Article
Engineering, Civil
Ahmad Hasan Nury, Ashish Sharma, Lucy Marshall, Ian Cordery
Summary: Modeling the impact of climate change on streamflow in remote regions like the Tibetan Plateau is a challenge due to sparse data. This study uses a hydrologic model to simulate future changes, indicating a decrease in snow cover and an increase in streamflow, but a decrease in water supply reliability. Similar changes are expected for other rivers originating in the Tibetan Plateau.
JOURNAL OF HYDROLOGY
(2021)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Shane D. Morris, Michael R. Kearney, Christopher N. Johnson, Barry W. Brook
Summary: The study examines the potential physiological effects of climate change on the Tasmanian devil during its extinction window in mid-Holocene, finding no widespread negative impacts of climate on the devil's physiology on the mainland. This suggests that cultural and demographic changes in human populations or competition with dingoes may have played a more significant role in the devil's extinction.
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Joanna Kajzer-Bonk, Piotr Nowicki
Summary: Habitat deterioration and biodiversity decline are global issues. Urban areas, despite being subject to human activities, may offer some mitigation. Protected sites can impede habitat loss and serve as effective tools for biodiversity conservation.
ECOLOGICAL INDICATORS
(2022)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Michael D. Pirie, Robbie Blackhall-Miles, Greg Bourke, Dan Crowley, Ismail Ebrahim, Felix Forest, Michael Knaack, Rupert Koopman, Alex Lansdowne, Nicolai M. Nuerk, Jo Osborne, Timothy R. Pearce, Daniel Rohrauer, Martin Smit, Victoria Wilman
Summary: The Global Conservation Consortia (GCC) aims to prevent human-caused habitat destruction and species extinction by collaborating on the development and implementation of conservation strategies for threatened plant groups. GCC Erica is one of the working groups dedicated to protecting the unique Erica plants in South Africa's diverse Cape Floristic Region. However, challenges such as limited knowledge, resource constraints, and communicating the value of biodiversity to the public exist.
PLANTS PEOPLE PLANET
(2022)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Alida Salman, Margot Hurlbert
Summary: This paper examines social learning, its drivers and outcomes, in Yorkton, Saskatchewan, Canada, after experiencing floods in 2010, 2014, and 2016. The study draws on 15 semi-structured interviews and 110 newspaper articles about the flood events and infrastructure upgrades. The research reveals that the flood experience and interactions between the City, Council, and the public have resulted in social learning. However, this learning has been limited and hindered by the perception that the public cannot contribute to stormwater management. Despite improvements, social learning is diminishing due to the passage of time and a false sense of security from infrastructure upgrades, which has policy implications for unfinished flood upgrades in Yorkton.
Editorial Material
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Abigail Klopper
Summary: Population changes could potentially mitigate the impact of cyclones, according to modeling. Rising temperatures are projected to increase the exposure of people to tropical cyclones, but the timing could be crucial for the success of mitigation strategies.
Article
Ecology
John W. Williams, Trisha L. Spanbauer, Peter D. Heintzman, Jessica Blois, Eric Capo, Simon J. Goring, Marie-Eve Monchamp, Laura Parducci, Jordan M. Von Eggers
Summary: Ancient environmental DNA data have the potential to provide insights into past global biodiversity dynamics at an unprecedented taxonomic extent and resolution, but this requires bridging bioinformatics and paleoecoinformatics and strengthening expert community governance and curation.
TRENDS IN ECOLOGY & EVOLUTION
(2023)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Sun W. W. Kim, Brigitte Sommer, Maria Beger, John M. M. Pandolfi
Summary: Climate change is causing rapid and widespread degradation of the environmental conditions that previously supported species survival. Current projections of climate change mainly focus on acute environmental anomalies and global extinction risks, without considering species-specific patterns. As a result, we lack knowledge about the explicit dimensions of climate risk that are essential for predicting future biodiversity responses and developing effective management and conservation strategies.
GLOBAL CHANGE BIOLOGY
(2023)
News Item
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Alexandra Witze
Summary: Unprecedented temperatures are arriving faster and more intensely than anticipated by researchers, giving rise to questions about future expectations.
Article
Geography, Physical
Terry L. Jones, Joan Brenner Coltrain, David K. Jacobs, Judith Porcasi, Simon C. Brewer, Janet C. Buckner, John D. Perrine, Brian F. Codding
Summary: The extinction of California's flightless duck, Chendytes lawi, was influenced by a combination of factors including human predation, climate change, and ecological interactions, leading to potential shifts in foraging opportunities for other species in the ecosystem.
QUATERNARY SCIENCE REVIEWS
(2021)
Editorial Material
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Ellen I. Damschen
Summary: To predict the risk of extinction due to climate change, it is important to understand the interactions between species. Analyzing the impact of rainfall changes on competition between plant species provides a solution to this challenge.
Review
Biodiversity Conservation
Seamus Doherty, Frederik Saltre, John Llewelyn, Giovanni Strona, Stephen. E. E. Williams, Corey J. A. Bradshaw
Summary: The biosphere is undergoing rapid changes due to human activities. These changes have direct and indirect effects on ecological communities, making it necessary to develop accurate tools for predicting the impacts and guiding conservation strategies.
GLOBAL CHANGE BIOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Yuyang Xian, Yongquan Lu, Guilin Liu
Summary: Global climate change caused by fossil energy consumption threatens the habitat of pangolins. MaxEnt modeling reveals that temperature, precipitation, geomorphology, and vegetation coverage affect the habitats of different pangolin species. Human activities pose a threat to pangolin habitats, but labor transfer in southern China mitigates the negative impact in rural areas. Illegal pangolin trade is a significant threat, and future scenarios show changes in habitat for different pangolin species.
SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT
(2022)
Article
Plant Sciences
Noemi Tel-Zur
Summary: The fitness of self-progeny individuals is inferior to outcrossed individuals, leading to a decrease in survival and reproduction ability of a plant population. Angiosperms with hermaphrodite flowers may adopt synchronous dichogamy and self-incompatibility as mechanisms to prevent self-fertilization. This study aims to provide a perspective on flowering in Ziziphus species that exhibit synchronous protandrous dichogamy and self-incompatibility.
FRONTIERS IN PLANT SCIENCE
(2023)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Sean A. A. Parks, Lisa M. M. Holsinger, John T. T. Abatzoglou, Caitlin E. E. Littlefield, Katherine A. A. Zeller
Summary: Species undergoing climate-induced range shifts may not be able to successfully move among protected areas due to factors such as distance, human land uses, and lack of analogous climates. More than half of the global protected land area and two-thirds of the number of protected units are at risk of failure in climate connectivity. This raises doubts about the effectiveness of protected areas as steppingstones for species under climate change, and highlights the need for innovative land management strategies and assisted colonization.
GLOBAL CHANGE BIOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Ecology
Nicholas P. Leseberg, William N. Venables, Stephen A. Murphy, Nigel A. Jackett, James E. M. Watson
Summary: Research on the usage of autonomous recording units (ARUs) for surveying vocal species is increasing, along with methods for efficiently extracting signals of interest from acoustic data sets. This study focuses on the Night Parrot, investigating both ARU detection space and the signal detection process to develop a robust survey protocol. By establishing the relationship between ARU type, recogniser performance and distance, the study outlines how to determine a species' status and distribution using ARUs.
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Brooke A. Williams, James E. M. Watson, Hawthorne L. Beyer, Carissa J. Klein, Jamie Montgomery, Rebecca K. Runting, Leslie A. Roberson, Benjamin S. Halpern, Hedley S. Grantham, Caitlin D. Kuempel, Melanie Frazier, Oscar Venter, Amelia Wenger
Summary: Management of the land-sea interface is crucial for global conservation and sustainability objectives. However, current assessments of coastal regions are limited by their focus on either the terrestrial or marine realm. The global assessment revealed that only 15.5% of coastal regions have low anthropogenic pressure, while 47.9% are heavily affected by human activities. In most countries, more than half of their coastal regions are degraded. Additionally, nearly half of the protected areas in coastal regions are exposed to high human pressures.
CONSERVATION BIOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Katharina-Victoria Perez-Hammerle, Katie Moon, Ruben Venegas-Li, Sean Maxwell, Jeremy S. Simmonds, Oscar Venter, Stephen T. Garnett, Hugh P. Possingham, James E. M. Watson
Summary: This article explores the application of wilderness conservation in global environmental protection goals and evaluates the construct of wilderness through overlaying different maps. The results show that the forms of wilderness vary in terms of carbon stock, species richness, and proximity to urban centers. The article also emphasizes the need to consider social and environmental contexts in the application of the wilderness construct.
CONSERVATION BIOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Michelle Ward, James E. M. Watson, Hugh P. Possingham, Stephen T. Garnett, Martine Maron, Jonathan R. Rhodes, Chris MacColl, Richard Seaton, Nigel Jackett, April E. Reside, Patrick Webster, Jeremy S. Simmonds
Summary: This study provides a comprehensive assessment of the extirpation of threatened birds in Australia by mapping their past and current potential habitats. The results indicate a significant loss of habitat and range contraction for these species, with some having been extirpated from the majority of their former potential habitat.
ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH LETTERS
(2022)
Article
Ecology
Friederike C. Bolam, Jorge Ahumada, H. Resit Akcakaya, Thomas M. Brooks, Wendy Elliott, Sean Hoban, Louise Mair, David Mallon, Philip J. K. McGowan, Domitilla Raimondo, Jon Paul Rodriguez, Dilys Roe, Mary B. Seddon, Xiaoli Shen, Simon N. Stuart, James E. M. Watson, Stuart H. M. Butchart
Summary: Preventing human-induced extinctions requires policy commitments to implement targeted recovery actions for threatened species, in addition to comprehensive efforts to mitigate threats to species.
FRONTIERS IN ECOLOGY AND THE ENVIRONMENT
(2023)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Ernest F. Asamoah, Moreno Di Marco, James E. M. Watson, Linda J. Beaumont, Oscar Venter, Joseph M. Maina
Summary: Wilderness areas are important reservoirs of genetic information and carbon storage systems, essential for reducing extinction risks and achieving global biodiversity conservation goals. However, climate and land-use risks may undermine their ability to provide these functions. Mitigating greenhouse gas emissions and preserving intact natural ecosystems can help strengthen biodiversity conservation efforts in these areas.
Review
Ecology
Shawan Chowdhury, Michael D. Jennions, Myron P. Zalucki, Martine Maron, James E. M. Watson, Richard A. Fuller
Summary: Anthropogenic pressures are causing a decline in insect populations worldwide. Protected areas, which are important for safeguarding vertebrates, have not focused much on insect conservation. There is a lack of knowledge on the effectiveness of protected areas for insect conservation, especially regarding threats and management strategies. The authors propose a research agenda to prioritize insects in expanding the global protected area network.
TRENDS IN ECOLOGY & EVOLUTION
(2023)
Article
Ecology
Rajeev Pillay, James E. M. Watson, Andrew J. Hansen, Patrick A. Jantz, Jose Aragon-Osejo, Dolors Armenteras, Scott C. Atkinson, Patrick Burns, Jamison Ervin, Scott J. Goetz, Pamela Gonzalez-del-Pliego, Nathaniel P. Robinson, Christina Supples, Anne L. S. Virnig, Brooke A. Williams, Oscar Venter
Summary: Reducing deforestation is crucial for global biodiversity conservation. Forest structure and integrity, in addition to forest cover, play a significant role in determining the extinction risk and population trends of vertebrate species in tropical rainforests.
NATURE ECOLOGY & EVOLUTION
(2022)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Stephen G. Kearney, James E. M. Watson, April E. Reside, Diana O. Fisher, Martine Maron, Tim S. Doherty, Sarah M. Legge, John C. Z. Woinarski, Stephen T. Garnett, Brendan A. Wintle, Euan G. Ritchie, Don A. Driscoll, David Lindenmayer, Vanessa M. Adams, Michelle S. Ward, Josie Carwardine
Summary: Earth's extinction crisis is worsening and threat classification schemes are crucial for assessing the drivers and threats causing species declines. However, there is a lack of a complementary framework for evaluating the conservation responses needed to reduce these threats. In this study, an expert-driven threat-abatement framework was developed and applied to 1532 threatened species in Australia, highlighting the importance of retaining and restoring habitat, controlling invasive species and diseases, and improving fire management for species recovery. Integrated management responses are necessary for the survival and recovery of most species.
BIOLOGICAL CONSERVATION
(2023)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Jeremy S. Simmonds, Andres Felipe Suarez-Castro, April E. Reside, James E. M. Watson, James R. Allan, Scott C. Atkinson, Pasquale Borrelli, Nigel Dudley, Stephen Edwards, Richard A. Fuller, Edward T. Game, Simon Linke, Sean L. Maxwell, Panos Panagos, Philippe Puydarrieux, Fabien Quetier, Rebecca K. Runting, Talitha Santini, Laura J. Sonter, Martine Maron
Summary: Global efforts to achieve internationally agreed goals such as reducing carbon emissions and halting biodiversity loss lack integration. To unify these goals, we have derived specific area-based targets for retaining natural and seminatural terrestrial vegetation worldwide. At least 50% of Earth's terrestrial surface needs to be preserved in order to contribute to biodiversity, climate, soil, and freshwater conservation objectives under 4 United Nations' resolutions.
CONSERVATION BIOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Nicole Shumway, Megan Saunders, Sam Nicol, Richard A. Fuller, Noam Ben-Moshe, Takuya Iwamura, Sun W. Kim, Nicholas J. Murray, James E. M. Watson, Martine Maron
Summary: Biodiversity offsets aim to counterbalance the impacts of development on species and ecosystems. The effectiveness of spatially flexible offsets, located further from the impact area, in achieving no net loss or better ecological outcomes compared to local offsets is uncertain. In the case study of migratory shorebirds, there were insufficient data to draw robust conclusions about the effectiveness and equivalence of distant habitat-based offsets. The potential benefits of spatially flexible offsets need to be evaluated against the increased risks to ensure effective offset placement.
CONSERVATION BIOLOGY
(2023)
Review
Ecology
William J. Sutherland, Craig Bennett, Peter N. M. Brotherton, Holly M. Butterworth, Mick N. Clout, Isabelle M. Cote, Jason Dinsdale, Nafeesa Esmail, Erica Fleishman, Kevin J. Gaston, James E. Herbert-Read, Alice Hughes, Hermanni Kaartokallio, Xavier Le Roux, Fiona A. Lickorish, Wendy Matcham, Noor Noor, James E. Palardy, James W. Pearce-Higgins, Lloyd S. Peck, Nathalie Pettorelli, Jules Pretty, Richard Scobey, Mark D. Spalding, Femke H. Tonneijck, Nicolas Tubbs, James E. M. Watson, Jonathan E. Wentworth, Jeremy D. Wilson, Ann Thornton
Summary: We present the results of our 14th horizon scan, identifying 15 urgent issues for global societies to address in biological conservation. These issues involve novel challenges or significant positive/negative changes at global or regional scales. Submerged artificial light fisheries and accelerating ocean currents have the potential to negatively impact marine ecosystems, while technological advances in energy production and biodegradable materials could benefit biological diversity if effectively managed.
TRENDS IN ECOLOGY & EVOLUTION
(2023)
Article
Ornithology
Christopher MacColl, Nicholas P. Leseberg, Richard Seaton, Stephen A. Murphy, James E. M. Watson
Summary: The Red Goshawk in Australia is a rare bird of prey that is endemic to the tropics and sub-tropics of eastern and northern Australia. Its population has been declining significantly across eastern Australia and it is likely locally extinct in many regions. This study provides important evidence for its up listing to Endangered status under Australian federal legislation.
EMU-AUSTRAL ORNITHOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Chuanji Yong, Michelle Ward, James E. M. Watson, April E. E. Reside, Stephen van Leeuwen, Sarah Legge, William L. L. Geary, Mark Lintermans, Mark J. J. Kennard, Stephanie Stuart, Josie Carwardine
Summary: Budgeting for biodiversity conservation requires realistic estimates of threat abatement costs. However, data on threat management costs are often unavailable or unable to be extrapolated across relevant locations and scales. We provided transparent, broadly applicable cost models for 18 Threat Abatement Strategies aimed at managing the processes threatening Australia's biodiversity. The models, cost layers, and estimates we generate provide the basis for a nationally consistent approach for estimating and recording the cost of biodiversity management strategies, which should be continually updated and improved with local-scale information over time.
JOURNAL OF APPLIED ECOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Green & Sustainable Science & Technology
Xiaoli Shen, Mingzhang Liu, Jeffrey O. Hanson, Jiangyue Wang, Harvey Locke, James E. M. Watson, Erle C. Ellis, Sheng Li, Keping Ma
Summary: Global conservation policies have traditionally relied on area-based targets to expand protected areas. However, different countries face inequitable conservation challenges and often use the same global target despite the uneven distribution of biodiversity. This study explores the necessity and feasibility of joint conservation efforts by countries to protect globally identified priorities for biodiversity and carbon conservation, comparing the 30% and 50% targets with countries conserving their national priorities. The results highlight the greater efficiency of targeting globally significant areas for biodiversity and carbon conservation, while acknowledging the challenges posed by inequitable conservation challenges and the need to protect landscapes utilized by humans for other land uses. It calls for cooperative and coordinated action, supported by strong funding mechanisms, to achieve the equitable and effective attainment of the 30% target by 2030.
