Increase Ecosystem Resilience Research Articles

The plant ecology of nature‐based solutions for people, biodiversity and climate

Abstract Integrated solutions to the climate and biodiversity crises—together with other global sustainability challenges—include the identification, design and implementation of nature‐based solutions (NbS). Living organisms mediate biogeochemical cycles and greenhouse gas fluxes from land and sea, and provide NbS to both climate change mitigation and adaptation. Plants, as the primary producers in ecosystems, lie at the heart of NbS. Plant ecology provides the foundation for developing and evaluating NbS based on an understanding of the ecological processes that underlie ecosystem service flow to people. In this Special Feature, we provide a collection of mini‐reviews that presents concise and focused analysis of the plant ecology of NbS. The mini‐reviews highlight key insights, challenges and opportunities for future research. The development of NbS that target specific ecosystem functions (e.g. carbon storage), or aim at increasing ecosystem resilience against perturbations (e.g. those associated with climate change), requires unification of ecological theory from areas such as biodiversity‐ecosystem function, plant–animal interactions, resilience and functional traits of organisms. Synthesis. Plant ecology and nature‐based solutions (NbS) research are complementary. Plant ecology can inform the design and management of effective NbS, and provide insights for the creation of novel ecosystems that provide NbS; while learning from the implementation of NbS can progress theory. To deploy NbS at the speed and scale needed to mitigate and adapt to climate change, we must rapidly integrate ecological concepts into the design of NbS. At the same time, the design and deployment of NbS in different ecological contexts provides an unprecedented opportunity to learn how performances of individual NbS sites can be explained in an integrated way, leading to the development of general concepts. Ultimately, a mechanistic understanding of how plants and their functional traits contribute to ecosystem function and service provision is critical for the design, verification of benefits from and avoidance of adverse effects of NbS.

Land cover and burn severity dynamics of the Ogan Komering Ilir peatlands from 2015 to 2023 using sar and optical datasets

Land cover changes and wildfires have had an increasing impact on the Ogan Komering Ilir Peatland ecosystems in South Sumatra, Indonesia. This study aims to understand the peatland land cover and burn severity dynamics from 2015 to 2023. The random forest method was applied to classify land cover, while the differenced Normalized Burn Ratio (dNBR) was used for mapping fire severity. We combined various satellite data to classify land cover, consisting of Landsat-8, Sentinel-1, and Sentinel-2. Landsat-8 or Sentinel-2 images were also used for the dNBR calculation. We revealed complex climate, human, and restoration interactions in land cover and burn severity fluctuations over 273,799 hectares of the study area from 2015 to 2023. The 2015 El Niño-induced drought led to 21,754 fire hotspots and 2.01% of the area in high-severity burns. In 2016, it reduced tree cover by 10.18% and increased bare/sparse vegetation by 6.11%. The 2019 El Niño event led to 7,893 fire hotspots, lessening unburned areas and worsening burns. Due to the extreme effects of the 2015 drought, restoration efforts between 2016 and 2020 significantly decreased fire hotspots in 2016. Tree cover stabilized, reaching 48.46% by 2020, whereas unburned areas rose to 69.46% in 2018, showing good recovery and lower fire severity. In 2021-2023, fire hotspots were modest relative to El Niño years but increased in 2023. After 2020, tree cover decreased, but other land cover classes fluctuated. Therefore, continual monitoring and adaptive management are critical for reducing negative consequences and increasing ecosystem resilience.

Regenerative soil management practices no‐till and sheep grazing induce significant but contrasting short‐term changes in the vineyard soil microbiome

Societal Impact StatementWinegrape production is an essential cultural heritage and economic engine of many regions of the world. Regenerative management, which is gaining traction with industry and consumers alike, relies on soil biodiversity for agroecosystem function, reducing external inputs and increasing ecosystem resilience to climate change. We evaluated the effects of no‐till and sheep integration on vineyard soil biodiversity and soil ecosystem function. No‐till had stronger effects on microbial diversity, while sheep grazing stimulated microbial functioning. By providing a better understanding of the practices, we provide fundamental information for growers that want to embrace regenerative principles, ultimately contributing to the sustainability and resilience of the winegrape industry.Summary Regenerative management aims to optimize soil microbial function and diversity for enhanced agroecosystem functionality. Understanding the effects of management practices on soil microorganisms is crucial in the context of growing societal interest in this type of management. This study evaluated the short‐term effects of two soil conservation practices: sheep grazing and no‐till, on abundance, diversity, activity, and network complexity of prokaryotes and fungi in a vineyard soil. Four treatments were applied for 3 years: (1) grazed and tilled, (2) grazed and non‐tilled, (3) non‐grazed and tilled, and (4) non‐grazed and non‐tilled. We hypothesized that stacking of conservation practices (grazing and no‐till) would increase microbial diversity, function, and network complexity. Grazing had strong effects on microbial function, increasing the α‐glucosidase, β‐glucosidase, cellulase, phosphatase, and β‐xylosidase enzymatic activity by 82%, 48%, 61%, 39%, and 55%, respectively, compared to non‐grazed soils, while not causing significant changes in soil microbial diversity. Tillage had strong effects on soil prokaryotic and fungal diversity. For prokaryotes, significant interactions in alpha diversity were found between tillage and grazing, and between tillage and sampling location (tractor row and under vine). Fungal Shannon diversity index was higher in the subsoil (15–30 cm) while a significant interaction between depth, location, tillage, and grazing was found for the Chao‐1 index. Microbial network properties were only significantly affected by sampling depth. This study shows that the lack of disturbance in non‐tilled and non‐grazed soils resulted in a more diverse soil community, while grazing stimulated microbial function, thus showing a decoupling between diversity and function in vineyard soil ecosystems.

Gender vulnerability and coping strategies to changing provisioning ecosystem services in Bongo and Kassena-Nankana West districts in the Upper East Region of Ghana

ABSTRACT Ecosystems provide a wide variety of life-sustaining services but are currently facing severe degradation due to changing land use and cover. Women are presumed to be more affected by declines in provisioning ecosystem services (PES). These claims have not been empirically proven across all contexts and have been contested by recent studies. Few studies in Ghana have attempted to examine this gendered environmental change phenomenon. Underpinned by the vulnerability theory, this paper employed an eclectic methodological approach to examine gender differences in vulnerability and coping with changing PES in Ghana. The findings reveal that both males and females depend highly on agricultural and woodland ecosystems for their livelihood needs. The deterioration in the total areas of the major ecosystems has resulted in significant declines in vital PES such as wild edible fruits and vegetables, medicinal plants and building materials for both men and women over the past decade. The study further reveals that the decreases in fuelwood supply affect women more than men because the former group mostly cooks food in their households, using fuelwood. As adaptation mechanisms, male farmers mostly planted trees on their farms to reclaim unfertile land and conserve forests, while female farmers engage in fruits and vegetable trade in the markets, as well as used non-indigenous spices to enhance the taste of food. Both males and females have also resorted to relying on orthodox medicines contrary to the past. To increase ecosystem resilience, the mainstreaming of ecosystem integrity adaptation practices into national adaptation plans is paramount.

Fire regime attributes shape pre-fire vegetation characteristics controlling extreme fire behavior under different bioregions in Spain

BackgroundDesigning effective land management actions addressed to increase ecosystem resilience requires us to understand how shifting fire regimes are shaping landscapes. In this study, we aim to assess the link between fire regime and pre-fire vegetation biophysical characteristics (type, amount, and structure) in controlling extreme fire behavior across Atlantic-Transition-Mediterranean bioregions in Spain marked by different summer drought conditions and dominant plant regenerative traits. We used remote sensing metrics to estimate fire severity and pre-fire vegetation characteristics in eight study areas recently affected by large and highly severe wildfires under different environmental contexts. Furthermore, to account for fire regime attributes, we retrieved, for each target wildfire, the perimeter of the past wildfires that occurred between 1985 and 2022 and calculated fire recurrence, the time the since last fire (TSLF), and fire severity of previous wildfires (FSPW). The effect of fire regime attributes on pre-fire vegetation was examined using generalized linear mixed models (GLMMs).ResultsDuring the study period, fire recurrence decreased significantly in all bioregions analyzed. Fire severity increased under Atlantic conditions and decreased under Mediterranean environmental context, where the time since the last fire was the highest. Pre-fire fuel type and amount were identified as primary drivers of fire severity, being both strongly modulated by fire regime but following distinct mechanisms depending on the environmental context of each bioregion. In Atlantic sites, more frequent past wildfires of low to moderate fire severity were associated with a greater dominance of fire-prone shrublands with moderate fuel amounts, which increases the risk of severe wildfires. Similar trends occurred in Transition and Mediterranean sites but under the previous occurrence of highly severe wildfires. Specifically, long times after highly severe wildfires (> 30 years) increased fuel amount in conifer-dominated ecosystems in all bioregions analyzed, heightening susceptibility to extreme fire behavior.ConclusionsOur findings highlight that fire-prone ecosystems need adaptative management strategies to mitigate the effects of fire regime changes, but these actions should be specific to the climatic and ecological context.

European Atlantic deciduous forests are more resilient to fires than Pinus and Eucalyptus plantations

In this study, we assess how ecosystem type affects the short-term post-fire resilience of fire-prone forests, which are the predominant ecosystems in South West (SW) Europe. For this purpose, we focused on three forest systems, widespread across the European Atlantic coast, which are highly susceptible to fires at their SW distribution boundary, namely the European thermophilous Atlantic deciduous forests, dominated by Quercus robur L., and two types of forest plantations widespread globally, Eucalyptus globulus Labill. and Pinus pinaster Aiton plantations. At the community structure level, resilience to fire was measured based on changes in cover of each vertical stratum. At the functional level, resilience to fire was measured based on replacements of (both morphological and regenerative) plant functional types in the overstory and understory layers. The study variables were vertical structure and abundance of plant functional types in both overstory and understory layers. Vertical structure was assessed by defining nine vertical strata and estimating the cover in each vegetation stratum. All species identified in the overstory and understory layers were functionally classified according to their morphological attributes and regenerative traits pertaining to fire. One year after fire, we observed considerable differences in the structure between the three forest communities studied, particularly in the overstory layer, because most of the vertical strata were well recovered in the oak forest, partially recovered in the E. globulus plantation, and completely lost in the P. pinaster plantation. In contrast to the Atlantic deciduous forest and eucalyptus plantation, the pine plantation displayed distinct changes in its distribution of plant functional types. The pine plantation showed extremely low resilience to fire because the overstory layer decreased considerably, and the understory layer experienced substantial changes in the distribution of morphological and regenerative plant functional types. Fire favoured certain species which prevailed over others and, while grasses, herbaceous and spiny shrubs increased, the abundance of most morphologically functional plant types disappeared or decreased. These changes in the structure of forest communities and in the distribution of plant functional types have important implications for ecosystem functioning and services provision. Therefore, this study may serve as a foundation for devising forest management measures aimed at increasing ecosystem resilience to fire.

Improving ecosystem health in highly altered river basins: a generalized framework and its application to the Mississippi-Atchafalaya River Basin.

Continued large-scale public investment in declining ecosystems depends on demonstrations of "success". While the public conception of "success" often focuses on restoration to a pre-disturbance condition, the scientific community is more likely to measure success in terms of improved ecosystem health. Using a combination of literature review, workshops and expert solicitation we propose a generalized framework to improve ecosystem health in highly altered river basins by reducing ecosystem stressors, enhancing ecosystem processes and increasing ecosystem resilience. We illustrate the use of this framework in the Mississippi-Atchafalaya River Basin (MARB) of the central United States (U.S.), by (i) identifying key stressors related to human activities, and (ii) creating a conceptual ecosystem model relating those stressors to effects on ecosystem structure and processes. As a result of our analysis, we identify a set of landscape-level indicators of ecosystem health, emphasizing leading indicators of stressor removal (e.g., reduced anthropogenic nutrient inputs), increased ecosystem function (e.g., increased water storage in the landscape) and increased resilience (e.g., changes in the percentage of perennial vegetative cover). We suggest that by including these indicators, along with lagging indicators such as direct measurements of water quality, stakeholders will be better able to assess the effectiveness of management actions. For example, if both leading and lagging indicators show improvement over time, then management actions are on track to attain desired ecosystem condition. If, however, leading indicators are not improving or even declining, then fundamental challenges to ecosystem health remain to be addressed and failure to address these will ultimately lead to declines in lagging indicators such as water quality. Although our model and indicators are specific to the MARB, we believe that the generalized framework and the process of model and indicator development will be valuable in an array of altered river basins.

Lessons from Lyme Bay (UK) to inform policy, management, and monitoring of Marine Protected Areas

Abstract This decade represents a critical period to profoundly rethink human–nature interactions in order to address the interwoven climate and biodiversity crises. Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) demonstrate promise for increasing ecosystem resilience and reversing habitat and population declines, but outcomes vary considerably from context to context. Partially protected areas offer a compromise between ecological recovery and the social needs of local communities, but their success is contingent on an array of factors. This in-depth review summarizes 15 years of marine conservation research and impact in Lyme Bay (southwest UK), to serve as a model for the future adoption of partially protected MPAs. The findings from the UK’s longest integrated socioecological monitoring MPA study are presented and supplemented by an evaluation of the whole-site management approach as a core element of Lyme Bay’s achievements. The journey from research to improved monitoring and ambitious policy is illustrated within and interspersed with stories of novel discoveries, ongoing challenges, and method developments. What started as a dedicated group of community members has grown into an immense collaboration between fishers, scientists, NGOs, and regulators, and their combined efforts have sent ripple effects of positive change across the globe.

Rewilding Risks for Peatland Permafrost

Permafrost thaw is projected to reinforce climate warming by releasing large stocks of stored carbon. Rewilding northern high latitude regions with large herbivores has been proposed as a climate mitigation strategy to protect frozen soils and increase ecosystem resilience to climate warming. We explored the impact of summer reindeer density on subarctic peatlands by comparing 17 peatlands differing in reindeer density in Fennoscandia. We used a combination of high-resolution image analyses and field assessments along 50 transects to assess microtopography, surface water cover, vegetation, summer albedo, permafrost presence, soil temperature, soil nutrients and snow depth. Our results show that high summer reindeer densities fragment the characteristic bumpy topography of the peatlands, reducing the insulating soil properties and the probability of keeping permafrost in elevated hummocks. As a result, waterlogged lawns with surface water increase in size and reduce summer albedo. Furthermore, high reindeer density peatlands were associated with an increase in tall inedible shrubs and thicker snow layers. These changes may favor summer warming and reduce winter cooling of the soil thus accelerating permafrost loss. Our results suggest that high reindeer densities may reduce resilience of the peatland permafrost to climate warming. High densities of large herbivores will likely have different effects in well-drained uplands, but in the lowlands we studied, the complex cascading effects of summer trampling may well offset any climate-protection gained by browsing. Optimal use of wildlife management to mitigate global warming will thus require tuning herbivore densities to different ecosystem types across high northern landscapes.

Vertical and Horizontal Crown Fuel Continuity Influences Group-Scale Ignition and Fuel Consumption

A deeper understanding of the influence of fine-scale fuel patterns on fire behavior is essential to the design of forest treatments that aim to reduce fire hazard, enhance structural complexity, and increase ecosystem function and resilience. Of particular relevance is the impact of horizontal and vertical forest structure on potential tree torching and large-tree mortality. It may be the case that fire behavior in spatially complex stands differs from predictions based on stand-level descriptors of the fuel distribution and structure. In this work, we used a spatially explicit fire behavior model to evaluate how the vertical and horizontal distribution of fuels influences the potential for fire to travel from the surface into overstory tree crowns. Our results support the understanding that crown fuels (e.g., needles and small-diameter branchwood) close to the surface can aid in this transition; however, we add important nuance by showing the interactive effect of overstory horizontal fuel connectivity. The influence of fuels low in the canopy space was overridden by the effect of horizontal connectivity at surface fire-line intensities greater than 1415 kW/m. For example, tree groups with vertically continuous fuels and limited horizontal connectivity sustained less large-tree consumption than tree groups with a significant vertical gap between the surface and canopy but high-canopy horizontal connectivity. This effect was likely the result of reduced net vertical heat transfer as well as decreased horizontal heat transfer, or crown-to-crown spread, in the upper canopy. These results suggest that the crown fire hazard represented by vertically complex tree groups is strongly mediated by the density, or horizontal connectivity, of the tree crowns within the group, and therefore, managers may be able to mitigate some of the torching hazard associated with vertically heterogenous tree groups.

Functional diversity can facilitate the collapse of an undesirable ecosystem state.

Biodiversity may increase ecosystem resilience. However, we have limited understanding if this holds true for ecosystems that respond to gradual environmental change with abrupt shifts to an alternative state. We used a mathematical model of anoxic-oxic regime shifts and explored how trait diversity in three groups of bacteria influences resilience. We found that trait diversity did not always increase resilience: greater diversity in two of the groups increased but in one group decreased resilience of their preferred ecosystem state. We also found that simultaneous trait diversity in multiple groups often led to reduced or erased diversity effects. Overall, our results suggest that higher diversity can increase resilience but can also promote collapse when diversity occurs in a functional group that negatively influences the state it occurs in. We propose this mechanism as a potential management approach to facilitate the recovery of a desired ecosystem state.

Quantifying the effects of extreme events and oceanographic variability on the spatiotemporal biomass and distribution of two key euphausiid prey species

Euphausiids form a critical component of oceanic food chains and individual species vary in their responses to perturbation events. We aimed to establish if patterns of fine scale oceanographic variability and larger-scale climate events such as marine heatwaves (MHWs) could be linked with spring variability in the biomass of two key forage species in the northeast Pacific Ocean, Euphausia pacifica and Thysanoessa spinifera. To achieve this, we used long-term datasets from the west coast of Vancouver Island Canada, an important commercial fishing area, to first quantify interannual signals of variability in fine-scale oceanographic conditions using multivariate analysis. We then used geostatistical spatiotemporal modelling to quantify the effects on species-specific euphausiid biomass. Oceanographic data showed that the effects of warm events are not always observable, and effects vary across small spatial scales. Warming due to the 2014-2016 MHW was relatively mild on the continental shelf during spring (<1°C above climatology). Spring biomass of euphausiids, particularly E. pacifica, peaked in 2015, and all euphausiid groups analysed (E. pacifica, T. spinifera and total euphausiids) exhibited significant correlations with positive phases of the Pacific Decadal Oscillation. These results have implications for marine predators as euphausiids may act as system stabilisers in the northeast Pacific, thereby potentially increasing ecosystem resilience during extreme events.

The diadromous watersheds-ocean continuum: Managing diadromous fish as a community for ecosystem resilience

Diadromous fishes play important ecological roles by delivering ecosystem services and making crucial connections along the watersheds-ocean continuum. However, it is difficult to fully understand the community-level impacts and cumulative benefits of diadromous fish migrations, as these species are most often considered individually or in small groups. Their interactions at a community level (e.g., interdependencies such as predation, co-migration, and habitat conditioning) and the connections between their ecosystem roles and functions (e.g., cumulative marine-derived nutrient contributions, impacts on stream geomorphology) are yet to be fully understood. Similarly, freshwater, estuarine, and marine ecosystems are often considered as independent parts, limiting understanding of the importance of connections across systems. We argue that not considering the ecosystem interdependence and importance of diadromous fish as a community currently hinders the implementation of the large-scale management required to increase ecosystem resilience and fish productivity across the full range of these species. We developed a conceptual model, the Diadromous Watersheds-Ocean Continuum (DWOC), that uses ecosystem services to promote a more holistic approach to the management of the diadromous community and encourages an integrated understanding of the ecosystem connections made by these species. DWOC provides a framework for discussions that can help identify research and management needs, discuss the trade-offs of different management options, and analyze what pressing questions impede the implementation of large-scale management solutions toward a more ecosystem-based management approach.

Silvopasture in the USA: A systematic review of natural resource professional and producer-reported benefits, challenges, and management activities

Silvopasture is the deliberate integration of trees, forage, and grazing livestock on the same piece of land. These agroecosystems are intensively managed for multiple benefits, providing both short- and long-term income. Research suggests that silvopasture systems can increase systemwide productivity, while providing multiple ecosystem services. Due to these benefits, silvopasture adoption is increasing across the United States of America (USA), as described in regional case studies exploring silvopasture adoption. However, most of these case studies have a limited sample size, making it difficult to assess broader trends that help or hinder silvopasture adoption. To address this issue, we conducted a systematic review of silvopasture adoption studies in the USA. Our key objectives were to understand the primary benefits and challenges reported by producers using silvopasture, assess how satisfied producers are with their silvopasture systems, and understand how agricultural and natural resource professionals view silvopasture management. In total, 53 studies from 1983 to 2021 related to silvopasture adoption were included. When analyzed collectively, diversification of farm income and shade for livestock were the primary benefits of implementing silvopasture. This was similar to benefits reported from international studies that were compared. Regarding challenges, lack of information was identified as a primary concern by producers. Producers reported using a wide range of livestock that included cattle, goats, sheep, chickens, turkeys, horses, bison, pigs, geese, and ducks. Results indicate that producers almost exclusively use some form of rotational or management intensive grazing in their silvopasture systems, with 98% using one of these practices. Furthermore, 96% of producers reported using silvopasture in combination with paddocks in open pasture, suggesting that silvopastures are primarily used as a complementary component of their pasture rotation system. Silvopasture retention was also found to be high across studies, with 88% of producers indicating they would continue the practice into the future. With increasing interest to diversify agricultural management under the uncertainty of a changing climate and the need for agricultural landscapes to sequester more carbon, silvopasture may be an effective strategy for some livestock operators to diversify farm income, enhance animal productivity and wellbeing, and increase ecosystem resilience.

Adaptive Evolution Can Both Prevent Ecosystem Collapse and Delay Ecosystem Recovery.

AbstractThere is growing concern about the dire socioecological consequences of abrupt transitions between alternative ecosystem states in response to environmental changes. At the same time, environmental change can trigger evolutionary responses that could stabilize or destabilize ecosystem dynamics. However, we know little about how coupled ecological and evolutionary processes affect the risk of transition between alternative ecosystem states. Using shallow lakes as a model ecosystem, we investigate how trait evolution of a key species affects ecosystem resilience under environmental stress. We find that adaptive evolution of macrophytes can increase ecosystem resilience by shifting the critical threshold, which marks the transition from a clear-water state to a turbid-water state to a higher level of environmental stress. However, following the transition, adaptation to the turbid-water state can delay the ecosystem recovery back to the clear-water state. This implies that restoration could be more effective when implemented early enough after a transition occurs and before organisms adapt to the alternative state. Our findings provide new insights into how to prevent and mitigate the occurrence of regime shifts in ecosystems and highlight the need to understand ecosystem responses to environmental change in the context of coupled ecological and evolutionary processes.

Complementary Differences in Primary Production and Phenology among Vegetation Types Increase Ecosystem Resilience to Climate Change and Grazing Pressure in an Iconic Mediterranean Ecosystem

Plant primary production is a key factor in ecosystem dynamics. In environments with high climatic variability such as the Mediterranean region, plant primary production shows strong seasonal and inter-annual fluctuations, which both drive and interplay with herbivore grazing. Knowledge on the responses of different vegetation types to the variability in both rainfall and grazing pressure by wild and domestic ungulates is a necessary starting point for the sustainable management of these ecosystems. In this work we combine a 15 year series of remote sensing data on plant production (NDVI) with meteorological (daily precipitation data) and ungulate abundance (annual counts of four species of wild and domestic ungulates: red deer, fallow deer, cattle, and horses) in an iconic protected area (the Doñana National Park, SW Spain) to (i) estimate the impact of intra- and inter-annual variation in rainfall and herbivore pressure on primary production, for each of four main vegetation types; and (ii) evaluate the potential impact of different policy (i.e., herbivore management) strategies under expected climate change scenarios. Our results show that the production of different vegetation types differed strongly in their responses to phenology (a surrogate of the effect of climatology on vegetation development), water availability (rainfall accumulated until the phenological peak), and grazing pressure. Although the density of domestic ungulates shows a linear, negative effect on the primary production of three of the four vegetation types, differences in primary production and phenology among vegetation types increase ecosystem resilience to both climatological variability and grazing pressure. Such resilience may, however, be reduced under the conditions predicted by climate change models, if the moderate predicted reduction in rainfall levels combines with moderate to high densities of domestic ungulates, resulting in important reductions in primary production that may compromise plant regeneration, leading to irreversible degradation. New management strategies taking advantage of habitat heterogeneity and phenological alternation, more flexible stocking rates, and the redistribution of management units should be considered to mitigate these effects. The use of available remote sensing data and techniques in combination with statistical models represents a valuable tool for developing, monitoring, and refining such strategies.

A positive relationship between functional redundancy and temperature in Cenozoic marine ecosystems.

The long-term effects of climate change on biodiversity and biogeographic patterns are uncertain. There are known relationships between geographic area and both the number of species and the number of ecological functional groups-termed the species-area relationship and the functional diversity-area relationship, respectively. We show that there is a positive relationship between the number of species in an area, the number of ecological functional groups, and oceanic temperature in the shallow-marine fossil record of New Zealand over a time span of ~40 million years. One implication of this relationship is that functional redundancy increases with temperature. This reveals a long-lived and persistent association between the spatial structuring of biodiversity, the temperature-dependence of functional redundancy, and shallow-marine biodiversity in mid-latitudes.

More species in warm waters

Paleoecology Past patterns of diversity can be used as a baseline for understanding how current human-induced changes are affecting biodiversity. Womack et al. looked at mollusk fossils from 40 million years ago in New Zealand to determine how ocean temperatures influence species richness and functional redundancy, a measure of how many species fill similar ecological roles. Both richness and redundancy increased in periods with warmer water, meaning that there were more species and that those species often filled similar ecological roles. Such ecological redundancy can increase ecosystem resilience, and understanding its relationship with temperature can help us determine where human activities are driving change. Science , abf8732, this issue p. [1027][1] [1]: /lookup/doi/10.1126/science.abf8732

Rewilding of Protected Areas Enhances Resilience of Marine Ecosystems to Extreme Climatic Events

Marine protected areas (MPAs) are employed as tools to manage human impacts, especially fishing pressure. By excluding the most destructive activities MPAs can rewild degraded areas of seabed habitat. The potential for MPAs to increase ecosystem resilience from storms is, however, not understood, nor how such events impact seabed habitats. Extreme storm disturbance impact was studied in Lyme Bay MPA, Southwest United Kingdom, where the 2008 exclusion of bottom-towed fishing from the whole site allowed recovery of degraded temperate reef assemblages to a more complex community. Severe storm impacts in 2013–2014 resulted in major damage to the seabed so that assemblages in the MPA were more similar to sites where fishing continued than at any point since the designation of the MPA; the communities were not dominated by species resistant to physical disturbance. Nevertheless, annual surveys since 2014 have demonstrated that the initial recovery of MPA assemblages was much quicker than that seen following the cessation of chronic towed fishing impact in 2008. Likewise, General Additive Mixed Effect Models (GAMMs) showed that inside the MPA increases in diversity metrics post-Storm were greater and more consistent over time than post-Bottom-Towed Fishing. As extreme events are likely to become more common with climate change, wave exposure observations indicated that 29% of coastal reef MPAs around the United Kingdom may be exposed to comparable wave climate extremes, and may be similarly impacted. This paper therefore provides an insight into the likely extent and magnitude of ecological responses of seabed ecosystems to future extreme disturbance events.

Integrating green infrastructures in spatial planning: a scrutiny of regional tools in Sardinia, Italy

ABSTRACT Extensive urbanization is a major cause of landscape fragmentation, depletes natural habitats and affects climate change. An efficient counteraction is offered by the realization of green infrastructures (GIs). GIs contribute to ecological connectivity, increase ecosystem resilience, address climate change, and improve people’s wellbeing. The inclusion of GIs in spatial planning processes is important for mainstreaming environmental considerations in the design of sustainable cities. Despite the interest in the integration of GIs in urban planning theories and tools, few scientific works have tackled this issue systematically. This study aims at clarifying if – and to what extent – GI concepts are included in regional plans and programs adopted in Sardinia (Italy). We scrutinized the documents by using quali-quantitative content analysis based on criteria rooted in scientific literature and figured out that few plans and programs incorporate a clear definition of GIs. Most of them incorporate implicit references to GIs. Our results confirm other scientific evidence and open to future research works applied to the Sardinian and to other regional and national contexts.