Article
Engineering, Environmental
Ruipeng Jia, Ming Dou, Jingquan Bi, Zhen Wang, Qingbin Mi, Jia Li
Summary: This study analyzed the temporal and spatial distribution characteristics of chlorophyll a concentrations in Xiaofu Lake, a typical river-type urban landscape lake, and explored the factors influencing eutrophication. The results showed seasonal variation and spatial distribution differences in water quality, with mild, moderate, and severe eutrophication accounting for 25%, 69%, and 6% of the study area, respectively. Turbidity, water temperature, total phosphorus, and permanganate index were highly correlated with water eutrophication, with water temperature, ammonia nitrogen, and permanganate index contributing 30.5%, 22.6%, and 20.9% to eutrophication, respectively. The high proportion of sewage treatment plant tailwater and gate operation were identified as the main causes of water quality deterioration.
WATER ENVIRONMENT RESEARCH
(2023)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Muchun Zhou, Chuanqiao Zhou, Yu Peng, Ruoyu Jia, Wenpeng Zhao, Shuoyuan Liang, Xiaoguang Xu, Akihiko Terada, Guoxiang Wang
Summary: Lacustrine eutrophication, a major contributor to carbon emissions, poses challenges in accurately estimating carbon emissions from lakes. This study used a space-for-time substitution approach to examine carbon emissions from eight lakes and Lake Taihu over one year. The results showed that eutrophication promoted carbon production potential, dissolved carbon concentrations, and carbon release fluxes, particularly CH4. However, the space-for-time substitution method led to an overestimation of the impact of eutrophication on carbon emissions, especially with the intensification of eutrophication.
ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH
(2023)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Tina G. Mozelewski, Zachary J. Robbins, Robert M. Scheller
Summary: Maintaining and enhancing landscape connectivity is crucial for reducing biodiversity declines caused by habitat fragmentation. However, the effectiveness of conservation efforts in enhancing connectivity for multiple species on dynamic landscapes is uncertain. This study forecasted landscape connectivity from 2020 to 2100 under different conservation land-acquisition strategies and found that clustering new protected areas around existing conservation areas yielded the greatest improvements in connectivity for specialist species.
CONSERVATION BIOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Luis F. Camacho, Gabriela Barragan, Santiago Espinosa
Summary: Recent research has shown that light pollution, in combination with habitat loss and fragmentation, negatively impacts insect populations. The Choc'o golden scarab beetles are scarcer in areas with reduced forest cover and are constantly attracted to urban lights, hindering their dispersal between patches. This pattern suggests that light pollution intercepts individuals during inter-patch dispersal, disrupting metapopulation dynamics and making populations in areas with scarce fragmented habitat more vulnerable.
BIOLOGICAL CONSERVATION
(2021)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Sari Holopainen, Aleksi Lehikoinen
Summary: The study evaluated the impact of hydrology on the physico-chemical quality of lakes and ponds in the boreal biome of Finland, finding that farmland and forest ditching practices were closely related to the state of the study lakes. Long-term citizen science research provided relevant data on lake ecosystems and reflected the subsurface physico-chemical status of the lakes.
SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT
(2022)
Article
Limnology
Wenxiu Zheng, Enlou Zhang, Rong Wang, Peter Guy Langdon
Summary: The study found that human activities have significantly impacted the diversity and stability of chironomids in lakes, leading to a decrease in biodiversity and changes in population composition. These effects are nonlinear in lakes directly disturbed by humans, while linear in lakes without direct human disturbances.
LIMNOLOGY AND OCEANOGRAPHY
(2022)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Lei Han, Zhi Wang, Mengmeng Wei, Muyang Wang, Hui Shi, Kathreen Ruckstuhl, Weikang Yang, Joana Alves
Summary: This study assesses the role of small patches in landscape connectivity and identifies critical and important patches for conservation in the Kalajun-Kuerdening forest in Xinjiang, China. It also highlights the importance of small patches in maintaining overall connectivity and providing habitat and protection for species with small home ranges and short dispersal distances.
ECOLOGICAL INDICATORS
(2022)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Julio J. Jaramillo, Carlos A. Rivas, Jose Oteros, Rafael M. Navarro-Cerrillo
Summary: This study examines the impact of fragmentation on Ecuador's coastal mangrove forests, identifying it as a major cause of aquatic ecosystem degradation. The research analyzes the relationship between habitat loss, fragmentation, and mangrove connectivity using Global Mangrove Watch data and fragmentation and connectivity metrics. Results show widespread mangrove fragmentation in Ecuador, with variations between the Galapagos Islands and the mainland coast. The transformation of forests into fisheries, particularly prawn factories, is the primary driver of change.
APPLIED SCIENCES-BASEL
(2023)
Article
Ecology
Teresa Goicolea, M. Cruz Mateo-Sanchez
Summary: Climate and land-use changes have an impact on species connectivity. Static methods often overlook these changes, while dynamic methods can provide valuable information to guide improved and enduring measures in changing landscapes.
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Hongzhuo Zhao, Dianfeng Liu, Fuxiang Li, Xiaojing Liu, Jiqiang Niu, Jianhua He, Yaolin Liu
Summary: Habitat fragmentation has greatly reduced biodiversity in urban fringe areas. Prioritizing individual habitat patches offers spatially explicit guidance for ecological conservation and restoration. Using spatio-temporal connectivity metrics can be effective in assessing conservation priorities at a dynamic landscape level.
ECOLOGICAL INDICATORS
(2021)
Article
Engineering, Environmental
Jian Zhou, Peter R. Leavitt, Yibo Zhang, Boqiang Qin
Summary: The depth of lakes reflects their susceptibility to human disturbance, with shallow lakes being more prone to anthropogenic eutrophication. Deep lakes, on the other hand, are less affected by human activities.
Article
Engineering, Civil
Hamed Khorasani, Zhenduo Zhu
Summary: Four pairs of competing hypotheses for phosphorus retention in lakes were assessed, with results indicating certain modeling strategies outperform others. Semi-mechanistic models, combining mechanistic and empirical elements, were found to be most effective in predicting lake total phosphorus levels. The best-fit model identified incorporated a mixed-flow reactor hypothesis with a second-order volumetric reaction rate, outperforming pure mechanistic and empirical models.
JOURNAL OF HYDROLOGY
(2021)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Varun R. Goswami, Divya Vasudev, Bhavendu Joshi, Prity Hait, Pragyan Sharma
Summary: The study demonstrates the challenges and opportunities faced by large-bodied mammalian herbivores during flood-driven refuge migration in a human-dominated environment. During the dry season, animals avoid areas with strong human presence but prefer spaces with high land-use diversity, while during floods they navigate through woodlands and areas under bamboo cover on private lands to reach forested refugia on higher ground.
SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT
(2021)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Teresa Goicolea, Ruben G. Mateo, Maria Jose Aroca-Fernandez, Aitor Gaston, Juan Ignacio Garcia-Vinas, M. Cruz Mateo-Sanchez
Summary: This paper explores a spatially explicit framework to assess the contribution of habitat patches in the conservation and enhancement of plant functional connectivity and habitat availability in a multispecies context. It found that intervening in a small proportion of the study area may lead to double the average overall landscape connectivity of the studied species. The proposed framework has significant potential for plant biodiversity management and conservation planning.
BIODIVERSITY AND CONSERVATION
(2022)
Article
Plant Sciences
J. Von Thaden, R. Badillo-Montano, A. Lira-Noriega, A. Garcia-Ramirez, G. Benitez, M. Equihua, N. Looker, O. Perez-Maqueo
Summary: Vegetation plays a crucial role in conserving biodiversity in urban areas, but the lack of fine spatial resolution vegetation inventories and ecological information poses a challenge for conservation efforts. The use of very high-resolution imagery can help map different types of vegetation covers in cities, assess their structural and functional connectivity, and evaluate their health status.
URBAN FORESTRY & URBAN GREENING
(2021)
Article
Entomology
Carlos Barcelo, Bethan Purse, Rosa Estrada, Javier Lucientes, Miguel A. Miranda, Kate R. Searle
Summary: The study analyzed the phenology of insect vectors of Bluetongue virus in wild and domestic ruminants in different locations in Spain, finding significant effects of various environmental factors on the seasonality of female insects.
JOURNAL OF MEDICAL ENTOMOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Louise J. Barwell, Ana Perez-Sierra, Beatrice Henricot, Anna Harris, Treena I. Burgess, Giles Hardy, Peter Scott, Nari Williams, David E. L. Cooke, Sarah Green, Daniel S. Chapman, Bethan V. Purse
Summary: Plant pathogens are increasingly introduced to new geographical regions due to global connectivity, and predicting their threat can be challenging without deep knowledge of their behavior, distribution, and spread. This study assesses the potential of using biological traits and phylogeny to predict global threats from emerging pathogens, finding that traits, phylogeny, and time since description play significant roles in explaining and predicting their international transport, maximum latitude, and host breadth. Root-attacking species are more widely distributed and attack more host plant families than foliar-attacking species, while host generalist pathogens have certain traits that contribute to their success in various environments. More accurate interspecific data are needed to confirm findings related to cold-tolerant species. The study suggests the development of international collaborations to create centralized databases for pathogen distributions, traits, and phylogeny to support horizon-scanning approaches for identifying potential global threats from pathogens like Phytophthora species.
JOURNAL OF APPLIED ECOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Engineering, Environmental
Bryan M. Spears, Daniel S. Chapman, Laurence Carvalho, Christian K. Feld, Mark O. Gessner, Jeremy J. Piggott, Lindsay F. Banin, Cayetano Gutierrez-Canovas, Anne Lyche Solheim, Jessica A. Richardson, Rafaela Schinegger, Pedro Segurado, Stephen J. Thackeray, Sebastian Birk
Summary: Despite common use of single-stressor abatement approaches in freshwater management, unexpected ecological responses can occur when multiple stressors interact, highlighting the need to address limitations in developing multiple-stressor management strategies and bridge theory and practice. Practical recommendations include using empirical models and experiments to predict freshwater degradation effects in response to changes in multiple stressors.
Article
Infectious Diseases
Festus A. Asaaga, Mujeeb Rahman, Suresh D. Kalegowda, Jagadeesh Mathapati, Irfanahemad Savanur, Prashanth N. Srinivas, Tanya Seshadri, Darshan Narayanswamy, Shivani K. Kiran, Meera A. Oommen, Juliette C. Young, Bethan Purse
Summary: The study found that although awareness about Kyasanur Forest Disease (KFD) was limited, access to disease information increased households' likelihood to implement adaptation strategies. Household barriers to implementing adaptation strategies included lack of disease information, low efficacy of existing vaccines, distrust, religio-cultural sentiments, and livelihood concerns.
PLOS NEGLECTED TROPICAL DISEASES
(2021)
Article
Plant Sciences
Bruno Chauvel, Guillaume Fried, Swen Follak, Daniel Chapman, Yuliana Kulakova, Thomas Le Bourgeois, Dragana Marisavljevic, Arnaud Monty, Jean-Pierre Rossi, Uwe Starfinger, Rob Tanner, Xavier Tassus, Johan Van Valkenburg, Emilie Regnier
Summary: Giant ragweed, native to North America and introduced to Europe and Asia at the end of the 19th century, is a major weed in annual cropping systems and is of concern due to its highly allergenic pollen. It poses risks to riparian systems worldwide, particularly in Asia where it has invaded more widely. The plant's impacts on crop yield and human health result in significant socio-economic consequences. The success of its invasion in introduced areas remains unclear, but climate change may increase its spread potential.
Article
Forestry
Robin M. Hayward, Lindsay F. Banin, David F. R. P. Burslem, Daniel S. Chapman, Christopher D. Philipson, Mark E. J. Cutler, Glen Reynolds, Reuben Nilus, Daisy H. Dent
Summary: The study assessed the long-term impacts of selective logging and active restoration on tree species diversity, community composition, and forest structure for biomass recovery. Results showed that basal area and pole stem density were lower in logged forests compared to unlogged forests, but no difference in stem density was found for saplings and established trees. Logging had a negative impact on sapling species diversity, while tree species composition differed significantly between logged and unlogged forests across all stem size classes.
FOREST ECOLOGY AND MANAGEMENT
(2021)
Article
Biology
Adam J. Vanbergen, Claire Boissieres, Alan Gray, Daniel S. Chapman
Summary: The experimental simulation demonstrated that episodic heatwaves, habitat loss, and non-native predation have individual and potentially synergistic or antagonistic effects on ecosystem function and microarthropod communities in microecosystems. These complex outcomes highlight the importance of considering interactions between multiple stressors when assessing anthropogenic risks to biota and ecosystem functioning.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY B-BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
(2021)
Article
Limnology
Bryan M. Spears, Daniel Chapman, Laurence Carvalho, Katri Rankinen, Konstantinos Stefanidis, Stephen Ives, Kristiina Vuorio, Sebastian Birk
Summary: This study utilized a statistical approach to assess interactions between multiple stressors in freshwater ecosystems, with nutrient enrichment identified as the primary stressor and climate change as a secondary factor impacting ecological quality in varying ways across different catchments. The findings highlight the complexity of managing multiple stressors in freshwater environments and the importance of understanding their interactions for effective environmental management.
Review
Infectious Diseases
Sarah J. Burthe, Stefanie M. Schafer, Festus A. Asaaga, Natrajan Balakrishnan, Mohammed Mudasssar Chanda, Narayanaswamy Darshan, Subhash L. Hoti, Shivani K. Kiran, Tanya Seshadri, Prashanth N. Srinivas, Abi T. Vanak, Bethan V. Purse
Summary: Zoonotic diseases, particularly affecting tropical communities, are often managed through human medical treatments, but there are alternative interventions targeting vectors or wildlife hosts that may be more effective. Improved ecological understanding can lead to a broader suite of management options.
PLOS NEGLECTED TROPICAL DISEASES
(2021)
Article
Public, Environmental & Occupational Health
F. A. Asaaga, J. C. Young, M. A. Oommen, R. Chandarana, J. August, J. Joshi, M. M. Chanda, A. T. Vanak, P. N. Srinivas, S. L. Hoti, T. Seshadri, B. Purse
Summary: This study explores the facilitators of and barriers to successful convergence between the human, animal, and environmental health sectors in India to address zoonotic diseases. Despite the importance of cross-sectoral collaboration, factors like limited policy visibility, conflicting departmental priorities, and institutional capacities hinder effective collaboration. Strengthening national policy frameworks and building on existing informal relationships and collaboration platforms are suggested as ways forward for improved disease surveillance and interventions.
Article
Ecology
Dominic P. Brass, Christina A. Cobbold, David A. Ewing, Bethan V. Purse, Amanda Callaghan, Steven M. White
Summary: Predicting complex species-environment interactions is crucial, but the effects of phenotypic plasticity on population adaptation are difficult to predict directly.
Article
Forestry
Flora Donald, Bethan V. Purse, Sarah Green
Summary: Translocating plants to natural habitats for conservation purposes is increasing in scale to meet international targets for climate change and biodiversity loss. However, the globalization of trade has led to an increase in outbreaks of novel plant pests and pathogens, potentially introducing risks to restoration plantings. A study on UK common juniper highlighted the expansion of planting activity since 1990 and the need for cross-sector collaboration and changes in practice to reduce pathogen introduction risks.
Article
Ecology
Emily H. Waddell, Daniel S. Chapman, Jane K. Hill, Mark Hughes, Azlin Bin Sailim, Joseph Tangah, Lindsay F. Banin
Summary: Clidemia hirta, a highly invasive shrub, is resistant to invasion in intact tropical forests, but the presence of native Melastomataceae species and associated herbivores and pathogens can limit its invasion success by causing increased herbivory and reduced reproduction.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
David A. Ewing, Bethan Purse, Christina A. Cobbold, Steven M. White
Summary: Vector-borne diseases pose significant human health risks globally and may expand to more regions due to climate change. Modeling studies suggest that future climate changes in the UK could increase the risk of outbreaks of mosquito-borne viruses, highlighting the need for prevention and control measures.
JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY INTERFACE
(2021)