A new platform for ecologists to link ecology with policy

Abstract

This year, 2015, marks the centennial anniversary of the Ecological Society of America. On this occasion, we are excited to announce that Ecosystem Health and Sustainability (EHS) is officially published jointly by the Ecological Society of America (ESA) and Ecological Society of China (ESC). EHS is the first ecological journal to be launched jointly by ecological societies from different countries, with an aim to encourage multi-scale, integrative, and interdisciplinary ecological studies and international collaborations between scientists from industrialized and industrializing countries. Ecosystem Health and Sustainability will publish articles on advances in macro-ecology and sustainability science, impacts of global environmental change on ecosystem conditions, and systems approaches for applying ecological science in decision-making to promote sustainable development. The journal’s focus will be on applying the theory, principles, and concepts of ecology to improve ecosystem health and ecosystem services for supporting sustainable development, especially in regions undergoing rapid environmental change. We are particularly interested in articles that reflect emerging ecological issues arising from environmental change at global or regional scales, such as impacts of global change on arid ecosystems, ecosystem management in transition in regions of rapid institutional change, biosphere reserve management in a global change context, impacts of global change on ecosystems in polar regions, impacts of global change on wetland ecosystems, urbanization and urban ecosystem management, and desertification and ecosystem restoration. Major features of EHS that will distinguish it from the existing ESA journals include the following: