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Dobson A, Rowe Z, Berger J, Wholey P, Caro T. Biodiversity loss due to more than climate change. Science 2021; 374:699-700. [PMID: 34735233 DOI: 10.1126/science.abm6216] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/03/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Andrew Dobson
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544, USA.,Santa Fe Institute, Santa Fe, NM 87501, USA
| | - Zeke Rowe
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Bristol, Bristol BS8 1TQ, UK
| | - Joel Berger
- Department of Fish, Wildlife, and Conservation Biology, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80523, USA.,Wildlife Conservation Society, Bronx, NY 10460, USA
| | - Philippa Wholey
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Bristol, Bristol BS8 1TQ, UK
| | - Tim Caro
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Bristol, Bristol BS8 1TQ, UK.,Center for Population Biology, University of California, Davis, CA 95616, USA
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2
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Gillespie TR, Jones KE, Dobson AP, Clennon JA, Pascual M. COVID-Clarity demands unification of health and environmental policy. GLOBAL CHANGE BIOLOGY 2021; 27:1319-1321. [PMID: 33508882 PMCID: PMC8014021 DOI: 10.1111/gcb.15508] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/03/2020] [Accepted: 12/18/2020] [Indexed: 05/06/2023]
Abstract
Spillover of novel pathogens from wildlife to people, such as the virus responsible for the COVID-19 pandemic, is increasing and this trend is most strongly associated with tropical deforestation driven by agricultural expansion. This same process is eroding natural capital, reducing forest-associated health co-benefits, and accelerating climate change. Protecting and promoting tropical forests is one of the most immediate steps we can take to simultaneously mitigate climate change while reducing the risk of future pandemics; however, success in this undertaking will require greater connectivity of policy initiatives from local to global, as well as unification of health and environmental policy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Thomas R. Gillespie
- Department of Environmental SciencesEmory UniversityAtlantaGAUSA
- Program in Population Biology, Ecology, and Evolutionary BiologyDepartment of Environmental HealthRollins School of Public HealthEmory UniversityAtlantaGAUSA
| | - Kate E. Jones
- Department of Genetics, Evolution and EnvironmentUniversity College LondonLondonUK
- Institute of ZoologyZoological Society of LondonLondonUK
| | - Andrew P. Dobson
- Department of Ecology and EvolutionPrinceton UniversityPrincetonNJUSA
| | - Julie A. Clennon
- Department of Environmental SciencesEmory UniversityAtlantaGAUSA
| | - Mercedes Pascual
- Department of Ecology and EvolutionUniversity of ChicagoChicagoILUSA
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3
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Chahal I, Vyn RJ, Mayers D, Van Eerd LL. Cumulative impact of cover crops on soil carbon sequestration and profitability in a temperate humid climate. Sci Rep 2020; 10:13381. [PMID: 32770008 PMCID: PMC7414211 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-70224-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/22/2019] [Accepted: 07/14/2020] [Indexed: 11/10/2022] Open
Abstract
Although soil C sequestration with cover crops (CCs) has been linked with the potential of CCs in climate change mitigation, the long-term usage of CCs on soil C storage and farm-based economics have been widely overlooked. Therefore, in a CC experiment established in 2007 in a temperate humid climate, four CCs and a no-CC control were compared to evaluate their potential to sequester C and provide economic returns. Total amount of plant C added to soil with CCs translated into greater soil organic carbon (SOC) content by 10-20 Mg C ha-1 than the no-CC control across both sites. Greater crop yield and reduced yield variability with CCs suggest the long-term potential of CCs in increasing agroecosystem resiliency. Moreover, greater profit margins with CCs in processing vegetable crops but not grain and oilseed crops indicate CC effects on crop profitability are dependent on the production system. Our study results indicated that the loss in profit margins with CC usage in grain and oilseed crops might be overcome with C pricing (at $50 Mg-1) on quantity of C sequestered after 9 years of CCing; thus, providing financial compensation to growers may be a mechanism to encourage CC adoption.
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Affiliation(s)
- Inderjot Chahal
- School of Environmental Sciences, University of Guelph, Ridgetown Campus, Ridgetown, Canada
| | - Richard J Vyn
- Department of Food, Agricultural, and Resource Economics, University of Guelph, Ridgetown Campus, Ridgetown, Canada
| | - Danielle Mayers
- Department of Food, Agricultural, and Resource Economics, University of Guelph, Guelph, Canada
| | - Laura L Van Eerd
- School of Environmental Sciences, University of Guelph, Ridgetown Campus, Ridgetown, Canada.
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5
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Oberosler V, Tenan S, Zipkin EF, Rovero F. Poor management in protected areas is associated with lowered tropical mammal diversity. Anim Conserv 2019. [DOI: 10.1111/acv.12525] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/21/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- V. Oberosler
- Tropical Biodiversity Section MUSE ‐ Museo delle Scienze Corso del Lavoro e della Scienza 338122Trento Italy
- Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences University of Pavia via Ferrata 127100Pavia Italy
| | - S. Tenan
- Vertebrate Zoology Section MUSE ‐ Museo delle Scienze Corso del Lavoro e della Scienza 338122Trento Italy
| | - E. F. Zipkin
- Department of Integrative Biology and Ecology, Evolutionary Biology and Behavior Program Michigan State University 288 Farm Lane East Lansing48824MI USA
| | - F. Rovero
- Tropical Biodiversity Section MUSE ‐ Museo delle Scienze Corso del Lavoro e della Scienza 338122Trento Italy
- Department of Biology University of Florence Via Madonna del Piano 650019Sesto Fiorentino Italy
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6
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Escobar Carbonari D, Grosjean G, Läderach P, Nghia TD, Sander BO, McKinley J, Sebastian L, Tapasco J. Reviewing Vietnam's Nationally Determined Contribution: A New Perspective Using the Marginal Cost of Abatement. FRONTIERS IN SUSTAINABLE FOOD SYSTEMS 2019. [DOI: 10.3389/fsufs.2019.00014] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
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7
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Ward C, Stringer LC, Holmes G. Protected area co-management and perceived livelihood impacts. JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT 2018; 228:1-12. [PMID: 30205240 DOI: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2018.09.018] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/21/2018] [Revised: 09/03/2018] [Accepted: 09/04/2018] [Indexed: 06/08/2023]
Abstract
Creation of protected areas to conserve biodiversity can have both positive and negative impacts, with impacts unequally distributed within local communities. A global shift towards local community involvement in protected area governance and co-management has aimed to reduce costs of protected area establishment and their uneven distribution. Yet, there is mixed evidence to support whether such initiatives are succeeding. Here, a protected area in Madagascar is used as a case study to explore how co-management governance processes impact upon livelihood strategies and outcomes, and how these impacts are distributed within and between villages. Focus groups, interviews and questionnaires were conducted in 2015/16 with households surrounding a protected area, co-managed by local community associations and a national NGO. Data analysis was framed around the Sustainable Livelihoods Framework. The majority of respondents perceived negative livelihood outcomes, and impacts were unevenly distributed between social groups. Respondents were more likely to report negative livelihood outcomes if they were from remote villages, poorer households and reliant on provisioning ecosystem services before protected area establishment. Qualitative data showed that the main drivers of this were protected area-related rules and regulations restricting forest activities. Drivers of improved livelihood outcomes were training and materials improving agricultural yields and increased community cohesion. Although co-managed protected areas may be overall more effective in meeting biological and socio-economic goals than protected areas of other governance types, the evidence here suggests that governance processes can lead to local perceptions of inequity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Caroline Ward
- Sustainability Research Institute, School of Earth and Environment, University of Leeds, Leeds LS2 9JT, UK.
| | - Lindsay C Stringer
- Sustainability Research Institute, School of Earth and Environment, University of Leeds, Leeds LS2 9JT, UK
| | - George Holmes
- Sustainability Research Institute, School of Earth and Environment, University of Leeds, Leeds LS2 9JT, UK
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8
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The Monetary Measurement of Flood Damage and the Valuation of the Proactive Policies in Sicily. GEOSCIENCES 2018. [DOI: 10.3390/geosciences8040141] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
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9
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Carlson KM, Heilmayr R, Gibbs HK, Noojipady P, Burns DN, Morton DC, Walker NF, Paoli GD, Kremen C. Effect of oil palm sustainability certification on deforestation and fire in Indonesia. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2018; 115:121-126. [PMID: 29229857 PMCID: PMC5776786 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1704728114] [Citation(s) in RCA: 61] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Many major corporations and countries have made commitments to purchase or produce only "sustainable" palm oil, a commodity responsible for substantial tropical forest loss. Sustainability certification is the tool most used to fulfill these procurement policies, and around 20% of global palm oil production was certified by the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) in 2017. However, the effect of certification on deforestation in oil palm plantations remains unclear. Here, we use a comprehensive dataset of RSPO-certified and noncertified oil palm plantations (∼188,000 km2) in Indonesia, the leading producer of palm oil, as well as annual remotely sensed metrics of tree cover loss and fire occurrence, to evaluate the impact of certification on deforestation and fire from 2001 to 2015. While forest loss and fire continued after RSPO certification, certified palm oil was associated with reduced deforestation. Certification lowered deforestation by 33% from a counterfactual of 9.8 to 6.6% y-1 Nevertheless, most plantations contained little residual forest when they received certification. As a result, by 2015, certified areas held less than 1% of forests remaining within Indonesian oil palm plantations. Moreover, certification had no causal impact on forest loss in peatlands or active fire detection rates. Broader adoption of certification in forested regions, strict requirements to avoid all peat, and routine monitoring of clearly defined forest cover loss in certified and RSPO member-held plantations appear necessary if the RSPO is to yield conservation and climate benefits from reductions in tropical deforestation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kimberly M Carlson
- Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Management, University of Hawaii, Honolulu, HI 96822;
- Institute on the Environment, University of Minnesota, Saint Paul, MN 55108
| | - Robert Heilmayr
- Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Management, University of Hawaii, Honolulu, HI 96822
- Environmental Studies Program, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA 93106
| | - Holly K Gibbs
- Department of Geography, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI 53726
- The Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI 53726
- Department of Geography, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI 53706
| | - Praveen Noojipady
- National Wildlife Federation, National Advocacy Center, Washington, DC 20005
- Biospheric Sciences Laboratory, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD 20771
- Earth System Science Interdisciplinary Center, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742
| | - David N Burns
- National Wildlife Federation, National Advocacy Center, Washington, DC 20005
| | - Douglas C Morton
- Biospheric Sciences Laboratory, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD 20771
| | - Nathalie F Walker
- National Wildlife Federation, National Advocacy Center, Washington, DC 20005
| | | | - Claire Kremen
- Department of Environmental Sciences, Policy and Management, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720
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10
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11
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Carrasco LR, Webb EL, Symes WS, Koh LP, Sodhi NS. Global economic trade-offs between wild nature and tropical agriculture. PLoS Biol 2017; 15:e2001657. [PMID: 28732022 PMCID: PMC5521733 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pbio.2001657] [Citation(s) in RCA: 28] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/26/2016] [Accepted: 06/01/2017] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Global demands for agricultural and forestry products provide economic incentives for deforestation across the tropics. Much of this deforestation occurs with a lack of information on the spatial distribution of benefits and costs of deforestation. To inform global sustainable land-use policies, we combine geographic information systems (GIS) with a meta-analysis of ecosystem services (ES) studies to perform a spatially explicit analysis of the trade-offs between agricultural benefits, carbon emissions, and losses of multiple ecosystem services because of tropical deforestation from 2000 to 2012. Even though the value of ecosystem services presents large inherent uncertainties, we find a pattern supporting the argument that the externalities of destroying tropical forests are greater than the current direct economic benefits derived from agriculture in all cases bar one: when yield and rent potentials of high-value crops could be realized in the future. Our analysis identifies the Atlantic Forest, areas around the Gulf of Guinea, and Thailand as areas where agricultural conversion appears economically efficient, indicating a major impediment to the long-term financial sustainability of Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation (REDD+) schemes in those countries. By contrast, Latin America, insular Southeast Asia, and Madagascar present areas with low agricultural rents (ARs) and high values in carbon stocks and ES, suggesting that they are economically viable conservation targets. Our study helps identify optimal areas for conservation and agriculture together with their associated uncertainties, which could enhance the efficiency and sustainability of pantropical land-use policies and help direct future research efforts. Tropical forests are often destroyed to clear land for agriculture or to harvest forestry products, such as timber. However, the benefits derived from agriculture and these products are countered by the costs to the environment and the loss of ecosystem systems (the benefits that nature provides to humans). Little is known about how the economic benefits and costs of deforestation vary on a global scale. Knowing the distribution of benefits and costs would help identify regions where deforestation is most and least beneficial and thus could help select areas to focus conservation efforts. We studied the trade-offs between agricultural benefits, carbon emissions, and losses of multiple ecosystem services (ES) in tropical deforested areas around the world. We find large differences between costs and benefits globally. For instance, we identify the Atlantic Forest, areas around the Gulf of Guinea, and Thailand as areas where the benefits from agricultural conversion are greater than environmental costs, which could make it difficult to incentivize and implement biodiversity conservation strategies that are based on payments to farmers. By contrast, Latin America, insular Southeast Asia, and Madagascar represent areas with low agricultural benefits and high environmental costs. This suggests that these regions are economically viable conservation targets. Our study helps identify strategies to enhance the sustainability of land-use policies in the tropics.
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Affiliation(s)
- Luis R. Carrasco
- Department of Biological Sciences, National University of Singapore, Republic of Singapore
- * E-mail: (L.R.C.); (L.P.K.)
| | - Edward L. Webb
- Department of Biological Sciences, National University of Singapore, Republic of Singapore
| | - William S. Symes
- Department of Biological Sciences, National University of Singapore, Republic of Singapore
| | - Lian P. Koh
- Environment Institute, School of Biological Sciences, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia
- * E-mail: (L.R.C.); (L.P.K.)
| | - Navjot S. Sodhi
- Department of Biological Sciences, National University of Singapore, Republic of Singapore
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12
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Reuter KE, Sewall BJ, Di Minin E. Drivers of present and lifetime natural resource use in a tropical biodiversity hotspot. Anim Conserv 2017. [DOI: 10.1111/acv.12355] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- K. E. Reuter
- Department of Biology; Temple University; Philadelphia PA USA
| | - B. J. Sewall
- Department of Biology; Temple University; Philadelphia PA USA
| | - E. Di Minin
- Department of Geosciences and Geography; University of Helsinki; Helsinki Finland
- School of Life Sciences; University of KwaZulu-Natal; Durban South Africa
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13
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Lu H, Campbell ET, Campbell DE, Wang C, Ren H. Dynamics of ecosystem services provided by subtropical forests in Southeast China during succession as measured by donor and receiver value. ECOSYSTEM SERVICES 2017; 23:248-258. [PMID: 30294536 PMCID: PMC6171117 DOI: 10.1016/j.ecoser.2016.11.012] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/02/2023]
Abstract
The trends in the provision of ecosystem services during restoration and succession of subtropical forests and plantations were quantified, in terms of both receiver and donor values, based on a case study of a 3-step secondary succession series that included a 400-year-old subtropical forest and a 23-year history of growth on 3 subtropical forest plantations in Southeastern China. The 'People's Republic of China Forestry Standard: Forest Ecosystem Service Valuation Norms' was revised and applied to quantify the receiver values of ecosystem services, which were then compared with emergy-based, donor values of the services. The results revealed that the efficiencies of subtropical forests and plantations in providing ecosystem services were 2 orders of magnitude higher than similar services provided by the current China economic system, and these efficiencies kept increasing over the course of succession. As a result, we conclude that afforestation is an efficient way to accelerate both the ability and efficiency of subtropical forests to provide ecosystem services. The ability of different ecosystems to provide services depends on the concentration of available natural resources in the system at a large scale, but also on the ability of the ecosystems to capture natural resources in the same or similar environments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hongfang Lu
- Key Laboratory of Vegetation Restoration and Management of Degraded Ecosystems, South China Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Science, Guangzhou 510650, China
| | - Elliott T. Campbell
- Maryland Department of Natural Resources, Tawes State Office Building-580 Taylor Ave., C-3 Annapolis, MD 21401, United States
| | - Daniel E. Campbell
- US EPA, Office of Research and Development, National Health and Environmental Effects Research Laboratory, Atlantic Ecology Division, 27 Tarzwell Drive, Narragansett, RI, United States
| | - Changwei Wang
- Department of Chemistry, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY 11794-3400, United States
| | - Hai Ren
- Key Laboratory of Vegetation Restoration and Management of Degraded Ecosystems, South China Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Science, Guangzhou 510650, China
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Abstract
Ecological overshoot has been accelerating across the globe. Optimizing biocapacity has become a key to resolve the overshoot of ecological demand in regional sustainable development. However, most literature has focused on reducing ecological footprint but ignores the potential of spatial optimization of biocapacity through regional planning of land use. Here we develop a spatial probability model and present four scenarios for optimizing biocapacity of a river basin in Northwest China. The potential of enhanced biocapacity and its effects on ecological overshoot and water consumption in the region were explored. Two scenarios with no restrictions on croplands and water use reduced the overshoot by 29 to 53%, and another two scenarios which do not allow croplands and water use to increase worsened the overshoot by 11 to 15%. More spatially flexible transition rules of land use led to higher magnitude of change after optimization. However, biocapacity optimization required a large amount of additional water resources, casting considerable pressure on the already water-scarce socio-ecological system. Our results highlight the potential for policy makers to manage/optimize regional land use which addresses ecological overshoot. Investigation on the feasibility of such spatial optimization complies with the forward-looking policies for sustainable development and deserves further attention.
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Investigating the Role of the Local Community as Co-Managers of the Mount Cameroon National Park Conservation Project. ENVIRONMENTS 2016. [DOI: 10.3390/environments3040036] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
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17
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Lu H, Fu F, Li H, Campbell DE, Ren H. Eco-exergy and emergy based self-organization of three forest plantations in lower subtropical China. Sci Rep 2015; 5:15047. [PMID: 26486821 PMCID: PMC4613664 DOI: 10.1038/srep15047] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/27/2015] [Accepted: 09/02/2015] [Indexed: 11/29/2022] Open
Abstract
The bio-thermodynamic structures of a mixed native species plantation, a conifer plantation and an Acacia mangium plantation in Southern China were quantified over a period of 15 years based on eco-exergy methods. The efficiencies of structural development and maintenance were quantified through an integrated application of eco-exergy and emergy methods. The results showed that the storage of eco-exergy increased over 3 times in all three plantations, as predicted by the maximum eco-exergy principle. This trend was primarily seen due to the accumulation of biomass, instead of an increase in the specific eco-exergy (eco-exergy per unit biomass), although species richness did increase. The eco-exergy to emergy and eco-exergy to empower ratios of the three plantations generally increased during the study period, but the rate of increase slowed down after 20 years. The dominant trees are the largest contributors to the eco-exergy stored in the plantations, and thus, the introduction of suitable indigenous tree species should be considered after the existing trees pass through their period of most rapid growth or around 20 years after planting. The combined application of C-values and suggested weighting factors in the eco-exergy calculation can imply opposite results, but may also supply useful information for forest management.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hongfang Lu
- Key Laboratory of Vegetation Restoration and Management of Degraded Ecosystems, South China Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou 510650, China
| | - Fangyan Fu
- Key Laboratory of Vegetation Restoration and Management of Degraded Ecosystems, South China Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou 510650, China
| | - Hao Li
- Key Laboratory of Vegetation Restoration and Management of Degraded Ecosystems, South China Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou 510650, China
| | - Daniel E Campbell
- US EPA, Office of Research and Development, National Health and Environmental Effects Research Laboratory, Atlantic Ecology Division, 27 Tarzwell Drive, Narragansett, RI, USA
| | - Hai Ren
- Key Laboratory of Vegetation Restoration and Management of Degraded Ecosystems, South China Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou 510650, China
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18
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Impacts of conservation and human development policy across stakeholders and scales. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2015; 112:7396-401. [PMID: 26082546 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1406486112] [Citation(s) in RCA: 80] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Ideally, both ecosystem service and human development policies should improve human well-being through the conservation of ecosystems that provide valuable services. However, program costs and benefits to multiple stakeholders, and how they change through time, are rarely carefully analyzed. We examine one of China's new ecosystem service protection and human development policies: the Relocation and Settlement Program of Southern Shaanxi Province (RSP), which pays households who opt voluntarily to resettle from mountainous areas. The RSP aims to reduce disaster risk, restore important ecosystem services, and improve human well-being. We use household surveys and biophysical data in an integrated economic cost-benefit analysis for multiple stakeholders. We project that the RSP will result in positive net benefits to the municipal government, and to cross-region and global beneficiaries over the long run along with environment improvement, including improved water quality, soil erosion control, and carbon sequestration. However, there are significant short-run relocation costs for local residents so that poor households may have difficulty participating because they lack the resources to pay the initial costs of relocation. Greater subsidies and subsequent supports after relocation are necessary to reduce the payback period of resettled households in the long run. Compensation from downstream beneficiaries for improved water and from carbon trades could be channeled into reducing relocation costs for the poor and sharing the burden of RSP implementation. The effectiveness of the RSP could also be greatly strengthened by early investment in developing human capital and environment-friendly jobs and establishing long-term mechanisms for securing program goals. These challenges and potential solutions pervade ecosystem service efforts globally.
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Schuldt A, Bruelheide H, Härdtle W, Assmann T, Li Y, Ma K, von Oheimb G, Zhang J. Early positive effects of tree species richness on herbivory in a large-scale forest biodiversity experiment influence tree growth. THE JOURNAL OF ECOLOGY 2015; 103:563-571. [PMID: 26690688 PMCID: PMC4672697 DOI: 10.1111/1365-2745.12396] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/16/2014] [Accepted: 03/09/2015] [Indexed: 05/31/2023]
Abstract
Despite the importance of herbivory for the structure and functioning of species-rich forests, little is known about how herbivory is affected by tree species richness, and more specifically by random vs. non-random species loss. We assessed herbivore damage and its effects on tree growth in the early stage of a large-scale forest biodiversity experiment in subtropical China that features random and non-random extinction scenarios of tree mixtures numbering between one and 24 species. In contrast to random species loss, the non-random extinction scenarios were based on the tree species' local rarity and specific leaf area - traits that may strongly influence the way herbivory is affected by plant species richness. Herbivory increased with tree species richness across all scenarios and was unaffected by the different species compositions in the random and non-random extinction scenarios. Whereas tree growth rates were positively related to herbivory on plots with smaller trees, growth rates significantly declined with increasing herbivory on plots with larger trees. Our results suggest that the effects of herbivory on growth rates increase from monocultures to the most species-rich plant communities and that negative effects with increasing tree species richness become more pronounced with time as trees grow larger. Synthesis. Our results indicate that key trophic interactions can be quick to become established in forest plantations (i.e. already 2.5 years after tree planting). Stronger herbivory effects on tree growth with increasing tree species richness suggest a potentially important role of herbivory in regulating ecosystem functions and the structural development of species-rich forests from the very start of secondary forest succession. The lack of significant differences between the extinction scenarios, however, contrasts with findings from natural forests of higher successional age, where rarity had negative effects on herbivory. This indicates that the effects of non-random species loss could change with forest succession.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andreas Schuldt
- Institute of Ecology, Leuphana University LüneburgScharnhorststr. 1, D-21335, Lüneburg, Germany
| | - Helge Bruelheide
- Institute of Biology/Geobotany and Botanical Garden, University of HalleAm Kirchtor 1, D-06108, Halle, Germany
- German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-LeipzigDeutscher Platz 5e, D-04103, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Werner Härdtle
- Institute of Ecology, Leuphana University LüneburgScharnhorststr. 1, D-21335, Lüneburg, Germany
| | - Thorsten Assmann
- Institute of Ecology, Leuphana University LüneburgScharnhorststr. 1, D-21335, Lüneburg, Germany
| | - Ying Li
- Institute of Ecology, Leuphana University LüneburgScharnhorststr. 1, D-21335, Lüneburg, Germany
| | - Keping Ma
- Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of SciencesBeijing, 100093, China
| | - Goddert von Oheimb
- Institute of General Ecology and Environmental Protection, Technische Universität DresdenPienner Str. 7, D-01737, Tharandt, Germany
| | - Jiayong Zhang
- Institute of Ecology, Zhejiang Normal UniversityYinbing Road 688, 321004, Jinhua, China
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Alternative futures for Borneo show the value of integrating economic and conservation targets across borders. Nat Commun 2015; 6:6819. [PMID: 25871635 PMCID: PMC4403346 DOI: 10.1038/ncomms7819] [Citation(s) in RCA: 79] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/22/2014] [Accepted: 03/03/2015] [Indexed: 11/08/2022] Open
Abstract
Balancing economic development with international commitments to protect biodiversity is a global challenge. Achieving this balance requires an understanding of the possible consequences of alternative future scenarios for a range of stakeholders. We employ an integrated economic and environmental planning approach to evaluate four alternative futures for the mega-diverse island of Borneo. We show what could be achieved if the three national jurisdictions of Borneo coordinate efforts to achieve their public policy targets and allow a partial reallocation of planned land uses. We reveal the potential for Borneo to simultaneously retain ∼50% of its land as forests, protect adequate habitat for the Bornean orangutan (Pongo pygmaeus) and Bornean elephant (Elephas maximus borneensis), and achieve an opportunity cost saving of over US$43 billion. Such coordination would depend on enhanced information sharing and reforms to land-use planning, which could be supported by the increasingly international nature of economies and conservation efforts.
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Golden CD, Bonds MH, Brashares JS, Rasolofoniaina BJR, Kremen C. Economic valuation of subsistence harvest of wildlife in Madagascar. CONSERVATION BIOLOGY : THE JOURNAL OF THE SOCIETY FOR CONSERVATION BIOLOGY 2014; 28:234-243. [PMID: 24405165 PMCID: PMC4151980 DOI: 10.1111/cobi.12174] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/27/2012] [Accepted: 05/27/2013] [Indexed: 06/02/2023]
Abstract
Wildlife consumption can be viewed as an ecosystem provisioning service (the production of a material good through ecological functioning) because of wildlife's ability to persist under sustainable levels of harvest. We used the case of wildlife harvest and consumption in northeastern Madagascar to identify the distribution of these services to local households and communities to further our understanding of local reliance on natural resources. We inferred these benefits from demand curves built with data on wildlife sales transactions. On average, the value of wildlife provisioning represented 57% of annual household cash income in local communities from the Makira Natural Park and Masoala National Park, and harvested areas produced an economic return of U.S.$0.42 ha(-1) · year(-1). Variability in value of harvested wildlife was high among communities and households with an approximate 2 orders of magnitude difference in the proportional value of wildlife to household income. The imputed price of harvested wildlife and its consumption were strongly associated (p< 0.001), and increases in price led to reduced harvest for consumption. Heightened monitoring and enforcement of hunting could increase the costs of harvesting and thus elevate the price and reduce consumption of wildlife. Increased enforcement would therefore be beneficial to biodiversity conservation but could limit local people's food supply. Specifically, our results provide an estimate of the cost of offsetting economic losses to local populations from the enforcement of conservation policies. By explicitly estimating the welfare effects of consumed wildlife, our results may inform targeted interventions by public health and development specialists as they allocate sparse funds to support regions, households, or individuals most vulnerable to changes in access to wildlife.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christopher D Golden
- Department of Environmental Science, University of California, Berkeley, Policy and Management, 130 Mulford Hall #3114 Berkeley, CA, 94720, U.S.A.; MAHERY (Madagascar Health and Environmental Research), Lot Z1-056 Ankiakandrefana, Maroantsetra, 512, Madagascar.
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Brauman KA, van der Meulen S, Brils J. Ecosystem Services and River Basin Management. THE HANDBOOK OF ENVIRONMENTAL CHEMISTRY 2014. [DOI: 10.1007/978-3-642-38598-8_10] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
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Abstract
AbstractFaith-based teachings on the environment have been identified as a potentially effective form of conservation outreach but one that remains largely untested. Indonesia contains 10% of the world's tropical rainforests and is the most populous Muslim country. A faith-based approach to conservation could therefore yield significant conservation benefits here. Within Islam several key principles in the Qur'an underpin and outline the role of humans in nature conservation. Here, we report on a Darwin Initiative project component that sought to assess the applicability of Islamic teachings to conservation action in West Sumatra. We developed water-conservation-themed sermons that were delivered by project-trained religious leaders in 10 mosques and nine Islamic boarding schools during the holy month of Ramadan. We conducted entry–exit questionnaire surveys to assess levels of concern, awareness and intent to act amongst male (n = 389) and female (n = 479) worshippers. The results revealed that greater attention should be paid to raising awareness of the linkages between Islam and conservation rather than on conservation principles alone, which were already adequately understood. This study provides the first insights into the important role that women could play within a faith-based project. Female respondents demonstrated greater knowledge and understanding of Islamic teachings about the environment and the services provided by watershed forests. They were also more likely to contribute to conservation activities, suggesting that future projects should seek to involve this often marginalized stakeholder group fully, as well as provide practical ways for men and women to transform words into action.
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Schuldt A, Bruelheide H, Durka W, Michalski SG, Purschke O, Assmann T. Tree diversity promotes functional dissimilarity and maintains functional richness despite species loss in predator assemblages. Oecologia 2013; 174:533-43. [PMID: 24096740 DOI: 10.1007/s00442-013-2790-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/07/2013] [Accepted: 09/17/2013] [Indexed: 10/26/2022]
Abstract
The effects of species loss on ecosystems depend on the community's functional diversity (FD). However, how FD responds to environmental changes is poorly understood. This applies particularly to higher trophic levels, which regulate many ecosystem processes and are strongly affected by human-induced environmental changes. We analyzed how functional richness (FRic), evenness (FEve), and divergence (FDiv) of important generalist predators-epigeic spiders-are affected by changes in woody plant species richness, plant phylogenetic diversity, and stand age in highly diverse subtropical forests in China. FEve and FDiv of spiders increased with plant richness and stand age. FRic remained on a constant level despite decreasing spider species richness with increasing plant species richness. Plant phylogenetic diversity had no consistent effect on spider FD. The results contrast with the negative effect of diversity on spider species richness and suggest that functional redundancy among spiders decreased with increasing plant richness through non-random species loss. Moreover, increasing functional dissimilarity within spider assemblages with increasing plant richness indicates that the abundance distribution of predators in functional trait space affects ecological functions independent of predator species richness or the available trait space. While plant diversity is generally hypothesized to positively affect predators, our results only support this hypothesis for FD-and here particularly for trait distributions within the overall functional trait space-and not for patterns in species richness. Understanding the way predator assemblages affect ecosystem functions in such highly diverse, natural ecosystems thus requires explicit consideration of FD and its relationship with species richness.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andreas Schuldt
- Institute of Ecology, Leuphana University Lüneburg, Scharnhorststrasse 1, 21335, Lüneburg, Germany,
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Abstract
AbstractIllegal extraction from protected areas is often shaped by the surrounding socio-economic landscape. We coupled village-scale socio-economic parameters collected using household surveys with measured levels of illegal resource extraction proximate to study villages to investigate the socio-economic drivers of illegal extraction from Kibale National Park, Uganda. The level of illegal tree harvesting and the number of illegal entry trails into the Park were driven by subsistence demand from villages adjacent to the Park and by for-profit extraction to supply local urban markets, whereas grazing in the Park was linked to high livestock ownership. Capital asset wealth, excluding livestock, was found to mitigate illegal resource extraction from the Park. We also found high human population density to coincide spatially with park-based tourism, research and carbon sequestration employment opportunities. Conservation strategies should be integrated with national policy to meet the needs of local communities and to manage urban demand to reduce illegal extraction from protected areas.
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Abstract
Recent high-profile efforts have called for integrating ecosystem-service values into important societal decisions, but there are few demonstrations of this approach in practice. We quantified ecosystem-service values to help the largest private landowner in Hawaii, Kamehameha Schools, design a land-use development plan that balances multiple private and public values on its North Shore land holdings (Island of O'ahu) of ∼10,600 ha. We used the InVEST software tool to evaluate the environmental and financial implications of seven planning scenarios encompassing contrasting land-use combinations including biofuel feedstocks, food crops, forestry, livestock, and residential development. All scenarios had positive financial return relative to the status quo of negative return. However, tradeoffs existed between carbon storage and water quality as well as between environmental improvement and financial return. Based on this analysis and community input, Kamehameha Schools is implementing a plan to support diversified agriculture and forestry. This plan generates a positive financial return ($10.9 million) and improved carbon storage (0.5% increase relative to status quo) with negative relative effects on water quality (15.4% increase in potential nitrogen export relative to status quo). The effects on water quality could be mitigated partially (reduced to a 4.9% increase in potential nitrogen export) by establishing vegetation buffers on agricultural fields. This plan contributes to policy goals for climate change mitigation, food security, and diversifying rural economic opportunities. More broadly, our approach illustrates how information can help guide local land-use decisions that involve tradeoffs between private and public interests.
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Committed carbon emissions, deforestation, and community land conversion from oil palm plantation expansion in West Kalimantan, Indonesia. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2012; 109:7559-64. [PMID: 22523241 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1200452109] [Citation(s) in RCA: 298] [Impact Index Per Article: 24.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Industrial agricultural plantations are a rapidly increasing yet largely unmeasured source of tropical land cover change. Here, we evaluate impacts of oil palm plantation development on land cover, carbon flux, and agrarian community lands in West Kalimantan, Indonesian Borneo. With a spatially explicit land change/carbon bookkeeping model, parameterized using high-resolution satellite time series and informed by socioeconomic surveys, we assess previous and project future plantation expansion under five scenarios. Although fire was the primary proximate cause of 1989-2008 deforestation (93%) and net carbon emissions (69%), by 2007-2008, oil palm directly caused 27% of total and 40% of peatland deforestation. Plantation land sources exhibited distinctive temporal dynamics, comprising 81% forests on mineral soils (1994-2001), shifting to 69% peatlands (2008-2011). Plantation leases reveal vast development potential. In 2008, leases spanned ∼65% of the region, including 62% on peatlands and 59% of community-managed lands, yet <10% of lease area was planted. Projecting business as usual (BAU), by 2020 ∼40% of regional and 35% of community lands are cleared for oil palm, generating 26% of net carbon emissions. Intact forest cover declines to 4%, and the proportion of emissions sourced from peatlands increases 38%. Prohibiting intact and logged forest and peatland conversion to oil palm reduces emissions only 4% below BAU, because of continued uncontrolled fire. Protecting logged forests achieves greater carbon emissions reductions (21%) than protecting intact forests alone (9%) and is critical for mitigating carbon emissions. Extensive allocated leases constrain land management options, requiring trade-offs among oil palm production, carbon emissions mitigation, and maintaining community landholdings.
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Caetano MAL, Gherardi DFM, Yoneyama T. An optimized policy for the reduction of CO2 emission in the Brazilian Legal Amazon. Ecol Modell 2011. [DOI: 10.1016/j.ecolmodel.2011.05.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
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Eilers EJ, Kremen C, Smith Greenleaf S, Garber AK, Klein AM. Contribution of pollinator-mediated crops to nutrients in the human food supply. PLoS One 2011; 6:e21363. [PMID: 21731717 PMCID: PMC3120884 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0021363] [Citation(s) in RCA: 137] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/17/2010] [Accepted: 05/31/2011] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
The contribution of nutrients from animal pollinated world crops has not previously been evaluated as a biophysical measure for the value of pollination services. This study evaluates the nutritional composition of animal-pollinated world crops. We calculated pollinator dependent and independent proportions of different nutrients of world crops, employing FAO data for crop production, USDA data for nutritional composition, and pollinator dependency data according to Klein et al. (2007). Crop plants that depend fully or partially on animal pollinators contain more than 90% of vitamin C, the whole quantity of Lycopene and almost the full quantity of the antioxidants β-cryptoxanthin and β-tocopherol, the majority of the lipid, vitamin A and related carotenoids, calcium and fluoride, and a large portion of folic acid. Ongoing pollinator decline may thus exacerbate current difficulties of providing a nutritionally adequate diet for the global human population.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elisabeth J Eilers
- Department of Applied Zoology/Animal Ecology, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany.
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Nepal S, Spiteri A. Linking livelihoods and conservation: an examination of local residents' perceived linkages between conservation and livelihood benefits around Nepal's Chitwan National Park. ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT 2011; 47:727-738. [PMID: 21365273 DOI: 10.1007/s00267-011-9631-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/06/2009] [Accepted: 01/27/2011] [Indexed: 05/30/2023]
Abstract
This paper investigates local recognition of the link between incentive-based program (IBP) benefits and conservation, and how perceptions of benefits and linkage influence attitudes in communities surrounding Chitwan National Park, Nepal. A survey of 189 households conducted between October and December 2004 examined local residents' perceived benefits, their attitudes toward park management, and perception of linkages between conservation and livelihoods. Linkage perceptions were measured by a scale compared with a respondent's recognition of benefits to determine whether IBPs establish a connection between benefits and livelihoods. An attitude scale was also created to compare attitudes toward park management with perceptions of benefits and linkage to determine if IBPs led to positive attitudes, and if the recognition of a direct tie between livelihoods and natural resources made attitudes more favorable. Research results indicate that as acknowledgement of benefit increases, so does the perception of linkage between the resource and livelihoods. Similarly, when perceived benefit increases, so too does attitude towards management. Positive attitude towards park management is influenced more by perception of livelihood dependence on resources than on benefits received from the park. However, overwhelming positive support voiced for conservation did not coincide with conduct. In spite of the positive attitudes and high perception of linkage, people did not necessarily behave in a way compatible with conservation. This suggests that while benefits alone can lead to positive attitudes, without clear linkages to conservation, the IBP may lose persuasion when alternative options-conflicting with conservation objectives-arise promising to provide greater economic benefit.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sanjay Nepal
- Department of Geography & Environmental Management, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON, Canada.
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Guo Z, Zhang L, Li Y. Increased dependence of humans on ecosystem services and biodiversity. PLoS One 2010; 5. [PMID: 20957042 PMCID: PMC2948508 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0013113] [Citation(s) in RCA: 47] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/09/2010] [Accepted: 09/03/2010] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Humans have altered ecosystems more rapidly and extensively than ever, largely to meet rapidly growing demands for resources along with economic development. These demands have been considered important drivers of ecosystem degradation and biodiversity loss. Are humans becoming less dependent on ecosystem services and biodiversity following economic development? Here, we used roundwood production, hydroelectricity generation and tourism investment in 92 biodiversity hotspot and 60 non-hotspot countries as cases to seek the answer. In 1980–2005, annual growth rates of roundwood production, hydroelectricity generation and tourism investment were higher in hotspot countries (5.2, 9.1 and 7.5%) than in non-hotspot countries (3.4, 5.9 and 5.6%), when GDP grew more rapidly in hotspot countries than non-hotspot countries. Annual growth rates of per capita hydropower and per capita tourism investment were higher in hotspot countries (5.3% and 6.1%) than in non-hotspot countries (3.5% and 4.3%); however, the annual growth rate of per capita roundwood production in hotspot countries (1%) was lower than in non-hotspot countries (1.4%). The dependence of humans on cultural services has increased more rapidly than on regulating services, while the dependence on provisioning services has reduced. This pattern is projected to continue during 2005–2020. Our preliminary results show that economic growth has actually made humans more dependent upon ecosystem services and biodiversity. As a consequence, the policies and implementations of both economic development and ecosystems/biodiversity conservation should be formulated and carried out in the context of the increased dependence of humans on ecosystem services along with economic development.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zhongwei Guo
- Key Laboratory of Animal Ecology and Conservation Biology, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
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Abstract
Hantavirus is a genus of virus represented by 45 different species and is hosted by small mammals, predominantly rats and mice. Roughly, half of all hantaviruses cause diseases in humans that vary in morbidity from mild to severe. The natural and anthropogenic changes occurring in the environment appear to be impacting the ecology of hantaviruses and their natural hosts as well as the incidence of hantaviral diseases in humans. Although such studies are limited at this time, there is evidence that natural climate cycles such as El Niño as well as anthropogenic climate change enhance hantavirus prevalence when host population dynamics are driven by food availability. Climate appears to have less of an effect on hantavirus when host populations are controlled by predators. Human alteration to the landscape also appears to enhance hantavirus prevalence when the disturbance regime enriches the environment for the host, for example, agriculture. More long-term studies on multiple species of hantavirus are needed to accurately predict the outcome of changing environmental conditions on prevalence in hosts as well as disease incidence in humans.
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Affiliation(s)
- M Denise Dearing
- Department of Biology, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah, USA.
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Mandel JT, Donlan CJ, Wilcox C, Cudney-Bueno R, Pascoe S, Tulchin D. Debt investment as a tool for value transfer in biodiversity conservation. Conserv Lett 2009. [DOI: 10.1111/j.1755-263x.2009.00070.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022] Open
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Nicholson E, Mace GM, Armsworth PR, Atkinson G, Buckle S, Clements T, Ewers RM, Fa JE, Gardner TA, Gibbons J, Grenyer R, Metcalfe R, Mourato S, Muûls M, Osborn D, Reuman DC, Watson C, Milner-Gulland EJ. Priority research areas for ecosystem services in a changing world. J Appl Ecol 2009. [DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2664.2009.01716.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 71] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/01/2022]
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Kagawa A, Sack L, Duarte K, James S. Hawaiian native forest conserves water relative to timber plantation: species and stand traits influence water use. ECOLOGICAL APPLICATIONS : A PUBLICATION OF THE ECOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA 2009; 19:1429-1443. [PMID: 19769092 DOI: 10.1890/08-1704.1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/28/2023]
Abstract
Tropical forests are becoming increasingly alien-dominated through the establishment of timber plantations and secondary forests. Despite widespread recognition that afforestation results in increased evapotranspiration and lower catchment yields, little is known of the impacts of timber plantations on water balance relative to native forest. Native forest trees have been claimed to use water conservatively and enhance groundwater recharge relative to faster-growing alien species, and this argument should motivate native forest preservation and restoration. However, data have been available primarily for leaf-level gas exchange rather than for whole-plant and stand levels. We measured sap flow of dominant tree and tree fern species over eight weeks in native Metrosideros polymorpha forest and adjacent alien timber plantations on the island of Hawai'i and estimated total stand transpiration. Metrosideros polymorpha had the lowest values of sap flux density and whole-tree water use (200 kg m(-2) sapwood d(-1), or 8 kg/d for trees of 35 cm mean diameter at breast height, D), substantially less than timber species Eucalyptus saligna or Fraxinus uhdei (33 and 34 kg/d for trees of 73 and 30 cm mean D, respectively). At the stand level, E. saligna and F. uhdei trees had three- and ninefold higher water use, respectively, than native M. polymorpha trees. Understory Cibotium tree ferns were most abundant in M. polymorpha-dominated forest where they accounted for 70% of water use. Overall, F. uhdei plantation had the highest water use at 1.8 mm/d, more than twice that of either E. saligna plantation or M. polymorpha forest. Forest water use was influenced by species composition, stem density, tree size, sapwood allocation, and understory contributions. Transpiration varied strongly among forest types even within the same wet tropical climate, and in this case, native forest had strikingly conservative water use. Comparisons of vegetation cover in water use should provide additional resolution to ecosystem valuation and land management decisions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Aurora Kagawa
- University of Hawai'i at Mănoa, Botany Department, Honolulu, Hawaii 96822, USA
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Anderson BJ, Armsworth PR, Eigenbrod F, Thomas CD, Gillings S, Heinemeyer A, Roy DB, Gaston KJ. Spatial covariance between biodiversity and other ecosystem service priorities. J Appl Ecol 2009. [DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2664.2009.01666.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 249] [Impact Index Per Article: 16.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
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Somanathan E, Prabhakar R, Mehta BS. Decentralization for cost-effective conservation. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2009; 106:4143-7. [PMID: 19255440 PMCID: PMC2657449 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.0810049106] [Citation(s) in RCA: 109] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/07/2008] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Since 1930, areas of state-managed forest in the central Himalayas of India have increasingly been devolved to management by local communities. This article studies the long-run effects of the devolution on the cost of forest management and on forest conservation. Village council-management costs an order of magnitude less per unit area and does no worse, and possibly better, at conservation than state management. Geographic proximity and historical and ecological information are used to separate the effects of management from those of possible confounding factors.
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Affiliation(s)
- E Somanathan
- Planning Unit, Indian Statistical Institute, 7 SJS Sansanwal Marg, New Delhi 110016, India.
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Fisher B, Turner K, Zylstra M, Brouwer R, de Groot R, Farber S, Ferraro P, Green R, Hadley D, Harlow J, Jefferiss P, Kirkby C, Morling P, Mowatt S, Naidoo R, Paavola J, Strassburg B, Yu D, Balmford A. Ecosystem services and economic theory: integration for policy-relevant research. ECOLOGICAL APPLICATIONS : A PUBLICATION OF THE ECOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA 2008; 18:2050-2067. [PMID: 19263897 DOI: 10.1890/07-1537.1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 117] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/27/2023]
Abstract
It has become essential in policy and decision-making circles to think about the economic benefits (in addition to moral and scientific motivations) humans derive from well-functioning ecosystems. The concept of ecosystem services has been developed to address this link between ecosystems and human welfare. Since policy decisions are often evaluated through cost-benefit assessments, an economic analysis can help make ecosystem service research operational. In this paper we provide some simple economic analyses to discuss key concepts involved in formalizing ecosystem service research. These include the distinction between services and benefits, understanding the importance of marginal ecosystem changes, formalizing the idea of a safe minimum standard for ecosystem service provision, and discussing how to capture the public benefits of ecosystem services. We discuss how the integration of economic concepts and ecosystem services can provide policy and decision makers with a fuller spectrum of information for making conservation-conversion trade-offs. We include the results from a survey of the literature and a questionnaire of researchers regarding how ecosystem service research can be integrated into the policy process. We feel this discussion of economic concepts will be a practical aid for ecosystem service research to become more immediately policy relevant.
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Affiliation(s)
- Brendan Fisher
- Centre for Social and Economic Research on the Global Environment, School of Environmental Sciences, University of East Anglia, Norwich NR4 7TJ, United Kingdom.
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Suzán G, Armién A, Mills JN, Marcé E, Ceballos G, Ávila M, Salazar-Bravo J, Ruedas L, Armién B, Yates TL. Epidemiological considerations of rodent community composition in fragmented landscapes in Panama. J Mammal 2008. [DOI: 10.1644/07-mamm-a-015r1.1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 42] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
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Turner WR, Brandon K, Brooks TM, Costanza R, da Fonseca GAB, Portela R. Global Conservation of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services. Bioscience 2007. [DOI: 10.1641/b571009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 270] [Impact Index Per Article: 15.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/11/2022] Open
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Guo Z, Li Y, Xiao X, Zhang L, Gan Y. Hydroelectricity production and forest conservation in watersheds. ECOLOGICAL APPLICATIONS : A PUBLICATION OF THE ECOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA 2007; 17:1557-62. [PMID: 17913122 DOI: 10.1890/06-0840.1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/17/2023]
Abstract
Globally, particularly in developing countries, hydroelectricity production and economic growth occur together with ecosystem/biodiversity conservation in watersheds. There is a relationship between hydroelectricity production and ecosystem/biodiversity conservation in watersheds, centering on the supply and demand for ecosystem services of river water flow regulation and sediment retention. Here we show that, in the upper reach of the Yangtze River, hydroelectricity production of Three Gorges Hydroelectric Power Plant can form a beneficial relationship with forest conservation through the paid use (compensating residents for their cooperation in the conservation) of ecosystem services launched by the National Natural Forest Protection Project. This interaction can provide additional incentives to encourage local communities' long-term cooperation in conserving and protecting the restored forest ecosystems. Hydroelectricity plants also obtain benefits from this interaction. The industrialization of ecosystem services supply provides an operational framework for this beneficial interaction. Sustainable forest ecosystem conservation will require developing new institutions and policies and must involve local communities in the conservation and protection of their local forests.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zhongwei Guo
- Key Laboratory of Animal Ecology and Conservation Biology, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100080, China
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Kaimowitz D, Sheil D. Conserving What and for Whom? Why Conservation Should Help Meet Basic Human Needs in the Tropics. Biotropica 2007. [DOI: 10.1111/j.1744-7429.2007.00332.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 105] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
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Priess JA, Mimler M, Klein AM, Schwarze S, Tscharntke T, Steffan-Dewenter I. Linking deforestation scenarios to pollination services and economic returns in coffee agroforestry systems. ECOLOGICAL APPLICATIONS : A PUBLICATION OF THE ECOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA 2007; 17:407-17. [PMID: 17489248 DOI: 10.1890/05-1795] [Citation(s) in RCA: 35] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/15/2023]
Abstract
The ecological and economic consequences of rain forest conversion and fragmentation for biodiversity, ecosystem functioning, and ecosystem services like protection of soils, water retention, pollination, or biocontrol are poorly understood. In human-dominated tropical landscapes, forest remnants may provide ecosystem services and act as a source for beneficial organisms immigrating into adjacent annual and perennial agro-ecosystems. In this study, we use empirical data on the negative effects of increasing forest distance on both pollinator diversity and fruit set of coffee to estimate future changes in pollination services for different land use scenarios in Sulawesi, Indonesia. Spatially explicit land use simulations demonstrate that depending on the magnitude and location of ongoing forest conversion, pollination services are expected to decline continuously and thus directly reduce coffee yields by up to 18%, and net revenues per hectare up to 14% within the next two decades (compared to average yields of the year 2001). Currently, forests in the study area annually provide pollination services worth 46 Euros per hectare. However, our simulations also revealed a potential win-win constellation, in which ecological and economic values can be preserved, if patches of forests (or other natural vegetation) are maintained in the agricultural landscape, which could be a viable near future option for local farmers and regional land use planners.
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Affiliation(s)
- J A Priess
- Center for Environmental Systems Research, Kassel University, Kurt-Wolters-Strasse, Kassel, Germany.
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Chan KMA, Pringle RM, Ranganathan J, Boggs CL, Chan YL, Ehrlich PR, Haff PK, Heller NE, Al-Khafaji K, Macmynowski DP. When agendas collide: human welfare and biological conservation. CONSERVATION BIOLOGY : THE JOURNAL OF THE SOCIETY FOR CONSERVATION BIOLOGY 2007; 21:59-68. [PMID: 17298511 DOI: 10.1111/j.1523-1739.2006.00570.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 65] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/13/2023]
Abstract
Conservation should benefit ecosystems, nonhuman organisms, and current and future human beings. Nevertheless, tension among these goals engenders potential ethical conflicts: conservationists' true motivations may differ from the justifications they offer for their activities, and conservation projects have the potential to disempower and oppress people. We reviewed the promise and deficiencies of integrating social, economic, and biological concerns into conservation, focusing on research in ecosystem services and efforts in community-based conservation. Despite much progress, neither paradigm provides a silver bullet for conservation's most pressing problems, and both require additional thought and modification to become maximally effective. We conclude that the following strategies are needed to make conservation more effective in our human-dominated world. (1) Conservation research needs to integrate with social scholarship in a more sophisticated manner. (2) Conservation must be informed by a detailed understanding of the spatial, temporal, and social distributions of costs and benefits of conservation efforts. Strategies should reflect this understanding, particularly by equitably distributing conservation's costs. (3) We must better acknowledge the social concerns that accompany biodiversity conservation; accordingly, sometimes we must argue for conservation for biodiversity's sake, not for its direct human benefits.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kai M A Chan
- Department of Biological Sciences, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA.
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Naidoo R, Ricketts TH. Mapping the economic costs and benefits of conservation. PLoS Biol 2007; 4:e360. [PMID: 17076583 PMCID: PMC1629040 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pbio.0040360] [Citation(s) in RCA: 307] [Impact Index Per Article: 18.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/13/2006] [Accepted: 08/28/2006] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Resources for biodiversity conservation are severely limited, requiring strategic investment. Understanding both the economic benefits and costs of conserving ecosystems will help to allocate scarce dollars most efficiently. However, although cost-benefit analyses are common in many areas of policy, they are not typically used in conservation planning. We conducted a spatial evaluation of the costs and benefits of conservation for a landscape in the Atlantic forests of Paraguay. We considered five ecosystem services (i.e., sustainable bushmeat harvest, sustainable timber harvest, bioprospecting for pharmaceutical products, existence value, and carbon storage in aboveground biomass) and compared them to estimates of the opportunity costs of conservation. We found a high degree of spatial variability in both costs and benefits over this relatively small (~3,000 km2) landscape. Benefits exceeded costs in some areas, with carbon storage dominating the ecosystem service values and swamping opportunity costs. Other benefits associated with conservation were more modest and exceeded costs only in protected areas and indigenous reserves. We used this cost-benefit information to show that one potential corridor between two large forest patches had net benefits that were three times greater than two otherwise similar alternatives. Spatial cost-benefit analysis can powerfully inform conservation planning, even though the availability of relevant data may be limited, as was the case in our study area. It can help us understand the synergies between biodiversity conservation and economic development when the two are indeed aligned and to clearly understand the trade-offs when they are not. A spatially explicit assessment of the economic costs and benefits of conservation in Paraguay highlights the challenges and potential utility of such an approach for understanding the value of biodiversity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Robin Naidoo
- Conservation Science Program, World Wildlife Fund, Washington, District of Columbia, United States of America
- * To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: (RN); (THR)
| | - Taylor H Ricketts
- Conservation Science Program, World Wildlife Fund, Washington, District of Columbia, United States of America
- * To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: (RN); (THR)
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Haskell DG, Evans JP, Pelkey NW. Depauperate avifauna in plantations compared to forests and exurban areas. PLoS One 2006; 1:e63. [PMID: 17183694 PMCID: PMC1762314 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0000063] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/25/2006] [Accepted: 10/26/2006] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Native forests are shrinking worldwide, causing a loss of biological diversity. Our ability to prioritize forest conservation actions is hampered by a lack of information about the relative impacts of different types of forest loss on biodiversity. In particular, we lack rigorous comparisons of the effects of clearing forests for tree plantations and for human settlements, two leading causes of deforestation worldwide. We compared avian diversity in forests, plantations and exurban areas on the Cumberland Plateau, USA, an area of global importance for biodiversity. By combining field surveys with digital habitat databases, and then analyzing diversity at multiple scales, we found that plantations had lower diversity and fewer conservation priority species than did other habitats. Exurban areas had higher diversity than did native forests, but native forests outscored exurban areas for some measures of conservation priority. Overall therefore, pine plantations had impoverished avian communities relative to both native forests and to exurban areas. Thus, reports on the status of forests give misleading signals about biological diversity when they include plantations in their estimates of forest cover but exclude forested areas in which humans live. Likewise, forest conservation programs should downgrade incentives for plantations and should include settled areas within their purview.
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Affiliation(s)
- David G Haskell
- Department of Biology, University of the South, Sewanee, Tennessee, United States of America.
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Robinson JG. Conservation Biology and real-world conservation. CONSERVATION BIOLOGY : THE JOURNAL OF THE SOCIETY FOR CONSERVATION BIOLOGY 2006; 20:658-69. [PMID: 16909548 DOI: 10.1111/j.1523-1739.2006.00469.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 32] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/04/2023]
Abstract
In the 20 years since Conservation Biology was launched with the aim of disseminating scientific knowledge to help conserve biodiversity and the natural world, our discipline has hugely influenced the practice of conservation. But we have had less impact outside the profession itself and we have not transformed that practice into an enterprise large enough to achieve our conservation goals. As we look to the next 20 years, we need to become more relevant and important to the societies in which we live. To do so, the discipline of conservation biology must generate answers even when full scientific knowledge is lacking, structure scientific research around polices and debates that influence what we value as conservationists, go beyond the certitude of the biological sciences into the more contextual debates of the social sciences, engage scientifically with human-dominated landscapes, and address the question of how conservation can contribute to the improvement of human livelihoods and the quality of human life.
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Affiliation(s)
- John G Robinson
- Wildlife Conservation Society, 2300 Southern Boulevard, Bronx, NY 10460, USA.
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Dobson A. Monitoring global rates of biodiversity change: challenges that arise in meeting the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) 2010 goals. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2005; 360:229-41. [PMID: 15814342 PMCID: PMC1569458 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2004.1603] [Citation(s) in RCA: 75] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
By agreeing to strive for 'a significant reduction in the current rate of loss of biological diversity' by the year 2010, political leaders at the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development (held in Johannesburg, South Africa) presented conservation scientists with a great opportunity, but also one of their most significant challenges. This is an extremely exciting and laudable development, but this reporting process could be made yet more powerful if it incorporates, from the outset, independent scientific assessment of the measures, how they are analysed, and practical ways of plugging key gaps. This input is crucial if the measures are to be widely owned, credible and robust to the vigorous external scrutiny to which they will doubtless be exposed. Assessing how rates of biodiversity loss have changed from current levels by 2010 will require that a given attribute has been measured at least three times; however, most habitats, species, populations and ecosystem services have not been assessed even once. Furthermore, the best data on which to base estimates of biodiversity loss are biased towards the charismatic vertebrate species; unfortunately, these supply minimal services to the human economy. We have to find ways to redress this taxonomic imbalance and expand our analyses to consider the vast diversity of invertebrate, fungal and microbial species that play a role in determining human health and economic welfare. In the first part of this paper I will use examples from local and regional monitoring of biological diversity to examine the desired properties of 'ideal indicators'. I will then change focus and examine an initial framework that asks how we might monitor changes in the economic goods and services provided by natural ecosystems. I will use this exercise to examine how the set of possible indicators given by the Convention on Biological Diversity might be modified in ways that provide a more critical assay of the economic value of biological diversity. Here I will emphasize that we need not only to monitor these benefits, but also to significantly increase public awareness of human dependence upon the role that non-voting species play in driving the world's financial economy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andy Dobson
- EEB, Eno Hall, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544-1003, USA.
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