Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment最新文献

One Health initiatives have advanced zoonotic disease management by recognizing the interconnectedness of three sectors of governance (human, ecosystem, and animal) and by identifying options that can improve full-system health. Although One Health has had many successes, its full realization may be inhibited by a lack of strategies to overcome simultaneous impediments in decision making and governance. Decision impediments that hinder management may include uncertainty, risk, resource limitations, and trade-offs among objectives. Governance impediments arise from disparities in costs and benefits of disease management among sectors. Tools and strategies developed from decision science, collaboration, and negotiation theory can help articulate and overcome coinciding decision and governance impediments and enhance multisectoral One Health initiatives. In cases where collaboration and negotiation are insufficient to address disparities in cross-sector costs and benefits, altering incentive structures might improve disease-specific outcomes and improve the realization of One Health.

Globalization is increasing the threat of invasive forest insects to ecosystems. Control efforts against the same pest species progressively occur across distant jurisdictions as integrated pest management (IPM) programs or tactics developed in one region are adopted by another region. This knowledge exchange accelerates responses and collaboration; however, transplanted IPM programs can overlook preexisting or emerging differences between regions, which may explain their varying success. These differences include biological variation in the pest system, environmental conditions, issues of scale and capacity of the response, regulatory environment, and cultural context. We examine the role of these factors in the adoption and outcomes of IPM programs, drawing from case studies and an online survey of forestry IPM experts. To facilitate regional adaptation of IPM programs during their adoption and implementation in new regions, we propose an evaluation framework and recommend approaches to not only reduce risks but also maximize uptake, efficacy, and resilience.

In a changing world, predicting ecosystem functions is essential to ensuring human well-being and survival. However, commonly used trait-based predictive approaches frequently lack predictive power. Statistical and conceptual attempts to better incorporate environmental factors into trait-based predictions have done so by integrating indirect, trait-mediated effects therein. Here, we define ecosystem functions as changes in the state, position, or nature of energy or matter within an ecosystem, and then illustrate how environmental factors can directly affect ecosystem functions. Given that the effects of organismal traits and environmental factors are not necessarily additive, we also propose that interactions between organismal traits and environmental factors (hereafter, trait–environment interactions) have explanatory power. We propose a conceptual framework in which organismal traits, environmental factors, and trait–environment interactions, together with the environment's effects on traits (plasticity) and traits’ effects on the environment (ecosystem engineering), can explain ecosystem functions. We conclude by discussing the importance of considering trait–environment interactions and identifying future avenues of exploration.

The nexus between changing habitats, faunal communities, and anthropogenic stressors represents an enduring conservation challenge. We propose that habitat-mediated soundscape conservation—the ability of biogenic habitats to attenuate anthropogenic noise—plays an unrecognized role in mitigating underwater noise pollution, a pervasive disturbance that disrupts the ability of species to perceive acoustic cues and communicate. We hypothesize that noise attenuation depends on the composition and physical complexity of biogenic habitats, and severe habitat degradation can cause acoustic conditions to exceed ecological tipping points, resulting in the emergence of alternative acoustic states. We examine this concept in coral reefs and kelp forests, given that the global decline of both ecosystems provides the requisite conditions to investigate our hypothesis. We then explore why anthropogenic structures fail to provide acoustic refugia. Finally, we assess whether habitat restoration or acoustic enrichment can reestablish natural soundscapes. Our review underscores the importance of considering habitat degradation when evaluating the risk that pollutants pose to ecosystems.

Temperate forests are the most fragmented forest biome, yet current understanding of fragmentation effects on ecosystem processes, such as carbon (C) cycling, is rooted in tropical forest research. We review the effects of persistent fragmentation on temperate forest ecosystem processes and quantify the extent to which the US national forest inventory and land-cover maps represent forest edge area. We found systematic underrepresentation of forest edges across all methods. As compared with very high resolution (1 m) maps, conventional 30-m resolution forest cover maps underestimated forest edge area by 16.4%, on average. Accounting for all forest edge area and edge effects on forest structure and growth resulted in a 14.8% median increase in aboveground forest C estimates, with 23.8% and 74.2% increases in agriculturally and urban dominated counties, respectively. We conclude by proposing improvements to forest inventories, maps, and models to better represent the fragmented temperate forest landscape.

The legal trade in exotic pets is linked to the establishment of nonnative species and climate change compounds the risk of invasion, overwhelming management efforts. We characterized the world's largest market for exotic pets—the US—by providing a real-time snapshot of species with invasion potential, and assessed the current and future risk posed to native systems. We found a diverse marketplace of 1178 terrestrial vertebrates, predominantly tropical species. Using 2818 brick-and-mortar pet stores, we developed spatial models of propagule risk, from which it was determined that future climate change may increase climate suitability by 194%, which in turn equates to 83% of total land area in the contiguous US becoming suitable for invasion by 2080. Rapid growth in the exotic pet trade industry is expected to exacerbate current findings, especially at southernmost latitudes. The real-time nature of this study provides more actionable management information than outdated import data.

Recruitment and retention of a diverse scientific workforce depends on a more inclusive culture of science. Textbooks introduce prospective scientists to their chosen field and convey its cultural norms. We use ecology textbook data spanning two decades and document little change in representation of scientists during that time. Despite decades of multifaceted efforts to increase diversity in ecology, 91% of founders/innovators and 76% of working scientists introduced in textbooks were white men, poorly matching the demographics of scientists currently publishing in ecology. Textbook images depicted white men working as scientists, while women and people of color were frequently shown as nonscientists. Moreover, textbooks lack discussion of how science and society shape each other. Pathways to increase retention and sense of belonging for individuals from historically excluded groups include updating textbooks to accurately represent the scientists active in the field, contextualizing historical constraints on participation, and revealing how culture shapes scientific investigations.

Beyond the well-established benefits of wildlife road crossings and associated infrastructure—improving driver safety, reducing animal mortality, reconnecting habitats—there is another important but often underappreciated benefit: supporting wildlife and ecosystems in adapting to climate change. We explore this potential by (1) synthesizing the literature surrounding climate adaptation and wildlife crossings, (2) presenting a case study on how crossings support shifting animal migrations, and (3) describing key considerations for incorporating climate information into crossing prioritizations. Among other climate-adaptive benefits, research suggests crossings can support species range shifts and protect access to resources even as drought and human development compromise that access. Our case study outlines an approach for prioritizing crossing locations most likely to support animal migration both today and into the future. By accounting for such dynamics, wildlife crossings can be a cost-effective tool that protects wildlife as well as motorists and enhances the resilience of infrastructure and ecosystems in a changing world.

Forest avifauna in eastern North America have expanded their range across the Great Plains to the West, likely due to anthropogenic changes. The barred owl (Strix varia) is a focal example of the negative effects that these intracontinental range expansions can have, with this invasive species becoming a major threat to the northern spotted owl (Strix occidentalis caurina) and potentially larger biological communities. If barred owl populations are not managed immediately, northern spotted owl populations will likely be extirpated from large parts of their range and, ultimately, may become extinct. Of available management options, lethal control of barred owls has the greatest potential to rapidly benefit spotted owls and other impacted species. We argue that immediate action is necessary to buy time while other management options are explored and developed and that lethal control is an ethical management option. The barred owl conundrum exemplifies the challenges of managing native invasive species.