Decline of the North American avifauna.

Gains and Losses in Ecosystem Services: Trade-Off and Efficiency Perspectives

Rising global temperatures are often identified as the key driver impacting ecosystems and the services they provide by affecting biodiversity structure and function. A disproportionate amount of our understanding of biodiversity and function is from short-term experimental studies and static values of biodiversity indices, lacking the ability to monitor long-term trends and capture community dynamics. Here, we analyse a biennial dataset spanning 32 years of macroinvertebrate benthic communities and their functional response to increasing temperatures. We monitored changes in species' thermal affinities to examine warming-related shifts by selecting their mid-point global temperature distribution range and linking them to species' traits. We employed a novel weighted metric using Biological Trait Analysis (BTA) to gain better insights into the ecological potential of each species by incorporating species abundance and body size and selecting a subset of traits that represent five ecosystem functions: bioturbation activity, sediment stability, nutrient recycling and higher and lower trophic production. Using biodiversity indices (richness, Simpson's diversity and vulnerability) and functional indices (richness, Rao's Q and redundancy), the community structure showed no significant change over time with a narrow range of variation. However, we show shifts in species composition with warming and increases in the abundance of individuals, which altered ecosystem functioning positively and/or non-linearly. Yet, when higher taxonomic groupings than species were excluded from the analysis, there was only a weak increase in the measured change in community-weighted average thermal affinities, suggesting changes in ecosystem functions over time occur independently of temperature increase-related shifts in community composition. Other environmental factors driving species composition and abundance may be more important in these subtidal macrobenthic communities. This challenges the prevailing emphasis on temperature as the primary driver of ecological response to climate change and emphasises the necessity for a comprehensive understanding of the temporal dynamics of complex systems.

Topicality. Military conflicts significantly affect natural assets and ecosystem services, including water resources, forests and soils. The war in eastern Ukraine is leading to serious environmental impacts, including water pollution, deforestation and soil degradation. Military operations in Ukraine have caused significant damage to natural ecosystems, which has significantly affected the provision of ecosystem services. Ecosystem services are the benefits that people receive from the functioning of natural ecosystems. The loss of these services caused by war has both environmental and economic consequences. This study examines methods for economically assessing the loss of ecosystem services, including forest, water and agricultural resources, which have been destroyed by military operations. Scientists emphasize the need to integrate environmental aspects into post-war recovery processes to minimize losses and restore natural assets. Land is a natural asset, and it should be taken into account that changing landscapes from natural vegetation to any other use can lead to a loss of fertility as a source of ecosystem services. The topic of valuing the loss of ecosystem services is relevant and important for sustainable development. Aim and tasks. The purpose of our study is to study the impact of military actions on the natural assets of Ukraine and assess potential ways to restore ecosystem services after the end of the war. Materials and methods. The theoretical and methodological basis of the study is institutional, retrospective, systemic analysis and the case method, which is based on real facts and materials about the restoration of natural assets in European countries in the post-war years. The information base of the study was scientific and applied developments and information and analytical materials of Ukrainian and foreign scientists and practitioners. Research results. The topic of restoring natural assets and lost ecosystem services caused by military actions is relevant and important for sustainable development. Research in this area shows that the economic assessment of the loss of ecosystem services should include not only direct economic losses, but also environmental and social consequences. Among the services provided by ecosystems and lost due to war, supply services, regulatory services, supporting, cultural and recreational services should be mentioned. To restore Ukraine's natural assets after the end of military actions, it is necessary to develop an ecological rehabilitation strategy. Soil restoration is an important element of this strategy. Therefore, it is important to study and systematize the losses in order to further search for ways to restore natural assets. The study systematizes the loss of ecosystem services, including the loss of land fertility after military intervention, and considers ways to restore fertility. We also proposed the introduction of a fee for failure to comply with restoration measures, which leads to a decrease in fertility and a decrease in product quality. This fee should contribute to a change in priorities in the choice of crops and increase corporate responsibility of the business. We have created a decision-making algorithm for planning enterprise costs, taking into account environmental risk planning. The introduction of this algorithm should contribute to a change in priorities in decision-making and contribute to the restoration of fertility. Conclusion. Losses of natural assets and ecosystem services as a result of military actions in Ukraine are not only ecological, but also economic in nature. Valuing such losses is an important step in developing effective measures for environmental restoration and sustainable development.

With the rapid accumulation of plant trait data, major opportunities have arisen for the integration of these data into predicting ecosystem primary productivity across a range of spatial extents. Traditionally, traits have been used to explain physiological productivity at cell, organ, or plant scales, but scaling up to the ecosystem scale has remained challenging. Here, we show the need to combine measures of community-level traits and environmental factors to predict ecosystem productivity at landscape or biogeographic scales. We show how theory can extend the production ecology equation to enormous potential for integrating traits into ecological models that estimate productivity-related ecosystem functions across ecological scales and to anticipate the response of terrestrial ecosystems to global change.

Selection and evaluation of projects to conserve ecosystem services

Disaster-related losses of ecosystems and their services. Why and how do losses matter for disaster risk reduction?

Research that connects the effects of urbanization on biodiversity and ecosystem services is lacking. Ants perform multifarious ecological functions that stabilize ecosystems and contribute to a number of ecosystem services. We studied responses of ant communities to urbanization in the Lake Tahoe basin by sampling sites along a gradient of urban land development. We sampled ant communities, measured vegetation characteristics, quantified human activities, and evaluated ant-community responses by grouping ants into service-providing units (SPUs), defined as a group of organisms and their populations that perform specific ecosystem services, to provide an understanding of urbanization impacts on biodiversity and their delivery of ecosystem services. Species richness and abundance peaked at intermediate levels of urban development, as did the richness of 3 types of ant SPUs (aerators, decomposers, and compilers). With increasing land development aerator and decomposer ants significantly declined in abundance, whereas compiler ants significantly increased in abundance. Competing models demonstrated that precipitation was frequently among the strongest influences on ant community structure; however, urban development and human activities also had a strong, negative influence on ants, appearing in most models with DeltaAIC(c) < 2 for species richness and abundance patterns of SPUs and generalists. Response diversity was observed within SPUs, which suggests that the corresponding ecosystem services were maintained until development reached 30-40%. Our data provide evidence that ecosystem functions, such as water infiltration and soil productivity, may be diminished at sites subject to greater levels of urbanization and that conserving ant communities and the ecosystem services they provide could be an important target in land-use planning and conservation efforts.

Simple SummaryThe objective of our study was to evaluate the mention of uncertainty (i.e., variance) associated with population size estimates within U.S. recovery plans for endangered animals. To do this we reviewed all finalized recovery plans for listed terrestrial vertebrate species. We found that more recent recovery plans reported more estimates of population size and uncertainty. Also, bird and mammal recovery plans reported more estimates of population size and uncertainty. We recommend that updated recovery plans combine uncertainty of population size estimates with a minimum detectable difference to aid in successful recovery. United States recovery plans contain biological information for a species listed under the Endangered Species Act and specify recovery criteria to provide basis for species recovery. The objective of our study was to evaluate whether recovery plans provide uncertainty (e.g., variance) with estimates of population size. We reviewed all finalized recovery plans for listed terrestrial vertebrate species to record the following data: (1) if a current population size was given, (2) if a measure of uncertainty or variance was associated with current estimates of population size and (3) if population size was stipulated for recovery. We found that 59% of completed recovery plans specified a current population size, 14.5% specified a variance for the current population size estimate and 43% specified population size as a recovery criterion. More recent recovery plans reported more estimates of current population size, uncertainty and population size as a recovery criterion. Also, bird and mammal recovery plans reported more estimates of population size and uncertainty compared to reptiles and amphibians. We suggest the use of calculating minimum detectable differences to improve confidence when delisting endangered animals and we identified incentives for individuals to get involved in recovery planning to improve access to quantitative data.

Where agriculture expands into tropical and subtropical forests, social–ecological impacts are typically strong. However, where and how frontier development impacts on ecosystem functioning and services is often unclear, including which services trade‐off against agricultural production. This constitutes a major barrier towards planning for more sustainable outcomes in deforestation frontiers. Here we assessed spatiotemporal change in multiple ecosystem services in the Argentine Chaco, a global deforestation hotspot. We modelled and mapped five ecosystem functions (i.e. carbon storage in biomass, carbon storage in soil, erosion control, excess rainfall retention by vegetation and soil fertility) which together provide three ecosystem services (i.e. agricultural suitability, climate regulation and flood regulation) for 1985, 2000 and 2013. We then employed this information to identify and map: (a) main trade‐offs between ecosystem services and agricultural production, and (b) bundles of changes in ecosystem services through the use of Self‐Organizing Maps. Our results highlight that land‐use changes since 1985 have led to widespread and drastic declines in ecosystem functions and services across the Argentine Chaco. Mean losses of ecosystem services ranged between 6% and 10% for flood regulation, climate regulation and agricultural suitability. The largest losses occurred in the Dry Chaco subregion between 2000 and 2013. We find two main types of trade‐offs between regulating ecosystem services and agricultural production. Increases in crop and pasture production occurred along with large and moderate losses, respectively, in flood regulation and climate regulation over 20% of the region. Our mapping of bundles identified five common patterns of change in ecosystem services, delineating areas of stable or degrading ecosystem service supply. This provides a powerful template for adaptive spatial planning. Synthesis and applications. Using the Argentinean Chaco as an example, we demonstrate how combining fine‐scale land‐use maps with biophysical models provides deep insights into the spatiotemporal patterns of changes in ecosystem services, and their trade‐offs with agricultural production. The periodic updating of maps of trade‐offs and bundles of change in ecosystem services provides key inputs for the adaptive management of highly dynamic and threatened landscapes, such as those in tropical and subtropical deforestation frontiers.

Interannual and interdecadal variations of the Western North Pacific Monsoon (WNPM) and the East Asian Baiu rainfall are analyzed using 30-year (1963-1992) daily sea-level pressure, 30-year monthly and daily rainfall data for the East Asia, and 15-year (April 1978-December 1992) 5-day mean 1-degree latitude-longitude gridded GMS high-cloud-amount data. The relationship to the El Niño-La Niña cycles are investigated by using monthly sea surface temperatures (SST) data over a region defined by 4°N-4°S, 150°W-90°W in the equatorial Eastern Pacific (NINO3 SST) for a 30-year period from 1963 to 1992.An analysis of Interannual variations in intensity of the WNPM in late July shows high negative correlations with the NINO3 SST during a recent 15-year period from 1978 to 1992. In the La Niña (El Niño) years, strong (weak) WNPM are observed. For the Baiu rainfall, high positive correlations with the NINO3 SST are observed in July during this period. In the La Niña (El Niño) years, light (heavy) Baiu rainfall is observed. These correlations are the results of a delay of about 20 days in the onset dates of the WNPM and the peak dates of the Baiu rainfall between the La Niña and El Niño years. In the La Niña years, the early onset of the WNPM and early peak of the Baiu rainfall are observed. In the El Niño years, the late onset of the WNPM and late peak of the Baiu rainfall are observed.The Baiu rainfall also shows a high positive correlation with the NINO3 SST during the early 15-year period from 1963 to 1977. However, difference in the dates of peak of the Baiu rainfall between the La Niña and El Niño years are smaller.An analysis of the lag-correlations among the WNPM, the Baiu rainfall and the NINO3 SST shows that the SST leads the WNPM by 1 to 2 months. On the other hand, the Baiu rainfall leads (lags) the SST by 3 (2) months during a recent (early) 15-year period from 1978 to 1992 (1963 to 1977).An autocorrelation analysis of the NINO3 SST shows that the biennial oscillation mode was pronounced during a 15-year period from 1963 to 1977. In a recent 15-year period, the low-frequency mode was dominant. These changes in the periods of the SST oscillations may be related to the recent increase in the correlations among the NINO3 SST and the WNPM and Baiu rainfall.

Adapting ecosystem restoration for sustainable development in a changing world

Suitability of regional development based on ecosystem service benefits and losses: A case study of the Yangtze River Delta urban agglomeration, China

Summary Population size is one component of several criteria in the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species (Red List). For these criteria, the quality of the population estimation can therefore have significant impact on the assessed status. To evaluate population estimate quality, we selected 473 species of land birds from the Americas considered by the Red List to be “Critically Endangered”, “Endangered”, or “Vulnerable” at the end of 2021, of which 414 (88%) had a population size estimate. For these species, we determined the age of the estimate and how the population estimate was derived, grouped into eight categories. For 87 species (18%) the population estimate was derived by sampling a small area and extrapolating to the entire range of the species; for these, the population size estimate depends on the estimate of range size. For the subset of 22 of these with complete data, we compared range size estimates obtained from maps published by IUCN with maps produced using the methods of Huang et al. (2021) to see how range map differences could affect population size estimates and therefore Red List status. Potentially half of these species (11 of 22) could change status using the new maps. More than one-third of the population size estimates (38%, 161 species with a date of population estimate) were made in 2000 or earlier. A majority of the species, 63% (300 of 473 species), do not have population size estimates made using a scientific sampling method, although the majority since 2010 have been made using a sampling method, reflecting an effort by Red List assessors to include more scientific information. We encourage the ornithological community to work to obtain current, high quality population size and range estimates to improve the quality of Red List status assessments.

Ecosystem coupling: A unifying framework to understand the functioning and recovery of ecosystems

Biological resources and ecosystems contribute to our quality of life through the production of commodities, ecosystem functions and services that enable recreation and generate cultural values. In Sustaining Biodiversity and Ecosystem Functions: Economic Issues Professor Emeritus Tisdell argues that the value of human developed ecosystems (e.g. agro-ecosystems) and human modified germplasm (specific livestock breeds or crop varieties) is not treated with adequate care by most economists, since most of them focus on natural ecosystems and wild biodiversity. However, human modified biological resources cover a vast area and contribute to our well-being as well; therefore, economic assessments of this type of resources are warranted. In three parts, the book discusses the economics of biodiversity and ecosystem functioning. Part I is an introductory and conceptual part which focuses on economic issues related to biodiversity and genetic resources, the principles of sustainable development and the socio-economic processes that alter ecosystems. Parts II and III deal with human developed and natural biological capital, respectively, and these parts form the corpus of the book. In Part II, Ch 5 provides an interesting discussion of agricultural ecosystems, with an emphasis on the socio-economic factors that have contributed to altering the gene stock and the economic consequences thereof. For example, changed consumer demand for certain products and changes in production have had a major impact on the stock and availability of germplasm and wild biodiversity. Methods for conserving germplasm and policy priorities are reflected upon in the chapter. Socio-economic issues related to livestock and biodiversity are covered in Ch 6, such as the loss of local breeds and the impact of extensive livestock on wild biodiversity. Ch 7 comprises an interesting discussion of genetic engineering and how its value can be assessed. Ch 8 deals with the valuation of human developed ecosystems such as agro-ecosystems, aquaculture and silviculture. The final chapter of Part II focuses more generally on intellectual property rights of human modified biological resources. In Part III, Ch 12 stands out for the insights from the theory of comparative advantage which are applied to conservation of wild biodiversity. On a more theoretical level, Ch 15 contests the widely held assumption that an increase in markets is associated with accelerated rates of biodiversity extinction. The value of Ch 16 lies in pointing out avenues for further environmental economics research, such as assessing the (net) value of changes in ecosystems, including undesirable changes and (partial) restoration options. Limitations of economic valuation techniques are pointed out, not to disregard their usefulness, but to steer discussion about what these methods can and cannot do. An interesting feature of Ch 17 is the discussion of land sharing versus land sparing which is illustrated by the case of orangutan conservation in Indonesia. The potential contribution of economics to this debate is shown by drawing on a spatial explicit method to assess the benefits of alternative forms of land use. Overall, the book is easy to read and each chapter could be read separately. The text could function as an introductory book since it covers a broad spectrum of economic issues related to biodiversity, with plenty of space to explain theories and the socio-economic factors that contribute to the problem of biodiversity loss and land use change. More experienced readers may pick specific chapters on human modified germplasm (e.g. Ch5, Ch6, or Ch8), or chapters that discuss certain methodological aspects or knowledge gaps (e.g. Ch12 or Ch15). Many sides of a debate are highlighted, and the role of complexities, uncertainties and requirement of context-specific information is reflected upon. The critical analyses, infused by what the author refers to as ‘rational scepticism’, challenges researchers to stay sharp and modest with regard to the potential of economic ecosystem assessments. While the book introduces basic concepts such as ‘sustainable development’ and ‘market failures’, the explanation of use and nonuse values is postponed until almost halfway the book, where the value of human modified ecosystems is the central topic. It is perhaps a little surprising that the author does not explain economic valuation methods, whereas he does discuss limitations of various valuation techniques. This leaves the reader a bit puzzled about how to proceed (with these methods or other valuation techniques). The book could furthermore have benefited from a synthesising chapter that brings together the factors that should be taken into account when analysing and valuing changes in (human modified) ecosystems and their policy implications, since these factors and policy considerations are currently slightly scattered throughout the book. Such a synthesis would especially be beneficial for policy. Proper economic assessments of human modified or natural biological capital are extremely complex and surrounded by uncertainties, given knowledge gaps about biophysical relationships and the challenges involved in estimating benefits generated by ecosystem functioning (and alterations therein). It would be great if the systematic and critical approach taken in this book would also be used in actual conservation decision-making processes.