Land-use has transformed ecosystems over three quarters of the terrestrial surface, with massive repercussions on biodiversity. Land-use intensity is known to contribute to the effects of land-use on ...biodiversity, but the magnitude of this contribution remains uncertain. Here, we use a modified countryside species-area model to compute a global account of the impending biodiversity loss caused by current land-use patterns, explicitly addressing the role of land-use intensity based on two sets of intensity indicators. We find that land-use entails the loss of ~15% of terrestrial vertebrate species from the average 5 × 5 arcmin-landscape outside remaining wilderness areas and ~14% of their average native area-of-habitat, with a risk of global extinction for 556 individual species. Given the large fraction of global land currently used under low land-use intensity, we find its contribution to biodiversity loss to be substantial (~25%). While both sets of intensity indicators yield similar global average results, we find regional differences between them and discuss data gaps. Our results support calls for improved sustainable intensification strategies and demand-side actions to reduce trade-offs between food security and biodiversity conservation.
In our globalized world, local impacts of agricultural production are increasingly driven by consumption in geographically distant places. Current agricultural systems strongly rely on nitrogen (N) ...fertilization to increase soil fertility and crop yields. Yet, a large portion of N added to cropland is lost through leaching / runoff potentially leading to eutrophication in coastal ecosystems. By coupling data on global production and N fertilization for 152 crops with a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA)-based model, we first estimated the extent of oxygen depletion occurring in 66 Large Marine Ecosystems (LMEs) due to agricultural production in the watersheds draining into these LMEs. We then linked this information to crop trade data to assess the displacement from consuming to producing countries, in terms of oxygen depletion impacts associated to our food systems. In this way, we characterized how impacts are distributed between traded and domestically sourced agricultural products. We found that few countries dominate global impacts and that cereal and oil crop production accounts for the bulk of oxygen depletion impacts. Globally, 15.9 % of total oxygen depletion impacts of crop production are ascribable to export-driven production. However, for exporting countries like Canada, Argentina or Malaysia this share is much higher, often up to three-quarters of their production impacts. In some importing countries, trade contributes to reduce pressure on already highly affected coastal ecosystems. This is the case for countries whose domestic crop production is associated with high oxygen depletion intensities, i.e. the impact per kcal produced, such as Japan or South Korea. Next to these positive effects trade can play in lowering overall environmental burdens, our results also highlight the importance of a holistic food system perspective when aiming to reduce the oxygen depletion impacts of crop production.
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•Production and consumption of crop products impacts LMEs globally, albeit to different degree.•International trade of crop production induces ~16 % of these oxygen depletion impacts.•In a hypothetical no-trade counterfactual impacts would be considerably higher.•Per capita, small and wealthy countries show the largest import related impacts.
Purpose
In the last years, India has taken a number of initiatives to boost small hydropower development based on the assumption of being a green energy source with only limited disturbances on the ...social and natural environments. However, its real environmental performances have not been examined. The intention of this paper is to evaluate the potential environmental impacts of Small Hydropower Plants (SHPs) in India in light of their exemption from any Environmental Clearance procedures.
Methods
A cradle-to-use analysis of a SHP planned on the Kavery River in India was carried out using the GaBi Software and the ISO 14040 guidelines. The CML 2001, LANCA, and the methods developed by Chaudhary et al. (
2015
) were applied to characterize the impacts. This paper goes beyond conventional LCA and the sustainability paradigm of GHG emissions, by including a comprehensive evaluation of the impacts from land use and land use change in terms of their effects on terrestrial and aquatic biodiversity, on ecosystem services and in terms of biogenic GHG emissions. Sensitivity analyses of how predefined parameters affect the performances of the dam were also carried out. Further, a distance-to-target weighting factor based on the concept of Carrying Capacity was applied.
Results and discussion
For the case study, depending on the impact category selected, the primary impacts are associated to the preconstruction, the construction, and the operation stages. These are the main contributors, in terms of impacts to ecosystem services, to biodiversity, and to global warming and eutrophication. As per material and energy inputs, concrete, steel, and electricity are the three dominating sources of impacts. The results of the sensitivity analysis suggest that the amount of organic matter washed into the reservoir as well as the plant output influence significantly the environmental performance of the dam. Based on the weighted results, Global Warming appears to be the most relevant impact with a relative contribution of 1.76E−14% to the Global Carrying Capacity threshold.
Conclusion
The study shows the need to account for a broader spectrum of environmental categories when assessing SHPs, underpinned by the significant impacts to biodiversity and ecosystem services as evidenced by the application of land use indicators. This can have long lasting consequences on the stability of a functioning ecosystem and its ability to provide valuable services. It also shows the need to reconsider the exemption of SHPs from any environmental impact assessment procedure.
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•Global feed supply displaces environmental impacts of livestock rearing from feed consuming to feed producing countries.•Impacts vary across countries and livestock products, with ...global feed trade shaping impact profiles.•The origin and type of feed consumed influence the magnitude and distribution of the impacts.•The study identifies livestock production systems qualifying as priority sustainability targets.
Driven by a growing and more affluent population, changing diets and lifestyles, the demand for livestock products is expected to surge in the next decades. Satisfying this demand will result in additional pressures on land systems. The increasingly globalized supply chains of the livestock economy will further decouple many of these impacts from the places where livestock are reared. In this study, we determined the impact intensities of global livestock production across three environmental indicators: deforestation, biodiversity loss and marine eutrophication. To this end, we used global data on the production of crops (and grass), their trade and use as feed in livestock-production systems, as well as livestock production data. We found the highest deforestation and biodiversity impact intensities in the tropics in Central and South America, Southeast Asia and Central Western Africa. In contrast, the highest values for marine eutrophication intensities were found in countries located in Northern Europe and in South and in East Asia. Our analyses show differences caused by varying efficiencies in livestock production systems and by the sourcing patterns of feed items. In grazing systems for the production of ruminant meat, for example, the resulting impact intensities are dominated by the consumption of grass. In intensive and industrialized production systems, the bulk of the deforestation and, to a lesser extent, biodiversity impacts are linked to imported soybean feed. Our results can help identify livestock production systems and countries that would qualify as priority action targets, as well as potential entry points to make their livestock production systems more sustainable. They can also be used to assist consumers in comparing impacts across and within livestock food product types. Ultimately, understanding the environmental impacts embodied in global supply chains of livestock products can help create better regulatory policies and science-based interventions for protecting terrestrial and marine ecosystems.
With ongoing global urbanization processes and consumption patterns increasingly recognized as key determinants of environmental change, a better understanding of the links between urban consumption ...and biodiversity loss is paramount. Here we quantify the global biodiversity footprint (BDF) of Vienna's (Austria) biomass consumption. We present a state-of-the-art product specific approach to (a) locate the production areas required for Vienna's consumption and map Vienna's BDF by (b) linking them with data taken from a previously published countryside Species-Area-Relationship (cSAR) model with a representation of land-use intensity. We found that food has the largest share in Vienna's BDF (58 %), followed by biomass for material applications (28 %) and bioenergy (13 %). The total BDF occurs predominantly within Austria and in its neighbouring countries, with ~20 % located outside Europe. Although the per capita biomass consumption in Vienna is above the global average, global and Viennese per capita BDFs are roughly equal, indicating that Vienna sources its products from high-yield regions with efficient production systems and comparatively low native species richness. We conclude that, among others, dietary changes offer a key leverage point for reducing the urban BDF, while expanding the use of biomass for material and energy use may increase the BDF and requires appropriate monitoring.
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•Cities are centres of consumption driving global environmental degradation.•The biodiversity footprint of Vienna occurs mainly in Europe, 20 % outside Europe.•Per capita consumption is higher than global average, but footprint is equal.•Sourcing patterns of consumption govern biodiversity footprint.
Global land systems are increasingly shaped by international trade of agricultural products. An increasing number of studies have quantified the implications of agricultural trade for single ...different aspects of land system sustainability. Bringing together studies across different sustainability dimensions, this review investigates how global agricultural trade flows have affected land systems and resulting impacts on food and nutrient availability, natural habitat conversion, biodiversity loss, and ecosystem carbon storage. We show that the effects of trade on land systems are highly heterogeneous across regions and commodities, revealing both synergies and trade-offs between improved nutrition and environmental conservation. For instance, we find that while the concentration of cereal production in North America has spared land, the increased demand for tropical products induced by trade has negatively impacted tropical ecosystems. Based on the current state of knowledge, we identify six pathways for how future research can contribute to a more comprehensive understanding of how agricultural trade can positively contribute to meeting global sustainability goals.
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Reviewing studies that quantify trends in agricultural trade, its impacts on nutrient availability, habitat conversion, biodiversity loss, and carbon storage reveals highly heterogeneous impacts. While trade can lead to more efficient land-use allocation, for instance through concentrating cereal production in regions with low carbon and biodiversity impacts, trade-induced demand for tropical products negatively affects carbon- and biodiversity-rich systems. We identify six ways how future research can contribute to a comprehensive understanding of the sustainability implications of agricultural trade.
The time-resolved laser-induced fluorescence of a series of polycyclic aromatic compounds (PAHs) and mixtures of these latter in aqueous solution was measured by means of an apparatus equipped with ...optical fibers, which allows their real time in situ monitoring. The potential of such spectroscopic technique, yielding 4-way fluorescence data arrays, together with the application of multi-way models to the matricized data, was tested for the resolution of complex aqueous mixtures containing low concentrations of PAHs, as typical fluorescent pollutants in aquatic systems. PARAllel FACtors analysis was employed for the qualitative resolution of PAHs mixtures and for calculating the fluorescence lifetimes of single PAHs; n-way partial least squares analysis was applied for evaluating the concentration of the single PAHs in the aqueous mixtures.
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