•Ecosystem-wide monitoring of peatland functions is necessary to inform policy.•Standardised mapping approaches using drones are theoretically well-suited for this.•We developed a large-scale drone ...vegetation mapping approach for whole peatlands.•We could map both fine-scale vegetation patterns and habitats with high accuracy.•Spatial transferability of the mapping approach was limited between peatlands.
Northern peatlands provide key climate regulating services by sequestering and storing atmospheric carbon as peat, but also provide habitat for specialised plant and animal species. Ecosystem-wide monitoring of the functions associated with these services is necessary to better inform policy and management and facilitate carbon financing schemes. Mapping peatland vegetation as an ecological indicator of their functions using drones has proven promising herein, yet the absence of standardised methods limits implementation.
We developed drone-derived vegetation maps and compared them with two types of field-based ground-reference maps: 1) habitat distribution (ecotopes) and 2) habitat quality (status) for five Irish peatlands (35–124 ha). We also explored spatial transferability of our mapping approach across peatlands. First, orthomosaics and digital terrain models (DTM) were derived from drone imagery, after which plant functional types and microforms were separately classified. Second, ecotope and status maps were classified using the proportions of the fine-scale vegetation and the range in DTM within 20x20m grid cells as input predictor variables.
Drone-derived ecotope and status maps captured the overall vegetation zonation of the conventional maps well, with the least mismatches for the peatlands displaying clear concentric zonation. Classification performance ranged between 88% for status and 72% for ecotope maps between peatlands. The lower classification performance for ecotopes was partly an artifact from gridding the conventional polygon-shaped ground-reference maps. Further classification errors resulted from artificial landscape features, variable plant phenology, and inaccuracies in the detrended DTM data at peatland-scale. Spatial transferability of the mapping approach was limited. Particularly, using pooled ground-reference data for classification decreased model performance with 5% for status and 10% for ecotope maps, largely because microform and plant functional type proportions associated with peatland habitat classes in the conventional maps varied between peatlands.
Our findings highlight that both fine-scale vegetation patterns and habitats can be classified consistently on the peatland-scale using drone-derived imagery products and machine learning classifications. Yet, status is currently mapped notably more accurately than ecotopes. Also, peatland-specific ground-reference data is required until the conventional vegetation classes are more standardised across a wider variety of peatlands and peatland types.
Ecological indicators can be used to assess the condition of the environment, to provide an early warning signal of changes in the environment, or to diagnose the cause of an environmental problem. ...Ideally the suite of indicators should represent key information about structure, function, and composition of the ecological system. Three concerns hamper the use of ecological indicators as a resource management tool. (1) Monitoring programs often depend on a small number of indicators and fail to consider the full complexity of the ecological system. (2) Choice of ecological indicators is confounded in management programs that have vague long-term goals and objectives. (3) Management and monitoring programs often lack scientific rigor because of their failure to use a defined protocol for identifying ecological indicators. Thus, ecological indicators need to capture the complexities of the ecosystem yet remain simple enough to be easily and routinely monitored. Ecological indicators should meet the following criteria: be easily measured, be sensitive to stresses on the system, respond to stress in a predictable manner, be anticipatory, predict changes that can be averted by management actions, be integrative, have a known response to disturbances, anthropogenic stresses, and changes over time, and have low variability in response. The challenge is to derive a manageable set of indicators that together meet these criteria.
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Ecological perturbations caused by biotic invasion have been identified as a growing threat to global sustainability. Invasive alien plants species (IAPS) are considered to be one of ...the major drivers of biodiversity loss and thereby altering the ecosystem services and socio-economic conditions through different mechanisms. Although the ecological impacts of IAPS are well documented, there is a dearth of studies regarding their economic quantification, livelihood considerations, biotechnological prospects (phytoremediation, bioenergy, phyto-synthesis of nanoparticles, biomedical, industrial applications etc.) and human health risk assessments of IAPS. In this context, the current panoramic review aimed to investigate the environmental, socio-ecological and health risks posed by IAPS as well as the compounded impact of IAPS with habitat fragmentation, climate and land use changes. To this end, the need of an integrated trans-disciplinary research is emphasized for the sustainable management of IAPS. The management prospects can be further strengthened through their linkage with geo-spatial technologies (remote sensing and GIS) by mapping and monitoring the IAPS spread. Further, the horizon of IAPS management is expanded to ecological indicator perspectives of IAPS, biosecurity, and risk assessment protocols with critical discussion. Moreover, positive as well as negative implications of the IAPS on environment, health, ecosystem services and socio-economy (livelihood) are listed so that a judicious policy framework could be developed for the IAPS management in order to mitigate the human health implications.
The UN Sustainable Development Goals states that urban air pollution must be tackled to create more inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable cities. Urban green infrastructures can mitigate air ...pollution, but a crucial step to use this knowledge into urban management is to quantify how much air-quality regulation can green spaces provide and to understand how the provision of this ecosystem service is affected by other environmental factors. Considering the insufficient number of air quality monitoring stations in cities to monitor the wide range of natural and anthropic sources of pollution with high spatial resolution, ecological indicators of air quality are an alternative cost-effective tool. The aim of this work was to model the supply of air-quality regulation based on urban green spaces characteristics and other environmental factors. For that, we sampled lichen diversity in the centroids of 42 urban green spaces in Lisbon, Portugal. Species richness was the best biodiversity metric responding to air pollution, considering its simplicity and its significative response to the air pollutants concentration data measured in the existent air quality monitoring stations. Using that metric, we then created a model to estimate the supply of air quality regulation provided by green spaces in all green spaces of Lisbon based on the response to the following environmental drivers: the urban green spaces size and its vegetation density. We also used the unexplained variance of this model to map the background air pollution. Overall, we suggest that management should target the smallest urban green spaces by increasing green space size or tree density. The use of ecological indicators, very flexible in space, allow the understanding and the modeling of the provision of air-quality regulation by urban green spaces, and how urban green spaces can be managed to improve air quality and thus improve human well-being and cities resilience.
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•How do natural and anthropic factors influence ecosystem services (ES) provisioning?•We model the provision of air quality regulation ES by urban green spaces.•Ecological indicators allowed overcoming the lack of monitoring stations.•Green space size and vegetation density were key drivers influencing ES provision.•The effects in ES of multiple scenarios of policy options were then modeled.
•The use of biological traits has received a growing interest in marine ecology as a means to improve the understanding of marine ecosystem functioning.•A review of the related literature reveals ...that biological trait analyses do not evenly cover all ecosystem components and trait functionalities.•Although the use of multiple traits enables the understanding of mechanistic processes filtering species fitness and sensitivity to environmental variability, theoretical support is still lacking in marine studies.•Understanding life-history strategies through biological trait analysis appears to be a strong basis of “theoretically-sound” indicator developments.
Biological traits offer valuable approaches to understand species distributions and underlying mechanisms. Their use has received a growing interest in marine community ecology, for both fundamental and applied purposes. The need of ecological indicators as part of marine directives and conservation programmes has promoted the use of multiple traits for indicator development, but in a questionable context regarding the state of fundamental developments. Biological Trait Analysis (BTA) is a complex research field, characterised by flexible concepts and applications. In order to enhance the development of relevant marine ecological indicators, this review provides baselines for better theoretical and applied BTA. A compilation of the existing literature reveals that specific topics have dominated the use of multiple traits in marine ecology unlike in freshwater and terrestrial ecology where tests of theories and uses of evolutionary concepts consistently preceded BTA applications. Availability of data sets and analytical techniques seemed to have driven the growing use of marine BTA rather than fundamental questions regarding life history theories in marine ecosystem components and the functional nature of traits. It is therefore suggested that greater focus on life history ecology and on the links between marine species traits and ecosystem functioning are still needed to support trait-based indicator development. Life history strategy understanding is put forward as a theoretically-sound basis and fundamental pre-requisite for trait-based marine indicator development.
Summary
Ecologists often group organisms based on similar biological traits or on taxonomic criteria. However, the use of taxonomy in ecology has many drawbacks because taxa may include species with ...very different ecological adaptations. Further, similar characters may evolve independently in different lineages.
In this review, we examine the main criteria that have been used in the identification of nine modes of classifying phytoplankton non‐taxonomically. These approaches are based purely on morphological and/or structural traits, or on more complex combinations including physiological and ecological features.
Different functional approaches have proved able to explain some fraction of the variance observed in the spatial and temporal distribution patterns of algal assemblages, although their effectiveness varies greatly, depending on the number and characteristics of functional traits used. The attribution of functional traits to single species or broad groups of species has allowed a few classifications (e.g. Functional Groups, FG) to be used in the assessment of ecological status.
We stress that the misuse of functional classifications (by applying them under conditions other than those intended) can have serious consequences for interpreting ecological processes. Assigning functional traits or groups cannot be considered a surrogate for the knowledge of species or ecotypes, and the use of specific traits must always be justified and circumscribed within the limits of ecological questions and hypotheses.
An important future challenge will be to integrate advances in molecular genetics, metabolomics and physiology with more conventional traits; this will form the basis of the next generation of functional classifications.
This paper analyses local geographical contexts targeted by transnational large-scale land acquisitions (>200 ha per deal) in order to understand how emerging patterns of socio-ecological ...characteristics can be related to processes of large-scale foreign investment in land. Using a sample of 139 land deals georeferenced with high spatial accuracy, we first analyse their target contexts in terms of land cover, population density, accessibility, and indicators for agricultural potential. Three distinct patterns emerge from the analysis: densely populated and easily accessible croplands (35% of land deals); remote forestlands with lower population densities (34% of land deals); and moderately populated and moderately accessible shrub- or grasslands (26% of land deals). These patterns are consistent with processes described in the relevant case study literature, and they each involve distinct types of stakeholders and associated competition over land. We then repeat the often-cited analysis that postulates a link between land investments and target countries with abundant so-called “idle” or “marginal” lands as measured by yield gap and available suitable but uncultivated land; our methods differ from the earlier approach, however, in that we examine local context (10-km radius) rather than countries as a whole. The results show that earlier findings are disputable in terms of concepts, methods, and contents. Further, we reflect on methodologies for exploring linkages between socio-ecological patterns and land investment processes. Improving and enhancing large datasets of georeferenced land deals is an important next step; at the same time, careful choice of the spatial scale of analysis is crucial for ensuring compatibility between the spatial accuracy of land deal locations and the resolution of available geospatial data layers. Finally, we argue that new approaches and methods must be developed to empirically link socio-ecological patterns in target contexts to key determinants of land investment processes. This would help to improve the validity and the reach of our findings as an input for evidence-informed policy debates.
•Large-scale land deals in the global South do not target “idle” or “marginal” land.•35% of land deals target populated croplands, 34% remote forests, and 26% grasslands.•Deals show distinct patterns of stakeholders, land functions, and competition over land.•Place-based analysis can help to link patterns and processes of land acquisition.
The Agujero Azul (Blue Hole) is an oceanic region located on the edge of the Southwestern Atlantic continental shelf that is especially impacted by intense fishing activity. It harbours a high ...biodiversity, including the mesopelagic lanternfishes of the numerically abundant family Myctophidae. Due to their high abundance and relevance in food webs, monitoring changes in the population and community structure of mesopelagic fishes is a valuable tool to trace changes in a warming world, especially in a highly exploited ecosystem where the effects of global change have been documented. Parasite communities of the lanternfishes Gymnoscopelus nicholsi and Electrona subaspera, caught at the Agujero Azul are analyzed. The aims of this work were to assess their value as indicators of host population structure and to establish a baseline for monitoring ecosystem variations under future scenarios of global change. The connectivity with the population of G. nicholsi from around South Georgia was also evaluated by comparing their parasite faunas. A parasitological study of 170 G. nicholsi and 31 of E. subaspera showed low parasite abundance and species richness, with significantly higher levels of parasitism in larger fishes. The paucity of parasitism in G. nicholsi from South Georgia compared to Agujero Azul suggests the existence of two discrete stocks. On the other hand, comparison with literature data supports a connection between fish from the Patagonian shelf and South Shetland Islands (Antarctica). Comparison across samples from Agujero Azul showed homogeneity in parasite assemblages, regardless of the distance separating them, ensuring that parasites are reliable representatives of such physical conditions. Thus, this representability suggests that parasites can be suitable indicators to estimate the amplitude of future changes due to global warming and other anthropogenic stressors in this region. This work provides a baseline for using the parasites of G. nicholsi as indicators to trace these ongoing and predicted changes.
•Parasite assemblages of G. nicholsi from Agujero Azul were remarkably homogeneous.•Structure of parasite assemblages reflects homogeneity in physical conditions.•Parasites assemblages can serve as indicators of ongoing environmental changes.•Parasites are suitable tags for stock discrimination of G. nicholsi.
Water resources are supplied under strong anthropic pressures and result in several problems of water contamination in the world, which necessitates the use of methodologies for their evaluation. ...Thus, this research aimed to identify the biomonitoring indices based on macroinvertebrates in the evaluation of the quality of the water used and to identify its application trends. The study was developed through a scientometric review over a 20-year period (2000–2020). The search consisted of articles indexed in the Scielo, ScienceDirect, and Scopus databases, based on the keywords “biotic index” * OR “aquatic macroinvertebrates” * OR “benthic macroinvertebrates” * OR “Biomonitoring” * AND “water quality.” Selection, such as inclusion and exclusion, was applied in the Start program (State of the Art through Systematic Review-Start). The results showed that the EPT index (Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera, and Trichoptera) was the most used among all researched databases (20%), and among the Ecological Indicators journals from which the largest number of publications were obtained (11%). Regarding the indices used in biomonitoring research, the ASPT index (average score per taxon) was the only one with a tendency to increase in use over the years (R² = 0.29; p < 0.05). Although the biomonitoring indices are commonly used worldwide denoting that it is still an alternative tool, this literature review showed that among the indices only one has a trend of use, which must be considered for further research.
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