New Research on Biodiversity and Nature
A round-up of recent work published in scientific journals
Preventing pandemics. Failing dolphins. Cerrado winners and losers. Better fake reefs. A great urban shift. And much more…
How habitat protection can reduce pandemic risks: Nobody wants to live through another pandemic any time soon. But most attention is focused on detecting and responding to disease outbreaks that could cause a future pandemic, instead of on preventing novel diseases emerging. A key area to focus on is prevention of diseases passing from wildlife to people, in what scientists call ‘spillover’ events. This paper considers the processes linking environmental change — such as habitat loss and road building — with such spillovers. The authors identify actions and policies that can disrupt the spillover mechanism by ensuring that wild animals have adequate habitat, food and distance from humans. They call for pandemic prevention strategies to include ecological approaches alongside biomedical ones. Read the press release or the full paper in Nature Communications.
We are failing dolphins and small whales in multiple ways: This paper is an indictment of decades of efforts to conserve dolphins, porpoises and small toothed-whales. The authors estimate that more than one fifth of the 77 species of these small cetaceans are threatened with extinction. They say that small-scale fisheries pose a greater extinction risk than large-scale ones, and that fisheries management measures have largely been ineffective. The authors also say that research does not adequately consider the main threats to small cetaceans and that a major shift in research focus is needed. Read the full paper in Scientific Reports.
Winners and losers among plants in a changing climate: Brazil’s Cerrado region covers just 0.4% of the planet’s land area but has 3.5% of the world’s plant species, including around 5,000 that occur nowhere else on Earth. This study looked at how climate change will affect the distribution of the region’s plants by 2040. The authors say that species numbers will fall in around 70 percent of the Cerrado and that around half of the region’s plant species will have smaller distributions. Nearly all of the region will experience some turnover in species. Lowland plants that move upslope will be ‘winners’. Mountain species that have nowhere higher to go will be ‘losers’. As this process unfolds, say the researchers, the lowlands will become hotspots of local extinction while the mountains gain novel communities of plant species. Read the press release or the full paper in Diversity and Distributions.
Artificial reefs to reduce storm damage and protect marine species: Researchers have developed a material for creating artificial reefs that can dissipate ten times more wave energy than existing artificial reefs or natural ones. They say their artificial reef’s modular and porous design also provides shelter for marine life, and is easy to install at reasonable cost. Read the press release or the full paper in PNAS Nexus.
Carbon emissions will cause a ‘great urban shift’ in wildlife in North America: This study set out to predict how climate change will affect wildlife in 60 cities in Canada and the United States. The researchers gathered online data from citizen science initiatives on the distribution of over 2,000 animal species, including insects, birds and mammals. They then used machine learning to predict changes to the current distribution under three scenarios of future greenhouse gas emissions and associated climate change. They say all 60 cities will have experienced substantial gains and losses of species by the year 2100 — even in the scenario with lowest greenhouse gas emissions. The authors say the changing composition of urban animals will have big impacts on ecosystem services and how city residents experience and relate to nature. Read the full paper in PLOS ONE.
See also, new papers on:
DNA analysis of a single hair found in 2019 raises possibility that the extinct Javan tiger lives on
A global analysis of how reptiles and amphibians fare in agroforestry systems
More tree species means more productive forests in the Eastern United States (see also press release)
How property, prices and policy affect African rhino conservation
What shapes geographical patterns of insect biodiversity in China?
Protecting commonplace biodiversity under international conservation law
How to deal with invasive species that have high economic value
First Nations perspectives on marine genetic conservation in Australia
Vulnerability of food webs to human-caused threats in Europe
Warning over wildlife pets in Latin America and the Caribbean
In case you missed it…
Earlier this week, I published Nature Beat #22 — full of news, resources, jobs, great stories, and more.
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