Biodiversity Loss Research Articles

Indigenous Knowledge and Agricultural Practices of Ifugao Ethno-Farming in Ifugao Village, Diffun, Quirino

This study endeavors to delve into the traditional knowledge and farming methods employed by Ifugao farmers residing in Barangay Ifugao Village, Diffun, Quirino. Despite the proven efficacy of Indigenous farming practices, they confront formidable challenges including climate change, biodiversity loss, and the erosion of Indigenous knowledge. The research aims to meticulously document and safeguard the wealth of knowledge and practices upheld by Ifugao farmers, recognizing their pivotal role in fostering environmental sustainability and cultural enrichment. Utilizing an ethnographic approach, this study endeavors to unravel the intricate interplay between farming techniques, traditional wisdom, and the multifaceted challenges posed by modernization. By employing key informant interviews conducted in the Ilocano dialect, the project seeks to elucidate how Ifugao farmers adapt their agricultural practices in response to evolving environmental and socioeconomic dynamics. Through purposive sampling, experienced Ifugao farmers are selected as key informants, ensuring a comprehensive examination of the methods, beliefs, practices, strategies, and knowledge that have underpinned Ifugao ethno-farming traditions. The study, spanning one month and focusing on seasoned Ifugao practitioners, guarantees a thorough exploration of the adaptive measures and customs intrinsic to Ifugao’s agricultural heritage. Reflexive thematic analysis serves as the analytical framework for interpreting the gathered data, with anticipated results offering valuable insights into the resilient techniques employed by Ifugao farmers to preserve their cultural heritage and navigate contemporary challenges. These findings underscore the imperative for collaborative endeavors aimed at safeguarding, documenting, and integrating Indigenous knowledge into agricultural practices, thereby fostering resilience and sustainability for present and future generations. Keywords: Ifugao, Ethno-farming, Indigenous Knowledge, Sustainability, Preservation, Agricultural Practices, Beliefs, Changes perceived, Adaptive Strategies

Creating wildlife habitat using artificial structures: a review of their efficacy and potential use in solar farms.

The biodiversity crisis is exacerbated by a growing human population modifying nearly three-quarters of the Earth's land surface area for anthropogenic uses. Habitat loss and modification represent the largest threat to biodiversity and finding ways to offset species decline has been a significant undertaking for conservation. Landscape planning and conservation strategies can enhance habitat suitability for biodiversity in human-modified landscapes. Artificial habitat structures such as artificial reefs, nest boxes, chainsaw hollows, artificial burrows, and artificial hibernacula have all been successfully implemented to improve species survival in human-modified and fragmented landscapes. As the global shift towards renewable energy sources continues to rise, the development of photovoltaic systems is growing exponentially. Large-scale renewable projects, such as photovoltaic solar farms have large space requirements and thus have the potential to displace local wildlife. We discuss the feasibility of 'conservoltaic systems' - photovoltaic systems that incorporate elements tailored specifically to enhance wildlife habitat suitability and species conservation. Artificial habitat structures can potentially lessen the impacts of industrial development (e.g., photovoltaic solar farms) through strategic landscape planning and an understanding of local biodiversity requirements to facilitate recolonization.

Towards Sustainable Agriculture: Integrating Agronomic Practices, Environmental Physiology and Plant Nutrition

Sustainable agriculture aims to meet the growing global demand for food without compromising environmental integrity. This review paper explores the integration of agronomic practices, environmental physiology, and plant nutrition as pathways toward sustainable crop production. Intensive agricultural practices have led to significant problems such as soil degradation, loss of biodiversity, and environmental pollution. Recent advancements in plant physiology have enhanced our understanding of plant growth and response to biotic and abiotic stresses. Optimizing crop production in a sustainable manner depends on insights into key processes like photosynthesis, water use efficiency, and nutrient uptake. This review discusses the role of plant growth-promoting microorganisms (PGPMs) as biofertilizers, providing an alternative to harmful agrochemicals. PGPMs can improve soil health and promote plant growth when applied to soil, seeds, or plant surfaces, reducing reliance on synthetic fertilizers and pesticides. Additionally, nanotechnology in agriculture is examined, illustrating how nanomaterials (NMs) and nano-based fertilizers can enhance nutrient absorption and increase crop yields. Beyond these scientific approaches, there is an urgent need to implement novel agricultural practices that support sustainability. The world population is growing at a disquieting rate, placing tremendous pressure on natural resources. This threatens future generations' access to nutritious food and clean air. Innovative approaches like climate-smart agriculture, organic farming, biodynamic agriculture, sustainable intensification, and regenerative agriculture, along with practices such as integrated farming systems, precision agriculture, integrated nutrient management, and integrated pest management, have proven to safeguard agricultural sustainability. By integrating these innovative approaches and practices, it is possible to meet the increasing demands for food while preserving the environment.

Tackling debt, biodiversity loss, and climate change

Experience tells us how to maximize debt-for-nature effectiveness

Power-law productivity of highly biodiverse agroecosystems supports land recovery and climate resilience

Transformative change in primary food production is urgently needed in the face of climate change and biodiversity loss. Although there are a growing number of studies aimed at global policymaking, actual implementations require on-site analyses of social feasibility anchored by ecological rationale. This article reports the in-depth characterizations of low-input mixed polyculture of highly diverse crops managed on the self-organization of ecosystems, which performed better compared to conventional monoculture methods in Japan and Burkina Faso. Analyses on crop productivity and diversity showed that the primary production of ecosystems followed a power law, and through the underlying mechanisms excelled in (1) promoting diversity and total quantity of products along with the rapid increase of in-field biodiversity, especially useful for the recovery of local regime shift in a semi-arid environment; (2) a fundamental reduction of inputs and environmental load; and (3) ecosystem-based autonomous adaptation of the crop portfolio to climatic variability. The overall benefits imply substantial possibilities of a new typology of sustainable farming for smallholders sensitive to climate change, which could overcome the historical trade-off between productivity and biodiversity based on the human-guided augmentation of ecosystems.

Organic food has lower environmental impacts per area unit and similar climate impacts per mass unit compared to conventional

In recent years, interest in studying the climate and environmental impact of organic food has grown. Here, we compared the environmental impacts of organic and conventional food using data from 100 life cycle assessment studies. Most studies focused on climate impacts, with fewer addressing biodiversity loss and ecotoxicity. Findings revealed no significant differences in global warming, eutrophication potential, and energy use per mass unit. However, organic food showed lower global warming, eutrophication potential, and energy use per area unit, with higher land use. Additionally, organic farming showed lower potential for biodiversity loss and ecotoxicity. Challenges in life cycle assessment include evaluating biodiversity, toxicity, soil quality, and carbon changes. The choice of functional units influences results, highlighting the importance of considering multiple units in assessing organic food’s environmental footprint. This study emphasizes the necessity for comprehensive assessments at both product and diet levels to support informed decisions.

UAV and Deep Learning: Detection of selected riparian species along the Ganga River

Abstract. Environmental protection and sustainable natural resource management are being recognised worldwide as essential goals to safe guard human health and well-being. Riparian zones, that face the highest decline in freshwater biodiversity, are of prime conservation priority because they are essential for regulating climate, preserving aquatic-terrestrial biodiversity, maintaining ground water recharge and restoring rivers. In today's fast-paced data-driven environment, artificial intelligence (AI) is the precise answer to a wide range of problems including biodiversity conservation and wildlife management. Leveraging advancements like Uncrewed/Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) and AI has resulted innovative strides in wildlife conservation. This study utilised UAV imagery to record high-resolution data of aquatic habitat and species along the Ganga River and employed deep learning algorithms to analyse the data. Through extensive field surveys in the Hastinapur Wildlife Sanctuary, 7,025 photos representing a variety of environments, including 20,000 annotated samples of aquatic animals such as turtles and gharials were generated. Vision based computing capabilities such as pattern recognition model were developed to identify these species. To enrich and enhance the dataset and model, we used different image pre-processing techniques. Slight rotation (±5 degrees), minor cropping (up to 10%), and adjustments in brightness, saturation, and shear (±15%) were applied. Controlled blur (up to 0.5%) and exposure modifications (±5%) were also implemented on the image dataset to improve accuracy. Three Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) architectures, single-stage detectors named YOLO v7, YOLO v8, and Roboflow 3.0, were used for detecting the select species. Results show YOLO v8 excels, achieving mean average precision (mAP) of 98.8% for gharial and 92.2% for turtle detection, with a rapid average detection time of 0.308 seconds per frame at 3200 × 3200 resolution. Additionally, our model demonstrates real-time species detection capability through innovative frame sampling techniques with UAVs. This methodology provides promising technique to collect scientific data on IUCN red listed turtles and critically endangered gharials, allowing detection, monitoring, and real time counting with minimal intrusion. In conclusion, the fusion of UAVs and deep learning promises to revolutionize habitat monitoring, aiding conservation decision-making.

Benefits of tropical peatland rewetting for subsidence reduction and forest regrowth: results from a large-scale restoration trial

Drainage and deforestation of tropical peat swamp forests (PSF) in Southeast Asia cause carbon emissions and biodiversity loss of global concern. Restoration efforts to mitigate these impacts usually involve peatland rewetting by blocking canals. However, there have been no studies to date of the optimal rewetting approach that will reduce carbon emission whilst also promoting PSF regeneration. Here we present results of a large-scale restoration trial in Sumatra (Indonesia), monitored for 7.5 years. Water levels in a former plantation were raised over an area of 4800 ha by constructing 257 compacted peat dams in canals. We find peat surface subsidence rates in the rewetted restoration area and adjoining PSF to be halved where water tables were raised from ~ − 0.6 m to ~ − 0.3 m, demonstrating the success of rewetting in reducing carbon emission. A total of 57 native PSF tree species were found to spontaneously grow in the most rewetted conditions and in high densities, indicating that forest regrowth is underway. Based on our findings we propose that an effective PSF restoration strategy should follow stepwise rewetting to achieve substantial carbon emission reduction alongside unassisted regrowth of PSF, thereby enabling the peat, forest and canal vegetation to establish a new nature-based ecosystem balance.

The Effects of Wetland Degradation on Ecological Species

Wetlands are vital ecosystems that provide numerous ecological services, including flood control, water filtration, carbon sequestration, and habitat for diverse flora and fauna. However, human activities such as urbanization, agriculture, and infrastructure development have led to widespread wetland degradation worldwide. Wetland ecosystems diminished by 21-35% between 1700 and 2020 as a result of human interference, with at least 1.3 million square miles of wetlands lost globally—an area about the size of Alaska, Texas, California, Montana, New Mexico, and Arizona combined. This research used a documented methodology for extracting information from different books, conversations, conferences, and international organizations to understand the effects of wetland degradation on the decline of species and strategies for wetland conservation and restoration. This paper aims to elucidate the multifaceted effects of wetland degradation on ecological species. The results indicate that wetland degradation declines water quality, leading to alterations in water flow patterns, decreased groundwater recharge, and increased flooding downstream. This can result in the loss of biodiversity, as many species depend on specific water levels and habitats within wetlands. Moreover, the loss of wetlands diminishes their volume to store carbon, contributing to greenhouse gas emissions and exacerbating climate change. Furthermore, wetland degradation compromises water quality by reducing the natural filtration and purification functions of wetlands. Contaminants from agricultural runoff, industrial discharge, and urban pollution accumulate in degraded wetlands, posing risks to human health and aquatic ecosystems. Additionally, the loss of wetlands exacerbates erosion and sedimentation, leading to habitat destruction and loss of coastal resilience against storms and sealevel rise. Addressing wetland degradation requires a multifaceted approach, including policy interventions, restoration efforts, and public awareness campaigns. Effective wetland conservation strategies involve the preservation of existing wetlands, restoration of degraded ones, and sustainable management practices to mitigate further degradation. Collaborative efforts between governments, NGOs, local communities, and stakeholders are essential to safeguarding these critical ecosystems and the invaluable services they provide to the environment and society.

Abandonment or biomass production? Phytodiversity responses to land-use changes of semi-natural grasslands in northern Europe

European semi-natural grasslands are hotspots for biodiversity and important for the provisioning of multiple ecosystem services, but their extent has declined considerably during the past century. Increasing demands for agricultural and forest biomass risk causing further loss of grasslands, raising concern about a goal conflict between climate mitigation and biodiversity conservation. This study focused on the loss of semi-natural grasslands in a mixed farm-forest landscape in southern Sweden by comparing plant diversity in grasslands with continuous grazing regimes to recently abandoned grasslands, improved grasslands (sown leys), and afforested grasslands. Compared to actively grazed grasslands, grasslands where grazing had been abandoned showed a lower plant species richness and fewer plant species of conservation concern, but similar species composition. In contrast, both improved and afforested grasslands showed >50 % lower species richness than abandoned and grazed grasslands, with profoundly different species composition. The dissimilarity in plant diversity between sites was primarily driven by the replacement of species (turnover), and trait-based analyses indicated that environmental filtering of light, management, and nutrient requirements of plants shaped the community differences. Furthermore, an increased cover of semi-natural grassland around the sites positively related to plant species richness and diversity, while an increased cropland coverage around the sites showed a negative relationship. Our results emphasize the importance of integrated land-use strategies that prioritize biodiversity conservation in mixed farm-forest landscapes, such as restoration of semi-natural grasslands and strategic planning of biomass production to avoid serious biodiversity losses.

Homogenization of soil seed bank communities by fire and invasive species in the Mojave Desert

Soil seed banks help maintain species diversity through temporal storage effects and function as germination pools that can optimize fitness across varying environmental conditions. These characteristics promote the persistence of native plant communities, yet disturbances such as fire and associated invasions by non-native species can disrupt these reserves, fundamentally altering successional trajectories. This may be particularly true in deserts, where native plant communities are less adapted to fire. While studies of fire effects on desert plant communities are not uncommon, information regarding the short- and long-term effects of fire on seed banks is less available. To better understand the influence of fire and invasive species on desert seed banks, we investigated soil seed bank biodiversity from 30 wildfires that burned between 1972 and 2010 across the Mojave Desert ecoregion of North America. We assessed how characteristics of fire regimes (frequency, time since fire, and burn severity) interacted with climate and invasive plants on measures of α-, β-, and γ-diversities. Because β-diversity is a direct measure of community variability and reveals important information about biodiversity loss, we further examined the nestedness and turnover components of β-diversity. Mean α- and γ-diversities were generally higher for burned locations than in unburned reference sites, however individual fire variables had little influence on patterns of seed bank diversity. Burned area seed banks tended to be dominated by non-native invasive species, primarily two grasses, (Bromus rubens, Bromus tectorum), as well as an invasive forb (Erodium cicutarium). The most striking pattern we observed was a collective sharp decline in α-, β-, and γ-diversities with increased invasive species dominance, indicating the homogenization of seed bank communities with the colonization of invasive species after fire. Evidence of homogenization was further supported by reduced turnover and increased nestedness in burn areas compared to reference areas indicating potential biodiversity loss. Our findings highlight how biological processes such as plant invasions can combine with disturbance from fire to alter patterns of seed bank composition and diversity in desert ecosystems.

Understanding non-participation in local governance institutions in Indonesia

Community-centered approaches are crucial and impactful strategies for the global climate and biodiversity crisis. However, these approaches hinge upon participation for both pragmatic and ethical reasons. While there is a growing body of research in this field, most studies focus on those who opt in to these community-based approaches. Research focuses on how interventions do or do not achieve the intended cross-sectoral outcomes that are flagship among these strategies. Few studies seek to understand the objective and subjective constraints of non-participants. We investigated why community members chose not to participate in a community-centered conservation approach in West Kalimantan, Indonesia. We used snowball saturation sampling and semi-structured interviews across nine villages, surveying both non-participants and key informants. Our results show that non-material factors such as time, lack of understanding, and feeling uninvited drove non-participation. Non-participants did not identify a lack of interest in program activities or services as a primary reason for opting out. Key informants suggested that participation could be improved with better outreach around objectives, potential benefits, and data feedback loops that quickly communicated results to community members. These results have implications for conservation strategies around the globe as findings suggest investing in non-material factors (e.g., improved messaging and considerations of time burdens) are significant constraints to participation. Payment for ecosystem services and carbon finance schemes often invest considerable time and money in incentivizing participation with material benefits, and our results suggest a more significant consideration should be placed on time requirements, messaging/outreach, adaptive feedback loops, and democratizing data ownership.

Ocean protection quality is lagging behind quantity: Applying a scientific framework to assess real marine protected area progress against the 30 by 30 target

AbstractThe international community set a global conservation target to protect at least 30% of the ocean by 2030 (“30 × 30”) to reverse biodiversity loss, including through marine protected areas (MPAs). However, varied MPAs result in significantly different conservation outcomes, making MPA coverage alone an inadequate metric. We used The MPA Guide framework to assess the the world's largest 100 MPAs by area, representing nearly 90% of reported global MPA coverage and 7.3% of the global ocean area, and analyzed the distribution of MPA quality across political and ecological regions. A quarter of the assessed MPA coverage is not implemented, and one‐third is incompatible with the conservation of nature. Two factors contribute to this outcome: (1) many reported MPAs lack regulations or management, and (2) some MPAs allow high‐impact activities. Fully and highly protected MPAs account for one‐third of the assessed area but are unevenly distributed across ecoregions in part because some nations have designated large, highly protected MPAs in their overseas or remote territories. Indicators of MPA quality, not only coverage, are needed to ensure a global network of MPAs that covers at least 30% of the ocean and effectively safeguards representative marine ecosystems from destructive human activities.

Extinction selectivity obscures patterns of trait‐dependent endangerment in Columbiformes

AbstractAimUnderstanding how extinction has occurred in the recent past is crucial to unravel its main drivers as well as to implement effective conservation practices to minimize global biodiversity loss. It has long been hypothesized that extinction risk is not randomly distributed among traits of species. However, the actual traits making species more prone to extinction may have been overlooked because already extinct species are often not considered in comparative analyses of extinction risk. We characterized the drivers of extinction in a cosmopolitan bird clade, including Holocene and contemporary extinctions potentially related to human impacts and provided evidence of an ‘extinction selectivity’ in species traits.LocationGlobal.Time periodAnthropocene.Major taxa studiedColumbiformes clade, pigeons and doves.MethodsWe constructed a new phylogenetic hypothesis of the Columbiformes, a cosmopolitan bird clade consisting of 33 recently extinct and 351 extant species. Then, we integrated data on geography, behaviour and morphology to reveal the drivers of extinction risk. We used phylogenetic generalized least square models to test the effect of geography, behaviour and morphology in the risk of extinction and identified differences in the drivers of extinction when including versus excluding recently extinct species.ResultsOur analysis revealed that Columbiformes endemic to islands with ground‐foraging habits, weak flying abilities, migratory behaviour and larger body sizes are more vulnerable to extinction. Our results also show that excluding recently extinct species identifies extinction drivers different from those when including recently extinct species.Main conclusionsOnly by accurately identifying the traits that increase extinction risk we can develop targeted conservation measures that promote the long‐term persistence of threatened species. Extinction selectivity has important implications for the conservation of biological communities and ultimately ecosystem functioning, considering the critical role Columbiformes often play as seed dispersers.

An assessment of future rewilding potential in the United Kingdom.

Restoring ecosystems is an imperative for addressing biodiversity loss and climate change, and achieving the targets of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework. One form of restoration, rewilding, may have particular promise but may also be precluded by requirements for other forms of land use now or in the future. This opportunity space is critical but challenging to assess. We explored the potential area available for rewilding in Great Britain until the year 2080 with a multisectoral land-use model with several distinct climatic and socioeconomic scenarios. By 2080, areas from 5000 to 7000km2 were either unmanaged or managed in ways that could be consistent with rewilding across scenarios without conflicting with the provision of ecosystem services. Beyond these areas, another 24,000-42,000km2 of extensive upland management could provide additional areas for rewilding if current patterns of implementation hold in the future. None of these areas, however, coincided reliably with ecosystems of priority for conservation: peatlands, ancient woodlands, or wetlands. Repeatedly, these ecosystems were found to be vulnerable to conversion. Our results are not based on an assumption of support for or benefits from rewilding and do not account for disadvantages, such as potential losses of cultural landscapes or traditional forms of management, that were beyond the modeled ecosystem services. Nevertheless, potential areas for rewilding emerge in a variety of ways, from intensification elsewhere having a substantial but inadvertent land-sparing effect, popular demand for environmental restoration, or a desire for exclusive recreation among the wealthy elite. Our findings therefore imply substantial opportunities for rewilding in the United Kingdom but also a need for interventions to shape the nature and extent of that rewilding to maintain priority conservation areas and societal objectives.

Substantial unrealised global biodiversity of continental microcrustaceans

Abstract Freshwater ecosystems provide essential services for human well-being, with their conservation success reliant on the precise quantification of biodiversity. Diplostraca (= Cladocera) and Copepoda are diverse groups of microcrustaceans in aquatic ecosystems, important for a multitude of these services. We examined biodiversity trends of these groups, utilizing a comprehensive dataset, approximately 2341 studies, spanning from the early 19th Century to the present day, aiming at predicting the total number of microcrustacean species that will have been described by 2100. Descriptions increased until the 1900s, surged, and then declined after 1975. The predictive models indicate that by the year 2100, an additional 16–68% of cladoceran species and 37–126% of copepod species are likely to be identified, representing a significant portion of currently unrealised biodiversity. Eighteen prolific authors contributed to a quarter of these descriptions, with the rest spread among numerous authorities. Based on our extrapolation, the total number of microcrustacean species could potentially exceed 6114 by 2050 and 9046 by 2100, notwithstanding extinctions. These findings, which point to a significant amount of unrealised biodiversity, underscore the need to refine biodiversity estimates beyond conventional expert opinion. Such accuracy is crucial for addressing the underappreciated scale of the current biodiversity crisis.

Listening to the response of bat and bush‐cricket communities to management regimes of powerline clearings

AbstractLinear transportation infrastructures (LTIs) are established drivers of habitat fragmentation and barrier effects. Yet, they represent an increasing surface of managed seminatural habitats where increased consideration of biodiversity outputs is needed in an era of global biodiversity decline. A combined effort by both scientists and stakeholders is, therefore, needed to evaluate the promises and limits of these alternatives so that they best achieve their conservation potential. Our study explores the effects of forest powerline clearings on biodiversity, as well as the potential benefits of integrated vegetation management (IVM) as alternatives to clear‐cuts. We recorded the acoustic activity at 35 pairs of forest/clearing stations in two forested regions of France in 2021. Our results suggest that powerline clearings represent increased movement opportunities for bats and, most particularly, edge‐foraging species. They also provide suitable habitats for bush‐cricket species, particularly species requiring thermophilic conditions. We detected no direct benefit from IVM on bat communities. However, bush‐cricket communities appeared richer, more acoustically active, and statistically different from adjacent forests in clearings favoring secondary vegetation compared with clear‐cut ones. This collaborative study provides data on understudied taxa in the context of LTIs and sheds light on conservation promises and limits associated with their management.

Neoliberalism, World-System Position, and Biodiversity Loss

Several studies provide evidence that social, economic, political, and conservation-related factors impact cross-national biodiversity loss. One theoretical argument concerning biodiversity loss that has not been directly assessed involves the relationship between species loss and neoliberalism. Generally, neoliberalism promotes free markets. This has become a dominant philosophy across nations (though the strength of neoliberalism varies cross-nationally) and affects how nations interact with one another as resource users and providers. Given how neoliberal policies work to integrate nations into a single global capitalist economy, we assess neoliberalism’s effects on threatened species alongside a nation’s position in the global world-system. The current study examines nine sets of negative binomial regression models analyzing the effect of neoliberalism, world-system position, and a set of control variables on species biodiversity loss across a sample of 104 countries for which all relevant data were available. We find some support that neoliberalism increases biodiversity loss in fully assessed species (birds and amphibians). We also find support for the hypothesis that there is more biodiversity loss in the periphery and semi-periphery of the world-system (compared with core countries) in fully assessed threatened species. We argue that the results support previous research showing the sociological drivers of biodiversity loss.

A meta-analysis on global change drivers and the risk of infectious disease.

Anthropogenic change is contributing to the rise in emerging infectious diseases, which are significantly correlated with socioeconomic, environmental and ecological factors1. Studies have shown that infectious disease risk is modified by changes to biodiversity2-6, climate change7-11, chemical pollution12-14, landscape transformations15-20 and species introductions21. However, it remains unclear which global change drivers most increase disease and under what contexts. Here we amassed a dataset from the literature that contains 2,938 observations of infectious disease responses to global change drivers across 1,497 host-parasite combinations, including plant, animal and human hosts. We found that biodiversity loss, chemical pollution, climate change and introduced species are associated with increases in disease-related end points or harm, whereas urbanization is associated with decreases in disease end points. Natural biodiversity gradients, deforestation and forest fragmentation are comparatively unimportant or idiosyncratic as drivers of disease. Overall, these results are consistent across human and non-human diseases. Nevertheless, context-dependent effects of the global change drivers on disease were found to be common. The findings uncovered by this meta-analysis should help target disease management and surveillance efforts towards global change drivers that increase disease. Specifically, reducing greenhouse gas emissions, managing ecosystem health, and preventing biological invasions and biodiversity loss could help to reduce the burden of plant, animal and human diseases, especially when coupled with improvements to social and economic determinants of health.

Shark Fin City: transitional marine wildlife economies in Global Hong Kong

ABSTRACT Hong Kong has historically been the epicenter of the global shark fin trade. Despite this legacy, recent public outreach campaigns highlighting the effects of consumption on marine ecosystems have precipitated shifts in the market. Fish maw and sea cucumber have emerged as substitutes in wildlife markets, marking an understudied phenomenon from urban geographical perspectives. This article investigates the transitional nature of social value systems underpinning Hong Kong's marine wildlife market through interviews with retailers, conservation organizations, and government officials, as well as visual surveys of market displays. Hong Kong's marine wildlife market, this article contends, brings into sharp relief how transitions in social value systems that substitute one type of non-fungible wildlife commodity for others can amplify biodiversity loss and reproduce expressions of social difference in urban space. The article illuminates how social value systems embedded in urban wildlife markets are related to human health, aging, gifting, and relationship building. Furthermore, it analyzes how the possession, consumption, and display of high-value wildlife commodities in cities reflects classed and gendered forms of social difference. The article further examines the challenges of regulating the market and shaping public values and actions in the face of escalating global biodiversity loss.