Editorial Material
Green & Sustainable Science & Technology
Yadu Pokhrel, Amar Deep Tiwari
Summary: The booming hydropower dams in the Mekong River basin have caused hydrological alterations that disrupt aquatic ecosystems and local livelihoods. Urgent reconsideration of hydropower development is needed, and alternative operating strategies could help restore the natural hydrological regimes without affecting power generation.
NATURE SUSTAINABILITY
(2022)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Jan De Keyser, Daniel S. Hayes, Beatrice Marti, Tobias Siegfried, Carina Seliger, Hannah Schwedhelm, Oyture Anarbekov, Zafar Gafurov, Raquel M. Lopez Fernandez, Ivan Ramos Diez, Bertalan Alapfy, Justine Carey, Bakhtiyor Karimov, Erkin Karimov, Beatrice Wagner, Helmut Habersack
Summary: In today's globally connected world, the Water-Food-Energy-Climate Nexus concept offers a foundation for informed decision-making based on trade-offs and synergies between different sectors. This approach is particularly relevant in regions requiring transboundary water management, like Central Asia. However, the lack of data in this region hinders informed decision-making. This paper aims to bridge the data gap by providing an overview of key data and its potential applications.
Article
Biology
A. O. Achieng, G. B. Arhonditsis, N. Mandrak, C. Febria, B. Opaa, T. J. Coffey, F. O. Masese, K. Irvine, Z. M. Ajode, K. Obiero, J. E. Barasa, B. Kaunda-Arara
Summary: Africa is facing extensive biodiversity loss due to environmental changes, lack of data and resources, as well as insufficient capacity to implement conservation measures. The lack of harmonized indicators and databases further hinders effective policies and monitoring. The article emphasizes the importance of establishing monitoring programs to inform evidence-based decisions for ecosystem conservation and restoration in Africa.
PHILOSOPHICAL TRANSACTIONS OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY B-BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
(2023)
Article
Business
Iivo Vehvilaeinen
Summary: This paper presents a novel method to quantify the market equilibrium impacts of tighter environmental policies, specifically in evaluating the welfare effects of emerging environmental regulations on river ecosystems. Through using a dataset of bids in the Nordic electricity market, the study found that achieving the EU Biodiversity Strategy target would lead to reduced hydropower capacity in Finland and result in economic losses but increased producer surplus. Therefore, it suggests that an industry-wide implementation of biodiversity-enhancing regulations could benefit both the environment and the firms, although caution is needed due to higher consumer costs.
JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL ECONOMICS AND MANAGEMENT
(2023)
Article
Environmental Studies
Jose Maria Cardoso da Silva, Teresa Cristina Albuquerque de Castro Dias, Alan Cavalcanti da Cunha, Helenilza Ferreira Albuquerque Cunha
Summary: The study describes the variation in funding deficits across Brazilian federal PAs and proposes a model to explain this variation. It was found that there is a high proportion of funding deficits in Brazilian PAs, similar to those found in sub-Saharan Africa. New policies and innovative funding mechanisms are needed to bridge the large funding gap in the Brazilian federal PA system.
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Huamei Wen, Enshuo Liu, Shasha Yan, Jiang Chang, Ning Xiao, Jiang Zhou
Summary: Subterranean aquatic biodiversity loss, especially cavefish, has exceeded that of surface aquatic systems. The fragile nature of the karst subsurface environment and its biodiversity makes it highly susceptible to environmental disturbances, such as hydroelectric projects. Protecting and managing these unique endemic species poses challenges in ensuring their survival and monitoring their population dynamics.
BIOLOGICAL CONSERVATION
(2022)
Article
Biology
Bonnie J. E. Myers, Sarah R. Weiskopf, Alexey N. Shiklomanov, Simon Ferrier, Ensheng Weng, Kimberly A. Casey, Mike Harfoot, Stephen T. Jackson, Allison K. Leidner, Timothy M. Lenton, Gordon Luikart, Hiroyuki Matsuda, Nathalie Pettorelli, Isabel M. D. Rosa, Alex C. Ruane, Gabriel B. Senay, Shawn P. Serbin, Derek P. Tittensor, T. Douglas Beard
Summary: Predicting biodiversity under different scenarios is crucial for mitigating biodiversity loss. Evaluating and improving biodiversity predictions to support policy decisions is challenging. A comprehensive strategy to reduce model uncertainty helps produce more reliable biodiversity predictions.
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Heidi Lehtiniemi, Marianne Aulake, Riikka Paloniemi, Suvi Huttunen
Summary: Biodiversity offsetting is a controversial issue in biodiversity governance, with some seeing it as a promising conservation tool and others as an ethically problematic shift. Despite the controversy, it is becoming increasingly important globally. Different countries have adopted varying offsetting policies, and the political debates surrounding offsetting policymaking have rarely been analyzed.
BIOLOGICAL CONSERVATION
(2023)
Editorial Material
Environmental Sciences
Piotr Skorka, Agata Banach, Marek Banasiak, Joanna Bokalska-Rajba, Maciej Bonk, Pawel Czachura, Alberto Garcia-Rodriguez, Gabriela Gaspar, Natalia Hordynska, Adriana Kaczmarczyk, Kamila Kaploniak, Maciej Kocinski, Barbara Lopata, Edyta Mazur, Mohamadreza Mirzaei, Anna Misiewicz, Aida Parres, Anna Przystalkowska, Sylwia Pustkowiak, Mateusz Raczynski, Iwona Sadura, Aleksandra Splitt, Malgorzata Stanek, Jakub Sternalski, Alicja Wierzbicka, Marcin Wiorek, Pawel Zdunczyk
Summary: The study explored the most important conservation problems in Poland at local and national scales using the Delphi technique. Findings indicated differences in importance scores and problem frequencies between local and national scales, highlighting the need for a hierarchical conservation policy approach.
ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE AND POLLUTION RESEARCH
(2021)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Raquel L. Carvalho, Angelica F. Resende, Jos Barlow, Filipe M. Franca, Mario R. Moura, Rafaella Maciel, Fernanda Alves-Martins, Jack Shutt, Cassio A. Nunes, Fernando Elias, Juliana M. Silveira, Lis Stegmann, Fabricio B. Baccaro, Leandro Juen, Juliana Schietti, Luiz Aragao, Erika Berenguer, Leandro Castello, Flavia R. C. Costa, Matheus L. Guedes, Cecilia G. Leal, Alexander C. Lees, Victoria Isaac, Rodrigo O. Nascimento, Oliver L. Phillips, Fernando Augusto Schmidt, Hans ter Steege, Fernando Vaz-de-Mello, Eduardo M. Venticinque, Jansen Zuanon, Joice Synergize Consortium, Joice Ferreira
Summary: Biodiversity loss is a major challenge of our time and understanding how ecological communities respond to environmental change is crucial. Despite the availability of global databases, research in tropical regions, especially in the Amazon rainforest, is lacking. This study shows that a significant percentage of understudied areas in the Brazilian Amazonia are vulnerable to climate and land use changes, highlighting the urgent need for action. Rating: 8/10.
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Federico Riva, Caroline J. Martin, Koreen Millard, Lenore Fahrig
Summary: Research shows that small forest patches are more valuable for biodiversity conservation compared to large forest patches, but current policies prioritize the protection of large forest patches. The study also reveals a global trend of higher deforestation rates in small forest patches than in large ones, indicating a disproportionate impact on biodiversity relative to the total forest area removed. Addressing this issue and achieving the goals of the post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework will require policy revision and increased societal awareness of the importance of small habitat patches.
GLOBAL CHANGE BIOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Green & Sustainable Science & Technology
Sebastian Theis, Mark S. Poesch
Summary: Research found that approximately one quarter of transactions in conservation and mitigation banks did not achieve ecological equivalence, mainly due to a lack of new ecosystem creation. Future efforts should focus on strengthening guidance and incentivizing the creation of ecosystems to avoid net losses.
Review
Environmental Sciences
Hui Wang, Dong Xie, Peter A. Bowler, Zhangfan Zeng, Wen Xiong, Chunlong Liu
Summary: The South China Sea is a regional center of high marine and coastal biodiversity, with many non-indigenous species introduced as a result of mariculture and fisheries activities. These species have negative impacts on local biodiversity and economy, requiring increased monitoring and management efforts.
SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT
(2021)
Article
Green & Sustainable Science & Technology
Xiaojiong Zhao, Jian Wang, Junde Su, Wei Sun, Haoxian Meng
Summary: This study conducted a quantitative assessment and analysis of a biodiversity hotspot in Gansu Province, predicting the distribution patterns of suitable habitats for rare and endangered species and calculating their conservation value. The results indicated higher conservation value in the southern and northern regions, providing significant implications for improving ecosystem services management strategies and evaluation index systems in the future.
Article
Environmental Studies
Lu Feng, Qiyi Cai, Yang Bai, Wenjie Liao
Summary: This study analyzed China's wildlife management policy framework and found a preference for compulsory tools, limited participation of citizens and non-governmental organizations, and a focus on conservation objectives. The study recommends a more coordinated and participatory policy framework for China's wildlife management policies.
Article
Forestry
Dianguang Xiong, Zhouyuan Li, Yingmei Liang, Chengming Tian
Summary: The parasitic plant dwarf mistletoe is a major threat to coniferous forests worldwide, especially in Eurasia and North America. By using differential equations to construct a life history model, researchers were able to analyze the population dynamics of both the parasite and its host, spruce. They found that an increase in parasite shoots could lead to a decline in the forest ecosystem, ultimately affecting the regeneration of spruce seedlings. These findings provide important insights into the developmental trends of the parasite population and will help in reconstructing invasion histories.
JOURNAL OF FORESTRY RESEARCH
(2021)
Article
Forestry
Dianguang Xiong, Huayi Huang, Zezhong Wang, Zhouyuan Li, Chengming Tian
Summary: This study evaluated the changes in leaf reflectance of spruce trees infected by dwarf mistletoe using ground-based hyperspectral technology. It found that dwarf mistletoe infection increased leaf reflectance of host trees in the near-infrared regions, with intensity of infection positively related to reflectance. However, commonly used hyperspectral indices to estimate plant physiological status were not linearly correlated with infection intensity. The study suggests that hyperspectral characteristics can potentially be used for landscape-scale detection of dwarf mistletoe-induced changes, providing an efficient tool for disease monitoring.
Article
Ecology
Chong Jiang, Zhiyuan Yang, Xinchi Wang, Xinling Dong, Zhouyuan Li, Congying Li
Summary: The efficiency of China's historical large-scale ecological restoration projects in mitigating wind erosion was examined, with findings indicating that declining wind speed, wet soil moisture, and vegetation greening significantly reduced wind erosion, while the reversal of declining wind speed around 2009 aggravated the issue. Climate-induced windows of opportunity and risks are crucial in determining the optimal timing for initiating ecological restoration projects to reach the Land Degradation Neutrality goal.
JOURNAL OF ARID ENVIRONMENTS
(2021)
Article
Green & Sustainable Science & Technology
Lijuan Deng, Hongyan Zhang, Chong Wang, Wenqi Ma, Annah Zhu, Fusuo Zhang, Xiaoqiang Jiao
Summary: The sustainability of wheat supply chains is mainly affected by wheat cultivation, with significant potential efficacy in empowering smallholders and integrating all individual stages to improve sustainability.
JOURNAL OF CLEANER PRODUCTION
(2021)
Article
Microbiology
Wanlong Sun, Zhouyuan Li, Jiesi Lei, Xuehua Liu
Summary: This study investigated the diversity, composition, and functional potentials of soil bacterial communities at different elevations in a temperate forest. The results showed that bacterial functional composition, rather than taxonomic composition, was significantly associated with soil CO2 effluxes, suggesting that bacterial communities can serve as potential proxies of ecosystem functions. Furthermore, annual temperature, annual precipitation, and pH shaped both bacterial taxonomic and functional communities.
Article
Nutrition & Dietetics
Ziling Wang, Xiaoying Hou, Min Li, Rongsheng Ji, Zhouyuan Li, Yuqiao Wang, Yujie Guo, Dahui Liu, Bisheng Huang, Hongzhi Du
Summary: Golden-flowered tea, a medicine-food homology plant, has various pharmacologic activities, including anti-tumor properties. Among its active fractions, Camellia. leave. saponins show significant inhibitory effects on non-small cell lung cancer through multiple pathways.
FRONTIERS IN NUTRITION
(2022)
Article
Environmental Studies
Niklas Werner Weins, Annah Lake Zhu, Jin Qian, Fabiana Barbi Seleguim, Leila da Costa Ferreira
Summary: This article presents China's paradigm of Eco-Civilization and its implications for climate and forestry, highlighting China's aspiration for a fundamental worldview transformation from a distinct non-Western perspective. The central state plays a significant role in promoting an ecological future where nature and sociopolitical aspects are not seen as separate.
ENVIRONMENTAL SOCIOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Ecology
Pubin Hong, Zhouyuan Li, Qi Yang, Wanlu Deng, Yanjie Xu, Joseph A. A. Tobias, Shaopeng Wang
Summary: Understanding the spatial scaling of population stability is crucial for conservation strategies. The invariability-area relationship (IAR) is a metric proposed to quantify population stability across scales, but its underlying drivers are still unclear. Using bird data from North America, we found that species with specific traits and environmental factors influenced the IAR. Our results highlight the need for dynamic conservation strategies tailored to different species in the face of global environmental changes.
Article
Sociology
Annah Lake Zhu, Ruishan Chen, Jessica Rizzolo, Xiaodan Li
Summary: The search for the origins of COVID-19 has not provided conclusive evidence, and social and political factors can influence perceptions and policies related to virus origins. In China, there is a strong belief that the virus originated outside the country, while mainstream media in the United States and Europe generally suggest it originated in China. Despite global dissonance, policy reform can be pursued in various areas to prevent future pandemics.
Article
Agronomy
Tianxiao Ma, Yu Liang, Zhouyuan Li, Zhihua Liu, Bo Liu, Mia M. Wu, Matthew K. Lau, Yunting Fang
Summary: This study identified the age-related pattern and key climatic driving factors of drought-induced mortality for dominant tree species in Northeast China. The findings revealed that the mean annual rate of forest drought-induced mortality in the region was 0.49%, with higher rates in certain areas. Heatwaves were found to have a significant impact on tree mortality, affecting around 91.60% of the forest region in Northeast China.
AGRICULTURAL AND FOREST METEOROLOGY
(2023)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Pengyi Zhang, Pengchao Zhang, Zhouyuan Li, Tianming Ma, Tianxiao Ma
Summary: Based on remote sensing observations from 2000 to 2020, this study systematically evaluated the response of vegetation greenness shifts to warming trends in China. The results showed a widespread mismatch between temperature and greenness, with 74% of the area showing greenness isolines lagging behind or moving in the opposite direction to temperature isolines. The magnitude of the mismatch was influenced by elevation, slope, vegetation type, and human activity.
ECOLOGICAL INDICATORS
(2023)
Article
Ecology
Zhouyuan Li, Tianxiao Ma, Yimeng Cai, Tingting Fei, Chen Zhai, Wenxiao Qi, Shikui Dong, Jixi Gao, Xuguang Wang, Shaopeng Wang
Summary: This study reveals how landscape diversity influences the stability of ecosystem functioning in forest-grassland ecotones. The results show that landscape diversity is positively related to the stability of temperature and net primary productivity, but negatively related to the stability of wind speed and precipitation. The relationship between diversity and stability is strengthened with increasing spatial scale, but the effects on net primary productivity stability peak at around 30 km.
Review
Environmental Sciences
Fangzheng Li, Wei Liu, Chengyang Hu, Mingcheng Tang, Yunquan Zhang, Hung Chak Ho, Shijia Peng, Zhouyuan Li, Qing Wang, Xiong Li, Bing Xu, Fengyi Li
Summary: Nervous system disease has become a global health burden with increasing prevalence in the last 30 years. This systematic review and meta-analysis found evidence for an inverse relationship between greenness exposure and the risk of nervous system disease mortality or incidence/prevalence.
SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT
(2023)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Annah Lake Zhu, Ruishan Chen, Jessica Rizzolo, Jin Qian
Summary: A study reveals that despite ongoing politicized debates about the origins of COVID-19, there is clear support for wildlife reforms in China, which can promote conservation outcomes.
GLOBAL ECOLOGY AND CONSERVATION
(2023)
Article
Agriculture, Multidisciplinary
Maira de Jong van Lier, Jessica Duncan, Annah Lake Zhu, Simon R. Bush
Summary: This paper examines the framing of sustainable agriculture by Embrapa, a major contributor to Brazil's agricultural development, and highlights the underlying assumptions of dominant industrial food systems. The study reveals the exclusion of divergent perspectives within the organization.
AGRICULTURE AND HUMAN VALUES
(2023)
