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Full-Text Articles in Community Health
Perspective Article: Actions To Reconfigure Food Systems, Ana Maria Loboguerrero, Philip Thornton, Jonathan Wadsworth, Bruce M. Campbell, Mario Herrero, Daniel Mason-D'Croz, Dhanush Dinesh, Sophia Huyer, Andy Jarvis, Alberto Millan, Eva Wollenberg, Stephen Zebiak
Perspective Article: Actions To Reconfigure Food Systems, Ana Maria Loboguerrero, Philip Thornton, Jonathan Wadsworth, Bruce M. Campbell, Mario Herrero, Daniel Mason-D'Croz, Dhanush Dinesh, Sophia Huyer, Andy Jarvis, Alberto Millan, Eva Wollenberg, Stephen Zebiak
Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources Faculty Publications
There is broad agreement that current food systems are not on a sustainable trajectory that will enable us to reach the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030, particularly in the face of anthropogenic climate change. Guided by a consideration of some food system reconfigurations in the past, we outline an agenda of work around four action areas: rerouting old systems into new trajectories; reducing risks; minimising the environmental footprint of food systems; and realigning the enablers of change needed to make new food systems function. Here we highlight food systems levers that, along with activities within these four action areas, may …
Agricultural Development Addresses Food Loss And Waste While Reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Gillian L. Galford, Olivia Peña, Amanda K. Sullivan, Julie Nash, Noel Gurwick, Gillian Pirolli, Meryl Richards, Julianna White, Eva Wollenberg
Agricultural Development Addresses Food Loss And Waste While Reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Gillian L. Galford, Olivia Peña, Amanda K. Sullivan, Julie Nash, Noel Gurwick, Gillian Pirolli, Meryl Richards, Julianna White, Eva Wollenberg
Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources Faculty Publications
Food loss and waste (FLW) reduce food available for consumption and increase the environmental burden of production. Reducing FLW increases agricultural and value-chain productivity and may reduce greenhouse gas emissions associated with feeding the global population. Although studies of interventions that reduce FLW exist, almost no research systematically investigates FLW interventions across multiple value chains or countries, most likely due to challenges in collecting and synthesizing data and estimates, let alone estimating greenhouse gas emissions. Our research team investigated changes in FLW in projects supported by the United States Agency for International Development's (USAID) global hunger and food security initiative, …
Designing A Global Mechanism For Intergovernmental Biodiversity Financing, Nils Droste, Joshua Farley, Irene Ring, Peter H. May, Taylor H. Ricketts
Designing A Global Mechanism For Intergovernmental Biodiversity Financing, Nils Droste, Joshua Farley, Irene Ring, Peter H. May, Taylor H. Ricketts
Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources Faculty Publications
The Convention on Biological Diversity and the Nagoya Protocol display a broad international consensus for biodiversity conservation and equitable benefit sharing. Yet, the Aichi biodiversity targets show a lack of progress and thus indicate a need for additional action such as enhanced and better targeted financial resource mobilization. To date, no global financial burden-sharing instrument has been proposed. Developing a global-scale financial mechanism to support biodiversity conservation through intergovernmental transfers, we simulate three allocation designs: ecocentric, socioecological, and anthropocentric. We analyze the corresponding incentives needed to reach the Aichi target of terrestrial protected area coverage by 2020. Here we show …
Loving The Mess: Navigating Diversity And Conflict In Social Values For Sustainability, Jasper O. Kenter, Christopher M. Raymond, Carena J. Van Riper, Elaine Azzopardi, Michelle R. Brear, Fulvia Calcagni, Ian Christie, Michael Christie, Anne Fordham, Rachelle K. Gould, Christopher D. Ives, Adam P. Hejnowicz, Richard Gunton, Andra Ioana Horcea-Milcu, Dave Kendal, Jakub Kronenberg, Julian R. Massenberg, Seb O’Connor, Neil Ravenscroft, Andrea Rawluk, Ivan J. Raymond, Jorge Rodríguez-Morales, Samarthia Thankappan
Loving The Mess: Navigating Diversity And Conflict In Social Values For Sustainability, Jasper O. Kenter, Christopher M. Raymond, Carena J. Van Riper, Elaine Azzopardi, Michelle R. Brear, Fulvia Calcagni, Ian Christie, Michael Christie, Anne Fordham, Rachelle K. Gould, Christopher D. Ives, Adam P. Hejnowicz, Richard Gunton, Andra Ioana Horcea-Milcu, Dave Kendal, Jakub Kronenberg, Julian R. Massenberg, Seb O’Connor, Neil Ravenscroft, Andrea Rawluk, Ivan J. Raymond, Jorge Rodríguez-Morales, Samarthia Thankappan
Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources Faculty Publications
This paper concludes a special feature of Sustainability Science that explores a broad range of social value theoretical traditions, such as religious studies, social psychology, indigenous knowledge, economics, sociology, and philosophy. We introduce a novel transdisciplinary conceptual framework that revolves around concepts of ‘lenses’ and ‘tensions’ to help navigate value diversity. First, we consider the notion of lenses: perspectives on value and valuation along diverse dimensions that describe what values focus on, how their sociality is envisioned, and what epistemic and procedural assumptions are made. We characterise fourteen of such dimensions. This provides a foundation for exploration of seven areas …
Aligning Evidence Generation And Use Across Health, Development, And Environment, Heather Tallis, Katharine Kreis, Lydia Olander, Claudia Ringler, David Ameyaw, Mark E. Borsuk, Diana Fletschner, Edward Game, Daniel O. Gilligan, Marc Jeuland, Gina Kennedy, Yuta J. Masuda, Sumi Mehta, Nicholas Miller, Megan Parker, Carmel Pollino, Julie Rajaratnam, David Wilkie, Wei Zhang, Selena Ahmed, Oluyede C. Ajayi, Harold Alderman, George Arhonditsis, Ines Azevedo, Ruchi Badola, Rob Bailis, Patricia Balvanera, Emily Barbour, Mark Bardini, David N. Barton, Jill Baumgartner
Aligning Evidence Generation And Use Across Health, Development, And Environment, Heather Tallis, Katharine Kreis, Lydia Olander, Claudia Ringler, David Ameyaw, Mark E. Borsuk, Diana Fletschner, Edward Game, Daniel O. Gilligan, Marc Jeuland, Gina Kennedy, Yuta J. Masuda, Sumi Mehta, Nicholas Miller, Megan Parker, Carmel Pollino, Julie Rajaratnam, David Wilkie, Wei Zhang, Selena Ahmed, Oluyede C. Ajayi, Harold Alderman, George Arhonditsis, Ines Azevedo, Ruchi Badola, Rob Bailis, Patricia Balvanera, Emily Barbour, Mark Bardini, David N. Barton, Jill Baumgartner
Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources Faculty Publications
Although health, development, and environment challenges are interconnected, evidence remains fractured across sectors due to methodological and conceptual differences in research and practice. Aligned methods are needed to support Sustainable Development Goal advances and similar agendas. The Bridge Collaborative, an emergent research-practice collaboration, presents principles and recommendations that help harmonize methods for evidence generation and use. Recommendations were generated in the context of designing and evaluating evidence of impact for interventions related to five global challenges (stabilizing the global climate, making food production sustainable, decreasing air pollution and respiratory disease, improving sanitation and water security, and solving hunger and malnutrition) …
Optimizing Wetland Restoration To Improve Water Quality At A Regional Scale, Nitin K. Singh, Jesse D. Gourevitch, Beverley C. Wemple, Keri B. Watson, Donna M. Rizzo, Stephen Polasky, Taylor H. Ricketts
Optimizing Wetland Restoration To Improve Water Quality At A Regional Scale, Nitin K. Singh, Jesse D. Gourevitch, Beverley C. Wemple, Keri B. Watson, Donna M. Rizzo, Stephen Polasky, Taylor H. Ricketts
Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources Faculty Publications
Excessive phosphorus (P) export to aquatic ecosystems can lead to impaired water quality. There is a growing interest among watershed managers in using restored wetlands to retain P from agricultural landscapes and improve water quality. We develop a novel framework for prioritizing wetland restoration at a regional scale. The framework uses an ecosystem service model and an optimization algorithm that maximizes P reduction for given levels of restoration cost. Applying our framework in the Lake Champlain Basin, we find that wetland restoration can reduce P export by 2.6% for a budget of $50 M and 5.1% for a budget of …
Food And Earth Systems: Priorities For Climate Change Adaptation And Mitigation For Agriculture And Food Systems, Ana Maria Loboguerrero, Bruce M. Campbell, Peter J.M. Cooper, James W. Hansen, Todd Rosenstock, Eva Wollenberg
Food And Earth Systems: Priorities For Climate Change Adaptation And Mitigation For Agriculture And Food Systems, Ana Maria Loboguerrero, Bruce M. Campbell, Peter J.M. Cooper, James W. Hansen, Todd Rosenstock, Eva Wollenberg
Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources Faculty Publications
Human activities and their relation with land, through agriculture and forestry, are significantly impacting Earth system functioning. Specifically, agriculture has increasingly become a key sector for adaptation and mitigation initiatives that address climate change and help ensure food security for a growing global population. Climate change and agricultural outcomes influence our ability to reach targets for at least seven of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals. By 2015, 103 nations had committed themselves to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture, while 102 countries had prioritized agriculture in their adaptation agenda. Adaptation and mitigation actions within agriculture still receive insufficient support across …
Scaling Up Sustainability In Commodity Agriculture: Transferability Of Governance Mechanisms Across The Coffee And Cattle Sectors In Brazil, R. Hajjar, P. Newton, D. Adshead, M. Bogaerts, V. A. Maguire-Rajpaul, L. F.G. Pinto, C. L. Mcdermott, J. C. Milder, E. Wollenberg, A. Agrawal
Scaling Up Sustainability In Commodity Agriculture: Transferability Of Governance Mechanisms Across The Coffee And Cattle Sectors In Brazil, R. Hajjar, P. Newton, D. Adshead, M. Bogaerts, V. A. Maguire-Rajpaul, L. F.G. Pinto, C. L. Mcdermott, J. C. Milder, E. Wollenberg, A. Agrawal
Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources Faculty Publications
A number of governance mechanisms address socio-environmental challenges associated with commodity agriculture in tropical forested countries. Governance mechanisms that prove effective in one agricultural sector are often applied to other sectors as well. For example, voluntary certification programs have been adopted by producers of commodities as diverse as beef, coffee, palm oil, and soy. However, there are substantial differences in the extent to which governance mechanisms scale up and achieve impact in different sectors. This paper analyzes how the potential for scaling up a particular governance mechanism is influenced by environmental, market, and social geographies that differ between sectors. Through …
Seizing Opportunities To Diversify Conservation, Rachelle K. Gould, Indira Phukan, Mary E. Mendoza, Nicole M. Ardoin, Bindu Panikkar
Seizing Opportunities To Diversify Conservation, Rachelle K. Gould, Indira Phukan, Mary E. Mendoza, Nicole M. Ardoin, Bindu Panikkar
Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources Faculty Publications
Conservation Letters published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. This article identifies, and offers several ways to address, a serious, persistent issue in conservation: low levels of diversity in thought and action. We first describe the lack of diversity and highlight the continued separation of the environmental conservation and environmental justice movements. We then offer—based on previous research and our collective experience—two suggestions for how to increase inclusivity (a step farther than increasing diversity) in holistic ways. We suggest that embracing narrative, including historical narrative that can be profound and painful, may be essential to addressing this deeply rooted issue. We also …
Climate-Smart Land Use Requires Local Solutions, Transdisciplinary Research, Policy Coherence And Transparency, Sarah Carter, Bas Arts, Ken E. Giller, Cinthia Soto Golcher, Kasper Kok, Jessica De Koning, Meine Van Noordwijk, Pytrik Reidsma, Mariana C. Rufino, Giulia Salvini, Louis Verchot, Eva Wollenberg, Martin Herold
Climate-Smart Land Use Requires Local Solutions, Transdisciplinary Research, Policy Coherence And Transparency, Sarah Carter, Bas Arts, Ken E. Giller, Cinthia Soto Golcher, Kasper Kok, Jessica De Koning, Meine Van Noordwijk, Pytrik Reidsma, Mariana C. Rufino, Giulia Salvini, Louis Verchot, Eva Wollenberg, Martin Herold
Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources Faculty Publications
Successfully meeting the mitigation and adaptation targets of the Paris Climate Agreement (PA) will depend on strengthening the ties between forests and agriculture. Climate-smart land use can be achieved by integrating climate-smart agriculture (CSA) and REDD+. The focus on agriculture for food security within a changing climate, and on forests for climate change mitigation and adaptation, can be achieved simultaneously with a transformational change in the land-use sector. Striving for both independently will lead to competition for land, inefficiencies in monitoring and conflicting agendas. Practical solutions exist for specific contexts that can lead to increased agricultural output and forest protection. …
Biodiversity Offsets May Miss Opportunities To Mitigate Impacts On Ecosystem Services, Laura J. Sonter, Jesse Gourevitch, Insu Koh, Charles C. Nicholson, Leif L. Richardson, Aaron J. Schwartz, Nitin K. Singh, Keri B. Watson, Martine Maron, Taylor H. Ricketts
Biodiversity Offsets May Miss Opportunities To Mitigate Impacts On Ecosystem Services, Laura J. Sonter, Jesse Gourevitch, Insu Koh, Charles C. Nicholson, Leif L. Richardson, Aaron J. Schwartz, Nitin K. Singh, Keri B. Watson, Martine Maron, Taylor H. Ricketts
Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources Faculty Publications
© The Ecological Society of America Biodiversity offsets are most commonly used to mitigate the adverse impacts of development on biodiversity, but some offsets are now also designed to support ecosystem services (ES) goals. Here, we assemble a global database of biodiversity offsets (n = 70) to show that 41% already take ES into consideration, with the objective of enhancing cultural, regulating, and provisioning services. We found that biodiversity offsets were more likely to consider ES when (1) development projects reported impacts on services, (2) offsets had voluntary biodiversity goals, and (3) conservation organizations were involved. However, offsets that considered …
The Ecology And Conservation Of Cuba’S Coastal And Marine Ecosystems, Joe Roman
The Ecology And Conservation Of Cuba’S Coastal And Marine Ecosystems, Joe Roman
Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources Faculty Publications
Cuba has some of the most well-protected coastal ecosystems in the Caribbean Sea, with strong marine policies and legislation, including a system of marine protected areas intended to cover 25% of its insular shelf. The “crown jewel” of the system, Jardines de la Reina National Park, has near pristine levels of apex predators and well-preserved coral reefs. Yet overfishing, illegal fishing, land-based pollution, and global changes, including increased bleaching events and more intense hurricanes, are widespread stressors and major threats to marine ecosystems. Limited resources have hindered Cuba’s ability to address these threats. Despite having numerous shared species and resources …
Spatial Analysis Of Ecosystem Service Relationships To Improve Targeting Of Payments For Hydrological Services, Pierre Mokondoko, Robert H. Manson, Taylor H. Ricketts, Daniel Geissert
Spatial Analysis Of Ecosystem Service Relationships To Improve Targeting Of Payments For Hydrological Services, Pierre Mokondoko, Robert H. Manson, Taylor H. Ricketts, Daniel Geissert
Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources Faculty Publications
Payment for hydrological services (PHS) are popular tools for conserving ecosystems and their water-related services. However, improving the spatial targeting and impacts of PHS, as well as their ability to foster synergies with other ecosystem services (ES), remain challenging. We aimed at using spatial analyses to evaluate the targeting performance of Mexico's National PHS program in central Veracruz. We quantified the effectiveness of areas targeted for PHS in actually covering areas of high HS provision and social priority during 2003-2013. First, we quantified provisioning and spatial distributions of two target (water yield and soil retention), and one non-target ES (carbon …
The Climate-Smart Village Approach: Framework Of An Integrative Strategy For Scaling Up Adaptation Options In Agriculture, Pramod K. Aggarwal, Andy Jarvis, Bruce M. Campbell, Robert B. Zougmoré, Arun Khatri-Chhetri, Sonja J. Vermeulen, Ana Maria Loboguerrero, Leocadio S. Sebastian, James Kinyangi, Osana Bonilla-Findji, Maren Radeny, John Recha, Deissy Martinez-Baron, Julian Ramirez-Villegas, Sophia Huyer, Philip Thornton, Eva Wollenberg, James Hansen, Patricia Alvarez-Toro, Andrés Aguilar-Ariza, David Arango-Londoño, Victor Patiño-Bravo, Ovidio Rivera, Mathieu Ouedraogo, Bui Tan Yen
The Climate-Smart Village Approach: Framework Of An Integrative Strategy For Scaling Up Adaptation Options In Agriculture, Pramod K. Aggarwal, Andy Jarvis, Bruce M. Campbell, Robert B. Zougmoré, Arun Khatri-Chhetri, Sonja J. Vermeulen, Ana Maria Loboguerrero, Leocadio S. Sebastian, James Kinyangi, Osana Bonilla-Findji, Maren Radeny, John Recha, Deissy Martinez-Baron, Julian Ramirez-Villegas, Sophia Huyer, Philip Thornton, Eva Wollenberg, James Hansen, Patricia Alvarez-Toro, Andrés Aguilar-Ariza, David Arango-Londoño, Victor Patiño-Bravo, Ovidio Rivera, Mathieu Ouedraogo, Bui Tan Yen
Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources Faculty Publications
Increasing weather risks threaten agricultural production systems and food security across the world. Maintaining agricultural growth while minimizing climate shocks is crucial to building a resilient food production system and meeting developmental goals in vulnerable countries. Experts have proposed several technological, institutional, and policy interventions to help farmers adapt to current and future weather variability and to mitigate greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. This paper presents the climate-smart village (CSV) approach as a means of performing agricultural research for development that robustly tests technological and institutional options for dealing with climatic variability and climate change in agriculture using participatory methods. It …
Studying Human Behavior For Species Conservation, Hilary Byerly, Brendan Fisher
Studying Human Behavior For Species Conservation, Hilary Byerly, Brendan Fisher
Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources Faculty Publications
No abstract provided.
Mountain Forests And Sustainable Development: The Potential For Achieving The United Nations' 2030 Agenda, Georg Gratzer, William S. Keeton
Mountain Forests And Sustainable Development: The Potential For Achieving The United Nations' 2030 Agenda, Georg Gratzer, William S. Keeton
Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources Faculty Publications
The world is facing numerous and severe environmental, social, and economic challenges. To address these, in September 2015 the General Assembly of the United Nations adopted the resolution Transforming our World: The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The United Nations' 17 sustainable development goals (SDGs) and their 169 targets are ambitious, broadly encompassing, and indivisible. They are intended to guide nations and communities toward attaining healthy and peaceful livelihoods free of poverty and hunger. Collectively the goals envision sound and safe environments, where global threats like climate change are successfully combated through both mitigation and adaptation. Agenda 2030 envisages sustainable …
Reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions In Agriculture Without Compromising Food Security?, Stefan Frank, Petr Havlík, Jean François Soussana, Antoine Levesque, Hugo Valin, Eva Wollenberg, Ulrich Kleinwechter, Oliver Fricko, Mykola Gusti, Mario Herrero, Pete Smith, Tomoko Hasegawa, Florian Kraxner, Michael Obersteiner
Reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions In Agriculture Without Compromising Food Security?, Stefan Frank, Petr Havlík, Jean François Soussana, Antoine Levesque, Hugo Valin, Eva Wollenberg, Ulrich Kleinwechter, Oliver Fricko, Mykola Gusti, Mario Herrero, Pete Smith, Tomoko Hasegawa, Florian Kraxner, Michael Obersteiner
Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources Faculty Publications
To keep global warming possibly below 1.5◦C and mitigate adverse effects of climate change, agriculture, like all other sectors, will have to contribute to efforts in achieving net negative emissions by the end of the century. Cost-efficient distribution of mitigation across regions and economic sectors is typically calculated using a global uniform carbon price in climate stabilization scenarios. However, in reality such a carbon price would substantially affect food availability. Here, we assess the implications of climate change mitigation in the land use sector for agricultural production and food security using an integrated partial equilibrium modelling framework and explore ways …
The Database Of The Predicts (Projecting Responses Of Ecological Diversity In Changing Terrestrial Systems) Project, Lawrence N. Hudson, Tim Newbold, Sara Contu, Samantha L.L. Hill, Igor Lysenko, Adriana De Palma, Helen R.P. Phillips, Tamera I. Alhusseini, Felicity E. Bedford, Dominic J. Bennett, Hollie Booth, Victoria J. Burton, Charlotte W.T. Chng, Argyrios Choimes, David L.P. Correia, Julie Day, Susy Echeverría-Londoño, Susan R. Emerson, Di Gao, Morgan Garon, Michelle L.K. Harrison, Daniel J. Ingram, Martin Jung, Victoria Kemp, Lucinda Kirkpatrick, Callum D. Martin, Yuan Pan, Gwilym D. Pask-Hale, Edwin L. Pynegar, Alexandra N. Robinson, Katia Sanchez-Ortiz
The Database Of The Predicts (Projecting Responses Of Ecological Diversity In Changing Terrestrial Systems) Project, Lawrence N. Hudson, Tim Newbold, Sara Contu, Samantha L.L. Hill, Igor Lysenko, Adriana De Palma, Helen R.P. Phillips, Tamera I. Alhusseini, Felicity E. Bedford, Dominic J. Bennett, Hollie Booth, Victoria J. Burton, Charlotte W.T. Chng, Argyrios Choimes, David L.P. Correia, Julie Day, Susy Echeverría-Londoño, Susan R. Emerson, Di Gao, Morgan Garon, Michelle L.K. Harrison, Daniel J. Ingram, Martin Jung, Victoria Kemp, Lucinda Kirkpatrick, Callum D. Martin, Yuan Pan, Gwilym D. Pask-Hale, Edwin L. Pynegar, Alexandra N. Robinson, Katia Sanchez-Ortiz
Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources Faculty Publications
The PREDICTS project—Projecting Responses of Ecological Diversity In Changing Terrestrial Systems (www.predicts.org.uk)—has collated from published studies a large, reasonably representative database of comparable samples of biodiversity from multiple sites that differ in the nature or intensity of human impacts relating to land use. We have used this evidence base to develop global and regional statistical models of how local biodiversity responds to these measures. We describe and make freely available this 2016 release of the database, containing more than 3.2 million records sampled at over 26,000 locations and representing over 47,000 species. We outline how the database can help in …
Forest Carbon Projects In The Ukrainian Carpathians: An Assessment Of Potential Community Impacts And Benefits, Amanda R. Egan, William S. Keeton, Cecilia M. Danks, Ihor Soloviy, Asim Zia
Forest Carbon Projects In The Ukrainian Carpathians: An Assessment Of Potential Community Impacts And Benefits, Amanda R. Egan, William S. Keeton, Cecilia M. Danks, Ihor Soloviy, Asim Zia
Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources Faculty Publications
Reducing emissions from deforestation and degradation (REDD+) is a frequently promoted climate change mitigation strategy. As forest carbon projects proceed, we are learning how they affect local sovereignty and resource access, particularly in developing economies. Central and Eastern Europe’s temperate forests offer potential for projects, yet little is known about how the sociopolitical context of these transitional economies may influence project success. In this article, we enhance understanding of potential community impacts and explore opportunities for fair benefit distribution in Ukraine’s Carpathian Mountain region. Through a thematic qualitative and interpretive analysis of interviews and observational data, we: (1) describe what …
Opportunities For Biodiversity Gains Under The World's Largest Reforestation Programme, Fangyuan Hua, Xiaoyang Wang, Xinlei Zheng, Brendan Fisher, Lin Wang, Jianguo Zhu, Ya Tang, Douglas W. Yu, David S. Wilcove
Opportunities For Biodiversity Gains Under The World's Largest Reforestation Programme, Fangyuan Hua, Xiaoyang Wang, Xinlei Zheng, Brendan Fisher, Lin Wang, Jianguo Zhu, Ya Tang, Douglas W. Yu, David S. Wilcove
Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources Faculty Publications
Reforestation is a critical means of addressing the environmental and social problems of deforestation. China's Grain-for-Green Program (GFGP) is the world's largest reforestation scheme. Here we provide the first nationwide assessment of the tree composition of GFGP forests and the first combined ecological and economic study aimed at understanding GFGP's biodiversity implications. Across China, GFGP forests are overwhelmingly monocultures or compositionally simple mixed forests. Focusing on birds and bees in Sichuan Province, we find that GFGP reforestation results in modest gains (via mixed forest) and losses (via monocultures) of bird diversity, along with major losses of bee diversity. Moreover, all …
Do Insect Outbreaks Reduce The Severity Of Subsequent Forest Fires?, Garrett W. Meigs, Harold S.J. Zald, John L. Campbell, William S. Keeton, Robert E. Kennedy
Do Insect Outbreaks Reduce The Severity Of Subsequent Forest Fires?, Garrett W. Meigs, Harold S.J. Zald, John L. Campbell, William S. Keeton, Robert E. Kennedy
Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources Faculty Publications
Understanding the causes and consequences of rapid environmental change is an essential scientific frontier, particularly given the threat of climate- and land use-induced changes in disturbance regimes. In western North America, recent widespread insect outbreaks and wildfires have sparked acute concerns about potential insect-fire interactions. Although previous research shows that insect activity typically does not increase wildfire likelihood, key uncertainties remain regarding insect effects on wildfire severity (i.e., ecological impact). Recent assessments indicate that outbreak severity and burn severity are not strongly associated, but these studies have been limited to specific insect or fire events. Here, we present a regional …
The Moral Basis For Conservation - Reflections On Dickman Et Al., Douglas Sheil, Jane Cohen, Carol J.Pierce Colfer, David Price, Rajindra Puri, Manuel Ruiz-Perez, Yulia Sugandi, Paul Vedeld, Eva Wollenberg, Yurdi Yasmi
The Moral Basis For Conservation - Reflections On Dickman Et Al., Douglas Sheil, Jane Cohen, Carol J.Pierce Colfer, David Price, Rajindra Puri, Manuel Ruiz-Perez, Yulia Sugandi, Paul Vedeld, Eva Wollenberg, Yurdi Yasmi
Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources Faculty Publications
No abstract provided.
Are Conservation Organizations Configured For Effective Adaptation To Global Change?, Paul R. Armsworth, Eric R. Larson, Stephen T. Jackson, Dov F. Sax, Paul Simonin, Bernd Blossey, Nancy Green, Mary L. Klein, Liza Lester, Taylor H. Ricketts, Michael C. Runge, M. Rebecca Shaw
Are Conservation Organizations Configured For Effective Adaptation To Global Change?, Paul R. Armsworth, Eric R. Larson, Stephen T. Jackson, Dov F. Sax, Paul Simonin, Bernd Blossey, Nancy Green, Mary L. Klein, Liza Lester, Taylor H. Ricketts, Michael C. Runge, M. Rebecca Shaw
Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources Faculty Publications
© The Ecological Society of America. Conservation organizations must adapt to respond to the ecological impacts of global change. Numerous changes to conservation actions (eg facilitated ecological transitions, managed relocations, or increased corridor development) have been recommended, but some institutional restructuring within organizations may also be needed. Here we discuss the capacity of conservation organizations to adapt to changing environmental conditions, focusing primarily on public agencies and nonprofits active in land protection and management in the US. After first reviewing how these organizations anticipate and detect impacts affecting target species and ecosystems, we then discuss whether they are sufficiently flexible …
Whales As Marine Ecosystem Engineers, Joe Roman, James A. Estes, Lyne Morissette, Craig Smith, Daniel Costa, James Mccarthy, J. B. Nation, Stephen Nicol, Andrew Pershing, Victor Smetacek
Whales As Marine Ecosystem Engineers, Joe Roman, James A. Estes, Lyne Morissette, Craig Smith, Daniel Costa, James Mccarthy, J. B. Nation, Stephen Nicol, Andrew Pershing, Victor Smetacek
Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources Faculty Publications
Baleen and sperm whales, known collectively as the great whales, include the largest animals in the history of life on Earth. With high metabolic demands and large populations, whales probably had a strong influence on marine ecosystems before the advent of industrial whaling: as consumers of fish and invertebrates; as prey to other large-bodied predators; as reservoirs of and vertical and horizontal vectors for nutrients; and as detrital sources of energy and habitat in the deep sea. The decline in great whale numbers, estimated to be at least 66% and perhaps as high as 90%, has likely altered the structure …
Beyond Climate-Smart Agriculture: Toward Safe Operating Spaces For Global Food Systems, Henry Neufeldt, Molly Jahn, Bruce M. Campbell, John R. Beddington, Fabrice Declerck, Alessandro De Pinto, Jay Gulledge, Jonathan Hellin, Mario Herrero, Andy Jarvis, David Lezaks, Holger Meinke, Todd Rosenstock, Mary Scholes, Robert Scholes, Sonja Vermeulen, Eva Wollenberg, Robert Zougmoré
Beyond Climate-Smart Agriculture: Toward Safe Operating Spaces For Global Food Systems, Henry Neufeldt, Molly Jahn, Bruce M. Campbell, John R. Beddington, Fabrice Declerck, Alessandro De Pinto, Jay Gulledge, Jonathan Hellin, Mario Herrero, Andy Jarvis, David Lezaks, Holger Meinke, Todd Rosenstock, Mary Scholes, Robert Scholes, Sonja Vermeulen, Eva Wollenberg, Robert Zougmoré
Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources Faculty Publications
Agriculture is considered to be "climate-smart" when it contributes to increasing food security, adaptation and mitigation in a sustainable way. This new concept now dominates current discussions in agricultural development because of its capacity to unite the agendas of the agriculture, development and climate change communities under one brand. In this opinion piece authored by scientists from a variety of international agricultural and climate research communities, we argue that the concept needs to be evaluated critically because the relationship between the three dimensions is poorly understood, such that practically any improved agricultural practice can be considered climate-smart. This lack of …
Forest Restoration And Parasitoid Wasp Communities In Montane Hawai'i, Rachelle K. Gould, Liba Pejchar, Sara G. Bothwell, Berry Brosi, Stacie Wolny, Chase D. Mendenhall, Gretchen Daily
Forest Restoration And Parasitoid Wasp Communities In Montane Hawai'i, Rachelle K. Gould, Liba Pejchar, Sara G. Bothwell, Berry Brosi, Stacie Wolny, Chase D. Mendenhall, Gretchen Daily
Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources Faculty Publications
Globally, most restoration efforts focus on re-creating the physical structure (flora or physical features) of a target ecosystem with the assumption that other ecosystem components will follow. Here we investigate that assumption by documenting biogeographical patterns in an important invertebrate taxon, the parasitoid wasp family Ichneumonidae, in a recently reforested Hawaiian landscape. Specifically, we test the influence of (1) planting configurations (corridors versus patches), (2) vegetation age, (3) distance from mature native forest, (4) surrounding tree cover, and (5) plant community composition on ichneumonid richness, abundance, and composition. We sampled over 7,000 wasps, 96.5% of which were not native to …
New England's Community Forests: Comparing A Regional Model To Iccas, Martha West Lyman, Cecilia Danks, Maureen Mcdonough
New England's Community Forests: Comparing A Regional Model To Iccas, Martha West Lyman, Cecilia Danks, Maureen Mcdonough
Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources Faculty Publications
This paper examines the ways in which some forms of community forests in the northeastern United States could be considered Indigenous Peoples' and Community Conserved Territories and Areas (ICCAs), based on the work conducted by the Community Forest Collaborative, a partnership of four non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in the US. The Collaborative defined a Community Forest Model for northern New England, conducted research on the economic, social, community, and conservation values of the Community Forest Model and developed case studies on five community forest projects. Five key attributes of ICCAs were selected and used to compare with characteristics of the Collaborative's …
Underestimating The Costs Of Conservation In Southeast Asia, David P. Edwards, Brendan Fisher, Xingli Giam, David S. Wilcove
Underestimating The Costs Of Conservation In Southeast Asia, David P. Edwards, Brendan Fisher, Xingli Giam, David S. Wilcove
Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources Faculty Publications
No abstract provided.
The High Costs Of Conserving Southeast Asia's Lowland Rainforests, Brendan Fisher, David P. Edwards, Xingli Giam, David S. Wilcove
The High Costs Of Conserving Southeast Asia's Lowland Rainforests, Brendan Fisher, David P. Edwards, Xingli Giam, David S. Wilcove
Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources Faculty Publications
Mechanisms that mitigate greenhouse-gas emissions via forest conservation have been portrayed as a cost-effective approach that can also protect biodiversity and vital ecosystem services. However, the costs of conservation - including opportunity costs - are spatially heterogeneous across the globe. The lowland rainforests of Southeast Asia represent a unique nexus of large carbon stores, imperiled biodiversity, large stores of timber, and high potential for conversion to oil-palm plantations, making this region one where understanding the costs of conservation is critical. Previous studies have underestimated the gap between conservation costs and conversion benefits in Southeast Asia. Using detailed logging records, cost …
Protecting Degraded Rainforests: Enhancement Of Forest Carbon Stocks Under Redd+, David P. Edwards, Brendan Fisher, Emily Boyd
Protecting Degraded Rainforests: Enhancement Of Forest Carbon Stocks Under Redd+, David P. Edwards, Brendan Fisher, Emily Boyd
Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources Faculty Publications
The likely Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD+) mechanism includes strategies for the enhancement of forest carbon stocks. Recent concerns have been expressed that such enhancement, or restoration, of forest carbon could be counterproductive to biodiversity conservation, because forests are managed as "carbon farms" with the application of intensive silvicultural management that could homogenize diverse degraded rainforests. Restoration increases regeneration rates in degraded forest compared to naturally regenerating forest, and thus could yield significant financial returns for carbon sequestered. Here, we argue that such forest restoration projects are, in fact, likely to provide a number of benefits to biodiversity …