AU,SO,PY,TI,AB,DI,DU,RD,SD,RK,UI,LK,Indicator targeted by the search procedure,Checked by,Reports explicitly or implicitly on changes in state of nature,More than a single direct driver,Current or past (not future) impact of drivers,One or more predefined indicators,Suitability check done?,Suitability,Assessed by,Suitability,Type of analysis,Indicator(s) targeted directly and explicitly,Indicator(s) targeted but not directly and explicitly,Assessment of temporal change in indicator(s),Spatial coverage,IPBES region(s) at least partly covered,Realm(s) analysed,Number of driver(s) analysed/assessed,Assessment of climate change impact,Assessment of land/sea use change impact,Assessment of resource extraction impact,Assessment of invasive alien species impact,Assessment of pollution impact,Assessment of other driver(s) impact,Type of assessment of the impact of direct drivers ,Level of assessment of the impact of direct drivers (within-driver assessment),Level of assessment of the relative impacts of direct drivers (among-driver assessment),Level of assessment of the interactive impacts of direct drivers (interactions between drivers),Priority assessment done?,Priority,Comments
"Vilmi, Annika; Alahuhta, Janne; Hjort, Jan; Karna, Olli-Matti; Leinonen, Kirsti; Rocha, Mariana Perez; Tolonen, Katri E.; Tolonen, Kimmo T.; Heino, Jani",ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEWS,2017,Geography of global change and species richness in the North,"Different components of global change (e.g., climate change, land use, pollution, and introduced species) continue to alter biodiversity worldwide. As northern regions are still relatively undisturbed and will likely face clear increases in temperature in the near-future, we examined the signs of biodiversity change due to anthropogenic stressors using a systematic review of previous studies. Our aim was to map where, in which way, and owing to which stressor biodiversity in northern regions has changed. We made a systematic literature search covering the years between 2000 and 2015 to obtain a comprehensive selection of recent research. As species richness was clearly the most commonly used indicator of biodiversity, we only concentrated on this aspect of biodiversity. We compared different biological groups, regions, and ecosystems. In the majority of the cases, anthropogenic stressors had decreased species richness, or had no effects on it, while increasing or multiple effects of stressors on species richness were less common. Freshwater ecosystems were most sensitive to anthropogenic stressors, as species richness often decreased owing to these stressors. The effects of land use on richness were covered relatively widely in the selected set of articles, but the effects of other components of global change on species richness require further attention. Despite the fact that pollution was not as commonly studied stressor as land use, it was the most harmful stressor type affecting species richness. Geographically, most studies were located in boreal Canada or Fennoscandia, while no studies were executed in vast circumpolar areas where the temperature rise has been greatest and the projected climate change is likely to be fast. Overall, we could find an alarmingly small set of studies that described the effects of actual anthropogenic stressors in real-life circumstances in northern high latitudes.",10.1139/er-2016-0085,No,,,1,BSR-1,http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/er-2016-0085,BSR,AG,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,AG,Yes,review,one of the indicators,none,direct (qualitative),regional,Americas/Europe and Central Asia,All realms,5,Yes,Yes,No,Yes,Yes,Yes,prevalence-based,qualitative (direction),ordinal scale,none,Yes,high,
"Wilcove, David S.; Giam, Xingli; Edwards, David P.; Fisher, Brendan; Koh, Lian Pin",TRENDS IN ECOLOGY & EVOLUTION,2013,"Navjot's nightmare revisited: logging, agriculture, and biodiversity in Southeast Asia","In 2004, Navjot Sodhi and colleagues warned that logging and agricultural conversion of Southeast Asia's forests were leading to a biodiversity disaster. We evaluate this prediction against subsequent research and conclude that most of the fauna of the region can persist in logged forests. Conversely, conversion of primary or logged forests to plantation crops, such as oil palm, causes tremendous biodiversity loss. This loss is exacerbated by increased fire frequency. Therefore, we conclude that preventing agricultural conversion of logged forests is essential to conserving the biodiversity of this region. Our analysis also suggests that, because Southeast Asian forests are tightly tied to global commodity markets, conservation payments commensurate with combined returns from logging and subsequent agricultural production may be required to secure long-term forest protection.",10.1016/j.tree.2013.04.005,No,,,199,BSR-199,http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.tree.2013.04.005,BSR,AG,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,AG,Yes,review,one of the indicators,none,none,regional,Asia-Pacific,Terrestrial,2,No,Yes,Yes,No,No,No,effect-based,quantitative (magnitude),ratio scale,none,Yes,high,
"Qie, Lan; Lewis, Simon L.; Sullivan, Martin J. P.; Lopez-Gonzalez, Gabriela; Pickavance, Georgia C.; Sunderland, Terry; Ashton, Peter; Hubau, Wannes; Abu Salim, Kamariah; Aiba, Shin-Ichiro; Banin, Lindsay F.; Berry, Nicholas; Brearley, Francis Q.; Burslem, David F. R. P.; Dancak, Martin; Davies, Stuart J.; Fredriksson, Gabriella; Hamer, Keith C.; Hedl, Radim; Kho, Lip Khoon; Kitayama, Kanehiro; Krisnawati, Haruni; Lhota, Stanislav; Malhi, Yadvinder; Maycock, Colin; Metali, Faizah; Mirmanto, Edi; Nagy, Laszlo; Nilus, Reuben; Ong, Robert; Pendry, Colin A.; Poulsen, Axel Dalberg; Primack, Richard B.; Rutishauser, Ervan; Samsoedin, Ismayadi; Saragih, Bernaulus; Sist, Plinio; Slik, J. W. Ferry; Sukri, Rahayu Sukmaria; Svatek, Martin; Tan, Sylvester; Tjoa, Aiyen; van Nieuwstadt, Mark; Vernimmen, Ronald R. E.; Yassir, Ishak; Susan Kidd, Petra; Fitriadi, Muhammad; Ideris, Nur Khalish Hafizhah; Serudin, Rafizah Mat; Lim, Layla Syaznie Abdullah; Saparudin, Muhammad Shahruney; Phillips, Oliver L.",NATURE COMMUNICATIONS,2017,Long-term carbon sink in Borneo's forests halted by drought and vulnerable to edge effects,"Less than half of anthropogenic carbon dioxide emissions remain in the atmosphere. While carbon balance models imply large carbon uptake in tropical forests, direct on-the-ground observations are still lacking in Southeast Asia. Here, using long-term plot monitoring records of up to half a century, we find that intact forests in Borneo gained 0.43 Mg C ha(-1) per year (95% CI 0.14-0.72, mean period 1988-2010) above-ground live biomass. These results closely match those from African and Amazonian plot networks, suggesting that the world's remaining intact tropical forests are now en masse out-of-equilibrium. Although both pantropical and long-term, the sink in remaining intact forests appears vulnerable to climate and land use changes. Across Borneo the 1997-1998 El Nino drought temporarily halted the carbon sink by increasing tree mortality, while fragmentation persistently offset the sink and turned many edge-affected forests into a carbon source to the atmosphere.",10.1038/s41467-017-01997-0,No,,,58,IFL-58,http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41467-017-01997-0,IFL,AG,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,AG,Yes,empirical data,more than one of the indicators,none,direct (quantitative),regional,Asia-Pacific,Terrestrial,3,Yes,Yes,Yes,No,No,No,effect-based,quantitative (magnitude),ordinal scale,none,Yes,high,
"Liu, J. Y.",PLOS ONE,2013,Status of Marine Biodiversity of the China Seas,"China's seas cover nearly 5 million square kilometers extending from the tropical to the temperate climate zones and bordering on 32,000 km of coastline, including islands. Comprehensive systematic study of the marine biodiversity within this region began in the early 1950s with the establishment of the Qingdao Marine Biological Laboratory of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Since that time scientists have carried out intensive multidisciplinary research on marine life in the China seas and have recorded 22,629 species belonging to 46 phyla. The marine flora and fauna of the China seas are characterized by high biodiversity, including tropical and subtropical elements of the Indo-West Pacific warm-water fauna in the South and East China seas, and temperate elements of North Pacific temperate fauna mainly in the Yellow Sea. The southern South China Sea fauna is characterized by typical tropical elements paralleled with the Philippine-New Guinea-Indonesia Coral triangle typical tropical faunal center. This paper summarizes advances in studies of marine biodiversity in China's seas and discusses current research mainly on characteristics and changes in marine biodiversity, including the monitoring, assessment, and conservation of endangered species and particularly the strengthening of effective management. Studies of (1) a tidal flat in a semi-enclosed embayment, (2) the impact of global climate change on a cold-water ecosystem, (3) coral reefs of Hainan Island and Xisha-Nansha atolls, (4) mangrove forests of the South China Sea, (5) a threatened seagrass field, and (6) an example of stock enhancement practices of the Chinese shrimp fishery are briefly introduced. Besides the overexploitation of living resources (more than 12.4 million tons yielded in 2007), the major threat to the biodiversity of the China seas is environmental deterioration (pollution, coastal construction), particularly in the brackish waters of estuarine environments, which are characterized by high productivity and represent spawning and nursery areas for several economically important species. In the long term, climate change is also a major threat. Finally, challenges in marine biodiversity studies are briefly discussed along with suggestions to strengthen the field. Since 2004, China has participated in the Census of Marine Life, through which advances in the study of zooplankton and zoobenthos biodiversity were finally summarized.",10.1371/journal.pone.0050719,No,,,4,LCC-4,http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0050719,LCC,AG,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,AG,Yes,review,more than one of the indicators,none,direct (quantitative),regional,Asia-Pacific,Marine,5,Yes,Yes,Yes,No,Yes,Yes,effect-based,qualitative (direction),ordinal scale,none,Yes,high,
"Lichtenberg, Elinor M.; Kennedy, Christina M.; Kremen, Claire; Batary, Peter; Berendse, Frank; Bommarco, Riccardo; Bosque-Perez, Nilsa A.; Carvalheiro, Luisa G.; Snyder, William E.; Williams, Neal M.; Winfree, Rachael; Klatt, Bjoern K.; Astrom, Sandra; Benjamin, Faye; Brittain, Claire; Chaplin-Kramer, Rebecca; Clough, Yann; Danforth, Bryan; Diekoetter, Tim; Eigenbrode, Sanford D.; Ekroos, Johan; Elle, Elizabeth; Freitas, Breno M.; Fukuda, Yuki; Gaines-Day, Hannah R.; Grab, Heather; Gratton, Claudio; Holzschuh, Andrea; Isaacs, Rufus; Isaia, Marco; Jha, Shalene; Jonason, Dennis; Jones, Vincent P.; Klein, Alexandra-Maria; Krauss, Jochen; Letourneau, Deborah K.; Macfadyen, Sarina; Mallinger, Rachel E.; Martin, Emily A.; Martinez, Eliana; Memmott, Jane; Morandin, Lora; Neame, Lisa; Otieno, Mark; Park, Mia G.; Pfiffner, Lukas; Pocock, Michael J. O.; Ponce, Carlos; Potts, Simon G.; Poveda, Katja; Ramos, Mariangie; Rosenheim, Jay A.; Rundlof, Maj; Sardinas, Hillary; Saunders, Manu E.; Schon, Nicole L.; Sciligo, Amber R.; Sidhu, C. Sheena; Steffan-Dewenter, Ingolf; Tscharntke, Teja; Vesely, Milan; Weisser, Wolfgang W.; Wilson, Julianna K.; Crowder, David W.",GLOBAL CHANGE BIOLOGY,2017,A global synthesis of the effects of diversified farming systems on arthropod diversity within fields and across agricultural landscapes,"Agricultural intensification is a leading cause of global biodiversity loss, which can reduce the provisioning of ecosystem services in managed ecosystems. Organic farming and plant diversification are farm management schemes that may mitigate potential ecological harm by increasing species richness and boosting related ecosystem services to agroecosystems. What remains unclear is the extent to which farm management schemes affect biodiversity components other than species richness, and whether impacts differ across spatial scales and landscape contexts. Using a global metadataset, we quantified the effects of organic farming and plant diversification on abundance, local diversity (communities within fields), and regional diversity (communities across fields) of arthropod pollinators, predators, herbivores, and detritivores. Both organic farming and higher in-field plant diversity enhanced arthropod abundance, particularly for rare taxa. This resulted in increased richness but decreased evenness. While these responses were stronger at local relative to regional scales, richness and abundance increased at both scales, and richness on farms embedded in complex relative to simple landscapes. Overall, both organic farming and in-field plant diversification exerted the strongest effects on pollinators and predators, suggesting these management schemes can facilitate ecosystem service providers without augmenting herbivore (pest) populations. Our results suggest that organic farming and plant diversification promote diverse arthropod metacommunities that may provide temporal and spatial stability of ecosystem service provisioning. Conserving diverse plant and arthropod communities in farming systems therefore requires sustainable practices that operate both within fields and across landscapes.",10.1111/gcb.13714,No,,,115,LSA-115,http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/gcb.13714,LSA,AG,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,AG,Yes,meta-analysis,more than one of the indicators,none,none,global,All regions,Terrestrial,3,No,Yes,No,No,Yes,Yes,effect-based,quantitative (magnitude),ordinal scale,qualitative,Yes,high,
"Bernhardt-Roemermann, Markus; Baeten, Lander; Craven, Dylan; De Frenne, Pieter; Hedl, Radim; Lenoir, Jonathan; Bert, Didier; Brunet, Jorg; Chudomelova, Marketa; Decocq, Guillaume; Dierschke, Hartmut; Dirnboeck, Thomas; Doerfler, Inken; Heinken, Thilo; Hermy, Martin; Hommel, Patrick; Jaroszewicz, Bogdan; Keczynski, Andrzej; Kelly, Daniel L.; Kirby, Keith J.; Kopecky, Martin; Macek, Martin; Malis, Frantisek; Mirtl, Michael; Mitchell, Fraser J. G.; Naaf, Tobias; Newman, Miles; Peterken, George; Petrik, Petr; Schmidt, Wolfgang; Standovar, Tibor; Toth, Zoltan; Van Calster, Hans; Verstraeten, Gorik; Vladovic, Jozef; Vild, Ondrej; Wulf, Monika; Verheyen, Kris",GLOBAL CHANGE BIOLOGY,2015,Drivers of temporal changes in temperate forest plant diversity vary across spatial scales,"Global biodiversity is affected by numerous environmental drivers. Yet, the extent to which global environmental changes contribute to changes in local diversity is poorly understood. We investigated biodiversity changes in a meta-analysis of 39 resurvey studies in European temperate forests (3988 vegetation records in total, 17-75years between the two surveys) by assessing the importance of (i) coarse-resolution (i.e., among sites) vs. fine-resolution (i.e., within sites) environmental differences and (ii) changing environmental conditions between surveys. Our results clarify the mechanisms underlying the direction and magnitude of local-scale biodiversity changes. While not detecting any net local diversity loss, we observed considerable among-site variation, partly explained by temporal changes in light availability (a local driver) and density of large herbivores (a regional driver). Furthermore, strong evidence was found that presurvey levels of nitrogen deposition determined subsequent diversity changes. We conclude that models forecasting future biodiversity changes should consider coarse-resolution environmental changes, account for differences in baseline environmental conditions and for local changes in fine-resolution environmental conditions.",10.1111/gcb.12993,No,,,58,LSR-58,http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/gcb.12993,LSR,AG,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,AG,Yes,meta-analysis,more than one of the indicators,none,direct (quantitative),continental,Europe and Central Asia,Terrestrial,3,Yes,No,Yes,No,Yes,No,effect-based,quantitative (magnitude),ordinal scale,none,Yes,high,
"Olsson, Jens; Bergstrom, Lena; Gardmark, Anna",ICES JOURNAL OF MARINE SCIENCE,2012,Abiotic drivers of coastal fish community change during four decades in the Baltic Sea,"Evidence for long-term change of marine ecosystems is increasing worldwide. Coastal areas harbour the socio-economically and ecologically most vital aquatic ecosystems, but are under increasing anthropogenic pressure. Little is known, however, about how environmental perturbations affect the development of coastal systems. In this paper, datasets of coastal fish communities covering almost four decades (early/mid 1970s to 2008) in three different basins of the Baltic Sea were analysed. There were clear changes in species composition over time in all but one dataset and coherence among basins in the timing of change. Changes were mainly associated with variables related to climate (water temperature, salinity, and North Atlantic Oscillation index), but less so with those reflecting nutrient status (nutrient concentrations and loading). Despite the importance of local water temperature, regional climatic variables were more important for the temporal development of communities. The results indicate that Baltic coastal fish communities have undergone large structural changes governed by processes acting on both local and regional scales. The findings suggest that ecological targets should be set accounting for long-term changes in community structure and that a common management of coastal and offshore ecosystems would be beneficial.",10.1093/icesjms/fss072,No,,,28,LST-28,http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/icesjms/fss072,LST,AG,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,AG,Yes,empirical data,one of the indicators,none,direct (quantitative),regional,Europe and Central Asia,Marine,2,Yes,No,No,No,Yes,No,effect-based,quantitative (magnitude),ordinal scale,none,Yes,high,
"Lotze, Heike K.; Coll, Marta; Magera, Anna M.; Ward-Paige, Christine; Airoldi, Laura",TRENDS IN ECOLOGY & EVOLUTION,2011,Recovery of marine animal populations and ecosystems,"Many marine populations and ecosystems have experienced strong historical depletions, yet reports of recoveries are increasing. Here, we review the growing research on marine recoveries to reveal how common recovery is, its magnitude, timescale and major drivers. Overall, 10-50% of depleted populations and ecosystems show some recovery, but rarely to former levels of abundance. In addition, recovery can take many decades for long-lived species and complex ecosystems. Major drivers of recovery include the reduction of human impacts, especially exploitation, habitat loss and pollution, combined with favorable life-history and environmental conditions. Awareness, legal protection and enforcement of management plans are also crucial. Learning from historical recovery successes and failures is essential for implementing realistic conservation goals and promising management strategies.",10.1016/j.tree.2011.07.008,No,,,21,PFB-21,http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.tree.2011.07.008,PFB,AG,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,AG,Yes,review,more than one of the indicators,none,direct (quantitative),global,All regions,Marine,3,No,Yes,Yes,No,Yes,No,prevalence-based,qualitative (direction),ratio scale,qualitative,Yes,high,
"Coleman, Felicia C.; Koenig, Christopher C.",INTEGRATIVE AND COMPARATIVE BIOLOGY,2010,"The Effects of Fishing, Climate Change, and Other Anthropogenic Disturbances on Red Grouper and Other Reef Fishes in the Gulf of Mexico","In this article, we consider the potential effects of anthropogenic disturbances on marine fish species known or suspected to be habitat engineers. The three species of interest inhabit different marine habitats at different life stages, and therefore can have significant influences across the sea floor at broad spatial scales. The primary species include the shallow-water Atlantic goliath grouper (Epinephelus itajara), which inhabits mangrove root systems as juveniles, and caves, shipwrecks, and rocky reefs as adults; red grouper (E. morio), which excavates habitat throughout its benthic life in Karst regions of the Gulf of Mexico and western Atlantic, from the coast to the shelf-edge; and tilefish (Lopholatilus chamaeleonticeps), a species that lives on the continental slope and constructs elaborate, pueblo-esque burrows. The anthropogenic disturbances of greatest interest in the Gulf of Mexico include fishing, hypoxia, red tide, oil and gas exploration, and climatic change. We suggest that to understand the broader effects of both natural and anthropogenic disturbances on biomass and productivity in these species requires that we first understand the strength of interactions between them and the other species residing within their communities (e.g., predators, prey, commensals, and mutualists).",10.1093/icb/icq072,No,,,68,LCC-68,http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/icb/icq072,LCC,CG,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,CG,Yes,review,one of the indicators,one of the indicators,indirect,regional,Americas,Marine,3,Yes,Yes,Yes,No,No,No,prevalence-based,qualitative (direction),ordinal scale,qualitative,Yes,high,
"Graham, Nicholas A. J.; McClanahan, Tim R.; MacNeil, M. Aaron; Wilson, Shaun K.; Polunin, Nicholas V. C.; Jennings, Simon; Chabanet, Pascale; Clark, Susan; Spalding, Mark D.; Letourneur, Yves; Bigot, Lionel; Galzin, Rene; Ohman, Marcus C.; Garpe, Kajsa C.; Edwards, Alasdair J.; Sheppard, Charles R. C.",PLOS ONE,2008,"Climate Warming, Marine Protected Areas and the Ocean-Scale Integrity of Coral Reef Ecosystems","Coral reefs have emerged as one of the ecosystems most vulnerable to climate variation and change. While the contribution of a warming climate to the loss of live coral cover has been well documented across large spatial and temporal scales, the associated effects on fish have not. Here, we respond to recent and repeated calls to assess the importance of local management in conserving coral reefs in the context of global climate change. Such information is important, as coral reef fish assemblages are the most species dense vertebrate communities on earth, contributing critical ecosystem functions and providing crucial ecosystem services to human societies in tropical countries. Our assessment of the impacts of the 1998 mass bleaching event on coral cover, reef structural complexity, and reef associated fishes spans 7 countries, 66 sites and 26 degrees of latitude in the Indian Ocean. Using Bayesian meta-analysis we show that changes in the size structure, diversity and trophic composition of the reef fish community have followed coral declines. Although the ocean scale integrity of these coral reef ecosystems has been lost, it is positive to see the effects are spatially variable at multiple scales, with impacts and vulnerability affected by geography but not management regime. Existing no-take marine protected areas still support high biomass of fish, however they had no positive affect on the ecosystem response to large-scale disturbance. This suggests a need for future conservation and management efforts to identify and protect regional refugia, which should be integrated into existing management frameworks and combined with policies to improve system-wide resilience to climate variation and change.",10.1371/journal.pone.0003039,No,,,95,LSR-95,http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0003039,LSR,CG,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,CG,Yes,empirical data,more than one of the indicators,none,direct (quantitative),regional,Africa/Asia-Pacific,Marine,2,Yes,Yes,No,No,No,No,effect-based,quantitative (magnitude),ordinal scale,qualitative,Yes,high,
"Maharaj, Ravi R.; Lam, Vicky W. Y.; Pauly, Daniel; Cheung, William W. L.",MARINE ECOLOGY PROGRESS SERIES,2018,Regional variability in the sensitivity of Caribbean reef fish assemblages to ocean warming,"Ocean warming is expected to impact biodiversity and fisheries in the tropics through shifts in species' distributions, leading to local extinctions and changes in species composition of catches. However, regional-scale patterns may differ from global trends due to the influence of important environmental factors such as ocean warming, fishing and habitat availability. Here, we used the mean temperature of the catch to test the hypothesis that, for the period of 1971 to 2010, regional variation in species-turnover of exploited reef fish assemblages among 9 Caribbean countries can be explained by differences in the rate of warming, species' thermal preferences, changes in trophic structure due to fishing and potential reef habitat across the region. Sea surface temperature and the mean temperature of the catch displayed rates of increase of 0.14 and 0.19 degrees C decade(-1) respectively, on par with the global average and higher when compared to the global average for all tropical fisheries. These rates also varied across the 9 Caribbean countries, ranging from 0.04 to 0.18 degrees C decade(-1) for sea surface temperature and 0.10 to 0.62 degrees C decade(-1) for the mean temperature of the catch. The negative interaction between potential reef habitats in each country and sea surface temperature in relation to the mean temperature of the catch suggests possible moderating effects of available habitats on the sensitivity of fish communities to warming. In addition, the negative relationship of trophic level with the mean temperature of the catch suggests that fishing increases their vulnerability. Findings from this study can help elucidate factors driving variations in the sensitivity of exploited fish communities to warming, and have implications for the management of living marine resources in the Caribbean region.",10.3354/meps12462,No,,,132,LCC-132,http://dx.doi.org/10.3354/meps12462,LCC,DB,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,DB,Yes,empirical data,one of the indicators,none,direct (quantitative),regional,Americas,Marine,2,Yes,No,Yes,No,No,No,trait-based,quantitative (magnitude),ratio scale,quantitative,Yes,high,
"Amano, Tatsuya; Szekely, Tamas; Sandel, Brody; Nagy, Szabolcs; Mundkur, Taej; Langendoen, Tom; Blanco, Daniel; Soykan, Candan U.; Sutherland, William J.",NATURE,2018,Successful conservation of global waterbird populations depends on effective governance,"Understanding global patterns of biodiversity change is crucial for conservation research, policies and practices. However, for most ecosystems, the lack of systematically collected data at a global level limits our understanding of biodiversity changes and their localscale drivers. Here we address this challenge by focusing on wetlands, which are among the most biodiverse and productive of any environments(1,2) and which provide essential ecosystem services(3,4), but are also amongst the most seriously threatened ecosystems(3,5). Using birds as an indicator taxon of wetland biodiversity, we model time-series abundance data for 461 waterbird species at 25,769 survey sites across the globe. We show that the strongest predictor of changes in waterbird abundance, and of conservation efforts having beneficial effects, is the effective governance of a country. In areas in which governance is on average less effective, such as western and central Asia, sub-Saharan Africa and South America, waterbird declines are particularly pronounced; a higher protected area coverage of wetland environments facilitates waterbird increases, but only in countries with more effective governance. Our findings highlight that sociopolitical instability can lead to biodiversity loss and undermine the benefit of existing conservation efforts, such as the expansion of protected area coverage. Furthermore, data deficiencies in areas with less effective governance could lead to underestimations of the extent of the current biodiversity crisis.",10.1038/nature25139,No,,,189,LSA-189,http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/nature25139,LSA,DB,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,DB,Yes,empirical data,one of the indicators,none,direct (quantitative),global,All regions,Freshwater,3,Yes,Yes,No,No,No,Yes,effect-based,quantitative (magnitude),ratio scale,none,Yes,high,
"Westphal, Michael I.; Browne, Michael; MacKinnon, Kathy; Noble, Ian",BIOLOGICAL INVASIONS,2008,The link between international trade and the global distribution of invasive alien species,"Invasive alien species (IAS) exact large biodiversity and economic costs and are a significant component of human-induced, global environmental change. Previous studies looking at the variation in alien species across regions have been limited geographically or taxonomically or have not considered economics. We used a global invasive species database to regress IAS per-country on a suite of socioeconomic, ecological, and biogeographical variables. We varied the countries included in the regression tree analyses, in order to explore whether certain outliers were biasing the results, and in most of the cases, merchandise imports was the most important explanatory variable. The greater the degree of international trade, the higher the number of IAS. We also found a positive relationship between species richness and the number of invasives, in accord with other investigations at large spatial scales. Island status (overall), country area, latitude, continental position (New World versus Old World) or other measures of human disturbance (e.g., GDP per capita, population density) were not found to be important determinants of a country's degree of biological invasion, contrary to previous studies. Our findings also provide support to the idea that more resources for combating IAS should be directed at the introduction stage and that novel trade instruments need to be explored to account for this environmental externality.",10.1007/s10530-007-9138-5,No,,,166,BSR-166,http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10530-007-9138-5,BSR,LC,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,LC,Yes,empirical data,one of the indicators,one of the indicators,indirect,global,All regions,All realms,2,No,Yes,No,Yes,No,No,effect-based,quantitative (magnitude),ratio scale,quantitative,Yes,high,
"Gros, Philippe; Prouzet, Patrick",ECOSYSTEM SUSTAINABILITY AND GLOBAL CHANGE,2014,The Impact of Global Change on the Dynamics of Marine Living Resources,,,No,,,72,FSS-72,,FSS,LC,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,LC,Yes,empirical data,one of the indicators,more than one of the indicators,direct (quantitative),global,All regions,Freshwater/Marine,3,Yes,Yes,Yes,No,No,No,effect-based,quantitative (magnitude),ratio scale,quantitative,Yes,high,
"Harris, Peter T.; Baker, Elaine K.",SEAFLOOR GEOMORPHOLOGY AS BENTHIC HABITAT: GEOHAB ATLAS OF SEAFLOOR GEOMORPHIC FEATURES AND BENTHIC HABITATS,2012,GeoHab Atlas of Seafloor Geomorphic Features and Benthic Habitats: Synthesis and Lessons Learned,"This chapter presents a broad synthesis and overview based on the 57 case studies included in Part 2 of this book and on questionnaires completed by the authors. The case studies covered areas of seafloor ranging from 0.15 km(2) to over 1.000.000 km(2) (average of 26.600 km(2)) and a broad range of geomorphic feature types. The mean depths of the study areas ranged from 8 to 2.375 m. with about half of the studies on the shelf (depth < 120 m) and half on the slope and at greater depths. Mapping resolution ranged from 0.1 to 170 m (mean of 13 m). There is a relatively equal distribution of studies across the four naturalness categories: near pristine (n = 17), largely unmodified (n = 16), modified (n = 13), and extensively modified (n = 10). In terms of threats to habitats, most authors identified fishing (n = 46) as the most significant threat, followed by pollution (n = 12), oil and gas development (n = 7), and aggregate mining (n = 7). Anthropogenic climate change was viewed as an immediate threat to benthic habitats by only three authors (n = 3).Water depth was found to be the most useful surrogate for benthic communities in the most studies (n = 17). followed by substrate/sediment type (n = 14). acoustic backscatter (n = 12). wave-current exposure (n = 10). grain size (n = 10). seabed rugosity (n = 9). and bathymetric/topographic position index (BPI/TPI) (n = 8). Water properties (temperature. salinity) and seabed slope are less useful surrogates. Multiple analytical methods were used to identify surrogates, with ARC GIS being by far the most popular method (23 out of 44 studies that specified a methodology).Of the many purposes for mapping benthic habitats, four stand out as preeminent: (1) to support government spatial marine planning, management, and decision making; (2) to support and underpin the design of marine protected areas (MPAs); (3) to conduct scientific research programs aimed at generating knowledge of benthic ecosystems and seafloor geology; and (4) to conduct living and nonliving seabed resource assessments for economic and management purposes. Out of 57 case studies, habitat mapping was intended to be part of an ongoing monitoring program in 24 cases, whereas the mapping was considered to be a one-off exercise in 33 cases. However, out of the 33 one-off cases, the authors considered that their habitat map would form the baseline for monitoring future changes in 24 cases. This suggests that governments and regulators generally view habitat mapping as a useful means of measuring and monitoring change. In terms of the perceived clients and users of habitat maps, most authors considered industry, marine conservation, and the scientific community to be the primary users of habitat maps. However, the overwhelming majority of habitat surveys were funded by government or government-funded agencies/institutions (n = 49), with only minor funding from private industry (n = 7) or nongovernment organizations (n = 4).A gap analysis (i.e., geomorphic features and habitats not included in the case studies) illustrates that whereas shelf and slope habitats are well represented in the case studies, estuarine and deltaic coastal habitats plus deep ocean (abyssal-hadal) environments were described in only a few case studies. Geographically, about half of the case studies were from waters around Western Europe, while the margins of the continents of Africa, Asia, and South America were not represented in any case study. Given the intense pressures facing benthic habitats and broad regional differences in ecosystems, species, and habitats, future case studies from these regions should be specifically sought for future editions of the Atlas.",10.1016/B978-0-12-385140-6.00064-5,No,,,61,LCC-61,http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-385140-6.00064-5,LCC,LC,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,LC,Yes,meta-analysis,one of the indicators,none,none,global,All regions,Marine,6,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,prevalence-based,qualitative (direction),ordinal scale,none,Yes,high,
"Kuczynski, Lucie; Legendre, Pierre; Grenouillet, Gael",GLOBAL ECOLOGY AND BIOGEOGRAPHY,2018,"Concomitant impacts of climate change, fragmentation and non-native species have led to reorganization of fish communities since the 1980s","Aim: In response to climate change, species distribution shifts resulting from local extinctions, colonizations and variations in population abundances potentially lead to community-level reorganizations. Here, we assess changes over time in stream fish communities, quantify the extent to which these changes are attributable to population declines or increases and identify their main drivers.Location: France.Time period: 1980-2012.Major taxa studied: Stream fish species.Methods: We used abundance-monitoring data to quantify changes in composition and uniqueness for 332 stream fish communities between a cold historical period (1980-1993) and a warm contemporary period (2004-2012). Then, we used a model-averaging procedure to test the impacts of factors related to climate, land use and non-native species density and their interacting effects in shaping community reorganization.Results: We observed biotic homogenization over time in stream fish communities, although some communities experienced differentiation. Changes in composition mainly resulted from population declines and were favoured by an increase in temperature seasonality and in non-native species density. Population declines decreased with fragmentation and changes in non-native species density, whereas population increases were negatively driven by changes in precipitation and positively by fragmentation. Our results provide evidence that environmental changes can interact with other factors (e.g., upstream-downstream, fragmentation intensity) to determine community reorganization.Main conclusions: In the context of global change, fish assemblage reorganizations mainly result from population declines of species. These reorganizations are spatially structured and driven by both climatic and human-related stressors. Here, we emphasize the need to take into account several components of global change, because the interplay between stressors might play a key role in the ongoing biodiversity changes.",10.1111/geb.12690,No,,,28,LSA-28,http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/geb.12690,LSA,LC,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,LC,Yes,empirical data,more than one of the indicators,none,direct (quantitative),regional,Europe and Central Asia,Freshwater,3,Yes,Yes,No,Yes,No,No,effect-based,quantitative (magnitude),ratio scale,quantitative,Yes,high,
"Liu, Xuan; Petitpierre, Blaise; Broennimann, Olivier; Li, Xianping; Guisan, Antoine; Li, Yiming",JOURNAL OF BIOGEOGRAPHY,2017,Realized climatic niches are conserved along maximum temperatures among herpetofaunal invaders,"AimThe conservatism of the realized climatic niche is a pivotal assumption for predicting invasion risk under present and future climates. To date, however, no studies have identified the particular dimensions of realized climatic niches that are spatially and temporally conserved for a whole taxonomic group on a global scale. Understanding realized niche dynamics along each individual climatic variable separately is a key consideration for improving forecasts of invasive species distributions and anticipating future range expansions.LocationGlobal.MethodsUsing 181 successful invasion events for 128 alien herpetofaunal species across the globe, we applied a robust niche dynamics framework and analysed the conservatism of the realized climatic niche and its influencing factors along 19 temperature and precipitation variables.ResultsWe found that the magnitude of the niche expansion along the maximum temperature of the warmest month (or warmest quarter) was, on average, the lowest compared with the niche expansion magnitude along the minimum, average, range and seasonal temperature characteristics and all precipitation variables. Furthermore, the niche shift along the maximum temperature was only negatively correlated with native range size and was unrelated to residence time, species traits, introduction propagule pressure, topographic heterogeneity or equatorwards and polewards range expansion.Main conclusionsWe provide the first evidence that the realized climatic niche of alien herpetofaunal species is generally most conserved along maximum temperatures. This finding highlights the importance of preferentially choosing conserved climatic niche parameters to develop robust predictions of biological invasions or shifts in species ranges in response to climate change.",10.1111/jbi.12808,No,,,124,LSR-124,http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/jbi.12808,LSR,LC,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,LC,Yes,empirical data,one of the indicators,more than one of the indicators,indirect,global,All regions,Terrestrial/Freshwater,2,Yes,No,No,Yes,No,No,effect-based,quantitative (magnitude),ratio scale,quantitative,Yes,high,
"Teillard, F.; Falcucci, A.; Gerber, P. J.","Proceedings of the 9th International Conference on Life Cycle Assessment in the Agri-Food Sector (LCA Food 2014), San Francisco, California, USA, 8-10 October, 2014",2014,Synergies and trade-offs between the greenhouse gas emissions and biodiversity performances of global livestock production.,"We provide the first global environmental assessment of livestock production that includes both greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and biodiversity criteria. We compared performances on these two environmental criteria across scales, commodities (dairy and beef cattle) and production systems (grassland and mixed). To do this, we combined a global model computing the greenhouse gas emissions of livestock with the Mean Species Abundance biodiversity indicator to quantify the biodiversity impact of livestock through land use. Results showed weaker synergies and more trade-offs between environmental criteria in grassland than in mixed production systems. Efficiency in the utilization of feed and their associated land use is likely to drive the synergies in mixed production systems. Grassland systems based on extensive feed land use with high biodiversity values may have contrasted GHG emissions performances. Our global mapping of the relationships between environmental criteria could be used for spatially targeting decisions and actions.",,No,,,22,MSA-22,,MSA,LC,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,LC,Yes,empirical data,one of the indicators,none,direct (quantitative),global,All regions,Terrestrial,2,Yes,Yes,No,No,No,No,effect-based,quantitative (magnitude),ratio scale,quantitative,Yes,high,
"Erb, K. H.; Krausmann, F.; Gaube, V.; Gingrich, S.; Bondeau, A.; Fischer-Kowalski, M.; Haberl, H.",Ecological Economics,2009,"Analyzing the global human appropriation of net primary production - processes, trajectories, implications. An introduction.","Humanity's role in shaping patterns and processes in the terrestrial biosphere is large and growing. Most of the earth's fertile land is used more or less intensively by humans for resource extraction, production, transport, consumption and waste deposition or as living space. Biomass production on cropland, grazing areas and in managed forests dominates area requirements, but other processes such as soil degradation, human-induced fires and expansion of settlements and infrastructure play an increasingly important role as well. The growing human domination of terrestrial ecosystems contributes to biodiversity loss as well as to a reduced capability of ecosystems to deliver vital services such as buffering capacity, soil conservation or self-regulation. This special section is devoted to the presentation of recent research into the patterns, determinants and implications of the human appropriation of net primary production (HANPP), an integrated socio-ecological indicator of land use intensity. By measuring the combined effect of land conversion and biomass harvest on the availability of trophic energy (biomass) in ecosystems, HANPP explicitly links natural with socioeconomic processes and allows for integrated analyses of land systems. This introductory article explains the rationale that links current HANPP research to Ecological Economics and discusses issues of definition and methods shared by all articles included in the special section. Finally, it gives an overview of the individual papers, provides some general conclusions and presents an outlook for future research: a better understanding of long-term trajectories of HANPP, of the significance of trade patterns as well as of the future role of bioenergy are highlighted as important issues to be addressed in the coming years.",10.1016/j.ecolecon.2009.07.001,No,,,45,NPP-45,http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2009.07.001,NPP,LC,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,LC,Yes,review,one of the indicators,none,indirect,global,All regions,Terrestrial,2,No,Yes,Yes,No,No,No,effect-based,quantitative (magnitude),ratio scale,qualitative,Yes,high,
"Berndes, Goran; Ahlgren, Serina; Borjesson, Pal; Cowie, Annette L.",WILEY INTERDISCIPLINARY REVIEWS-ENERGY AND ENVIRONMENT,2013,Bioenergy and land use change-state of the art,"Bioenergy projects can lead to direct and indirect land use change (LUC), which can substantially affect greenhouse gas balances with both beneficial and adverse outcomes for bioenergy's contribution to climate change mitigation. The causes behind LUC are multiple, complex, interlinked, and change over time. This makes quantification uncertain and sensitive to many factors that can develop in different directions-including land use productivity, trade patterns, prices and elasticities, and use of by-products associated with biofuels production. Quantifications reported so far vary substantially and do not support the ranking of bioenergy options with regard to LUC and associated emissions. There are however several options for mitigating these emissions, which can be implemented despite the uncertainties. Long-rotation forest management is associated with carbon emissions and sequestration that are not in temporal balance with each other and this leads to mitigation trade-offs between biomass extraction for energy use and the alternative to leave the biomass in the forest. Bioenergy's contribution to climate change mitigation needs to reflect a balance between near-term targets and the long-term objective to hold the increase in global temperature below 2 degrees C (Copenhagen Accord). Although emissions from LUC can be significant in some circumstances, the reality of such emissions is not sufficient reason to exclude bioenergy from the list of worthwhile technologies for climate changemitigation. Policy measures to minimize the negative impacts of LUC should be based on a holistic perspective recognizing the multiple drivers and effects of LUC. (C) 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.",10.1002/wene.41,No,,,144,NPP-144,http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/wene.41,NPP,LC,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,LC,Yes,review,one of the indicators,one of the indicators,direct (quantitative),global,All regions,Terrestrial,2,Yes,Yes,No,No,No,No,effect-based,quantitative (magnitude),ratio scale,quantitative,Yes,high,
"Lotze, Heike K.; Worm, Boris",TRENDS IN ECOLOGY & EVOLUTION,2009,Historical baselines for large marine animals,"Current trends in marine ecosystems need to be interpreted against a solid understanding of the magnitude and drivers of past changes. Over the last decade, marine scientists from different disciplines have engaged in the emerging field of marine historical ecology to reconstruct past changes in the sea. Here we review the diversity of approaches used and resulting patterns of historical changes in large marine mammals, birds, reptiles and fish. Across 256 reviewed records, exploited populations declined 89% from historical abundance levels (range: 11-100%). In many cases, long-term fluctuations are related to climate variation, rapid declines to overexploitation and recent recoveries to conservation measures. These emerging historical patterns offer new insights into past ecosystems, and provide important context for contemporary ocean management.",10.1016/j.tree.2008.12.004,No,,,24,PFB-24,http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.tree.2008.12.004,PFB,LC,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,LC,Yes,review,one of the indicators,more than one of the indicators,direct (quantitative),global,All regions,Marine,2,Yes,No,Yes,No,No,No,effect-based,qualitative (direction),ordinal scale,none,Yes,high,
"Araujo, R. M.; Assis, J.; Aguillar, R.; Airoldi, L.; Barbara, I.; Bartsch, I.; Bekkby, T.; Christie, H.; Davoult, D.; Derrien-Courtel, S.; Fernandez, C.; Fredriksen, S.; Gevaert, F.; Gundersen, H.; Le Gal, A.; Leveque, L.; Mieszkowska, N.; Norderhaug, K. M.; Oliveira, P.; Puente, A.; Rico, J. M.; Rinde, E.; Schubert, H.; Strain, E. M.; Valero, M.; Viard, F.; Sousa-Pinto, I.",BIODIVERSITY AND CONSERVATION,2016,"Status, trends and drivers of kelp forests in Europe: an expert assessment","A comprehensive expert consultation was conducted in order to assess the status, trends and the most important drivers of change in the abundance and geographical distribution of kelp forests in European waters. This consultation included an on-line questionnaire, results from a workshop and data provided by a selected group of experts working on kelp forest mapping and eco-evolutionary research. Differences in status and trends according to geographical areas, species identity and small-scale variations within the same habitat where shown by assembling and mapping kelp distribution and trend data. Significant data gaps for some geographical regions, like the Mediterranean and the southern Iberian Peninsula, were also identified. The data used for this study confirmed a general trend with decreasing abundance of some native kelp species at their southern distributional range limits and increasing abundance in other parts of their distribution (Saccharina latissima and Saccorhiza polyschides). The expansion of the introduced species Undaria pinnatifida was also registered. Drivers of observed changes in kelp forests distribution and abundance were assessed using experts' opinions. Multiple possible drivers were identified, including global warming, sea urchin grazing, harvesting, pollution and fishing pressure, and their impact varied between geographical areas. Overall, the results highlight major threats for these ecosystems but also opportunities for conservation. Major requirements to ensure adequate protection of coastal kelp ecosystems along European coastlines are discussed, based on the local to regional gaps detected in the study.",10.1007/s10531-016-1141-7,No,,,2,LSA-2,http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10531-016-1141-7,LSA,MW,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,MW,Yes,empirical data,more than one of the indicators,none,direct (qualitative),continental,Europe and Central Asia,Marine,6,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,prevalence-based,qualitative (direction),ordinal scale,none,Yes,high,
"Woerz, A.; Thiv, M.",FLORA,2015,The temporal dynamics of a regional flora-The effects of global and local impacts,"The main trends in changes in the global vascular plant biodiversity are generally considered to be a decrease in rare indigenous species and a spread of invasive plants. In the present paper, the impact of these changes on the flora of the state of Baden-Wurttemberg (Southwest-Germany) is examined. The data come from a regional floristic mapping project, which consists of two consecutive surveys, dating from 1970 to 1998 and from 2005 to present. In contrast to many other studies, not only a part of the flora or of an ecosystem was studied but the entire vascular plant flora of a region. As the recent survey is not yet completed, samples of 46 out of 1100 grid cells are analysed as a preliminary study on the trends in entire Baden-Wurttemberg. In the present paper we address the issues (1) whether changes in biodiversity observed in other studies, e.g. decrease of rare native species and increase of invasives, affect the flora of Baden-Wurttemberg, (2) which abiotic factors, i.e. climatic or soil conditions, cause these changes of species diversity.The analysis of the two consecutive surveys revealed a continuing decrease of rare native species and a constant increase of neophytes, thus reflecting the global trends. Many extinction events happened before 1970, some already in the 19th century. Changes in land use and urbanisation of former rural regions are two important factors for these changes. A statistic analysis using Ellenberg indicator values revealed the nitrogen input from agriculture and the effects of global warming as further potential causes for these trends. (C) 2015 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved.",10.1016/j.flora.2015.09.013,No,,,35,LSR-35,http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.flora.2015.09.013,LSR,MW,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,MW,Yes,empirical data,one of the indicators,none,direct (quantitative),regional,Europe and Central Asia,Terrestrial,3,Yes,Yes,No,No,Yes,No,prevalence-based,quantitative (magnitude),ordinal scale,none,Yes,high,
"Hanafiah, Marlia M.; Hendriks, A. Jan; Huijbregts, Mark A. J.",JOURNAL OF CLEANER PRODUCTION,2012,Comparing the ecological footprint with the biodiversity footprint of products,"This study compares the ecological footprints with the biodiversity footprints of products that result from land use and carbon dioxide emissions. The biodiversity footprints were quantified using mean species abundance statistics, whereas the ecological footprint refers to the impacts on bioproductivity. We used a data set of 1340 product systems subdivided into 13 product groups, which included various types of energy generation and material production. We found that the importance of direct land use vs. carbon dioxide emissions is different for biodiversity footprints compared to ecological footprints. This difference is particularly relevant if the environmental impact of bio-based products (dominated by direct land use) is compared with the environmental impact of fossil-based products (dominated by CO2 emissions). Our results also show that the relative importance of different drivers can change over time within the biodiversity footprint and that the relative importance of climate change significantly increased for longer time horizons. As the interpretation of the biodiversity footprint can differ from the ecological footprint, the inclusion of impacts on biodiversity should be considered in the footprint calculation of products. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.",10.1016/j.jclepro.2012.06.016,No,,,14,MSA-14,http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2012.06.016,MSA,MW,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,MW,Yes,empirical data,more than one of the indicators,none,n.a.,global,Unclear or not specified,All realms,3,Yes,Yes,Yes,No,No,No,trait-based,quantitative (magnitude),ratio scale,none,Yes,high,
"Le Bris, Arnault; Mills, Katherine E.; Wahle, Richard A.; Chen, Yong; Alexander, Michael A.; Allyn, Andrew J.; Schuetz, Justin G.; Scott, James D.; Pershing, Andrew J.",PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,2018,Climate vulnerability and resilience in the most valuable North American fishery,"Managing natural resources in an era of increasing climate impacts requires accounting for the synergistic effects of climate, ecosystem changes, and harvesting on resource productivity. Coincident with recent exceptional warming of the northwest Atlantic Ocean and removal of large predatory fish, the American lobster has become the most valuable fishery resource in North America. Using a model that links ocean temperature, predator density, and fishing to population productivity, we show that harvester-driven conservation efforts to protect large lobsters prepared the Gulf of Maine lobster fishery to capitalize on favorable ecosystem conditions, resulting in the record-breaking landings recently observed in the region. In contrast, in the warmer southern New England region, the absence of similar conservation efforts precipitated warming-induced recruitment failure that led to the collapse of the fishery. Population projections under expected warming suggest that the American lobster fishery is vulnerable to future temperature increases, but continued efforts to preserve the stock's reproductive potential can dampen the negative impacts of warming. This study demonstrates that, even though global climate change is severely impacting marine ecosystems, widely adopted, proactive conservation measures can increase the resilience of commercial fisheries to climate change.",10.1073/pnas.1711122115,No,,,52,PFB-52,http://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1711122115,PFB,MW,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,MW,Yes,empirical data,one of the indicators,none,direct (quantitative),regional,Americas,Marine,3,Yes,No,Yes,No,No,Yes,effect-based,quantitative (magnitude),ratio scale,quantitative,Yes,high,
"Turubanova, Svetlana; Potapov, Peter V.; Tyukavina, Alexandra; Hansen, Matthew C.",ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH LETTERS,2018,"Ongoing primary forest loss in Brazil, Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Indonesia","Humid tropical forests provide numerous global ecosystem services, but are under continuing threat of clearing from economic drivers. Here, we report primary humid tropical forest extent for the year 2001, and primary forest loss and distance to loss from 2002-2014 for the largest rainforest countries of Brazil, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), and Indonesia. Brazil's total area of primary forest loss is more than twice that of Indonesia and five times that of DRC. Despite unprecedented success in slowing deforestation along its forest frontier, Brazil's most remote forests are increasingly nearer to loss, as extractive activities such as logging and mining intrude upon previously intact forests. In absolute terms, DRC has the lowest area of primary forest loss; however, its forests are increasingly encroached upon as smallholder agriculturalists move into remaining forests, often to escape conflict and insecurity. The decrease in DRC forests' distance to loss as a function of area of forest loss was five times that of Brazil or Indonesia. In 2014, Indonesia had the least area of remaining primary forest. Despite an announced moratorium on concession licenses in 2011, Indonesia exhibited a rate of primary forest loss twice that of DRC and triple that of Brazil by the end of the study period. Forest loss dynamics in Indonesia range from industrial-scale clearing of coastal peatlands to logging of interior montane rainforests. While results illustrate considerable variation in forest loss dynamics between the three countries, the dominant narrative is of ongoing exploitation of primary humid tropical forests.",10.1088/1748-9326/aacd1c,No,,,54,IFL-54,http://dx.doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/aacd1c,IFL,NT,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,NT,Yes,empirical data,one of the indicators,one of the indicators,direct (quantitative),global,Americas/Africa/Asia-Pacific,Terrestrial,2,No,Yes,Yes,No,No,No,effect-based,quantitative (magnitude),ordinal scale,none,Yes,high,
"Piao, Shilong; Yin, Guodong; Tan, Jianguang; Cheng, Lei; Huang, Mengtian; Li, Yue; Liu, Ronggao; Mao, Jiafu; Myneni, Ranga B.; Peng, Shushi; Poulter, Ben; Shi, Xiaoying; Xiao, Zhiqiang; Zeng, Ning; Zeng, ZhenZhong; Wang, Yingping",GLOBAL CHANGE BIOLOGY,2015,Detection and attribution of vegetation greening trend in China over the last 30 years,"The reliable detection and attribution of changes in vegetation growth is a prerequisite for the development of strategies for the sustainable management of ecosystems. This is an extraordinary challenge. To our knowledge, this study is the first to comprehensively detect and attribute a greening trend in China over the last three decades. We use three different satellite-derived Leaf Area Index (LAI) datasets for detection as well as five different process-based ecosystem models for attribution. Rising atmospheric CO2 concentration and nitrogen deposition are identified as the most likely causes of the greening trend in China, explaining 85% and 41% of the average growing-season LAI trend (LAI(GS)) estimated by satellite datasets (average trend of 0.0070yr(-1), ranging from 0.0035yr(-1) to 0.0127yr(-1)), respectively. The contribution of nitrogen deposition is more clearly seen in southern China than in the north of the country. Models disagree about the contribution of climate change alone to the trend in LAI(GS) at the country scale (one model shows a significant increasing trend, whereas two others show significant decreasing trends). However, the models generally agree on the negative impacts of climate change in north China and Inner Mongolia and the positive impact in the Qinghai-Xizang plateau. Provincial forest area change tends to be significantly correlated with the trend of LAI(GS) (P<0.05), and marginally significantly (P=0.07) correlated with the residual of LAI(GS) trend, calculated as the trend observed by satellite minus that estimated by models through considering the effects of climate change, rising CO2 concentration and nitrogen deposition, across different provinces. This result highlights the important role of China's afforestation program in explaining the spatial patterns of trend in vegetation growth.",10.1111/gcb.12795,No,,,195,LAI-195,http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/gcb.12795,LAI,NT,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,NT,Yes,empirical data,one of the indicators,none,direct (quantitative),regional,Asia-Pacific,Terrestrial,3,Yes,Yes,No,No,Yes,No,effect-based,quantitative (magnitude),ordinal scale,none,Yes,high,
"Gregory, Stephen D.; Nevoux, Marie; Riley, William D.; Beaumont, William R. C.; Jeannot, Nicholas; Lauridsen, Rasmus B.; Marchand, Frederic; Scott, Luke J.; Roussel, Jean-Marc",FRESHWATER BIOLOGY,2017,Patterns on a parr: Drivers of long-term salmon parr length in UK and French rivers depend on geographical scale,"Understanding the geographical scales at which environmental variables affect an individual's body size, and thus their mortality risk, can inform management strategies to help conserve wild populations under climate change. Yet, our current understanding of these relationships is based on studies done at different scales that report inconsistent findings. We predicted that temperature-related variables (e.g. winter temperature) influence body size at a regional scale, that is, affecting individuals in geographically independent catchments similarly, whereas non-temperature-related variables (e.g. conspecific competitor density) exert a local influence, that is, affecting individuals in geographically independent catchments differently. We developed statistical models to test our predictions using body length measures of a large and long-term sample of juvenile Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) from three rivers in the U.K. and France. We developed mixture models to predict the individual juvenile salmon ages objectively from their body length. We then developed linear mixed models to describe inter-annual changes in mean length of the youngest (age 0) cohort of juvenile salmon from river-specific seasonal variables, and tested whether they exerted their influence at a local or regional scale. All models accounted for spatio-temporal differences in sampling protocols and individual reproductive strategy. We estimated and interpreted coefficients using Bayesian theory. Our findings supported our predictions. Juvenile salmon were longer in years of higher overwinter water temperature and this effect was best parameterised as a single regional coefficient applicable to all three rivers. Similarly, spring mean temperature was best parameterised with a single regional nonlinear coefficient. In contrast, juvenile salmon were shorter in years of high densities of competing conspecifics and their interaction with total mean discharge and these effects were represented by local river-specific coefficients. Summer droughts had a negative effect on juvenile salmon length but was best parameterised as a single regional coefficient, contrary to our expectations. We show that environmental variables affect biological processes at different but predictable geographical scales. Temperature-related variables affect body sizes of exothermic animals at a regional scale, whereas non-temperature variables, such as the density of conspecific competitors and water abstraction, exert their influence at a local scale. These findings highlight the importance of integrating local and regional management plans to mitigate the impacts of climate change on the body size, and ultimately the conservation, of exothermic species.",10.1111/fwb.12929,No,,,9,MLF-9,http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/fwb.12929,MLF,NT,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,NT,Yes,empirical data,one of the indicators,none,direct (quantitative),regional,Europe and Central Asia,Freshwater,2,Yes,No,Yes,No,No,No,effect-based,quantitative (magnitude),ordinal scale,none,Yes,high,
"Zhang, Fangmin; Chen, Jing M.; Pan, Yude; Birdsey, Richard A.; Shen, Shuanghe; Ju, Weimin; He, Liming",JOURNAL OF GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH-BIOGEOSCIENCES,2012,Attributing carbon changes in conterminous U.S. forests to disturbance and non-disturbance factors from 1901 to 2010,"Recent climate variability (increasing temperature, droughts) and atmospheric composition changes (nitrogen deposition, rising CO2 concentration) along with harvesting, wildfires, and insect infestations have had significant effects on U. S. forest carbon (C) uptake. In this study, we attribute C changes in the conterminous U. S. forests to disturbance and non-disturbance factors with the help of forest inventory data, a continental stand age map, and an updated Integrated Terrestrial Ecosystem Carbon Cycle model (InTEC). We grouped factors into disturbances (harvesting, fire, insect infestation) and non-disturbances (CO2 concentration, N deposition, and climate variability) and estimated their subsequent impacts on forest regrowth patterns. Results showed that on average, the C sink in the conterminous U. S. forests from 1950 to 2010 was 206 Tg C yr(-1) with 87% (180 Tg C yr(-1)) of the sink in living biomass. Compared with the simulation of all factors combined, the estimated C sink would be reduced by 95 Tg C yr(-1) if disturbance factors were omitted, and reduced by 50 Tg C yr(-1) if non-disturbance factors were omitted. Our study also showed diverse regional patterns of C sinks related to the importance of driving factors. During 1980-2010, disturbance effects dominated the C changes in the South and Rocky Mountain regions, were almost equal to non-disturbance effects in the North region, and had minor effects compared with non-disturbance effects in the West Coast region.",10.1029/2011JG001930,No,,,20,NPP-20,http://dx.doi.org/10.1029/2011JG001930,NPP,NT,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,NT,Yes,empirical data,one of the indicators,none,direct (quantitative),continental,Americas,Terrestrial,4,Yes,Yes,No,Yes,Yes,No,effect-based,quantitative (magnitude),ratio scale,none,Yes,high,
"Gao, Zhiqiang; Cao, Xiaoming; Gao, Wei",FRONTIERS OF EARTH SCIENCE,2013,The spatio-temporal responses of the carbon cycle to climate and land use/land cover changes between 1981-2000 in China,"This paper represents the first national effort of its kind to systematically investigate the impact of changes in climate and land use and land cover (LULC) on the carbon cycle with high-resolution dynamic LULC data at the decadal scale (1990s and 2000s). Based on simulations using well calibrated and validated Carbon Exchanges in the Vegetation-Soil-Atmosphere (CEVSA) model, temporal and spatial variations in carbon storage and fluxes in China may be generated empower us to relate these variations to climate variability and LULC with respect to net primary productivity (NPP), heterotrophic respiration (HR), net ecosystem productivity (NEP), storage and soil carbon (SOC), and vegetation carbon (VEGC) individually or collectively. Overall, the increases in NPP were greater than HR in most cases due to the effect of global warming with more precipitation in China from 1981 to 2000. With this trend, the NEP remained positive during that period, resulting in a net increase of total amount of carbon being stored by about 0.296 PgC within a 20-year time frame. Because the climate effect was much greater than that of changes of LULC, the total carbon storage in China actually increased by about 0.17 PgC within the 20-year time period. Such findings will contribute to the generation of carbon emissions control policies under global climate change impacts.",10.1007/s11707-012-0335-x,No,,,38,NPP-38,http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11707-012-0335-x,NPP,NT,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,NT,Yes,empirical data,one of the indicators,more than one of the indicators,direct (quantitative),regional,Asia-Pacific,Terrestrial,2,Yes,Yes,No,No,No,No,effect-based,quantitative (magnitude),ratio scale,none,Yes,high,
"Lyu, Zhou; Genet, Helene; He, Yujie; Zhuang, Qianlai; McGuire, A. David; Bennett, Alec; Breen, Amy; Clein, Joy; Euskirchen, Eugenie S.; Johnson, Kristofer; Kurkowski, Tom; Pastick, Neal J.; Rupp, T. Scott; Wylie, Bruce K.; Zhu, Zhiliang",ECOLOGICAL APPLICATIONS,2018,The role of environmental driving factors in historical and projected carbon dynamics of wetland ecosystems in Alaska,"Wetlands are critical terrestrial ecosystems in Alaska, covering similar to 177,000 km(2), an area greater than all the wetlands in the remainder of the United States. To assess the relative influence of changing climate, atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) concentration, and fire regime on carbon balance in wetland ecosystems of Alaska, a modeling framework that incorporates a fire disturbance model and two biogeochemical models was used. Spatially explicit simulations were conducted at 1-km resolution for the historical period (1950-2009) and future projection period (2010-2099). Simulations estimated that wetland ecosystems of Alaska lost 175 Tg carbon (C) in the historical period. Ecosystem C storage in 2009 was 5,556 Tg, with 89% of the C stored in soils. The estimated loss of C as CO2 and biogenic methane (CH4) emissions resulted in wetlands of Alaska increasing the greenhouse gas forcing of climate warming. Simulations for the projection period were conducted for six climate change scenarios constructed from two climate models forced under three CO2 emission scenarios. Ecosystem C storage averaged among climate scenarios increased 3.94Tg C/yr by 2099, with variability among the simulations ranging from 2.02 to 4.42Tg C/yr. These increases were driven primarily by increases in net primary production (NPP) that were greater than losses from increased decomposition and fire. The NPP increase was driven by CO2 fertilization (similar to 5% per 100 parts per million by volume increase) and by increases in air temperature (similar to 1% per degrees C increase). Increases in air temperature were estimated to be the primary cause for a projected 47.7% mean increase in biogenic CH4 emissions among the simulations (similar to 15% per degrees C increase). Ecosystem CO2 sequestration offset the increase in CH4 emissions during the 21st century to decrease the greenhouse gas forcing of climate warming. However, beyond 2100, we expect that this forcing will ultimately increase as wetland ecosystems transition from being a sink to a source of atmospheric CO2 because of (1) decreasing sensitivity of NPP to increasing atmospheric CO2, (2) increasing availability of soil C for decomposition as permafrost thaws, and (3) continued positive sensitivity of biogenic CH4 emissions to increases in soil temperature.",10.1002/eap.1755,No,,,110,NPP-110,http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/eap.1755,NPP,NT,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,NT,Yes,empirical data,one of the indicators,one of the indicators,direct (quantitative),regional,Americas,Terrestrial,4,Yes,Yes,No,No,Yes,Yes,effect-based,quantitative (magnitude),ratio scale,none,Yes,high,
"Ambarli, Didem; Zeydanli, Ugur S.; Balkiz, Ozge; Aslan, Serdar; Karacetin, Evrim; Sozen, Mustafa; Ilgaz, Cetin; Ergen, Arzu Gursoy; Lise, Yildiray; Caglayan, Semiha Demirbas; Welch, Hilary J.; Welch, Geoff; Turak, Ayse S.; Bilgin, C. Can; Ozkil, Aydan; Vural, Mecit",BIODIVERSITY AND CONSERVATION,2016,An overview of biodiversity and conservation status of steppes of the Anatolian Biogeographical Region,"The Anatolian Biogeographical Region is unique in the Palearctic realm, with high plant and butterfly species richness and populations of globally threatened birds, mammals and herptiles (amphibians and reptiles). It is a place of diverse land-use practices, dating back to the earliest farming practices in the world. Among 10,930 species of vascular plants, birds, butterflies, mammals and herptiles distributed in Turkey, we identified 1130 living predominantly in steppic environments and being classified either as threatened, near-threatened or data deficient at the national level, if not globally. A total of 28 effective protected areas were present in the region, covering 1.5 % of the 391,597 km(2) land area. Only 16.2 % of the threatened and near-threatened species (n = 809) were distributed within the protected area network, ranging from 94.1 % for birds to as low as 12.9 % for vascular plants. The total area of steppe and steppe forest vegetation has been reduced by at least 44 % of its former extent due to diverse habitat destructive activities. The most significant threats arise from unsustainable agricultural activities including overgrazing, conversion to croplands and afforestation. To maintain steppe diversity, we propose a ""to-do list"", including mainstreaming biodiversity, effective implementation of Turkey's Rangeland Act, conducting effective environmental impact assessments, establishing an effective site network for steppe biodiversity conservation and filling gaps in scientific knowledge.",10.1007/s10531-016-1172-0,No,,,88,BSR-88,http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10531-016-1172-0,BSR,PJ,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,PJ,Yes,review,one of the indicators,unclear,indirect,regional,Europe and Central Asia,Terrestrial,3,Yes,Yes,Yes,No,No,No,prevalence-based,quantitative (magnitude),ordinal scale,none,Yes,high,
"Zisenis, Marcus",LAND USE POLICY,2017,Is the Natura 2000 network of the European Union the key land use policy tool for preserving Europe's biodiversity heritage?,"The Natura 2000 network of protected areas is considered by the European Commission to be the centrepiece of the European Union's nature and biodiversity policy. This paper reviews the European Environment Agency's public Natura 2000 database. It comprises data for birds, mammals, fish, amphibians, reptiles, invertebrates and plants submitted by the 28 EU Member States. For each Natura 2000 site a calculation was made of the conservation value of each species, together with an assessment of population isolation in relation to natural range and global conservation value. The results show that the great majority of national species populations of Community interest and birds are just covered by each Natura 2000 site up to only 2% at maximum. The most frequently reported high negative impacts on Natura 2000 sites are human induced changes in hydraulic conditions, hunting and collection of wild animals, and grazing. Natura 2000 sites alone are unlikely to safeguard Europe's biodiversity heritage, because most species occur predominantly outside Natura 2000 protected areas. Recommendations are made for improved reporting by EU Member States to provide quantifiable data based on monitoring and comparable indicators. Reform of the Natura 2000 network is needed for an integrated ecosystem approach to allow natural and human induced fluctuations of structures and functions of species habitats. 100% landscape management of the wider countryside should be enforced as a result of the limited coverage of Natura 2000 sites for Europe's biodiversity heritage.",10.1016/j.landusepol.2017.09.045,No,,,187,BSR-187,http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.landusepol.2017.09.045,BSR,PJ,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,PJ,Yes,review,one of the indicators,none,indirect,continental,Europe and Central Asia,All realms,2,No,Yes,Yes,No,No,No,prevalence-based,quantitative (magnitude),ordinal scale,none,Yes,high,
"Croxall, John P.; Butchart, Stuart H. M.; Lascelles, Ben; Stattersfield, Alison J.; Sullivan, Ben; Symes, Andy; Taylor, Phil",BIRD CONSERVATION INTERNATIONAL,2012,"Seabird conservation status, threats and priority actions: a global assessment","We review the conservation status of, and threats to, all 346 species of seabirds, based on BirdLife International's data and assessments for the 2010 IUCN Red List. We show that overall, seabirds are more threatened than other comparable groups of birds and that their status has deteriorated faster over recent decades. The principal current threats at sea are posed by commercial fisheries (through competition and mortality on fishing gear) and pollution, whereas on land, alien invasive predators, habitat degradation and human disturbance are the main threats. Direct exploitation remains a problem for some species both at sea and ashore. The priority actions needed involve: a) formal and effective site protection, especially for Important Bird Area (IBA) breeding sites and for marine IBA feeding and aggregation sites, as part of national, regional and global networks of Marine Protected Areas; b) removal of invasive, especially predatory, alien species (a list of priority sites is provided), as part of habitat and species recovery initiatives; and c) reduction of bycatch to negligible levels, as part of comprehensive implementation of ecosystem approaches to fisheries. The main knowledge gaps and research priorities relate to the three topics above but new work is needed on impacts of aquaculture, energy generation operations and climate change (especially effects on the distribution of prey species and rise in sea level). We summarise the relevant national and international jurisdictional responsibilities, especially in relation to endemic and globally threatened species.",10.1017/S0959270912000020,No,,,2,IUC-2,http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S0959270912000020,IUC,PJ,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,PJ,Yes,empirical data,one of the indicators,none,direct (quantitative),global,All regions,Marine,6,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,prevalence-based,quantitative (magnitude),ratio scale,none,Yes,high,
"Laurance, William F.; Useche, Diana C.",CONSERVATION BIOLOGY,2009,Environmental Synergisms and Extinctions of Tropical Species,"Environmental synergisms may pose the greatest threat to tropical biodiversity. Using recently updated data sets from the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List, we evaluated the incidence of perceived threats to all known mammal, bird, and amphibian species in tropical forests. Vulnerable, endangered, and extinct species were collectively far more likely to be imperiled by combinations of threats than expected by chance. Among 45 possible pairwise combinations of 10 different threats, 69%, 93%, and 71% were significantly more frequent than expected for threatened mammals, birds, and amphibians, respectively, even with a stringent Bonferroni-corrected probability value (p = 0.003). Based on this analysis, we identified five key environmental synergisms in the tropics and speculate on the existence of others. The most important involve interactions between habitat loss or alteration (from agriculture, urban sprawl, infrastructure, or logging) and other anthropogenic disturbances such as hunting, fire, exotic-species invasions, or pollution. Climatic change and emerging pathogens also can interact with other threats. We assert that environmental synergisms are more likely the norm than the exception for threatened species and ecosystems, can vary markedly in nature among geographic regions and taxa, and may be exceedingly difficult to predict in terms of their ultimate impacts. The perils posed by environmental synergisms highlight the need for a precautionary approach to tropical biodiversity conservation.",10.1111/j.1523-1739.2009.01336.x,No,,,3,IUC-3,http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1523-1739.2009.01336.x,IUC,PJ,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,PJ,Yes,empirical data,one of the indicators,none,direct (quantitative),global,Americas/Africa/Asia-Pacific,All realms,6,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,prevalence-based,quantitative (magnitude),ratio scale,qualitative,Yes,high,
"Cowie, Robert H.; Regnier, Claire; Fontaine, Benoit; Bouchet, Philippe",NAUTILUS,2017,Measuring the Sixth Extinction: what do mollusks tell us?,"The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is the premier global biodiversity conservation organization. Its Red List is a rigorous vehicle for assessing the conservation status of plant and animal species. However, although all animal and bird species recognized by IUCN have been evaluated, only a tiny fraction of invertebrates have been evaluated. As a measure of the numbers of extinct species (since around the year 1500) the Red List is probably quite accurate for birds and mammals, but severely underestimates the numbers for invertebrates. Nonetheless, molluscs stand out as the major group most severely impacted by extinction, with 297 of the 744 animal species listed as extinct in the third issue of the 2016 Red List. Here we review efforts to obtain a more realistic, albeit less rigorous, assessment of the numbers of extinct mollusk species. Our approach has been based on bibliographic research and consultation with experts, rather than following the highly detailed but restrictive IUCN Categories and Criteria. In 2009, this led to an assessment that 533 mollusk species were extinct, far more than the number on the Red List. In the present study we revisited this approach and here list 638 species as extinct, 380 as possibly extinct, and 14 as extinct in the wild, a total of 1,032 species in these combined categories, and more than twice as many as listed by IUCN in these categories. However, this approach only considers species for which information is available; it is therefore biased. In a study published in 2015 we developed an alternative approach, based on a random global sample of land snails, and estimated that 3,000-5,100 mollusk species have gone extinct. We review the main reasons for these extinctions: habitat destruction, impacts of introduced species, exploitation and collecting, and, potentially, climate change, and discuss relevant case studies. Oceanic island land snails, especially those of Pacific islands, have suffered the greatest proportion of the extinctions, with some species having gone extinct before being discovered and described scientifically. The Amastridae, an endemic Hawaiian family of 325 recognized species, may have lost all but 18 species. We outline the phases in this catastrophe: 1) pre-human and/or prehistoric extinction, either natural or anthropogenic, with species known only as fossils/subfossils; 2) extinction due to habitat destruction and introduction of a number of alien species by Pacific island people as they settled the islands; 3) extinction due to extensive habitat destruction and introduction of highly destructive invasive alien species following colonization by Westerners; 4) extinction following the advent of large-scale agriculture at the end of the 19th Century, at the time of a major increase in the land snail extinction rate globally; 5) extinction due to increased military activity, tourism, commerce, urbanization and the concomittant rapidly increasing introduction of invasive species after the Second World War. Extrapolating from our assessments of mollusks, we estimate that approximately 7.5-13% of all species have gone extinct since around year 1500. This is orders of magnitude greater than the 860 (0.04% of 2 million) listed as extinct by IUCN (2016). The biodiversity crisis is real.",,No,,,4,IUC-4,,IUC,PJ,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,PJ,Yes,review,one of the indicators,one of the indicators,n.a.,global,All regions,All realms,4,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,No,No,prevalence-based,quantitative (magnitude),ratio scale,none,Yes,high,
"Wang, Xiaodan; Kuang, Fenliang; Tan, Kun; Ma, Zhijun",AVIAN RESEARCH,2018,"Population trends, threats, and conservation recommendations for waterbirds in China","Background: China is one of the countries with abundant waterbird diversity. Over the past decades, China's waterbirds have suffered increasing threats from direct and indirect human activities. It is important to clarify the population trends of and threats to waterbirds as well as to put forward conservation recommendations.Methods: We collected data of population trends of a total of 260 waterbird species in China from Wetlands International database. We calculated the number of species with increasing, declining, stable, and unknown trends. We collected threatened levels of waterbirds from the Red List of China's Vertebrates (2016), which was compiled according to the IUCN criteria of threatened species. Based on literature review, we refined the major threats to the threatened waterbird species in China.Results: Of the total 260 waterbird species in China, 84 species (32.3%) exhibited declining, 35 species (13.5%) kept stable, and 16 species (6.2%) showed increasing trends. Population trends were unknown for 125 species (48.1%). There was no significant difference in population trends between the migratory (32.4% decline) and resident (31.8% decline) species or among waterbirds distributed exclusively along coasts (28.6% decline), inland (36.6% decline), and both coasts and inland (32.5% decline). A total of 38 species (15.1% of the total) were listed as threatened species and 27 species (10.8% of the total) Near Threatened species. Habitat loss was the major threat to waterbirds, with 32 of the total 38 (84.2%) threatened species being affected. In addition, 73.7% (28 species), 71.1% (27 species), and 57.9% (22 species) of the threatened species were affected by human disturbance, environmental pollution, and illegal hunting, respectively.Conclusions: We propose recommendations for waterbird conservation, including (1) strengthening conservation of nature wetlands and restoration of degraded wetlands, (2) enhancing public awareness on waterbird conservation, (3) improving the enforcement of Wildlife Protection Law and cracking down on illegal hunting, (4) carrying out long-term waterbird surveys to clarify population dynamics, (5) restoring populations of highly-threatened species through artificial intervention, and (6) promoting international and regional exchanges and cooperation to share information in waterbirds and their conservation.",10.1186/s40657-018-0106-9,No,,,8,IUC-8,http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s40657-018-0106-9,IUC,PJ,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,PJ,Yes,review,one of the indicators,none,direct (quantitative),regional,Asia-Pacific,Freshwater/Marine,4,No,Yes,Yes,No,Yes,Yes,prevalence-based,quantitative (magnitude),ratio scale,none,Yes,high,
"Collier, Kevin J.; Probert, P. Keith; Jeffries, Michael",AQUATIC CONSERVATION-MARINE AND FRESHWATER ECOSYSTEMS,2016,"Conservation of aquatic invertebrates: concerns, challenges and conundrums","1. Invertebrates inhabiting marine and freshwater ecosystems make important contributions to global biodiversity and provide significant services that have cascading effects across ecosystems. However, this group is grossly under-represented in assessments of conservation status and often neglected in targeted aquatic conservation efforts.2. In global assessments of 7857 freshwater invertebrates and 2864 marine invertebrates, 30-34% were considered Data Deficient highlighting the paucity of information for making such assessments. Of the invertebrate groups that could be assessed, those with poor dispersal abilities and high local endemism, such as many gastropods, crayfish and mussels, are the most threatened.3. Springs and subterranean hydrological systems support the highest proportions of threatened freshwater species, while in marine environments coral reefs, lagoons and anchialine systems are particularly vulnerable.4. Key agents of biodiversity decline in aquatic ecosystems are water pollution, overexploitation and harvesting, habitat degradation and destruction, alien invasive species, and climate change. Effects of dams and water management along with pollution from urban, agricultural and forestry sources are the main threats in freshwater ecosystems, whereas a broad range of factors have impacts on marine invertebrates, including biological resource use.5. Significant impediments facing conservation of aquatic invertebrates are limited knowledge of their diversity, the need for broadscale actions to account for connectivity within and across ecosystems, lack of political will and investment, and the prospect that conditions may get worse before they improve, possibly not in time to save some already highly imperilled invertebrate species from extinction. Copyright (C) 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.",10.1002/aqc.2710,No,,,9,IUC-9,http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/aqc.2710,IUC,PJ,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,PJ,Yes,review,one of the indicators,none,direct (quantitative),global,All regions,Freshwater/Marine,5,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,No,prevalence-based,quantitative (magnitude),ratio scale,none,Yes,high,
"Lai, Racliffe W. S.; Perkins, Matthew J.; Ho, Kevin K. Y.; Astudillo, Juan C.; Yung, Mana M. N.; Russell, Bayden D.; Williams, Gray A.; Leung, Kenneth M. Y.",REGIONAL STUDIES IN MARINE SCIENCE,2016,"Hong Kong's marine environments: History, challenges and opportunities","Located within the tropics, Hong Kong has diverse marine habitats which host a rich marine biodiversity (similar to 6000 known species). Its marine environment is, however, under considerable anthropogenic pressure and continuous deterioration from rapid population growth and constant coastal development. This review summarizes the present status of the marine environment of Hong Kong from the perspectives of habitat loss and fragmentation, pollution, biological invasion, over-exploitation and climate change, which are the major threats identified by the IUCN to marine ecosystems. The Chinese white dolphin population ( Sousa chinensis; one of the two resident marine mammals in Hong Kong) is at a historic low and continues to decline due to habitat loss through land reclamation, pollution, and intense marine traffic. Much of Hong Kong's coastal water is degraded by both substantial local and transboundary pollution from the Pearl River Delta, leading to eutrophication and harmful algal blooms. Exposure risk to introduced exotic species is high, as Hong Kong is both the fourth busiest harbour in the world and release of animals into the marine environment during religious ceremonies is a common practice of local Buddhists and Taoists. The high consumption of seafood has stressed fishery stocks in Hong Kong and its supplying countries. All these impacts are compounded by the often insidious, but pressing, challenges of climate change, with warming temperatures and increasing acidity of coastal waters. Given these known and emerging threats, Hong Kong serves as a living laboratory to investigate the impacts of both global and local activities and, where possible, develop solutions which could be implemented globally. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.",10.1016/j.rsma.2016.09.001,No,,,10,IUC-10,http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.rsma.2016.09.001,IUC,PJ,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,PJ,Yes,review,one of the indicators,none,direct (quantitative),regional,Asia-Pacific,Marine,5,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,No,prevalence-based,quantitative (magnitude),ratio scale,none,Yes,high,
"Phillips, R. A.; Gales, R.; Baker, G. B.; Double, M. C.; Favero, M.; Quintana, F.; Tasker, M. L.; Weimerskirch, H.; Uhart, M.; Wolfaardt, A.",BIOLOGICAL CONSERVATION,2016,The conservation status and priorities for albatrosses and large petrels,"Seabirds are amongst the most globally-threatened, of all groups of birds, and conservation issues specific to albatrosses (Diomedeidae) and large petrels (Procellaria spp. and giant petrels Macronectes spp.) led to drafting of the multi-lateral Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels (ACAP). Here we review the taxonomy, breeding and foraging distributions, population status and trends, threats and priorities for the 29 species covered by ACAP. Nineteen (66%) are listed as threatened by IUCN, and 11 (38%) are declining. Most have extensive at-sea distributions, and the greatest threat is incidental mortality (bycatch) in industrial pelagic or demersal longline, trawl or artisanal fisheries, often in both national and international waters. Mitigation measures are available that reduce bycatch in most types of fisheries, but some management bodies are yet to make these mandatory, levels of implementation and monitoring of compliance are often inadequate, and there are insufficient observer programmes collecting robust data on bycatch rates. Intentional take, pollution (including plastic ingestion), and threats at colonies affect fewer species than bycatch; however, the impacts of disease (mainly avian cholera) and of predation by introduced species, including feral cats (Felis catus), rats (Rattus spp.) and house mice (Mus musculus), are severe for some breeding populations. Although major progress has been made in recent years in reducing bycatch rates and in controlling or eradicating pests at breeding sites, unless conservation efforts are intensified, the future prospects of many species of albatrosses and large petrels will remain bleak. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.",10.1016/j.biocon.2016.06.017,No,,,12,IUC-12,http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2016.06.017,IUC,PJ,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,PJ,Yes,review,one of the indicators,none,indirect,global,All regions,Terrestrial/Marine,6,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,prevalence-based,qualitative (direction),ordinal scale,none,Yes,high,
"De Grave, Sammy; Smith, Kevin G.; Adeler, Nils A.; Allen, Dave J.; Alvarez, Fernando; Anker, Arthur; Cai, Yixiong; Carrizo, Savrina F.; Klotz, Werner; Mantelatto, Fernando L.; Page, Timothy J.; Shy, Jhy-Yun; Luis Villalobos, Jose; Wowor, Daisy",PLOS ONE,2015,Dead Shrimp Blues: A Global Assessment of Extinction Risk in Freshwater Shrimps (Crustacea: Decapoda: Caridea),"We present the first global assessment of extinction risk for a major group of freshwater invertebrates, caridean shrimps. The risk of extinction for all 763 species was assessed using the IUCN Red List criteria that include geographic ranges, habitats, ecology and past and present threats. The Indo-Malayan region holds over half of global species diversity, with a peak in Indo-China and southern China. Shrimps primarily inhabit flowing water; however, a significant subterranean component is present, which is more threatened than the surface fauna. Two species are extinct with a further 10 possibly extinct, and almost one third of species are either threatened or Near Threatened (NT). Threats to freshwater shrimps include agricultural and urban pollution impact over two-thirds of threatened and NT species. Invasive species and climate change have the greatest overall impact of all threats (based on combined timing, scope and severity of threats).",10.1371/journal.pone.0120198,No,,,14,IUC-14,http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0120198,IUC,PJ,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,PJ,Yes,review,one of the indicators,none,direct (quantitative),global,All regions,Freshwater/Marine,5,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,No,prevalence-based,quantitative (magnitude),ratio scale,none,Yes,high,
"Lorenzo, Consuelo; Rioja-Paradela, Tamara M.; Carrillo-Reyes, Arturo",Therya,2015,State of knowledge and conservation of endangered and critically endangered lagomorphs worldwide,"<sec><title>INTRODUCTION:</title><p> Lagomorphs (rabbits, hares, and pikas) are widely distributed in every continent of the world, except Antarctica. They include 91 species: 31 rabbits of the genera <italic>Brachylagus, Bunolagus, Caprolagus, Nesolagus, Pentalagus, Poelagus, Prolagus, Pronolagus, Romerolagus, and Sylvilagus</italic>; 32 hares of the genus <italic>Lepus</italic> and 28 pikas of the genus <italic>Ochotona</italic>. According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN 2014), the list of threatened species of lagomorphs includes one extinct, three critically endangered, ten endangered, five near threatened, five vulnerable, 61 of least concern, and six with deficient data. Although a rich diversity of lagomorphs and endemic species exists, some of the wild populations have been declining at an accelerated rate, product of human activities and climate change. In order to evaluate specific conservation actions for species at risk in the near future, the aim of this study is to determine the state of knowledge of endangered and critically endangered species and conservation proposals based on recent studies. This work should serve as a starting point for proposing management and habitat conservation plans for these species and filling the information gaps to address them as soon as possible.</p></sec><sec><title>METHODS:</title><p> We performed an analysis of the recent trends in the state of knowledge of worldwide endangered and critically endangered lagomorphs, based on the compilation of the recent bibliographic citations in the IUCN list of endangered species (2014), the Lagomorphs Specialist Group of the IUCN web page, and on published studies focusing on these species. Each study was divided into various topics to know those that need to be addressed. We show detailed information for species that are at risk of extinction in the near future (critically endangered and endangered categories), describing the threats to their populations and existing conservation proposals.</p></sec><sec><title>RESULTS:</title><p> A total of 13 endangered and critically endangered species of lagomorphs have been the subject of study with a total of 78 contributions, of which the most frequently represented (25) refer to phylogeny, systematics, taxonomy, and evolution, followed by conservation (18), and ecology (14); the least represented are studies of reproduction and morphology with only one each. The critically endangered and endangered species have restricted distributions and in general, their threat factors are introduction of exotic species; habitat loss due to development of human settlements and productive activities; induced fires for the growth of new grass shoots for livestock; poaching; and the presence of predators and feral dogs.</p></sec><sec><title>DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:</title><p> Worldwide human activities have affected the survival of species of lagomorphs, especially those with restricted distributions. Less than 55 % (7 species) of the total number of species of endangered and critically endangered lagomorphs has been subject of specific study in recent works (2011 to date); moreover, in some cases only one publication was found. Although recent efforts have generated knowledge about the state of conservation and threat factors of some species of endemic lagomorphs, more detailed and long-term studies are needed to propose management and conservation of their habitats in collaboration with society and different academic and institutional sectors.</p></sec>",10.12933/therya-15-225,No,,,16,IUC-16,http://dx.doi.org/10.12933/therya-15-225,IUC,PJ,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,PJ,Yes,review,one of the indicators,none,indirect,global,Americas/Africa/Asia-Pacific,Terrestrial,4,No,Yes,Yes,Yes,No,Yes,n.a.,qualitative (direction),ordinal scale,none,Yes,high,Only Endangered and Critically Endangered species are considered in this study
"Ducatez, Simon; Shine, Richard",CONSERVATION LETTERS,2017,Drivers of Extinction Risk in Terrestrial Vertebrates,"Rising rates of extinction create an urgent need to identify the mechanisms and drivers of endangerment. One critical question is whether major phylogenetic lineages are equally at risk to the same threats. We used the IUCN Red List classification to explore the effect of four major threatening processes (habitat alteration, invasive species, climate change and overexploitation) on 7,441 species in four terrestrial vertebrate classes. As expected, species rated as vulnerable to a higher number of threats were also at greater risk of extinction. However, this pattern differed strongly among classes. Notably, invasive species and climate change were strongly associated with increased risk of extinction in birds but not mammals. These large-scale differences might be artifacts of differing methodologies used by class specialists to classify species vulnerability; or might reflect biological differences. That ambiguity needs to be resolved, because it has strong implications for the assessment and amelioration of threatening processes.",10.1111/conl.12258,No,,,40,IUC-40,http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/conl.12258,IUC,PJ,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,PJ,Yes,review,one of the indicators,none,direct (quantitative),global,All regions,All realms,5,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,No,prevalence-based,quantitative (magnitude),ratio scale,none,Yes,high,
"Lewis, John B.","ADVANCES IN MARINE BIOLOGY, VOL 50",2006,Biology and ecology of the hydrocoral Millepora on coral reefs,"Millepores are colonial polypoidal hydrozoans secreting an internal calcareous skeleton of an encrusting or upright form, often of considerable size. Defensive polyps protruding from the skeleton are numerous and highly toxic and for this reason millepores are popularly known as ""stinging corals"" or 'fire corals. "" In shallow tropical seas millepore colonies are conspicuous on coral reefs and may be locally abundant and important reef-framework builders. The history of systematic research on the Milleporidae and the sister family Stylasteridae is rich and full with the works of early naturalists beginning with Linnaeus. Seventeen living millepore species are recognised. Marked phenotypic variation inform and structure of colonies is characteristic of the genus Millepora. The first published descriptions of the anatomy and histology of millepores were by H. N. Moseley in one of the Challenger Expedition reports. These original, detailed accounts by Moseley remain valid and, except for recent descriptions of the ultrastructure of the skeleton and skeletogenic tissues, have not needed much modification.Millepores occur worldwide on coral reefs at depths of between I and 40 m and their distribution on reefs is generally zoned in response to physical factors. Colonies may be abundant locally on coral reefs but usually comprise < 10% of the overall surface cover. Growth rates of colonies are similar to the measured rates of branching and platelike scleractinian corals. Millepores are voracious zooplankton feeders and they obtain part of their nutrition from autotrophic sources, photosynthetic production by symbiotic zooxanthellae.Reproduction in millepores is characterised by alternation of generations with a well-developed polypoid stage that buds off planktonic medusae. Sexual reproduction is seasonal for known species and the medusae have a brief planktonic life. Asexual production is achieved by sympodial growth, the production of new skeleton and soft tissue along a growing edge or branch tip, and by the reattachment, regeneration and repair of damaged or broken colony fragments.The physiological and ecological responses of species of millepores are similar to those of the species of scleractinian corals over a broad range of natural and anthropogenic disturbances. Severe damage to colonies may occur during major storms. Delicately branching species are more susceptible than massive and bladed species. The ability of broken fragments to regenerate can ameliorate the extent of damage. Widespread bleaching and mortality of millepores has been reported during mass bleaching events that have affected many coral reefs. Millepores are often the first to recover after short-term bleaching events. Harmful effects of oil spills, chronic oil pollution and oil-spill detergents have been widely reported for millepores.Although the hydrozoan coenosarc, with its fiercely stinging zooids, does not appear to be an attractive substratum for attachment and settlement Of epizooans, a number of sessile and errant forms commonly occur on millepores. These include barnacles, amphipods, tanaid and alpheid crustaceans, polychaetes and gastropods. Burrowing molluscs, polychaetes and crustacea also abound. Many of these species or their close relatives also occur on scleractinian corals. A variety of predators, grazers and fouling organisms occur on millepores. These include errant polychaetes, several coral-feeding fish and a gastropod mollusc. Various invasive green, red and brown algae are widespread, growing on dead branches of millepores and overgrowing live coral tissue. Various ""band diseases"" associated with microorganisms that appear to cause lesions on millepores and loss of tissue have been documented but are not of widespread occurrence. Infestations of endolithic algae and fungi growing within the skeletons have been reported in a number of millepore species.",10.1016/S0065-2881(05)50001-4,No,,,1,LCC-1,http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0065-2881(05)50001-4,LCC,PJ,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,PJ,Yes,review,one of the indicators,unclear,direct (quantitative),global,All regions,Marine,3,Yes,No,No,Yes,Yes,No,prevalence-based,qualitative (direction),ordinal scale,none,Yes,high,
"Winemiller, Kirk O.; Agostinho, Angelo A.; Caramaschi, Erica Pellegrini",TROPICAL STREAM ECOLOGY,2008,Fish Ecology in Tropical Streams,"This chapter emphasizes the ecological responses of fishes to spatial and temporal variation in tropical stream habitats. At the global scale, the Neotropics has the highest fish fauna richness, with estimates ranging as high as 8000 species. Larger drainage basins tend to be associated with greater local and regional species richness. Within longitudinal stream gradients, the number of species increases with declining elevation. Tropical stream fishes encompass highly diverse reproductive strategies ranging from egg scattering to mouth brooding and livebearing, with reproductive seasons ranging from a few days to the entire year. Relationships between life-history strategies and population dynamics in different environmental settings are reviewed briefly.Fishes in tropical streams exhibit diverse feeding behaviors, including specialized niches, such as fin and scale feeding, not normally observed in temperate stream fishes. Many tropical stream fishes have greater diet breadth while exploiting abundant resources during the wet season, and lower diet breadth during the dry season as a consequence of specialized feeding on a subset of resources. Niche complementarity with high overlap in habitat use is usually accompanied by low dietary overlap. Ecological specializations and strong associations between form and function in tropical stream fishes provide clear examples of evolutionary convergence.Several studies have revealed the major influence of fishes on benthic ecosystem dynamics in tropical streams including effects on primary production and nutrient cycling. Tropical stream fishes are important food resources for humans in many countries, and significant conservation challenges include drainage-basin degradation, pollution, dams, overfishing, and introductions of exotic species.",10.1016/B978-012088449-0.50007-8,No,,,46,LSR-46,http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/B978-012088449-0.50007-8,LSR,PJ,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,PJ,Yes,review,more than one of the indicators,none,indirect,global,Americas/Africa/Asia-Pacific,Freshwater,5,No,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,effect-based,quantitative (magnitude),ordinal scale,none,Yes,high,
"Giri, Chandra; Long, Jordan; Abbas, Sawaid; Murali, R. Mani; Qamer, Faisal M.; Pengra, Bruce; Thau, David",JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT,2015,Distribution and dynamics of mangrove forests of South Asia,"Mangrove forests in South Asia occur along the tidal sea edge of Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. These forests provide important ecosystem goods and services to the region's dense coastal populations and support important functions of the biosphere. Mangroves are under threat from both natural and anthropogenic stressors; however the current status and dynamics of the region's mangroves are poorly understood. We mapped the current extent of mangrove forests in South Asia and identified mangrove forest cover change (gain and loss) from 2000 to 2012 using Landsat satellite data. We also conducted three case studies in Indus Delta (Pakistan), Goa (India), and Sundarbans (Bangladesh and India) to identify rates, patterns, and causes of change in greater spatial and thematic details compared to regional assessment of mangrove forests. Our findings revealed that the areal extent of mangrove forests in South Asia is approximately 1,187,476 ha representing similar to 7% of the global total.Our results showed that from 2000 to 2012, 92,135 ha of mangroves were deforested and 80,461 ha were reforested with a net loss of 11,673 ha. In all three case studies, mangrove areas have remained the same or increased slightly, however, the turnover was greater than the net change. Both, natural and anthropogenic factors are responsible for the change and turnover. The major causes of forest cover change are similar throughout the region; however, specific factors may be dominant in specific areas. Major causes of deforestation in South Asia include (i) conversion to other land use (e.g. conversion to agriculture, shrimp farms, development, and human settlement), (ii) over-harvesting (e.g. grazing, browsing and lopping, and fishing), (iii) pollution, (iv) decline in freshwater availability, (v) floodings, (vi) reduction of silt deposition, (vii) coastal erosion, and (viii) disturbances from tropical cyclones and tsunamis. Our analysis in the region's diverse socio-economic and environmental conditions highlights complex patterns of mangrove distribution and change. Results from this study provide important insight to the conservation and management of the important and threatened South Asian mangrove ecosystem. Published by Elsevier Ltd.",10.1016/j.jenvman.2014.01.020,No,,,85,MFC-85,http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2014.01.020,MFC,PJ,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,PJ,Yes,empirical data,one of the indicators,none,direct (quantitative),regional,Asia-Pacific,Freshwater/Marine,3,No,Yes,Yes,No,Yes,No,effect-based,quantitative (magnitude),ordinal scale,none,Yes,high,
"Liu, Jinxun; Vogelmann, James E.; Zhu, Zhiliang; Key, Carl H.; Sleeter, Benjamin M.; Price, David T.; Chen, Jing M.; Cochrane, Mark A.; Eidenshink, Jeffery C.; Howard, Stephen M.; Bliss, Norman B.; Jiang, Hong",ECOLOGICAL MODELLING,2011,Estimating California ecosystem carbon change using process model and land cover disturbance data: 1951-2000,"Land use change, natural disturbance, and climate change directly alter ecosystem productivity and carbon stock level. The estimation of ecosystem carbon dynamics depends on the quality of land cover change data and the effectiveness of the ecosystem models that represent the vegetation growth processes and disturbance effects. We used the Integrated Biosphere Simulator (IBIS) and a set of 30- to 60-m resolution fire and land cover change data to examine the carbon changes of California's forests, shrublands, and grasslands. Simulation results indicate that during 1951-2000, the net primary productivity (NPP) increased by 7%, from 72.2 to 77.1 Tg C yr(-1) (1 teragram = 10(12) g), mainly due to CO2 fertilization, since the climate hardly changed during this period. Similarly, heterotrophic respiration increased by 5%, from 69.4 to 73.1 Tg Cyr(-1), mainly due to increased forest soil carbon and temperature. Net ecosystem production (NEP) was highly variable in the 50-year period but on average equalled 3.0 Tg C yr(-1) (total of 149 Tg C). As with NEP, the net biome production (NBP) was also highly variable but averaged -0.55 Tg C yr(-1) (total of -27.3 Tg C) because NBP in the 1980s was very low (-5.34 Tg C yr(-1)). During the study period, a total of 126 Tg carbon were removed by logging and land use change, and 50 Tg carbon were directly removed by wildland fires. For carbon pools, the estimated total living upper canopy (tree) biomass decreased from 928 to 834 Tg C, and the understory (including shrub and grass) biomass increased from 59 to 63 Tg C. Soil carbon and dead biomass carbon increased from 1136 to 1197 Tg C.Our analyses suggest that both natural and human processes have significant influence on the carbon change in California. During 1951-2000, climate interannual variability was the key driving force for the large interannual changes of ecosystem carbon source and sink at the state level, while logging and fire were the dominant driving forces for carbon balances in several specific ecoregions. From a long-term perspective. CO2 fertilization plays a key role in maintaining higher NPP. However, our study shows that the increase in C sequestration by CO2 fertilization is largely offset by logging/land use change and wildland fires. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.",10.1016/j.ecolmodel.2011.03.042,No,,,21,NPP-21,http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolmodel.2011.03.042,NPP,PJ,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,PJ,Yes,empirical data,one of the indicators,none,direct (quantitative),regional,Americas,terrestrial,3,No,Yes,Yes,No,No,Yes,effect-based,quantitative (magnitude),ratio scale,none,Yes,high,
"Brummitt, Neil A.; Bachman, Steven P.; Griffiths-Lee, Janine; Lutz, Maiko; Moat, Justin F.; Farjon, Aljos; Donaldson, John S.; Hilton-Taylor, Craig; Meagher, Thomas R.; Albuquerque, Sara; Aletrari, Elina; Andrews, A. Kei; Atchison, Guy; Baloch, Elisabeth; Barlozzini, Barbara; Brunazzi, Alice; Carretero, Julia; Celesti, Marco; Chadburn, Helen; Cianfoni, Eduardo; Cockel, Chris; Coldwell, Vanessa; Concetti, Benedetta; Contu, Sara; Crook, Vicki; Dyson, Philippa; Gardiner, Lauren; Ghanim, Nadia; Greene, Hannah; Groom, Alice; Harker, Ruth; Hopkins, Della; Khela, Sonia; Lakeman-Fraser, Poppy; Lindon, Heather; Lockwood, Helen; Loftus, Christine; Lombrici, Debora; Lopez-Poveda, Lucia; Lyon, James; Malcolm-Tompkins, Patricia; McGregor, Kirsty; Moreno, Laura; Murray, Linda; Nazar, Keara; Power, Emily; Tuijtelaars, Mireya Quiton; Salter, Ruth; Segrott, Robert; Thacker, Hannah; Thomas, Leighton J.; Tingvoll, Sarah; Watkinson, Gemma; Wojtaszekova, Katerina; Lughadha, Eimear M. Nic",PLOS ONE,2015,Green Plants in the Red: A Baseline Global Assessment for the IUCN Sampled Red List Index for Plants,"Plants provide fundamental support systems for life on Earth and are the basis for all terrestrial ecosystems; a decline in plant diversity will be detrimental to all other groups of organisms including humans. Decline in plant diversity has been hard to quantify, due to the huge numbers of known and yet to be discovered species and the lack of an adequate baseline assessment of extinction risk against which to track changes. The biodiversity of many remote parts of the world remains poorly known, and the rate of new assessments of extinction risk for individual plant species approximates the rate at which new plant species are described. Thus the question 'How threatened are plants?' is still very difficult to answer accurately. While completing assessments for each species of plant remains a distant prospect, by assessing a randomly selected sample of species the Sampled Red List Index for Plants gives, for the first time, an accurate view of how threatened plants are across the world. It represents the first key phase of ongoing efforts to monitor the status of the world's plants. More than 20% of plant species assessed are threatened with extinction, and the habitat with the most threatened species is overwhelmingly tropical rain forest, where the greatest threat to plants is anthropogenic habitat conversion, for arable and livestock agriculture, and harvesting of natural resources. Gymnosperms (e.g. conifers and cycads) are the most threatened group, while a third of plant species included in this study have yet to receive an assessment or are so poorly known that we cannot yet ascertain whether they are threatened or not. This study provides a baseline assessment from which trends in the status of plant biodiversity can be measured and periodically reassessed.",10.1371/journal.pone.0135152,Yes,,Yes,9,RLI-9,http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0135152,RLI,PJ,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,PJ,Yes,review,one of the indicators,one of the indicators,direct (quantitative),global,All regions,All realms,6,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,prevalence-based,quantitative (magnitude),ratio scale,none,Yes,high,
"Hoffmann, Michael; Belant, Jerrold L.; Chanson, Janice S.; Cox, Neil A.; Lamoreux, John; Rodrigues, Ana S. L.; Schipper, Jan; Stuart, Simon N.",PHILOSOPHICAL TRANSACTIONS OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY B-BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES,2011,The changing fates of the world's mammals,"A recent complete assessment of the conservation status of 5487 mammal species demonstrated that at least one-fifth are at risk of extinction in the wild. We retrospectively identified genuine changes in extinction risk for mammals between 1996 and 2008 to calculate changes in the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List Index (RLI). Species-level trends in the conservation status of mammalian diversity reveal that extinction risk in large-bodied species is increasing, and that the rate of deterioration has been most accelerated in the Indomalayan and Australasian realms. Expanding agriculture and hunting have been the main drivers of increased extinction risk in mammals. Site-based protection and management, legislation, and captive-breeding and reintroduction programmes have led to improvements in 24 species. We contextualize these changes, and explain why both deteriorations and improvements may be under-reported. Although this study highlights where conservation actions are leading to improvements, it fails to account for instances where conservation has prevented further deteriorations in the status of the world's mammals. The continued utility of the RLI is dependent on sustained investment to ensure repeated assessments of mammals over time and to facilitate future calculations of the RLI and measurement against global targets.",10.1098/rstb.2011.0116,Yes,,Yes,31,RLI-31,http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2011.0116,RLI,PJ,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,PJ,Yes,review,one of the indicators,one of the indicators,direct (quantitative),global,All regions,All realms,6,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,prevalence-based,quantitative (magnitude),ratio scale,none,Yes,high,
"Kirby, Jeff S.; Stattersfield, Alison J.; Butchart, Stuart H. M.; Evans, Michael I.; Grimmett, Richard F. A.; Jones, Victoria R.; O'Sullivan, John; Tucker, Graham M.; Newton, Ian",BIRD CONSERVATION INTERNATIONAL,2008,Key conservation issues for migratory land- and waterbird species on the world's major flyways,"An estimated 19% of the world's 9,856 extant bird species are migratory, including some 1,600 species of land- and waterbirds. In 2008, 11% of migratory land- and waterbirds were classed by BirdLife International as threatened or near-threatened on the IUCN Red List. Red List indices show that these migrants have become more threatened since 1988, with 33 species deteriorating and just six improving in status. There is also increasing evidence of regional declines. Population trend data show that more Nearctic-Neotropical migrants have declined than increased in North America since the 1980s, and more Palearctic-Afrotropical migrants breeding in Europe declined than increased during 1970-2000. Reviews of the status of migratory raptors show unfavourable conservation status for 51% of species in the African-Eurasian region (in 2005), and 33% of species in Central, South and East Asia (in 2007). Land-use change owing to agriculture is the most frequently cited threat affecting nearly 80% of all threatened and near-threatened species. However, while agricultural intensification on the breeding grounds is often proposed as the major driver of declines in Palearctic-Afrotropical migrants, some species appear to be limited by the quantity and quality of available habitat in non-breeding areas, notably the drylands of tropical Africa. Forest fragmentation in breeding areas has contributed to the declines of Nearctic-Neotropical migrants with deforestation in non-breeding areas another possible factor. Infrastructure development including wind turbines, cables, towers and masts can also be a threat. Over-harvesting and persecution remain serious threats, particularly at key migration locations. Climate change is affecting birds already, is expected to exacerbate all these pressures, and may also increase competition between migratory and non-migratory species. The conservation of migratory birds thus requires a multitude of approaches. Many migratory birds require effective management of their critical sites, and Important Bird Areas (IBAs) provide an important foundation for such action; however to function effectively in conserving migratory species, IBAs need to be protected and the coherence of the network requires regular review. Since many migratory species (c. 55%) are widely dispersed across their breeding or non-breeding ranges, it is essential to address the human-induced changes at the wider landscape scale, a very considerable challenge. Efforts to conserve migratory birds in one part of the range are less effective if unaddressed threats are reducing these species' populations and habitats elsewhere. International collaboration and coordinated action along migration flyways as a whole are thus key elements in any strategy for the conservation of migratory birds.",10.1017/S0959270908000439,Yes,,Yes,36,RLI-36,http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S0959270908000439,RLI,PJ,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,PJ,Yes,review,one of the indicators,none,direct (quantitative),global,All regions,All realms,6,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,prevalence-based,quantitative (magnitude),ratio scale,none,Yes,high,
"McGeoch, Melodie A.; Butchart, Stuart H. M.; Spear, Dian; Marais, Elrike; Kleynhans, Elizabeth J.; Symes, Andy; Chanson, Janice; Hoffmann, Michael",DIVERSITY AND DISTRIBUTIONS,2010,"Global indicators of biological invasion: species numbers, biodiversity impact and policy responses","Aim Invasive alien species (IAS) pose a significant threat to biodiversity. The Convention on Biological Diversity's 2010 Biodiversity Target, and the associated indicator for IAS, has stimulated globally coordinated efforts to quantify patterns in the extent of biological invasion, its impact on biodiversity and policy responses. Here, we report on the outcome of indicators of alien invasion at a global scale.Location Global.Methods We developed four indicators in a pressure-state-response framework, i.e. number of documented IAS (pressure), trends in the impact of IAS on biodiversity (state) and trends in international agreements and national policy adoption relevant to reducing IAS threats to biodiversity (response). These measures were considered best suited to providing globally representative, standardized and sustainable indicators by 2010.Results We show that the number of documented IAS is a significant underestimate, because its value is negatively affected by country development status and positively by research effort and information availability. The Red List Index demonstrates that IAS pressure is driving declines in species diversity, with the overall impact apparently increasing. The policy response trend has nonetheless been positive for the last several decades, although only half of countries that are signatory to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) have IAS-relevant national legislation. Although IAS pressure has apparently driven the policy response, this has clearly not been sufficient and/or adequately implemented to reduce biodiversity impact.Main conclusion For this indicator of threat to biodiversity, the 2010 Biodiversity Target has thus not been achieved. The results nonetheless provide clear direction for bridging the current divide between information available on IAS and that needed for policy and management for the prevention and control of IAS. It further highlights the need for measures to ensure that policy is effectively implemented, such that it translates into reduced IAS pressure and impact on biodiversity beyond 2010.",10.1111/j.1472-4642.2009.00633.x,No,,,43,RLI-43,http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1472-4642.2009.00633.x,RLI,PJ,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,PJ,Yes,review,one of the indicators,none,direct (quantitative),global,All regions,All realms,6,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,prevalence-based,quantitative (magnitude),ratio scale,none,Yes,high,
"Olah, George; Butchart, Stuart H. M.; Symes, Andy; Guzman, Iliana Medina; Cunningham, Ross; Brightsmith, Donald J.; Heinsohn, Robert",BIODIVERSITY AND CONSERVATION,2016,Ecological and socio-economic factors affecting extinction risk in parrots,"Parrots (Psittaciformes) are among the most threatened bird orders with 28 % (111 of 398) of extant species classified as threatened under IUCN criteria. We confirmed that parrots have a lower Red List Index (higher aggregate extinction risk) than other comparable bird groups, and modeled the factors associated with extinction risk. Our analyses included intrinsic biological, life history and ecological attributes, external anthropogenic threats, and socio-economic variables associated with the countries where the parrot species occur, while we controlled for phylogenetic dependence among species. We found that the likelihood of parrot species being classified as threatened was less for species with larger historical distribution size, but was greater for species with high forest dependency, large body size, long generation time, and greater proportion of the human population living in urban areas in the countries encompassing the parrots' home ranges. The severity of extinction risk (from vulnerable to critically endangered) was positively related to the per capita gross domestic product (GDP) of the countries of occurrence, endemism to a single country, and lower for species used as pets. A disproportionate number of 16 extinct parrot species were endemic to islands and single countries, and were large bodied, habitat specialists. Agriculture, hunting, trapping, and logging are the most frequent threats to parrots worldwide, with variation in importance among regions. We use multiple methods to rank countries with disproportionately high numbers of threatened parrot species. Our results promote understanding of global and regional factors associated with endangerment in this highly threatened taxonomic group, and will enhance the prioritization of conservation actions.",10.1007/s10531-015-1036-z,Yes,,Yes,48,RLI-48,http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10531-015-1036-z,RLI,PJ,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,PJ,Yes,review,one of the indicators,none,direct (quantitative),global,All regions,All realms,6,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,prevalence-based,quantitative (magnitude),ratio scale,none,Yes,high,
"Polidoro, Beth A.; Carpenter, Kent E.; Collins, Lorna; Duke, Norman C.; Ellison, Aaron M.; Ellison, Joanna C.; Farnsworth, Elizabeth J.; Fernando, Edwino S.; Kathiresan, Kandasamy; Koedam, Nico E.; Livingstone, Suzanne R.; Miyagi, Toyohiko; Moore, Gregg E.; Vien Ngoc Nam; Ong, Jin Eong; Primavera, Jurgenne H.; Salmo, Severino G., III; Sanciangco, Jonnell C.; Sukardjo, Sukristijono; Wang, Yamin; Yong, Jean Wan Hong",PLOS ONE,2010,The Loss of Species: Mangrove Extinction Risk and Geographic Areas of Global Concern,"Mangrove species are uniquely adapted to tropical and subtropical coasts, and although relatively low in number of species, mangrove forests provide at least US $1.6 billion each year in ecosystem services and support coastal livelihoods worldwide. Globally, mangrove areas are declining rapidly as they are cleared for coastal development and aquaculture and logged for timber and fuel production. Little is known about the effects of mangrove area loss on individual mangrove species and local or regional populations. To address this gap, species-specific information on global distribution, population status, life history traits, and major threats were compiled for each of the 70 known species of mangroves. Each species' probability of extinction was assessed under the Categories and Criteria of the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Eleven of the 70 mangrove species (16%) are at elevated threat of extinction. Particular areas of geographical concern include the Atlantic and Pacific coasts of Central America, where as many as 40% of mangroves species present are threatened with extinction. Across the globe, mangrove species found primarily in the high intertidal and upstream estuarine zones, which often have specific freshwater requirements and patchy distributions, are the most threatened because they are often the first cleared for development of aquaculture and agriculture. The loss of mangrove species will have devastating economic and environmental consequences for coastal communities, especially in those areas with low mangrove diversity and high mangrove area or species loss. Several species at high risk of extinction may disappear well before the next decade if existing protective measures are not enforced.",10.1371/journal.pone.0010095,No,,,50,RLI-50,http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0010095,RLI,PJ,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,PJ,Yes,review,one of the indicators,none,none,global,Americas/Asia-Pacific,Marine,3,Yes,Yes,Yes,No,No,No,prevalence-based,qualitative (direction),ordinal scale,none,Yes,high,This study includes all mangrove species worldwide.
"Rodrigues, Ana S. L.; Brooks, Thomas M.; Butchart, Stuart H. M.; Chanson, Janice; Cox, Neil; Hoffmann, Michael; Stuart, Simon N.",PLOS ONE,2014,Spatially Explicit Trends in the Global Conservation Status of Vertebrates,"The world's governments have committed to preventing the extinction of threatened species and improving their conservation status by 2020. However, biodiversity is not evenly distributed across space, and neither are the drivers of its decline, and so different regions face very different challenges. Here, we quantify the contribution of regions and countries towards recent global trends in vertebrate conservation status (as measured by the Red List Index), to guide action towards the 2020 target. We found that. 50% of the global deterioration in the conservation status of birds, mammals and amphibians is concentrated in,1% of the surface area, 39/1098 ecoregions (4%) and eight/195 countries (4%) - Australia, China, Colombia, Ecuador, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mexico, and the United States. These countries hold a third of global diversity in these vertebrate groups, partially explaining why they concentrate most of the losses. Yet, other megadiverse countries - most notably Brazil (responsible for 10% of species but just 1% of deterioration), plus India and Madagascar - performed better in conserving their share of global vertebrate diversity. Very few countries, mostly island nations (e.g. Cook Islands, Fiji, Mauritius, Seychelles, and Tonga), have achieved net improvements. Per capita wealth does not explain these patterns, with two of the richest countries - United States and Australia - fairing conspicuously poorly. Different countries were affected by different combinations of threats. Reducing global rates of biodiversity loss will require investment in the regions and countries with the highest responsibility for the world's biodiversity, focusing on conserving those species and areas most in peril and on reducing the drivers with the highest impacts.",10.1371/journal.pone.0113934,No,,,54,RLI-54,http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0113934,RLI,PJ,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,PJ,Yes,review,one of the indicators,none,none,global,All regions,All realms,6,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,prevalence-based,quantitative (magnitude),ordinal scale,none,Yes,high,
"Szabo, Judit K.; Butchart, Stuart H. M.; Possingham, Hugh P.; Garnett, Stephen T.",BIOLOGICAL CONSERVATION,2012,Adapting global biodiversity indicators to the national scale: A Red List Index for Australian birds,"The Red List Index (RLI), which uses information from the IUCN Red List to track trends in the projected overall extinction risk of sets of species, is among the indicators adopted by the world's governments to assess performance under the Convention on Biological Diversity and the United Nations Millennium Development Goals. For greatest impact, such indicators need to be measured and used at a national scale as well as globally. We present the first application of the RLI based on assessments of extinction risk at the national scale using IUCN's recommended methods, evaluating trends in the status of Australian birds for 1990-2010. We calculated RLIs based on the number of taxa in each Red List category and the number that changed categories between assessments in 1990, 2000 and 2010 as a result of genuine improvement or deterioration in status. A novel comparison between trends at the species and ultrataxon (subspecies or monotypic species) level showed that these were remarkably similar, suggesting that current global RLI trends at the species level may also be a useful surrogate for tracking losses in genetic diversity at this scale, for which no global measures currently exist. The RLI for Australia is declining faster than global rates when migratory shorebirds and seabirds are included, but not when changes resulting from threats in Australia alone are considered. The RLI of oceanic island taxa has declined faster than those on the continent or on continental islands. There were also differences in the performance of different jurisdictions within Australia. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.",10.1016/j.biocon.2012.01.062,Yes,,Yes,63,RLI-63,http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2012.01.062,RLI,PJ,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,PJ,Yes,review,one of the indicators,none,direct (quantitative),continental,Asia-Pacific,All realms,6,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,prevalence-based,quantitative (magnitude),ratio scale,none,Yes,high,This study includes all Australian birds
"Linde, L.; Watson, I.; Tekelenburg, T.",RAP Publication,2009,Environmental performance assessment in the Greater Mekong Subregion.,"The Greater Mekong Subregion's (GMS) 313 million people and its wealth of natural resources are fuelling impressive economic growth that is likely to accelerate. The GMS countries are increasingly being linked through transportation, telecommunications, energy production and usage and cross-border trade. Over the past decade, economic gains have led to increased per capita incomes, improved education and health and a better quality of life for many of the subregion's inhabitants. This economic transformation, however, brings with it inevitable transformation of the natural environment. Serious degradation of land, forests, fresh water and marine habitats is affecting large areas of the GMS, resulting in the loss of biodiversity - ecosystems, species and genetic resources - at unprecedented rates. If corrective steps are not taken, the GMS will lose more than 50 percent of its remaining land and water habitats over the next century, one-third of which is expected to be lost over the next few decades. If these trends continue, results will not only be disastrous from an environmental standpoint but will also put socio-economic development gains at risk and threaten the long-term success of the region's development process. Knowing the magnitude of this human development impact on the environment is crucial to planning tools that aim to develop appropriate and effective response mechanisms to environmental threats. To achieve this, methods are required that can link detailed local surveying knowledge with decision-makers at national and subregional scales where much of the relevant strategic responses to threats are taken. In order to provide such quantitative information on biodiversity, the Environment Operations Center Bangkok (EOC) and the Netherlands Environment Assessment Agency (MNP) are cooperating in the development and application of a subregional, geospatially explicit biodiversity pressure model. The baseline for this model is the GLOBIO3 framework that calculates the impact of human activities (pressures) on biodiversity, namely land-use change, infrastructure development, fragmentation, nitrogen deposition and climate change. These pressures are unified into the Mean Species Abundance (MSA) value which quantifies the remaining biodiversity after discounting the biodiversity impact of each of the pressure factors from the potential biodiversity without disturbance.",,No,,,18,MSA-18,,MSA,YT,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,YT,Yes,meta-analysis,one of the indicators,none,direct (quantitative),regional,Asia-Pacific,Terrestrial,3,Yes,Yes,No,No,Yes,No,effect-based,quantitative (magnitude),ratio scale,none,Yes,high,http://www.apafri.org/activities/Bhutan2013/Publication/M1%20The%20Future%20of%20Forests%20in%20Asia%20and%20the%20Pacific.pdf#page=444
"Wilting, Harry C.; Schipper, Aafke M.; Bakkenes, Michel; Meijer, Johan R.; Huijbregts, Mark A. J.",ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY,2017,Quantifying Biodiversity Losses Due to Human Consumption: A Global-Scale Footprint Analysis,"It is increasingly recognized that human consumption leads to considerable losses of biodiversity. This study is the first to systematically quantify these losses in relation to land use and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions associated with the production and consumption of (inter)nationally traded goods and services by presenting consumption-based biodiversity losses, in short biodiversity footprint, for 45 countries and world regions globally. Our results showed that (i) the biodiversity loss per citizen shows large variations among countries, with higher values when per-capita income increases; (ii) the share of biodiversity losses due to GHG emissions in the biodiversity footprint increases with income; (iii) food consumption is the most important driver of biodiversity loss in most of the countries and regions, with a global average of 40%; (iv) more than 50% of the biodiversity loss associated with consumption in developed economies occurs outside their territorial boundaries; and (v) the biodiversity footprint per dollar consumed is lower for wealthier countries. The insights provided by our analysis might support policymakers in developing adequate responses to avert further losses of biodiversity when population and incomes increase. Both the mitigation of GHG emissions and land use related reduction options in production and consumption should be considered in strategies to protect mean species abundance consumption global biodiversity.",10.1021/acs.est.6b05296,No,,,27,MSA-27,http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.6b05296,MSA,YT,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,YT,Yes,empirical data,one of the indicators,none,direct (quantitative),global,All regions,Terrestrial,2,Yes,Yes,No,No,No,No,effect-based,quantitative (magnitude),ratio scale,none,Yes,high,
"Pilli, Roberto; Grassi, Giacomo; Kurz, Werner A.; Fiorese, Giulia; Cescatti, Alessandro",BIOGEOSCIENCES,2017,The European forest sector: past and future carbon budget and fluxes under different management scenarios,"The comprehensive analysis of carbon stocks and fluxes of managed European forests is a prerequisite to quantify their role in biomass production and climate change mitigation. We applied the Carbon Budget Model (CBM) to 26 European countries, parameterized with country information on the historical forest age structure, management practices, harvest regimes and the main natural disturbances. We modeled the C stocks for the five forest pools plus harvested wood products (HWPs) and the fluxes among these pools from 2000 to 2030. The aim is to quantify, using a consistent modeling framework for all 26 countries, the main C fluxes as affected by land-use changes, natural disturbances and forest management and to assess the impact of specific harvest and afforestation scenarios after 2012 on the mitigation potential of the EU forest sector. Substitution effects and the possible impacts of climate are not included in this analysis. Results show that for the historical period from 2000 to 2012 the net primary productivity (NPP) of the forest pools at the EU level is on average equal to 639 Tg Cyr(-1). The losses are dominated by heterotrophic respiration (409 Tg Cyr(-1)) and removals (110 Tg Cyr(-1)), with direct fire emissions being only 1 Tg Cyr(-1), leading to a net carbon stock change (i.e., sink) of 110 Tg Cyr(-1). Fellings also transferred 28 Tg Cyr(-1) of harvest residues from biomass to dead organic matter pools. The average annual net sector exchange (NSE) of the forest system, including HWP, equals a sink of 122 Tg C yr(-1) (i.e., about 19% of the NPP) for the historical period, and in 2030 it reaches 126, 101 and 151 TgC yr(-1), assuming constant, increasing (C 20 %) and decreasing (20 %) scenarios, respectively, of both harvest and afforestation rates compared to the historical period. Under the constant harvest rate scenario, our findings show an incipient aging process of the forests existing in 1990: although NPP increases ( +7 %), heterotrophic respiration increases at a greater rate ( +13 %) and this leads to a decrease in the sink in the forest pools ( 6 %) in 2030 compared to the historical period. By comparing the evolution of the biomass as a function of the NPP (i.e., the turnover time) for each country, we highlighted at least three groups of countries and turnover times. This means that, contrary to the assumptions proposed by other authors, this relationship cannot be assumed as a constant for all the EU countries, but specific conditions, such as the harvest rate, the current age structure and the forest composition, may contribute to the country-specific evolution of biomass stocks. The detailed picture of the C fluxes condensed in this study, and their evolution under different harvest scenarios, may represent both a benchmark for similar studies and a basis for broader analyses (e.g., including substitution effects of wood) on the mitigation potential of the EU forest sector.",10.5194/bg-14-2387-2017,No,,,5,NPP-5,http://dx.doi.org/10.5194/bg-14-2387-2017,NPP,YT,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,YT,Yes,empirical data,one of the indicators,none,direct (quantitative),regional,Europe and Central Asia,Terrestrial,3,No,Yes,Yes,No,No,Yes,effect-based,quantitative (magnitude),ratio scale,none,Yes,high,
"Abraham, Robin Kurian; Kelkar, Nachiket",ORYX,2012,Do terrestrial protected areas conserve freshwater fish diversity? Results from the Western Ghats of India,"Terrestrial protected areas are often designated in inaccessible high elevation regions, and usually targeted towards conservation of charismatic large mammals and birds. It has been suggested that such protected areas, with partial coverage of riverine habitats, may not be adequate for conservation of freshwater taxa such as fishes. Also, protected areas are often designated in upstream catchments of dam reservoirs, and conservation of freshwater biodiversity is usually not a priority. We investigated the importance of existing protected areas for conservation of stream fishes within and across three dammed and two undammed rivers in the southern Western Ghats, India (a global biodiversity hotspot). Comparisons of stream sites in protected and unprotected areas were restricted to mid elevations because of confounding factors of dams, elevation and stream order. For dammed rivers, endemic and total species richness was significantly higher inside protected areas than unprotected areas. Total fish species richness increased with decreasing elevation and endemic species richness peaked at mid elevations. Species found in comparable stream orders across dammed and undammed midland river reaches were similar. Intensity of threats such as sand mining, dynamite fishing, pollution and introduced invasive fishes was higher in unprotected than in protected areas. Lack of awareness among managers has also led to the occurrence of some threats within protected areas. However, existing protected areas are vital for conservation of endemic fishes. Our results support the need for extending the scope of terrestrial protected areas towards better representation of freshwater ecosystems and biodiversity.",10.1017/S0030605311000937,No,,,28,BSR-28,http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S0030605311000937,BSR,AG,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,AG,Yes,empirical data,one of the indicators,none,indirect,local,Asia-Pacific,Freshwater,5,No,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,prevalence-based,quantitative (magnitude),ordinal scale,quantitative,Yes,intermediate,
"Knop, Eva",GLOBAL CHANGE BIOLOGY,2016,Biotic homogenization of three insect groups due to urbanization,"Cities are growing rapidly, thereby expected to cause a large-scale global biotic homogenization. Evidence for the homogenization hypothesis is mostly derived from plants and birds, whereas arthropods have so far been neglected. Here, I tested the homogenization hypothesis with three insect indicator groups, namely true bugs, leafhoppers, and beetles. In particular, I was interested whether insect species community composition differs between urban and rural areas, whether they are more similar between cities than between rural areas, and whether the found pattern is explained by true species turnover, species diversity gradients and geographic distance, by non-native or specialist species, respectively. I analyzed insect species communities sampled on birch trees in a total of six Swiss cities and six rural areas nearby. In all indicator groups, urban and rural community composition was significantly dissimilar due to native species turnover. Further, for bug and leafhopper communities, I found evidence for large-scale homogenization due to urbanization, which was driven by reduced species turnover of specialist species in cities. Species turnover of beetle communities was similar between cities and rural areas. Interestingly, when specialist species of beetles were excluded from the analyses, cities were more dissimilar than rural areas, suggesting biotic differentiation of beetle communities in cities. Non-native species did not affect species turnover of the insect groups. However, given non-native arthropod species are increasing rapidly, their homogenizing effect might be detected more often in future. Overall, the results show that urbanization has a negative large-scale impact on the diversity specialist species of the investigated insect groups. Specific measures in cities targeted at increasing the persistence of specialist species typical for the respective biogeographic region could help to stop the loss of biodiversity.",10.1111/gcb.13091,No,,,190,BSR-190,http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/gcb.13091,BSR,AG,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,AG,Yes,empirical data,one of the indicators,none,indirect,local,Europe and Central Asia,Terrestrial,2,No,Yes,No,Yes,No,No,trait-based,qualitative (direction),ordinal scale,none,Yes,intermediate,
"Broadbent, Eben N.; Asner, Gregory P.; Keller, Michael; Knapp, David E.; Oliveira, Paulo J. C.; Silva, Jose N.",BIOLOGICAL CONSERVATION,2008,Forest fragmentation and edge effects from deforestation and selective logging in the Brazilian Amazon,"Forest fragmentation results from deforestation and disturbance, with subsequent edge effects extending deep into remaining forest areas. No study has quantified the effects of both deforestation and selective logging, separately and combined, on forest fragmentation and edge effects over large regions. The main objectives of this study were to: (1) quantify the rates and extent of forest fragmentation from deforestation and logging within the Brazilian Amazon, and (2) contextualize the spatio-temporal dynamics of this forest fragmentation through a literature review of potential ecological repercussions of edge creation. Using GIS and remote sensing, we quantified forest fragmentation defined as both increases in the forest edge-to-area ratio and number of forest fragments - and edge-effected forest occurring from these activities across more than 1.1 million km(2) of the Brazilian Amazon from 1999 to 2002. Annually, deforestation and logging generated similar to 32,000 and 38,000 km of new forest edge while increasing the edge-to-area ratio of remaining forest by 0.14 and 0.15, respectively. Combined deforestation and logging increased the edge-to-area ratio of remaining forest by 65% over our study period, while generating 5539 and 3383 new forest fragments, respectively. Although we found that 90% of individual forest fragments were smaller than 4 km(2), we also found that 50% of the remaining intact forests were located in contiguous forest areas greater than 35,000 km(2). We then conducted a literature review documenting 146 edge effects and found that these penetrated to a median distance of 100 m, a distance encompassing 6.4% of all remaining forests in our study region in the year 2002, while 53% of forests were located within two km of an edge. Annually deforestation and logging increased the proportion of edge-forest by 0.8% and 3.1%, respectively. As a result of both activities, the total proportion of edge-forest increased by 2.6% per year, while the proportion within 100-m increased by 0.5%. Over our study period, deforestation resulted in an additional similar to 3000 km(2) of edge-forest, whereas logging generated similar to 20,000 km(2), as it extended deep into intact forest areas. These results show the large extent and rapid expansion of previously unquantified soft-edges throughout the Amazon and highlight the need for greater research into their ecological impacts. (C) 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.",10.1016/j.biocon.2008.04.024,No,,,40,IFL-40,http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2008.04.024,IFL,AG,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,AG,Yes,empirical data,none,one of the indicators,direct (quantitative),local,Americas,Terrestrial,2,No,Yes,Yes,No,No,No,effect-based,quantitative (magnitude),ratio scale,quantitative,Yes,intermediate,
"Zhuravleva, I.; Turubanova, S.; Potapov, P.; Hansen, M.; Tyukavina, A.; Minnemeyer, S.; Laporte, N.; Goetz, S.; Verbelen, F.; Thies, C.",ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH LETTERS,2013,"Satellite-based primary forest degradation assessment in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, 2000-2010","Primary forest extent, loss and degradation within the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) were quantified from 2000 to 2010 by combining directly mapped forest cover extent and loss data (CARPE) with indirectly mapped forest degradation data (intact forest landscapes, IFL). Landsat data were used to derive both map inputs, and data from the GLAS (Geoscience Laser Altimetry System) sensor were employed to validate the discrimination of primary intact and primary degraded forests. In the year 2000, primary humid tropical forests occupied 104 455 kha of the country, with 61% of these forests classified as intact. From 2000 to 2010, 1.02% of primary forest cover was lost due to clearing, and almost 2% of intact primary forests were degraded due to alteration and fragmentation. While primary forest clearing increased by a factor of two between 2000-2005 and 2005-2010, the degradation of intact forests slightly decreased. Fragmentation and selective logging were the leading causes of intact forest degradation, accounting for 91% of IFL area change. The 10 year forest degradation rate within designated logging permit areas was 3.8 times higher compared to other primary forest areas. Within protected areas the forest degradation rate was 3.7 times lower than in other primary forest areas. Forest degradation rates were high in the vicinity of major urban areas. Given the observed forest degradation rates, we infer that the degradation of intact forests could increase up to two-fold over the next decade.",10.1088/1748-9326/8/2/024034,No,,,76,IFL-76,http://dx.doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/8/2/024034,IFL,AG,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,AG,Yes,empirical data,more than one of the indicators,none,direct (quantitative),local,Africa,Terrestrial,3,No,Yes,Yes,Yes,No,No,effect-based,quantitative (magnitude),ratio scale,none,Yes,intermediate,
"Eyre, Teresa J.; Maron, Martine; Mathieson, Michael T.; Haseler, Murray",AUSTRAL ECOLOGY,2009,"Impacts of grazing, selective logging and hyper-aggressors on diurnal bird fauna in intact forest landscapes of the Brigalow Belt, Queensland","The impact of forest management on diurnal bird assemblages and abundance was investigated in contiguous tracts of eucalypt forest in the Brigalow Belt Bioregion, south central Queensland. Sites were located across three levels of livestock grazing intensity and three levels of selective logging intensity within the most extensive habitat type, Corymbia citriodora-dominant forest. We recorded a high rate of incidence and large numbers of the hyper-aggressive noisy miner Manorina melanocephala (Passeriformes: Meliphagidae) at the majority of our survey sites, a phenomenon rarely reported in non-cleared landscapes. As shown by numerous studies in fragmented landscapes, the distribution of this species in our study had a substantial negative effect upon the distribution of small passerine species. Noisy miners exerted the strongest influence upon small passerine abundance, and masked any forest management effects. However, key habitat features important for small passerines were identified, including a relatively high density of large trees and stems in the midstorey. Selective logging appeared to exert a minimal effect upon noisy miner abundance, whereas grazing intensity had a profound, positive influence. Noisy miners were most abundant in intensively grazed forest with minimal midstorey and a low volume of coarse woody debris. Higher road density in the forest landscape also corresponded with increased numbers of noisy miners. Reduction in grazing pressure in Brigalow Belt forests has the potential to benefit small passerine assemblages across large areas through moderating noisy miner abundance. The strong relationship between noisy miners and small passerines suggests that noisy miner abundance could act as an easily measured indicator of forest condition, potentially contributing to monitoring of forest management outcomes.",10.1111/j.1442-9993.2009.01979.x,No,,,85,IFL-85,http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1442-9993.2009.01979.x,IFL,AG,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,AG,Yes,empirical data,more than one of the indicators,none,indirect,local,Asia-Pacific,Terrestrial,2,No,Yes,Yes,No,No,No,trait-based,quantitative (magnitude),ordinal scale,quantitative,Yes,intermediate,
"Scheffler, PY",JOURNAL OF TROPICAL ECOLOGY,2005,Dung beetle (Coleoptera : Scarabaeidae) diversity and community structure across three disturbance regimes in eastern Amazonia,"Anthropogenic disturbance in Amazonian forests has increased dramatically since the early 1980s and forest disturbance is expected to continue in the early twenty-first century. Logging and conversion to pasture for cattle are two of the largest causes of forest disturbance and destruction. This study examined the distribution and diversity of dung beetles (Coleoptera: Scarabacidae) in intact forest and under three disturbance regimes (selective logging, clear-cutting and pasture) in a forest tract in southern Para state, Brazil. Dung beetles were collected using facces-baited pitfall traps, then identified, measured and weighed. Principal Components Analyses and the Sorensen's Index indicated that the intact and selectively logged areas were similar in terms of species composition but that the pasture areas and clear-cut areas had substantially different groups of species. Beetle size and diversity (as measured by species richness, Shannon index and Simpson's index) were lower in clear-cuts and pasture than in intact forest. The selectively logged forest was no less diverse than intact forest. and beetles were the same size or larger than those in intact forest. Total beetle biomass, however, was highest in the pasture due to the abundance of small-bodicd beetles in this habitat. While the fact that selective logging has a relatively minor impact on the dung beetle community is heartening, the projected increase in the amount of highly disturbed landscape in Amazonia is expected to have a severe impact on dung beetle biodiversity in the region.",10.1017/S0266467404001683,No,,,157,IFL-157,http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S0266467404001683,IFL,AG,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,AG,Yes,empirical data,one of the indicators,none,indirect,local,Americas,Terrestrial,2,No,Yes,Yes,No,No,No,effect-based,quantitative (magnitude),ordinal scale,none,Yes,intermediate,
"Han, Juanjuan; Li, Linghao; Chu, Housen; Miao, Yuan; Chen, Shiping; Chen, Jiquan",ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH,2016,The effects of grazing and watering on ecosystem CO2 fluxes vary by community phenology,"Grazing profoundly influences vegetation and the subsequent carbon fluxes in various ecosystems. However, little effort has been made to explore the underlying mechanisms for phenological changes and their consequences on carbon fluxes at ecosystem level, especially under the coupled influences of human disturbances and climate change. Here, a manipulative experiment (2012-2013) was conducted to examine both the independent and interactive effects of grazing and watering on carbon fluxes across phenological phases in a desert steppe. Grazing advanced or delayed phenological timing, leading to a shortened green-up phase (GrP: 23.60 days) in 2013 and browning phase (BrP: 12.48 days) in 2012 from high grazing, and insignificant effects on the reproductive phase (Rep) in either year. High grazing significantly enhance carbon uptake, while light grazing reduce carbon uptake in ReP. Watering only delayed the browning time by 5.01 days in 2013, producing no significant effects on any phenophase. Watering promoted the net ecosystem exchange (NEE), ecosystem respiration (ER), and gross ecosystem productivity (GEP) only in the GrP. When calculating the yearly differences in phenophases and the corresponding carbon fluxes, we found that an extended GrP greatly enhanced NEE, but a prolonged ReP distinctly reduced it. The extended GrP also significantly promote GEP. Increases in growing season length appeared promoting ER, regardless of any phenophase. Additionally, the shifts in NEE appeared dependent of the variations in leaf area index (LAI). (C) 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.",10.1016/j.envres.2015.09.002,No,,,172,LAI-172,http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.envres.2015.09.002,LAI,AG,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,AG,Yes,empirical data,one of the indicators,one of the indicators,indirect,local,Asia-Pacific,Terrestrial,2,Yes,Yes,No,No,No,No,effect-based,quantitative (magnitude),ordinal scale,none,Yes,intermediate,
"Castaldelli, Giuseppe; Pluchinotta, Angela; Milardi, Marco; Lanzoni, Mattia; Giari, Luisa; Rossi, Remigio; Fano, Elisa Anna",AQUATIC CONSERVATION-MARINE AND FRESHWATER ECOSYSTEMS,2013,"Introduction of exotic fish species and decline of native species in the lower Po basin, north-eastern Italy","Freshwater ecosystems worldwide are experiencing native fish losses with severe threats to the conservation of freshwater biodiversity and ecosystem functioning, and the debate on whether the cause is biotic or abiotic disturbance is still open.Temporal variation in fish assemblages was analysed over an 18year period in 14 waterways of the lowland backwaters of the Po River in north-eastern Italy, which are important feeding, spawning and nursery sites for native fish.In 1991, 14 native and eight exotic species were collected. In less than 20years 10 native species underwent local extinction, three of which - Rutilus pigus, Rutilus aula, and Chondrostoma soetta - were endemic to the Padano-Veneto District in northern Italy.Ordination of the data (MDS, CLUSTER, ANOSIM, SIMPER) showed a clear temporal gradient in fish community structure. After the establishment of the exotic predator Silurus glanis, some native species significantly declined in abundance and biomass (i.e. Alburnus arborella and Scardinius erythrophthalmus) or disappeared (i.e. Rutilus aula and Tinca tinca). Moreover, exotic species Cyprinus carpio, Ameiurus melas, and Carassius auratus from previous introductions, underwent significant changes in their abundance and biomass. No correlation was found between fish community structure and water quality parameters (BIOENV).The success of exotic species, particularly S. glanis which thrived in this degraded habitat, seems to have led to the decline of native fish fauna in the canals of the lower portion of the Po River basin. Conservation strategies focusing on the containment of exotic species and habitat restoration are recommended. Copyright (c) 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.",10.1002/aqc.2345,No,,,70,LSA-70,http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/aqc.2345,LSA,AG,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,AG,Yes,empirical data,more than one of the indicators,none,direct (quantitative),local,Europe and Central Asia,Freshwater,2,No,No,No,Yes,Yes,No,effect-based,quantitative (magnitude),ordinal scale,none,Yes,intermediate,
"Sturtevant, Brian R.; Miranda, Brian R.; Wolter, Peter T.; James, Patrick M. A.; Fortin, Marie-Josee; Townsend, Philip A.",FOREST ECOLOGY AND MANAGEMENT,2014,Forest recovery patterns in response to divergent disturbance regimes in the Border Lakes region of Minnesota (USA) and Ontario (Canada),"The persistence of landscape-scale disturbance legacies in forested ecosystems depends in part on the nature and strength of feedback among disturbances, their effects, and subsequent recovery processes such as tree regeneration and canopy closure. We investigated factors affecting forest recovery rates over a 25-year time period in a large (6 million ha) landscape where geopolitical boundaries have resulted in important land management legacies (managed forests of Minnesota, USA; managed forests of Ontario, Canada; and a large unmanaged wilderness). Stand-replacing disturbance regimes were quantified across management zones, both inside and outside a central ecoregion, using a time series of classified land cover data constructed at 5-year intervals between 1975 and 2000. The temporally variable disturbance regime of the wilderness was characterized by fine-scaled canopy disturbances punctuated by less frequent large disturbance events (i.e., fire and blow down). The comparably consistent disturbance regimes of the managed forests of Minnesota and Ontario differed primarily in the size distribution of disturbances - principally clearcut harvesting. Using logistic regression we found that a combination of time since disturbance, mapped disturbance attributes, climate, and differences among management zones affected pixel-scale probabilities of forest recovery that reflect recovery rates. We conclude that the magnitude of divergence in landscape disturbance legacies of this region will be additionally reinforced by regional variations in the human and natural disturbance regimes and their interactions with forest recovery processes. Our analyses compliment traditional plot-scale studies that investigate post-disturbance recovery by (a) examining vegetation trends across a wide range of variability and (b) quantifying the cumulative effects of disturbances as they affect recovery rates over a broad spatial extent. Our findings therefore have implications for sustainable forestry, ecosystem-based management, and landscape disturbance and succession modeling. Published by Elsevier B.V.",10.1016/j.foreco.2013.10.039,No,,,189,ERW-189,http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.foreco.2013.10.039,ERW,CG,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,CG,Yes,empirical data,more than one of the indicators,one of the indicators,direct (quantitative),local,Americas,Terrestrial,4,Yes,Yes,Yes,No,No,Yes,effect-based,quantitative (magnitude),ordinal scale,quantitative,Yes,intermediate,
"Bell, Richard J.; Collie, Jeremy S.; Jamu, Daniel; Banda, Moses",JOURNAL OF GREAT LAKES RESEARCH,2012,Changes in the biomass of chambo in the southeast arm of Lake Malawi: A stock assessment of Oreochromis spp.,"Lake Malawi has one of the most diverse fish faunas in the world (500-650 species) and is a major source of protein for the people of Malawi. Chambo (Oreochromis spp.) is one of the most important food fishes; its abundance has declined sharply over the last twenty-years. Surveys by the Malawi Department of Fisheries have shown a decrease in chambo density in the southeast arm of the lake and the annual harvest has dropped substantially since 1985. We conducted a dynamic stock assessment of Oreochromis spp. which included all vessel and gear types and covered the entire southeast arm of Lake Malawi. Chambo biomass peaked in 1982 and then declined continuously through the early 2000s. The biomass is highly correlated with the mean lake height two years prior suggesting that recruitment may be linked to increased nutrient input, and spawning and nursery habitat associated with the flooding of low lying areas. The main driver of chambo biomass, however, was fishing pressure which was above the level that would achieve maximum sustainable yield during the entire time series. This study provides a baseline from which to measure changes due to future management actions or climate variations. (C) 2012 International Association for Great Lakes Research. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.",10.1016/j.jglr.2012.09.022,No,,,43,FSS-43,http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jglr.2012.09.022,FSS,CG,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,CG,Yes,empirical data,one of the indicators,one of the indicators,direct (quantitative),local,Africa,Freshwater,2,Yes,No,Yes,No,No,No,effect-based,quantitative (magnitude),ordinal scale,quantitative,Yes,intermediate,
"Liu, Peilong; Hao, Lu; Pan, Cen; Zhou, Decheng; Liu, Yongqiang; Sun, Ge",SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT,2017,Combined effects of climate and land management on watershed vegetation dynamics in an arid environment,"Leaf area index (LAI) is a key parameter to characterize vegetation dynamics and ecosystem structure that determines the ecosystem functions and services such as clean water supply and carbon sequestration in a watershed. However, linking LAI dynamics and environmental controls (i.e., coupling biosphere, atmosphere, and anthroposphere) remains challenging and such type of studies have rarely been done at a watershed scale due to data availability. The present study examined the spatial and temporal variations of LAI for five ecosystem types within a watershed with a complex topography in the Upper Heihe River Basin, a major inland river in the arid and semi-arid western China. We integrated remote sensing-based GLASS (Global Land Surface Satellite) LAI products, interpolated climate data, watershed characteristics, and land management records for the period of 2001-2012. We determined the relationships among LAI, topography, air temperature and precipitation, and grazing history by five ecosystem types using several advanced statistical methods. We show that long-term mean LAI distribution had an obvious vertical pattern as controlled by precipitation and temperature in a hilly watershed. Overall, watershed-wide mean LAI had an increasing trend overtime for all ecosystem types during 2001-2012, presumably as a result of global warming and a wetting climate. However, the fluctuations of observed LAI at a pixel scale (1 km) varied greatly across the watershed. We classified the vegetation changes within the watershed as 'Improved', 'Stabilized', and 'Degraded' according their respective LAI changes. We found that climate was not the only driver for temporal vegetation changes for all land cover types. Grazing partially contributed to the decline of LAI in some areas and masked the positive climate warming effects in other areas. Extreme weathers such as cold spells and droughts could substantially affect inter-annual variability of LAI dynamics. We concluded that temporal and spatial LAI dynamics were rather complex and were affected by both climate variations and human disturbances in the study basin. Future monitoring studies should focus on the functional interactions among vegetation dynamics, climate variations, land management, and human disturbances. Published by Elsevier B.V.",10.1016/j.scitotenv.2017.02.210,No,,,74,LAI-74,http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2017.02.210,LAI,CG,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,CG,Yes,empirical data,one of the indicators,one of the indicators,direct (quantitative),local,Asia-Pacific,Terrestrial/Freshwater,2,Yes,Yes,No,No,No,No,effect-based,quantitative (magnitude),ordinal scale,qualitative,Yes,intermediate,
"Nemani, RR; Running, SW; Pielke, RA; CHase, TN",JOURNAL OF GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH-ATMOSPHERES,1996,Global vegetation cover changes from coarse resolution satellite data,"Land cover plays a key role in various biophysical processes related to global climate and terrestrial biogeochemistry. Although global land cover has dramatically changed over the last few centuries, until now there has been no consistent way of quantifying the changes globally. In this study we used long-term climate and soils data along with coarse resolution satellite observations to quantify the magnitude and spatial extent of large-scale land cover changes attributable to anthropogenic processes. Differences between potential leaf area index (LAI), derived from climate-soil-leaf area equilibrium, and actual leaf area index obtained from satellite data are used to estimate changes in land cover. Further, changes in LAI between potential and actual conditions are linked to climate by expressing them as possible changes in radiometric surface temperatures (T-r) resulting from changes in surface energy partitioning. As expected, areas with high population densities, such as India, China, and western Europe showed large reductions in LAI. Changes in global land cover expressed as summer, midafternoon T-r, ranged from -8 degrees to +16 degrees C. Deforestation resulted in an increase in T while irrigated agriculture reduced the T-r. Many of the current general circulation models (GCMs) use potential vegetation maps to represent global vegetation. Our results indicate that there are widespread changes in global land cover due to deforestation and agriculture below the resolution of many GCMs, and these changes could have a significant impact on climate. Potential and actual LAI data sets are available for climate modelers at 0.5 degrees x 0.5 degrees resolution to study the possible impacts of land cover changes on global temperatures and circulation patterns.",10.1029/95JD02138,No,,,128,LAI-128,http://dx.doi.org/10.1029/95JD02138,LAI,CG,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,CG,Yes,empirical data,one of the indicators,none,direct (qualitative),global,All regions,Terrestrial,2,Yes,Yes,No,No,No,No,effect-based,quantitative (magnitude),ordinal scale,qualitative,Yes,intermediate,
"Anderson, Robert; Morrall, Clare; Jossart, Jonathan; Nimrod, Steve; Bolda, Emily; Musser, Katie; Berg, Craig; Balza, Robert",REVISTA DE BIOLOGIA TROPICAL,2014,"Marine Protected Area monitoring in the nearshore waters of Grenada, Eastern Caribbean: benthic cover and fish populations","Grenada is highly dependent on coral reefs as a source of food and to support tourism. Local and global environmental stressors threaten these reefs. Legislation was created for this MPA in 2001, permanent mooring buoys were deployed in 2009 and enforcement of fishing restrictions began in 2010. Initiatives to address point and nonpoint source pollution from the land have recently begun, aimed at reducing stress on reef area. This study documents benthic cover and fish populations associated with reefs in a Marine Protected Area (MPA) along Grenada's southwest coast from 2008 through 2012. Both Point Line Intercept and Photo Quadrat methods were used to assess benthic cover along permanent 30m transects (8 in and 12 outside the area) annually. Fish and Diadema antillarum urchin relative abundance were determined based on 2m wide belt surveys along the same transects. The predominant substrate cover was algae, ranging from 41% in 2009 to 74.2% in 2011. A general trend of increasing algal cover was noted. Combined annual survey results prior (2008-2010) and after controls were implemented (2011-2012) showed a significant increase in algal cover. The predominant algal form was macroalgae comprising 65.4% - 90.8% of total algae. Live hard coral percent cover ranged from 8.7% to 21.1%. Little annual variation was observed in percent live coral cover. Branching corals (34.1% - 52.3% of total living hard coral) were the most common. Of the 19 living hard coral species identified, Porites porites (21%-23%) and Porites astreoides (20%) dominated percentage composition. Madracis mirabilis contributed 21% of total live hard coral outside the MPA but only 8.7% in the MPA. Of the 63 species of fish identified in the study areas Chromis spp. (71.5% - 46%) was the dominant group. Wrasse had a significant increase from 6.9% in 2008 to 21.5% in 2010 inside the MPA with a similar increase peaking in 2011 outside the MPA. There was a noticeable (though not statistically significant) increase in piscivorous fishes in the MPA in 2012. This is a promising indication that fishing restrictions in the MPA may be having an effect. Diadema antillarum density was low, ranging from 4.58 to 0.21 urchins/100m(2) outside and 0.28 to 0.10 urchins/100m(2) inside despite a stocking attempt in the area in 2011.",10.15517/rbt.v62i0.15922,No,,,167,LCC-167,http://dx.doi.org/10.15517/rbt.v62i0.15922,LCC,CG,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,CG,Yes,empirical data,more than one of the indicators,none,direct (quantitative),local,Americas,Marine,3,Yes,Yes,No,Yes,No,No,effect-based,quantitative (magnitude),ordinal scale,qualitative,Yes,intermediate,
"Araujo, Francisco Gerson; Costa de Azevedo, Marcia Cristina; Penha Guedes, Ana Paula",REGIONAL STUDIES IN MARINE SCIENCE,2016,Inter-decadal changes in fish communities of a tropical bay in southeastern Brazil,"Long-term evaluations of coastal fish communities worldwide have in many cases showed a decrease in the species richness and abundance as a result of anthropogenic impacts. Fish communities in two zones (inner and outer) of a tropical bay in southeastern Brazil were sampled monthly during six years over two decades (1983-1985, 1993-1995, 1999-2001) using identical sampling methods. Over time, an increase in temperature and a decrease in water transparency were detected, while salinity remained stable. Fish assemblage was dominated by benthivorous species both migrant and resident species. The fish assemblage structure differed significantly between the two bay zones. Significant decreases in the fish richness, abundance and biomass were detected over time. The highest decreases in the species richness was recorded between 1983-1985 and 1993-1995 for the marine migrants in both bay zones and for the resident and marine straggler species in the outer zone. Dominant species such as the clupeoids Anchoa januaria, Anchoa tricolor, Harengula clupeola, the gerreid Eucinostomos argenteus, the sciaenid Micropogonias furnieri, the atherinopsid Atherinella brasiliensis and the ariid Genidens barbus decreased over time, whereas the mugilid Mugil liza increased. Persistent differences in the fish assemblage structure between the two bay zones over the three periods can be attributed at least in part to differences in environmental variables between the zones and seem to be a key ecological element to maintenance of biodiversity. This is the first study to examine long-term changes in the fish community of a tropical bay in Brazil. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.",10.1016/j.rsma.2015.06.001,No,,,53,LSA-53,http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.rsma.2015.06.001,LSA,CG,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,CG,Yes,empirical data,more than one of the indicators,unclear,direct (quantitative),local,Americas,Marine,3,Yes,No,No,No,Yes,Yes,effect-based,quantitative (magnitude),ordinal scale,quantitative,Yes,intermediate,
"David, Valerie; Sautour, Benoit; Chardy, Pierre",ESTUARINE COASTAL AND SHELF SCIENCE,2007,Successful colonization of the calanoid copepod Acartia tonsa in the oligo-mesohaline area of the Gironde estuary (SW France) - Natural or anthropogenic forcing?,"The copepod Acartia tonsa appeared in Europe in the first half of the 20th century and colonized progressively European seas and estuaries, possibly transferred from North Atlantic Coast of America. It had been reported in the polyhaline area of the Gironde estuary for a long time but was first recorded in the oligo-mesohaline area in 1983. Its abundance has been increasing significantly. High abundances of A. tonsa were reported since 1999, supplanting the abundances of its autochthonous congeneric species, Acartia bifilosa. This colonization was characterized by analyzing the mean seasonal variability: (1) for three 5-year periods corresponding to three different steps of A. tonsa appearance (1978-1982, A. tonsa was absent; 1988-1992, low abundances of the species; and 1999-2003, high abundances of A. tonsa) in the oligo-mesohaline area and (2) for three stations distributed along the salinity gradient during the recent period. The aim of this work was to define if this colonization was due to natural or anthropogenic forcing and to evaluate its possible impact on autochthonous zooplanktonic community. Both natural and anthropogenic forcings seem to explain the colonization of Acartia tonsa in the oligo-mesohaline area of the Gironde estuary. First records (1983-1988) could be due to marine water inputs caused by high values of the North Atlantic Oscillation index. The global warming which caused the increase of the summer warm period, the marinisation of the system and the local decrease of the turbidity should have been the key factors favoring the establishment of the species. Anthropogenic forcings as the establishment of the nuclear power plant which locally causes warmer conditions are also important factors explaining the differences of seasonal cycle observed between oligo-mesohaline area and other stations: the seasonal pattern of A. tonsa in the oligo-mesohaline area was indeed characterized by an autumnal peak of abundances which has been observed in other stations and in many North European estuaries, and by a second spring peak that had only been observed in Southern estuaries.The introduction of Acartia tonsa in the Gironde estuary significantly changed the seasonal pattern of autochthonous copepods, by limiting their seasonal abundances without affecting their long-term population stability. Finally, the successful colonization of A. tonsa had led to the spread of the seasonal zooplanktonic production which could have had an impact on fish and shrimp productions. (c) 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.",10.1016/j.ecss.2006.08.018,No,,,80,LSA-80,http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ecss.2006.08.018,LSA,CG,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,CG,Yes,empirical data,one of the indicators,none,direct (quantitative),local,Europe and Central Asia,Freshwater/Marine,2,Yes,No,No,No,Yes,No,effect-based,quantitative (magnitude),ordinal scale,quantitative,Yes,intermediate,
"Daufresne, Martin; Bady, Pierre; Fruget, Jean-Francois",OECOLOGIA,2007,Impacts of global changes and extreme hydroclimatic events on macroinvertebrate community structures in the French Rhone River,"We assessed the temporal changes in and the relationships between the structures of the macroinvertebrate communities and the environmental conditions of the French Rhone River (the river from Lake Geneva to the Mediterranean Sea) over the last 20 years (1985-2004). Multisite environmental and biological datasets were analysed using multiple CO-inertia analysis (MCOA) and Procrustean analysis. Changes in environmental conditions were mainly marked by an improvement in water quality between 1985 and 1991 and by an increase in water temperature from 1985 onwards due to climate change. Improvement in water quality seemed to delay changes in community structures under global warming. We then observed trends in community structures coupled with high temperatures and a decrease in oxygen content. Interestingly, we observed both gradual changes and rapid switches in community states. These shifts seemed coupled to extreme hydroclimatic events (i.e. pulse disturbances). Floods and the 2003 heatwave enhanced the development of eurytolerant and invasive taxa which were probably able to take advantage of gradual warming environmental conditions. Despite various site-specific ""press"" constraints (e.g. hydropower schemes, nuclear power plants), similar changes in community structures were observed along the French Rhone River. Such consistency in temporal processes at large geographical scales underlined the strength of hydroclimatic constraints on community dynamics compared to specific local disturbances. Finally, community structures did not show any sign of recovery, and their relative sensitivities to extreme hydroclimatic events seemed to increase with time. Thus, our results suggest that global changes may reduce the resilience of current community states.",10.1007/s00442-006-0655-1,No,,,77,LSR-77,http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00442-006-0655-1,LSR,CG,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,CG,Yes,empirical data,more than one of the indicators,none,direct (quantitative),local,Europe and Central Asia,Freshwater,2,Yes,No,No,No,Yes,No,effect-based,quantitative (magnitude),ordinal scale,quantitative,Yes,intermediate,
"Haberle, Simon G.; Tibby, John; Dimitriadis, Sophia; Heijnis, Henk",JOURNAL OF ECOLOGY,2006,The impact of European occupation on terrestrial and aquatic ecosystem dynamics in an Australian tropical rain forest,"1 The long-term impact of changes in land use, fire and climate on species diversity in Australia are only just beginning to be understood. We combined fine-resolution palaeoecological proxies for terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems to investigate the responses of a tropical rain forest catchment over the last 700 years.2 Sediment cores were sampled at 1-cm intervals to a depth of 100 cm from Lake Euramoo on the Atherton Tableland of north-east Queensland, dated and analysed for pollen, charcoal, diatom, chironomid and inorganic content.3 The pollen and charcoal record shows a rapid loss of forest diversity (particularly the long-lived taxa Agathis and Podocarpus) and increased burning coinciding with the arrival of European settlers. The aquatic environment is also subject to rapid changes at this time, with a possible increase in pH and subsequent shifts in local algal and insect communities. This event was outside the historic range of variability in both rain forest and aquatic communities.4 The present mosaic of vegetation types is a complex function of environmental changes operating across a range of spatial and temporal scales: millennial climate change, short-term climatic variations associated with El Nino events and, most significantly, a shift from indigenous to 'European' land-use practices, including clearance and burning activities associated with the timber and farming industry between about AD 1880 and 1920.5 The establishment of a World Heritage reserve around the lake catchment and the suppression of fire over the last 50 years have not yet restored the terrestrial or aquatic ecosystem to its pre-European state and are unlikely to, given the current predictions of future climate change. This supports the notion that ecological and climate thresholds are not necessarily the same, and that the effects of crossing them are not necessarily reversible. Retrospective studies of the historic range of variability within small catchments can provide an understanding of the limits of natural and human-induced variability that can inform management decisions and resource planning.",10.1111/j.1365-2745.2006.01140.x,No,,,185,LSR-185,http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2745.2006.01140.x,LSR,CG,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,CG,Yes,empirical data,more than one of the indicators,none,direct (quantitative),local,Asia-Pacific,Terrestrial/Freshwater,3,Yes,Yes,Yes,No,No,No,effect-based,quantitative (magnitude),ordinal scale,quantitative,Yes,intermediate,
"Zhang, Caixia; Wang, Xunming; Li, Jinchang; Hua, Ting",ENVIRONMENTAL EARTH SCIENCES,2011,Roles of climate changes and human interventions in land degradation: a case study by net primary productivity analysis in China's Shiyanghe Basin,"The Thornthwaite Memorial, Synthetic, and Carnegie Ames Stanford Approach (CASA) models, with inputs from SPOT-VGT-S10 NDVI data, meteorological data (precipitation, temperature, solar radiation), and land use data were used to estimate the values of net primary productivity (NPP) from 1999 to 2007 in China's Shiyanghe Basin. The human appropriation of NPP, which represents the difference between potential NPP predicted using the climatic models and actual NPP calculated using the CASA model, served as the indicator of human intervention in the evolution of productivity of the land. Analysis showed that 78.9% (similar to 9,172 km(2)) of the degradation occurring in the Shiyanghe Basin was caused by human activities versus 15.0% (similar to 1,752 km(2)) that was caused by climatic factors, whereas 16.9% (similar to 6,404.5 km(2)) of the vegetation restoration resulted from human activities versus 49.7% (similar to 18,881 km(2)) that resulted from climate changes. Human activity played a key role in vegetation restoration in the central areas of the basin and in determining land degradation in the southwestern and northeastern areas. In addition, climate significantly controlled the vegetation restoration in the southwestern and northeastern areas and controlled land degradation in the central area.",10.1007/s12665-011-1046-4,No,,,88,NPP-88,http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s12665-011-1046-4,NPP,CG,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,CG,Yes,empirical data,one of the indicators,none,direct (quantitative),local,Asia-Pacific,Terrestrial,2,Yes,Yes,No,No,No,No,effect-based,quantitative (magnitude),ratio scale,quantitative,Yes,intermediate,
"Zhang, Yuzhen; Liang, Shunlin",GLOBAL CHANGE BIOLOGY,2014,Changes in forest biomass and linkage to climate and forest disturbances over Northeastern China,"The forests of northeastern China store nearly half of the country's total biomass carbon stocks. In this study, we investigated the changes in forest biomass by using satellite observations and found that a significant increase in forest biomass took place between 2001 and 2010. To determine the possible reasons for this change, several statistical methods were used to analyze the correlations between forest biomass dynamics and forest disturbances (i.e. fires, insect damage, logging, and afforestation and reforestation), climatic factors, and forest development. Results showed that forest development was the most important contributor to the increasing trend of forest biomass from 2001 to 2010, and climate controls were the secondary important factor. Among the four types of forest disturbance considered in this study, forest recovery from fires, and afforestation and reforestation during the past few decades played an important role in short-term biomass dynamics. This study provided observational evidence and valuable information for the relationships between forest biomass and climate as well as forest disturbances.",10.1111/gcb.12588,No,,,142,NPP-142,http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/gcb.12588,NPP,CG,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,CG,Yes,empirical data,one of the indicators,none,direct (quantitative),local,Asia-Pacific,Terrestrial,2,Yes,Yes,No,No,No,No,effect-based,quantitative (magnitude),ordinal scale,quantitative,Yes,intermediate,
"Tian, Hanqin; Melillo, Jerry; Lu, Chaoqun; Kicklighter, David; Liu, Mingliang; Ren, Wei; Xu, Xiaofeng; Chen, Guangsheng; Zhang, Chi; Pan, Shufen; Liu, Jiyuan; Running, Steven",GLOBAL BIOGEOCHEMICAL CYCLES,2011,China's terrestrial carbon balance: Contributions from multiple global change factors,"The magnitude, spatial, and temporal patterns of the terrestrial carbon sink and the underlying mechanisms remain uncertain and need to be investigated. China is important in determining the global carbon balance in terms of both carbon emission and carbon uptake. Of particular importance to climate-change policy and carbon management is the ability to evaluate the relative contributions of multiple environmental factors to net carbon source and sink in China's terrestrial ecosystems. Here the effects of multiple environmental factors (climate, atmospheric CO2, ozone pollution, nitrogen deposition, nitrogen fertilizer application, and land cover/land use change) on net carbon balance in terrestrial ecosystems of China for the period 1961-2005 were modeled with newly developed, detailed historical information of these changes. For this period, results from two models indicated a mean land sink of 0.21 Pg C per year, with a multimodel range from 0.18 to 0.24 Pg C per year. The models' results are consistent with field observations and national inventory data and provide insights into the biogeochemical mechanisms responsible for the carbon sink in China's land ecosystems. In the simulations, nitrogen deposition and fertilizer applications together accounted for 61 percent of the net carbon storage in China's land ecosystems in recent decades, with atmospheric CO2 increases and land use also functioning to stimulate carbon storage. The size of the modeled carbon sink over the period 1961-2005 was reduced by both ozone pollution and climate change. The modeled carbon sink in response to per unit nitrogen deposition shows a leveling off or a decline in some areas in recent years, although the nitrogen input levels have continued to increase.",10.1029/2010GB003838,No,,,168,NPP-168,http://dx.doi.org/10.1029/2010GB003838,NPP,CG,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,CG,Yes,empirical data,one of the indicators,none,direct (quantitative),local,Asia-Pacific,Terrestrial,3,Yes,Yes,No,No,Yes,No,effect-based,quantitative (magnitude),ordinal scale,quantitative,Yes,intermediate,
"Helms, Jackson A.; Woerner, Christopher R.; Fawzi, Nurul, I; MacDonald, Andrew; Juliansyah; Pohnan, Erica; Webb, Kinari",TROPICAL CONSERVATION SCIENCE,2018,Rapid Response of Bird Communities to Small-Scale Reforestation in Indonesian Borneo,"The island of Borneo suffers from one of the highest deforestation rates in the world, primarily due to agriculture, logging, and other human activities. This habitat loss may be partly mitigated by reforestation programs in degraded landscapes, especially anthropogenic grasslands that have little conservation or economic value. By monitoring native bird communities, we evaluated the success of two small (<20 ha) community reforestation projects in Gunung Palung National Park in Indonesian Borneo. Birds responded rapidly following reforestation, with species richness doubling over 7 years at one site, and increasing by 29% in just 3 years at the other Final tallies (63-70 species per site) were comparable to those obtained in older secondary forests elsewhere in Borneo. Anthropogenic fire is the primary threat to reforestation success, but intensive fire prevention allows bird communities to recover from temporary setbacks. Absence of fire was thus the most important factor in recovery, and we detected no effect of replanted area on bird species richness. Our results suggest that by engaging local communities and ensuring long-term maintenance, even small reforestation sites in Borneo can provide immediate benefits for native biodiversity.",10.1177/1940082918769460,No,,,66,BSR-66,http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1940082918769460,BSR,DB,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,DB,Yes,empirical data,one of the indicators,none,direct (quantitative),local,Asia-Pacific,Terrestrial,2,No,Yes,No,No,No,Yes,effect-based,quantitative (magnitude),ratio scale,qualitative,Yes,intermediate,
"Perry, J. J.; Kutt, A. S.; Garnett, S. T.; Crowley, G. M.; Vanderduys, E. P.; Perkins, G. C.",EMU,2011,"Changes in the avifauna of Cape York Peninsula over a period of 9 years: the relative effects of fire, vegetation type and climate","An essential component of conservation science is repeated surveys over time to monitor species that might be responding to local factors, such as land management, or more broadly to global change. A systematic survey of the avifauna of Cape York Peninsula was conducted in the late 1990s and early 2000s providing an ideal basal dataset for measuring change in the avifauna. A subset (n>600) of these sites, primarily within savanna landscapes, was selected for re-survey in 2008 to investigate changes in bird communities on Cape York Peninsula. Changes in mean species richness varied across the study area (decreases in 59 grid cells and increases in 43) with no apparent pattern. Significant change in reporting rates was recorded in 30 species. Four sedentary and highly detectable species declined (Bar-shouldered Dove, Brown Treecreeper, Sulphur-crested Cockatoo and Pale-headed Rosella) and five increased (Peaceful Dove, Pheasant Coucal, Weebill, White-throated Honeyeater and Yellow Oriole). Habitat preference for the species that showed change remained relatively stable between the two survey periods. Some species that were recorded in very low numbers in the original survey and are considered to be threatened (Brown Treecreeper, Black-faced Woodswallow) remained in very low numbers or decreased in our survey suggesting that there has been no regional recovery of these species. Long-term monitoring can describe important patterns of species change over time, though in the case of large, highly seasonal environments like the tropical savannas, signals of change may manifest over decades rather than annually.",10.1071/MU10009,No,,,138,BSR-138,http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/MU10009,BSR,DB,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,DB,Yes,empirical data,one of the indicators,none,direct (quantitative),local,Asia-Pacific,Terrestrial,3,Yes,Yes,No,No,No,Yes,effect-based,quantitative (magnitude),ratio scale,none,Yes,intermediate,
"Edgar, Graham J.; Last, Peter R.; Barrett, Neville S.; Gowlett-Holmes, Karen; Driessen, Michael; Mooney, Peter",AQUATIC CONSERVATION-MARINE AND FRESHWATER ECOSYSTEMS,2010,"Conservation of natural wilderness values in the Port Davey marine and estuarine protected area, south-western Tasmania","1. Port Davey and associated Bathurst Harbour in south-western Tasmania represent one of the world's most anomalous estuarine systems owing to an unusual combination of environmental factors. These include: (i) large uninhabited catchment protected as a National Park; (ii) ria geomorphology but with fjord characteristics that include a shallow entrance and deep 12-km long channel connecting an almost land-locked harbour to the sea; (iii) high rainfall and riverine input that generate strongly-stratified estuarine conditions, with a low-salinity surface layer and marine bottom water; (iv) a deeply tannin-stained surface layer that blocks light penetration to depth; (v) very low levels of nutrients and low aquatic productivity; (vi) weak tidal influences; (vii) marine bottom water with stable temperature throughout the year; (viii) numerous endemic species; (ix) strongly depth-stratified benthic assemblages exhibiting high compositional variability over small spatial scales; (x) deepsea species present at anomalously shallow depths; (xi) no conspicuous introduced taxa; (xii) a predominance of fragile sessile invertebrates, including slow-growing fenestrate bryozoans; and (xiii) sponge spicule-and bryozoan-based sediments that are more characteristic of deep sea and polar environments than those inshore.2. Although this region has historically been protected by its isolation, seven major anthropogenic stressors now threaten its natural integrity: boating, fishing, dive tourism, nutrient enrichment, introduced species, onshore development, and global climate change. These threats are not randomly distributed but disproportionately affect particular habitat types.3. For management of environmental risk, the Port Davey-Bathurst Harbour region is subdivided into six biophysical zones, each with different ecological characteristics, values, and types and levels of potential threat. In response to the various threats, the Tasmanian Government has enacted an adaptive management regime that includes a multi-zoned marine protected area and the largest 'no-take' estuarine protected area in Australia. Copyright (C) 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.",10.1002/aqc.1079,No,,,10,ERW-10,http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/aqc.1079,ERW,DB,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,DB,Yes,review,none,one of the indicators,n.a.,local,Asia-Pacific,Marine,6,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,prevalence-based,quantitative (magnitude),ordinal scale,none,Yes,intermediate,
"Wenger, Amelia S.; Williamson, David H.; da Silva, Eduardo T.; Ceccarelli, Daniela M.; Browne, Nicola K.; Petus, Caroline; Devlin, Michelle J.",CONSERVATION BIOLOGY,2016,Effects of reduced water quality on coral reefs in and out of no-take marine reserves,"Near-shore marine environments are increasingly subjected to reduced water quality, and their ability to withstand it is critical to their persistence. The potential role marine reserves may play in mitigating the effects of reduced water quality has received little attention. We investigated the spatial and temporal variability in live coral and macro-algal cover and water quality during moderate and major flooding events of the Fitzroy River within the Keppel Bay region of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park from 2007 to 2013. We used 7 years of remote sensing data on water quality and data from long-term monitoring of coral reefs to quantify exposure of coral reefs to flood plumes. We used a distance linear model to partition the contribution of abiotic and biotic factors, including zoning, as drivers of the observed changes in coral and macro-algae cover. Moderate flood plumes from 2007 to 2009 did not affect coral cover on reefs in the Keppel Islands, suggesting the reef has intrinsic resistance against short-term exposure to reduced water quality. However, from 2009 to 2013, live coral cover declined by approximate to 50% following several weeks of exposure to turbid, low salinity water from major flood plume events in 2011 and subsequent moderate events in 2012 and 2013. Although the flooding events in 2012 and 2013 were smaller than the flooding events between 2007 to 2009, the ability of the reefs to withstand these moderate floods was lost, as evidenced by a approximate to 20% decline in coral cover between 2011 to 2013. Although zoning (no-take reserve or fished) was identified a significant driver of coral cover, we recorded consistently lower coral cover on reserve reefs than on fished reefs throughout the study period and significantly lower cover in 2011. Our findings suggest that even reefs with an inherent resistance to reduced water quality are not able to withstand repeated disturbance events. The limitations of reserves in mitigating the effects of reduced water quality on near-shore coral reefs underscores the importance of integrated management approaches that combine effective land-based management with networks of no-take reserves.",10.1111/cobi.12576,No,,,33,LCC-33,http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/cobi.12576,LCC,DB,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,DB,Yes,empirical data,one of the indicators,none,direct (quantitative),local,Asia-Pacific,Marine,2,No,No,Yes,No,Yes,No,effect-based,quantitative (magnitude),ratio scale,quantitative,Yes,intermediate,
"Comeros-Raynal, Mia T.; Choat, John Howard; Polidoro, Beth A.; Clements, Kendall D.; Abesamis, Rene; Craig, Matthew T.; Lazuardi, Muhammad Erdi; McIlwain, Jennifer; Muljadi, Andreas; Myers, Robert F.; Nanola, Cleto L., Jr.; Pardede, Shinta; Rocha, Luiz A.; Russell, Barry; Sanciangco, Jonnell C.; Stockwell, Brian; Harwell, Heather; Carpenter, Kent E.",PLOS ONE,2012,The Likelihood of Extinction of Iconic and Dominant Herbivores and Detritivores of Coral Reefs: The Parrotfishes and Surgeonfishes,"Parrotfishes and surgeonfishes perform important functional roles in the dynamics of coral reef systems. This is a consequence of their varied feeding behaviors ranging from targeted consumption of living plant material (primarily surgeonfishes) to feeding on detrital aggregates that are either scraped from the reef surface or excavated from the deeper reef substratum (primarily parrotfishes). Increased fishing pressure and widespread habitat destruction have led to population declines for several species of these two groups. Species-specific data on global distribution, population status, life history characteristics, and major threats were compiled for each of the 179 known species of parrotfishes and surgeonfishes to determine the likelihood of extinction of each species under the Categories and Criteria of the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Due in part to the extensive distributions of most species and the life history traits exhibited in these two families, only three (1.7%) of the species are listed at an elevated risk of global extinction. The majority of the parrotfishes and surgeonfishes (86%) are listed as Least Concern, 10% are listed as Data Deficient and 1% are listed as Near Threatened. The risk of localized extinction, however, is higher in some areas, particularly in the Coral Triangle region. The relatively low proportion of species globally listed in threatened Categories is highly encouraging, and some conservation successes are attributed to concentrated conservation efforts. However, with the growing realization of man's profound impact on the planet, conservation actions such as improved marine reserve networks, more stringent fishing regulations, and continued monitoring of the population status at the species and community levels are imperative for the prevention of species loss in these groups of important and iconic coral reef fishes.",10.1371/journal.pone.0039825,No,,,195,LCC-195,http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0039825,LCC,DB,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,DB,Yes,empirical data,none,one of the indicators,indirect,global,Americas/Africa/Asia-Pacific,Marine,4,Yes,Yes,Yes,No,Yes,No,prevalence-based,qualitative (direction),ratio scale,none,Yes,intermediate,
"van Strien, Arco J.; Meyling, Adriaan W. Gmelig; Herder, Jelger E.; Hollander, Hans; Kalkman, Vincent J.; Poot, Martin J. M.; Turnhout, Sander; van der Hoorn, Berry; van Strien-van Liempt, Willy T. F. H.; van Swaay, Chris A. M.; van Turnhout, Chris A. M.; Verweij, Richard J. T.; Oerlemans, Natasja J.",BIOLOGICAL CONSERVATION,2016,Modest recovery of biodiversity in a western European country: The Living Planet Index for the Netherlands,"We calculated a Living Planet Index (LPI) for the Netherlands, based on 361 animal species from seven taxonomic groups occurring in terrestrial and freshwater habitats. Our assessment is basically similar to the global LPI, but the latter includes vertebrate species and trends in population abundance only. To achieve inferences on trends in biodiversity more generally, we added two insect groups (butterflies and dragonflies) and added occupancy trends for species for which we had no abundance trends available.According to the LPI, the state of biodiversity has slightly increased from 1990 to 2014. However, large differences exist between habitat types. We found a considerable increase in freshwater animal populations, probably because of improvement of chemical water quality and rehabilitation of marshland habitats. We found no trend in the LPI for woodland populations. In contrast, populations in farmland and open semi-natural habitats (coastal dunes, heathland and semi-natural grassland) declined, which we attribute to intensive agricultural practices and nitrogen deposition, respectively. The LPI shows that, even in a densely populated western European country, ongoing loss of animal biodiversity is not inevitable and may even be reversed if adequate measures are taken. Our approach enabled us to produce summary statistics beyond the level of species groups to monitor the state of biodiversity in a clear and consistent way. (C) 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY license.",10.1016/j.biocon.2016.05.031,No,,,41,LPI-41,http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2016.05.031,LPI,DB,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,DB,Yes,empirical data,one of the indicators,none,direct (quantitative),local,Europe and Central Asia,Terrestrial/Freshwater,2,No,Yes,No,No,Yes,No,trait-based,qualitative (direction),ratio scale,none,Yes,intermediate,
"Vaughan, Ian P.; Ormerod, Steve J.",GLOBAL CHANGE BIOLOGY,2012,"Large-scale, long-term trends in British river macroinvertebrates","Rivers are among the world's most modified ecosystems, with poor water quality representing a prominent problem for over 200 similar to years, especially in urban areas. In Western Europe, however, industrial decline, tighter regulation and improved wastewater treatment have combined over recent decades to create conditions conducive to extensive restoration and positive biological change. Here, we evaluate the river macroinvertebrate fauna of England and Wales in relation to water quality, physical habitat and climate over almost two decades. We predicted that biological recovery would be characterized by: (i) greater taxon richness and prevalence of pollution-sensitive taxa, (ii) larger changes in more heavily urbanized catchments, and (iii) temporal trends in assemblage structure that correlated with improving water quality. Family level richness increased on average by nearly 20% during 19912008, accompanied by a widespread shift towards taxa characteristic of well-oxygenated and less polluted waters. Changes were largest in the most urbanized catchments. A combination of natural gradients and anthropogenic pressures explained the variation among sites, whereas temporal changes correlated with improving water quality and variations in discharge. Positive trends were not universal, however, and there was localized deterioration in some streams draining upland areas and in the lowland south east. Our results are consistent with a large-scale ecological recovery of English and Welsh rivers since 1990, probably continuing a trend from the mid-20th century. Based on these results, we suggest: (i) freshwater communities are resilient to long-term anthropogenic pressures, (ii) biodiversity benefits can arise from investment and long-term restoration intended largely to enhance ecosystem services such as drinking water and sanitary concerns, and (iii) long-term monitoring data collected for statutory purposesbased in this case on nearly 50 similar to 000 samplescan address scientific questions at spatial and temporal extents seldom achieved in research programmes.",10.1111/j.1365-2486.2012.02662.x,No,,,33,LSR-33,http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2486.2012.02662.x,LSR,DB,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,DB,Yes,empirical data,one of the indicators,none,direct (quantitative),local,Europe and Central Asia,Freshwater,3,No,Yes,No,No,Yes,Yes,effect-based,quantitative (magnitude),ratio scale,none,Yes,intermediate,
"Scarpitta, Antoine Becker; Bardat, Jacques; Lalanne, Arnault; Vellend, Mark",JOURNAL OF VEGETATION SCIENCE,2017,Long-term community change: bryophytes are more responsive than vascular plants to nitrogen deposition and warming,"Aims: Many studies of vegetation change over multiple decades have focused on vascular plants, but very few on bryophytes, despite the importance of bryophytes for overall plant biodiversity and ecosystem functioning. Using a repeated survey of vascular plants and bryophytes in a forest ecosystem, we tested predictions of the hypotheses that: (1) vegetation change has been driven by N deposition and climate warming, and (2) bryophytes are more responsive to environmental change than vascular plants.Location: Lowland temperate forest, northwest France.Methods: In forest plots initially surveyed in 1976, we re-surveyed both vascular plants and bryophytes in 2009 and 2012, respectively. We analysed changes in a-diversity, beta-diversity, and species composition, and we used community-weighted mean values of species affinities for temperature, light, pH, soil moisture and N to assess the temporal responses potentially caused by warming, N deposition, or possibly a changing light regime.Results: We observed significantly increased species richness of bryophytes and decreased richness of vascular plants. Community affinities to N, pH and temperature increased significantly for bryophytes, but not for vascular plants, although the change over time in N affinities for vascular plants was qualitatively in the predicted direction. Bryophytes showed a higher magnitude of temporal community change than vascular plants, both in terms of overall species composition and environmental affinities, indicating a higher responsiveness of bryophytes to environmental change.Conclusion: Overall, the result of more marked temporal community change for bryophytes suggests that the many studies of changes in vascular plant communities over time might underestimate the sensitivity of the broader plant community (including cryptogams) to environmental change.",10.1111/jvs.12579,No,,,183,LST-183,http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/jvs.12579,LST,DB,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,DB,Yes,empirical data,one of the indicators,none,direct (quantitative),local,Europe and Central Asia,Terrestrial,3,Yes,Yes,No,No,Yes,No,trait-based,quantitative (magnitude),ratio scale,none,Yes,intermediate,
"Ohlberger, Jan; Otero, Jaime; Edeline, Eric; Winfield, Ian J.; Stenseth, Nils Chr; Vollestad, L. Asbjorn",OIKOS,2013,Biotic and abiotic effects on cohort size distributions in fish,"Intraspecific variation in body size is common in animals and plants. Body size affects trophic interactions like foraging ability and vulnerability to predation, which in turn affect individual fitness as well as population stability and extinction risk. Experimental and theoretical work has shown that the size distribution of individuals within cohorts is strongly influenced by intraspecific competition for resources, often leading to skewed frequency distributions. However, little is known about the effects of environmental factors such as climate and eutrophication on the cohort size-structure of natural populations. We use a long-term time series of scientific monitoring of a freshwater fish (European perch Perca fluviatilis) to investigate the effects of density dependence, predation, nutrient availability, climate and the timing of spawning on the cohort size distributions. We find that the mean length of the fish is best predicted by the extrinsic factors phosphorus concentration and summer temperature, and the densities of the different age-classes, whereas the skewness of the length distribution is best predicted by phosphorus concentration, summer temperature, abundance of small fish, and the timing of spawning. Higher nutrient levels, temperatures and densities of small fish increase food availability and thus reduce competition, which is reflected in increased mean length and decreased skewness. The timing of spawning affects skewness presumably through changes in the initial size variation of the cohort and the length of the first growth season. Our results indicate that higher temperatures increase the mean length and decrease skewness due to the concurrent eutrophication of the lake. The study thereby highlights the potential impact of human-induced environmental change on the size structure of fish populations. More studies are needed to understand better the complex mechanisms through which these factors alter the intensity of intraspecific competition in fish communities.",10.1111/j.1600-0706.2012.19858.x,No,,,15,MLF-15,http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1600-0706.2012.19858.x,MLF,DB,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,DB,Yes,empirical data,one of the indicators,none,direct (quantitative),local,Europe and Central Asia,Freshwater,2,Yes,No,No,No,Yes,No,effect-based,quantitative (magnitude),ratio scale,qualitative,Yes,intermediate,
"Hunter, Aidan; Speirs, Douglas C.; Heath, Michael R.",FISHERIES RESEARCH,2016,Investigating trends in the growth of five demersal fish species from the Firth of Clyde and the wider western shelf of Scotland,"Demersal fish landings from the Firth of Clyde peaked in 1973, then declined rapidly until the targeted demersal fishery ceased in 2005. The abundance of large fish decreased during this period, and their numbers have not recovered since 2005. We aim to determine whether changing growth rates have contributed to the decline in the abundance of large fish. Bottom trawl survey data from 1980 to 2012 was used to calculate the annual mean length-at-age and time series of von Bertalanffy growth parameters of five demersal species; cod, haddock, whiting, Norway pout and saithe. Two regions were considered: the Firth of Clyde and the neighbouring seas west of Scotland (the western shelf). There have been substantial decreases in the lengths of most age groups of Clyde haddock and whiting due to declines in both asymptotic length and von Bertalanffy growth rate. Lengths-at-age have also declined in western shelf populations, but at markedly slower rates than within the Clyde. Trends in temperature and year class strength tended to contribute little to changes in the growth parameters, so declines in length-at-age have been largely due to other factors. Fishing intensity is greater in the Clyde than western shelf, and the size selectivity of the fisheries differ as more Clyde vessels use Nephrops trawling gear. Since trends in growth were also more extreme in the Clyde, it appears as though size-selective fishing may have caused reductions in the lengths of these fish. If the changes in growth are partially due to fishing induced evolution then it may take many generations for the changes to reverse. (C) 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V.",10.1016/j.fishres.2016.01.005,No,,,96,MLF-96,http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.fishres.2016.01.005,MLF,DB,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,DB,Yes,empirical data,one of the indicators,none,direct (quantitative),local,Europe and Central Asia,Marine,2,Yes,No,Yes,No,No,No,effect-based,quantitative (magnitude),ratio scale,none,Yes,intermediate,
"Zhou, Wei; Sun, ZhengGuo; Li, JianLong; Gang, ChengCheng; Zhang, ChaoBin",JOURNAL OF ARID LAND,2013,Desertification dynamic and the relative roles of climate change and human activities in desertification in the Heihe River Basin based on NPP,"Relative roles of climate change and human activities in desertification are the hotspot of research on desertification dynamic and its driving mechanism. To overcome the shortcomings of existing studies, this paper selected net primary productivity (NPP) as an indicator to analyze desertification dynamic and its impact factors. In addition, the change trends of actual NPP, potential NPP and HNPP (human appropriation of NPP, the difference between potential NPP and actual NPP) were used to analyze the desertification dynamic and calculate the relative roles of climate change, human activities and a combination of the two factors in desertification. In this study, the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS)-Normalised Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) and meteorological data were utilized to drive the Carnegie-Ames-Stanford Approach (CASA) model to calculate the actual NPP from 2001 to 2010 in the Heihe River Basin. Potential NPP was estimated using the Thornthwaite Memorial model. Results showed that 61% of the whole basin area underwent land degradation, of which 90.5% was caused by human activities, 8.6% by climate change, and 0.9% by a combination of the two factors. On the contrary, 1.5% of desertification reversion area was caused by human activities and 90.7% by climate change, the rest 7.8% by a combination of the two factors. Moreover, it was demonstrated that 95.9% of the total actual NPP decrease was induced by human activities, while 69.3% of the total actual NPP increase was caused by climate change. The results revealed that climate change dominated desertification reversion, while human activities dominated desertification expansion. Moreover, the relative roles of both climate change and human activities in desertification possessed great spatial heterogeneity. Additionally, ecological protection policies should be enhanced in the Heihe River Basin to prevent desertification expansion under the condition of climate change.",10.1007/s40333-013-0181-z,No,,,17,NPP-17,http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s40333-013-0181-z,NPP,DB,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,DB,Yes,other,one of the indicators,none,direct (quantitative),local,Asia-Pacific,Terrestrial,2,Yes,Yes,No,No,No,No,effect-based,quantitative (magnitude),ratio scale,none,Yes,intermediate,models + data
"Zhou, Wei; Gang, Chengcheng; Zhou, Liang; Chen, Yizhao; Li, Jianlong; Ju, Weimin; Odeh, Inakwu",ACTA OECOLOGICA-INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ECOLOGY,2014,Dynamic of grassland vegetation degradation and its quantitative assessment in the northwest China,"Grasslands, one of the most widespread land cover types in China, are of great importance to natural environmental protection and socioeconomic development. An accurate quantitative assessment of the effects of inter-annual climate change and human activities on grassland productivity has great theoretical significance to understanding the driving mechanisms of grassland degradation. Net primary productivity (NPP) was selected as an indicator for analyzing grassland vegetation dynamics from 2001 to 2010. Potential NPP and the difference between potential NPP and actual NPP were used to represent the effects of climate and human factors, respectively, on grassland degradation. The results showed that 61.49% of grassland areas underwent degradation, whereas only 38.51% exhibited restoration. In addition, 65.75% of grassland degradation was caused by human activities whereas 19.94% was caused by inter-annual climate change. By contrast, 32.32% of grassland restoration was caused by human activities, whereas 56.56% was caused by climatic factors. Therefore, inter-annual climate change is the primary cause of grassland restoration, whereas human activities are the primary cause of grassland degradation. Grassland dynamics and the relative roles of climate and human factors in grassland degradation and restoration varied greatly across the five provinces studied. The contribution of human activities to grassland degradation was greater than that of climate change in all five provinces. Three outcomes were observed in grassland restoration: First, the contribution of climate to grassland restoration was greater than that of human activities, particularly in Qinghai, Inner Mongolia, and Xinjiang. Second, the contribution of human activities to grassland restoration was greater than that of climate in Gansu. Third, the two factors almost equally contributed to grassland restoration in Tibet. Therefore, the effectiveness of ecological restoration programs should be enhanced whenever climate change promotes grassland restoration. (C) 2014 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.",10.1016/j.actao.2013.12.006,No,,,35,NPP-35,http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.actao.2013.12.006,NPP,DB,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,DB,Yes,other,one of the indicators,none,direct (quantitative),local,Asia-Pacific,Terrestrial,2,Yes,Yes,No,No,No,No,effect-based,quantitative (magnitude),ratio scale,none,Yes,intermediate,models + data
"Wang, Zhan; Deng, Xiangzheng; Song, Wei; Li, Zhihui; Chen, Jiancheng",CATENA,2017,What is the main cause of grassland degradation? A case study of grassland ecosystem service in the middle-south Inner Mongolia,"In this study, we analyze the changes of indicators of ecosystem services and functions, in order to understand the main cause of grassland degradation due to climatic variation or land use changes in the middle -south Inner Mongolia. The soil nutrient and the water supply of supporting service got recovery during 1988-2008. The loss of net primary production declined, and the quality of the retained unconverted grassland (RUG) even increasingly degraded from 2000 to 2008. Analytical results show that environmental degradation on the land use -changed -area is lower than that on the RUG from 2000 to 2008. It illustrates that climatic variation has more negative impacts on grassland ecosystem service, and which is significantly higher than the so-called ""overgrazing"" induced grassland degradation. Moreover, it cannot be excluded that those species died out on the RUG due to natural selection or competitive evolution in an evolutionary process under the deteriorative weather condition rather than overgrazing. The positive impacts of human activities such as conservation programs and wildlife protection laws also benefit to regional grassland ecosystem obviously in the study area, so that can delay the environmental degradation even if each planet has its life cycle. It indicates that an integrated regional planning involving the considerations of climatic conditions, geographical characteristics, socioeconomic factors, and ecological functions and biodiversity can benefit to regional grassland conservation based on monitoring and management via scientific methods. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.",10.1016/j.catena.2016.11.014,No,,,116,NPP-116,http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.catena.2016.11.014,NPP,DB,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,DB,Yes,other,more than one of the indicators,none,direct (quantitative),local,Europe and Central Asia,Terrestrial,2,Yes,Yes,No,No,No,No,effect-based,quantitative (magnitude),ratio scale,none,Yes,intermediate,models + data
"Chen, Baoxiong; Zhang, Xianzhou; Tao, Jian; Wu, Jianshuang; Wang, Jingsheng; Shi, Peili; Zhang, Yangjian; Yu, Chengqun",AGRICULTURAL AND FOREST METEOROLOGY,2014,The impact of climate change and anthropogenic activities on alpine grassland over the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau,"Climate change and anthropogenic activities are two factors that have important effects on the carbon cycle of terrestrial ecosystems, but it is almost impossible to fully separate them at present. This study used process-based terrestrial ecosystem model to stimulate the potential climate-driven alpine grassland net primary production (NPP), and Carnegie-Ames-Stanford Approach based on remote sensing to stimulate actual alpine grassland NPP influenced by both of climate change and anthropogenic activities over the Qinghai-Tibet plateau (QTP) from 1982 to 2011. After the models were systematically calibrated, the simulations were validated with continuous 3-year paired field sample data, which were separately collected in fenced and open grasslands. We then simulated the human-induced NPP, calculated as the difference between potential and actual NPP, to determine the effect of anthropogenic activities on the alpine grassland ecosystem. The simulation results showed that the climate change and anthropogenic activities mainly drove the actual grassland NPP increasing in the first 20-year and the last 10-year respectively, the area percentage of actual grassland NPP change caused by climate change declined from 79.62% in the period of 1982-2001 to 56.59% over the last 10 years; but the percentage change resulting from human activities doubled from 20.16% to 42.98% in the same periods over the QTP. The effect of human activities on the alpine grassland ecosystem obviously intensified in the latter period compared with the former 20 years, so the negative effect caused by climate change to ecosystem could have been relatively mitigated or offset over the QTP in the last ten years. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.",10.1016/j.agrformet.2014.01.002,No,,,134,NPP-134,http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.agrformet.2014.01.002,NPP,DB,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,DB,Yes,other,one of the indicators,none,direct (quantitative),local,Europe and Central Asia,Terrestrial,2,Yes,Yes,No,No,No,No,effect-based,quantitative (magnitude),ratio scale,none,Yes,intermediate,models + data
"Zhou, W.; Li, J. L.; Mu, S. J.; Gang, C. C.; Sun, Z. G.",GRASS AND FORAGE SCIENCE,2014,"Effects of ecological restoration-induced land-use change and improved management on grassland net primary productivity in the Shiyanghe River Basin, north-west China","To address severe grassland degradation, the Chinese government implemented national restoration programmes, which in turn drove a research focus towards assessment of the environmental effectiveness of such initiatives. In this study, net primary productivity (NPP) was used as an indicator for assessing the impacts of land use and cover change (LUCC), improved land-use management and climate change on the grassland ecosystem of the Shiyanghe River Basin. NPP was calculated on the basis of the Carnegie-Ames-Stanford Approach model, which is driven by a Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) normalized difference vegetation index and meteorological data. The LUCC data for 2001 and 2009 were derived from MODIS land-cover data. During the study period, the net increase in grassland development was 51055km(2), with 804% of the newly developed grasslands attributed to desert-to-grassland conversion. The total NPP of grasslands in 2009 increased by 65962Gg C compared with that in 2001. The contributions of human activity and climate change to total NPP increase were 133 and -33% respectively. Land conversion and improved management measures directly increased grassland NPP. These factors are dominant positive driving forces, whereas warm and dry climates impose adverse effects on grassland restoration in the study site.",10.1111/gfs.12073,No,,,143,NPP-143,http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/gfs.12073,NPP,DB,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,DB,Yes,other,one of the indicators,none,direct (quantitative),local,Asia-Pacific,Terrestrial,2,Yes,Yes,No,No,No,No,effect-based,quantitative (magnitude),ratio scale,none,Yes,intermediate,models + data
"Mu, Shaojie; Zhou, Shuangxi; Chen, Yizhao; Li, Jianlong; Ju, Weimin; Odeh, I. O. A.",GLOBAL AND PLANETARY CHANGE,2013,"Assessing the impact of restoration-induced land conversion and management alternatives on net primary productivity in Inner Mongolian grassland, China","To address severe grassland degradation problems, China has been implementing a number of national restoration programs, whose significant environmental effect has attracted the attention of many researchers. In this paper, land use and cover change (LUCC) in the Inner Mongolia grassland and the consequent change in net primary productivity (NPP) were studied by combining the land use data of the study area for 2001 and 2009 derived from the MODIS global land cover product and the CASA (Carnegie-Ames-Stanford Approach) model driven with MODIS-NDVI data. The results indicate that the area of Inner Mongolia grassland had a net increase of 77,993 km(2) during the study period, which was mainly attributed to the conversion from desert and cropland. The total NPP of Inner Mongolia grassland increased by 29,432.71 Gg C yr(-1) during 2001-2009, of which the human activities and climate change were responsible for 80.23% and 19.77%, respectively. Land conversion and improved management increased grassland NPP directly, and the ecological restoration conducted by large-scale conservation programs could be the intrinsic driving force for this change. (C) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.",10.1016/j.gloplacha.2013.06.007,No,,,151,NPP-151,http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.gloplacha.2013.06.007,NPP,DB,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,DB,Yes,other,one of the indicators,none,direct (quantitative),local,Asia-Pacific,Terrestrial,2,Yes,Yes,No,No,No,No,effect-based,quantitative (magnitude),ratio scale,none,Yes,intermediate,models + data
"Anadon, J. D.; Sanchez-Zapata, J. A.; Carrete, M.; Donazar, J. A.; Hiraldo, F.",ANIMAL CONSERVATION,2010,Large-scale human effects on an arid African raptor community,"In the current scenario of biodiversity crisis there is a growing need for identifying causes of changes in biodiversity at large scales. Here we assess factors driving raptor community structure in the Sahel, a region suffering a wide range of environmental degradation and a vital area for European migrant birds. Using road surveys, we estimated the effects of population size, human settlement patterns (e.g. urban vs. nomadic) and land use on the raptor community, taking into account the major natural role played by productivity. Total raptor richness values were similar to those described for other steppe regions of the world, with one super-abundant migrant species, the black kite Milvus migrans; however, richness of resident raptors was strikingly lower than expected, with most large body-size African species (both eagles and vultures) absent. Raptor richness was strongly correlated with human activities in a scale-dependent fashion. At a 25 km resolution, raptor richness was driven by habitat and productivity, with a positive response to crops. At a smaller scale, human population was positively related with wintering species richness but negatively with richness of resident ones, perhaps as a consequence of non-agricultural activities such as direct harvesting and different forms of habitat degradation (e.g. overgrazing or firewood collection). Subsistence economies in systems with low natural environmental heterogeneity and with a human population over carrying capacity, such as the Sahel, may lead to exhausted biological systems even in the absence of intensive agricultural or urban land-use changes, as shown by the deeply impoverished sedentary raptor community. Our results suggest that, because habitat and productivity seem to play a relevant role in driving species richness, climate change may have a major effect on the raptor community of the Sahel.",10.1111/j.1469-1795.2010.00369.x,No,,,4,BSR-4,http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-1795.2010.00369.x,BSR,LC,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,LC,Yes,empirical data,one of the indicators,none,direct (quantitative),local,Africa,Terrestrial,2,No,Yes,No,No,No,Yes,effect-based,quantitative (magnitude),ratio scale,qualitative,Yes,intermediate,
"Schleuning, M.; Farwig, N.; Peters, M. K.; Bergsdorf, T.; Bleher, B.; Brandl, R.; Dalitz, H.; Fischer, G.; Freund, W.; Gikungu, M. W.; Hagen, M.; Garcia, F. H.; Kagezi, G. H.; Kaib, M.; Kraemer, M.; Lung, T.; Naumann, C. M.; Schaab, G.; Templin, M.; Uster, D.; Wagele, J. W.; Bohning-Gaese, K.",PLoS ONE,2011,Forest fragmentation and selective logging have inconsistent effects on multiple animal-mediated ecosystem processes in a tropical forest.,"Forest fragmentation and selective logging are two main drivers of global environmental change and modify biodiversity and environmental conditions in many tropical forests. The consequences of these changes for the functioning of tropical forest ecosystems have rarely been explored in a comprehensive approach. In a Kenyan rainforest, we studied six animal-mediated ecosystem processes and recorded species richness and community composition of all animal taxa involved in these processes. We used linear models and a formal meta-analysis to test whether forest fragmentation and selective logging affected ecosystem processes and biodiversity and used structural equation models to disentangle direct from biodiversity-related indirect effects of human disturbance on multiple ecosystem processes. Fragmentation increased decomposition and reduced antbird predation, while selective logging consistently increased pollination, seed dispersal and army-ant raiding. Fragmentation modified species richness or community composition of five taxa, whereas selective logging did not affect any component of biodiversity. Changes in the abundance of functionally important species were related to lower predation by antbirds and higher decomposition rates in small forest fragments. The positive effects of selective logging on bee pollination, bird seed dispersal and army-ant raiding were direct, i.e. not related to changes in biodiversity, and were probably due to behavioural changes of these highly mobile animal taxa. We conclude that animal-mediated ecosystem processes respond in distinct ways to different types of human disturbance in Kakamega Forest. Our findings suggest that forest fragmentation affects ecosystem processes indirectly by changes in biodiversity, whereas selective logging influences processes directly by modifying local environmental conditions and resource distributions. The positive to neutral effects of selective logging on ecosystem processes show that the functionality of tropical forests can be maintained in moderately disturbed forest fragments. Conservation concepts for tropical forests should thus include not only remaining pristine forests but also functionally viable forest remnants.",,No,,,139,BSR-139,,BSR,LC,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,LC,Yes,empirical data,more than one of the indicators,none,indirect,local,Africa,Terrestrial,2,No,Yes,Yes,No,No,No,effect-based,quantitative (magnitude),ratio scale,quantitative,Yes,intermediate,
"Grahmann, Eric D.; Fulbright, Timothy E.; Hernandez, Fidel; Hehman, Michael W.; Wester, David B.; Ortega-Santos, Alfonso; Martin, Blake A.",RANGELAND ECOLOGY & MANAGEMENT,2018,Demographic and Density Response of Northern Bobwhites to Pyric Herbivory of Non-Native Grasslands,"Usable space for northern bobwhites (Colinus virginianus) has declined significantly over the past 3 decades in Texas because non-native grasses have replaced native vegetation. We hypothesized that burning patches in pastures dominated by buffelgrass (Pennisetum ciliare) and OldWorld bluestems (Bothriochloa spp. and Dichanthium spp.) followed by livestock grazing would increase limiting habitat attributes, thereby increasing usable space and bobwhite demographic parameters and population densities. Our study was conducted during 2009-2011 in LaSalle County, Texas on a ranch dominated by non-native grasses. Our experimental design was composed of 2 blocks with two 240-ha pastures, one control (graze only), and one treatment (patch-burn and graze) in each. We estimated grass standing crop in grazing exclosures (June-September) and habitat attributes along transects (October) 2009-2011. Bobwhites were captured and monitored via radiotelemetry 2-3 times/wk during March-November. Means of vegetation metrics important to bobwhites such as bare ground, traversibility, and forb and subshrub cover were similar between control and treatment units in post-treatment years. However, grass standing crop tended to be lower in treatment (June and August 2010 and September 2011-110.5 +/- 26.2 g/m(2)) compared with control units (June and August 2010 and September 2011-145.5 +/- 58.6 g/m(2)). Plant species richness was also greater (21%) in treatment (4.6 +/- 0.4/0.1 m(2)) compared with control units (3.8 +/- 0.4/0.1 m(2)) during the last year of the study (P = 0.057). Patch heterogeneity was increased in treatment units. There was an increase in bobwhite densities in treatment units, although demographicmetrics remained similar between treatment and controls. Patch burning and grazing is a viable tool for managing monotypic non-native grasslands for bobwhites in semiarid environments. (C) 2018 Published by Elsevier Inc. on behalf of The Society for Range Management.",10.1016/j.rama.2018.02.008,No,,,184,BSR-184,http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.rama.2018.02.008,BSR,LC,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,LC,Yes,empirical data,one of the indicators,more than one of the indicators,direct (quantitative),local,Americas,Terrestrial,2,No,Yes,Yes,No,No,No,effect-based,quantitative (magnitude),ratio scale,quantitative,Yes,intermediate,
"Blamey, Laura K.; Plaganyi, Eva E.; Branch, George M.",ECOLOGICAL MODELLING,2014,Was overfishing of predatory fish responsible for a lobster-induced regime shift in the Benguela?,"The top-down effects of predators have been demonstrated for terrestrial, freshwater and marine systems and their removal can cause a shift in ecosystem state. In many cases, the depletion of top-predators occurred long before humans began monitoring these systems, but models can elucidate likely ecosystem changes. In this paper we use a multispecies model to demonstrate that the abundance of predators can induce different ecosystem states, emphasising the importance of sustainable harvesting. Our model is founded on empirical data documenting a regime-shift that took place in the kelp-forest ecosystem along the south-west coast of South Africa following an 'invasion' by the West Coast rock lobster Jasus lalandii in the early 1990s. Formerly dominated by herbivores and encrusting corallines, the ecosystem became dominated by lobsters and macroalgae. A combination of illegal fishing of abalone Haliotis midae and the lobster-induced extermination of the urchin Parechinus angulosus (which shelters juvenile abalone) depleted abalone stocks severely. In this currently over-fished ecosystem where predators of lobsters are scarce, the regime-shift appears irreversible. Using an intermediate complexity model of lobster, urchin and abalone relationships, we simulated the effects of predatory fish at various population levels on the course of development of the currently lobster-dominated system. Our results indicate that current levels of fish biomass (<10% of the pristine population) would have been too small to significantly affect the lobster population. However, at pristine levels of fish abundance (or even 50% less), the invasion of lobsters would have been controlled by linefish, and urchin and abalone populations would not have collapsed. The effect of the lobster invasion had a greater influence on abalone abundance than illegal fishing, but together they severely depleted the abalone. Ecosystem effects of historical exploitation of top predators are of central concern, and our ecosystem model indicates that depletion of linefish had severe consequences for lobsters, urchins and abalone, illustrating how overfishing of top predators may precipitate regime shifts, with profound socio-economic consequences. (C) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.",10.1016/j.ecolmodel.2013.11.004,No,,,45,FSS-45,http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolmodel.2013.11.004,FSS,LC,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,LC,Yes,empirical data,more than one of the indicators,none,direct (quantitative),local,Africa,Marine,2,No,No,Yes,Yes,No,No,effect-based,quantitative (magnitude),ratio scale,quantitative,Yes,intermediate,
"Bahaa-el-Din, Laila; Sollmann, Rahel; Hunter, Luke T. B.; Slotow, Rob; Macdonald, David W.; Henschel, Philipp",BIOLOGICAL CONSERVATION,2016,Effects of human land-use on Africa's only forest-dependent fetid: The African golden cat Caracal aurata,"Africa's equatorial forests are threatened by widespread deforestation and bushmeat hunting, with both threats spreading into formerly remote areas due to rapid human population growth and large-scale expansions of commercial resource extraction such as logging and mining, as well as forest clearing for agriculture. Many globally threatened species are endemic to these forests, but the potential effects of these threats are not well understood. Using the case of the forest-dependent African golden cat, we assess the potential effects of disturbance including logging and hunting on population density. We applied spatially-explicit capture-recapture models to camera trap data to estimate density across a human land-use gradient at five sites in central Gabon. We found density was highest at a pristine, undisturbed site (16.23 [+/- 5.84 SE] individuals per 100 km(2)) and lowest at a village site with moderate levels of mostly subsistence bushmeat hunting (3.8[+/- 2.23 SE] individuals per 100 km(2)). Logging concessions can support important densities of the species (10.18 [+/- 3.54 SE] and 12.84 [+/- 4.25 SE] individuals per 100 km(2)), with the higher estimate of the two for the concession certified by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) versus the non-certified concession. While protected intact forests are the main strongholds for golden cats, well-managed logging concessions may also play an important role in the conservation of golden cats and other threatened species. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.",10.1016/j.biocon.2016.04.013,No,,,61,IFL-61,http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2016.04.013,IFL,LC,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,LC,Yes,empirical data,one of the indicators,one of the indicators,indirect,local,Africa,Terrestrial,2,No,Yes,Yes,No,No,No,prevalence-based,quantitative (magnitude),ratio scale,qualitative,Yes,intermediate,
"Woltmann, S",BIODIVERSITY AND CONSERVATION,2003,Bird community responses to disturbance in a forestry concession in lowland Bolivia,"Bird community characteristics of three sites with different levels of disturbance were studied using transect surveys during the dry season in a subtropical humid forest in Bolivia. One area had been unintentionally burned 4 years prior and selectively harvested (DIS) 1 year prior to sampling. A second area had been selectively harvested 1 year prior to sampling and had no recent history of fire (HAR). Species richness, as assessed by species-time curves and rarefaction, was higher in both altered areas than in undisturbed forest (INT). In general, frugivores and omnivores were more abundant in both altered areas compared to intact forest. Canopy frugivores, understory omnivores and multiple-strata omnivores were most abundant in HAR. Canopy frugivores, near-ground insectivores, understory and multiple-strata omnivores were least abundant in INT, although INT had the highest abundances of canopy insectivores and near-ground omnivores. Richness and abundance of widespread species with low habitat specificity was higher in both areas that experienced disturbance compared to intact forest. Differences in bird community structure between disturbed and intact forest at this site are attributed primarily to the addition of widespread species with less narrow habitat requirements, and possibly to changes in the distribution of different food types.",10.1023/A:1024147529295,No,,,97,IFL-97,http://dx.doi.org/10.1023/A:1024147529295,IFL,LC,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,LC,Yes,empirical data,more than one of the indicators,one of the indicators,direct (quantitative),local,Americas,Terrestrial,2,No,No,Yes,No,No,Yes,effect-based,quantitative (magnitude),ratio scale,none,Yes,intermediate,
"Clark, Kenneth L.; Skowronski, Nicholas; Gallagher, Michael; Renninger, Heidi; Schaefer, Karina",AGRICULTURAL AND FOREST METEOROLOGY,2012,Effects of invasive insects and fire on forest energy exchange and evapotranspiration in the New Jersey pinelands,"We used eddy covariance and meteorological measurements to quantify energy exchange and evapotranspiration (Et) in three representative upland forest stands in the New Jersey Pinelands that were either defoliated by gypsy moth (Lymantria dispar L) or burned in prescribed fires during the study period. Latent (lambda E) and sensible heat (H) fluxes were linear functions of available energy, and seasonality had a major effect on the partitioning of available energy into lambda E and H at each stand. Both defoliation and prescribed fire reduced leaf area, altered the partitioning of available energy, and reduced lambda E flux compared to undisturbed periods. Summer daily Et averaged 4.2 +/- 1.5, 33 +/- 1.2 and 3.9 +/- 1.3 mm day(-1) at the oak-, mixed, and pine-dominated stands during undisturbed periods, but only 2.4 +/- 0.9 mm day(-1) during defoliation at the oak stand in 2007, and 2.4 +/- 0.9 and 3.2 +/- 0.9 mm day(-1) following spring fires at the mixed and pine-dominated stands, respectively. For all years measured, seasonal maximum leaf area index (LAI) explained 82% of the variability in daily Et during the summer at the oak stand, and 80% of the variability at the mixed and pine-dominated stands. Annual Et averaged 614, 493, and 683 mm yr(-1) at the oak, mixed, and pine stands, respectively. When averaged across all stands and years, annual Et was 606 mm yr(-1), ca. 53.6% of incident precipitation, and similar to long-term averages reported in other studies in the Pinelands. Gypsy moth defoliation potentially reduced Et by ca. 31 mm yr(-1) across all upland forests in 2007, resulting in a 7.3% increase in groundwater recharge. Our research indicates that non-stand replacing disturbances can have significant effects on energy partitioning, and can reduce Et at the stand and landscape scales. Published by Elsevier B.V.",10.1016/j.agrformet.2012.07.007,No,,,49,LAI-49,http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.agrformet.2012.07.007,LAI,LC,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,LC,Yes,empirical data,more than one of the indicators,more than one of the indicators,direct (quantitative),local,Americas,Terrestrial,2,No,No,No,Yes,No,Yes,effect-based,quantitative (magnitude),ratio scale,quantitative,Yes,intermediate,
"Park, Isaac W.; Hooper, Jennifer; Flegal, James M.; Jenerette, G. Darrel",DIVERSITY AND DISTRIBUTIONS,2018,"Impacts of climate, disturbance and topography on distribution of herbaceous cover in Southern California chaparral: Insights from a remote-sensing method","Aim: While chaparral communities have historically been considered resistant to invasion and type conversion into grasslands, interacting global changes such as increased drought and anthropogenic disturbance may have reduced this resistance. Existing monitoring methods are not well-suited to evaluate the distribution of invasive herbs and grasses within chaparral at regional scales. In this study, we determine the extent of invasions by forbs and grasses into formerly chaparral vegetation and evaluate contributions of moisture, disturbance and anthropogenic activity and topography to the distribution of herbaceous cover throughout chaparral-dominated communities.Location: The Angeles National Forest (ANF), California, USA.Methods: We developed a remote-sensing method to estimate the distribution of herbaceous cover within chaparral by leveraging intra-annual phenological differences in normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) between herbaceous forbs and grasses and evergreen shrublands using Landsat remote-sensing imagery. The distribution of herbaceous cover was then related to multiple spatially explicit variables describing individual and interactive effects of local moisture availability and anthropogenic disturbance.Results: Herbaceous cover represents approximately 31% of the ANF within the elevation range typically dominated by chaparral. Disturbance-related and anthropogenic factors explained 17% of observed variation, while differences in moisture availability explained 47% of observed variation in herbaceous cover and were associated with increased invasive cover.Main conclusions: Landscapes historically dominated by chaparral may exhibit high degrees of herbaceous cover. While fire frequency and other anthropogenic disturbances are likely the primary catalyst for invasion of chaparral by herbaceous species, this study shows that moisture availability is a more important factor in determining which locations are successfully invaded. These results indicate that chaparral vulnerability to invasion in southern California may increase in the next century due to reduced precipitation associated with projected climate change.",10.1111/ddi.12693,No,,,139,LAI-139,http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/ddi.12693,LAI,LC,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,LC,Yes,empirical data,one of the indicators,more than one of the indicators,direct (quantitative),local,Americas,Terrestrial,3,Yes,No,No,Yes,No,Yes,effect-based,quantitative (magnitude),ratio scale,quantitative,Yes,intermediate,
"Cowburn, B.; Samoilys, M. A.; Obura, D.",MARINE POLLUTION BULLETIN,2018,"The current status of coral reefs and their vulnerability to climate change and multiple human stresses in the Comoros Archipelago, Western Indian Ocean","Coral bleaching and various human stressors have degraded the coral reefs of the Comoros Archipelago in the past 40 years and rising atmospheric CO2 levels are predicted to further impact marine habitats. The condition of reefs in the Comoros is poorly known; using SCUBA based methods we surveyed reef condition and resilience to bleaching at sites in Grande Comore and Moheli in 2010 and 2016. The condition of reefs was highly variable, with a range in live coral cover between 6% and 60% and target fishery species biomass between 20 and 500 kg per ha. The vulnerability assessment of reefs to future coral bleaching and their exposure to fishing, soil erosion and river pollution in Moheli Marine Park found that offshore sites around the islets south of the island were least likely to be impacted by these negative pressures. The high variability in both reef condition and vulnerability across reefs in the Park lends itself to spatially explicit conservation actions. However, it is noteworthy that climate impacts to date appear moderate and that local human pressures are not having a major impact on components of reef health and recovery, suggesting these reefs are relatively resilient to the current anthropogenic stresses that they are experiencing.",10.1016/j.marpolbul.2018.04.065,No,,,16,LCC-16,http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2018.04.065,LCC,LC,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,LC,Yes,empirical data,more than one of the indicators,one of the indicators,direct (quantitative),local,Asia-Pacific,Marine,4,Yes,Yes,Yes,No,Yes,No,effect-based,quantitative (magnitude),ratio scale,quantitative,Yes,intermediate,
"Vayreda, Jordi; Gracia, Marc; Martinez-Vilalta, Jordi; Retana, Javier",JOURNAL OF BIOGEOGRAPHY,2013,Patterns and drivers of regeneration of tree species in forests of peninsular Spain,"Aim Our study aimed to identify and explore the main factors that influence tree recruitment of multiple species at a regional scale across peninsular Spain, an understanding of which is essential for predicting future forest species composition in the face of ongoing environmental change. The study focused on the dynamics of the key transition phase from saplings to adult trees. Location The forests of peninsular Spain. Methods We used the extensive network of plots sampled in two consecutive Spanish national forest inventories (>30,000 plots) to identify the factors that determine regeneration patterns of the 10 most abundant forest species of Spain at relatively large temporal (c. 10years) and spatial scales (across Spain): five coniferous species of Pinus (pines) and five broadleaved species of the genera Fagus and Quercus. We fitted separate generalized linear models for the pine species and the broadleaved species to assess the response of sapling abundance and ingrowth rate to the spatial variability of climate (temperature, water availability and recent warming), forest structure (tree density, understorey and overstorey canopy cover, and basal area change) and disturbances (previous forest logging, wildfires and grazing). Results Mean sapling abundance was four times higher for broadleaved species than for pines, while mean annual ingrowth was twice as high. Sapling abundance and ingrowth rate were mainly determined by stand structure, both in pines and broadleaved trees. The direct effects of disturbances and climate were comparatively smaller, and there was no detectable effect of recent warming. Main conclusions The higher values of ingrowth rate of broadleaved species can be explained by their ability to maintain a higher sapling bank due to their greater shade tolerance. This differential response of pines and broadleaved species to canopy closure suggests a probable increase in broadleaved species at the expense of pines. This transition could occur earlier in stands with faster canopy closure dynamics. Spatially explicit, mixed-species demographic models incorporating both the ingrowth and the tree mortality components are needed for predicting the composition of future forests.",10.1111/jbi.12105,No,,,154,LSA-154,http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/jbi.12105,LSA,LC,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,LC,Yes,empirical data,more than one of the indicators,none,direct (quantitative),local,Europe and Central Asia,Terrestrial,2,Yes,No,Yes,No,No,No,effect-based,quantitative (magnitude),ratio scale,quantitative,Yes,intermediate,
"Meng, Xianwei; Xia, Peng; Li, Zhen; Meng, Dezhen",ORGANIC GEOCHEMISTRY,2016,Mangrove degradation and response to anthropogenic disturbance in the Maowei Sea (SW China) since 1926 AD: Mangrove-derived OM and pollen,"Mangrove forests, located at the interface between land and sea, have been impacted by an increase in intensive anthropogenic disturbance in developing countries or regions. In order to study the impact of human activity on mangrove forests, mangrove development was reconstructed over the last 130 yr, using the contribution of mangrove-derived organic matter (OM) and mangrove pollen as proxies, from two sediment cores from the Maowei Sea (SW China). It is a semi-enclosed bay that receives a large amount of terrestrial material from the Qinjiang and Maoling rivers, with average sedimentation rate of 0.63-0.64 cm/yr. The material accumulates mainly in the coast and its adjacent region, owing to weak water exchange through the channel. Sediment samples had C:N and delta C-13(org) values intermediate between mangrove leaves and flood plain sediments, indicating that OM sources could be apportioned as a mixture from only these two sources. Based on k-mean cluster analysis, mangrove development was divided into three stages since 1880 AD: (i) a flourishing period (1880-1926 AD), (ii) a phase of slow degradation (1926-1980 AD) and (iii) a time of rapid degradation (1980 AD to the present). The study indicates that anthropogenic activity, including reclamation of mangrove swamps for farmland and shrimp ponds, is the primary reason for mangrove degradation since 1926 AD, rather than climate change (temperature and precipitation). Crown Copyright (C) 2016 Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.",10.1016/j.orggeochem.2016.06.001,No,,,19,MFC-19,http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.orggeochem.2016.06.001,MFC,LC,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,LC,Yes,empirical data,one of the indicators,none,direct (quantitative),local,Asia-Pacific,Terrestrial/Marine,2,Yes,Yes,No,No,No,No,effect-based,quantitative (magnitude),ordinal scale,qualitative,Yes,intermediate,
"Adite, A.; Toko, I. I.; Gbankoto, A.",Journal of Environmental Protection,2013,"Fish assemblages in the degraded mangrove ecosystems of the coastal zone, Benin, West Africa: implications for ecosystem restoration and resources conservation.","Mangrove forests are unique habitats in their function as potential food source and nurseries, and support an important fisheries resource. In the Benin coastal zone, the mangrove fishes have been surveyed to investigate fish species diversity, community structures and ecosystem degradation impacts in order to protect and to improve the mangrove fish resources. Results from wet, high-water and dry season samplings revealed that the two dominant mangrove species, Rizophora racemosa and Avicennia africana, are being intensively degraded for domestic use such as firewood and house building. Fifty one (51) fish species belonging to 25 families were recorded with Eleotridae (7 species), Cichlidae (5 species), and Mugilidae (5 species), the most speciose families. Dominant trophic guilds were detritivores (54.57%) and planktinovores/microcarnivores (30.41%). Six (6) species, Sarotherodon melanotheron, Dormitator lebretonis, Gerres melanopterus, Hemichromis fasciatus, Ethmalosa fimbriata, and Aplocheilichthys spilauchen, dominated the samples and accounted for about 80.27%. Sarotherodon melanotheron constituted the major dominant species and accounted numerically for about 29% of the total catches and 46.7% of the total biomass. The Margalef index of species richness ranged between 2.42 and 4.43, the Shannon-Weaver index of species diversity between 1.39 and 2.27, and the evenness between 0.50 and 0.62. Lower indices were observed for the highly degraded and the moderately degraded sites whereas higher indices were recorded for the less degraded and the restored sites. Species richness, species diversity and dominant species abundance were positively correlated with depth and transparency and negatively correlated with temperature. Multi-species fisheries dominate the coastal zone with Sarotherodon melanotheron, Dormitator lebretonis, Gerres melanopterus, Ethmalosa fimbriata, Liza falcipinus, Mugil sp. and Chrysichthys nigrodigitatus, the major species in the commercial catches. In addition to the mangrove destruction, the hydro electrical dam have greatly modified the Mono River flooding regime, water quality and the fish composition of the Benin coastal lagoon system. An integrated approach of the mangrove resource management/conservation, including intensive mangrove restoration, management of key fish species, freshwater prawns (Macrobrachiun sp.), peneids shrimps, mangrove oysters (Crassostrea sp.), and crabs (Callinectes sp., Cardiosoma sp.), and habitat protection is required for ecosystem recovery and sustainable exploitation.",10.4236/jep.2013.412168,No,,,28,MFC-28,http://dx.doi.org/10.4236/jep.2013.412168,MFC,LC,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,LC,Yes,empirical data,more than one of the indicators,none,indirect,local,Africa,Terrestrial/Marine,2,No,Yes,Yes,No,No,No,effect-based,qualitative (direction),ordinal scale,qualitative,Yes,intermediate,
"Lacerda, L. D. de; Menezes, M. O. T. de; Molisani, M. M.",Biota Neotropica,2007,"Changes in mangrove extension at the Pacoti River estuary, CE, NE Brazil due to regional environmental changes between 1958 and 2004.","Regional land use changes at the Pacoti River basin, Ceara State, NE Brazil resulted in doubling the mangrove area from 1958 (0.71 km2) to 2004 (1.44 km2). Most of the increase was due to the replacing of salt marsh vegetation inland, but also along newly formed islands and enlarged river banks. Drastic reduction in freshwater supply and sediment accumulation due to river damming were probably the major drivers of the increased mangrove cover. However, changes due to global climate changes can not be ruled out.",10.1590/S1676-06032007000300007,No,,,37,MFC-37,http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/S1676-06032007000300007,MFC,LC,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,LC,Yes,empirical data,one of the indicators,one of the indicators,direct (quantitative),local,Americas,Terrestrial/Marine,2,Yes,Yes,No,No,No,No,effect-based,quantitative (magnitude),ordinal scale,none,Yes,intermediate,
"Dahdouh-Guebas, F.; Collin, S.; Seen, D. lo; Ronnback, P.; Depommier, D.; Ravishankar, T.; Koedam, N.",Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine,2006,"Analysing ethnobotanical and fishery-related importance of mangroves of the East-Godavari Delta (Andhra Pradesh, India) for conservation and management purposes.","Mangrove forests, though essentially common and wide-spread, are highly threatened. Local societies along with their knowledge about the mangrove also are endangered, while they are still underrepresented as scientific research topics. With the present study we document local utilization patterns, and perception of ecosystem change. We illustrate how information generated by ethnobiological research can be used to strengthen the management of the ecosystem. This study was conducted in the Godavari mangrove forest located in the East-Godavari District of the state Andhra Pradesh in India, where mangroves have been degrading due to over-exploitation, extensive development of aquaculture, and pollution from rural and urbanized areas (Kakinada). One hundred interviews were carried out among the fisherfolk population present in two mangrove zones in the study area, a wildlife sanctuary with strong conservation status and an adjacent zone. Results from the interviews indicated that Avicennia marina (Forsk.) Vierh., a dominant species in the Godavari mangroves, is used most frequently as firewood and for construction. Multiple products of the mangrove included the bark of Ceriops decandra (Griff.) Ding Hou to dye the fishing nets and improve their durability, the bark of Aegiceras corniculatum (L.) Blanco to poison and catch fish, and the leaves of Avicennia spp. and Excoecaria agallocha L. as fodder for cattle. No medicinal uses of true mangrove species were reported, but there were a few traditional uses for mangrove associates. Utilization patterns varied in the two zones that we investigated, most likely due to differences in their ecology and legal status. The findings are discussed in relation with the demographic and socio-economic traits of the fisherfolk communities of the Godavari mangroves and indicate a clear dependency of their livelihood on the mangrove forest. Reported changes in the Godavari mangrove cover also differed in the two zones, with significantly less perceptions of a decrease in the protected area, as compared to the adjacent non-protected area. A posteriori comparisons between sequential satellite imagery (retrospective till 1977) and respondents that were at least 15 years back then, revealed a mangrove decrease which was however perceived to different extents depending on the area with which the fishermen were familiar. While local needs had not been incorporated in the existing policy, we created a framework on how data on ethnobotanical traditions, fishery-related activities and local people's perceptions of change can be incorporated into management strategies.",,No,,,145,MFC-145,,MFC,LC,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,LC,Yes,empirical data,more than one of the indicators,none,direct (quantitative),local,Asia-Pacific,Terrestrial/Marine,3,No,Yes,Yes,No,Yes,No,prevalence-based,qualitative (direction),ratio scale,qualitative,Yes,intermediate,
"van Asselen, Sanneke; Verburg, Peter H.; Vermaat, Jan E.; Janse, Jan H.",PLOS ONE,2013,Drivers of Wetland Conversion: a Global Meta-Analysis,"Meta-analysis of case studies has become an important tool for synthesizing case study findings in land change. Meta-analyses of deforestation, urbanization, desertification and change in shifting cultivation systems have been published. This present study adds to this literature, with an analysis of the proximate causes and underlying forces of wetland conversion at a global scale using two complementary approaches of systematic review. Firstly, a meta-analysis of 105 case-study papers describing wetland conversion was performed, showing that different combinations of multiple-factor proximate causes, and underlying forces, drive wetland conversion. Agricultural development has been the main proximate cause of wetland conversion, and economic growth and population density are the most frequently identified underlying forces. Secondly, to add a more quantitative component to the study, a logistic meta-regression analysis was performed to estimate the likelihood of wetland conversion worldwide, using globally-consistent biophysical and socioeconomic location factor maps. Significant factors explaining wetland conversion, in order of importance, are market influence, total wetland area (lower conversion probability), mean annual temperature and cropland or built-up area. The regression analyses results support the outcomes of the meta-analysis of the processes of conversion mentioned in the individual case studies. In other meta-analyses of land change, similar factors (e. g., agricultural development, population growth, market/economic factors) are also identified as important causes of various types of land change (e. g., deforestation, desertification). Meta-analysis helps to identify commonalities across the various local case studies and identify which variables may lead to individual cases to behave differently. The meta-regression provides maps indicating the likelihood of wetland conversion worldwide based on the location factors that have determined historic conversions.",10.1371/journal.pone.0081292,No,,,31,MSA-31,http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0081292,MSA,LC,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,LC,Yes,meta-analysis,none,more than one of the indicators,direct (quantitative),global,All regions,Terrestrial/Freshwater,4,Yes,Yes,Yes,No,No,Yes,effect-based,quantitative (magnitude),ordinal scale,quantitative,Yes,intermediate,
"Vu, Quyet Manh; Le, Quang Bao; Vlek, Paul L. G.",GLOBAL AND PLANETARY CHANGE,2014,Hotspots of human-induced biomass productivity decline and their social-ecological types toward supporting national policy and local studies on combating land degradation,"Identification and social-ecological characterization of areas that experience high levels of persistent productivity decline are essential for planning appropriate management measures. Although land degradation is mainly induced by human actions, the phenomenon is concurrently influenced by global climate changes that need to be taken into account in land degradation assessments. This study aims to delineate the geographic hotspots of human-induced land degradation in the country and classify the social-ecological characterizations of each specific degradation hotspot type. The research entailed a long-term time-series (1982-2006) of Normalized Difference Vegetation Index to specify the extents of areas with significant biomass decline or increase in Vietnam. Annual rainfall and temperature time-series were then used to separate areas of human-induced biomass productivity decline from those driven by climate dynamics. Next, spatial cluster analyses identified social-ecological types of degradation for guiding further investigations at regional and local scales. The results show that about 19% of the national land mass experienced persistent declines in biomass productivity over the last 25 years. Most of the degraded areas are found in the Southeast and Mekong River Delta (17,984 km(2)), Northwest Mountains (14,336 km(2)), and Central Highlands (13,504 km(2)). We identified six and five social-ecological types of degradation hotspots in agricultural and forested zones, respectively. Constraints in soil nutrient availability and nutrient retention capability are widely spreading in all degradation hotspot types. These hotspot types are different from each other in social and ecological conditions, suggesting that region-specific strategies are needed for the formulation of land degradation combating policy. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.",10.1016/j.gloplacha.2014.07.007,No,,,72,NPP-72,http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.gloplacha.2014.07.007,NPP,LC,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,LC,Yes,empirical data,one of the indicators,one of the indicators,direct (quantitative),local,Asia-Pacific,Terrestrial,2,Yes,Yes,No,No,No,No,effect-based,quantitative (magnitude),ratio scale,quantitative,Yes,intermediate,
"Hagerthey, Scot E.; Cook, Mark I.; Mac Kobza, R.; Newman, Susan; Bellinger, Brent J.",FRESHWATER BIOLOGY,2014,Aquatic faunal responses to an induced regime shift in the phosphorus-impacted Everglades,"Wetland eutrophication increases the susceptibility of native communities to invasion by opportunistic plant species, which then commonly form monotypic stands. Wetland aquatic fauna are negatively affected by associated changes of eutrophication in the physiochemical environment, habitat structural complexity and ecological interactions. In addition to reducing external nutrient loads, it is predicted that efforts that reduce the resilience of the altered ecosystem are required to accelerate ecosystem recovery. We assessed small fish and decapod crustacean responses to a 3-year ecosystem scale experiment that tested the effectiveness of chemical treatment and controlled burning as a management strategy to accelerate the recovery of eutrophic Everglades marsh. The management strategy resulted in the removal, on average, of 91% and 81% of the emergent macrophyte cover in two regions differing in enrichment effects. The resulting open-water habitats were characterised by higher dissolved oxygen concentrations, greater periphyton and submersed aquatic vegetation and increased structural complexity. The average combined density and biomass of small fish and decapod crustaceans did not differ significantly between dense emergent vegetation and created openings but regional and water year differences occurred. More importantly, community composition did differ between treatments, with the crayfish Procambarus fallax dominating in dense vegetation and small fish Gambusia holbrooki, Jordanella floridae and Poecilia latipinna and grass shrimp Palaemonetes paludosus dominating in open water. We compared the whole body carbon (C), nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) contents (%) and C:N:P stoichiometry among small fish and decapod crustaceans. Fish had greater whole body C and P contents (low C:P) compared with the two crustaceans. While the management action did not alter the quantity (mgcarbonm-2) or energy (kcalm-2) of fauna, the resultant shift in composition was coincident with an increase in the nutrient quality (mgPm-2 and low C:P) of fauna. Faunal community composition of the created open-water habitats in the eutrophic Everglades was similar to the oligotrophic Everglades; however, density and biomass were significantly lower for the oligotrophic region. Moreover, intraspecific comparisons showed that small fish and decapod crustaceans from the oligotrophic region were smaller and had lower whole body phosphorus contents than organisms from eutrophic regions. This suggests that phosphorus limitation in the Everglades extends beyond autotrophs to include consumers. The high density of emergent macrophytes typically formed in eutrophic wetlands creates a physical barrier to predators, limiting the trophic transfer of energy. The combination of burning and chemical treatment not only maintained the abundance and biomass of aquatic fauna, but produced a compositional shift towards higher quality prey for wading birds and predatory fishes. We recognise that the contrasting nature between the created openings in the eutrophic and oligotrophic Everglades highlights major structural and functional differences in natural sloughs versus enriched created sloughs', but we suggest that active management efforts to accelerate the recovery of P-impacted regions could provide temporary benefits to Everglades wildlife by improving access to abundant, high-quality prey.",10.1111/fwb.12353,No,,,42,PFB-42,http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/fwb.12353,PFB,LC,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,LC,Yes,empirical data,more than one of the indicators,one of the indicators,direct (quantitative),local,Americas,Terrestrial/Freshwater,2,No,Yes,No,No,Yes,No,effect-based,quantitative (magnitude),ratio scale,quantitative,Yes,intermediate,
"Beja, P; Alcazar, R",BIOLOGICAL CONSERVATION,2003,Conservation of Mediterranean temporary ponds under agricultural intensification: an evaluation using amphibians,"This study examined responses of amphibians breeding in Mediterranean temporary ponds to a gradient of agricultural intensification, aiming to identify land uses and management prescriptions favouring the conservation of these habitats in farmed landscapes. Larval amphibian assemblages and habitat attributes were sampled at 57 ponds, 10 of which had been converted into permanent irrigation reservoirs. Species richness increased with area and hydroperiod in temporary ponds, with the addition of rare species to ponds with long hydroperiods resulting in a tendency for the less widespread species (e.g. Triturus marmoratus and T. boscai) to occur in the most species-rich ponds, while species-poor ponds consisted predominantly of widespread species only (nested pattern). However, one species (Pelodytes punctatus) was largely restricted to the most ephemeral ponds, whereas permanent irrigation reservoirs were species-poor and lacked most species occurring in temporary waters. The strongest negative correlates of amphibian abundances were the intensification of agricultural land uses, the transformation of ponds into permanent reservoirs and the introduction of exotic predators (fish and crayfish) from the irrigation channels. The results suggest that conservation of temporary pond amphibian assemblages in Mediterranean farmland requires networks of ponds with diverse hydroperiods, where the natural hydrologic regimes, less intensive land uses and isolation from irrigation waters should be preserved. (C) 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.",10.1016/S0006-3207(03)00051-X,No,,,194,PFB-194,http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0006-3207(03)00051-X,PFB,LC,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,LC,Yes,empirical data,more than one of the indicators,none,indirect,local,Europe and Central Asia,Terrestrial/Freshwater,2,No,Yes,No,Yes,No,No,effect-based,quantitative (magnitude),ordinal scale,quantitative,Yes,intermediate,
"Dobiesz, NE; McLeish, DA; Eshenroder, RL; Bence, JR; Mohr, LC; Ebener, MP; Nalepa, TF; Woldt, AP; Johnson, JE; Argyle, RL; Makarewicz, JC",CANADIAN JOURNAL OF FISHERIES AND AQUATIC SCIENCES,2005,"Ecology of the Lake Huron fish community, 1970-1999","We review the status of the Lake Huron fish community between 1970 and 1999 and explore the effects of key stressors. Offshore waters changed little in terms of nutrient enrichment, while phosphorus levels declined in inner Saginaw Bay. Introduced mussels (Dreissena spp.) proliferated and may have caused a decline in Diporeia spp. This introduction could have caused a decline in lake whitefish (Coregonus clupeaformis) growth and condition, with serious repercussions for commercial fisheries. Bythotrephes, an exotic predatory cladoceran, and other new exotics may be influencing the fish community. Sea lampreys (Petromyzon marinus) remained prevalent, but intensive control efforts on the St. Mary's River may reduce their predation on salmonines. Overfishing was less of a problem than in the past, although fishing continued to reduce the amount of lake trout (Salvelinus namaycush) spawning biomass resulting from hatchery-reared fish planted to rehabilitate this species. Massive stocking programs have increased the abundance of top predators, but lake trout were rehabilitated in only one area. Successful lake trout rehabilitation may require lower densities of introduced pelagic prey fish than were seen in the 1990s, along with continued stocking of hatchery-reared lake trout and control of sea lamprey. Such reductions in prey fish could limit Pacific salmon (Oncorhynchus spp.) fisheries.",10.1139/F05-061,No,,,9,PRF-9,http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/F05-061,PRF,LC,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,LC,Yes,empirical data,more than one of the indicators,none,direct (quantitative),local,Americas,Freshwater,4,No,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,No,effect-based,quantitative (magnitude),ordinal scale,qualitative,Yes,intermediate,
"Dodson, Erich K.; Peterson, David W.",FOREST ECOLOGY AND MANAGEMENT,2009,"Seeding and fertilization effects on plant cover and community recovery following wildfire in the Eastern Cascade Mountains, USA","Slope stabilization treatments are frequently applied following high severity wildfires to reduce erosion, protect water quality, and mitigate threats to human life and property. However, the effectiveness of many treatment options has not been well established. Furthermore, treatments may unintentionally inhibit natural vegetation recovery or facilitate exotic species invasion, compromising long-term ecosystem function. We evaluated the effects of seeding and fertilization treatments on plant cover and vegetation recovery following the Deer Point fire in the Eastern Cascade Mountains of Washington State, surveying vegetation for three consecutive years following fire. We applied a fertilization treatment and two seeding treatments in factorial combination on experimental plots at four sites within the fire. Natural vegetation recovered rapidly on control plots, exceeding 40% average cover the second post-fire year and 53% cover the third year. Seeding and fertilization, applied alone and together, did little to increase total plant cover in any of the three post-fire years. A seed mix containing mostly native species increased seeded species cover, but failed to increase in total plant cover, as reductions in non-seeded species cover largely offset increases in seeded species cover. The seed mix also reduced the cover and frequency of several disturbance-adapted native species and reduced tree seedling abundance by the third year after fire. Exotic species averaged less than 0.5% cover across all treatments, and were not significantly affected by any treatment. Minimal treatment effects on total plant cover suggest that seeding and fertilization did little to reduce erosion hazards. However, seeding with the species mix did interfere with natural vegetation recovery, despite the use of native species and low realized seeded species cover. Published by Elsevier B.V.",10.1016/j.foreco.2009.07.013,No,,,13,RPV-13,http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.foreco.2009.07.013,RPV,LC,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,LC,Yes,empirical data,one of the indicators,one of the indicators,direct (quantitative),local,Americas,Terrestrial,3,No,Yes,No,Yes,No,Yes,effect-based,quantitative (magnitude),ratio scale,quantitative,Yes,intermediate,
"Guo, Hengliang; He, Xiaohui; Chen, Jie; Zhao, Yanfeng","2011 3RD INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE AND INFORMATION APPLICATION TECHNOLOGY ESIAT 2011, VOL 10, PT C",2011,Research of the Distribution of Natural Vegetation under Different Disturbances in Wetland of Lower Yellow River,"Zhengzhou Yellow River Wetland Nature Reserve is not only one of the most important areas of central wetland biodiversity in our country, but also one of the most typical river wetland. In order to offer better protection to the ecological environment, natural vegetation change under different disturbance had been investigated analysis through the study. The results indicated that the factors affecting the ecological environment mainly include tourism, reclamation and large road & bridge construction, Sand-excavating, firing, and grazing; and man-made disturbance effect of the wetland vegetation is basically negative. All sorts of disturbance, the harm of tourism is lighter. Sand-excavating, herding, influenced vegetation growth strongly. Besides, it will cause the serious degradation; and fire and vegetation will bring the original ecological landscape losses. The Yellow River water reduction pulled down wetland flooded area and frequency, forming the wetland degradation. (C) 2011 Published by Elsevier Ltd. Selection and/or peer-review under responsibility of Conference ESIAT2011 Organization Committee.",10.1016/j.proenv.2011.09.341,No,,,112,RPV-112,http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.proenv.2011.09.341,RPV,LC,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,LC,Yes,empirical data,more than one of the indicators,none,direct (quantitative),local,Asia-Pacific,Terrestrial/Freshwater,3,No,Yes,Yes,No,No,Yes,effect-based,quantitative (magnitude),ratio scale,none,Yes,intermediate,
"Lindenmayer, David B.; McBurney, Lachlan; Blair, David; Wood, Jeff; Banks, Sam C.",JOURNAL OF APPLIED ECOLOGY,2018,From unburnt to salvage logged: Quantifying bird responses to different levels of disturbance severity,"1. Forests world-wide are increasingly subject to natural and human disturbances, including wildfires and logging of varying intensity and frequency. Understanding how biodiversity responds to different kinds and combinations of natural and human disturbance is critical to enhanced forest management.2. We completed an 8-year study of bird responses across a spectrum of disturbance types in Australian mountain ash (Eucalyptus regnans) forests following wildfires in 2009.3. We found evidence of a gradient in bird species richness over the study duration. It was highest in unlogged and unburned (least disturbed) sites, decreasing through burnt unlogged forest (subject to high or low intensity fire), lower still in logged forest, and lowest in the most disturbed sites (subject to salvage logging without island retention). Retention of uncut islands within logged areas increased bird species richness above that found in areas that had been clearcut.4. The greatest rate of increase per year after disturbance in bird species richness was on sites burnt by high-severity fire but which were not subject to any form of logging. The level of disturbance affected the composition of the bird assemblage. Sites that were unlogged and unburned were more likely to support species that were larger, more mobile, and nested at greater heights above the ground.5. Synthesis and applications. All forms of logging on burned sites impaired recovery in bird species richness relative to sites subject to high-severity fire. Alterations in stand structure and plant species composition (and hence modification in bird habitat suitability) due to logging are the most likely reasons for reduced bird species richness and delayed patterns of recovery. This study highlights the importance for native bird species of retaining patches of unlogged forest not only within otherwise clearcut forest, but also in areas that are burned and subject to salvage logging. We therefore suggest that the adoption of retention harvesting be expanded to include stands disturbed by wildfires.",10.1111/1365-2664.13137,No,,,68,BSR-68,http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/1365-2664.13137,BSR,MW,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,MW,Yes,empirical data,one of the indicators,none,direct (quantitative),local,Asia-Pacific,Terrestrial,2,No,No,Yes,No,No,Yes,effect-based,quantitative (magnitude),ratio scale,quantitative,Yes,intermediate,
"Schleuning, Matthias; Farwig, Nina; Peters, Marcell K.; Bergsdorf, Thomas; Bleher, Baerbel; Brandl, Roland; Dalitz, Helmut; Fischer, Georg; Freund, Wolfram; Gikungu, Mary W.; Hagen, Melanie; Garcia, Francisco Hita; Kagezi, Godfrey H.; Kaib, Manfred; Kraemer, Manfred; Lung, Tobias; Naumann, Clas M.; Schaab, Gertrud; Templin, Mathias; Uster, Dana; Waegele, J. Wolfgang; Boehning-Gaese, Katrin",PLOS ONE,2011,Forest Fragmentation and Selective Logging Have Inconsistent Effects on Multiple Animal-Mediated Ecosystem Processes in a Tropical Forest,"Forest fragmentation and selective logging are two main drivers of global environmental change and modify biodiversity and environmental conditions in many tropical forests. The consequences of these changes for the functioning of tropical forest ecosystems have rarely been explored in a comprehensive approach. In a Kenyan rainforest, we studied six animal-mediated ecosystem processes and recorded species richness and community composition of all animal taxa involved in these processes. We used linear models and a formal meta-analysis to test whether forest fragmentation and selective logging affected ecosystem processes and biodiversity and used structural equation models to disentangle direct from biodiversity-related indirect effects of human disturbance on multiple ecosystem processes. Fragmentation increased decomposition and reduced antbird predation, while selective logging consistently increased pollination, seed dispersal and army-ant raiding. Fragmentation modified species richness or community composition of five taxa, whereas selective logging did not affect any component of biodiversity. Changes in the abundance of functionally important species were related to lower predation by antbirds and higher decomposition rates in small forest fragments. The positive effects of selective logging on bee pollination, bird seed dispersal and army-ant raiding were direct, i.e. not related to changes in biodiversity, and were probably due to behavioural changes of these highly mobile animal taxa. We conclude that animal-mediated ecosystem processes respond in distinct ways to different types of human disturbance in Kakamega Forest. Our findings suggest that forest fragmentation affects ecosystem processes indirectly by changes in biodiversity, whereas selective logging influences processes directly by modifying local environmental conditions and resource distributions. The positive to neutral effects of selective logging on ecosystem processes show that the functionality of tropical forests can be maintained in moderately disturbed forest fragments. Conservation concepts for tropical forests should thus include not only remaining pristine forests but also functionally viable forest remnants.",10.1371/journal.pone.0027785,No,,,140,BSR-140,http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0027785,BSR,MW,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,MW,Yes,empirical data,more than one of the indicators,none,direct (quantitative),local,Africa,Terrestrial,2,No,Yes,Yes,No,No,No,effect-based,quantitative (magnitude),ratio scale,quantitative,Yes,intermediate,
"Davies, J. A. C.; Tipping, E.; Whitmore, A. P.",SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT,2016,150 years of macronutrient change in unfertilized UK ecosystems: Observations vs simulations,"Understanding changes in plant-soil C, N and P using data alone is difficult due to the linkages between carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus cycles (C, Nand P), andmultiple changing long-termdrivers (e.g. climate, land-use, and atmospheric N deposition). Hence, dynamic models are a vital tool for disentangling these drivers, helping us understand the dominant processes and drivers and predict future change. However, it is essential that models are tested against data if their outputs are to be concluded uponwith confidence. Here, a simulation of C, N and P cycles using the N14CP modelwas compared with time-series observations of C, N and P in soils and biomass from the Rothamsted Research long-termexperiments spanning 150 years, providing an unprecedented temporal integrated test of such a model. N14CP reproduced broad trends in soil organicmatter (SOM) C, N and P, vegetation biomass and N and P leaching. Subsequently, the model was used to decouple the effects of land management and elevated nitrogen deposition in these experiments. Elevated N deposition over the last 150 years is shown to have increased net primary productivity (NPP) 4.5-fold and total carbon sequestration 5-fold at the Geescroft Wilderness experiment, which was re-wilded to woodland in 1886. In contrast, the model predicts that for cropped grassland conditions at the Park Grass site, elevated N deposition has very little effect on SOM, as increases in NPP are diverted from the soil. More broadly, these results suggest that N deposition is likely to have had a large effect on SOM and NPP in northern temperate and boreal semi-natural grasslands and forests. However, in cropped and grazed systems in the same region, whilst NPP may have been supported in part by elevated N deposition, declines in SOM may not have been appreciably counteracted by increased N availability. (C) 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V.",10.1016/j.scitotenv.2016.03.055,No,,,165,ERW-165,http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2016.03.055,ERW,MW,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,MW,Yes,empirical data,one of the indicators,none,direct (quantitative),local,Europe and Central Asia,Terrestrial,2,No,Yes,No,No,Yes,No,effect-based,quantitative (magnitude),ratio scale,quantitative,Yes,intermediate,
"Muthukrishnan, Ranjan; Fong, Peggy",MARINE ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH,2018,Rapid recovery of a coral dominated Eastern Tropical Pacific reef after experimentally produced anthropogenic disturbance,"Local anthropogenic stressors such as overfishing, nutrient enrichment and increased sediment loading have been shown to push coral reefs toward greater dominance by algae. In a few cases this shift has been temporary, with the ability to recover to a healthy coral-dominated community after disturbance, suggesting some systems have considerable resilience. However, an understanding of the circumstances under which reefs may recover is only beginning to emerge. We monitored recovery of a coral-dominated reef in the Eastern Tropical Pacific (ETP) after cessation of a 6 month multiple stressor experiment (with herbivore exclosure, nutrient addition, and sediment addition). We observed substantial recovery from small-scale disturbances, though there were differences in both the extent and temporal dynamics of recovery between treatments. Plots that had been caged showed the largest recovery in absolute terms and recovery was quite rapid, while nutrient and sediment addition plots were slower to recover. We also observed different recovery patterns depending on the type of algae that replaced coral during or after disturbances. Macroalgae that established during manipulation were almost completely removed within 2 weeks, revealing that a significant proportion had covered still-living coral. Turf algae persisted longer, but were almost completely replaced by regenerating coral within 18 months. Very little crustose coralline algae were apparent during manipulations, but coverage did increase during recovery. This rapid recovery of corals after simulated anthropogenic disturbance to ETP reefs underscores the value of management of local stressors for short-term recovery and perhaps as a buffer for longer-term global stressors.",10.1016/j.marenvres.2018.05.008,No,,,17,LCC-17,http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.marenvres.2018.05.008,LCC,MW,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,MW,Yes,empirical data,one of the indicators,none,direct (quantitative),local,Americas,Marine,3,No,No,Yes,No,Yes,Yes,effect-based,quantitative (magnitude),ratio scale,quantitative,Yes,intermediate,
"Beguer, Melanie; Berge, Julien; Gardia-Parege, Caroline; Beaulaton, Laurent; Castelnaud, Gerard; Girardin, Michel; Boet, Philippe",ESTUARIES AND COASTS,2012,Long-Term Changes in Population Dynamics of the Shrimp Palaemon longirostris in the Gironde Estuary,"Spanning 20 years (1979-2007), this study is the longest time series pertaining to the resident shrimp species Palaemon longirostris in a European estuary. Data from monthly faunal surveys undertaken across the middle part of the Gironde estuary from April 1979 along with data from a statistical analysis of the commercial catches throughout the entire estuary and river were considered in order to explore their inter and intra-annual variability and long-term trends. Long-term densities series as well as environmental series (salinity, discharge, temperature and NAO) were decomposed and the effects of environmental variables were also examined using statistical models (GAMs). This revealed important spatio-temporal variability and a significant overall decrease in abundance of this species in the Gironde estuary since the beginning of the 1980s. This long-term decrease in abundance corresponded significantly to long-term decreases in both discharge and the NAO index, as well a long-term increase in temperature and salinity in the middle part of the estuary. However, models showed that environmental factors explained only a small part of the variability. The upstream shift of the population highlighted in this study, probably due to the intrusion of marine waters into the middle section of the estuary, may also have contributed to its decrease in abundance. Inter-annual variability of densities was also significantly linked with inter-annual fecundity fluctuations, and a significant decrease in both mean female size and fecundity was shown for preserved samples from 1992. Moreover, the breeding period has been temporally stretched out and began earlier in more recent years, potentially due to the increase in spring temperature.",10.1007/s12237-012-9506-y,No,,,11,LSA-11,http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s12237-012-9506-y,LSA,MW,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,MW,Yes,empirical data,one of the indicators,none,direct (quantitative),local,Europe and Central Asia,Freshwater,3,Yes,Yes,No,No,No,Yes,effect-based,quantitative (magnitude),ratio scale,qualitative,Yes,intermediate,
"Barausse, Alberto; Correale, Vittoria; Curkovic, Aleksia; Finotto, Licia; Riginella, Emilio; Visentin, Eleonora; Mazzoldi, Carlotta",ICES JOURNAL OF MARINE SCIENCE,2014,The role of fisheries and the environment in driving the decline of elasmobranchs in the northern Adriatic Sea,"Elasmobranch populations are declining worldwide, calling for urgent assessment of fishery exploitation and application of effective conservation strategies. Here, we applied a novel approach, integrating long-term time-series of landings (1945-2012) and extensive surveys at the fishmarket of Chioggia, Italy, home of the major fishing fleet of the northern Adriatic Sea, to evaluate the status of elasmobranch populations and fisheries in the one of the most fished Mediterranean basins. The time-series highlight a dramatic decline in elasmobranch landings, particularly for skates and catsharks (Scyliorhinus spp.), whose current catch rates are 2.4 and 10.6% of the average 1940s levels, respectively. These data likely reflect similar large reductions in abundance, as indicated by the analysis of catch-per unit-effort time-series. The biomass of landed skates and catsharks showed regular fluctuations that disappeared after the collapse of the landings. Elasmobranch market composition, assessed through the sampling of 11 900 specimens from 2006 to 2013, included 14 species, but was dominated by just two: Mustelus mustelus and M. punctulatus, which represented more than 60% of the catch. The proportion of sexually immature individuals was generally very high, up to 83% of landed females and 71% of landed males, depending on the species. Although some correlations were detected between landings and local hydrography or climatic indices, the analyses of landings and surveys at the fish market identified fishery exploitation as the main driver of the striking, long-term elasmobranch decline in the northern Adriatic Sea, calling for urgent management actions to improve the conservation status of these fish.",10.1093/icesjms/fst222,No,,,56,LSA-56,http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/icesjms/fst222,LSA,MW,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,MW,Yes,empirical data,one of the indicators,none,direct (quantitative),local,Europe and Central Asia,Marine,3,Yes,No,Yes,No,Yes,No,effect-based,quantitative (magnitude),ratio scale,quantitative,Yes,intermediate,
"Bhatta, Kuber P.; Vetaas, Ole R.",JOURNAL OF VEGETATION SCIENCE,2016,Does tree canopy closure moderate the effect of climate warming on plant species composition of temperate Himalayan oak forest?,"Question: We ask H there are significant changes in plant species composition after 20 yr of documented temperature increase (similar to 1 degrees C), and if the temporal changes are different in closed temperate oak forest compared to semi-open canopy. Answers to these questions may indicate if climate warming and/or canopy closure, controlled by land-use regime, is the main driver of any documented compositional changes in the forest between 1993 and 2013.Location: Phulchoki Mountain, centralHimalaya (Nepal).Methods: We resampled 64 plots of 100 m(2) after 20 yr and recorded all terrestrial vascular plants and percentage canopy cover in each sample plot. We analysed the compositional changes in terms of species abundance, frequency and spatial translocation in relation to atmospheric temperature and canopy cover using univariate and multivariate statistics,Results: We find clear changes in the species composition, with abundance of almost half of the studied species having increased and one-quarter of the species having decreased over the past two decades, The changes vary artiong life forms: trees increased, whereas decreasing species were mainly herbaceous or shrubs, Similarly, shade-tolerant species increased, whereas those adapted to open habitat decreased. The compositional changes are mainly explained through the increased regional temperature, with a significant buffering effect of tree canopy cover. A significant increase in low-elevation (warm-adapted) species is detected, but this thermophilization is only found in the semi-open forest.Conclusions: Fine sc le temporal changes in the temperate oak forests are mainly driven by macroclimate warming, although change land-use regime also has a profound direct effect by governing canopy closure that, in turn, moderates the effect of climate warming. Tree canopy cover governs the relative abundances of different species based on their adaptive characteristics, such as shade tolerance and life-form traits. The magnitude of the temporal vegetation change would therefore be dependent on both the degree of regional climate warming and forest canopy closure.",10.1111/jvs.12423,No,,,199,LSA-199,http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/jvs.12423,LSA,MW,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,MW,Yes,empirical data,one of the indicators,none,direct (quantitative),local,Asia-Pacific,Terrestrial,2,Yes,Yes,No,No,No,No,effect-based,quantitative (magnitude),ordinal scale,none,Yes,intermediate,
"Berthon, Vincent; Alric, Benjamin; Rimet, Frederic; Perga, Marie-Elodie",FRESHWATER BIOLOGY,2014,Sensitivity and responses of diatoms to climate warming in lakes heavily influenced by humans,"1. Diatom communities have been shown to respond strongly to current climate warming in remote lakes, while evidence remains equivocal for lakes under strong local human pressures.2. Temporal dynamics of planktonic diatoms in three subalpine lakes (Geneva, Annecy and Bourget) reconstructed from palaeolimnological approaches were used to assess the relative effects of phosphorus concentrations, fisheries management practices and climate warming in structuring communities over the last century.3. Changes in total phosphorous concentration (TP), air temperature and fish predation pressure could explain the temporal dynamics of most diatom species in the sediment records. TP was found to be not only the main driver of changes in community composition but also an important factor modulating diatom sensitivity and responses to climate warming.4. The diatom community of Lake Bourget showed the highest vulnerability and direct responses to climate warming, favouring spring species that can resist earlier stratification in mesotrophic lakes (such as Asterionella formosa, Aulacoseira islandica and Stephanodiscus parvus) and summer species that can make the best trade-off between decreasing nutrient concentrations and increased water column stability (Diatoma tenuis, A. islandica). In Lake Geneva, climate warming also contributed to shaping diatom communities but through an indirect pathway; fisheries management practices and climate warming interacted to reinforce top-down control, favouring large, colonial inedible species (Stephanodicus binderanus and A. formosa). For Lake Annecy, the most nutrient limited of the three lakes studied, no changes in diatom community structure were directly related to warmer air temperatures over the last 25 years.5. All three lakes have been subjected to the same climate variability. Yet the magnitude and responses of their diatom communities to climate warming were dissimilar and strongly modulated by differences in lake trophic status and fish management practices.",10.1111/fwb.12380,No,,,5,LST-5,http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/fwb.12380,LST,MW,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,MW,Yes,empirical data,one of the indicators,none,direct (quantitative),local,Europe and Central Asia,Freshwater,3,Yes,No,Yes,No,Yes,No,effect-based,quantitative (magnitude),ratio scale,quantitative,Yes,intermediate,
"Fu, Yingchun; Lu, Xueyu; Zhao, Yaolong; Zeng, Xiantie; Xia, Lili",REMOTE SENSING,2013,"Assessment Impacts of Weather and Land Use/Land Cover (LULC) Change on Urban Vegetation Net Primary Productivity (NPP): A Case Study in Guangzhou, China","Net primary productivity (NPP) can indicate vegetation ecosystem services ability and reflect variation response to climate change and human activities. This study applied MODIS-1 km NPP products to investigate the NPP variation from 2001 to 2006, a fast urban expansion and adjustment period in Guangzhou, China, and quantify the impacts of weather and land use/land cover (LULC) changes, respectively. The results showed that the NPP mean value increased at a rate of 11.6 gCm(-2)yr(-1) during the initial three years and decreased at an accelerated rate of 31.0 gCm(-2)yr(-1) during the final three years, resulting in a total NPP loss of approximately 167 x 10(6) gC. The spatiotemporal of NPP varied obviously in the central area, suburb and exurb of Guangzhou driven by three patterns of weather and LULC changes. By the interactive effects and the weather variation dominated effects, NPP of most areas changed slightly with dynamic index less than 5% of NPP mean value in the central area and the suburb. The LULC change dominated effects caused obvious NPP reduction, by more than 15% of the NPP mean value, which occurred in some areas of the suburb and extended to the exurb with the outward urban sprawl. Importantly, conversion from wood grassland, shrublands and even forests to croplands occupied by urban landscapes proved to be a main process in the conversion from high-NPP coverage to low-NPP coverage, thereby leading to the rapid degradation of urban carbon stock capacity in urban fringe areas. It is helpful for government to monitor urban ecological health and safety and make relevant policies.",10.3390/rs5084125,No,,,37,NPP-37,http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/rs5084125,NPP,MW,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,MW,Yes,empirical data,one of the indicators,none,direct (quantitative),local,Asia-Pacific,Terrestrial,2,Yes,Yes,No,No,No,No,effect-based,quantitative (magnitude),ordinal scale,quantitative,Yes,intermediate,
"Wu, Shaohua; Zhou, Shenglu; Chen, Dongxiang; Wei, Zongqiang; Dai, Liang; Li, Xingong",SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT,2014,"Determining the contributions of urbanisation and climate change to NPP variations over the last decade in the Yangtze River Delta, China","Terrestrial net primary production (NPP) is an important measure of global change, and identifying the relative contributions of urbanisation and climate change to NPP is important for understanding the impact of human and natural influences on terrestrial systems and the carbon cycle. The objective of this study was to reveal how urbanisation and climate drive changes in NPP. Satellite-based estimates of NPP collected over a 12-year period (1999-2010) were analysed to identify NPP variations in the Yangtze River Delta. Temporal and spatial analysis methods were used to identify the relationships among NPP, nighttime light urbanisation index values, and climatic factors from pixel to regional scales. The NPP of the entire Yangtze River Delta decreased slightly at a rate of -0.5 g C m(-2) a(-1) from 1999 to 2010, but this change was not significant. However, in the urban region, NPP decreased significantly (p < 0.05) at a rate of -4.7 g C m(-2) a(-1) due to urbanisation processes. A spatially explicit method was proposed to partition the relative contributions of urbanisation and climate change to NPP variation. The results revealed that the urbanisation factor is the main driving force for NPP change in high-speed urbanisation areas, and the factor accounted for 47% of the variations. However, in the forest and farm regions, the NPP variation was mainly controlled by climate change and residual factors. (C) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.",10.1016/j.scitotenv.2013.10.128,No,,,73,NPP-73,http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2013.10.128,NPP,MW,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,MW,Yes,empirical data,one of the indicators,none,direct (quantitative),local,Asia-Pacific,Terrestrial,2,Yes,Yes,No,No,No,No,trait-based,quantitative (magnitude),ratio scale,none,Yes,intermediate,
"Giblin, Shawn M.",JOURNAL OF FRESHWATER ECOLOGY,2017,Identifying and quantifying environmental thresholds for ecological shifts in a large semi-regulated river,"Ecological shifts, between a clear macrophyte-dominated state and a turbid state dominated by phytoplankton and high inorganic suspended solids, have been well described in shallow lake ecosystems. While few documented examples exist in rivers, models predict regime shifts, especially in regulated rivers with high water retention time. Here I quantified ecological shifts in a large, semi-regulated floodplain river during a transition from a turbid-to a clear-water state using water quality, aquatic vegetation and fisheries data from a rigorous, standardized long-term data set. My findings indicate that significant changes occurred in total suspended solids concentration, aquatic macrophyte abundance, native and non-native fish biomass, fish functional feeding guild patterns, fish habitat guild assemblages and fish spawning guild assemblage patterns over a nearly 20-year period in Navigation Pool 8 of the Upper Mississippi River. Transitions in physical and biological indicators were examined to identify mechanisms underlying the ecological shifts. Environmental variables driving fish assemblage changes were identified (total suspended solids and aquatic vegetation) and management-relevant thresholds are presented. Awareness of management thresholds is critical for resource managers to implement measures to prevent the river from moving to a degraded state characterized by high non-native fish abundance and low predatory fish species abundance.",10.1080/02705060.2017.1319431,No,,,7,PFB-7,http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/02705060.2017.1319431,PFB,MW,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,MW,Yes,empirical data,more than one of the indicators,none,direct (quantitative),local,Americas,Freshwater,2,No,No,Yes,No,Yes,No,effect-based,quantitative (magnitude),ratio scale,qualitative,Yes,intermediate,
"Dalton, C. M.; Mokiao-Lee, A.; Sakihara, T. S.; Weber, M. G.; Roco, C. A.; Han, Z.; Dudley, B.; MacKenzie, R. A.; Hairston, N. G., Jr.",OIKOS,2013,Density- and trait-mediated top-down effects modify bottom-up control of a highly endemic tropical aquatic food web,"Benthic invertebrates mediate bottomup and topdown influences in aquatic food webs, and changes in the abundance or traits of invertebrates can alter the strength of topdown effects. Studies assessing the role of invertebrate abundance and behavior as controls on food web structure are rare at the whole ecosystem scale. Here we use a comparative approach to investigate bottomup and topdown influences on whole anchialine pond ecosystems in coastal Hawaii. In these ponds, a single species of endemic atyid shrimp (Halocaridina rubra) is believed to structure epilithon communities. Many Hawaiian anchialine ponds and their endemic fauna, however, have been greatly altered by bottomup (increased nutrient enrichment) and topdown (introduced fish predators) disturbances from human development. We present the results of a survey of dissolved nutrient concentrations, epilithon biomass and composition, and H. rubra abundance and behavior in anchialine ponds with and without invasive predatory fish along a nutrient concentration gradient on the North Kona coast of Hawaii. We use linear models to assess 1) the effects of nutrient loading and fish introductions on pond food web structure and 2) the role of shrimp density and behavior in effecting that change. We find evidence for bottomup food web control, in that nutrients were associated with increased epilithon biomass, autotrophy and nutrient content as well as increased abundance and size of H. rubra. We also find evidence for topdown control, as ponds with invasive predatory fish had higher epilithon biomass, productivity, and nutrient content. Topdown effects were transmitted by both altered H. rubra abundance, which changed the biomass of epilithon, and H. rubra behavior, which changed the composition of the epilithon. Our study extends experimental findings on bottomup and topdown control to the whole ecosystem scale and finds evidence for qualitatively different effects of trait- and density-mediated change in topdown influences.",10.1111/j.1600-0706.2012.20696.x,No,,,16,PFB-16,http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1600-0706.2012.20696.x,PFB,MW,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,MW,Yes,empirical data,one of the indicators,none,indirect,local,Americas,Freshwater,4,No,Yes,No,Yes,Yes,Yes,effect-based,quantitative (magnitude),ratio scale,quantitative,Yes,intermediate,
"Brown, Christopher J.; Jupiter, Stacy D.; Lin, Hsien-Yung; Albert, Simon; Klein, Carissa; Maina, Joseph M.; Tulloch, Vivitskaia J. D.; Wenger, Amelia S.; Mumby, Peter J.",MARINE ECOLOGY PROGRESS SERIES,2017,Habitat change mediates the response of coral reef fish populations to terrestrial run-off,"Coastal fish populations are typically threatened by multiple human activities, including fishing pressure and run-off of terrestrial pollution. Linking multiple threats to their impacts on fish populations is challenging because the threats may influence a species directly, or indirectly, via its habitats and its interactions with other species. Here we examine spatial variation in abundance of coral reef fish across gradients of fishing pressure and turbidity in Fiji. We explicitly account for multiple pathways of influence to test the alternative hypotheses that (1) habitat moderates predation by providing shelter, so habitat loss only affects prey fish populations if there are abundant predators, (2) habitat change co-drives biomass of both prey and predator functional groups. We examined responses of 7 fish functional groups and found that habitat change co-drives both predator and prey responses to turbidity. Abundances of all functional groups were associated with changes in habitat cover; however, the responses of their habitats to turbidity were mixed. Planktivore and piscivore abundance were lower in areas of high turbidity, because cover of their preferred habitats was lower. Invertivore, browser and grazer abundance did not change strongly over the turbidity gradient, because different components of their habitats exhibited both increases and decreases with turbidity. The effects of turbidity on fish populations were minor in areas where fish populations were already depleted by fishing. These findings suggest that terrestrial run-off modifies the composition of reef fish communities indirectly by affecting the benthic habitats that reef fish use.",10.3354/meps12221,No,,,19,PRF-19,http://dx.doi.org/10.3354/meps12221,PRF,MW,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,MW,Yes,empirical data,one of the indicators,none,indirect,local,Asia-Pacific,Marine,4,Yes,Yes,Yes,No,Yes,No,effect-based,quantitative (magnitude),ratio scale,quantitative,Yes,intermediate,
"Wolf, Nicholas; Mangel, Marc",ECOLOGICAL APPLICATIONS,2008,MULTIPLE HYPOTHESIS TESTING AND THE DECLINING-POPULATION PARADIGM IN STELLER SEA LIONS,"We describe a novel spatially and temporally detailed approach for determining the cause or causes of a population decline, using the western Alaskan population of Steller sea lions (Eumetopias jubatus) as an example. Existing methods are mostly based on regression, which limits their utility when there are multiple hypotheses to consider and the data are sparse and noisy. Our likelihood-based approach is unbiased with regard to sample size, and its posterior probability landscape allows for the separate consideration of magnitude and certainty for multiple factors simultaneously. As applied to Steller sea lions, the approach uses a stochastic population model in which the vital rates (fecundity, pup survival, non-pup survival) at a particular rookery in each year are functions of one or more local conditions (total prey availability, species composition of available prey,fisheries activity, predation risk indices). Three vital rates and four scaling functions produce twelve nonexclusive hypotheses, of which we considered 10; we assumed a priori that fecundity would not be affected by fishery activities or predation. The likelihood of all the rookery- and year-specific census data was calculated by averaging across sample paths, using backward iteration and a beta-binomial structure for observation error. We computed the joint maximum likelihood estimates (MLE) of parameters associated with each hypothesis and constructed marginal likelihood curves to examine the support for each effect. We found strong support for a positive effect of total prey availability on pup recruitment, negative effects of prey species composition (pollock fraction) on fecundity and pup survival, and a positive effect of harbor seal density (our inverse proxy for predation risk) on non-pup survival. These results suggest a natural framework for adaptive management; for example, the areas around some of the rookeries could be designated as experimental zones where fishery quotas are contingent upon the results of pre-fishing season survey trawls. We contrast our results with those of previous studies, demonstrating the importance of testing multiple hypotheses simultaneously and quantitatively when investigating the causes of a population decline.",10.1890/07-1254.1,No,,,136,PRF-136,http://dx.doi.org/10.1890/07-1254.1,PRF,MW,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,MW,Yes,empirical data,one of the indicators,one of the indicators,direct (quantitative),local,Americas,Marine,3,Yes,No,Yes,No,No,Yes,effect-based,quantitative (magnitude),ratio scale,quantitative,Yes,intermediate,
"Morris, Rebecca J.",PHILOSOPHICAL TRANSACTIONS OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY B-BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES,2010,Anthropogenic impacts on tropical forest biodiversity: a network structure and ecosystem functioning perspective,"Huge areas of diverse tropical forest are lost or degraded every year with dramatic consequences for biodiversity. Deforestation and fragmentation, over-exploitation, invasive species and climate change are the main drivers of tropical forest biodiversity loss. Most studies investigating these threats have focused on changes in species richness or species diversity. However, if we are to understand the absolute and long-term effects of anthropogenic impacts on tropical forests, we should also consider the interactions between species, how those species are organized in networks, and the function that those species perform. I discuss our current knowledge of network structure and ecosystem functioning, highlighting empirical examples of their response to anthropogenic impacts. I consider the future prospects for tropical forest biodiversity, focusing on biodiversity and ecosystem functioning in secondary forest. Finally, I propose directions for future research to help us better understand the effects of anthropogenic impacts on tropical forest biodiversity.",10.1098/rstb.2010.0273,No,,,6,BSR-6,http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2010.0273,BSR,NT,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,NT,Yes,review,none,more than one of the indicators,n.a.,global,Americas/Africa/Asia-Pacific,Terrestrial,4,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,No,No,n.a.,qualitative (direction),ordinal scale,none,Yes,intermediate,
"Fox, Richard",INSECT CONSERVATION AND DIVERSITY,2013,The decline of moths in Great Britain: a review of possible causes,". 1. Population declines among insects are inadequately quantified, yet of vital importance to national and global biodiversity assessments and have significant implications for ecosystem services. 2. Substantial declines in abundance and distribution have been reported recently within a species-rich insect taxon, macro-moths, in Great Britain and other European countries. These declines are of concern because moths are important primary consumers and prey items for a wide range of other taxa, as well as contributing to ecosystem services such as pollination. 3. I summarise these declines and review potential drivers of change. Direct evidence for causes of moth declines is extremely limited, but correlative studies and extrapolation from closely related taxa suggest that habitat degradation (particularly because of agricultural intensification and changing silviculture) and climate change are likely to be major drivers. There is currently little evidence of negative population-level effects on moths caused by chemical or light pollution, non-native species or direct exploitation. 4. I make suggestions for future research with a focus on quantifying impacts of land management practices, light pollution and climate change on moth population dynamics and developing evidence-based measures that can be incorporated into agri-environment schemes and other policy initiatives to help reverse the widespread decline of moths in Great Britain and beyond.",10.1111/j.1752-4598.2012.00186.x,No,,,24,BSR-24,http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1752-4598.2012.00186.x,BSR,NT,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,NT,Yes,review,none,more than one of the indicators,n.a.,regional,Europe and Central Asia,Terrestrial,5,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,No,n.a.,qualitative (direction),ordinal scale,none,Yes,intermediate,
"Rosselli, Loreta; Gary Stiles, F.; Camargo, Pedro A.",JOURNAL OF FIELD ORNITHOLOGY,2017,Changes in the avifauna in a high Andean cloud forest in Colombia over a 24-year period,"The upper altitude ecosystems of the Andes are among the most threatened by climate change. Computer models suggest that a large percentage of species in these ecosystems will be at risk of extinction and that avian communities will suffer disruption and impoverishment. Studies in other Andean countries lend some support to these predictions, but there are no quantitative data from Colombia appropriate to test these models. In 1991-1992, we conducted a bird survey in a high Andean cloud forest to gather information about the species present and their abundance. We attempted to replicate this earlier study 24yr later to detect any changes in the avifauna and determine possible causes for those changes. From June 2015 to May 2016, we made bimonthly trips to the study site and identified all birds detected either visually or by voice along a number of trails. We supplemented our observational data by also capturing birds in mist-nets. Community species richness and composition as well as the overall abundance of birds changed little from 1991-1992 to 2015-2016, but nearly 30% of bird species changed in abundance. Changes in the presence or abundance of nine or 10 species reflected upward shifts in elevational limits potentially due to climate change. However, most changes in abundance appeared to reflect changes in the vegetation of the study area due to successional changes in forest and subparamo habitats and a large number of relatively recent treefalls of old canopy trees with heavy epiphyte loads and subsequent changes in the understory vegetation. Our results suggest that the effects of climate change on the avifauna in our study area at a high-altitude site in Colombia are apparently occurring more slowly than predicted by recent computer models, although we conclude that the possible effects of climate change should definitely be considered in future studies. However, single-site studies such as ours have limitations in documenting elevation shifts; the most conclusive and quantitative evidence for elevational shifts comes from long-term studies conducted over a wide range of elevations. As such, we recommend establishment of such a monitoring program in Colombia because data obtained from such a program might be important in designing measures to mitigate the effects of climate change and conserve biodiversity.",10.1111/jofo.12204,No,,,87,BSR-87,http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/jofo.12204,BSR,NT,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,NT,Yes,empirical data,none,one of the indicators,direct (quantitative),local,Americas,Terrestrial,2,Yes,Yes,No,No,No,No,prevalence-based,qualitative (direction),ordinal scale,none,Yes,intermediate,
"Easterday, Kelly; Mclntyre, Patrick; Kelly, Maggi",FOREST ECOLOGY AND MANAGEMENT,2018,Land ownership and 20th century changes to forest structure in California,"Forests in California have changed dramatically during the 20th century. Shifts in forest structure including densification, declines in large trees and tree basal area have altered the function, productivity, and resilience of modern day forests. Attributing these changes to specific drivers is increasingly important for effective management of healthy and productive forests. Previous studies focus on climatic (temperature, precipitation, climatic water deficit), disturbance (fire), geomorphological (topography, soil types), and anthropogenic (logging, fire suppression) drivers, but few studies evaluate large scale change in forest structure across land ownership type. In this paper, we investigate 20th century changes to forest structure across six land ownership classes in California. We compare historical and contemporary forest structural data and find that declines in large trees and increases in forest density are consistent across the state. This pattern is most pronounced on private timberlands, which experience up to 400% regional increases in small tree (< 10.2 cm) density since 1930. All land ownership classes experience declines in large trees, while private timberlands, national parks and wilderness areas experience the most extreme change with an average loss of over 83% and 71% respectively. We conclude that understanding patterns of change across land ownership is essential for targeting federal, state, and locally specific policies that foster healthy and resilient forests for the future.",10.1016/j.foreco.2018.04.012,No,,,31,ERW-31,http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.foreco.2018.04.012,ERW,NT,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,NT,Yes,empirical data,none,one of the indicators,direct (quantitative),regional,Americas,Terrestrial,4,Yes,Yes,Yes,No,No,Yes,trait-based,qualitative (direction),ordinal scale,none,Yes,intermediate,
"McGarigal, K; Romme, WH; Crist, M; Roworth, E",LANDSCAPE ECOLOGY,2001,"Cumulative effects of roads and logging on landscape structure in the San Juan Mountains, Colorado (USA)","In the southern Rocky Mountains of temperate North America, the effects of Euro-American activities on disturbance regimes and landscape patterns have been less ubiquitous and less straightforward in high-elevation landscapes than in low-elevation landscapes. Despite apparently little change in the natural disturbance regime, there is increasing concern that forest management activities related mainly to timber harvest and to the extensive network of roads constructed to support timber harvest, fire control, and recreation since the late 1800s have altered disturbance regimes and landscape structure. We investigated the magnitude of change in landscape structure resulting from roads and logging since the onset of timber harvest activities in 1950. We found limited evidence for significant impacts in our study area when all lands within the landscape were considered. The relatively minor changes we observed reflected the vast buffering capacity of the large proportion of lands managed for purposes other than timber (e.g., wilderness). Significant changes in landscape structure and fragmentation of mature forest were, however, evident on lands designated as suitable timberlands. Roughly half of the mature coniferous forest was converted to young stands; mean patch size and core area declined by 40% and 25%, respectively, and contrast-weighted edge density increased 2- to 3-fold. Overall, roads had a greater impact on landscape structure than logging in our study area. Indeed, the 3-fold increase in road density between 1950-1993 accounted for most of the changes in landscape configuration associated with mean patch size, edge density, and core area. The extent of area evaluated and the period over which change was evaluated had a large impact on the magnitude of change detected and our conclusions regarding the ecological significance of those changes. Specifically, the cumulative impact on landscape structure was negligible over a 10-year period, but was notable over a 40-year period. In addition, the magnitude of change in landscape structure between 1950-1993 varied as a function of landscape extent. At the scale of the 228 000 ha landscape, change in landscape structure was trivial, suggesting that the landscape was capable of fully incorporating the disturbances with minimal impact. However, at intermediate scales of 1000-10 000 ha landscapes, change in landscape structure was quite evident, suggesting that there may be an optimal range of scales for detecting changes in landscape structure within the study area.",10.1023/A:1011185409347,No,,,121,ERW-121,http://dx.doi.org/10.1023/A:1011185409347,ERW,NT,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,NT,Yes,empirical data,none,one of the indicators,direct (quantitative),local,Americas,Terrestrial,2,No,Yes,Yes,No,No,No,effect-based,quantitative (magnitude),ordinal scale,none,Yes,intermediate,
"OgutuOhwayo, R; Hecky, RE; Cohen, AS; Kaufman, L",ENVIRONMENTAL BIOLOGY OF FISHES,1997,Human impacts on the African Great Lakes,"The African Great Lakes are important sources of fishes and water for domestic use, are used as avenues of transport, and receive agricultural, domestic and industrial effluents and atmospheric residues. Some of these lakes have speciose fish faunas of great interest to science. The catchment areas of some of the lakes are highly populated and user conflicts have increased the demands on the lakes' resources. There have been drastic reductions in fish stocks in most of the lakes due to overfishing. Introductions of new fish species, though followed by increases in fish catches, have been accompanied by a decline and in some cases extinction of native fish species. Some of the lakes have been invaded by the water hyacinth, Eichhornia crassipes. Agricultural activities, deforestation and devegetation of the catchment areas have increased siltation, and led to loss of suitable habitats and biodiversity. There are increased nutrient inputs from agriculture, sewage and industrial discharges and combustion processes which can cause eutrophication. There are also increased threats of toxic pollution from industrial waste discharge, mining, pesticides, and oil residues and spills. Climatic changes may also affect thermal stability of the lakes. These factors threaten availability of dietary protein, clean water and biodiversity. National and international efforts are required to manage the fisheries, guide the introduction of exotics, conserve biodiversity, control the water hyacinth, control eutrophication, reduce input of contaminants and manage climate change.",10.1023/A:1007320932349,No,,,11,FSS-11,http://dx.doi.org/10.1023/A:1007320932349,FSS,NT,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,NT,Yes,review,none,one of the indicators,n.a.,continental,Africa,Freshwater,5,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,No,n.a.,qualitative (direction),ordinal scale,none,Yes,intermediate,
"Ollinger, SV; Aber, JD; Reich, PB; Freuder, RJ",GLOBAL CHANGE BIOLOGY,2002,"Interactive effects of nitrogen deposition, tropospheric ozone, elevated CO2 and land use history on the carbon dynamics of northern hardwood forests","Temperate forests are affected by a wide variety of environmental factors that stem from human industrial and agricultural activities. In the north-eastern US, important change agents include tropospheric ozone, atmospheric nitrogen deposition, elevated CO2 , and historical human land use. Although each of these has received attention for its effects on forest carbon dynamics, integrated analyses that examine their combined effects are rare. To examine the relative importance of all of these factors on current forest growth and carbon balances, we included them individually and in combination in a forest ecosystem model that was applied over the period of 1700-2000 under different scenarios of air pollution and land use history.Results suggest that historical increases in CO2 and N deposition have stimulated forest growth and carbon uptake, but to different degrees following agriculture and timber harvesting. These differences resulted from the effects of each land use scenario on soil C and N pools and on the resulting degree of growth limitations by carbon vs. nitrogen. Including tropospheric ozone in the simulations offset a substantial portion of the increases caused by CO2 and N deposition. This result is particularly relevant given that ozone pollution is widespread across much of the world and because broad-scale spatial patterns of ozone are coupled with patterns of nitrogen oxide emissions. This was demonstrated across the study region by a significant correlation between ozone exposure and rates of N deposition and suggests that the reduction of N-induced carbon sinks by ozone may be a common phenomenon in other regions.Collectively, the combined effects of all physical and chemical factors we addressed produced growth estimates that were surprisingly similar to estimates obtained in the absence of any form of disturbance. The implication of this result is that intact forests may show relatively little evidence of altered growth since preindustrial times despite substantial changes in their physical and chemical environment.",10.1046/j.1365-2486.2002.00482.x,No,,,99,IFL-99,http://dx.doi.org/10.1046/j.1365-2486.2002.00482.x,IFL,NT,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,NT,Yes,empirical data,none,more than one of the indicators,direct (quantitative),regional,Americas,Terrestrial,3,No,Yes,Yes,No,Yes,No,effect-based,quantitative (magnitude),ordinal scale,none,Yes,intermediate,
"Qin, Y.; Yi, S.; Ren, S.; Li, N.; Chen, J.",ENVIRONMENTAL EARTH SCIENCES,2014,Responses of typical grasslands in a semi-arid basin on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau to climate change and disturbances,"Alpine grassland ecosystems on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau (QTP) are vulnerable to climate change and anthropogenic disturbances, which may have significant effects on the QTP's carbon budgets. In this study, vegetation and soil characteristics were compared among alpine grassland ecosystems in a semi-arid basin on the northeast ridge of the QTP (1) among alpine swamp meadow, meadow, steppe meadow and steppe soils, which represent the direction of succession under climate-warming conditions, and (2) among alpine, degraded and tilled meadow soils to investigate the effects of human disturbance. The results showed that (1) if the alpine grassland ecosystems succeed in this direction, climate warming will cause a loss of carbon, and (2) tilling activity also results in carbon loss. Therefore, these results indicate that anthropogenic disturbance regimes that change more rapidly than climate may exert a more profound influence on carbon dynamics and balance. However, the plots that were set in the present study represented only part of the basin due to road accessibility. Relationships between leaf area index (biomass and soil carbon) and fractional vegetation cover x vegetation height from this study are fairly good, which can be applied at regional scale to estimate carbon pools. In combination with detailed information of grassland types, climate and human activities, the effects of climate change and disturbances can be estimated using remote sensing datasets.",10.1007/s12665-013-2547-0,No,,,42,LAI-42,http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s12665-013-2547-0,LAI,NT,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,NT,Yes,empirical data,one of the indicators,none,indirect,local,Asia-Pacific,Terrestrial,2,Yes,Yes,No,No,No,No,effect-based,quantitative (magnitude),ordinal scale,none,Yes,intermediate,
"Izmest'eva, Lyubov R.; Moore, Marianne V.; Hampton, Stephanie E.; Ferwerda, Carolin J.; Gray, Derek K.; Woo, Kara H.; Pislegina, Helena V.; Krashchuk, Lyudmila S.; Shimaraeva, Svetlana V.; Silow, Eugene A.",JOURNAL OF GREAT LAKES RESEARCH,2016,Lake-wide physical and biological trends associated with warming in Lake Baikal,"Eutrophication and warming of lakes are occurring globally. Lake Baikal, a large ancient lake composed of three basins, has recently experienced benthic eutrophication at local sites and lake warming in the south basin. Here, we look for signals of warming and pelagic eutrophication across the entire lake using physical and biological data collected at a subset of 79 stations sampled ca. annually (1977-2003) during the period of summer stratification. Lake-wide, surface waters warmed 2.0 degrees C; and, consistent with this warming, the abundance of two warm-water, cosmopolitan zooplankton taxa increased between two (pelagic cladocerans) and 12-fold (Cyclops kolensis). C kolensis increased throughout the lake, whereas cladocerans increased significantly only in the north basin. In contrast, abundance of the cold-water endemic copepod, Epischura baikalensis, that dominates the crustacean zooplankton community, did not change. With the exception of one coastal station in the north basin, there is no evidence of pelagic eutrophication. Although chlorophyll concentrations increased 46% lake-wide (0.82 to 1.20 mu g/L), the increasing trend was significant only in the south basin. Surprisingly, mean Secchi transparency increased by 1.4 m lake-wide across the 26-year time series with significant deepening of water transparency occurring in the central and north basins. This suggests a decline in productivity in the north and middle basins, but an increase in the south basin. Taken together, these findings suggest that physical and biological changes associated with warming have occurred in Lake Baikal, but wide-spread pelagic eutrophication in the lake's three basins has not. (C) 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of International Association for Great Lakes Research.",10.1016/j.jglr.2015.11.006,No,,,21,LSA-21,http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jglr.2015.11.006,LSA,NT,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,NT,Yes,empirical data,none,one of the indicators,direct (quantitative),local,Europe and Central Asia,Freshwater,2,Yes,No,No,No,Yes,No,trait-based,quantitative (magnitude),ordinal scale,none,Yes,intermediate,
"Last, Peter R.; White, William T.; Gledhill, Daniel C.; Hobday, Alistair J.; Brown, Rebecca; Edgar, Graham J.; Pecl, Gretta",GLOBAL ECOLOGY AND BIOGEOGRAPHY,2011,Long-term shifts in abundance and distribution of a temperate fish fauna: a response to climate change and fishing practices,"AimSouth-eastern Australia is a climate change hotspot with well-documented recent changes in its physical marine environment. The impact on and temporal responses of the biota to change are less well understood, but appear to be due to influences of climate, as well as the non-climate related past and continuing human impacts. We attempt to resolve the agents of change by examining major temporal and distributional shifts in the fish fauna and making a tentative attribution of causal factors.LocationTemperate seas of south-eastern Australia.MethodsMixed data sources synthesized from published accounts, scientific surveys, spearfishing and angling competitions, commercial catches and underwater photographic records, from the 'late 1800s' to the 'present', were examined to determine shifts in coastal fish distributions.ResultsForty-five species, representing 27 families (about 30% of the inshore fish families occurring in the region), exhibited major distributional shifts thought to be climate related. These are distributed across the following categories: species previously rare or unlisted (12), with expanded ranges (23) and/or abundance increases (30), expanded populations in south-eastern Tasmania (16) and extra-limital vagrants (4). Another 9 species, representing 7 families, experienced longer-term changes (since the 1800s) probably due to anthropogenic factors, such as habitat alteration and fishing pressure: species now extinct locally (3), recovering (3), threatened (2) or with remnant populations (1). One species is a temporary resident periodically recruited from New Zealand. Of fishes exhibiting an obvious poleward movement, most are reef dwellers from three Australian biogeographic categories: widespread southern, western warm temperate (Flindersian) or eastern warm temperate (Peronian) species.Main conclusionsSome of the region's largest predatory reef fishes have become extinct in Tasmanian seas since the 'late 1800s', most likely as a result of poor fishing practices. In more recent times, there have been major changes in the distribution patterns of Tasmanian fishes that correspond to dramatic warming observed in the local marine environment.",10.1111/j.1466-8238.2010.00575.x,No,,,111,LSA-111,http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1466-8238.2010.00575.x,LSA,NT,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,NT,Yes,empirical data,none,more than one of the indicators,direct (quantitative),regional,Asia-Pacific,Marine,3,Yes,Yes,Yes,No,No,No,effect-based,qualitative (direction),ordinal scale,none,Yes,intermediate,
"Nicola, Graciela G.; Elvira, Benigno; Jonsson, Bror; Ayllon, Daniel; Almodovar, Ana",FISHERIES RESEARCH,2018,Local and global climatic drivers of Atlantic salmon decline in southern Europe,"The abundance of Atlantic salmon is declining throughout its geographical area. Fisheries and global warming were assumed as main drivers of the decline, and recent studies suggest that habitat changes in freshwater is a third contributor. Southern populations experience the greatest decline, and face the highest risk of extinction as global warming moves its thermal niche northwards. We analysed long-term catch data (1949-2013) from a salmon fishery in northern Spain, and examined its relationship with local and global indicators of temperature and hydrological change. CPUE data, analysed by ARIMA time-series models, exhibited a significant negative trend and a marked decrease since 1973-1974, possibly triggered by overfishing at sea and a sudden outbreak of disease. Temperature increased in the same period, particularly so since 1986-1988, being negatively correlated with CPUE. A significant change in magnitude and duration of extreme water conditions occurred from 1970s onwards. Indicators of hydrological shift were also significantly correlated with CPUE of returning salmon. The best ARIMAX models indicated however, that the decrease in salmon CPUE was mainly driven by temperature trends. This indicates that both local (temperature and flow in the river) and global (ocean temperature) factors have contributed to the decrease in salmon numbers, and that temperature has played the major role. Despite a strong reduction in fishing pressure after the 1970s widespread collapse, our study population did not recover to previous abundance levels. This suggests the operation of additional factors, being climate warming and changes in food webs of the North Atlantic the most likely reasons.",10.1016/j.fishres.2017.10.012,No,,,129,LSA-129,http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.fishres.2017.10.012,LSA,NT,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,NT,Yes,empirical data,none,one of the indicators,direct (quantitative),regional,Europe and Central Asia,Freshwater/Marine,2,Yes,No,Yes,No,No,No,effect-based,quantitative (magnitude),ordinal scale,none,Yes,intermediate,single-species study (should probably not be included)
"Casini, Michele; Bartolino, Valerio; Molinero, Juan Carlos; Kornilovs, Georgs",MARINE ECOLOGY PROGRESS SERIES,2010,"Linking fisheries, trophic interactions and climate: threshold dynamics drive herring Clupea harengus growth in the central Baltic Sea","How multiple stressors influence fish stock dynamics is a crucial question in ecology in general and in fisheries science in particular. Using time-series covering a 30 yr period, we show that the body growth of the central Baltic Sea herring Clupea harengus, both in terms of condition and weight-at-age (WAA), has shifted from being mainly driven by hydro-climatic forces to an interspecific density-dependent control. The shift in the mechanisms of regulation of herring growth is triggered by the abundance of sprat, the main food competitor for herring. Abundances of sprat above the threshold of similar to 18 x 10(10) ind. decouple herring growth from hydro-climatic factors (i.e. salinity), and become the main driver of herring growth variations. At high sprat densities, herring growth is considerably lower than at low sprat levels, regardless of the salinity conditions, indicative of hysteresis in the response of herring growth to salinity changes. The threshold dynamic accurately explains the changes in herring growth during the past 3 decades and in turn contributes to elucidate the parallel drastic drop in herring spawning stock biomass. Studying the interplay between different stressors can provide fundamental information for the management of exploited resources. The management of the central Baltic herring stock should be adaptive and take into consideration the dual response of herring growth to hydro-climatic forces and food-web structure for a sound ecosystem approach to fisheries.",10.3354/meps08592,No,,,63,MLF-63,http://dx.doi.org/10.3354/meps08592,MLF,NT,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,NT,Yes,empirical data,none,one of the indicators,direct (quantitative),regional,Europe and Central Asia,Marine,2,Yes,No,Yes,No,No,No,effect-based,quantitative (magnitude),ordinal scale,none,Yes,intermediate,
"Frolking, S.; Palace, M. W.; Clark, D. B.; Chambers, J. Q.; Shugart, H. H.; Hurtt, G. C.",JOURNAL OF GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH-BIOGEOSCIENCES,2009,Forest disturbance and recovery: A general review in the context of spaceborne remote sensing of impacts on aboveground biomass and canopy structure,"Abrupt forest disturbances generating gaps >0.001 km(2) impact roughly 0.4-0.7 million km(2) a(-1). Fire, windstorms, logging, and shifting cultivation are dominant disturbances; minor contributors are land conversion, flooding, landslides, and avalanches. All can have substantial impacts on canopy biomass and structure. Quantifying disturbance location, extent, severity, and the fate of disturbed biomass will improve carbon budget estimates and lead to better initialization, parameterization, and/or testing of forest carbon c ycle models. Spaceborne remote sensing maps large-scale forest disturbance occurrence, location, and extent, particularly with moderate- and fine-scale resolution passive optical/near-infrared (NIR) instruments. High-resolution remote sensing (e. g., similar to 1 m passive optical/NIR, or small footprint lidar) can map crown geometry and gaps, but has rarely been systematically applied to study small-scale disturbance and natural mortality gap dynamics over large regions. Reducing uncertainty in disturbance and recovery impacts on global forest carbon balance requires quantification of (1) predisturbance forest biomass; (2) disturbance impact on standing biomass and its fate; and (3) rate of biomass accumulation during recovery. Active remote sensing data (e. g., lidar, radar) are more directly indicative of canopy biomass and many structural properties than passive instrument data; a new generation of instruments designed to generate global coverage/sampling of canopy biomass and structure can improve our ability to quantify the carbon balance of Earth's forests. Generating a high-quality quantitative assessment of disturbance impacts on canopy biomass and structure with spaceborne remote sensing requires comprehensive, well designed, and well coordinated field programs collecting high-quality ground-based data and linkages to dynamical models that can use this information.",10.1029/2008JG000911,No,,,47,NPP-47,http://dx.doi.org/10.1029/2008JG000911,NPP,NT,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,NT,Yes,review,none,one of the indicators,n.a.,global,All regions,Terrestrial,6,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,n.a.,qualitative (direction),ordinal scale,none,Yes,intermediate,
"Lindegren, Martin; Van Deurs, Mikael; MacKenzie, Brian R.; Clausen, Lotte Worsoe; Christensen, Asbjorn; Rindorf, Anna",FISHERIES OCEANOGRAPHY,2018,Productivity and recovery of forage fish under climate change and fishing: North Sea sandeel as a case study,"Forage fish occupy a central position in marine food-webs worldwide by mediating the transfer of energy and organic matter from lower to higher trophic levels. The lesser sandeel (Ammodytes marinus) is one of the ecologically and economically most important forage fish species in the North-east Atlantic, acting as a key prey for predatory fish and sea birds, as well as supporting a large commercial fishery. In this case study, we investigate the underlying factors affecting recruitment and how these in turn affect productivity of the North Sea sandeel using long-term data and modelling. Our results demonstrate how sandeel productivity in the central North Sea (Dogger Bank) depends on a combination of external and internal regulatory factors, including fishing and climate effects, as well as density dependence and food availability of the preferred zooplankton prey (Calanus finmarchicus and Temora longicornis). Furthermore, our model scenarios suggest that while fishing largely contributed to the abrupt stock decline during the late 1990s and the following period of low biomass, a complete recovery of the stock to the highly productive levels of the early 1980s would only be possible through changes in the surrounding ecosystem, involving lower temperatures and improved feeding conditions. To that end, we stress the need for ecosystem-based management accounting for multiple internal and external factors occurring within the broader context of the ecosystem in which forage fish species, such as sandeel, play an important and integral part.",10.1111/fog.12246,No,,,53,PFB-53,http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/fog.12246,PFB,NT,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,NT,Yes,empirical data,none,one of the indicators,direct (quantitative),regional,Europe and Central Asia,Marine,2,Yes,No,Yes,No,No,No,effect-based,quantitative (magnitude),ordinal scale,qualitative,Yes,intermediate,
"Mackey, Brendan; Cadman, Sean; Rogers, Nicole; Hugh, Sonia",BIOLOGICAL CONSERVATION,2017,"Assessing the risk to the conservation status of temperate rainforest from exposure to mining, commercial logging, and climate change: A Tasmanian case study","Formal protected areas are a critical conservation measure so long as their tenure is defined and secure and they are well managed. Protected areas in developed countries are assumed to meet these criteria and therefore have not attracted the level of attention given to the adequacy of protected areas in developing countries. We investigate this assumption using as a case study the southern temperate rainforests of Tasmania, Australia. We examine the extent to which these rainforests are protected from potential exposure to mining, commercial logging and climate change. We analyse the tenure of Tasmania's rainforests and identify the protected area categories that prohibit or allow mining or logging. We also model the potential distribution of Nothofagus cunninghctmii, a dominant rainforest canopy tree species, to future climate and compare this with modelled current and future forest fire danger index. Results showed that 90% of the total area of Tasmanian rainforest (715,773 ha(-1)) is in a reserve. However, the area of rainforest in reserves secured from mining and/or commercial logging is only 47% (335,863 ha(-1)) as 43% (308,897 ha(-1)) is in a reserve category where these land uses are permitted. The protected area category with the highest level of protection, prohibiting all mining and logging, is the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area which encompasses 325,920 ha(-1) of temperate rainforest. During a recent legislative review, 66,012 ha(-1) of rainforest in protected areas was downgraded to a reserve category that permits logging or mining. A key conservation instrument therefore is the Management Plan for the World Heritage Area as it overrides land use activities otherwise permitted including the 21,257 ha(-1) which is on a State-defined land tenure that allows for logging or mining. Climate change impacts, as modelled, suggest the main conservation challenges are in maintaining the integrity of the remaining intact rainforest blocks and better managing ignitions from lightning strikes and arsonists in the coniferous and alpine rainforests. Allowing structural degradation and fragmentation to intact rainforest blocks will reduce their capacity to buffer meso-climatic variability and resist fire events thereby undermining their ecosystem integrity. Noting that Aichi Target 11 includes the requirement that reserves are effectively managed, our case study highlights that assessing the effectiveness of a reserve system is not necessarily a straightforward matter as governance systems and regulatory frameworks involve a mix of international obligations, national and sub national policies and statutes, along with other agreements, administrative arrangements and plans of management, which can provide for a range of land use activities and be subject to modification over time.",10.1016/j.biocon.2017.08.032,No,,,32,ERW-32,http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2017.08.032,ERW,PJ,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,PJ,Yes,review,unclear,one of the indicators,indirect,regional,Asia-Pacific,Terrestrial,4,Yes,Yes,Yes,No,No,Yes,prevalence-based,qualitative (direction),ordinal scale,none,Yes,intermediate,
"Tin, T.; Fleming, Z. L.; Hughes, K. A.; Ainley, D. G.; Convey, P.; Moreno, C. A.; Pfeiffer, S.; Scott, J.; Snape, I.",ANTARCTIC SCIENCE,2009,Impacts of local human activities on the Antarctic environment,"We review the scientific literature, especially from the past decade, on the impacts of human activities on the Antarctic environment. A range of impacts has been identified at a variety of spatial and temporal scales. Chemical contamination and sewage disposal on the continent have been found to be long-lived. Contemporary sewage management practices at many coastal stations are insufficient to prevent local contamination but no introduction of non-indigenous organisms through this route has yet been demonstrated. Human activities, particularly construction and transport, have led to disturbances of flora and fauna. A small number of non-indigenous plant and animal species has become established, mostly on the northern Antarctic Peninsula and southern archipelagos of the Scotia Arc. There is little indication of recovery of overexploited fish stocks, and ramifications of fishing activity oil bycatch species and the ecosystem could also be far-reaching. The Antarctic Treaty System and its instruments, in particular the Convention for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources and the Environmental Protocol, provide a framework within which management of human activities take place. In the face of the continuing expansion of human activities in Antarctica, a more effective implementation of a wide range of measures is essential, in order to ensure comprehensive protection of the Antarctic environment, including its intrinsic, wilderness and scientific values which remains a fundamental principle of the Antarctic Treaty System. These measures include effective environmental impact assessments, long-term monitoring, mitigation measures for non-indigenous species, ecosystem-based management of living resources, and increased regulation of National Antarctic Programmes and tourism activities.",10.1017/S0954102009001722,No,,,59,ERW-59,http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S0954102009001722,ERW,PJ,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,PJ,Yes,review,unclear,one of the indicators,indirect,continental,Unclear or not specified,Terrestrial/Marine,5,No,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,n.a.,qualitative (direction),ordinal scale,none,Yes,intermediate,This paper is about Antarctic 
"Macko, Stephen A.",FREEDOM OF NAVIGATION AND GLOBALIZATION,2015,Global Ocean Challenges,"The ocean influences nearly all activities on the planet, serving as a source of nutrition, energy and pathway for transport of resources while buffering the scale of variations in climate. It is also the portion of the planet that is perhaps in greatest need of data to address issues of the dramatic changes that are happening globally. Some of the changes are clearly the result of human inaction and lack of foresight Fisheries, on which one sixth of human protein nutrition is derived, are in a state of near collapse for some species in the near term, owing to oveyishing and mismanagement of a sustainable infrastructure. Lack of cautious application of new technologies and oversight has led to increasing levels of pollutants, sometimes catastrophically, as was evidenced in the recent Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Global warming is influencing many aspects of the ocean system and will have collateral impacts beyond simply raising the temperature of the planet: Navigation and influence on transport are chief in our envisioning eventual impacts, and need to he anticipated, based on the hest of models and data. Sea level rise and the associated coastal erosion, modifying waterways and ports, call fir adaptive planning. Climate change could easily he seen to affect ocean circulation, wind dynamics, storm production and associated storm surges. Loss of sea ice in the Arctic will open new avenues which are economically and energetically more efficient for transport. With warming, and heightened destruction of ice sheets will likely come increased hazards from sea ice in shipping lanes. The rate of loss of the ice sheets such as that of Greenland is only beginning to he understood, and appears to be increasing. Sea ice coverage in the Arctic was the lowest on record in the summer of 2012, and the area, of surface melt on the Greenland Ice Sheet was recorded at the highest, at 97%, since satellite images have documented its status. Diminishing ice cover will also influence an increase of fishing efforts and exploration for fossil fuels in the high Arctic. Without precise data on the sizes offish stocks, the effects on commercial fisheries are complex, and beg for fundamental knowledge. Additionally with the loss of sea ice, diminishing ice-based productivity may lead to a loss of diversity and modification of sustainable trophic structure in Arctic food webs. As a consequence of increased fossil fuel exploration, extraction and transport, the risk of contamination is heightened and at present only minimal preparation for impact and cleanup exists for this eventuality in ragile Arctic environments. The addition of massive amounts of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere and oceans, has changed the ocean chemistry increasing the acidity or lowering the p11. Sound propagation in a more acid ocean may affect navigation as well as migration patterns of marine mammals and fish. Acidification influence on calcareous organisms at primal)) production levels could lead to catastrophic effects on the higher organisms of the food chains. The collateral impacts of the changing ocean in a period of global warming urgently require further study in order to enable adaptation and reduce vulnerability. Only through an appreciation for the past and a comprehensive understanding of the present, can we anticipate the future. The potential for that vision of the ocean lies with the cooperation among all nations.",10.1153/9789004284081_018,No,,,111,FSS-111,http://dx.doi.org/10.1153/9789004284081_018,FSS,PJ,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,PJ,Yes,review,unclear,more than one of the indicators,indirect,global,All regions,Marine,4,Yes,Yes,Yes,No,Yes,No,n.a.,qualitative (direction),ordinal scale,none,Yes,intermediate,
"Rodriguez, Marco A.; Winemiller, Kirk O.; Lewis, William M., Jr.; Baechle, Donald C. Taphorn",AQUATIC ECOSYSTEM HEALTH & MANAGEMENT,2007,"The freshwater habitats, fishes, and fisheries of the Orinoco River basin","The Orinoco River of Venezuela and Colombia is one of the great rivers of the world, ranking third by discharge after the Amazon and the Congo. In the Orinoco basin, riverine and floodplain habitats, including riparian forests, play key roles in the conservation of biodiversity and support commercial, sport, and subsistence fisheries. The basin three major floodplains regulate the amplitude and duration of floods, maintain fertile agricultural terrain, provide habitat for numerous terrestrial and aquatic species, and support the fishery. The fish fauna, which includes some 1, 000 species, encompasses a great deal of ecological diversity in terms of geographic distributions, habitat affinities, functional morphology, and reproductive and feeding strategies. The Orinoco fishery is still multispecific, with around 80 different species found in the fish markets at different times of year Current estimates indicate that annual sustainable yield is 40,000-45, 000 metric tons. Fish culture in the region is underdeveloped despite decades of research and promotion. There is no serious commercial trade for ornamental fishes. Large regions of the Orinoco basin are still in a relatively pristine state, but aquatic resources are increasingly threatened by habitat destruction, overharvesting, pollution, and hydrological perturbation. Scientific understanding of diversity hotspots, critical habitats, and conservation status of fishes in the basin is currently insufficient to satisfy management needs. Compliance to fishery regulations is low and fishing is drastically modifying the relative abundance, population structure, and distribution of fish stocks. However many sectors of the Orinoco basin are unexploited or only lightly exploited, and fish stocks can recover quickly if given the opportunity. Stricter enforcement of current fishery regulations would reduce the likelihood of stock collapses and other possibly irreversible, changes in the fishery.",10.1080/14634980701350686,No,,,138,FSS-138,http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/14634980701350686,FSS,PJ,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,PJ,Yes,review,unclear,more than one of the indicators,indirect,regional,Americas,Freshwater,4,No,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,No,prevalence-based,qualitative (direction),ordinal scale,none,Yes,intermediate,
"Rappaport, Danielle I.; Morton, Douglas C.; Longo, Marcos; Keller, Michael; Dubayah, Ralph; dos-Santos, Maiza Nara",ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH LETTERS,2018,Quantifying long-term changes in carbon stocks and forest structure from Amazon forest degradation,"Despite sustained declines in Amazon deforestation, forest degradation from logging and fire continues to threaten carbon stocks, habitat, and biodiversity in frontier forests along the Amazon arc of deforestation. Limited data on the magnitude of carbon losses and rates of carbon recovery following forest degradation have hindered carbon accounting efforts and contributed to incomplete national reporting to reduce emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD+). We combined annual time series of Landsat imagery and high-density airborne lidar data to characterize the variability, magnitude, and persistence of Amazon forest degradation impacts on aboveground carbon density (ACD) and canopy structure. On average, degraded forests contained 45.1% of the carbon stocks in intact forests, and differences persisted even after 15 years of regrowth. In comparison to logging, understory fires resulted in the largest and longest-lasting differences in ACD. Heterogeneity in burned forest structure varied by fire severity and frequency. Forests with a history of one, two, and three or more fires retained only 54.4%, 25.2%, and 7.6% of intact ACD, respectively, when measured after a year of regrowth. Unlike the additive impact of successive fires, selective logging before burning did not explain additional variability in modeled ACD loss and recovery of burned forests. Airborne lidar also provides quantitative measures of habitat structure that can aid the estimation of co-benefits of avoided degradation. Notably, forest carbon stocks recovered faster than attributes of canopy structure that are critical for biodiversity in tropical forests, including the abundance of tall trees. We provide the first comprehensive look-up table of emissions factors for specific degradation pathways at standard reporting intervals in the Amazon. Estimated carbon loss and recovery trajectories provide an important foundation for assessing the long-term contributions from forest degradation to regional carbon cycling and advance our understanding of the current state of frontier forests.",10.1088/1748-9326/aac331,No,,,1,IFL-1,http://dx.doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/aac331,IFL,PJ,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,PJ,Yes,empirical data,unclear,one of the indicators,direct (quantitative),regional,Americas,Terrestrial/Freshwater,2,No,No,Yes,No,No,Yes,prevalence-based,quantitative (magnitude),ratio scale,none,Yes,intermediate,
"Jenkins, Richard K. B.; Andriafidison, Daudet; Razafimanahaka, H. Julie; Rabearivelo, Andriamanana; Razafindrakoto, Noromampiandra; Ratsimandresy, Zo; Andrianandrasana, Rabe H.; Razafimahatratra, Emilienne; Racey, Paul A.",ORYX,2007,"Not rare, but threatened: the endemic Madagascar flying fox Pteropus rufus in a fragmented landscape","The endemic Madagascar flying fox Pteropus rufus is threatened by habitat loss at roost sites and hunting for bushmeat. There is no conservation plan for this species, even though it is categorized on the IUCN Red List as Vulnerable and plays an important role as a seed disperser. In the Mangoro valley of central eastern Madagascar we monitored roost occupancy and abundance of P. rufus on 15 occasions at six sites over a 12-month period and conducted a detailed assessment of eight roosts during July 2004. There was considerable monthly variation in bat abundance and only two sites contained bats during every visit. Three sites were occupied only between September and March and may act as maternity or nursery roosts. Evidence of hunting was found at three roosts, and fire and forest clearance are ubiquitous threats. Two roosts were in Eucalyptus plantations and six were in small (2.2 - 28.7 ha) isolated fragments of degraded, mid elevation dense humid forest. All roosts were outside protected areas but were within 20 km of relatively intact forest. Faecal analysis revealed a diet of native forest tree species, cultivated fruits and Eucalyptus flowers. P. rufus in the Mangoro valley, and elsewhere in Madagascar, appears to survive in human-impacted environments by the inclusion of exotic plants in its diet and the ability to move between roosts. We provide conservation recommendations for P. rufus at both local and national levels.",10.1017/S0030605307001883,No,,,19,IFL-19,http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S0030605307001883,IFL,PJ,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,PJ,Yes,empirical data,unclear,one of the indicators,direct (quantitative),local,Africa,Terrestrial,2,No,No,Yes,No,No,Yes,prevalence-based,qualitative (direction),ordinal scale,none,Yes,intermediate,
"Chakona, Gamuchirai; Swartz, Ernst R.; Chakona, Albert",AQUATIC CONSERVATION-MARINE AND FRESHWATER ECOSYSTEMS,2018,"The status and distribution of a newly identified endemic galaxiid in the eastern Cape Fold Ecoregion, of South Africa","DNA-based studies have uncovered cryptic species and lineages within almost all freshwater fishes studied thus far from the Cape Fold Ecoregion (CFE) of South Africa. These studies have changed the way the CFE is viewed, as almost all stream fishes that were previously considered to be of low conservation priority, because they were perceived to have broad geographical ranges, contain multiple historically isolated lineages, many of which are narrow-range endemics.As stream fishes of the CFE are of conservation concern owing to threats mainly posed by habitat degradation, invasion by alien species and hydrological modification, re-evaluation of the distribution and conservation status of newly identified unique lineages is required to inform the development and implementation of effective conservation and management strategies.The present study conducted an IUCN Red List conservation assessment of a newly identified lineage of the Galaxias zebratus species complex (hereafter referred to as Galaxias sp. Joubertina') to identify key threats and provide recommendations to conservation authorities on appropriate measures to reduce extinction risk.The lineage met the qualifying threshold for the Endangered category because of its very restricted geographic range, few remaining secure populations, small known population sizes and the intensity of threats to most of the populations. Only six populations remain, one of which could be an extralimital' population potentially established through an inter-basin water transfer scheme.Galaxias sp. Joubertina' is threatened by invasive piscivores, habitat degradation and excessive water abstraction. These impacts have fragmented remnant populations, raising concerns about potential long-term adverse impacts on genetic diversity and evolutionary potential of this lineage.Immediate conservation measures should protect remnant populations from further impacts, while long-term measures should aim to restore historical connectivity to reduce the potential deleterious effects of inbreeding in the small isolated populations.",10.1002/aqc.2850,No,,,5,IUC-5,http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/aqc.2850,IUC,PJ,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,PJ,Yes,review,one of the indicators,none,n.a.,local,Africa,Freshwater,6,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,prevalence-based,quantitative (magnitude),ratio scale,none,Yes,intermediate,
"Olowokudejo, J. D.; Oyebanji, O. O.",International Journal of Biodiversity and Conservation,2016,Floral diversity of the littoral vegetation of Southeastern Nigeria.,"An investigation of the floral diversity of the littoral vegetation of Akwa-Ibom State coastline of South eastern Nigeria was carried out using quadrat and transects techniques. The results revealed three (3) vegetation types viz: coastal/shoreline, mangrove and secondary forest vegetation. Although, the most encountered ecosystem was the mangrove yet, coastal vegetation had the highest flora diversity of 100 (47%) as compared to mangrove and secondary forest with 87 (41%) and 27 (12%) species, respectively. A total of 147 taxa belonging to 134 genera and 58 families were recorded from the study area. The dominant family was Fabaceae with 17 species (29.3%), while the dominant genus was Ipomoea with 5 species (3.73%). Of these taxa, 59 occurred in more than one vegetation type while 11 were present in all the three (3) vegetation types. Phanerophytes are the dominant life form covering 36% (53 species) of the encountered species. Similarly, diversity index revealed the highest diversity of species in the coastal ecosystem with Shannon-wiener's, Simpson's and Margalef values of 0.99, 4.61 and 21.67, respectively. Correlation matrix and Jaccard similarity coefficient value (0.35) was high between the coastal and mangrove pairs; however, it depicts a minimal significant difference in the species composition within the three ecosystems at 0.05% probability level. Also, PCA scatter plot established less variation between the coastal and mangrove vegetation. Also, 16 economic plants were encountered during the study with uses ranging from edible fruits, spices, vegetables, root crop, and medicine, to palm wine. Factors affecting species distribution are introduction of alien species (Nypa fruticans), canalization, dredging, over exploitation of mangrove and pollution. Conservation status of these taxa according to IUCN 2014-2 showed that no endangered species was encountered during the study. However, conservation of this littoral vegetation is highly imperative in other to stabilize the ecosystem dynamics, protect the biodiversity, prevent or reduce potential effects of ecological disasters such as flooding and erosion.",10.5897/IJBC2016.1027,No,,,11,IUC-11,http://dx.doi.org/10.5897/IJBC2016.1027,IUC,PJ,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,PJ,Yes,empirical data,one of the indicators,none,indirect,local,Africa,Freshwater/Marine,4,No,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,No,n.a.,qualitative (direction),ordinal scale,none,Yes,intermediate,
"Gautam, Monika; Gupta, Sharmita",INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF CONSERVATION SCIENCE,2015,"POPULATION STATUS AND CONSERVATION REQUIREMENT OF SOME ENDANGERED PLANTS GROWING IN DAYALBAGH EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTE, AGRA","The study area is rich in plant diversity but there is an urgent need of conservation. Some rare and endangered plants are still found abundantly in the region, but without protection these plants may become endangered in the near future. Endangered plant species have been categorized by the IUCN (International union for conservation of nature) as the ones likely to become extinct. When the death rate of the species exceeds its birth rate for a prolonged duration, that species is called endangered and eventually it may become extinct. Such are Adhatoda vasica, Ageratum conysoides, Agave americana, Aloe vera, Ammania baccifera, Alternanthera sessilis, Asparagus adscendens, Cactus, Centella asiatica, Costus speciosus, Chlorophytum tuberosum, Gloriosa superba, Piper longum, Sinopodophyllum hexandrum, Rauwolfia serpentina, Saraca asoca, Strebles asper, Tribulus terrestris, Withania somnifera, Zamia pygmeae. Among these threatened plants 4 species were assessed as Critically Endangered (CR), 7 as Endangered (EW), 2 as Vulnerable (VU), 5 as Least Concern (LC) and 1 as Data deficient (DD) by the IUCN Red List in Uttar Pradesh and in the study area. The extinction and decline in plant diversity is caused by many factors, such as population growth, high rates of habitat modification and deforestation, climate change, pollution, the spread of invasive alien species and over-exploitation. Threatened species are being rehabilitated and restored to a protected area from their former habitats.",,No,,,15,IUC-15,,IUC,PJ,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,PJ,Yes,empirical data,one of the indicators,none,direct (quantitative),local,Africa,Terrestrial,5,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,No,prevalence-based,quantitative (magnitude),ratio scale,none,Yes,intermediate,
"Cleary, Daniel F. R.",MARINE POLLUTION BULLETIN,2017,Linking fish species traits to environmental conditions in the Jakarta Bay-Pulau Seribu coral reef system,"Coral reefs around the globe have been subjected to a wide range of stressors. In the present study, fish species were recorded across a pronounced in-to-offshore gradient in the Jakarta Bay-Pulau Seribu reef system. In addition to this, fish species traits were obtained from FishBase. RLQ analysis revealed a significant association between fish species traits and environmental variables. Fish species associated with perturbed, inshore waters were resilient to disturbance, had higher mortality rates, higher growth rates and mainly consumed animals. In contrast, fish species associated with less perturbed, mid- and offshore waters had greater life expectancy, higher age at maturity, greater life span, greater generation time and mainly fed on plants or plants and animals. Eutrophication, pollution and physical destruction of coral substrate in inshore waters has thus selected for a low biomass and depauperate fish community characterised by fast growing and short lived species.",10.1016/j.marpolbul.2017.06.054,No,,,19,LCC-19,http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2017.06.054,LCC,PJ,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,PJ,Yes,review,one of the indicators,unclear,direct (quantitative),local,Asia-Pacific,Marine,2,No,Yes,No,No,Yes,No,effect-based,quantitative (magnitude),ordinal scale,none,Yes,intermediate,
"Duran, A.; Shantz, A. A.; Burkepile, D. E.; Collado-Vides, L.; Ferrer, V. M.; Palma, L.; Ramos, A.; Gonzalez-Diaz, P.",BULLETIN OF MARINE SCIENCE,2018,"Fishing, pollution, climate change, and the long-term decline of coral reefs off Havana, Cuba","Understanding temporal and spatial variation of coral reef communities allows us to analyze the relative effects of local stressors, such as fishing and eutrophication, and global stressors, such as ocean warming. To test for spatial and temporal changes in coral reef communities, we combined recent benthic and fish surveys from 2016 with long-term data, dating back to the late 1990s, from four zones located at different distances from Central Havana, Cuba's largest population center. These changes may indicate the shifting importance of local vs global stressors affecting reef communities. Regardless of the distance from Havana, we found that coral cover was uniformly low (approximately 10%), whereas macroalgal abundance was often high (approximately 65%). Similarly, fish biomass was low across zones, particularly for herbivorous fishes (approximately 12 g m -2 ) that are critical ecological drivers of reef structure and coral resilience. Analyses of longer-term trends revealed that coral cover near Havana has been below about 10% since at least 1995, potentially because of local stressors. In contrast, reefs farther from Havana maintained relatively high coral cover (approximately 30%) until the early 2000s, but declined more recently to approximately 15%, putting them near the Caribbean-wide average. These distinct spatial and temporal trajectories of reef communities may be the result of the expansion of local stressors away from Havana as the human population increased, or as fishers ventured farther away to exploit new resources. Alternatively, the more recent decline of reefs farther from population centers may have resulted from increasingly frequent global stressors, such as bleaching events and hurricanes.",10.5343/bms.2017.1061,No,,,85,LSA-85,http://dx.doi.org/10.5343/bms.2017.1061,LSA,PJ,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,PJ,Yes,empirical data,one of the indicators,none,direct (quantitative),local,Americas,Marine,3,Yes,No,Yes,No,Yes,No,effect-based,quantitative (magnitude),ordinal scale,none,Yes,intermediate,
"Brown, Matthew I.; Pearce, Tristan; Leon, Javier; Sidle, Roy; Wilson, Rachele",APPLIED GEOGRAPHY,2018,"Using remote sensing and traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) to understand mangrove change on the Maroochy River, Queensland, Australia","Mangrove forests support a variety of ecosystem functions and services imperative for ecosystem health. Despite the importance of mangroves, however, mangrove forests worldwide are under threat from human development and climate change. To date, most research on mangrove change in Australia has drawn on approximately 40 years of remotely sensed imagery, a fraction of the time period required to assess spatial change. To improve our understanding of mangrove change, data were collected using historic and current remotely sensed satellite imagery and participatory mapping with Kabi Kabi Traditional Owners to assess mangrove change on the Maroochy River, Queensland, Australia. The results indicate that mangrove extent in the lower Maroochy River has changed significantly since European colonisation in the mid to late 1800s, and declined in recent decades by approximately 30%, a rate similar to global estimates of mangrove loss. Past drivers of change included land clearing for cattle grazing and sugar cane production, and present drivers include agricultural activities, population growth, rapid urbanisation and discharge of pollutants and sewage. These changes have consequences for coastal protection, water purification, biodiversity and cultural services. This research demonstrates how using traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) and remote sensing for understanding ecosystem change, particularly where scientific data are limited, can increase the time period during which change is assessed and enhance the detail and scope of the assessment.",10.1016/j.apgeog.2018.03.006,No,,,58,MFC-58,http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.apgeog.2018.03.006,MFC,PJ,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,PJ,Yes,empirical data,one of the indicators,none,direct (quantitative),local,Asia-Pacific,Freshwater,3,No,Yes,No,No,Yes,Yes,effect-based,qualitative (direction),ordinal scale,none,Yes,intermediate,
"Ghosh, Manoj Kumer; Kumar, Lalit; Roy, Chandan",FORESTS,2016,Mapping Long-Term Changes in Mangrove Species Composition and Distribution in the Sundarbans,"The Sundarbans mangrove forest is an important resource for the people of the Ganges Delta. It plays an important role in the local as well as global ecosystem by absorbing carbon dioxide and other pollutants from air and water, offering protection to millions of people in the Ganges Delta against cyclone and water surges, stabilizing the shore line, trapping sediment and nutrients, purifying water, and providing services for human beings, such as fuel wood, medicine, food, and construction materials. However, this mangrove ecosystem is under threat, mainly due to climate change and anthropogenic factors. Anthropogenic and climate change-induced degradation, such as over-exploitation of timber and pollution, sea level rise, coastal erosion, increasing salinity, effects of increasing number of cyclones and higher levels of storm surges function as recurrent threats to mangroves in the Sundarbans. In this situation, regular and detailed information on mangrove species composition, their spatial distribution and the changes taking place over time is very important for a thorough understanding of mangrove biodiversity, and this information can also lead to the adoption of management practices designed for the maximum sustainable yield of the Sundarbans forest resources. We employed a maximum likelihood classifier technique to classify images recorded by the Landsat satellite series and used post classification comparison techniques to detect changes at the species level. The image classification resulted in overall accuracies of 72%, 83%, 79% and 89% for the images of 1977, 1989, 2000 and 2015, respectively. We identified five major mangrove species and detected changes over the 38-year (1977-2015) study period. During this period, both Heritiera fomes and Excoecaria agallocha decreased by 9.9%, while Ceriops decandra, Sonneratia apelatala, and Xylocarpus mekongensis increased by 12.9%, 380.4% and 57.3%, respectively.",10.3390/f7120305,No,,,76,MFC-76,http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/f7120305,MFC,PJ,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,PJ,Yes,empirical data,one of the indicators,none,direct (quantitative),local,Asia-Pacific,Freshwater/Marine,4,Yes,Yes,Yes,No,Yes,No,prevalence-based,qualitative (direction),ordinal scale,none,Yes,intermediate,
"Rahman, M. M.; Rahman, M. M.; Islam, K. S.",AACL Bioflux,2010,The causes of deterioration of Sundarban mangrove forest ecosystem of Bangladesh: conservation and sustainable management issues.,"The Sundarban forest, located in the southwest of Bangladesh, is one of the largest continuous blocks of mangrove forests in the world. This mangrove forest ecosystem in Bangladesh is now in captious position. Negative natural and anthropogenic impacts and overexploitation of natural resources have caused severe damage to the ecosystem. Growing human population with few alternative livelihood opportunities poses a serious threat to the mangrove forest. The rapidly expanding shrimp farming industry is a significant threat to the mangrove forests of Bangladesh. Due to illegal cutting, encroachment of forest areas and illegal poaching of wildlife, the mangrove forest is losing biodiversity in an alarming rate. This forest ecosystem also has become vulnerable to pollution, which may have changed the ecosystem's biogeochemistry. Further threats arise from global climate change, especially sea level rise. This study seeks to identify the root causes of deterioration of the Sundarban mangrove forest in Bangladesh. It also recommends the application of sustainable management strategies covering needs for an advanced silvicultural system, improvement of scientific research as well as conservation measures.",,No,,,130,MFC-130,,MFC,PJ,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,PJ,Yes,empirical data,one of the indicators,none,direct (quantitative),local,Asia-Pacific,Freshwater/Marine,5,Yes,Yes,Yes,No,Yes,Yes,n.a.,qualitative (direction),ordinal scale,none,Yes,intermediate,
"Guo, Qiang; Fu, Bihong; Shi, Pilong; Cudahy, Thomas; Zhang, Jing; Xu, Huan",REMOTE SENSING,2017,"Satellite Monitoring the Spatial-Temporal Dynamics of Desertification in Response to Climate Change and Human Activities across the Ordos Plateau, China","The Ordos Plateau, a typical semi-arid area in northern China, has experienced severe wind erosion events that have stripped the agriculturally important finer fraction of the topsoil and caused dust events that often impact the air quality in northern China and the surrounding regions. Both climate change and human activities have been considered key factors in the desertification process. This study used multi-spectral Landsat Thematic Mapper (TM), Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus (ETM+) and Operational Land Imager (OLI) remote sensing data collected in 2000, 2006, 2010 and 2015 to generate a temporal series of the modified soil-adjusted vegetation index (MSAVI), bare soil index (BSI) and albedo products in the Ordos Plateau. Based on these satellite products and the decision tree method, we quantitatively assessed the desertification status over the past 15 years since 2000. Furthermore, a quantitative method was used to assess the roles of driving forces in desertification dynamics using net primary productivity (NPP) as a commensurable indicator. The results showed that the area of non-desertification land increased from 6647 km(2) in 2000 to 15,961 km(2) in 2015, while the area of severe desertification land decreased from 16,161 km(2) in 2000 to 8,331 km(2) in 2015. During the period 2006-2015, the effect of human activities, especially the ecological recovery projects implemented in northern China, was the main cause of desertification reversion in this region. Therefore, ecological recovery projects are still required to promote harmonious development between nature and human society in ecologically fragile regions like the Ordos Plateau.",10.3390/rs9060525,No,,,12,NPP-12,http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/rs9060525,NPP,PJ,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,PJ,Yes,empirical data,one of the indicators,none,direct (quantitative),local,Asia-Pacific,Terrestrial,2,Yes,Yes,No,No,No,No,effect-based,quantitative (magnitude),ratio scale,none,Yes,intermediate,
"Greig, Hamish S.; Kratina, Pavel; Thompson, Patrick L.; Palen, Wendy J.; Richardson, John S.; Shurin, Jonathan B.",GLOBAL CHANGE BIOLOGY,2012,"Warming, eutrophication, and predator loss amplify subsidies between aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems","The exchange of organisms and energy among ecosystems has major impacts on food web structure and dynamics, yet little is known about how climate warming combines with other pervasive anthropogenic perturbations to affect such exchanges. We used an outdoor freshwater mesocosm experiment to investigate the interactive effects of warming, eutrophication, and changes in top predators on the flux of biomass between aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems. We demonstrated that predatory fish decoupled aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems by reducing the emergence of aquatic organisms and suppressing the decomposition of terrestrial plant detritus. In contrast, warming and nutrients enhanced cross-ecosystem exchanges by increasing emergence and decomposition, and these effects were strongest in the absence of predators. Furthermore, we found that warming advanced while predators delayed the phenology of insect emergence. Our results demonstrate that anthropogenic perturbations may extend well beyond ecosystem boundaries by influencing cross-ecosystem subsidies. We find that these changes are sufficient to substantially impact recipient communities and potentially alter the carbon balance between aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems and the atmosphere.",10.1111/j.1365-2486.2011.02540.x,No,,,18,PFB-18,http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2486.2011.02540.x,PFB,PJ,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,PJ,Yes,other,one of the indicators,none,direct (quantitative),local,Americas,Freshwater,3,Yes,No,Yes,No,Yes,No,effect-based,quantitative (magnitude),ratio scale,none,Yes,intermediate,"This is a  laboratory manipulation study. I am not sure if we should include it in the analysis, as it's not recording actual events ocurring in the field."
"Ginter, Kai; Kangur, Andu; Kangur, Peeter; Kangur, Kuelil",FISHERIES RESEARCH,2015,Consequences of size-selective harvesting and changing climate on the pikeperch Sander lucioperca in two large shallow north temperate lakes,"Under the prevailing warming and eutrophic conditions, the yields of the pikeperch Sander lucioperca have increased in Lake Peipsi and Lake Vortsjarv in Estonia. Yet, some decrease in the catches has been observed in recent years. We explored whether long-lasting size-selective harvesting of pikeperch together with changing climate factors might have triggered a truncation of the size-structure of the pikeperch population and resulted in the weakening of the population. Thus, we analysed long-term commercial fishery statistics (since 1931) and trawl sample data (since 1990) from the Peipsi and Vortsjarv lakes in terms of climate change and fishing pressure. Our study suggests that fisheries had direct negative effects on the size composition of the pikeperch population due to the nearly complete removal of the larger specimens. The truncation of the size-structure of the pikeperch population refers that cascading effect through the food web may occur as the abundance of inferior small fish has increased accordingly. Moreover, we found that climate changes influenced the pikeperch population in the same direction; large cohorts have become more frequent in the Peipsi and Vortsjarv lakes, and 0+ pikeperch are able to survive milder winters even without undergoing ontogenetic diet shifts. Consequently, overdensity of small fish have occurred, these effects might have serious implications for the economies of the poor rural communities that surround the lakes. The present fishing regulations seem to be inappropriate and this may lead to further population weakening and thus should be revised to provide effective protection for large. specimens. However, continued use of active (towed) gear (e.g., Danish seines) and the difficulties in enforcing fishery regulations under transboundary conditions complicate the implementation of policies that might result in more stable pikeperch populations in large Estonian lakes. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.",10.1016/j.fishres.2014.12.016,No,,,3,PRF-3,http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.fishres.2014.12.016,PRF,PJ,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,PJ,Yes,empirical data,one of the indicators,none,direct (quantitative),local,Europe and Central Asia,freshwater,2,Yes,No,Yes,No,No,No,effect-based,quantitative (magnitude),ratio scale,none,Yes,intermediate,
"Koyanagi, Tomoyo F.; Furukawa, Takuya",BIOLOGICAL CONSERVATION,2013,Nation-wide agrarian depopulation threatens semi-natural grassland species in Japan: Sub-national application of the Red List Index,"To integrate monitoring and conservation of biodiversity at multiple spatial scales, biodiversity indicators measured at coarse spatial scales should be linked with anthropogenic pressures reported at finer scales. Applying the Red List Index (RLI) at the regional level, we investigated the relationship between Japanese semi-natural grassland species and proxies of threats caused by human activities over the past 50 years. We calculated and compared RLI values at the national and prefectural levels for all grassland species, plant functional groups (PFGs), and resource use types. Analyses of prefectural RLIs revealed trends that were not visible at the national level: annuals and wind-dispersed, tall and short perennials were more extinction prone (i.e., had lower RLI values) than tall and short perennials with unassisted and other types of dispersal mechanisms. Species with horticultural use also had higher risk of extinction than those without. Prefectural RLIs were further analyzed for their relationship to social factors (i.e., demographic and land use statistics). As a result, the conservation status of grassland plants was more deteriorated in prefectures with larger decrease in commercial and subsistence agrarian population density in the past (during 1960-1980) than the recent (1980-2000). This supports the perception that the ""underuse"" of agricultural landscapes, indicated by agrarian depopulation, has had a large impact on semi-natural grassland biodiversity in Japan. Our approach of relating regional RLIs to proxies of anthropogenic pressures demonstrated that human-induced drivers of species loss can be readily interpreted from spatial differences in RLI values in order to derive effective conservation strategies across regions. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.",10.1016/j.biocon.2013.07.012,No,,,37,RLI-37,http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2013.07.012,RLI,PJ,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,PJ,Yes,review,one of the indicators,none,none,local,Asia-Pacific,All realms,2,No,Yes,Yes,No,No,No,prevalence-based,qualitative (direction),ordinal scale,none,Yes,intermediate,
"Braimoh, AK",AGRICULTURE ECOSYSTEMS & ENVIRONMENT,2006,Random and systematic land-cover transitions in northern Ghana,"The objective of this paper is to detect the dominant landscape changes in a 5400 km(2) area in northern Ghana. An in-depth analysis of the conventional transition matrix was used to separate landscape transformations to random and systematic transitions. A landscape transition is random if a land-cover category gains from other categories in proportion to the availability of those other losing categories, or if a category loses to other categories in proportion to the size of those other gaining categories. Any large deviation from those proportions is refer-red to as systematic transition. The highest systematic transition involved the conversion of about 12% of landscape from grassland to cropland. Other systematic landscape transitions included degradation of closed woodland to open woodland (11% of landscape), gain in biomass from open woodland to closed woodland (8% of landscape), and the degradation of open woodland to grassland (6% of landscape). The vulnerability of grassland to transition to cropland probably reflects the ease of clearing grassland compared to other natural vegetation. Cropland systematically avoided gaining from woodland and woodland systematically avoided losing to cropland, suggesting that woodcutting for charcoal and firewood collection is the major proximate cause of decline in woodland. Most of the random landscape transitions occurred in areas affected by spontaneous occupation by migrants, peri-urban cropland expansion as a result of displacement of farmers, and the resettlement of households along the White Volta River after the eradication of water-borne diseases. It is essential to combine systematic and random landscape change analyses for improved understanding of the processes of land use change. This will help in linking patterns to processes and in designing policy interventions aimed at reducing the unfavorable effects of dramatic land change. (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.",10.1016/j.agee.2005.10.019,No,,,142,RPV-142,http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.agee.2005.10.019,RPV,PJ,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,PJ,Yes,empirical data,one of the indicators,none,direct (quantitative),local,Africa,Terrestrial,2,No,Yes,Yes,No,No,No,effect-based,quantitative (magnitude),ratio scale,none,Yes,intermediate,
Zhang Chao; Ding LiuYong; Ding ChengZhi; Chen LiQiang; Sun Jie; Jiang XiaoMing,Ecological Indicators,2018,Responses of species and phylogenetic diversity of fish communities in the Lancang River to hydropower development and exotic invasions.,"Multiple anthropogenic disturbances have been modifying the structure and diversity of local assemblages worldwide through both introductions of nonnative species and disappearance of native species. Most previous studies have concentrated on the effects of human disturbances on species diversity, but their effects on phylogenetic diversity have been relatively seldom documented. Here, we measured the temporal changes in species and phylogenetic alpha diversity in 12 mainstream regions of the Lancang River (LCR) in the context of hydropower development and widespread exotic invasions. We found that disturbances by dams and widespread introductions of exotic fishes have induced a marked loss of native species (average 36.8 species disappeared per region, accounting for 47.2% of the historical native species) in the downstream regions over time, whereas few native species were disappeared (average 4 species disappeared, accounting for 23.8% of the historical native species) in the upstream regions. In terms of phylogenetic diversity, however, the average taxonomic distinctness (Delta+, a taxonomic proxy for phylogenetic diversity) of the entire assemblages significantly increased (an increase of 4.4% compared to historical Delta+) in all regions, while native Delta+ insignificantly decreased in downstream regions, and the variation in taxonomic distinctness (Lambda+, a proxy for variation in phylogenetic diversity) of the entire assemblages significantly increased (24.6%) in downstream regions, while native Lambda+ significantly decreased (12.0%) in all regions. Such changes in phylogenetic diversity were triggered by invasions by distantly related exotic species and disappearances of congeneric endemic species. Across the LCR, the relationships between species richness, Delta+, and Lambda+ and altitude all became obscure due to the combined effect of introductions and disappearances. In dammed regions, the disappearance rate and rate of change in the taxonomic distinctness of native assemblages showed negative correlations with the distances of cascade dams. Our study showed that intensive hydropower development and exotic invasions have significantly affected both the taxonomic and phylogenetic diversity of fish assemblages in the LCR, especially in its downstream region. However, the response of phylogenetic diversity to human disturbance was inconsistent with that of species diversity, implying that examining the response of phylogenetic diversity could provide additional information for assessing the impacts of human domination.",10.1016/j.ecolind.2018.03.004,No,,,48,LSR-48,http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolind.2018.03.004,LSR,YT,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,YT,Yes,empirical data,one of the indicators,one of the indicators,direct (quantitative),local,Asia-Pacific,Freshwater,2,No,No,No,Yes,No,Yes,effect-based,quantitative (magnitude),ordinal scale,none,Yes,intermediate,
"Banger, Kamaljit; Tian, Hanqin; Tao, Bo; Ren, Wei; Pan, Shufen; Dangal, Shree; Yang, Jia",CLIMATIC CHANGE,2015,Terrestrial net primary productivity in India during 1901-2010: contributions from multiple environmental changes,"India is very important but relatively unexplored region in terms of carbon studies, where significant environmental changes have occurred in the 20th century that can alter terrestrial net primary productivity (NPP). Here, we used a process-based, Dynamic Land Ecosystem Model (DLEM), driven by land cover and land use change (LCLUC), climate change, elevated atmospheric CO2 concentration, atmospheric nitrogen deposition (NDEP), and tropospheric ozone (O-3) pollution to estimate terrestrial NPP in India during 1901-2010. Over the country, terrestrial NPP showed significant inter-annual variations ranging 1.2 Pg C year(-1) to 1.7 Pg C year(-1) during the 1901-2010. Overall, multiple environmental changes have increased terrestrial NPP by 0.23 Pg C year(-1). Elevated atmospheric CO2 concentration has increased NPP by 0.29 Pg C; however climate change has offset a portion of terrestrial NPP (0.11 Pg C) during this study period. On an average, terrestrial NPP reduced by 0.12 Pg C year(-1) in drought years; when precipitation was 100 mm year(-1) lower than long term average, suggesting that terrestrial carbon cycle in India is strongly linked to climate change. LCLUC, including land conversions and cropland management practices, increased terrestrial NPP by 0.043 Pg C year(-1) over the country. Tropospheric O-3 pollution reduced terrestrial NPP by 0.06 Pg C year(-1) and the decrease was comparatively higher in croplands than other biomes after the 1980s. Our results have shown that climate change and tropospheric O-3 pollution may partially offset terrestrial NPP increase caused by elevated CO2 concentration, LCLUC, and NDEP over India.",10.1007/s10584-015-1448-5,No,,,32,NPP-32,http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10584-015-1448-5,NPP,YT,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,YT,Yes,empirical data,one of the indicators,none,direct (quantitative),local,Asia-Pacific,Terrestrial,3,Yes,Yes,No,No,Yes,No,effect-based,quantitative (magnitude),ordinal scale,none,Yes,intermediate,
"Dai, Zhaohua; Birdsey, Richard A.; Johnson, Kristofer D.; Manuel Dupuy, Juan; Luis Hernandez-Stefanoni, Jose; Richardson, Karen",WATER AIR AND SOIL POLLUTION,2014,"Modeling Carbon Stocks in a Secondary Tropical Dry Forest in the Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico","The carbon balance of secondary dry tropical forests of Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula is sensitive to human and natural disturbances and climate change. The spatially explicit process model Forest-DeNitrificationDeComposition (DNDC) was used to estimate forest carbon dynamics in this region, including the effects of disturbance on carbon stocks. Model evaluation using observations from 276 sample plots in a tropical dry forest in the Yucatan Peninsula indicated that Forest-DNDC can be used to simulate carbon stocks for this forest with good model performance efficiency. The simulated spatial variability in carbon stocks was large, ranging from 5 to 115 Mg carbon (C) ha(-1), with a mean of 56.6 Mg C ha(-1). Carbon stocks in the forest were largely influenced by human disturbances between 1985 and 2010. Based on a comparison of the simulations with and without disturbances, carbon storage in the year 2012 with disturbance was 3.2 Mg C ha(-1), lower on average than without disturbance. The difference over the whole study area was 154.7 Gg C, or an 8.5 % decrease. There were substantial differences in carbon stocks simulated at individual sample plots, compared to spatially modeled outputs (200 m(2) plots vs. polygon simulation units) at some locations due to differences in vegetation class, stand age, and soil conditions at different resolutions. However, the difference in the regional mean of carbon stocks between plot-level simulation and spatial output was small. Soil CO2 and N2O fluxes varied spatially; both fluxes increased with increasing precipitation, and soil CO2 also increased with an increase in biomass. The modeled spatial variability in CH4 uptake by soils was small, and the flux was not correlated with precipitation. The net ecosystem exchange (NEE) and net primary production (NPP) were nonlinearly correlated with stand age. Similar to the carbon stock simulations, different resolutions resulted in some differences in NEE and NPP, but the spatial means were similar.",10.1007/s11270-014-1925-x,No,,,68,NPP-68,http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11270-014-1925-x,NPP,YT,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,YT,Yes,empirical data,none,more than one of the indicators,direct (quantitative),local,Americas,Terrestrial,2,No,Yes,Yes,No,No,No,prevalence-based,quantitative (magnitude),ordinal scale,none,Yes,intermediate,
"Shackell, Nancy L.; Frank, Kenneth T.; Fisher, Jonathan A. D.; Petrie, Brian; Leggett, William C.",PROCEEDINGS OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY B-BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES,2010,Decline in top predator body size and changing climate alter trophic structure in an oceanic ecosystem,"Globally, overfishing large-bodied groundfish populations has resulted in substantial increases in their prey populations. Where it has been examined, the effects of overfishing have cascaded down the food chain. In an intensively fished area on the western Scotian Shelf, Northwest Atlantic, the biomass of prey species increased exponentially (doubling time of 11 years) even though the aggregate biomass of their predators remained stable over 38 years. Concomitant reductions in herbivorous zooplankton and increases in phytoplankton were also evident. This anomalous trophic pattern led us to examine how declines in predator body size (approx. 60% in body mass since the early 1970s) and climatic regime influenced lower trophic levels. The increase in prey biomass was associated primarily with declines in predator body size and secondarily to an increase in stratification. Sea surface temperature and predator biomass had no influence. A regression model explained 65 per cent of prey biomass variability. Trait-mediated effects, namely a reduction in predator size, resulted in a weakening of top predation pressure. Increased stratification may have enhanced growing conditions for prey fish. Size-selective harvesting under changing climatic conditions initiated a trophic restructuring of the food chain, the effects of which may have influenced three trophic levels.",10.1098/rspb.2009.1020,No,,,41,PRF-41,http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2009.1020,PRF,YT,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,YT,Yes,empirical data,one of the indicators,one of the indicators,direct (quantitative),local,Europe and Central Asia,Marine,2,Yes,No,Yes,No,No,No,effect-based,quantitative (magnitude),ordinal scale,none,Yes,intermediate,