Bending the curve of terrestrial biodiversity needs an integrated strategy

The importance of protected areas for threatened Brazilian butterflies

The present study aims to disclose the importance existing protected areas (PAs) and their level of protection for the conservation of the threatened Brazilian butterflies. A total of 898 occurrence records were found for all 63 species of butterflies present in the current Brazilian Red list. For all studied taxa, at least one occurrence record is within the limits of a PA. More than half of the occurrence records (61.9%) are within the limits of PAs, but less than half (41.7%) of these records are present in fully protected areas. For 17 taxa (27%), less than 50% of their records are within PAs, thus being completely unprotected. For butterfly taxa in the category "critically endangered", 42.6% of their occurrence records falls outside PAs. Almost 99% of the records are concentrated in the Atlantic Forest and the Cerrado, the two most threatened Brazilian biomes and global hostspots of biodiversity. In conclusion, the present study showed an important panorama of how threatened Brazilian butterflies are protected (or not). Anyway, it is important to highlight that for any record inside a PA, some level of protection is provided for these taxa against the advance of environmental destruction caused by human activities.

Five lessons for avoiding failure when scaling in conservation

Many attempts to scale conservation actions have failed to deliver their intended benefits, caused unintended harm or later been abandoned, hampering efforts to bend the curve on biodiversity loss. Here we encourage those calling for scaling to pause and reflect on past scaling efforts, which offer valuable lessons: the total impact of an action depends on both its effectiveness and scalability; effectiveness can change depending on scale for multiple reasons; feedback processes can change socio-ecological conditions influencing future adoption; and the drive to scale can incentivize bad practices that undermine long-term outcomes. Cutting across these themes is the recognition that monitoring scaling can enhance evidence-informed adaptive management, reporting and research. We draw on evidence and concepts from disparate fields, explore new linkages between often isolated concepts and suggest strategies for practitioners, policymakers and researchers. Reflecting on these five lessons may help in the scaling of effective conservation actions in responsible ways to meet the triple goals of reversing biodiversity loss, combating climate change and supporting human wellbeing.

The Critical Social Processes for Standardising the Ecological Monitoring of Australian Landscapes

For a long time, ecological monitoring across Australia has utilised a wide variety of different methodologies resulting in data that is difficult to analyse across place or time. In response to these limitations, a new systematic approach to ecological monitoring has been developed in collaboration between the Terrestrial Ecosystem Research Network and the Australian Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water - the Ecological Monitoring System Australia (EMSA). A qualitative approach involving focus groups and semi-structured interviews was undertaken to review perceptions of the introduction of the EMSA protocols amongst Natural Resource Management practitioners and other key stakeholders. We found that environmental management stakeholders recognise there will be many advantages from the standardisation of ecological monitoring. However, key concerns emerged regarding the capacity needed to implement the standard protocols, the utility of the resultant data for regional projects, and the scope for adaptive co-management under the EMSA. Stakeholders emphasised the need for autonomy and flexibility, so their participation in protocol development can facilitate regional adoption of the standards. Respondents' concerns about a perceived lack of genuine consultation and acknowledgement of feedback revealed the importance of clear communication at all stages of an environmental management project aiming to standardise practices. Our findings indicate that reflexivity will be vital to address the complexity involved in standardisation of ecological monitoring. Formal processes of social learning will need to be integrated into environmental management approaches to account for the increasing complexity of socio-ecological systems as they are challenged by global change.

Identifying protected areas in biodiversity hotspots at risk from climate and human-induced compound events for conserving threatened species

Anthropogenic pressure in areas of biodiversity importance erodes the integrity of the ecosystems they harbour, making features of biodiversity less buffered against extreme climatic events. We define the combination of these disturbances as compound events. We assessed compound event risk in protected areas (PAs) applying a spatial framework guided by criteria and quantitative thresholds associated with exposure to cyclones, drought, and intense human pressure. This assessment was used in a relational matrix to classify PAs with different risk of compound event occurrence. We identified PAs of higher conservation concern by quantifying the extent of human pressure in their surrounding landscape while harbouring large numbers of threatened vertebrate species. Of the 39,694 PAs assessed, very high risk of compound events was determined for 6965 PAs (17.5 %) related to cyclones and human pressure (mainly island hotspots), 6367 PAs (16 %) related to droughts and human pressure (island and continental hotspots), and 2031 PAs (5 %) to cyclones, drought and human pressure (mainly in island hotspots). From the subset of 2031 PAs assessed at very high risk, we identified 239 PAs of higher conservation concern distributed predominantly in the Caribbean Islands, Japan, North America Coastal Plain, Philippines, and Southwest Australia. Our work highlights PAs in the biodiversity hotspots where high risk of compound event occurrence poses a greater threat to species. We encourage researchers to adapt and apply this framework across other globally significant sites for conserving biodiversity to identify high risk-prone areas, and prevent further biodiversity decline.

Evidence of predation pressure on sensitive species by raccoons based on parasitological studies

To demonstrate predation and potential impacts of raccoons on various species, a total of 108 raccoons from aquatic-associated nature reserves and natural areas in three federal states of Germany, Hesse (n = 36), Saxony-Anhalt (n = 36) and Brandenburg (n = 36), were investigated from a dietary ecological perspective in the present study. Fecal analyses and stomach content examinations were conducted for this purpose. Additionally, as a supplementary method for analyzing the dietary spectrum of raccoons, the parasite fauna was considered, as metazoan parasites, in particular, can serve as indicators for the species and origin of food organisms. While stomach content analyses allow for a detailed recording of trophic relationships solely at the time of sampling, parasitological examinations enable inferences about more distant interaction processes. With their different developmental stages and heteroxenous life cycles involving specific, sometimes obligate, intermediate hosts, they utilize the food web to reach their definitive host. The results of this study clearly demonstrate that spawning areas of amphibians and reptiles were predominantly utilized as food resources by raccoons in the study areas. Thus, common toad (Bufo bufo), common newt (Lissotriton vulgaris), grass frog (Rana temporaria), and grass snake (Natrix natrix) were identified as food organisms for raccoons. The detection of the parasite species Euryhelmis squamula, Isthmiophora melis, and Physocephalus sexalatus with partially high infestation rates also suggests that both amphibians and reptiles belong to the established dietary components of raccoons from an ecological perspective, as amphibians and reptiles are obligate intermediate hosts in the respective parasitic life cycles of the detected parasites. The study clearly demonstrates that raccoons have a significant impact on occurrence-sensitive animal species in certain areas and, as an invasive species, can exert a negative influence on native species and ecosystems.

Global patterns of human-wildlife spatial associations and implications for differentiating conservation strategies

Understanding the global patterns of human and wildlife spatial associations is essential for pragmatic conservation implementation, yet analytical foundations and indicator-based assessments that would further this understanding are lacking. We integrated the global distributions of 30,664 terrestrial vertebrates and human pressures to map human-nature index (HNI) categories that indicate the extent and intensity of human-wildlife interactions. Along the 2 dimensions of biodiversity and human activity, the HNI allowed placement of terrestrial areas worldwide in one of 4 HNI categories: anthropic (human-dominated areas), wildlife-dominated (little human influence and rich in wildlife), co-occurring (substantial presence of humans and wildlife), and harsh-environment (limited presence of humans and wildlife) areas. The HNI varied considerably among taxonomic groups, and the leading driver of HNI was global climate patterns. Co-occurring regions were the most prevalent (35.9%), and wildlife-dominated and anthropic regions encompassed 26.45% and 6.50% of land area, respectively. Our results highlight the necessity for customizing conservation strategies to regions based on human-wildlife spatial associations and the distribution of existing protected area networks. Human activity and biodiversity should be integrated for complementary strategies to support conservation toward ambitious and pragmatic 30×30 goals.

Impacts of the global food system on terrestrial biodiversity from land use and climate change

The global food system is a key driver of land-use and climate change which in turn drive biodiversity change. Developing sustainable food systems is therefore critical to reversing biodiversity loss. We use the multi-regional input-output model EXIOBASE to estimate the biodiversity impacts embedded within the global food system in 2011. Using models that capture regional variation in the sensitivity of biodiversity both to land use and climate change, we calculate the land-driven and greenhouse gas-driven footprints of food using two metrics of biodiversity: local species richness and rarity-weighted species richness. We show that the footprint of land area underestimates biodiversity impact in more species-rich regions and that our metric of rarity-weighted richness places a greater emphasis on biodiversity costs in Central and South America. We find that methane emissions are responsible for 70% of the overall greenhouse gas-driven biodiversity footprint and that, in several regions, emissions from a single year's food production are associated with global biodiversity loss equivalent to 2% or more of that region's total land-driven biodiversity loss. The measures we present are relatively simple to calculate and could be incorporated into decision-making and environmental impact assessments by governments and businesses.

An introduction to key ecological concepts, financial opportunities, and risks underpinning aspirations for nature positive

Global biodiversity is in decline, and businesses and society are being required to urgently create new operating models to ameliorate the crisis. Among the strategies proposed to do this, implementing the concept of nature positive has captured worldwide attention. Critical to its success will be effective collaboration between ecologists and businesspeople, driven by a shared understanding of key nature positive terminology, concepts, and risks. To this end, we introduce three core aspects: the ecological concepts in the definition of nature positive (health, abundance, diversity, and resilience), a typology of financial instruments that may be applied to achieving nature positive, and an overview of risks to biodiversity and society. The pivotal findings include that ecological complexity and uncertainty belie the simplicity of the definition of nature positive and that managing risk requires embedding aspirations into existing and emerging biodiversity conservation and restoration science and policy. Although it is challenging, nature positive deserves pursuit.

Global mercury concentrations in biota: their use as a basis for a global biomonitoring framework

An important provision of the Minamata Convention on Mercury is to monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of the adopted measures and its implementation. Here, we describe for the first time currently available biotic mercury (Hg) data on a global scale to improve the understanding of global efforts to reduce the impact of Hg pollution on people and the environment. Data from the peer-reviewed literature were compiled in the Global Biotic Mercury Synthesis (GBMS) database (>550,000 data points). These data provide a foundation for establishing a biomonitoring framework needed to track Hg concentrations in biota globally. We describe Hg exposure in the taxa identified by the Minamata Convention: fish, sea turtles, birds, and marine mammals. Based on the GBMS database, Hg concentrations are presented at relevant geographic scales for continents and oceanic basins. We identify some effective regional templates for monitoring methylmercury (MeHg) availability in the environment, but overall illustrate that there is a general lack of regional biomonitoring initiatives around the world, especially in Africa, Australia, Indo-Pacific, Middle East, and South Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. Temporal trend data for Hg in biota are generally limited. Ecologically sensitive sites (where biota have above average MeHg tissue concentrations) have been identified throughout the world. Efforts to model and quantify ecosystem sensitivity locally, regionally, and globally could help establish effective and efficient biomonitoring programs. We present a framework for a global Hg biomonitoring network that includes a three-step continental and oceanic approach to integrate existing biomonitoring efforts and prioritize filling regional data gaps linked with key Hg sources. We describe a standardized approach that builds on an evidence-based evaluation to assess the Minamata Convention's progress to reduce the impact of global Hg pollution on people and the environment.

Emerging technologies in citizen science and potential for insect monitoring

Emerging technologies are increasingly employed in environmental citizen science projects. This integration offers benefits and opportunities for scientists and participants alike. Citizen science can support large-scale, long-term monitoring of species occurrences, behaviour and interactions. At the same time, technologies can foster participant engagement, regardless of pre-existing taxonomic expertise or experience, and permit new types of data to be collected. Yet, technologies may also create challenges by potentially increasing financial costs, necessitating technological expertise or demanding training of participants. Technology could also reduce people's direct involvement and engagement with nature. In this perspective, we discuss how current technologies have spurred an increase in citizen science projects and how the implementation of emerging technologies in citizen science may enhance scientific impact and public engagement. We show how technology can act as (i) a facilitator of current citizen science and monitoring efforts, (ii) an enabler of new research opportunities, and (iii) a transformer of science, policy and public participation, but could also become (iv) an inhibitor of participation, equity and scientific rigour. Technology is developing fast and promises to provide many exciting opportunities for citizen science and insect monitoring, but while we seize these opportunities, we must remain vigilant against potential risks. This article is part of the theme issue 'Towards a toolkit for global insect biodiversity monitoring'.

Ageing influences the toxicity of two innovative nanofertilizers to the soil invertebrates Enchytraeus crypticus and Folsomia candida

The increasing global food demand is threatening the sustainability of agrifood production systems. The intensification of agricultural practices, with inadequate use of pesticides and fertilizers, poses major challenges to the good functioning of agroecosystems and drastically degrades the soil quality. Nanotechnology is expected to optimize the current farming practices and mitigate some associated impacts. Layered double hydroxides (LDHs) are a class of nanomaterials with high potential for use in agricultural productions, mostly due to their sustained release of nutrients. Considering its novelty and lack of studies on the terrestrial ecosystem, it is essential to assess potential long-term harmful consequences to non-target organisms. Our study aimed to evaluate the effect of Zn-Al-NO3 LDH and Mg-Al-NO3 LDH ageing on the survival and reproduction of two soil invertebrate species Enchytraeus crypticus and Folsomia candida. We postulated that the toxicity of nanomaterials to soil invertebrates would change with time, such that the ageing of soil amendments would mediate their impacts on both species. Our results showed that the toxicity of LDHs was species-dependent, with Zn-Al-NO3 LDH being more toxic to E. crypticus, while Mg-Al-NO3 LDH affected more F. candida, especially in the last ageing period, where reproduction was the most sensitive biological parameter. The toxicity of both nanomaterials increased with ageing time, as shown by the decrease of the EC50 values over time. The influence of LDH dissolution and availability of Zn and Mg in the soil pore water was the main factor related to the toxicity, although we cannot rule out the influence of other structural constituents of LDHs (e.g., nitrates and aluminium). This study supports the importance of incorporating ageing in the ecotoxicity testing of nanomaterials, considering their slow release, as effects on soil organisms can change and lead to more severe impacts on the ecosystem functioning.

Systematic nature positive markets

Environmental markets are a rapidly emerging tool to mobilize private funding to incentivize landholders to undertake more sustainable land management. How units of biodiversity in these markets are measured and subsequently traded creates key challenges ecologically and economically because it determines whether environmental markets can deliver net gains in biodiversity and efficiently lower the costs of conservation. We developed and tested a metric for such markets based on the well-established principle of irreplaceability from systematic conservation planning. Irreplaceability as a metric avoids the limitations of like-for-like trading and allows one to capture the multidimensional nature of ecosystems (e.g., habitats, species, ecosystem functioning) and simultaneously achieve cost-effective, land-manager-led investments in conservation. Using an integrated ecological modeling approach, we tested whether using irreplaceability as a metric is more ecologically and economically beneficial than the simpler biodiversity offset metrics typically used in net gain and no-net-loss policies. Using irreplaceability ensured no net loss, or even net gain, of biodiversity depending on the targets chosen. Other metrics did not provide the same assurances and, depending on the flexibility with which biodiversity targets can be achieved, and how they overlap with development pressure, were less efficient. Irreplaceability reduced the costs of offsetting to developers and the costs of ecological restoration to society. Integrating economic data and systematic conservation planning approaches would therefore assure land managers they were being fairly rewarded for the opportunity costs of conservation and transparently incentivize the most ecologically and economically efficient investments in nature recovery.

High habitat richness reduces the risk of tick-borne encephalitis in Europe: A multi-scale study

Background

The natural transmission cycle of tick-borne encephalitis (TBE) virus is enhanced by complex interactions between ticks and key hosts strongly connected to habitat characteristics. The diversity of wildlife host species and their relative abundance is known to affect transmission of tick-borne diseases. Therefore, in the current context of global biodiversity loss, we explored the relationship between habitat richness and the pattern of human TBE cases in Europe to assess biodiversity's role in disease risk mitigation.

Methods

We assessed human TBE case distribution across 879 European regions using official epidemiological data reported to The European Surveillance System (TESSy) between 2017 and 2021 from 15 countries. We explored the relationship between TBE presence and the habitat richness index (HRI1) by means of binomial regression. We validated our findings at local scale using data collected between 2017 and 2021 in 227 municipalities located in Trento and Belluno provinces, two known TBE foci in northern Italy.

Findings

Our results showed a significant parabolic effect of HRI on the probability of presence of human TBE cases in the European regions included in our dataset, and a significant, negative effect of HRI on the local presence of TBE in northern Italy. At both spatial scales, TBE risk decreases in areas with higher values of HRI.

Interpretation

To our knowledge, no efforts have yet been made to explore the relationship between biodiversity and TBE risk, probably due to the scarcity of high-resolution, large-scale data about the abundance or density of critical host species. Hence, in this study we considered habitat richness as proxy for vertebrate host diversity. The results suggest that in highly diverse habitats TBE risk decreases. Hence, biodiversity loss could enhance TBE risk for both humans and wildlife. This association is relevant to support the hypothesis that the maintenance of highly diverse ecosystems mitigates disease risk.

Now is the time for conservationists to stand up for social justice

Existing power imbalances and injustices could be exacerbated by large flows of international funding for nature recovery. Conservationists are still grappling with what social justice means in practice; a major shift in mindset is required.

Population abundance estimates in conservation and biodiversity research

Measuring and tracking biodiversity from local to global scales is challenging due to its multifaceted nature and the range of metrics used to describe spatial and temporal patterns. Abundance can be used to describe how a population changes across space and time, but it can be measured in different ways, with consequences for the interpretation and communication of spatiotemporal patterns. We differentiate between relative and absolute abundance, and discuss the advantages and disadvantages of each for biodiversity monitoring, conservation, and ecological research. We highlight when absolute abundance can be advantageous and should be prioritized in biodiversity monitoring and research, and conclude by providing avenues for future research directions to better assess the necessity of absolute abundance in biodiversity monitoring.

Global indicators of the environmental impacts of invasive alien species and their information adequacy

Monitoring the extent to which invasive alien species (IAS) negatively impact the environment is crucial for understanding and mitigating biological invasions. Indeed, such information is vital for achieving Target 6 of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework. However, to-date indicators for tracking the environmental impacts of IAS have been either lacking or insufficient. Capitalizing on advances in data availability and impact assessment protocols, we developed environmental impact indicators to track realized and potential impacts of IAS. We also developed an information status indicator to assess the adequacy of the data underlying the impact indicators. We used data on 75 naturalized amphibians from 82 countries to demonstrate the indicators at a global scale. The information status indicator shows variation in the reliability of the data and highlights areas where absence of impact should be interpreted with caution. Impact indicators show that growth in potential impacts are dominated by predatory species, while potential impacts from both predation and disease transmission are distributed worldwide. Using open access data, the indicators are reproducible and adaptable across scales and taxa and can be used to assess global trends and distributions of IAS, assisting authorities in prioritizing control efforts and identifying areas at risk of future invasions. This article is part of the theme issue 'Ecological novelty and planetary stewardship: biodiversity dynamics in a transforming biosphere'.

Navigating ecological novelty towards planetary stewardship: challenges and opportunities in biodiversity dynamics in a transforming biosphere

Human-induced global changes, including anthropogenic climate change, biotic globalization, trophic downgrading and pervasive land-use intensification, are transforming Earth's biosphere, placing biodiversity and ecosystems at the forefront of unprecedented challenges. The Anthropocene, characterized by the importance of Homo sapiens in shaping the Earth system, necessitates a re-evaluation of our understanding and stewardship of ecosystems. This theme issue delves into the multifaceted challenges posed by the ongoing ecological planetary transformation and explores potential solutions across four key subthemes. Firstly, it investigates the functioning and stewardship of emerging novel ecosystems, emphasizing the urgent need to comprehend the dynamics of ecosystems under uncharted conditions. The second subtheme focuses on biodiversity projections under global change, recognizing the necessity of predicting ecological shifts in the Anthropocene. Importantly, the inherent uncertainties and the complexity of ecological responses to environmental stressors pose challenges for societal responses and for accurate projections of ecological change. The RAD framework (resist-accept-direct) is highlighted as a flexible yet nuanced decision-making tool that recognizes the need for adaptive approaches, providing insights for directing and adapting to Anthropocene dynamics while minimizing negative impacts. The imperative to extend our temporal perspective beyond 2100 is emphasized, given the irreversible changes already set in motion. Advancing methods to study ecosystem dynamics under rising biosphere novelty is the subject of the third subtheme. The fourth subtheme emphasizes the importance of integrating human perspectives into understanding, forecasting and managing novel ecosystems. Cultural diversity and biological diversity are intertwined, and the evolving relationship between humans and ecosystems offers lessons for future stewardship. Achieving planetary stewardship in the Anthropocene demands collaboration across scales and integration of ecological and societal perspectives, scalable approaches fit to changing, novel ecological conditions, as well as cultural innovation. This article is part of the theme issue 'Ecological novelty and planetary stewardship: biodiversity dynamics in a transforming biosphere'.

Biodiversity loss reduces global terrestrial carbon storage

Natural ecosystems store large amounts of carbon globally, as organisms absorb carbon from the atmosphere to build large, long-lasting, or slow-decaying structures such as tree bark or root systems. An ecosystem's carbon sequestration potential is tightly linked to its biological diversity. Yet when considering future projections, many carbon sequestration models fail to account for the role biodiversity plays in carbon storage. Here, we assess the consequences of plant biodiversity loss for carbon storage under multiple climate and land-use change scenarios. We link a macroecological model projecting changes in vascular plant richness under different scenarios with empirical data on relationships between biodiversity and biomass. We find that biodiversity declines from climate and land use change could lead to a global loss of between 7.44-103.14 PgC (global sustainability scenario) and 10.87-145.95 PgC (fossil-fueled development scenario). This indicates a self-reinforcing feedback loop, where higher levels of climate change lead to greater biodiversity loss, which in turn leads to greater carbon emissions and ultimately more climate change. Conversely, biodiversity conservation and restoration can help achieve climate change mitigation goals.

Mitigating air pollution benefits multiple sustainable development goals in China

Achieving the United nations 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) remains a significant challenge, necessitating urgent and prioritized strategies. Among the various challenges, air pollution continues to pose one of the most substantial threats to the SDGs due to its widespread adverse effects on human health and ecosystems. However, the connections between air pollution and the SDGs have often been overlooked. This study reveals that out of the 169 SDG targets, 71 are adversely impacted by air pollution, while only 6 show potential positive effects. In China, two major atmospheric nitrogen pollutants, ammonia and nitrogen oxides, resulted in an economic loss of 400 billion United States Dollar (USD) in 2020, which could be reduced by 33% and 34% by 2030, respectively. It would enhance the progress towards SDGs in China by 14%, directly contributing to the achievement of SDGs 1 to 6 and 11 to 15. This improvement is estimated to yield overall benefits totaling 119 billion USD, exceeded the total implementation cost of 82 billion USD with ammonia as the preferential mitigation target. This study underscores the importance of robust scientific evidence in integrated policies aimed at aligning improvements in environmental quality with the priorities of sustainable development.

Harnessing monocrop breeding strategies for intercrops

Intercropping is considered advantageous for many reasons, including increased yield stability, nutritional value and the provision of various regulating ecosystem services. However, intercropping also introduces diverse competition effects between the mixing partners, which can negatively impact their agronomic performance. Therefore, selecting complementary intercropping partners is the key to realizing a well-mixed crop production. Several specialized intercrop breeding concepts have been proposed to support the development of complementary varieties, but their practical implementation still needs to be improved. To lower this adoption threshold, we explore the potential of introducing minor adaptations to commonly used monocrop breeding strategies as an initial stepping stone towards implementing dedicated intercrop breeding schemes. While we acknowledge that recurrent selection for reciprocal mixing abilities is likely a more effective breeding paradigm to obtain genetic progress for intercrops, a well-considered adaptation of monoculture breeding strategies is far less intrusive concerning the design of the breeding programme and allows for balancing genetic gain for both monocrop and intercrop performance. The main idea is to develop compatible variety combinations by improving the monocrop performance in the two breeding pools in parallel and testing for intercrop performance in the later stages of selection. We show that the optimal stage for switching from monocrop to intercrop testing should be adapted to the specificity of the crop and the heritability of the traits involved. However, the genetic correlation between the monocrop and intercrop trait performance is the primary driver of the intercrop breeding scheme optimization process.

Using Evidence-based Scientific Research to Influence Dietary Behavioral Change: Taking a Look in the Mirror

Science can provide accurate information to society to inform decision-making and behavior. One contemporary topic in which the science is very clear, yet behavioral change has lagged, is climate change mitigation. Climate change scientists use evidence-based research to advocate to the public to adopt emission-reducing behaviors in various sectors such as transportation and food. However, scientists themselves often do not change their own behaviors according to the scientific consensus. We present a case study of a group of natural sciences PhD students, who, when presented with evidence and an opportunity for a behavioral change with implications for climate change mitigation, demonstrated defensive reactions that would undoubtedly frustrate these same scientists if they were doing public outreach about their own work. Our goal is to raise awareness that we scientists do not always practice what we preach but could perhaps overcome this by understanding the defense mechanisms that impede meaningful change.

Taxonomy, distribution, and contemporary exposure of terrestrial mammals to floods and human pressure across different areas for biodiversity conservation in China

A significant research focus is placed on identifying animal species and areas at future risk to human-induced alterations of the environment and long-term changes in climatic conditions. Yet, the extent to which exposure to extreme climatic events and intense human pressure can increase the risk of harmful impacts on species remains poorly investigated. Focusing on terrestrial mammals in China, one of the world's megadiverse countries, we investigated patterns of contemporary exposure to floods and human pressures and determined their taxonomic representation and distribution across three major area-based conservation schemes, namely, national nature reserves (NNRs), priority areas for biodiversity conservation (PABCs), and key biodiversity areas (KBAs). Among the 440 species assessed with moderate or high exposure to floods, 327 (∼75%) also qualified as moderate or high in exposure to intense human pressure. These species mainly belong to the orders Chiroptera, Eulipotyphla, and Rodentia. Likewise, there were 305, 311, and 311 species with moderate or high exposure to flood and intense human pressure represented across NNRs, PABCs, and KBAs, respectively. Our findings support the prioritization of KBAs for expansion of site-based protection efforts such as NNRs in China, considering threats to species from exposure to adverse effects from both extreme climate and human pressure.

Global trends and scenarios for terrestrial biodiversity and ecosystem services from 1900 to 2050

Based on an extensive model intercomparison, we assessed trends in biodiversity and ecosystem services from historical reconstructions and future scenarios of land-use and climate change. During the 20th century, biodiversity declined globally by 2 to 11%, as estimated by a range of indicators. Provisioning ecosystem services increased several fold, and regulating services decreased moderately. Going forward, policies toward sustainability have the potential to slow biodiversity loss resulting from land-use change and the demand for provisioning services while reducing or reversing declines in regulating services. However, negative impacts on biodiversity due to climate change appear poised to increase, particularly in the higher-emissions scenarios. Our assessment identifies remaining modeling uncertainties but also robustly shows that renewed policy efforts are needed to meet the goals of the Convention on Biological Diversity.

Effects of public policy interventions for environmentally sustainable food consumption: a systematic map of available evidence

BACKGROUND

The global food system is inflicting substantial environmental harm, necessitating a shift towards more environmentally sustainable food consumption practices. Policy interventions, for example, information campaigns, taxes and subsidies and changes in the choice context are essential to stimulate sustainable change, but their effectiveness in achieving environmental goals remains inadequately understood. Existing literature lacks a comprehensive synthesis of evidence on the role of public policies in promoting sustainable food consumption. Our systematic map addressed this gap by collecting and categorising research evidence on public policy interventions aimed at establishing environmentally sustainable food consumption patterns, in order to answer the primary research question: What evidence exists on the effects of public policy interventions for achieving environmentally sustainable food consumption?

METHODS

Searches for relevant records (in English) were performed in WoS, Scopus, ASSIA, ProQuest Dissertation and Theses, EconLit, Google Scholar and in bibliographies of relevant reviews. A grey literature search was also performed on 28 specialist websites (searches were made in the original language of the webpages and publications in English, Swedish, Danish and Norwegian were eligible) and Google Scholar (search in English). Screening was performed at title/abstract and full-text levels, with machine learning-aided priority screening at title/abstract level. Eligibility criteria encompassed settings, interventions (public policies on sustainable food consumption), target groups and outcomes. No critical appraisal of study validity was conducted. Data coding covered bibliographic details, study characteristics, intervention types and outcomes. Evidence was categorised into intervention types and subcategories. Visual representation utilised bar plots, diagrams, heatmaps and an evidence atlas. This produced a comprehensive overview of effects of public policy interventions on sustainable food consumption patterns.

REVIEW FINDINGS

The evidence base included 227 articles (267 interventions), with 92% of studies in high-income countries and only 4% in low-income countries. Quantitative studies dominated (83%), followed by mixed methods (16%) and qualitative studies (1%). Most interventions were information-based and 50% of reviewed studies looked at labels. Information campaigns/education interventions constituted 10% of the sample, and menu design changes and restriction/editing of choice context 8% each. Market-based interventions represented 13% of total interventions, of which two-thirds were taxes. Administrative interventions were rare (< 1%). Proxies for environmental impact (85%) were more frequent outcome measures than direct impacts (15%). Animal-source food consumption was commonly used (19%) for effects of interventions on, for example, greenhouse gas emissions. Most studies used stated preferences (61%) to evaluate interventions.

CONCLUSIONS

The literature assessing policies for sustainable food consumption is dominated by studies on non-intrusive policy instruments; labels, information campaigns, menu design changes and editing choice contexts. There is a strong need for research on sustainable food policies to leave the lab and enter the real world, which will require support and cooperation of public and private sector stakeholders. Impact evaluations of large-scale interventions require scaling-up of available research funding and stronger multidisciplinary research, including collaborations with industry and other societal actors. Future research in this field should also go beyond the European and North American context, to obtain evidence on how to counteract increasing environmental pressures from food consumption worldwide.

National commitments to Aichi Targets and their implications for monitoring the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework

The Convention on Biological Biodiversity (CBD) exists as a major multilateral environmental agreement to safeguard biodiversity and "live in harmony with nature". To deliver it, strategies and frameworks are set out in regular agreements that are then implemented at the national scale. However, we are not on track to achieve overall goals, and frameworks so far have not been successful. This could be due to unambitious targets, low follow-through on commitments, or desired outcomes for nature not being achieved when action is taken. Here, we focus on national planning and reporting documents from a set of 30% of Parties to the CBD. We found that nearly half of the commitments mentioned in national planning documents did not appear in the Sixth National Reports and that further losses emerged due to measures reported as incomplete or ineffective. There were differences between commitments to each of the Aichi Targets, with more losses in high-profile and "institutionally challenging" Targets. Commitments from Parties in different Human Development Index categories had different outcomes among Targets, and Parties self-identifying as "megadiverse countries" had overall higher rates of reported success. Our results are important for informing the monitoring of commitment implementation in the Kunming-Montreal "global biodiversity package".

Agri-environmental policies from 1960 to 2022

For both research and practice, it is paramount to understand what, where and when agri-environmental policies have been put in place. Here we present a database of 6,124 agri-environmental policies implemented between 1960 and 2022 in about 200 countries. The database comprises a wide range of policy types (including regulations and payment schemes) and goals (such as biodiversity conservation, safer pesticide use and reducing nutrient pollution). We illustrate the application of the database by exploring the association between economic development and agri-environmental policies and between the soil-related, agri-environmental policies of countries and their border discontinuities in cropland erosion. A strong, positive link between economic development and implemented agri-environmental policies is revealed, and it is found that 43% of all global border discontinuities in soil erosion between countries can be explained by differences in their policies.

Trade-offs in land-based carbon removal measures under 1.5 °C and 2 °C futures

Land-based carbon removals, specifically afforestation/reforestation and bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS), vary widely in 1.5 °C and 2 °C scenarios generated by integrated assessment models. Because underlying drivers are difficult to assess, we use a well-known integrated assessment model, GCAM, to demonstrate that land-based carbon removals are sensitive to the strength and scope of land-based mitigation policies. We find that while cumulative afforestation/reforestation and BECCS deployment are inversely related, they are both typically part of cost-effective mitigation pathways, with forestry options deployed earlier. While the CO2 removal intensity (removal per unit land) of BECCS is typically higher than afforestation/reforestation over long time horizons, the BECCS removal intensity is sensitive to feedstock and technology choices whereas the afforestation/reforestation removal intensity is sensitive to land policy choices. Finally, we find a generally positive relationship between agricultural prices and removal effectiveness of land-based mitigation, suggesting that some trade-offs may be difficult to avoid.

Strategies for breeding crops for future environments

The green revolution successfully increased agricultural output in the early 1960s by relying primarily on three pillars: plant breeding, irrigation, and chemical fertilization. Today, the need to reduce the use of chemical fertilizers, water scarcity, and future environmental changes, together with a growing population, requires innovative strategies to adapt to a new context and prevent food shortages. Therefore, scientists from around the world are directing their efforts to breed crops for future environments to sustainably produce more nutritious food. Herein, we propose scientific avenues to be reinforced in selecting varieties, including crop wild relatives, either for monoculture or mixed cropping systems, taking advantage of plant-microbial interactions, while considering the diversity of organisms associated with crops and unlocking combinatorial nutritional stresses.

Potential for positive biodiversity outcomes under diet-driven land use change in Great Britain

Background

A shift toward human diets that include more fruit and vegetables, and less meat is a potential pathway to improve public health and reduce food system-related greenhouse gas emissions. Associated changes in land use could include conversion of grazing land into horticulture, which makes more efficient use of land per unit of dietary energy and frees-up land for other uses.

Methods

Here we use Great Britain as a case study to estimate potential impacts on biodiversity from converting grazing land to a mixture of horticulture and natural land covers by fitting species distribution models for over 800 species, including pollinating insects and species of conservation priority.

Results

Across several land use scenarios that consider the current ratio of domestic fruit and vegetable production to imports, our statistical models suggest a potential for gains to biodiversity, including a tendency for more species to gain habitable area than to lose habitable area. Moreover, the models suggest that climate change impacts on biodiversity could be mitigated to a degree by land use changes associated with dietary shifts.

Conclusions

Our analysis demonstrates that options exist for changing agricultural land uses in a way that can generate win-win-win outcomes for biodiversity, adaptation to climate change and public health.

Are human-induced changes good or bad to dynamic landscape connectivity?

Land managers must find a compromise between rapidly changing landscapes and biodiversity conservation through ecological networks. Estimating ecological networks is a key approach to enhance or maintain functional connectivity by identifying the nodes and links of a graph, which represent habitats and their corresponding functional corridors, respectively. To understand the current state of biodiversity, it is necessary to consider dynamic landscape connectivity while relying on relevant land cover maps. Although a current land cover map is relatively easy to produce using existing data, this is challenging for past landscapes. Here we investigated the impact of changes in landscape connectivity in an urban landscape at a fine scale on the habitat availability of two bird species: the tree pipit Anthus trivialis and the short-toed treecreeper Certhia brachydactyla. These species, exhibiting different niche ecologies, have shown contrasting population trends at a medium-term scale. The occurrences of C. brachydactyla were better correlated with resistance values that maximise the use of corridors, whereas the occurrences of A. trivialis better fitted with intermediate resistance values. The statistical approach indirectly highlighted relevant information about the ecology the capacity of both species to use urban habitats. Landscape connectivity increased for both species over the 24-year study period and may have implications for local abundances, which could explain, at the national scale, the increase in populations of C. brachydactyla, but not the decrease in populations of A. trivialis. Thus, more attention must be paid on rural habitats and their associated species that are more impacted by human activities, but efforts could also be achieved in urban areas especially for highly corridor-dependent species. Studying dynamic landscape connectivity at a fine scale is essential for estimating past and future land cover changes and their associated impacts on ecological networks, to better reconcile human and biodiversity concerns in land management.

A global clustering of terrestrial food production systems

Food production is at the heart of global sustainability challenges, with unsustainable practices being a major driver of biodiversity loss, emissions and land degradation. The concept of foodscapes, defined as the characteristics of food production along biophysical and socio-economic gradients, could be a way addressing those challenges. By identifying homologues foodscapes classes possible interventions and leverage points for more sustainable agriculture could be identified. Here we provide a globally consistent approximation of the world's foodscape classes. We integrate global data on biophysical and socio-economic factors to identify a minimum set of emergent clusters and evaluate their characteristics, vulnerabilities and risks with regards to global change factors. Overall, we find food production globally to be highly concentrated in a few areas. Worryingly, we find particularly intensively cultivated or irrigated foodscape classes to be under considerable climatic and degradation risks. Our work can serve as baseline for global-scale zoning and gap analyses, while also revealing homologous areas for possible agricultural interventions.

Recent Developments and Challenges in Projecting the Impact of Crop Productivity Growth on Biodiversity Considering Market-Mediated Effects

The effect of an increase in crop productivity (output per unit of inputs) on biodiversity is hitherto poorly understood. This is because increased productivity of a crop in particular regions leads to increased profit that can encourage expansion of its cultivated area causing land use change and ultimately biodiversity loss, a phenomenon also known as "Jevons paradox" or the "rebound effect". Modeling such consequences in an interconnected and globalized world considering such rebound effects is challenging. Here, we discuss the use of computable general equilibrium (CGE) and other economic models in combination with ecological models to project consequences of crop productivity improvements for biodiversity globally. While these economic models have the advantage of taking into account market-mediated responses, resource constraints, endogenous price responses, and dynamic bilateral patterns of trade, there remain a number of important research and data gaps in these models which must be addressed to improve their performance in assessment of the link between local crop productivity changes and global biodiversity. To this end, we call for breaking the silos and building interdisciplinary networks across the globe to facilitate data sharing and knowledge exchange in order to improve global-to-local-to-global analysis of land, biodiversity, and ecosystem sustainability.

The global distribution of plants used by humans

Plants sustain human life. Understanding geographic patterns of the diversity of species used by people is thus essential for the sustainable management of plant resources. Here, we investigate the global distribution of 35,687 utilized plant species spanning 10 use categories (e.g., food, medicine, material). Our findings indicate general concordance between utilized and total plant diversity, supporting the potential for simultaneously conserving species diversity and its contributions to people. Although Indigenous lands across Mesoamerica, the Horn of Africa, and Southern Asia harbor a disproportionate diversity of utilized plants, the incidence of protected areas is negatively correlated with utilized species richness. Finding mechanisms to preserve areas containing concentrations of utilized plants and traditional knowledge must become a priority for the implementation of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework.

Mapping the planet's critical areas for biodiversity and nature's contributions to people

Meeting global commitments to conservation, climate, and sustainable development requires consideration of synergies and tradeoffs among targets. We evaluate the spatial congruence of ecosystems providing globally high levels of nature's contributions to people, biodiversity, and areas with high development potential across several sectors. We find that conserving approximately half of global land area through protection or sustainable management could provide 90% of the current levels of ten of nature's contributions to people and meet minimum representation targets for 26,709 terrestrial vertebrate species. This finding supports recent commitments by national governments under the Global Biodiversity Framework to conserve at least 30% of global lands and waters, and proposals to conserve half of the Earth. More than one-third of areas required for conserving nature's contributions to people and species are also highly suitable for agriculture, renewable energy, oil and gas, mining, or urban expansion. This indicates potential conflicts among conservation, climate and development goals.

Biodiversity loss through cropland displacement for urban expansion in China

As a result of rapid economic development, urban expansion reduced the cropland in China. To secure the food supply, cropland displacement to maintain the quantity and quality of cropland has been implemented. Here, we quantified the biodiversity losses due to cropland displacement resulting from urban expansion from a telecoupling perspective in China from 1980 to 2020. A comprehensive multimodel assessment demonstrated that the indirect biodiversity losses due to cropland displacement resulting from urban expansion were approximately 2 to 3 times higher than its direct biodiversity losses, at a total loss of approximately 0.6 % to 1.0 %, as indicated by three biodiversity indicators. Displaced cropland with a higher biodiversity cost but lower cropland productivity is the main reason for the excessive indirect losses and suggests that socioecological processes may be detrimental to the synergistic benefits of the UN Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) for food security and terrestrial biodiversity. This study also identified source-sink hotspots for indirect biodiversity losses, which can contribute to improving biodiversity conservation, optimizing the spatial distribution of cropland and thus enhancing socioecological system sustainability.

Farming practices to enhance biodiversity across biomes: a systematic review

Intensive agriculture for food and feed production is a key driver of global biodiversity loss. It is generally assumed that more extensive practices are needed to reconcile food production with biodiversity conservation. In a literature review across biomes and for seven taxa, we retrieved 35 alternative practices (e.g. no-tillage, cover crops, organic fertilizer) from 331 studies. We found that no single practice enhanced all taxonomic groups, but that overall less intensive agricultural practices are beneficial to biodiversity. Nevertheless, often practices had no effects observed and very rarely contrasting impacts on aboveground versus belowground taxa. Species responses to practices were mostly consistent across biomes, except for fertilization. We conclude that alternative practices generally enhance biodiversity, but there is also variation in impacts depending on taxonomic group or type of practice. This suggests that a careful selection of practices is needed to secure biodiversity across taxa in future food systems worldwide.

Habitat suitability maps for Australian flora and fauna under CMIP6 climate scenarios

BACKGROUND

Spatial information about the location and suitability of areas for native plant and animal species under different climate futures is an important input to land use and conservation planning and management. Australia, renowned for its abundant species diversity and endemism, often relies on modeled data to assess species distributions due to the country's vast size and the challenges associated with conducting on-ground surveys on such a large scale. The objective of this article is to develop habitat suitability maps for Australian flora and fauna under different climate futures.

RESULTS

Using MaxEnt, we produced Australia-wide habitat suitability maps under RCP2.6-SSP1, RCP4.5-SSP2, RCP7.0-SSP3, and RCP8.5-SSP5 climate futures for 1,382 terrestrial vertebrates and 9,251 vascular plants vascular plants at 5 km2 for open access. This represents 60% of all Australian mammal species, 77% of amphibian species, 50% of reptile species, 71% of bird species, and 44% of vascular plant species. We also include tabular data, which include summaries of total quality-weighted habitat area of species under different climate scenarios and time periods.

CONCLUSIONS

The spatial data supplied can help identify important and sensitive locations for species under various climate futures. Additionally, the supplied tabular data can provide insights into the impacts of climate change on biodiversity in Australia. These habitat suitability maps can be used as input data for landscape and conservation planning or species management, particularly under different climate change scenarios in Australia.

Social media data for biodiversity conservation

Systematic conservation planning is considered best practice for identifying priority areas, but applications remain limited where biodiversity data are insufficient. In a recent article, Chowdhury et al. tap into citizen scientists via Facebook to address this gap in Bangladesh. Here, I discuss the importance of their demonstrated pipeline, from data acquisition to conservation prioritisation.

Breaking the ESG rating divergence: An open geospatial framework for environmental scores

Information about a company's environmental, social and governance (ESG) performance has become increasingly important in the decision-making process of financial institutions. The financial implications of environmental challenges (e.g. water stress), negative social impacts (e.g. health impacts in local communities) or poor corporate governance (e.g. breaching legislation) all continue to increase. Accordingly, there is a need for financial institutions to incorporate information on ESG risks, opportunities and impacts in decisions that relate to risk management, investments, credit, strategy, and reporting. ESG information is typically disseminated through ESG ratings, which combine the three constituents into a single rating, or ascribe them separate scores. The compilation of ESG ratings and the identification of appropriate data sources is an inherently complex process; as such, there is no single standard for data collection or reporting. This has led to a divergence in the underlying data sources used by different rating providers, as well as in the determination of factors that are deemed worthy of measurement in the first place. For example, when assessing a company's environmental impact, one rating provider may rely on company-provided data, while another may incorporate independent third-party assessments. Unfortunately, there is currently no clear mechanism for effectively resolving such disagreements to establish a standardised approach to ESG rating assessments. However, geospatial data and analyses offer several key advantages for ESG assessments, including consistency, the potential for enhanced accuracy, and the ability to identify and assess environmental impacts at a detailed physical asset level, in addition to evaluating the broader spatial context. By incorporating geospatial information (obtained through manually processing remotely sensed data, or by using existing products) rating methodologies can be improved, and disparities can be addressed more effectively. This would enable a more comprehensive understanding of the environmental considerations of ESG assessments, promoting a more informed and precise decision-making process. Within this context, a few institutions (e.g. the University of Oxford, the WWF, and a few others) are pioneering thought leadership around spatial finance, including the assessment of ESG issues utilising geospatial intelligence, but there are no consistent frameworks for incorporating geospatial data into ESG ratings and analysis. This paper explores the opportunity for such a geospatial environmental scoring framework, defining a variety of methods in which open data with broad geographic coverage could be incorporated into ESG analysis, generalisable to a range of assets and sectors. The proposed framework is organised into two categories: localised effects, which directly impact the immediate vicinity of an asset, and delocalised effects, which contribute to global climate change and atmospheric pollution. Sub-scores are defined within these categories, which capture both the localised effects on land use, biodiversity, soils, and hydrology, and the global impacts resulting from atmospheric emissions. The approaches for handling geospatial data to generate both these sub-scores and the final E-score are presented, including a test case, and the complete methodology is made available in open repositories.

Biodiversity communication in the digital era through the Emoji tree of life

Emojis enable direct expressions of ideas and emotions in digital communication, also contributing to discussions on biodiversity conservation. Nevertheless, the ability of emojis to represent the Earth's tree of life remains unexplored. Here, we quantified the taxonomic comprehensiveness of currently available nature-related emojis and tested whether the expanding availability of emojis enables a better coverage of extant biodiversity. Currently available emojis encompass a broad range of animal species, while plants, fungi, and microorganisms are underrepresented. Within animals, vertebrates are significantly overrepresented compared to their actual richness, while arthropods are underrepresented. Notwithstanding these taxonomic disparities, animal taxa represented by emojis more than doubled from 2015 to 2022, allowing an improved representation of both taxonomic and phylogenetic diversity, driven by the recent addition of cnidarians and annelids. Creating an inclusive emoji set is essential to ensure a fair representation of biodiversity in digital communication and showcase its importance for biosphere functioning.

The overlooked threat of land take from wind energy infrastructures: Quantification, drivers and policy gaps

Wind harnessing is a fast-developing and cost-effective Renewable Energy Source, but the land impacts of wind power stations are often overlooked or underestimated. We digitized land take, i.e., the generation of artificial land, derived from 90 wind power stations in Greece constructed between 2002 and 2020 (1.2 GW). We found substantial land take impacts of 7729 m2/MW (3.5 m2/MWh) of new artificial land, 148 m/MW of new roads and 174 m/MW of widened roads on average. Models showed that the number and size of wind turbines, the absence of other existing infrastructures and the elevational difference across new access roads increased artificial land generation. The elevational difference across new and widened access roads also increased their length. New wind power stations in Greece are planned to be installed at higher elevations and in terrains facing higher risks for soil erosion and soil biodiversity. The general tendency in the European Union is to sit fewer wind power stations in mountainous and forested land. Still, this pattern is inversed in several countries, particularly in Southern Europe. After screening 29 policy and legal documents, we found that land take is indirectly inferred in the global policy but more directly in the European policy through five non-legally binding documents and three Directives. However, the current European energy policies seem to conflict with nature conservation policies, risking land take acceleration. The study provides insights for reducing land take when planning and constructing wind power stations. We underline the need for better quantification of land take and its integration in the complex process of sustainable spatial planning of investments.

Costs and benefits of protecting linear landscape elements: Applying systematic conservation planning on a case study in the Netherlands

Protecting and increasing linear landscape elements (LLEs) in agricultural lands is regarded as a possible solution for a transition to a more biodiverse agricultural system. However, optimizing the spatial configuration of LLEs protected areas is challenging, especially given the demand for land for food production. Systematic Conservation Planning (SCP) can address this challenge, by prioritizing cost-efficient protection areas. We used a SCP approach to look at the LLEs network in the Province of Noord-Brabant in the Netherlands, identifying the possible trade-off between optimizing species conservation, costs and the monetary values of ecosystem services (ES). For this we defined two scenarios. One scenario focuses on achieving species conservation targets at the minimum cost, and the other focuses on achieving targets while maximizing the benefits provided by ES. For each scenario, we further developed two land-management options, namely land-sharing and land-sparing. For each solution, we tested their cost-effectiveness by calculating implementation costs, economic benefits provided by ES, and cost/benefit ratios. First, our scenario analysis indicates that the economic benefits provided by ES always outweigh the implementation costs. Second, it shows that including ES as co-benefits in SCP (Maximize ES Scenario) yields more cost-efficient conservation solutions. Third, both land-sharing and land-sparing are possible cost-efficient approaches to achieve conservation targets. Our results are spatially explicit and identify crucial habitat areas for the conservation of the selected species, which represent 12-20% of the current unprotected network of LLEs. Our findings showcase net economic benefit of conserving species and LLEs, thus representing an additional reason for biodiversity conservation.

Study of the Photosynthesis Response during the Gradual Lack of Water for 14 Olea europaea L. subsp europaea Cultivars and Their Adaptation to Climate Change

Understanding the tolerance of plants to drought and their gradual response to lack of water is a multifaceted challenge that requires a combination of scientific research and technological innovation. Selecting naturally drought-tolerant plants and knowing their response to photosynthesis in a wide range of water availability opens a door to making decisions about the suitability of different cultivars to be implanted in specific geographical areas, based on their tolerance to drought and light absorption capacity. In this work, photosynthesis-light curves were carried out using a LiCor LI-6800 IRGA device, applying increasing light intensities to plants of 14 olive cultivars, either under control conditions (no water stress) or subject to moderate and severe water deficits. The plants were grown in a culture chamber under controlled conditions for photoperiod, air humidity, temperature, and carbon dioxide concentration. For each cultivar, the electronic transference ratio (ETR) in response to light was also obtained. Different equations were used to fit experimental data allowing us to calculate, with a regression coefficient above 0.95, different photosynthetic parameters such as the maximum photosynthetic capacity, the photosynthetic efficiency, the number of electrons or the number of photons to assimilate a molecule of CO2, and the effect of the lack of water on these parameters. This work represents the first contribution of the response to photosynthesis of many olive cultivars subjected to moderate and severe drought conditions. The parameters described, and the results provided, pave the road for subsequent work related to plant physiology and other areas of science and technology, and allow us to objectively compare the tolerance to water stress in these fourteen olive cultivars.

Value of combining transect counts and telemetry data to determine short-term population trends in a globally threatened species

To evaluate conservation interventions, it is necessary to obtain reliable population trends for short (<10 years) time scales. Telemetry can be used to estimate short-term survival rates and is a common tool for assessing population trends, but it has limitations and can be biased toward specific behavioral traits of tagged individuals. Encounter rates calculated from transects can be useful for assessing changes across multiple species, but they can have large confidence intervals and be affected by variations in survey conditions. The decline of African vultures has been well-documented, but understanding of recent trends is lacking. To examine population trends, we used survival estimates from telemetry data collected over 6 years (primarily for white-backed vultures [Gyps africanus]) and transect counts conducted over 8 years (for 7 scavenging raptors) in 3 large protected areas in Tanzania. Population trends were estimated using survival analysis combined with the Leslie Lefkovitch matrix model from the telemetry data and using Bayesian mixed effects generalized linear regression models from the transect data. Both methods showed significant declines for white-backed vultures in Ruaha and Nyerere National Parks. Only telemetry estimates suggested significant declines in Katavi National Park. Encounter rates calculated from transects also showed declines in Nyerere National Park for lappet-faced vultures (38% annual declines) and Bateleurs (18%) and in Ruaha National Park for white-headed vultures (Trigonoceps occipitalis) (19%). Mortality rates recorded and inferred from telemetry suggested that poisoning is prevalent. However, only 6 mortalities of the 26 presumed mortalities were confirmed to be caused by poisoning, highlighting the challenges of determining the cause of death when working across large landscapes. Despite declines, our data provide evidence that southern Tanzania has higher current encounter rates of African vultures than elsewhere in East Africa. Preventing further declines will depend greatly on mitigating poisoning. Based on our results, we suggest that the use of multiple techniques improves understanding of population trends over the short term.

The impact of the German timber footprint on potential species loss in supply regions

Previous own assessments have shown that a) Germany has a wood consumption above global average, b) is strongly dependent on imports and c) has a domestic roundwood production that is at the limit of the sustainable harvest potential. Thereby Germany further increases the pressures on global forests which are already stressed by climate-change related impacts and a continuously growing global demand for wood. This leads to negative impacts on the biodiversity in the areas where wood is harvested. This paper aims to show the connection between Germany's timber consumption footprint and the impact on the biodiversity in the regions where the roundwood is sourced. A two-step process is used. In the first step, high-resolution land cover and land use maps are used as a basis for the countryside species-area relationship model, assessing the projected loss of the four taxa amphibians, birds, mammals and reptiles in relation to undisturbed natural ecosystems due to forests occupied for roundwood production. In the second step, roundwood equivalents consumed in Germany in 2015 are traced back to the region of origin using an environmentally-extended input-output analysis and the thereby induced potential species loss is calculated. We show that the highest impact on projected species richness loss caused by roundwood logging is taking place in Oceania (3.34E-03 species/m3), Carribean (1.56E-04 species/m3), and East Asia (1.43E-04 species/m3). German roundwood consumption has the highest projected species loss in the United States (7.4 species), followed by China (7.3 species) and Brazil (4.8 species). From a biodiversity impact perspective, Germany could theoretically reduce its impact by relocating imports to European countries. In view of the planetary boundary of sustainable roundwood consumption, which has already been exceeded, reducing consumption appears to be the only viable long-term option for high-consumption countries such as Germany to reduce negative impacts on global biodiversity.

Local buffer mechanisms for population persistence

Assessing and predicting the persistence of populations is essential for the conservation and control of species. Here, we argue that local mechanisms require a better conceptual synthesis to facilitate a more holistic consideration along with regional mechanisms known from metapopulation theory. We summarise the evidence for local buffer mechanisms along with their capacities and emphasise the need to include multiple buffer mechanisms in studies of population persistence. We propose an accessible framework for local buffer mechanisms that distinguishes between damping (reducing fluctuations in population size) and repelling (reducing population declines) mechanisms. We highlight opportunities for empirical and modelling studies to investigate the interactions and capacities of buffer mechanisms to facilitate better ecological understanding in times of ecological upheaval.

Aligning Environmental Sustainability, Health Outcomes, and Affordability in Diet Quality: A Systematic Review

Improving diet quality while simultaneously maintaining planetary health is of critical interest globally. Despite the shared motivation, advancement remains slow, and the research community continues to operate in silos, focusing on certain pairings (diet-climate), or with a discipline-specific lens of a sustainable diet, rather than examining their totality. This review aimed to summarize the literature on adherence to a priori defined dietary patterns in consideration of diet quality, metabolic risk factors for noncommunicable diseases (NCDs), environmental impacts, and affordability. A methodology using PRISMA guidelines was followed, and searches were performed in 7 databases as of October 2022. The Appraisal tool for Cross-Sectional Studies (AXIS) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) quality assessment tool for observational cohort studies were employed for quality appraisal. The evidence was narratively synthesized according to the characteristics of the diet quality metrics. The review includes 24 studies published between 2017-2023. Thirteen distinct diet quality scores were identified, with those measuring adherence to national dietary guidelines the most reported. Thirteen distinct environmental impact indicators were identified, with greenhouse gas emissions (n=23) reported most. All studies reported on body mass index, and 7 studies assessed the cost of adherence. Our results are consistent with previous findings that healthier diets can reduce environmental impacts; however, incongruities between population and planetary health can occur. Hence, the "sustainability" of dietary patterns is dependent on the choice of indicators selected. Further, healthy, lower impact diets can increase financial cost, but may also provide a protective role against the risk of obesity. Given the Global Syndemic, strategies to reduce obesity prevalence should emphasize the win-win opportunities for population and planetary health through dietary change. Research should identify diets that address multiple environmental concerns to curtail burdens potentially transferring, and harmonize this with sociocultural and equity dimensions. This review was registered at PROSPERO as CRD42021238055.

Avoiding an unjust transition to sustainability: An equity metric for spatial conservation planning

The need for rapid and ambitious conservation and restoration is widely acknowledged, yet concern exists that the widespread reallocation of land to nature would disproportionately affect the world's poor. Conservation and restoration may limit nutrition and livelihood options and thus negatively affect social development objectives. Although much research looks into global-scale scenarios and planning of conservation and restoration, spatial evaluations of these trade-offs in terms of equity remain limited. We fill this gap by identifying areas where conservation or restoration under different future scenarios and prioritization maps expand nature into landscapes that likely support land-dependent communities in their local food security. By contrasting the expansion of nature into areas supporting land-dependent communities vs. places where the food system is supported by regional to global markets, we highlight the need for disaggregated indicators that reflect the diversity of human land-use needs in order to identify more equitable pathways. Conservation prioritizations were found to result in more equitable land-use outcomes than the land-use outcomes of widely used socioeconomic scenarios. Accounting for differentiated social impacts in model-based conservation and restoration planning and global scale scenario assessment can help achieve a more inclusive transition to sustainability as well as reduce barriers to meaningful change.

Planet-based diets: improving environmental sustainability of healthy diets

The focus of nutritionists is on improvement of the health impact of current diets. Therefore, it is important to ask the question whether healthy diets are more sustainable. This review provides an overview on the research on synergies between health and sustainability. Synergies are found from shifts from animal-based to plant-based diets, from ultra-processed foods to fresh and whole foods and from reduction of food waste. The importance of looking at sustainability of the present diets has led to steps made in Europe to incorporate sustainability into food-based dietary guidelines. Examples from UK, Nordics, Belgium and the Netherlands are given. World Wildlife Fund has summarised the insides in a future-proof diet: the planet-based diet within planetary boundaries.