue that land use and its drivers at larger spatial scales have strong implications for forest restoration outcomes, through the influence of landscape context and, importantly, potential off-site impacts of forest restoration that must be accounted for in measuring its effectiveness. To ensure intended restoration outcomes, it is crucial to integrate forest restoration into land-use planning at spatial scales large enough to account for — and address — these larger-scale influences, including the protection of existing native ecosystems. In this review, we highlight this thus-far neglected issue in conceptualizing forest restoration for the delivery of multiple desirable benefits regarding biodiversity and ecosystem services. We first make the case for the need to integrate forest restoration into large-scale land-use planning, by reviewing current evidence on the landscape-level influences and off-site impacts pertaining to forest restoration. We then discuss how science can guide the integration of forest restoration into large-scale land-use planning, by laying out key features of methodological frameworks required, reviewing the extent to which existing frameworks carry these features, and identifying methodological innovations needed to bridge the potential shortfall. Finally, we critically review the status of existing methods and data to identify future research efforts needed to advance these methodological innovations and, more broadly, the effective integration of forest restoration design into large-scale land-use planning. The outcomes of forest restoration are influenced by land use at spatial scales larger than the land under restoration. Hua et al. argue that, to ensure effective forest restoration, it is crucial to integrate restoration design into land-use planning at spatial scales large enough to account for — and address — these larger-scale influences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The global community has outlined ambitious ecosystem restoration targets. Yet implementation is slow, and a lack of funding is a key barrier to upscaling restoration activities. Most restoration projects are funded by public institutions and recent high-level initiatives have emphasised the need to scale private finance in restoration. Private finance can be channelled into restoration through various financial mechanisms but is held back by a lack of return-making investment opportunities. Various institutions have now been created to commodify previously non-market ecosystem services and make them investable, most prominently voluntary carbon markets and biodiversity compliance market-like mechanisms, such as biodiversity-offsetting systems targeting the achievement of 'no net loss' of biodiversity for a given regulated sector. However, attracting private finance into restoration comes with risks, as private finance objectives in restoration often are misaligned with wider social and ecological objectives. Private finance mechanisms to date have tended to underinvest in monitoring and impact evaluation mechanisms and to favour investments in cost-effective nature-based solutions such as plantation monocultures over naturally regenerated ecosystems. Many technological and institutional solutions have been proposed, but these cannot mitigate all risks. Therefore, scaling of ecosystem restoration through market-like mechanisms requires substantial fundamental investments in governance and civil society oversight to ensure that ecological integrity and social equity is safeguarded. Here, we outline the high-level policy landscape driving restoration finance and explore the roles and potential of both public and private investment in restoration. We explain how some common mechanisms for drawing private investment into restoration work in practice. Then, we discuss some of the shortcomings of past private finance initiatives for ecosystem restoration and highlight essential lessons for how to safeguard the ecological and social outcomes of private investments in ecosystem restoration. Sophus zu Ermgassen and Sara Löfqvist outline the high-level policy landscape driving restoration finance and explore the roles and potential of both public and private investment in restoration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Butyrate‐producing bacteria are found in many outdoor ecosystems and host organisms, including humans, and are vital to ecosystem functionality and human health. These bacteria ferment organic matter, producing the short‐chain fatty acid butyrate. However, the macroecological influences on their biogeographical distribution remain poorly resolved. Here we aimed to characterise their global distribution together with key explanatory climatic, geographical and physicochemical variables. We developed new normalised butyrate production capacity (BPC) indices derived from global metagenomic (n = 13,078) and Australia‐wide soil 16S rRNA (n = 1331) data, using Geographic Information System (GIS) and modelling techniques to detail their ecological and biogeographical associations. The highest median BPC scores were found in anoxic and fermentative environments, including the human (BPC = 2.99) and non‐human animal gut (BPC = 2.91), and in some plant–soil systems (BPC = 2.33). Within plant–soil systems, roots (BPC = 2.50) and rhizospheres (BPC = 2.34) had the highest median BPC scores. Among soil samples, geographical and climatic variables had the strongest overall effects on BPC scores (variable importance score range = 0.30–0.03), with human population density also making a notable contribution (variable importance score = 0.20). Higher BPC scores were in soils from seasonally productive sandy rangelands, temperate rural residential areas and sites with moderate‐to‐high soil iron concentrations. Abundances of butyrate‐producing bacteria in outdoor soils followed complex ecological patterns influenced by geography, climate, soil chemistry and hydrological fluctuations. These new macroecological insights further our understanding of the ecological patterns of outdoor butyrate‐producing bacteria, with implications for emerging microbially focused ecological and human health policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cattle heat stress causes billions of dollars' worth of losses to meat and milk production globally, and is projected to become more severe in the future due to climate change. Tree establishment in pastoral livestock systems holds potential to reduce cattle heat stress and thus provide nature‐based adaptation. We developed a general model for the impact of trees on cattle heat stress, which can project milk and meat production under future climate scenarios at varying spatial scales. The model incorporates the key microclimate mechanisms influenced by trees, including shade, air temperature, humidity, and wind speed. We conducted sensitivity analyses to demonstrate the relative influence of different mechanisms through which trees can impact cattle heat stress, and how tree impacts are influenced by climatic context globally. Trees hold the greatest potential to reduce cattle heat stress in higher latitudes and altitudes, with minor benefits in the lowland tropics. We projected the future contributions of current trees in mitigating climate change impacts on the dairy and beef herds of Aotearoa—New Zealand (A‐NZ) in 2070–2080. Trees were simulated to contribute to A‐NZ milk yields by over 491 million liters (lower CI = 112 million liters, upper CI = 850 million liters), and meat yields by over 8316 tonnes (lower CI = 2431 tonnes, upper CI = 13,668 tonnes) annually. The total economic contribution of existing trees in mitigating future cattle heat stress was valued at $US 244 million (lower CI = $US 58 million, upper CI = $US 419 million). Our findings demonstrate the importance of existing trees in pastoral landscapes and suggest that strategic tree establishment can be a valuable adaptation option for reducing cattle heat stress under climate change. Tree establishment in the next few years is critical to provide adaptation capacity and economic benefit in future decades. [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]

China's Ecological Protection Red Lines (ERLs) policy has proven effective in constructing regional ecological security patterns and protecting ecological space. However, the existing methods for the identification of high conservation value areas (HCVAs) usually use physical models, whose parameters and processes are complex and only for a single service, affecting the ERL delineation. In this study, the data-driven machine learning (ML) models were innovatively applied to construct a framework for ERL identification. First, the One-Class Support Vector Machine (OC-SVM) was used to generate negative samples from natural reserves and ecological factors. Second, the supervised ML models were applied to predict the HCVAs by using samples. Third, by applying the same ecological factors, the traditional physical models were used to assess the ecological services of the study area for reference and comparison. Take Chengdu–Chongqing Urban Agglomeration (CY) as a case study, wherein data from 11 factors and 1822 nature reserve samples were prepared for feasibility verification of the proposed framework. The results showed that the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) of all ML models was more than 97%, and random forest (RF) achieved the best performance at 99.57%. Furthermore, the land cover had great contributions to the HCVAs prediction, which is consistent with the land use pattern of CY. High-value areas are distributed in the surrounding mountains of CY, with lush vegetation. All of the above results indicated that the proposed framework can accurately identify HCVAs, and that it is more suitable and simpler than the traditional physical model. It can help improve the effectiveness of ERL delimitation and promote the implementation of ERL policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite the recognized ecological significance of hyporheic zones, biological investigations into their ecology, especially concerning functional diversity, remain limited. This is particularly true for copepod assemblages, abundant in the transitional zone between groundwater and surface waters, requiring more thorough exploration. To bridge this knowledge gap, our study extensively monitored a hyporheic zone within a mountain creek and examined nine functional traits across twelve copepod species found in this environment. Through the application of RLQ and fourth-corner analysis, as well as functional diversity indices including functional richness, evenness, divergence, and dispersion, we aimed to establish links between functional traits and environmental factors. Our findings revealed relationships between environmental features—specifically electrical conductivity, pH, and ammonium concentration—and the trait composition of copepod assemblages, which were influenced by species abundances. Considering the intimate connection between functional traits and ecosystem services, assessing functional diversity within hyporheic zones offers valuable insights into its functionality in terms of services rendered. This study emphasizes the importance of understanding and managing functional diversity in hyporheic zone dynamics to ensure the health and stability of ecotones and, by extension, riverine and groundwater ecosystems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The protection of ecological systems is currently a trending topic. Numerous countries have implemented various measures to safeguard ecosystems. Evaluating the effectiveness of regional ecological protection and cooperative conservation is of paramount importance. In this paper, Hainan Island, China, was taken as an example to construct an evaluation framework of the ecosystem change characteristics and conservation effects of different types of protected areas. In this way, the study evaluated the ecological status of important protected areas and the effects of collaborative management and control, and it discussed the changes in ecological status and protection effects. The results revealed the following. (1) Important protected areas occupy a large proportion of natural ecological space, reaching 76.33%, more than twice the proportion of ecological space on Hainan Island. In the past 20 years, the ecological space retention rate has increased by 0.57%. (2) The contribution of excellent-quality and good-quality ecosystems is the greatest, accounting for 82.65% of the whole island. In the past 20 years, the ec7osystem quality has improved in more than 80% of the areas. The proportion of excellent-quality and good-quality ecosystems is as high as 96.75% in these conservation areas, and their contribution to Hainan Island is 44.29%, while conservation areas only account for about 38%. (3) The ecosystem services of Hainan Island have improved and become stable in the past 20 years. The contribution of all types of protected areas to the ecosystem services of Hainan Island is more than 53.22%. In general, the ecological quality and service function has increased in Hainan Island, and the ecological space tends to be stable. Different types of protected areas have effectively protected various ecosystems on Hainan Island with different protection and management mechanisms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Wetlands are catchment life support systems with diverse ecological and socio-economic functions. They have played a significant role in the growth of African human civilisations and cultural development, and today contribute billions of US dollars' worth of ecosystem services to the people of Ethiopia. Ethiopia exhibits both natural and man-made wetland types that cover up to 2% of its land surface. They are, however, under threat from excessive pressures that are both ecologically and socially driven. The objective of this study was to analyse the state of ecosystem services provision of the Ethiopian wetlands, with a novel application of Ostrom's Socio-ecological Systems Framework (SESF), taking Boyo Wetland as a case study. Household surveys, focus group discussions and stakeholder analysis methods were applied to satisfy the data needs of SESF. Insufficient knowledge of actors on wetland ecosystem services, weak governance and limited self-organisation among actors are highlighted as the major reasons contributing to the unsustainable use of wetlands. When the use of Boyo Wetland's ecosystem services was evaluated using the SESF, it was evident that unsustainable resource use practices are widespread. These findings could be used to inform national policy on wetlands and local strategies for the sustainable use of wetland resources by direct or indirect users at different levels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fire is a highly relevant governance challenge in the tropics: altered fire regimes, among other phenomena, threaten the persistence of various ecosystems. Fire is also widely used by smallholders. Yet, wildfires can put people's livelihoods in danger through direct damages and by impoverishing ecosystem services. Conventional approaches have sought to suppress any type of fire in the landscape. However, since the late twentieth century, researchers and practitioners have recognized the benefits of strategic fire use and, in some cases, of local fire use traditions. In many tropical areas, the coexistence and interaction of the conventional ('suppression‐only') approach, integrated approaches, and communities' traditional ways of using fire, create a complex network of actors with different interests and outlooks. The ways these actors make decisions and interact can be summed up under the notion of fire governance. There is a growing body of literature dealing with this kind of situations, although they do not always mention the term governance. This paper thematically analyses 38 studies in this field, showing that research has been scattered and often addresses the issue partially, leaving out key aspects of environmental governance. Based on this analysis, the paper proposes a more connected and holistic research agenda. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This dataset summarizes the research on the impacts of Invasive Alien Species (IAS) documented in Brazil from 1981 to 2022 and was used to subsidize the Brazilian Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services. Impacts of non‐native plants and animals, but not microorganisms and fungi, on terrestrial and aquatic (freshwater and marine) environments were included in this review. Most of the literature reviewed consisted of published articles, plus a few book chapters, dissertations, theses, and reports. We found 1003 records of ecological and economic impacts (970 negative and 33 positive) caused by 239 different species, as well as effects on people's well‐being. Understanding and assessing all ecological interactions of IAS in nature, as well as evaluating their contributions to humans, can be a complex task. However, the current scientific evidence from Brazil suggests that negative impacts of IAS are far more common than positive impacts, highlighting the importance of avoiding novel introductions. From a conservationist perspective, the simple presence of IAS may cause the negative impact of changing the original structure and processes of nature. This is of special concern in megadiverse countries like Brazil, where interactions among species are multiple and complex. Therefore, we believe this extensive review is an important contribution to the national knowledge of IAS and the improvement of global databases, which must be periodically reviewed. The complete dataset for this abstract published in the Data Article section of the journal is available in electronic format in MetaCat in JaLTER at http://db.cger.nies.go.jp/JaLTER/metacat/metacat/ERDP-2024-01.1/jalter-en. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Protected areas (PAs) guard critical biodiversity and provide ecosystem services, serving as a pillar of the Kunming‐Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework that aims to protect 30% of the planet by 2030. But most PAs are understaffed. This study documents external workforce contributions to PA staffing in Madagascar, a biodiversity‐rich country that tripled its PA network in 2015. Taking a novel multi‐level approach, we use online surveys of 44 PAs and 13 institutions (managing 81% of PA surface area in Madagascar). Results reveal severe understaffing, reaching only a third of the global recommendation at just one staff member per 37.3 km2. Longer‐established PAs enjoy higher staffing ratios. Local community members comprise 94% of the PA external workforce, contributing up to 52% of labor in category V and VI PAs. Evolving human resource policies to deliberately better engage local communities will build PA resilience, addressing staffing gaps in a cost‐effective and sustainable manner to achieve the 30 by 30 target. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Public engagement is needed to make sure urban forestry management efforts align with the values of the public being served. Noting this, we determined current and desired urban forest access of Florida (United States) residents using the criteria from the 3-30-300 rule (i.e., 3 trees visible from home, 30% urban tree canopy in neighborhood, and a green space within 300 meters of home). Methods: A survey of 1,716 Florida residents was conducted to assess canopy coverage and green space access. Respondents were then asked if this level of urban forest access was sufficient. We also asked their perceptions of the benefits and drawbacks of urban trees and whether they had any negative interactions with trees in the past. Results: We found that 37.3% of Florida residents met all 3 criteria of the 3-30-300 rule. Despite this, half the respondents would prefer more trees in their neighborhoods. When asked to name the top benefits provided by trees, the most common responses were shade, beauty, and attracting wildlife. The most common drawbacks to urban trees included the risk of damage to property, leaves/debris, and fears regarding storms and hurricanes. Conclusions: Florida residents largely value their urban forest and would like to see it maintained or enhanced. Improving access to greenspaces for recreation is the most pressing concern for urban forest managers in Florida looking to meet the requirements of the 3-30-300 rule. Results from this study can inform urban forest management efforts in Florida and beyond. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Environmental filtering and competition are two fundamental processes that shape plant community assembly in terms of functional composition, that is, the distribution of trait values. Understanding the role of these two processes in the assembly of non‐vascular vegetation, such as bryophytes and lichens, is important since these communities provide essential ecosystem services in many regions around the world, and these depend on functional composition. Responses of non‐vascular communities to environmental selection pressures have been explored in a range of experimental and modelling studies. However, it is still largely unknown to what extent competition affects the distribution of functional traits of non‐vascular communities. Moreover, it remains poorly explored which traits that are associated with competition are key for shaping community functional assembly.Here, we integrated a field transplantation experiment with a process‐based model to disentangle the effects of environmental filtering and competition on the assembly of non‐vascular communities. Following the validation of environmental selection in the model using field observations, we performed a simulation experiment to understand the impacts of competition on trait distributions in non‐vascular communities growing in two temperate locations that differ in microclimatic conditions (a shaded and an open location).Our results suggest that the functional composition is likely a result of weak competition or may not depend on competitive exclusion at all while environmental filtering plays an essential role. Plant height seems to be a key trait for competition. However, no single‐trait competition scheme could consistently explain the observed functional composition of the studied non‐vascular communities.Synthesis. The presented model provides a new trait‐based approach for simulating the functional assembly of non‐vascular communities. Environmental filtering appears to be more essential than competition for predicting trait distributions of non‐vascular communities under temperate climatic conditions and we recommend caution in associating competition to a single trait while analysing community functional assembly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Temperate seminatural grasslands harbour unique biodiversity, support livestock farming through forage production, and deliver many essential ecosystem services (ESs) to human society; they are highly multifunctional. However, temperate grassland ecosystems are also among the most threatened ecosystems on earth due to land use and climate changes. Understanding how biodiversity, climate and land use intensification impact grassland multifunctionality through complex direct and indirect pathways is critical to better anticipate the future of these fragile ecosystems.Here, we evaluate how local plant species richness (SR) modulates the effect of land use intensification and climate on grassland multifunctionality (using six key ESs: biomass productivity and stability, forage quality, carbon storage, pollination and local plant rarity) in the French Massif Central, the largest grassland in Western Europe. We sampled 100 grasslands with contrasted fertilization rates and SR, over large elevational and latitudinal gradients related to variation in mean annual temperature (MAT), and drought severity (DS), two key climate change drivers predicted to increase in the future.Using a confirmatory path analysis, we found that SR was the main driver of multifunctionality. We also found significant SR × MAT and SR × fertilization interactions suggesting that warm climate and high fertilization rates alter the biodiversity–ecosystem multifunctionality relationships. Furthermore, increasing temperature and fertilization indirectly influenced multifunctionality by decreasing SR and consequent multifunctionality in warm lowland and highly fertilized grasslands compared to colder montane grasslands or less fertilized ones. DS only impacted some ES individually (e.g. forage quality).Synthesis and applications: We identified species richness (SR) as a pivotal factor mediating the effects of land use intensification and climate on multifunctionality through both direct and indirect pathways. Failing to account for changes in SR could thus bias any prediction of, or aggravate, the effects of land use intensification and climate change on ecosystem services delivery in temperate grassland ecosystems. Considering that SR, mean annual temperature and fertilization are major proxies of three main global change drivers (biodiversity loss, climate change and land use intensification) our study may help to better anticipate the effect of multiple interacting global change drivers on grassland ecosystems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Macroalgal forests play a crucial ecological role, providing important ecosystem services, but are also among the most vulnerable marine habitats. In the Mediterranean Sea, the forests of Cystoseira sensu lato (s.l.) are undergoing a drastic decline due to the presence of multiple stressors, and among these species, Gongolaria barbata is one of the most threatened. Despite the various attempts to restore these macroalgal forests, the success of the interventions is limited by the availability of fertile apices to promote zygotes release and the embryo development for subsequent replacement in situ. Here, we propose a new approach based on the use of G. barbata stranded on the beach for the restoration of these marine habitats. We developed a protocol based on the collection of stranded macroalgae to collect their fertile apices and produce healthy zygotes and embryos, whose recruits can be then returned at sea (through ad hoc hard substrates). We show that 3 months of incubation in mesocosms allow the recruits to reach an average length of 1–2 mm with an average density of 50–80 recruits per tile. We demonstrate that these recruits can survive and grow vigorously both in mesocosms, and after being outplanted at sea. The protocol presented here has the double advantage: (1) obtaining recruits without impacting the natural populations and (2) providing a second life to macroalgal fragments (through ecological restoration) that would otherwise be lost. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Water‐related ecosystem services are the most expected benefits from ecological restoration worldwide, because they directly improve the quality of life of human populations around and downstream the restored areas. However, the poor comprehension of how the vegetation drives the hydrological processes has resulted in some major ecological disasters. Dib et al. (2023) tried to "shed light on the complex relationship between forest restoration and water‐related ecosystem services." However, while mentioning the decrease in water yield and highlighting the great benefits to water quality generally observed after forest restoration, they (1) overstated the contribution of planting forests to increase rainfall, and (2) omitted the substantial losses due to rain interception by the canopies when explaining the forest–water relationships. This reply aims to complement or rectify the arguments from Dib et al. (2023), clarifying some hydrological issues which are crucial for restoration planning and implementation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Managing invasive species is essential for achieving mineland rehabilitation goals and ensuring the long‐term provision of critical ecosystem services while preventing new dispersion sources to neighboring areas. Traditional techniques include chemical and manual weeding, but frequent reinvasion limits their long‐term success. Therefore, additional integrated tools, such as stimulating natural competitors, may become necessary, especially where sensitive ecosystems, e.g. the ferruginous savanna ecosystem (cangas) from the Carajás National Forest, Eastern Amazon, Brazil, are found nearby rehabilitation sites. Here, we investigate the influence of different substrates and fertilization levels on the biotic interactions between two native canga grasses (Axonopus longispicus and Paspalum cinerascens) and the invasive molasses grass (Melinis minutiflora), which is frequently found in anthropized and natural ecosystems in Latin America. Nutrient application significantly influenced the growth, resource use strategies, and competitive outcomes of M. minutiflora. Nutrient application has positive effects on the growth of native species when cultivated in isolation but reduces plant development when subjected to competition with molasses grass, potentiating the invader. Although neither of the tested native species exhibited competitive advantages over M. minutiflora, increased nitrogen availability favored the competitive ability of this invasive grass. Thus, eliminating fertilization during mineland rehabilitation may be important for reducing the cover of M. minutiflora in the Carajás region, as sensitive canga ecosystems lack natural barriers against invasion. This strategic approach mitigates the operational risks and costs associated with combating invasive species from rehabilitating minelands, reducing propagule pressure on neighboring canga areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Community stability plays a crucial role in ensuring the consistent provision of ecosystem services despite environmental changes, including alterations in precipitation patterns. Over the past decades, significant progress has been made in understanding the responses of the stability of grassland plant communities and underlying mechanisms, defined as the ratio of the temporal mean biomass to the standard deviation. However, a crucial knowledge gap remains regarding whether the impacts of precipitation on the stability of grassland biomass are contingent upon specific contextual factors.Here, we examined the stability of above‐ and below‐ground biomass in adjacent grass‐ and shrub‐dominated communities through a 7‐year manipulation experiment involving seven precipitation levels: 20%, 40% and 60% decrease, as well as 20%, 40% and 60% increase in natural rainfall, in addition to ambient precipitation.We found that the stability of community biomass was influenced by three contextual factors including the magnitude and directionality of precipitation, above‐ and below‐ground biomass and the type of vegetation. In particular, higher and more intense precipitation resulted in higher stability of above‐ground biomass in both grass‐ and shrub‐dominated communities. Conversely, higher precipitation intensity led to decreased below‐ground biomass stability in grass‐dominated communities but increased below‐ground biomass stability in shrub‐dominated communities. Species stability and species asynchrony consistently played a positive role in explaining the stability of above‐ground biomass in both grass‐ and shrub‐dominated communities. However, species asynchrony negatively influenced below‐ground biomass stability in grass‐dominated communities without a comparable effect in shrub‐dominated communities. The preeminent contribution to the total community biomass was identified in the stability of below‐ground biomass, evident in both grass‐dominated and shrub‐dominated communities.Synthesis. This study highlights that while the specific effects of changes in precipitation may vary depending on the context, the fundamental processes governing biomass stability are consistent. These findings elucidate the desert steppe ecosystems' adaptive response to precipitation variations and emphasize their pivotal role in maintaining ecosystem functions under climatic perturbations. Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Inclusivity is fundamental to progress in understanding and addressing the global phenomena of biological invasions because inclusivity fosters a breadth of perspectives, knowledge, and solutions. Here, we report on how the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) assessment on invasive alien species (IAS) prioritized inclusivity, the benefits of this approach, and the remaining challenges. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Evaluating and mapping ecosystem functions and associated Nature's contributions to people (NCP) across large spatial scales is complex. One particular and often overlooked challenge is to integrate community-level processes, such as species interactions, into the evaluation of flux-related NCP supply, especially when working at macroecological scales. This flux-related NCP evaluation could greatly benefit from advances in food web theory and statistical biodiversity modeling, which could simultaneously improve our understanding of the trophic interactions in ecological networks and the prediction of biodiversity across time ad space while accounting for abiotic drivers (climate and land use). We propose a macroecological framework that integrates biodiversity models and energy flux theory to upscale ecosystem functions and predicts the associated supply of flux-related NCP. At macroecological scales, the provision of Nature's contributions to people (NCP) is mostly estimated with biophysical information, ignoring the ecological processes underlying them. This hinders our ability to properly quantify the impact of declining biodiversity and the provision of NCP. Here, we propose a framework that combines local-scale food web energy flux approaches and large-scale biodiversity models to evaluate ecosystem functions and flux-related NCP at extensive spatiotemporal scales. Importantly, this approach has the potential to upscale ecosystem functions, assess the vulnerability of flux-related NCP to the climate crisis, and support the development of multiscale mitigation policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Animal transport of energy and nutrients through food webs and across ecosystem boundaries is highly dynamic in time and space, challenging our ability to quantify ecological processes. Energy and nutrient flux in individual animals can be measured with data on growth, biochemistry, and trophic ecology, but scaling individual processes up to entire animal communities is inherently difficult. On coral reefs, new frameworks have been developed to predict growth rates, nutrient cycling, micronutrient concentrations, and energy sources in fishes, helping to uncover ecosystem functions and services. Filling data gaps and comparing flux frameworks with existing ecosystem tools will improve quantitative predictions and help ecologists trace energy and nutrient flux in other aquatic systems. The movement of energy and nutrients through ecological communities represents the biological 'pulse' underpinning ecosystem functioning and services. However, energy and nutrient fluxes are inherently difficult to observe, particularly in high-diversity systems such as coral reefs. We review advances in the quantification of fluxes in coral reef fishes, focusing on four key frameworks: demographic modelling, bioenergetics, micronutrients, and compound-specific stable isotope analysis (CSIA). Each framework can be integrated with underwater surveys, enabling researchers to scale organismal processes to ecosystem properties. This has revealed how small fish support biomass turnover, pelagic subsidies sustain fisheries, and fisheries benefit human health. Combining frameworks, closing data gaps, and expansion to other aquatic ecosystems can advance understanding of how fishes contribute to ecosystem functions and services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]