Synergies and trade‐offs in achieving global biodiversity targets

After their failure to achieve a significant reduction in the global rate of biodiversity loss by 2010, world governments adopted 20 new ambitious Aichi biodiversity targets to be met by 2020. Efforts to achieve one particular target can contribute to achieving others, but different targets may sometimes require conflicting solutions. Consequently, lack of strategic thinking might result, once again, in a failure to achieve global commitments to biodiversity conservation. We illustrate this dilemma by focusing on Aichi Target 11. This target requires an expansion of terrestrial protected area coverage, which could also contribute to reducing the loss of natural habitats (Target 5), reducing human‐induced species decline and extinction (Target 12), and maintaining global carbon stocks (Target 15). We considered the potential impact of expanding protected areas to mitigate global deforestation and the consequences for the distribution of suitable habitat for >10,000 species of forest vertebrates (amphibians, birds, and mammals). We first identified places where deforestation might have the highest impact on remaining forests and then identified places where deforestation might have the highest impact on forest vertebrates (considering aggregate suitable habitat for species). Expanding protected areas toward locations with the highest deforestation rates (Target 5) or the highest potential loss of aggregate species’ suitable habitat (Target 12) resulted in partially different protected area network configurations (overlapping with each other by about 73%). Moreover, the latter approach contributed to safeguarding about 30% more global carbon stocks than the former. Further investigation of synergies and trade‐offs between targets would shed light on these and other complex interactions, such as the interaction between reducing overexploitation of natural resources (Targets 6, 7), controlling invasive alien species (Target 9), and preventing extinctions of native species (Target 12). Synergies between targets must be identified and secured soon and trade‐offs must be minimized before the options for co‐benefits are reduced by human pressures.     

The abundance,characteristics and diversity of microplastics in the South China Sea: Observation around three remote islands

• A high abundance of floating MPs was found in the southern South China Sea. • Transparent film and fiber were predominant in water and organisms, respectively. • 84.7% of floating MPs and 54.5% of MPs in vivo belonged to PP and PE. • Characteristics of MP in organisms were different from those of inshore ones. Surrounded by emerging markets with considerable plastic consumption, the South China Sea has been a focus area of microplastic research. A survey on the floating microplastics (>0.3 mm) and microplastics ingested by fish and mollusks was conducted around three remote islands here. Compared with the results from several previous studies, a high abundance of floating microplastics (with a median of 1.9 × 10⁵ items/km² or 0.7 items/m³) was observed, revealing another “hot spot” for microplastics. Polyolefin, especially polypropylene, was the main component. The diversity index and evenness index were calculated and evaluated based on the composition of microplastics. The characteristic peaks of Raman spectra concerning pigmented microplastics were provided. Transparent sheets/films were predominant in the water sample, which was quite different from a similar study in this sea area (8.9% for film), and only 16.4% of floating microplastics (>0.3 mm) were fibers/lines, implying that the main sources of floating microplastics (>0.3 mm) might be household/agricultural consumption activities. The transparent fiber/line was also dominant in organisms. It is suggested that the main sources of microplastics ingested by organisms might be both fabric fibers and fishing/aquaculture.     

Monitoring Change in Vertebrate Abundance: the Living Planet Index

Abstract:  The task of measuring the decline of global biodiversity and instituting changes to halt and reverse this downturn has been taken up in response to the Convention on Biological Diversity's 2010 target. It is an undertaking made more difficult by the complex nature of biodiversity and the consequent difficulty in accurately gauging its depletion. In the Living Planet Index, aggregated population trends among vertebrate species indicate the rate of change in the status of biodiversity, and this index can be used to address the question of whether or not the 2010 target has been achieved. We investigated the use of generalized additive models in aggregating large quantities of population trend data, evaluated potential bias that results from collation of existing trends, and explored the feasibility of disaggregating the data (e.g., geographically, taxonomically, regionally, and by thematic area). Our results show strengths in length and completeness of data, little evidence of bias toward threatened species, and the possibility of disaggregation into meaningful subsets. Limitations of the data set are still apparent, in particular the dominance of bird data and gaps in tropical-species population coverage. Population-trend data complement the longer-term, but more coarse-grained, perspectives gained by evaluating species-level extinction rates. To measure progress toward the 2010 target, indicators must be adapted and strategically supplemented with existing data to generate meaningful indicators in time. Beyond 2010, it is critical a strategy be set out for the future development of indicators that will deal with existing data gaps and that is intricately tied to the goals of future biodiversity targets.     

Accommodating consensus and diversity in environmental knowledge production: Achieving closure through typologies in IPBES

How can a diversity of perspectives be accommodated in scientific and political consensus on environmental issues? This paper adopts a science and technology studies (STS) approach to examine how the pursuit of consensus-based knowledge and diverse participation, as seemingly contradictory commitments, have been converted into practice in the Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES). Through a series of negotiations, these commitments have been translated into a set of situated practices that now dominate this expert panel. Consensus has been achieved through the pursuit of closure, in which meetings of expert and administrator groups produce texts, tables and images that stabilise ostensibly collective decisions. Within this framework, diverse perspectives have been accommodated through the production of typologies, such as lists of comparable options, which allow for the coexistence and commensurability of a range of knowledges and experts. However there is a politics to typologies, which requires specific attention to how decisions are made (deliberation), who participates in them (participation), and the extent to which these participants are representative of broader knowledge and policy communities (representation). While the potential of typologies to accommodate consensus and diversity offers the hope of realising ‘unity in diversity’ for both environmental knowledge and policy, recognising the politics of their production is important for more equitable processes of environmental governance.     

Surveying macro-invertebrate diversity in the Tons river,Doon Valley,India

A survey of macro-invertebrates and their monthly variations occupying the Tons river in Doon Valley was conducted from August 2003–July 2004. Macro-invertebrate collections and water samples were taken from three sampling stations every month during the period of study. All the hydrological attributes were measured monthly for 1 year. The present study showed that the water velocity, hydromedian depth, turbidity and dissolved oxygen and nature and size of the bottom substrates do play a major role in determining the macro-invertebrate diversity of Tons river. The ecological relevance of the measured hydrological attributes was investigated by comparing their degree of correlation with invertebrate density and diversity. The Shannon–Wiener index (H′) of macro-invertebrates was found to be highest (3.60) during spring season (February and March) and lowest (2.59) during monsoon season (July and August). The high values of diversity index of macro-invertebrates at all the three sampling sites indicate diverse macro-invertebrate communities in the Tons river in Doon Valley, India.     

江西井冈山甜槠群落特征及物种多样性

井冈山自然保护区地处中亚热带的东部，以甜槠等为建群种的常绿阔叶林是井冈山的主要地带性植被。通过对甜槠群落进行分析研究，充分认识其群落学特征和物种多样性，为该植物群落多样性保护与持续利用提供科学依据。     

Developing a Monitoring Program for Invertebrates: Guidelines and a Case Study

Abstract:  Invertebrates provide the majority of ecosystem services; thus, it is important that they be inventoried, monitored, and protected. Nevertheless, inventories, monitoring, and management generally focus on vertebrates and flowering plants. Consequently, there are few guidelines or case studies for invertebrates. We present a procedure for developing a monitoring program for species-rich invertebrates that entails (1) characterizing the community; (2) identifying surrogates for biodiversity; and (3) establishing efficient methods to monitor surrogates and any ecologically important or sensitive taxa. We used these procedures, biodiversity-based statistical advances, and a survey of arthropods to develop a monitoring plan for the forests of Shenandoah National Park, Virginia (U.S.A.). Our case study revealed that mixed hardwood and hemlock forests had significantly different compositions of arthropods in their soil and understory strata. Of the 10 orders tested Coleoptera and Hymenoptera were the only two to pass most of the five surrogate tests, and their combination improved predictions of overall arthropod diversity. Because arthropods represent the majority of macroscopic species in most ecosystems, the ability of this assemblage to predict overall arthropod diversity makes it a powerful surrogate. Of the 11 collecting methods used, the beat-sheet method was the most efficient for monitoring this surrogate assemblage. To complement this coarse-filter approach to monitoring at-risk, invasive, or other important taxa (fine filter), we used ordination analyses to match 66 taxa with the methods that most effectively sampled them. Our methods serve as a model for developing an invertebrate monitoring plan and should facilitate linking such monitoring with ecosystem functions and management.     

Plant response to utility right of way construction in the Mojave Desert

Disturbance of flora from utility construction tends to generate new plant growth. This growth changes productivity, diversity, and stability. Although the enhancement of vegetation may balance out the biomass destroyed by the original disturbance, it often adversely affects the quality of the vegetation. Percentage composition of the dominant long-lived perennials combined with quantitative measures are used to assess longterm effects of utility corridor construction. Differential effects of enhancement of vegetation are found along road edges, enhancement under wires of powerlines, and over trenches dug for pipelines. Areas under powerline pylons seem to receive the greatest damage and also show the most variable recovery of vegetation. Significant recovery rates are noticeable where the time span between year of construction has allowed for considerable regrowth of the older corridor. Recovery rates depend on soil type, landform, and other physical features of the disturbed sites. Drastic disturbance in one area or transect site may impede vegetation recovery, whereas slight disturbance might enhance vegetation in another, tending to offset the effect of the drastic disturbance. Disturbed areas and control areas may appear to have similar vegetation covers, biomasses, and densities, but these similarities often vanish when one examines qualitative aspects, such as proportion of long-lived species and presence of characteristic dominants.     

Plant Community Structure in Relation to Long-Term Disturbance by Mechanized Military Maneuvers in a Semiarid Region

/ Mechanized military maneuvers are an intensive form of disturbance to plant communities in large areas throughout the world. Tracking by heavy vehicles can cause direct mortality and indirectly affect plant communities through soil compaction and by altering competitive relationships. We assessed the long-term condition of structural attributes of open woodland, grassland, and shrubland communities at Fort Carson, Colorado, in relation to levels of disturbance and soil texture. Covariate analyses were used to help separate the directional forcings by the chronic disturbance from the regenerative capacities in order to assess the relative resistance and resilience of the communities and to determine whether the continual disturbance-recovery processes balanced under current levels of utilization. All three communities responded differently to disturbance. In open woodlands, altered understory/overstory relationships were suggested by increased grass, forb, shrub, and total vegetation cover and smaller decreases in shorter than taller woody species with increasing levels of disturbance. Grassland communities generally displayed greater responses to disturbance than other communities, but temporal dynamics were often similar, indicating relatively less resistance but greater resilience of this community. Weed and exotic species increased both temporally and in relation to levels of disturbance in all three community types. Temporal trends in community-level indices of dissimilarity and diversity also indicate that rates of disturbance were greater than rates of recovery. Few variables were related to within-community differences in soil texture. While total aerial cover was temporally stable, changes in species composition and in basal cover in grasslands and shrublands suggest increasing erosion potential.