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Durán AP, Inger R, Cantú-Salazar L, Gaston KJ. Inside Front Cover. DIVERS DISTRIB 2016. [DOI: 10.1111/ddi.12435] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022] Open
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102
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Dallimer M, Tang Z, Gaston KJ, Davies ZG. The extent of shifts in vegetation phenology between rural and urban areas within a human-dominated region. Ecol Evol 2016; 6:1942-53. [PMID: 27099705 PMCID: PMC4831430 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.1990] [Citation(s) in RCA: 28] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/08/2015] [Revised: 12/22/2015] [Accepted: 01/05/2016] [Indexed: 11/10/2022] Open
Abstract
Urbanization is one of the major environmental challenges facing the world today. One of its particularly pressing effects is alterations to local and regional climate through, for example, the Urban Heat Island. Such changes in conditions are likely to have an impact on the phenology of urban vegetation, which will have knock-on implications for the role that urban green infrastructure can play in delivering multiple ecosystem services. Here, in a human-dominated region, we undertake an explicit comparison of vegetation phenology between urban and rural zones. Using satellite-derived MODIS-EVI data from the first decade of the 20th century, we extract metrics of vegetation phenology (date of start of growing season, date of end of growing season, and length of season) for Britain's 15 largest cities and their rural surrounds. On average, urban areas experienced a growing season 8.8 days longer than surrounding rural zones. As would be expected, there was a significant decline in growing season length with latitude (by 3.4 and 2.4 days/degree latitude in rural and urban areas respectively). Although there is considerable variability in how phenology in urban and rural areas differs across our study cities, we found no evidence that built urban form influences the start, end, or length of the growing season. However, the difference in the length of the growing season between rural and urban areas was significantly negatively associated with the mean disposable household income for a city. Vegetation in urban areas deliver many ecosystem services such as temperature mitigation, pollution removal, carbon uptake and storage, the provision of amenity value for humans and habitat for biodiversity. Given the rapid pace of urbanization and ongoing climate change, understanding how vegetation phenology will alter in the future is important if we wish to be able to manage urban greenspaces effectively.
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Bennie J, Davies TW, Cruse D, Inger R, Gaston KJ. Cascading effects of artificial light at night: resource-mediated control of herbivores in a grassland ecosystem. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2016; 370:rstb.2014.0131. [PMID: 25780243 PMCID: PMC4375371 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2014.0131] [Citation(s) in RCA: 105] [Impact Index Per Article: 13.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Artificial light at night has a wide range of biological effects on both plants and animals. Here, we review mechanisms by which artificial light at night may restructure ecological communities by modifying the interactions between species. Such mechanisms may be top-down (predator, parasite or grazer controlled), bottom-up (resource-controlled) or involve non-trophic processes, such as pollination, seed dispersal or competition. We present results from an experiment investigating both top-down and bottom-up effects of artificial light at night on the population density of pea aphids Acyrthosiphon pisum in a diverse artificial grassland community in the presence and absence of predators and under low-level light of different spectral composition. We found no evidence for top-down control of A. pisum in this system, but did find evidence for bottom-up effects mediated through the impact of light on flower head density in a leguminous food plant. These results suggest that physiological effects of light on a plant species within a diverse plant community can have detectable demographic effects on a specialist herbivore.
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104
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Gaston KJ, Visser ME, Hölker F. The biological impacts of artificial light at night: the research challenge. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2016; 370:rstb.2014.0133. [PMID: 25780244 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2014.0133] [Citation(s) in RCA: 290] [Impact Index Per Article: 36.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
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105
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Gonzalez LF, Montes GA, Puig E, Johnson S, Mengersen K, Gaston KJ. Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) and Artificial Intelligence Revolutionizing Wildlife Monitoring and Conservation. SENSORS 2016; 16:s16010097. [PMID: 26784196 PMCID: PMC4732130 DOI: 10.3390/s16010097] [Citation(s) in RCA: 109] [Impact Index Per Article: 13.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/15/2015] [Revised: 01/05/2016] [Accepted: 01/05/2016] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
Surveying threatened and invasive species to obtain accurate population estimates is an important but challenging task that requires a considerable investment in time and resources. Estimates using existing ground-based monitoring techniques, such as camera traps and surveys performed on foot, are known to be resource intensive, potentially inaccurate and imprecise, and difficult to validate. Recent developments in unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV), artificial intelligence and miniaturized thermal imaging systems represent a new opportunity for wildlife experts to inexpensively survey relatively large areas. The system presented in this paper includes thermal image acquisition as well as a video processing pipeline to perform object detection, classification and tracking of wildlife in forest or open areas. The system is tested on thermal video data from ground based and test flight footage, and is found to be able to detect all the target wildlife located in the surveyed area. The system is flexible in that the user can readily define the types of objects to classify and the object characteristics that should be considered during classification.
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106
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Durán AP, Inger R, Cantú-Salazar L, Gaston KJ. Species richness representation within protected areas is associated with multiple interacting spatial features. DIVERS DISTRIB 2015. [DOI: 10.1111/ddi.12404] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022] Open
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107
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Sanders D, Kehoe R, Tiley K, Bennie J, Cruse D, Davies TW, Frank van Veen FJ, Gaston KJ. Artificial nighttime light changes aphid-parasitoid population dynamics. Sci Rep 2015; 5:15232. [PMID: 26472251 PMCID: PMC4607942 DOI: 10.1038/srep15232] [Citation(s) in RCA: 44] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/17/2015] [Accepted: 09/09/2015] [Indexed: 11/22/2022] Open
Abstract
Artificial light at night (ALAN) is recognized as a widespread and increasingly important anthropogenic environmental pressure on wild species and their interactions. Understanding of how these impacts translate into changes in population dynamics of communities with multiple trophic levels is, however, severely lacking. In an outdoor mesocosm experiment we tested the effect of ALAN on the population dynamics of a plant-aphid-parasitoid community with one plant species, three aphid species and their specialist parasitoids. The light treatment reduced the abundance of two aphid species by 20% over five generations, most likely as a consequence of bottom-up effects, with reductions in bean plant biomass being observed. For the aphid Megoura viciae this effect was reversed under autumn conditions with the light treatment promoting continuous reproduction through asexuals. All three parasitoid species were negatively affected by the light treatment, through reduced host numbers and we discuss induced possible behavioural changes. These results suggest that, in addition to direct impacts on species behaviour, the impacts of ALAN can cascade through food webs with potentially far reaching effects on the wider ecosystem.
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Goettsch B, Hilton-Taylor C, Cruz-Piñón G, Duffy JP, Frances A, Hernández HM, Inger R, Pollock C, Schipper J, Superina M, Taylor NP, Tognelli M, Abba AM, Arias S, Arreola-Nava HJ, Baker MA, Bárcenas RT, Barrios D, Braun P, Butterworth CA, Búrquez A, Caceres F, Chazaro-Basañez M, Corral-Díaz R, Del Valle Perea M, Demaio PH, Duarte de Barros WA, Durán R, Yancas LF, Felger RS, Fitz-Maurice B, Fitz-Maurice WA, Gann G, Gómez-Hinostrosa C, Gonzales-Torres LR, Patrick Griffith M, Guerrero PC, Hammel B, Heil KD, Hernández-Oria JG, Hoffmann M, Ishihara MI, Kiesling R, Larocca J, León-de la Luz JL, Loaiza S CR, Lowry M, Machado MC, Majure LC, Ávalos JGM, Martorell C, Maschinski J, Méndez E, Mittermeier RA, Nassar JM, Negrón-Ortiz V, Oakley LJ, Ortega-Baes P, Ferreira ABP, Pinkava DJ, Porter JM, Puente-Martinez R, Gamarra JR, Pérez PS, Martínez ES, Smith M, Manuel Sotomayor M Del C J, Stuart SN, Muñoz JLT, Terrazas T, Terry M, Trevisson M, Valverde T, Van Devender TR, Véliz-Pérez ME, Walter HE, Wyatt SA, Zappi D, Alejandro Zavala-Hurtado J, Gaston KJ. High proportion of cactus species threatened with extinction. NATURE PLANTS 2015; 1:15142. [PMID: 27251394 DOI: 10.1038/nplants.2015.142] [Citation(s) in RCA: 81] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/24/2014] [Accepted: 08/29/2015] [Indexed: 05/28/2023]
Abstract
A high proportion of plant species is predicted to be threatened with extinction in the near future. However, the threat status of only a small number has been evaluated compared with key animal groups, rendering the magnitude and nature of the risks plants face unclear. Here we report the results of a global species assessment for the largest plant taxon evaluated to date under the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List Categories and Criteria, the iconic Cactaceae (cacti). We show that cacti are among the most threatened taxonomic groups assessed to date, with 31% of the 1,478 evaluated species threatened, demonstrating the high anthropogenic pressures on biodiversity in arid lands. The distribution of threatened species and the predominant threatening processes and drivers are different to those described for other taxa. The most significant threat processes comprise land conversion to agriculture and aquaculture, collection as biological resources, and residential and commercial development. The dominant drivers of extinction risk are the unscrupulous collection of live plants and seeds for horticultural trade and private ornamental collections, smallholder livestock ranching and smallholder annual agriculture. Our findings demonstrate that global species assessments are readily achievable for major groups of plants with relatively moderate resources, and highlight different conservation priorities and actions to those derived from species assessments of key animal groups.
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109
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Gaston KJ, Blackburn TM, Lawton JH. Aggregation and interspecific abundance-occupancy relationships. J Anim Ecol 2015; 67:995-9. [PMID: 26412379 DOI: 10.1046/j.1365-2656.1998.6760995.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 36] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
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110
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111
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Gaston KJ, Duffy JP, Bennie J. Quantifying the erosion of natural darkness in the global protected area system. CONSERVATION BIOLOGY : THE JOURNAL OF THE SOCIETY FOR CONSERVATION BIOLOGY 2015; 29:1132-1141. [PMID: 25693660 DOI: 10.1111/cobi.12462] [Citation(s) in RCA: 51] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/08/2014] [Accepted: 11/04/2014] [Indexed: 06/04/2023]
Abstract
The nighttime light environment of much of the earth has been transformed by the introduction of electric lighting. This impact continues to spread with growth in the human population and extent of urbanization. This has profound consequences for organismal physiology and behavior and affects abundances and distributions of species, community structure, and likely ecosystem functions and processes. Protected areas play key roles in buffering biodiversity from a wide range of anthropogenic pressures. We used a calibration of a global satellite data set of nighttime lights to determine how well they are fulfilling this role with regard to artificial nighttime lighting. Globally, areas that are protected tend to be darker at night than those that are not, and, with the exception of Europe, recent regional declines in the proportion of the area that is protected and remains dark have been small. However, much of these effects result from the major contribution to overall protected area coverage by the small proportion of individual protected areas that are very large. Thus, in Europe and North America high proportions of individual protected areas (>17%) have exhibited high levels of nighttime lighting in all recent years, and in several regions (Europe, Asia, South and Central America) high proportions of protected areas (32-42%) have had recent significant increases in nighttime lighting. Limiting and reversing the erosion of nighttime darkness in protected areas will require routine consideration of nighttime conditions when designating and establishing new protected areas; establishment of appropriate buffer zones around protected areas where lighting is prohibited; and landscape level reductions in artificial nighttime lighting, which is being called for in general to reduce energy use and economic costs.
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Edmondson JL, Stott I, Potter J, Lopez-Capel E, Manning DAC, Gaston KJ, Leake JR. Black Carbon Contribution to Organic Carbon Stocks in Urban Soil. ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY 2015; 49:8339-8346. [PMID: 26114917 DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.5b00313] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/04/2023]
Abstract
Soil holds 75% of the total organic carbon (TOC) stock in terrestrial ecosystems. This comprises ecosystem-derived organic carbon (OC) and black carbon (BC), a recalcitrant product of the incomplete combustion of fossil fuels and biomass. Urban topsoils are often enriched in BC from historical emissions of soot and have high TOC concentrations, but the contribution of BC to TOC throughout the urban soil profile, at a regional scale is unknown. We sampled 55 urban soil profiles across the North East of England, a region with a history of coal burning and heavy industry. Through combined elemental and thermogravimetic analyses, we found very large total soil OC stocks (31-65 kg m(-2) to 1 m), exceeding typical values reported for UK woodland soils. BC contributed 28-39% of the TOC stocks, up to 23 kg C m(-2) to 1 m, and was affected by soil texture. The proportional contribution of the BC-rich fraction to TOC increased with soil depth, and was enriched in topsoil under trees when compared to grassland. Our findings establish the importance of urban ecosystems in storing large amounts of OC in soils and that these soils also capture a large proportion of BC particulates emitted within urban areas.
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McHugh N, Edmondson JL, Gaston KJ, Leake JR, O'Sullivan OS. Modelling short-rotation coppice and tree planting for urban carbon management - a citywide analysis. J Appl Ecol 2015; 52:1237-1245. [PMID: 27546901 PMCID: PMC4975693 DOI: 10.1111/1365-2664.12491] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/11/2014] [Accepted: 06/26/2015] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
The capacity of urban areas to deliver provisioning ecosystem services is commonly overlooked and underutilized. Urban populations have globally increased fivefold since 1950, and they disproportionately consume ecosystem services and contribute to carbon emissions, highlighting the need to increase urban sustainability and reduce environmental impacts of urban dwellers. Here, we investigated the potential for increasing carbon sequestration, and biomass fuel production, by planting trees and short‐rotation coppice (SRC), respectively, in a mid‐sized UK city as a contribution to meeting national commitments to reduce CO2 emissions. Iterative GIS models were developed using high‐resolution spatial data. The models were applied to patches of public and privately owned urban greenspace suitable for planting trees and SRC, across the 73 km2 area of the city of Leicester. We modelled tree planting with a species mix based on the existing tree populations, and SRC with willow and poplar to calculate biomass production in new trees, and carbon sequestration into harvested biomass over 25 years. An area of 11 km2 comprising 15% of the city met criteria for tree planting and had the potential over 25 years to sequester 4200 tonnes of carbon above‐ground. Of this area, 5·8 km2 also met criteria for SRC planting and over the same period this could yield 71 800 tonnes of carbon in harvested biomass. The harvested biomass could supply energy to over 1566 domestic homes or 30 municipal buildings, resulting in avoided carbon emissions of 29 236 tonnes of carbon over 25 years when compared to heating by natural gas. Together with the net carbon sequestration into trees, a total reduction of 33 419 tonnes of carbon in the atmosphere could be achieved in 25 years by combined SRC and tree planting across the city. Synthesis and applications. We demonstrate that urban greenspaces in a typical UK city are underutilized for provisioning ecosystem services by trees and especially SRC, which has high biomass production potential. For urban greenspace management, we recommend that planting SRC in urban areas can contribute to reducing food–fuel conflicts on agricultural land and produce renewable energy sources close to centres of population and demand.
We demonstrate that urban greenspaces in a typical UK city are underutilized for provisioning ecosystem services by trees and especially SRC, which has high biomass production potential. For urban greenspace management, we recommend that planting SRC in urban areas can contribute to reducing food–fuel conflicts on agricultural land and produce renewable energy sources close to centres of population and demand.
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Duffy JP, Bennie J, Durán AP, Gaston KJ. Mammalian ranges are experiencing erosion of natural darkness. Sci Rep 2015; 5:12042. [PMID: 26155917 PMCID: PMC4496780 DOI: 10.1038/srep12042] [Citation(s) in RCA: 31] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/12/2014] [Accepted: 06/11/2015] [Indexed: 12/03/2022] Open
Abstract
The continuous increase in the intensity and extent of anthropogenic artificial light has significantly shaped Earth’s nighttime environment. This environmental change has effects across the natural world, with consequences for organismal physiology and behaviour and the abundances and distributions of species. Here, we evaluate for the first time the relations between the spatio-temporal patterns of anthropogenic nighttime light and the distribution of terrestrial mammals, one of the most endangered species groups and one that expresses varying time partitioning strategies. Using descriptive statistics, trend tests and spatial prioritization analysis we show that in most places on earth there is a terrestrial mammal species whose range is experiencing detectable artificial light. For most species this tends only to be for small parts of their range, and those affected across large parts are typically rare. Over time (1992–2012), an increase in mean light intensity was found for the ranges of the majority of species, with very few experiencing a decrease. Moreover, nocturnal species are more likely to experience an increase in light within their ranges. This is of conservation concern as many terrestrial mammals are nocturnal and therefore often particularly vulnerable to a pressure such as artificial light at night.
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Gómez P, Bennie J, Gaston KJ, Buckling A. The impact of resource availability on bacterial resistance to phages in soil. PLoS One 2015; 10:e0123752. [PMID: 25856079 PMCID: PMC4391944 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0123752] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/12/2014] [Accepted: 03/03/2015] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Resource availability can affect the coevolutionary dynamics between host and parasites, shaping communities and hence ecosystem function. A key finding from theoretical and in vitro studies is that host resistance evolves to greater levels with increased resources, but the relevance to natural communities is less clear. We took two complementary approaches to investigate the effect of resource availability on the evolution of bacterial resistance to phages in soil. First, we measured the resistance and infectivity of natural communities of soil bacteria and phage in the presence and absence of nutrient-providing plants. Second, we followed the real-time coevolution between defined bacteria and phage populations with resource availability manipulated by the addition or not of an artificial plant root exudate. Increased resource availability resulted in increases in bacterial resistance to phages, but without a concomitant increase in phage infectivity. These results suggest that phages may have a reduced impact on the control of bacterial densities and community composition in stable, high resource environments.
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116
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Shanahan DF, Fuller RA, Bush R, Lin BB, Gaston KJ. The Health Benefits of Urban Nature: How Much Do We Need? Bioscience 2015. [DOI: 10.1093/biosci/biv032] [Citation(s) in RCA: 232] [Impact Index Per Article: 25.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/14/2022] Open
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117
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Porcelli D, Butlin RK, Gaston KJ, Joly D, Snook RR. The environmental genomics of metazoan thermal adaptation. Heredity (Edinb) 2015; 114:502-14. [PMID: 25735594 PMCID: PMC4815515 DOI: 10.1038/hdy.2014.119] [Citation(s) in RCA: 55] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/22/2014] [Revised: 11/06/2014] [Accepted: 11/11/2014] [Indexed: 01/07/2023] Open
Abstract
Continued and accelerating change in the thermal environment places an ever-greater priority on understanding how organisms are going to respond. The paradigm of ‘move, adapt or die', regarding ways in which organisms can respond to environmental stressors, stimulates intense efforts to predict the future of biodiversity. Assuming that extinction is an unpalatable outcome, researchers have focussed attention on how organisms can shift in their distribution to stay in the same thermal conditions or can stay in the same place by adapting to a changing thermal environment. How likely these respective outcomes might be depends on the answer to a fundamental evolutionary question, namely what genetic changes underpin adaptation to the thermal environment. The increasing access to and decreasing costs of next-generation sequencing (NGS) technologies, which can be applied to both model and non-model systems, provide a much-needed tool for understanding thermal adaptation. Here we consider broadly what is already known from non-NGS studies about thermal adaptation, then discuss the benefits and challenges of different NGS methodologies to add to this knowledge base. We then review published NGS genomics and transcriptomics studies of thermal adaptation to heat stress in metazoans and compare these results with previous non-NGS patterns. We conclude by summarising emerging patterns of genetic response and discussing future directions using these increasingly common techniques.
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118
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Shanahan DF, Lin BB, Bush R, Gaston KJ, Dean JH, Barber E, Fuller RA. Toward improved public health outcomes from urban nature. Am J Public Health 2015; 105:470-7. [PMID: 25602866 DOI: 10.2105/ajph.2014.302324] [Citation(s) in RCA: 89] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/04/2022]
Abstract
There is mounting concern for the health of urban populations as cities expand at an unprecedented rate. Urban green spaces provide settings for a remarkable range of physical and mental health benefits, and pioneering health policy is recognizing nature as a cost-effective tool for planning healthy cities. Despite this, limited information on how specific elements of nature deliver health outcomes restricts its use for enhancing population health. We articulate a framework for identifying direct and indirect causal pathways through which nature delivers health benefits, and highlight current evidence. We see a need for a bold new research agenda founded on testing causality that transcends disciplinary boundaries between ecology and health. This will lead to cost-effective and tailored solutions that could enhance population health and reduce health inequalities.
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119
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Inger R, Gregory R, Duffy JP, Stott I, Voříšek P, Gaston KJ. Common European birds are declining rapidly while less abundant species' numbers are rising. Ecol Lett 2014; 18:28-36. [DOI: 10.1111/ele.12387] [Citation(s) in RCA: 297] [Impact Index Per Article: 29.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/07/2014] [Revised: 08/20/2014] [Accepted: 09/30/2014] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
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Durán AP, Duffy JP, Gaston KJ. Exclusion of agricultural lands in spatial conservation prioritization strategies: consequences for biodiversity and ecosystem service representation. Proc Biol Sci 2014; 281:rspb.2014.1529. [PMID: 25143040 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2014.1529] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Agroecosystems have traditionally been considered incompatible with biological conservation goals, and often been excluded from spatial conservation prioritization strategies. The consequences for the representativeness of identified priority areas have been little explored. Here, we evaluate these for biodiversity and carbon storage representation when agricultural land areas are excluded from a spatial prioritization strategy for South America. Comparing different prioritization approaches, we also assess how the spatial overlap of priority areas changes. The exclusion of agricultural lands was detrimental to biodiversity representation, indicating that priority areas for agricultural production overlap with areas of relatively high occurrence of species. By contrast, exclusion of agricultural lands benefits representation of carbon storage within priority areas, as lands of high value for agriculture and carbon storage overlap little. When agricultural lands were included and equally weighted with biodiversity and carbon storage, a balanced representation resulted. Our findings suggest that with appropriate management, South American agroecosystems can significantly contribute to biodiversity conservation.
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Casalegno S, Bennie JJ, Inger R, Gaston KJ. Regional scale prioritisation for key ecosystem services, renewable energy production and urban development. PLoS One 2014; 9:e107822. [PMID: 25250775 PMCID: PMC4175084 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0107822] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/10/2014] [Accepted: 08/15/2014] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Although the importance of addressing ecosystem service benefits in regional land use planning and decision-making is evident, substantial practical challenges remain. In particular, methods to identify priority areas for the provision of key ecosystem services and other environmental services (benefits from the environment not directly linked to the function of ecosystems) need to be developed. Priority areas are locations which provide disproportionally high benefits from one or more service. Here we map a set of ecosystem and environmental services and delineate priority areas according to different scenarios. Each scenario is produced by a set of weightings allocated to different services and corresponds to different landscape management strategies which decision makers could undertake. Using the county of Cornwall, U.K., as a case study, we processed gridded maps of key ecosystem services and environmental services, including renewable energy production and urban development. We explored their spatial distribution patterns and their spatial covariance and spatial stationarity within the region. Finally we applied a complementarity-based priority ranking algorithm (zonation) using different weighting schemes. Our conclusions are that (i) there are two main patterns of service distribution in this region, clustered services (including agriculture, carbon stocks, urban development and plant production) and dispersed services (including cultural services, energy production and floods mitigation); (ii) more than half of the services are spatially correlated and there is high non-stationarity in the spatial covariance between services; and (iii) it is important to consider both ecosystem services and other environmental services in identifying priority areas. Different weighting schemes provoke drastic changes in the delineation of priority areas and therefore decision making processes need to carefully consider the relative values attributed to different services.
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Gaston KJ, Duffy JP, Gaston S, Bennie J, Davies TW. Human alteration of natural light cycles: causes and ecological consequences. Oecologia 2014; 176:917-31. [PMID: 25239105 PMCID: PMC4226844 DOI: 10.1007/s00442-014-3088-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 146] [Impact Index Per Article: 14.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/09/2014] [Accepted: 09/04/2014] [Indexed: 12/31/2022]
Abstract
Artificial light at night is profoundly altering natural light cycles, particularly as perceived by many organisms, over extensive areas of the globe. This alteration comprises the introduction of light at night at places and times at which it has not previously occurred, and with different spectral signatures. Given the long geological periods for which light cycles have previously been consistent, this constitutes a novel environmental pressure, and one for which there is evidence for biological effects that span from molecular to community level. Here we provide a synthesis of understanding of the form and extent of this alteration, some of the key consequences for terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems, interactions and synergies with other anthropogenic pressures on the environment, major uncertainties, and future prospects and management options. This constitutes a compelling example of the need for a thoroughly interdisciplinary approach to understanding and managing the impact of one particular anthropogenic pressure. The former requires insights that span molecular biology to ecosystem ecology, and the latter contributions of biologists, policy makers and engineers.
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Coetzee BWT, Gaston KJ, Chown SL. Local scale comparisons of biodiversity as a test for global protected area ecological performance: a meta-analysis. PLoS One 2014; 9:e105824. [PMID: 25162620 PMCID: PMC4146549 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0105824] [Citation(s) in RCA: 88] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/13/2014] [Accepted: 07/29/2014] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Terrestrial protected areas (PAs) are cornerstones of global biodiversity conservation. Their efficacy in terms of maintaining biodiversity is, however, much debated. Studies to date have been unable to provide a general answer as to PA conservation efficacy because of their typically restricted geographic and/or taxonomic focus, or qualitative approaches focusing on proxies for biodiversity, such as deforestation. Given the rarity of historical data to enable comparisons of biodiversity before/after PA establishment, many smaller scale studies over the past 30 years have directly compared biodiversity inside PAs to that of surrounding areas, which provides one measure of PA ecological performance. Here we use a meta-analysis of such studies (N = 86) to test if PAs contain higher biodiversity values than surrounding areas, and so assess their contribution to determining PA efficacy. We find that PAs generally have higher abundances of individual species, higher assemblage abundances, and higher species richness values compared with alternative land uses. Local scale studies in combination thus show that PAs retain more biodiversity than alternative land use areas. Nonetheless, much variation is present in the effect sizes, which underscores the context-specificity of PA efficacy.
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Dallimer M, Davies ZG, Irvine KN, Maltby L, Warren PH, Gaston KJ, Armsworth PR. What personal and environmental factors determine frequency of urban greenspace use? INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH AND PUBLIC HEALTH 2014; 11:7977-92. [PMID: 25105548 PMCID: PMC4143844 DOI: 10.3390/ijerph110807977] [Citation(s) in RCA: 61] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/16/2014] [Revised: 07/25/2014] [Accepted: 07/31/2014] [Indexed: 12/04/2022]
Abstract
For many people, urban greenspaces are the only places where they encounter the natural world. This is concerning as there is growing evidence demonstrating that human well-being is enhanced by exposure to nature. There is, therefore, a compelling argument to increase how frequently people use urban greenspaces. This may be achieved in two complementary ways by encouraging: (I) non-users to start visiting urban greenspaces; (II) existing users to visit more often. Here we examine the factors that influence frequency of greenspace visitation in the city of Sheffield, England. We demonstrate that people who visit a site least frequently state lower self-reported psychological well-being. We hypothesised that a combination of socio-demographic characteristics of the participants, and the biophysical attributes of the greenspaces that they were visiting, would be important in influencing visit frequency. However, socio-demographic characteristics (income, age, gender) were not found to be predictors. In contrast, some biophysical attributes of greenspaces were significantly related to use frequency. Frequent use was more likely when the time taken to reach a greenspace was shorter and for sites with a higher index of greenspace neglect, but were unrelated to tree cover or bird species richness. We related these results to the motivations that people provide for their visits. Infrequent users were more likely to state motivations associated with the quality of the space, while frequent users gave motivations pertaining to physical, repeated activities. This suggests that there may be no simple way to manage greenspaces to maximise their use across user cohorts as the motivations for visits are very different.
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Soga M, Yamaura Y, Koike S, Gaston KJ. Land sharing vs. land sparing: does the compact city reconcile urban development and biodiversity conservation? J Appl Ecol 2014. [DOI: 10.1111/1365-2664.12280] [Citation(s) in RCA: 78] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
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