Article
Biodiversity Conservation
D. F. Castillo, N. C. Caruso
Summary: Understanding the distribution and ecological niche of hog-nosed skunks is crucial for their conservation. This study used species occurrence records and environmental variables to estimate suitable areas and key factors influencing their distribution. The results showed that temperature and tree presence are important variables. Additionally, areas of high habitat suitability for hog-nosed skunks are underrepresented in protected areas.
JOURNAL FOR NATURE CONSERVATION
(2024)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Alfonso Balmori
Summary: This article discusses the potential negative effects of radio tagging on wild animals. While it is a valuable technique for gathering information, it is important to be aware of and study the possible issues it may cause to ensure the well-being of the animals.
JOURNAL FOR NATURE CONSERVATION
(2024)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Pingping Huang, Feng Zhao, Bailing Zhou, Kuidong Xu
Summary: This study investigates the distribution of benthic microeukaryotes in the China Seas and finds that they can stride over the ecological barrier of 32 degrees N. The study also highlights the significant influence of depth, temperature, and latitude on communities in the China Seas.
ECOLOGICAL INDICATORS
(2024)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Federico Morelli, Yanina Benedetti, Jesse Stanford, Leszek Jerzak, Piotr Tryjanowski, Paolo Perna, Riccardo Santolini
Summary: Species distribution models (SDMs) are numerical tools used for predicting species' spatial distribution. This study found that ecological characteristics, such as habitat specialization, play a role in improving the accuracy of SDMs.
ECOLOGICAL INDICATORS
(2024)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Jingjuan He, Yijun Shi, Lihua Xu, Zhangwei Lu, Mao Feng
Summary: This study examines the spatial interplay between changes in the blue-green spatial distribution and modifications in land surface temperature grades in Shanghai. The findings reveal that the transformation of the blue-green spatial pattern differs between different sectors of the city, and the impact on the thermal environment varies spatially.
ECOLOGICAL INDICATORS
(2024)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Xiaoxuan Wu, Hang Liu, Wei Liu
Summary: Global climate change, urbanization, and economic development have increased the need for sustainable human development, urban ecological governance, and low-carbon energy transformation. This study analyzes the green ecological transition in Chengdu based on panel data from 2010 to 2020, exploring its spatiotemporal evolution and key factors. The results show an overall upward trend in Chengdu's green ecological development and positive spatial autocorrelation in certain districts.
ECOLOGICAL INDICATORS
(2024)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Gaia Vaglio Laurin, Alexander Cotrina-Sanchez, Luca Belelli-Marchesini, Enrico Tomelleri, Giovanna Battipaglia, Claudia Cocozza, Francesco Niccoli, Jerzy Piotr Kabala, Damiano Gianelle, Loris Vescovo, Luca Da Ros, Riccardo Valentini
Summary: Phenology monitoring is important for understanding forest functioning and climate impacts. This research compares the phenological behavior of European beech forests using Tree-Talker (TT+) and Sentinel 2 satellite data. The study finds differences in the information derived by the two sensor types, particularly in terms of season length, phenology changepoints, and leaf period variability. TT+ with its higher temporal resolution demonstrates precision in capturing the phenological changepoints, especially when satellite image availability is limited.
ECOLOGICAL INDICATORS
(2024)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Huanhuan Pan, Ziqiang Du, Zhitao Wu, Hong Zhang, Keming Ma
Summary: The land use and cover changes resulting from coal mining activities and ecological restoration have had a significant impact on ecosystem services in mining areas. This study investigates the relationship between ecosystem services and land use intensity in coal mining areas, emphasizing the importance of understanding this interdependence for balanced human-land system development. The research examines the evolving relationship across different reclamation stages in Shanxi, China, using a coupling coordination degree model. The findings suggest the need for timely and judicious reclamation of coalfields, considering the land's bearing capacity.
ECOLOGICAL INDICATORS
(2024)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Yi Xu, Di Zhang, Junqiang Lin, Qidong Peng, Xiaohui Lei, Tiantian Jin, Jia Wang, Ruifang Yuan
Summary: This study analyzed the response relationship between phytoplankton growth and water environmental parameters in the Middle Route of the South-to-North Water Diversion Project in China using long-term monitoring data and machine learning models. The results revealed the differences between monitoring sites and identified the key parameters that affect phytoplankton growth.
ECOLOGICAL INDICATORS
(2024)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Yongcui Lan, Jinliang Wang, Qianwei Liu, Fang Liu, Lanfang Liu, Jie Li, Mengjia Luo
Summary: This study focuses on the five major plateau lake basins in central Yunnan, China, and constructs an ecological security pattern using the source-resistance surface-corridor-pinch point framework. The study simulates land use/cover change in the region and identifies early warning regions where future urban expansion poses a threat to current ecological source areas and corridors.
ECOLOGICAL INDICATORS
(2024)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Castaldi Simona, Formicola Nicola, Mastrocicco Micol, Morales Rodriguez Carmen, Morelli Raffaella, Prodorutti Daniele, Vannini Andrea, Zanzotti Roberto
Summary: Sustainable agricultural practices are increasingly important for global and national environmental policies and economy. This study compared the sustainability of grape production under integrated and organic management using multiple indicators. The results showed that organic management was more beneficial for most environmental aspects of the agroecosystem compared to integrated management, without affecting grape yield.
ECOLOGICAL INDICATORS
(2024)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
James M. White, Rolf Lidskog
Summary: In recent years, there has been an increased recognition of the importance of including a variety of knowledge in the global environmental science-policy interface. This has led to the inclusion of social scientists and Indigenous and local knowledge in policy discussions. However, this pluralisation presents challenges for environmental expert organisations in terms of knowledge management, validation, policy-relevance, and presentation. Based on interviews with experts involved in IPBES, three approaches to these challenges are identified: integrationist logic, parallelist, and pragmatist. The paper explores the origins of these approaches and their implications for environmental expertise.
ECOSYSTEMS AND PEOPLE
(2023)
Review
Biodiversity Conservation
Joe Duggan, Christopher Cvitanovic, Ingrid van Putten
Summary: As humanity continues deeper into the Anthropocene era, Social-Ecological Systems (SESs) worldwide are facing increasing pressures. Research into the complex and interlinked nature of these systems is essential for their management, protection, and understanding. Sense of Place (SoP), defined as the emotional attachment that individuals have to a place, has recently received more attention, with studies aiming to quantify and measure SoP across different contexts. This scoping review explores the environmental literature for applied studies that measure SoP in social-ecological contexts, focusing on how SoP is quantified and measured.
ECOSYSTEMS AND PEOPLE
(2023)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Chelsey Geralda Armstrong, Natasha Lyons, Alex C. McAlvay, Patrick Morgan Ritchie, Dana Lepofsky, Michael Blake
Summary: Cultural land-use plays a significant role in ecosystem change, especially in shaping the composition of species in a region over time. Recent research in northwestern North America focuses on how historical Indigenous land-use and forest management have created relict forest gardens dominated by edible trees and shrubs. This research combines archaeological and ecological methods to better understand the historical ecology of these forest gardens, and identifies indicator species that are culturally significant. The study also reveals evidence of pre-colonial forest management practices and emphasizes the importance of revitalizing and supporting Indigenous peoples' role in sustaining these cultural landscapes.
ECOSYSTEMS AND PEOPLE
(2023)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Reinette (Oonsie) Biggs, Belinda Reyers, Ryan Blanchard, Hayley Clements, Jessica Cockburn, Graeme S. Cumming, Georgina Cundill, Alta de Vos, Luthando Dziba, Karen J. Esler, Christo Fabricius, Maike Hamann, Rebecka Henriksson, Karen Kotschy, Regina Lindborg, Linda Luvuno, Vanessa Masterson, Jeanne L. Nel, Patrick O'Farrell, Carolyn G. Palmer, Laura Pereira, Sharon Pollard, Rika Preiser, Dirk J. Roux, Robert J. Scholes, Odirilwe Selomane, Charlie Shackleton, Sheona Shackleton, Nadia Sitas, Jasper A. Slingsby, Marja Spierenburg, Maria Tengo
Summary: Sustainability-focused research networks and communities of practice are vital for capacity building and knowledge exchange in support of a more sustainable and equitable future. This paper reflects on the experiences of the Southern African Program on Ecosystem Change and Society (SAPECS) in building a community of practice on social-ecological systems research, with the aim of providing insights for the development of similar networks worldwide, particularly in the Global South.
ECOSYSTEMS AND PEOPLE
(2023)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Petrus C. J. Grobler, Angus Macgregor Myburgh, Aaron Barnes, Savel R. R. Daniels
Summary: This study examined the species boundaries of the velvet worm Peripatopsis birgeri species complex in South Africa using DNA sequence data, morphology, SEM and ecological niche modelling. Two geographically distinct clades were found within the species complex. The results of species delimitation methods were incongruent and overestimated the number of species. Niche modelling revealed differences in habitat preferences between the two clades. Gross morphological characteristics did not differ between the clades, but SEM revealed fixed differences in scale arrangement. A new species, P. polychroma, was described from the northern Drakensberg.
SYSTEMATICS AND BIODIVERSITY
(2023)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
R. Virgili, A. Poliseno, T. Fujita, G. A. Pratama, I. Fernandez-Silva, J. D. Reimer
Summary: This study used an integrated approach to clarify the taxonomic placement of the genus Dorometra within family Antedonidae. The results showed that Dorometra is polyphyletic and its species are divided into three main clades spread within other Antedonidae. The study also revealed cryptic diversity within the species Dorometra nana.
SYSTEMATICS AND BIODIVERSITY
(2023)
Book Review
Biodiversity Conservation
Andrew V. Z. Brower
SYSTEMATICS AND BIODIVERSITY
(2023)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
A. S. Mathys, J. van Vianen, D. Rowland, S. Narulita, I. Palomo, U. Pascual, I. J. Sutherland, R. Ahammad, T. Sunderland
Summary: Agrarian change impacts ecosystem services (ES) through reducing natural ecosystems. The effects of agricultural intensification on land covers and livelihood opportunities are not clear. Using participatory mapping, we assessed ES uses and desires of Indigenous people and local communities in different land cover types along an agricultural intensification gradient in West Kalimantan, Indonesia. We found that ES use diversity was highest in forest-dependent areas and lowest near monoculture agricultural systems. The study highlights the importance of addressing place-based social values in ES assessments and calls for a people-centric spatial modelling approach to address the divergence of social and cultural ES values associated with different land covers.
ECOSYSTEMS AND PEOPLE
(2023)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Aireona Bonnie Raschke, Jessica Cockburn, Paul Cisneros, Anahi Ocampo-Melgar, Michael Schoon, Candice Carr Kelman, Jaishri Srinivasan
Summary: The importance of collaborative approaches to governing social-ecological systems (SES) towards transformative outcomes is widely acknowledged. Transdisciplinary approaches are emerging as key enablers of transformative collaborations in SES. Comparative case study research is a typical approach to studying complex collaborative initiatives and qualitative case studies are coded using predetermined variables to enable comparison and analysis.
ECOSYSTEMS AND PEOPLE
(2023)