New Research on Biodiversity and Nature
A round-up of recent work published in scientific journals
Apes and people. Dams and marine fisheries. Carbon in natural forests. Another reason tree monocultures suck. Monitoring attitudes towards biodiversity. Herbivores vs. ecological restoration efforts. Invasives in the Arctic. Trading ‘units’ of biodiversity. Mediterranean springs.
Ensuring that apes and people can coexist: Agricultural expansion threatens chimpanzees, gorillas, bonobos, and orangutans. In areas where these apes live, they are outnumbered by people a hundredfold according to this paper. The authors review different agricultural contexts and their implications for apes. The paper highlights new approaches and financial models needed to balance the needs of people and apes. Read the full paper in Frontiers in Conservation Science.
River-to-sea ecosystem management: Damming rivers can have major impacts on marine ecosystems and fisheries. But dam-building and water-abstraction plans rarely consider this. This paper highlights the need for management approaches that integrate environmental flows and fisheries management. Read the full text in Nature Sustainability.
How much carbon can natural forests hold? Much more than they do now, says a new study published in Nature that strengthens the case for protecting and restoring natural forests. Its authors emphasize that monoculture plantations will not suffice, and that greenhouse gas emissions must still fall.
In tree plantations, more species means more carbon: Most planted forests are monocultures. This study assessed whether increasing the species diversity of plantations would enhance above-ground carbon storage. Among other things, the researchers found that above-ground carbon stocks in mixed planted forests were, on average, 70 percent higher than those in the average monoculture. Read the full paper in Frontiers in Forests and Global Change or read Deborah Pirchner’s story on the journal's blog.
Monitoring attitudes matters: In 2022, Parties to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity agreed a ten-year plan for putting humanity on track towards living in harmony with nature. This Global Biodiversity Framework has 27 goals and targets, but the framework for monitoring progress lacks adequate social indicators, according to this paper. It stresses the need to measure people's attitudes and behaviours towards biodiversity — not just ecological outcomes. Read the full paper in Conservation Letters.
Identifying invasive species threats in the Arctic: The relatively pristine high Arctic is rapidly changing as global heating melts ice and alters ocean temperatures and chemistry. This is creating opportunities for new species to establish there. Using the Svalbard archipelago as a case study, this paper identified potentially invasive marine species that present the highest risks to biodiversity, health and the economy in the next 10 years. The authors recommend wider use of their ‘horizon scanning’ approach. Read the full paper in Global Change Biology.
A new way to trade biodiversity units? Rapidly emerging markets aimed at incentivizing ecosystem restoration face challenges relating to the central concept of trading ‘units’ of biodiversity. After all, different units of biodiversity are intrinsically hard to compare. This paper in Conservation Biology proposes a solution based on the principle of ‘irreplaceability’. They say this can “guide nature positive investment across the complexity of ecosystems” as it can deliver no net loss of biodiversity while reducing costs to developers and society, among other benefits.
Hands up. Who has heard of Mediterranean springs? This new paper in Global Change Biology highlights the “remarkable array of biodiversity” in these habitats where surface water and groundwater meet. Many of the species there exist nowhere else. The paper recommends actions to manage and preserve the Mediterranean spring ecosystems, which it says are under “severe threat” from changing climatic conditions and water pollution.
Plant-eaters are thwarting restoration projects. Ecological restoration projects around the world are being undermined by nature itself, as plant-eating animals are chewing their way through newly-planted trees and other plants. That’s the key finding of this paper, which reviewed hundreds of studies worldwide. The authors say that restoration areas will need to be fenced off, or that predators of herbivores should introduced, to ensure that more of the restored plants survive. Read the full paper in Science.
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