Species, and their ecological strategies, are disappearing. Here we use species traits to quantify the current and projected future ecological strategy diversity for 15,484 land mammals and birds. We ...reveal an ecological strategy surface, structured by life-history (fast-slow) and body mass (small-large) as one major axis, and diet (invertivore-herbivore) and habitat breadth (generalist-specialist) as the other. We also find that of all possible trait combinations, only 9% are currently realized. Based on species' extinction probabilities, we predict this limited set of viable strategies will shrink further over the next 100 years, shifting the mammal and bird species pool towards small, fast-lived, highly fecund, insect-eating, generalists. In fact, our results show that this projected decline in ecological strategy diversity is much greater than if species were simply lost at random. Thus, halting the disproportionate loss of ecological strategies associated with highly threatened animals represents a key challenge for conservation.
•We present a systematic map of research investigating greenspace and mental health.•Experimental studies assess causality but had unrepresentative samples.•Observational studies using longitudinal ...data were limited in number.•Measures of greenspace “quantity” were more common than measures of “quality”.•The possibility of scale-dependence in greenspace effects was rarely considered.
The past 35 years has seen an accumulation of empirical evidence suggesting a positive association between greenspace and mental health. Existing reviews of evidence are narrow in scope, and do not adequately represent the broad range of disciplines working in this field. This study is the first systematic map of studies investigating greenspace effects on mental health. A total of 6059 papers were screened for their relevance, 276 of which met inclusion criteria for the systematic map.
The map revealed several methodological limitations hindering the practical applications of research findings to public health. Critically, the majority of studies used cross-sectional mental health data which makes causal inference about greenspace effects challenging. There are also few studies on the micro-features that make up greenspaces (i.e., their “quality”), with most focussing only on “quantity” effects on mental health. Moreover, few studies adopted a multi-scale approach, meaning there is little evidence about at which spatial scale(s) the relationship exists. A geographic gap in study location was also identified, with the majority of studies clustered in European countries and the USA.
Future research should account for both human and ecological perspectives of “quality” using objective and repeatable measures, and consider the potential of scale-dependent greenspace effects to ensure that management of greenspace is compatible with wider scale biodiversity targets. To establish the greenspace and metal health relationship across a life course, studies should make better use of longitudinal data, as this enables stronger inferences to be made than more commonly used cross-sectional data.
Energy systems need decarbonisation in order to limit global warming to within safe limits. While global land planners are promising more of the planet's limited space to wind and solar photovoltaic, ...there is little information on where current infrastructure is located. The majority of recent studies use land suitability for wind and solar, coupled with technical and socioeconomic constraints, as a proxy for actual location data. Here, we address this shortcoming. Using readily accessible OpenStreetMap data we present, to our knowledge, the first global, open-access, harmonised spatial datasets of wind and solar installations. We also include user friendly code to enable users to easily create newer versions of the dataset. Finally, we include first order estimates of power capacities of installations. We anticipate these data will be of widespread interest within global studies of the future potential and trade-offs associated with the global decarbonisation of energy systems.
The combined effects of climate change and habitat loss represent a major threat to species and ecosystems around the world. Here, we analyse the vulnerability of ecosystems to climate change based ...on current levels of habitat intactness and vulnerability to biome shifts, using multiple measures of habitat intactness at two spatial scales. We show that the global extent of refugia depends highly on the definition of habitat intactness and spatial scale of the analysis of intactness. Globally, 28% of terrestrial vegetated area can be considered refugia if all natural vegetated land cover is considered. This, however, drops to 17% if only areas that are at least 50% wilderness at a scale of 48 × 48 km are considered and to 10% if only areas that are at least 50% wilderness at a scale of 4.8 × 4.8 km are considered. Our results suggest that, in regions where relatively large, intact wilderness areas remain (e.g. Africa, Australia, boreal regions, South America), conservation of the remaining large‐scale refugia is the priority. In human‐dominated landscapes, (e.g. most of Europe, much of North America and Southeast Asia), focusing on finer scale refugia is a priority because large‐scale wilderness refugia simply no longer exist. Action to conserve such refugia is particularly urgent since only 1 to 2% of global terrestrial vegetated area is classified as refugia and at least 50% covered by the global protected area network.
Biodiversity and Resilience of Ecosystem Functions Oliver, Tom H.; Heard, Matthew S.; Isaac, Nick J.B. ...
Trends in ecology & evolution (Amsterdam),
November 2015, 2015-Nov, 2015-11-00, 20151101, Letnik:
30, Številka:
11
Journal Article
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Accelerating rates of environmental change and the continued loss of global biodiversity threaten functions and services delivered by ecosystems. Much ecosystem monitoring and management is focused ...on the provision of ecosystem functions and services under current environmental conditions, yet this could lead to inappropriate management guidance and undervaluation of the importance of biodiversity. The maintenance of ecosystem functions and services under substantial predicted future environmental change (i.e., their ‘resilience’) is crucial. Here we identify a range of mechanisms underpinning the resilience of ecosystem functions across three ecological scales. Although potentially less important in the short term, biodiversity, encompassing variation from within species to across landscapes, may be crucial for the longer-term resilience of ecosystem functions and the services that they underpin.
Deer (Cervidae) populations are increasing across the temperate zone, threatening forest biodiversity and ecosystem services. However, the fundamental question of what factors make a forest ...susceptible to deer damage remains unanswered, hampering efforts to mitigate against damage. Previous research has assumed that deer density consistently increases forest damage. However, the effect of deer density is likely to be contingent on a range of other drivers, such as climate and landscape structure. Mitigation measures are expensive, so a sound understanding of these contingencies is required to inform the targeting of appropriate management to forests most at risk of damage.
Using records of forest damage from Britain's National Forest Inventory, which comprises over 15,000 plots spanning environmental gradients, we applied a multiscale approach to identify the drivers of forest susceptibility to damage by deer.
Damage likelihood was dependent on drivers operating at multiple spatial scales and their interactions. Broadleaved stands with low tree densities and old trees were consistently found to be at high risk across Britain. The statistical influence of surrounding forest cover within 500 m of a site was modified by regional deer density and climate, in addition to landscape‐level perennial cover. The effect of deer density on damage was therefore not straightforward, but context dependent.
Synthesis and applications. We predict the likely outcome of afforestation initiatives on the likelihood that a forest site will be damaged by deer, with important implications for management and landscape planning in Britain. The complex interactive effects uncovered are difficult to interpret. We therefore provide an interactive Deer Damage Tool (R Shiny application; https://spake.shinyapps.io/DEERDAMAGETOOL/) for practitioners to visualize how afforestation is likely to influence the probability of deer damage in different forests and regions across Britain.
We predict the likely outcome of afforestation initiatives on the likelihood that a forest site will be damaged by deer, with important implications for management and landscape planning in Britain. The complex interactive effects uncovered are difficult to interpret. We therefore provide an interactive Deer Damage Tool (R Shiny application; https://spake.shinyapps.io/DEERDAMAGETOOL/) for practitioners to visualize how afforestation is likely to influence the probability of deer damage in different forests and regions across Britain.
The environmental heterogeneity–biodiversity relationship is generally hypothesised to be positive, with greater heterogeneity leading to greater biodiversity. However, the generality of positive ...environmental heterogeneity–species richness relationships is often debated, with some studies finding non-significant or even negative relationships. Negative relationships have primarily been found at fine spatial scales. Both negative and positive relationships have a basis in ecological theory. Environmental heterogeneity at coarse scales opens up niche space to allow more species to coexist; whereas high local heterogeneity, for instance in topography, may lead to increased local extinction due to micro-fragmentation, or dominance of species suited to heterogeneous conditions. However, it is difficult to attribute how much of the variance is explained at different scales within the same modelling framework.
Here, we use a new data-aggregation method which enables us to include both fine- and coarse-scale environmental heterogeneity within the same analysis. Using this method, we were able to tease apart the fine- and coarse-grain effects of topographic heterogeneity on European tree species richness. At the coarse scale (0.5 degrees), we found a positive effect of range in elevation on tree species richness. However, when measuring range in elevation using a fine-scale moving window of radius 500 m, we found a negative relationship with tree species richness. This supports existing research that has shown negative relationships between environmental heterogeneity and species richness at finer spatial grains. Because we were able to include a measure of both local and landscape-scale topographic heterogeneity in the same model, for the first time we could fully capture the effects of both scales on coarse-grain species richness while accounting for the effect of the other scale.
•A bottom-up understanding of the determinants of ES bundles is a critical research gap in sustainability science.•We evaluate the state of the art of methods in ES bundle science and synthesize ...these into four steps.•We apply these four steps to a case study (the French Alps) and use the results to critique the current approaches.•We conclude that inconsistency of spatial scale remains the primary barrier for understanding and predicting ES bundles.•We outline a roadmap for hypothesis-driven research aimed at understanding and predicting ES bundles.
Multiple ecosystem services (ES) can respond similarly to social and ecological factors to form bundles. Identifying key social-ecological variables and understanding how they co-vary to produce these consistent sets of ES may ultimately allow the prediction and modelling of ES bundles, and thus, help us understand critical synergies and trade-offs across landscapes. Such an understanding is essential for informing better management of multi-functional landscapes and minimising costly trade-offs. However, the relative importance of different social and biophysical drivers of ES bundles in different types of social-ecological systems remains unclear. As such, a bottom-up understanding of the determinants of ES bundles is a critical research gap in ES and sustainability science.
Here, we evaluate the current methods used in ES bundle science and synthesize these into four steps that capture the plurality of methods used to examine predictors of ES bundles. We then apply these four steps to a cross-study comparison (North and South French Alps) of relationships between social-ecological variables and ES bundles, as it is widely advocated that cross-study comparisons are necessary for achieving a general understanding of predictors of ES associations. We use the results of this case study to assess the strengths and limitations of current approaches for understanding distributions of ES bundles. We conclude that inconsistency of spatial scale remains the primary barrier for understanding and predicting ES bundles. We suggest a hypothesis-driven approach is required to predict relationships between ES, and we outline the research required for such an understanding to emerge.
Quantifying the Road-Effect Zone Eigenbrod, Felix; Hecnar, Stephen J.; Fahrig, Lenore
Ecology and society,
06/2009, Letnik:
14, Številka:
1
Journal Article
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The negative effect of roads on wildlife is recognized as a major contributor to the global biodiversity crisis, with anurans being among the most vulnerable groups overall. The “road-effect zone,” ...i.e., the extent of significant ecological effects from the edge of a road (Forman and Alexander 1998), has important management implications, but has never been quantified for anurans. In the first study of its kind, we measured the extent and type of relationship underlying the road-effect zones of a motorway with a high proportion of heavy-truck traffic, particularly at night (Highway 401) for anuran species richness and relative abundance. We surveyed 34 ponds located 68–3262 m from the edge of the motorway, and used piecewise and linear regressions to determine if road-effect zones were clearly delineated by ecological thresholds. We found road-effect zones of 250–1000 m delineated by ecological thresholds for four of seven species and species richness, and road-effect zones of well beyond 1000 m best described by linear regressions for two species. The negative effect of Highway 401 was unexpectedly strong for four of seven species suggest that, in addition to road mortality, very high nighttime truck traffic can actually lead to reduced use of breeding habitat near the motorway either by acting as a barrier to forest habitat on the other side of the highway and/or because of traffic noise. Our results show that most anurans are likely to have reduced abundances near motorways, but that both the extent of the effect of this type of road and the underlying relationship vary considerably between species. Furthermore, the noise and/or barrier effect of very high nighttime traffic volumes can lead to negative effects of motorways even on species that are relatively unaffected by direct road mortality.
Given its total contribution to greenhouse gas emissions, the global electric power sector will be required to undergo a fundamental transformation over the next decades to limit anthropogenic ...climate change to below 2 °C. Implications for biodiversity of projected structural changes in the global electric power sector are rarely considered beyond those explicitly linked to climate change. This study uses a spatially explicit consumption-based accounting framework to examine the impact of demand for electric power on terrestrial vertebrate biodiversity globally. We demonstrate that the biodiversity footprint of the electric power sector is primarily within the territory where final demand for electric power resides, although there are substantial regional differences, with Europe displacing its biodiversity threat along international supply chains. The relationship between size of individual components of the electric power sector and threat to biodiversity indicates that a shift to nonfossil sources, such as solar and wind, could reduce pressures on biodiversity both within the territory where demand for power resides and along international supply chains. However, given the current levels of deployment of nonfossil sources of power, there is considerable uncertainty as to how the impacts of structural changes in the global electric power system will scale. Given the strong territorial link between demand and associated biodiversity impacts, development of strong national governance around the electric power sector represents a clear route to mitigate threats to biodiversity associated with efforts to decarbonize society over the coming century.
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