Background:Global modeling of carbon storage and sequestration often mischaracterizes unique ecosystems such as the seasonally dry tropical forest of the central region of the Gulf of Mexico,because species diversity ...Background:Global modeling of carbon storage and sequestration often mischaracterizes unique ecosystems such as the seasonally dry tropical forest of the central region of the Gulf of Mexico,because species diversity is usually underestimated,as is their carbon content.In this study,aboveground and soil carbon stocks were estimated to determine the climate mitigation potential of this highly degraded landscape(<25%of forest cover).Results:Tree species in the study area had carbon content values that were 30%–40%higher than the standard value proposed by the IPCC(i.e.,50%).Tropical oak forest in the region,despite its restricted distribution and low species richness,accounted for the highest mean carbon stocks per unit area.The main factors driving spatial variability in carbon stocks were:maximum precipitation,soil organic matter,clay and silt content.No strong relationship was found between aboveground carbon stocks and soil organic carbon in the study area.Quanti-fication of carbon stocks is an important consideration in the assessment of the conservation value of remnants of native vegetation in human-modified landscapes.Conclusions:This study demonstrates the importance of the highly fragmented tropical dry regions of the Neo-tropics in maintaining landscape functionality and providing key ecosystem services such as carbon sequestration.Our results also highlight how crucial field-based studies are for strengthening the accuracy of global models.Furthermore,this approach reveals the real contribution of ecosystems that are not commonly taken into account in the mitigation of climate change effects.展开更多
Wildlife managers are tasked with identifying and managing stressors that threaten persistence of populations.We demonstrate an approach to land-use planning that combines scenario modeling and ecological risk assessm...Wildlife managers are tasked with identifying and managing stressors that threaten persistence of populations.We demonstrate an approach to land-use planning that combines scenario modeling and ecological risk assessment to map and quantify risk to population persistence for three rare prairie species in Washington State,USA.Following corroboration of model output,we found that of the management scenarios considered,only a scenario with year-round restrictions on use of off-road vehicles,digging,and camping enforced in all potential habitat reduces risk to the species.Decreased risk is focused primarily in two patches of prairie habitat in our study area,indicating stringent restrictions need not be applied broadly.However,one area is not easily accessed by two of the three species considered,suggesting reintroductions to suitable but inaccessible habitat may play an important role in management of these species.Our analyses suggest changes in land use and management that might improve habitat for rare species,with options for minimizing monetary and social costs.Because the proposed approach relies on hypothetical management scenarios and uses a model flexible in data requirements to provide spatially explicit output,it can be used to inform adaptive management of rare species in diverse land-planning processes and will be especially useful when management decisions must be made under time or cost constraints.展开更多
Introduction:Many economically important non-timber forest products(NTFPs)come from widespread and common plant species.Harvest of these species often is assumed to be sustainable due to their commonness.However,becau...Introduction:Many economically important non-timber forest products(NTFPs)come from widespread and common plant species.Harvest of these species often is assumed to be sustainable due to their commonness.However,because of the ecological roles of common species,harvest may affect and be affected by ecological interactions at broader scales,which are rarely considered when evaluating the sustainability of harvest.We use a case study of the mountain date palm(Phoenix loureiroi Kunth),harvested in South India to produce brooms,to present a conceptual framework illustrating how intensive harvest of a common species interacts with other anthropogenic management practices,plant-animal interactions and surrounding environmental conditions.Methods:We apply this framework to understanding the impacts of mountain date palm harvest in the southern Western Ghats regions of the Indian states of Tamil Nadu and Karnataka.We integrate data on the extent and levels of commercial harvest,local management practices,the ecological context in which harvest occurs,and research on harvest effects.We use this information to document the intensity and extent of mountain date palm harvest in the study area,identify the ecological implications of harvest,and demonstrate how a framework that considers harvest in the context of ecological communities and ecosystems is important for assessing the impacts of harvest of common NTFP species.Results:We show that mountain date palm leaves are heavily harvested from natural areas in the southern Western Ghats but that harvest levels have declined in recent years.Mountain date palm management and harvest occur within a network of ecological interactions,linking human activities to population-,community-,and ecosystem-level processes.We demonstrate that understanding the effects of return interval of anthropogenic fire,herbivory by wild animals and livestock,as well as the light environment in which harvest occurs are critical to assessing the sustainability of mountain date palm harvest.Conclusions:By considering mountain date palm leaf harvest in the context of ecological interactions at multiple scales,our findings show that sustainability cannot be assessed only from a population-level perspective.This general framework highlights the need to incorporate ecosystem-and community-level properties and processes more frequently into assessments of the sustainability of NTFP harvest—especially for widespread and common species—to ensure that their important economic and ecological roles are maintained.展开更多
Unraveling the complexity of the 17 inter acting sustainable development goals(SDGs)is crucial for their achievement.Empirically revealing the dimensions of the SDGs helps generalize the dominant features of SDGs and ...Unraveling the complexity of the 17 inter acting sustainable development goals(SDGs)is crucial for their achievement.Empirically revealing the dimensions of the SDGs helps generalize the dominant features of SDGs and better understand their drivers.Here,using a database of 166 countries'progress toward achieving each individual SDG,we found that about 70%of the variability of national SDG performance can be captured by three dimensions:socioeconomic development at the expense of resource and climate,the environment,and development at the expense of equality.Moreover,these dimensions are mainly affected by the economy,as gross domestic product(GDP)per capita increases,the first dimension increases monotonically,the environment dimension decreases and then increases,and the inequality dimension increases and then decreases.Our findings indicate a dim prospect of eventually achieving all SDGs because of the conflicts between economic growth and resource and cdimate goals under the current development paradigm,highlighting the importance of sustainable transformation.展开更多
基金This study was funded by The Rufford Foundation(Rufford small grant#206761,to N.M.-S.)the Instituto de Ecologia,A.C.(project INECOL,20030-10281,to J.L.)the Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnologia(CONACYT,Scholarship#263474,to N.M.-S.).
文摘Background:Global modeling of carbon storage and sequestration often mischaracterizes unique ecosystems such as the seasonally dry tropical forest of the central region of the Gulf of Mexico,because species diversity is usually underestimated,as is their carbon content.In this study,aboveground and soil carbon stocks were estimated to determine the climate mitigation potential of this highly degraded landscape(<25%of forest cover).Results:Tree species in the study area had carbon content values that were 30%–40%higher than the standard value proposed by the IPCC(i.e.,50%).Tropical oak forest in the region,despite its restricted distribution and low species richness,accounted for the highest mean carbon stocks per unit area.The main factors driving spatial variability in carbon stocks were:maximum precipitation,soil organic matter,clay and silt content.No strong relationship was found between aboveground carbon stocks and soil organic carbon in the study area.Quanti-fication of carbon stocks is an important consideration in the assessment of the conservation value of remnants of native vegetation in human-modified landscapes.Conclusions:This study demonstrates the importance of the highly fragmented tropical dry regions of the Neo-tropics in maintaining landscape functionality and providing key ecosystem services such as carbon sequestration.Our results also highlight how crucial field-based studies are for strengthening the accuracy of global models.Furthermore,this approach reveals the real contribution of ecosystems that are not commonly taken into account in the mitigation of climate change effects.
基金We are also grateful to G.Reub for generously providing data collected by ENVIRON.Work was funded by DoD ESTCP project RC-201113.
文摘Wildlife managers are tasked with identifying and managing stressors that threaten persistence of populations.We demonstrate an approach to land-use planning that combines scenario modeling and ecological risk assessment to map and quantify risk to population persistence for three rare prairie species in Washington State,USA.Following corroboration of model output,we found that of the management scenarios considered,only a scenario with year-round restrictions on use of off-road vehicles,digging,and camping enforced in all potential habitat reduces risk to the species.Decreased risk is focused primarily in two patches of prairie habitat in our study area,indicating stringent restrictions need not be applied broadly.However,one area is not easily accessed by two of the three species considered,suggesting reintroductions to suitable but inaccessible habitat may play an important role in management of these species.Our analyses suggest changes in land use and management that might improve habitat for rare species,with options for minimizing monetary and social costs.Because the proposed approach relies on hypothetical management scenarios and uses a model flexible in data requirements to provide spatially explicit output,it can be used to inform adaptive management of rare species in diverse land-planning processes and will be especially useful when management decisions must be made under time or cost constraints.
基金We thank Pradheeps,Sudhakar,and Mahadesh for their assistance with interviewsmany field assistants for help with data collection+1 种基金Eileen Herring for help in the libraryand three anonymous reviewers for useful feedback on a previous draft of this manuscript.We thank the Tamil Nadu and Karnataka Forest Departments,and local LAMPS and VFCs for their cooperation.This work was supported by a Schultes Award from the Society for Economic Botany and by a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship under Grant No.0822443 to LM.
文摘Introduction:Many economically important non-timber forest products(NTFPs)come from widespread and common plant species.Harvest of these species often is assumed to be sustainable due to their commonness.However,because of the ecological roles of common species,harvest may affect and be affected by ecological interactions at broader scales,which are rarely considered when evaluating the sustainability of harvest.We use a case study of the mountain date palm(Phoenix loureiroi Kunth),harvested in South India to produce brooms,to present a conceptual framework illustrating how intensive harvest of a common species interacts with other anthropogenic management practices,plant-animal interactions and surrounding environmental conditions.Methods:We apply this framework to understanding the impacts of mountain date palm harvest in the southern Western Ghats regions of the Indian states of Tamil Nadu and Karnataka.We integrate data on the extent and levels of commercial harvest,local management practices,the ecological context in which harvest occurs,and research on harvest effects.We use this information to document the intensity and extent of mountain date palm harvest in the study area,identify the ecological implications of harvest,and demonstrate how a framework that considers harvest in the context of ecological communities and ecosystems is important for assessing the impacts of harvest of common NTFP species.Results:We show that mountain date palm leaves are heavily harvested from natural areas in the southern Western Ghats but that harvest levels have declined in recent years.Mountain date palm management and harvest occur within a network of ecological interactions,linking human activities to population-,community-,and ecosystem-level processes.We demonstrate that understanding the effects of return interval of anthropogenic fire,herbivory by wild animals and livestock,as well as the light environment in which harvest occurs are critical to assessing the sustainability of mountain date palm harvest.Conclusions:By considering mountain date palm leaf harvest in the context of ecological interactions at multiple scales,our findings show that sustainability cannot be assessed only from a population-level perspective.This general framework highlights the need to incorporate ecosystem-and community-level properties and processes more frequently into assessments of the sustainability of NTFP harvest—especially for widespread and common species—to ensure that their important economic and ecological roles are maintained.
基金National Natural Science Foundation of China(42041007 and 42201306)China National Postdoctoral Program for Innovative Talents(BX2021042)China Postdoctoral Science Foundation(2021 M700458).
文摘Unraveling the complexity of the 17 inter acting sustainable development goals(SDGs)is crucial for their achievement.Empirically revealing the dimensions of the SDGs helps generalize the dominant features of SDGs and better understand their drivers.Here,using a database of 166 countries'progress toward achieving each individual SDG,we found that about 70%of the variability of national SDG performance can be captured by three dimensions:socioeconomic development at the expense of resource and climate,the environment,and development at the expense of equality.Moreover,these dimensions are mainly affected by the economy,as gross domestic product(GDP)per capita increases,the first dimension increases monotonically,the environment dimension decreases and then increases,and the inequality dimension increases and then decreases.Our findings indicate a dim prospect of eventually achieving all SDGs because of the conflicts between economic growth and resource and cdimate goals under the current development paradigm,highlighting the importance of sustainable transformation.
