Review
Biodiversity Conservation
Carl D. Watson, Michael G. Gardner, Riley J. Hodgson, Craig Liddicoat, Shawn D. Peddle, Martin F. Breed
Summary: Research shows that native plant revegetation can promote the recovery of soil microbiota, but a restoration gap still exists. Bacteria have better recovery than fungi, and revegetation does not generally affect soil microbial richness.
BIOLOGICAL CONSERVATION
(2022)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Min Wang, Qinghua Liu, Xueyong Pang
Summary: Roadside slope restoration techniques generally enhance restoration effectiveness, but the recovery rate may vary over space and time. Synthetic techniques and species selection have more positive impacts on restoring slopes compared to erosion control, seed spraying, and substrate amelioration. Factors such as vegetation condition, soil quality, and species diversity were found to be negatively correlated with restoration time.
JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT
(2021)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Xinzeng Wei, Yaozhan Xu, Linyu Lyu, Zhiqiang Xiao, Shitong Wang, Teng Yang, Mingxi Jiang
Summary: Contrary to the available knowledge on enhancing plant species diversity and ecosystem services through ecological restoration, the impact of ecological restoration on genetic diversity of plant species has not been fully studied. A global meta-analysis revealed that ecological restoration did not significantly improve genetic diversity compared to reference or degraded populations, but passive restoration, seeding, and mixed sources did increase genetic diversity.
JOURNAL OF APPLIED ECOLOGY
(2023)
Editorial Material
Biology
Luc Gnacadja, Adriana Vidal
Summary: This article presents the reflections of the 2021 Chair and the IUCN Coordinator of the Science Task Force of the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration on how science can contribute to achieving the Decade's objectives.
PHILOSOPHICAL TRANSACTIONS OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY B-BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
(2023)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Binbin V. Li, Bingkun Jiang
Summary: Livestock activities have a negative impact on forest structure and functions, with stronger effects in warmer and drier regions, and with single species grazing. Past grazing history of 1-5 years produces the strongest negative impact, but livestock activities also help reduce forest flammability.
GLOBAL CHANGE BIOLOGY
(2021)
Review
Environmental Studies
Purushothaman Chirakkuzhyil Abhilash
Summary: Restoring health of degraded land is crucial for human development and UN-SDGs. More than 33% of global land is degraded, leading to adoption of the UN-DER from 2021-2030 to prevent, halt and reverse ecosystem degradation worldwide.
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Divya Mehta, Rajiv Pandey, Ajay Kumar Gupta, Sirkku Juhola
Summary: Himalayan countries are implementing Nature-based Solutions to address ecological challenges and promote sustainable development. The results show that these solutions primarily use sustainable management, restoration, and conservation approaches to tackle societal and climatic challenges. The study highlights the importance of Nature-based Solutions in biodiversity conservation and climate risk management in the Himalayas.
ECOLOGICAL INDICATORS
(2023)
Article
Environmental Sciences
David Koranyi, Monika Egerer, Adrien Rusch, Borbala Szabo, Peter Batary
Summary: Urbanization leads to outbreaks of sap-feeding insects, declining numbers of predators with low dispersal abilities, and weakened overall biological pest control by arthropods. A well-connected network of structurally diverse and rich green spaces is needed to promote natural plant protection in urban landscapes.
SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT
(2022)
Article
Ecology
Ruben Vezzoni, Frans Sijtsma, Hilkka Vihinen
Summary: This paper introduces the Environmental Policy Mixes (EPMs) framework, which can better accommodate a diversity of institutional arrangements, contextual power dynamics, and a multiplicity of environmental targets. The authors developed this framework through a survey of 146 environmental policy instruments and interviews with experts in the field. They also provide two illustrative examples of how to apply the framework. The EPM framework can facilitate policy discussions and guide decision-makers in tackling the environmental policy challenges of the 2020s and beyond.
ECOSYSTEM SERVICES
(2023)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Lingfan Wan, Hao Cheng, Yuqing Liu, Yu Shen, Guohua Liu, Xukun Su
Summary: A comprehensive meta-analysis of 114 peer-reviewed studies reveals the significant impacts of microplastics on soil ecosystems. The addition of microplastics reduces soil organic carbon, total nitrogen, ammonium nitrogen, pH, and bacterial diversity, while increasing dissolved organic carbon, fungal diversity, and enzyme activities, particularly those related to the biogeochemical cycle. Microplastics also negatively affect soil fauna, including survival, growth, and reproduction, with concentration being the main driving factor for toxicity. The study further highlights the importance of concentration and type of microplastics in influencing different soil properties and ecosystem variables.
SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT
(2023)
Article
Green & Sustainable Science & Technology
Chelsea Dandridge, Thomas A. Stanley, Dalia B. Kirschbaum, Venkataraman Lakshmi
Summary: Rainfall-triggered landslides can cause devastating damage and loss of life. NASA's global landslide catalog (GLC) compiles a record of such events from media reports, academic articles, and existing databases. The database includes various types of mass movement events triggered by rainfall and covers the period from 2007 to 2018. The evaluation of the GLC reveals global patterns in landslide reporting, including spatial and temporal distribution and comparisons with other inventories.
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Pablo A. Lopez-Bedoya, Erika Alejandra Cardona-Galvis, Jose Nicolas Urbina-Cardona, Felicity A. Edwards, David P. Edwards
Summary: The establishment of pastures and forestry plantations has led to deforestation and severe negative effects on herpetofauna species richness and abundance. However, well-managed forestry plantations can support biodiversity in regions lacking forest cover.
JOURNAL OF APPLIED ECOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Engineering, Environmental
Wenxi Liao, Md Abdul Halim, Imrul Kayes, Jennifer A. P. Drake, Sean C. Thomas
Summary: A global meta-analysis and synthesis shows that biochar additions have pervasive benefits for ecosystem functions in green infrastructure (GI). These benefits include improving water retention capacity and nutrient content in substrate, increasing plant biomass, reducing discharge water volume, improving discharge water quality, increasing microbial biomass, and reducing CO2 and N2O emissions. This suggests that biochar has great potential to enhance urban sustainability and resilience through enhancing GI ecosystem functions.
ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Jari Lahti, Samuli Tuominen, Qiong Yang, Giulio Pergola, Shahzad Ahmad, Najaf Amin, Nicola J. Armstrong, Alexa Beiser, Katharina Bey, Joshua C. Bis, Eric Boerwinkle, Jan Bressler, Archie Campbell, Harry Campbell, Qiang Chen, Janie Corley, Simon R. Cox, Gail Davies, Philip L. De Jager, Eske M. Derks, Jessica D. Faul, Annette L. Fitzpatrick, Alison E. Fohner, Ian Ford, Myriam Fornage, Zachary Gerring, Hans J. Grabe, Francine Grodstein, Vilmundur Gudnason, Eleanor Simonsick, Elizabeth G. Holliday, Peter K. Joshi, Eero Kajantie, Jaakko Kaprio, Pauliina Karell, Luca Kleineidam, Maria J. Knol, Nicole A. Kochan, John B. Kwok, Markus Leber, Max Lam, Teresa Lee, Shuo Li, Anu Loukola, Tobias Luck, Riccardo E. Marioni, Karen A. Mather, Sarah Medland, Saira S. Mirza, Mike A. Nalls, Kwangsik Nho, Adrienne O'Donnell, Christopher Oldmeadow, Jodie Painter, Alison Pattie, Simone Reppermund, Shannon L. Risacher, Richard J. Rose, Vijay Sadashivaiah, Markus Scholz, Claudia L. Satizabal, Peter W. Schofield, Katharina E. Schraut, Rodney J. Scott, Jeannette Simino, Albert V. Smith, Jennifer A. Smith, David J. Stott, Ida Surakka, Alexander Teumer, Anbupalam Thalamuthu, Stella Trompet, Stephen T. Turner, Sven J. van der Lee, Arno Villringer, Uwe Voelker, Robert S. Wilson, Katharina Wittfeld, Eero Vuoksimaa, Rui Xia, Kristine Yaffe, Lei Yu, Habil Zare, Wei Zhao, David Ames, John Attia, David A. Bennett, Henry Brodaty, Daniel I. Chasman, Aaron L. Goldman, Caroline Hayward, M. Arfan Ikram, J. Wouter Jukema, Sharon L. R. Kardia, Todd Lencz, Markus Loeffler, Venkata S. Mattay, Aarno Palotie, Bruce M. Psaty, Alfredo Ramirez, Paul M. Ridker, Steffi G. Riedel-Heller, Perminder S. Sachdev, Andrew J. Saykin, Martin Scherer, Peter R. Schofield, Stephen Sidney, John M. Starr, Julian Trollor, William Ulrich, Michael Wagner, David R. Weir, James F. Wilson, Margaret J. Wright, Daniel R. Weinberger, Stephanie Debette, Johan G. Eriksson, Thomas H. Mosley, Lenore J. Launer, Cornelia M. van Duijn, Ian J. Deary, Sudha Seshadri, Katri Raikkonen
Summary: This study examines the associations between genetic variants and verbal short-term memory and learning in adults, revealing several genomic loci that are implicated in these processes. Functional and bioinformatic analyses support these findings, while genetic correlations with neurocognitive and health outcomes further highlight the significance of these memory traits.
MOLECULAR PSYCHIATRY
(2022)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Geng Sun, Mei Sun, Linsen Du, Zhen Zhang, Zhichang Wang, Guangbin Zhang, San''an Nie, Huaqin Xu, Hua Wang
Summary: This study conducted a comprehensive evaluation of three typical ecological rice-cropping systems, finding that they significantly reduce methane emissions while increasing nitrous oxide emissions compared to traditional systems. They also have slightly lower global warming potential, rice yield, and greenhouse gas intensity values. The rice-crayfish and rice-duck modes alleviate global warming potential, while the rice-fish mode enhances it. Additionally, the systems significantly impact various environmental factors and are considered effective green technologies.
SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT
(2021)