Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Audreanne Loiselle, Raphael Proulx, Marie Larocque, Stephanie Pellerin
Summary: Wetlands are crucial for ecosystem functions and services, but they are under threat. It is important to develop conservation strategies to optimize wetland ecosystem functions and services. Evaluating the relationships between different indicators is a useful framework to understand the challenges faced by conservationists. However, these relationships can vary depending on region, scale, and ecosystem type.
ECOLOGICAL INDICATORS
(2023)
Article
Ecology
Catalina Pimiento, Alexandre Antonelli
Summary: Halting biodiversity loss is a major challenge, and prioritization is crucial for effective conservation actions. The IUCN Red List is widely used, but current strategies do not fully utilize paleontological data. Deep-time fossil records can offer insights into today's biodiversity crisis and inform on species prone to extinction. Integrating paleontological data can validate prioritization metrics and contribute to conservation efforts.
FRONTIERS IN ECOLOGY AND EVOLUTION
(2022)
Article
Fisheries
Ray Hilborn, Caitlin Allen Akselrud, Henry Peterson, George A. Whitehouse
Summary: This study examines the potential of area-based fisheries management to simultaneously maintain biodiversity and sustainable food production. By evaluating the trade-off between conservation and harvest, win-win solutions were found that maximize both fishery harvest and conservation. The research suggests that effective area-based management can provide high levels of biodiversity protection and food production in fisheries.
ICES JOURNAL OF MARINE SCIENCE
(2021)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Hongxi Liu, Britaldo Silveira Soares-Filho, Argemiro Teixeira Leite-Filho, Shanghong Zhang, Jizeng Du, Yujun Yi
Summary: Severe arable land loss and ecological problems raise attention to protect/ develop land for food and ecology demand. Spatial conflict appears in front of multidemand for urbanization, food, and ecology. Our study took China as an example and explicitly outlined spatial preference of urbanization, food, and ecology.
Article
Forestry
Ninni Mikkonen, Niko Leikola, Joona Lehtomaki, Panu Halme, Atte Moilanen
Summary: The decline of forest biodiversity emphasizes the need for cost-effective and ecologically sustainable land-use planning methods. Spatial conservation prioritisation (SCP) is a useful tool for this purpose. National scale SCP analyses were conducted to identify unprotected forest areas with valuable biodiversity. The analyses included factors such as dead wood potential, negative impacts of forestry operations, connectivity between forest areas, and the presence of red-listed forest species. The results showed fragmented distribution of high conservation priority forest areas throughout Finland, indicating the inadequacy of the current protected area network to halt the decline of forest biodiversity. These analyses provide important information for decision-making on forest conservation and commercial management.
FOREST ECOLOGY AND MANAGEMENT
(2023)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Thomas D. Stokely, Urs G. Kormann, Jake Verschuyl, Andrew J. Kroll, David W. Frey, Scott H. Harris, Doug Mainwaring, Doug Maguire, Jeff A. Hatten, James W. Rivers, Stephen Fitzgerald, Matthew G. Betts
Summary: The research shows that increasing management intensity through herbicide use in forests may decrease biodiversity conservation and certain non-timber services, pointing to trade-offs between some services and timber production. However, some services appear to be compatible with timber production, suggesting that a balance may need to be struck for optimal ecosystem service provision across managed forest landscapes.
JOURNAL OF APPLIED ECOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Green & Sustainable Science & Technology
Alison C. Smith, Paula A. Harrison, Nicholas J. Leach, H. Charles J. Godfray, Jim W. Hall, Sarah M. Jones, Sarah S. Gall, Michael Obersteiner
Summary: Agricultural and environmental policies are being reviewed and redesigned in the UK after Brexit to address the challenges of climate change, biodiversity loss, and sustainable development. The study shows that dietary changes, improvements in agricultural productivity, and waste reduction can lead to synergistic effects in achieving multiple sustainability targets under limited land availability.
SUSTAINABILITY SCIENCE
(2023)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Patrick W. Keys, Elizabeth A. Barnes, Neil H. Carter
Summary: The study introduced a global human footprint index based on machine learning, capable of routine updates using satellite imagery, and documented changes in human pressure over the past 20 years. The index can be used to monitor progress towards sustainable development goals and assess conservation policies that may hinder achieving these goals.
ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH LETTERS
(2021)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Paola Fajardo, David Beauchesne, Alberto Carbajal-Lopez, Remi M. Daigle, L. Denisse Fierro-Arcos, Jesica Goldsmit, Sabine Zajderman, Juan Valdez-Hernandez, Maria Yolanda Teran Maigua, Ronaldo A. Christofoletti
Summary: This passage highlights the crucial role of Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities in conserving marine and coastal ecosystems, as well as the international community's recognition of their traditional biodiversity knowledge and rights. It also points out the need for further efforts to fully acknowledge and protect these knowledge and rights.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Sebastian Dunnett, Robert A. Holland, Gail Taylor, Felix Eigenbrod
Summary: Protected areas and renewable energy generation are important in combating biodiversity loss and climate change, but there may be conflicts between the two due to limited land resources. However, with appropriate policies and regulations, renewable energy can help decarbonize the energy sector without significantly impacting conservation targets.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
(2022)
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
Biodiversity Conservation
Qingqing Wang, Jianbin Shi, Xinchen Shen, Tian Zhao
Summary: The study found that China is a major importer of live birds, with most imports being of Psittaciformes for purposes such as commercial activities, zoos, and personal needs. China's main trading partners for live birds include South Africa, Mali, Guyana, Suriname, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia. The richness of bird species imported to China is positively correlated with the bird-keeping culture of the exporting countries.
GLOBAL ECOLOGY AND CONSERVATION
(2021)
Article
Green & Sustainable Science & Technology
Elena Gissi, Frank Maes, Zacharoula Kyriazi, Ana Ruiz-Frau, Catarina Frazao Santos, Barbara Neumann, Adriano Quintela, Fatima L. Alves, Simone Borg, Wenting Chen, Maria da Luz Fernandes, Maria Hadjimichael, Elisabetta Manea, Marcia Marques, Froukje Maria Platjouw, Michelle E. Portman, Lisa P. Sousa, Luca Bolognini, Wesley Flannery, Fabio Grati, Cristina Pita, Natasa Vaidianu, Robert Stojanov, Jan van Tatenhove, Fiorenza Micheli, Anna-Katharina Hornidge, Sebastian Unger
Summary: Area-Based Management Tools (ABMTs) are spatial instruments for conserving and managing ocean use. Fisheries-related and conservation-related ABMTs, as well as marine spatial planning, have the greatest potential contributions to achieving sustainable development goals (SDGs), particularly SDG 14. However, addressing factors such as political and legal aspects, enforceability, transparency, governance structure, and inclusivity is crucial for unlocking the full potential of ABMTs in attaining multiple SDGs.
JOURNAL OF CLEANER PRODUCTION
(2022)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Nguyen Tien Hoang, Oliver Taherzadeh, Haruka Ohashi, Yusuke Yonekura, Shota Nishijima, Masaki Yamabe, Tetsuya Matsui, Hiroyuki Matsuda, Daniel Moran, Keiichiro Kanemoto
Summary: Demand for food products, often from international trade, has resulted in direct competition between agricultural land use and biodiversity. By combining conservation priority maps with agricultural trade data, this study identifies current potential conservation risk hotspots driven by 197 countries across 48 agricultural products. The analysis reveals that different commodities pose different conservation threats in different regions, depending on the demand and sourcing patterns of agricultural commodities.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
(2023)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Martin Drechsler
Summary: Conservation offsets offer cost-effective conservation of biodiversity, but the level of flexibility should be carefully chosen to balance ecological benefits and economic costs.
CONSERVATION BIOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Emma Ladouceur, Jennifer McGowan, Patrick Huber, Hugh Possingham, Davide Scridel, Roel van Klink, Peter Poschlod, Johannes Hans C. Cornelissen, Costantino Bonomi, Borja Jimenez-Alfaro
Summary: Researchers developed a framework to optimize plant seed mixes based on prioritizing plant species attributes to support different ecological restoration objectives. They found that trophic relationships, ecosystem functions and services can be captured more efficiently through objective-based prioritization using the functional identity of plant species.
JOURNAL OF APPLIED ECOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Oceanography
Ana Vila-Concejo, Kristen D. Splinter, Mitchell D. Harley, Ryan Lowe, Thomas E. Fellowes, R. Jak McCarroll, Giovanni Coco
Summary: The global COVID-19 pandemic has led many countries to lockdown and travel restrictions since early 2020, but activities like Zoom seminars and podcast series have still allowed researchers to share scientific findings and build community connections.
CONTINENTAL SHELF RESEARCH
(2022)
Article
Oceanography
Stephanie Contardo, Ryan J. Lowe, Francois Dufois, Jeffe Hansen, Mark Buckley, Graham Symonds
Summary: Long waves are important for coastal inundation and erosion, and understanding their evolution in nearshore regions is crucial. A new approach that accounts for partial reflections in wave propagation has been proposed, which provides an analytical solution for the free wave linear shallow-water equations. The approach is supported by numerical modeling and extends the classic solution to arbitrary bathymetry profiles, decomposing it into incoming and outgoing wave components. The model predicts a reflection coefficient that is correlated with the bed slope, revealing the dependence of wave amplitudes on partial reflections.
JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL OCEANOGRAPHY
(2023)
Article
Environmental Sciences
M. Conde-Frias, M. Ghisalberti, R. J. Lowe, M. Abdolahpour, V. Etminan
Summary: This study investigates the near-bed mean and turbulent flow properties within aquatic vegetation and finds that vegetation density strongly influences the thickness of the bottom boundary layer (BBL) and bed shear stress. A model based on near-bed turbulent kinetic energy (TKE) is developed to predict the BBL thickness and bed shear stress.
WATER RESOURCES RESEARCH
(2023)
Article
Ecology
Benjamin S. Halpern, Carl Boettiger, Michael C. Dietze, Jessica A. Gephart, Patrick Gonzalez, Nancy B. Grimm, Peter M. Groffman, Jessica Gurevitch, Sarah E. Hobbie, Kimberly J. Komatsu, Kristy J. Kroeker, Heather J. Lahr, David M. Lodge, Christopher J. Lortie, Julie S. S. Lowndes, Fiorenza Micheli, Hugh P. Possingham, Mary H. Ruckelshaus, Courtney Scarborough, Chelsea L. Wood, Grace C. Wu, Lina Aoyama, Eva E. Arroyo, Christie A. Bahlai, Erin E. Beller, Rachael E. Blake, Karrigan S. Bork, Trevor A. Branch, Norah E. M. Brown, Julien Brun, Emilio M. Bruna, Lauren B. Buckley, Jessica L. Burnett, Max C. N. Castorani, Samantha H. Cheng, Sarah C. Cohen, Jessica L. Couture, Larry B. Crowder, Laura E. Dee, Arildo S. Dias, Ignacio J. Diaz-Maroto, Martha R. Downs, Joan C. Dudney, Erle C. Ellis, Kyle A. Emery, Jacob G. Eurich, Bridget E. Ferriss, Alexa Fredston, Hikaru Furukawa, Sara A. Gagne, Sarah R. Garlick, Colin J. Garroway, Kaitlyn M. Gaynor, Angelica L. Gonzalez, Eliza M. Grames, Tamar Guy-Haim, Ed Hackett, Lauren M. Hallett, Tamara K. Harms, Danielle E. Haulsee, Kyle J. Haynes, Elliott L. Hazen, Rebecca M. Jarvis, Kristal Jones, Gaurav S. Kandlikar, Dustin W. Kincaid, Matthew L. Knope, Anil Koirala, Jurek Kolasa, John S. Kominoski, Julia Koricheva, Lesley T. Lancaster, Jake A. Lawlor, Heili E. Lowman, Frank E. Muller-Karger, Kari E. A. Norman, Nan Nourn, Casey C. O'Hara, Suzanne X. Ou, Jacqueline L. Padilla-Gamino, Paula Pappalardo, Ryan A. Peek, Dominique Pelletier, Stephen Plont, Lauren C. Ponisio, Cristina Portales-Reyes, Diogo B. Provete, Eric J. Raes, Carlos Ramirez-Reyes, Irene Ramos, Sydne Record, Anthony J. Richardson, Roberto Salguero-Gomez, Erin Satterthwaite, Chloe Schmidt, Aaron J. Schwartz, Craig R. See, Brendan D. Shea, Rachel S. Smith, Eric R. Sokol, Christopher T. Solomon, Trisha Spanbauer, Paris Stefanoudis, Beckett W. Sterner, Vitor Sudbrack, Jonathan D. Tonkin, Ashley R. Townes, Mireia Valle, Jonathan A. Walter, Kathryn Wheeler, William R. Wieder, David R. Williams, Marten Winter, Barbora Winterova, Lucy C. Woodall, Adam S. Wymore, Casey Youngflesh
Summary: Synthesis research in ecology and environmental science is important for improving understanding, advancing theory, identifying research priorities, and supporting management strategies. A virtual workshop with participants from different countries and disciplines was held to discuss how synthesis can address key questions and themes in the field in the next decade. Seven priority research topics and two issues regarding synthesis practices were identified, providing a strategic vision for future synthesis in ecology and environmental science.
Article
Environmental Sciences
Robyn James, Jonathan R. B. Fisher, Chelsea Carlos-Grotjahn, Marissa S. Boylan, Baigalmaa Dembereldash, Meaza Z. Demissie, Crystal Diaz De Villegas, Bridget Gibbs, Ruth Konia, Kristen Lyons, Hugh Possingham, Cathy J. Robinson, Tiantian Tang, Nathalie Butt
Summary: Globally, women are underrepresented in addressing the climate and biodiversity loss crises. A survey among conservation and science staff at The Nature Conservancy revealed that men have more influence in conservation and science decision making, women face gender bias and multiple barriers in their conservation careers, and experience harassment and discrimination. Men perceive the sector as more equitable for women than women themselves. Gender equality does not eliminate systemic inequity, which can be exacerbated by intersectional issues. Recommendations include workplace and cultural change, recruitment improvements, pay transparency, and career development policies.
FRONTIERS IN ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE
(2023)
Article
Marine & Freshwater Biology
Paula J. Cartwright, Nicola K. Browne, David Belton, Iain Parnum, Michael O'Leary, Jurgen Valckenaere, Peter Fearns, Ryan Lowe
Summary: Globally, coral reefs are facing threats, such as degradation and algal dominance, due to marine heatwaves and other disturbance events. Marginal coral reefs in extreme environments, like turbid water reefs, may be more resilient and provide insights into future reefs under climate change. This study examined benthic habitats in the Exmouth Gulf region of north Western Australia to understand the influence of environmental drivers, such as turbidity and temperature, on benthic communities and coral morphology. The results showed that long-term turbidity and temperature variability were connected to macroalgal colonization, while coral cover was negatively associated with temperature variability and positively associated with depth and wave power. Coral morphology diversity was positively associated with turbidity. Moderate turbidity appeared to raise the threshold for coral bleaching and macroalgal dominance, while regions with higher temperature variability had already reached this threshold. The least turbid and temperature variable region experienced severe coral bleaching from a recent heatwave, suggesting that moderate levels of these variables may confer resilience to coral reefs.
Article
Marine & Freshwater Biology
C. M. Grimaldi, R. J. Lowe, J. A. Benthuysen, M. V. W. Cuttler, R. H. Green, J. P. Gilmour
Summary: This study examines the role of surface and advective heat fluxes in driving spatial patterns of temperature variability within a coral reef atoll. It shows that advection of heat is dominant across all sites and surface heating is more important in shallow areas or areas of low net exchange. Tidal flows contribute to short term variability in heat transport, while wave-driven advection has a significant influence on persistent temperature anomalies over longer timescales.
Article
Environmental Sciences
Graeme S. Cumming, Maja Adamska, Michele L. Barnes, Jon Barnett, David R. Bellwood, Joshua E. Cinner, Philippa J. Cohen, Jennifer M. Donelson, Katharina Fabricius, R. Quentin Grafton, Alana Grech, Georgina G. Gurney, Ove Hoegh-Guldberg, Andrew S. Hoey, Mia O. Hoogenboom, Jacqueline Lau, Catherine E. Lovelock, Ryan Lowe, David J. Miller, Tiffany H. Morrison, Peter J. Mumby, Martin Nakata, John M. Pandolfi, Garry D. Peterson, Morgan S. Pratchett, Timothy Ravasi, Cynthia Riginos, Jodie L. Rummer, Britta Schaffelke, Thomas Wernberg, Shaun K. Wilson
Summary: SDG 14 aims to secure marine sustainability by 2030, and understanding the changing seascape, global actions, and the collaboration between science and society are vital for achieving this goal in the Asia-Pacific region. Through a horizon scan, researchers identified nine emerging research priorities that can contribute to marine sustainability, including understanding seascape evolution, drivers of change, and the costs and benefits to people. Researchers can contribute by developing interdisciplinary understandings, emphasizing equity and justice, and improving knowledge of cross-scale processes.
REGIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL CHANGE
(2023)
Article
Oceanography
Renan F. da Silva, Jeff E. Hansen, Ryan J. Lowe, Dirk P. Rijnsdorp, Mark L. Buckley
Summary: Nearshore rocky reefs of 10-100 m scale commonly exist along coastlines worldwide and have significant influences on wave-driven hydrodynamics and shoreline morphology. The interaction between waves and these reefs leads to either two or four-cell mean circulation systems (2CC and 4CC), characterized by diverging or converging flows at the shoreline. Through analyzing wave-flow dynamics using a phase-resolving model, we found that the 2CC or 4CC patterns are primarily driven by alongshore pressure gradients towards the exposed or reef-fronted beach. Reef roughness, distance to the shoreline, and beach slope were identified as the key parameters affecting the transition between 2CC and 4CC flow patterns.
JOURNAL OF GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH-OCEANS
(2023)
Article
Geography, Physical
Carly E. Portch, Michael V. W. Cuttler, Mark L. Buckley, Jeff E. Hansen, Ryan J. Lowe
Summary: This study aims to provide a method for quantifying the relationship between beach slope and wave runup and inundation, as well as the impact of different hydrodynamic mechanisms on runup under different beach states. Through an 8-month field study on a beach in southwestern Australia, an approximately linear relationship between inundation and runup was identified by considering beach slope. It was found that swash dominated runup in the infragravity band when the beach was accreted, while setup dominated runup when the beach was exposed.
Article
Fisheries
Miwa Takahashi, Corey B. Wakefield, Stephen J. Newman, Kyle B. Hillcoat, Benjamin J. Saunders, Euan S. Harvey
Summary: This study aimed to validate a robust and cost-effective method to discriminate the cryptic juveniles of sympatric red snappers using body and/or otolith morphometric data in a multivariate analysis. The most parsimonious multivariate models achieved accurate species prediction rates of 98.8%, which consisted of just three body variables. The method outlined in this study could be applied to distinguish other cryptic congeneric fish species, including from archived otolith collections.
JOURNAL OF FISH BIOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Fisheries
Samuel D. Payet, Joseph D. DiBattista, Stephen J. Newman, Kelvin J. Rushworth, Corey B. Wakefield, Richard D. Evans, Michael J. Travers
Summary: Understanding connectivity patterns among remote atoll reefs is crucial for managing fishery target species. This study compared the population genomics of two sympatric species of coral trout within and between three isolated offshore atoll reef systems in north-western Australia. The results indicate high levels of connectivity within reef systems and limited connectivity between reef systems, suggesting that biological stocks primarily occur at the scale of each reef system.
REVIEWS IN FISH BIOLOGY AND FISHERIES
(2023)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Hubert Cheung, Yutong Phoenix Feng, Amy Hinsley, Tien Ming Lee, Hugh P. Possingham, Stephen N. Smith, Laura Thomas-Walters, Yifu Wang, Duan Biggs
Summary: Political will is crucial for the success of environmental policies, and aligning environmental solutions with the core interests of policymakers makes them more politically feasible. Understanding decision-makers' political agendas helps identify areas where political will already exists, enabling environmental objectives to be achieved.
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Natalya M. Maitz, Martin F. J. Taylor, Michelle S. Ward, Hugh P. Possingham
Summary: Australia's national environmental legislation, the EPBC Act, is criticized for its failure to mitigate the national extinction crisis, as it does not adequately protect threatened species and habitats.
CONSERVATION SCIENCE AND PRACTICE
(2023)