Latest Systems ecology Stories

Policy forum article in today's Science pleads for biodiversity scientists, pleads for biodiversityIn a Policy Forum article in today's issue of Science, a group of leading biodiversity scientists, including NJIT's Daniel Bunker, have argued that targets to be met by 2020 under the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) must consider the real value of biodiversity if they are to be attained."Ecosystem Services for 2020" outlines how biodiversity can be valued by considering the...

Factoring the planet's multi-trillion dollar ecosystem services into policy-making can help save cities and regional authorities money while boosting the local economy, enhancing quality of life, securing livelihoods and generating employment.This is the finding from a major international study, launched in a report by TEEB for Local and Regional Policy Makers, being released in Belgium, Brazil, India, Japan and South Africa.In the Framework of the Belgian Presidency of the European Union,...

Human well-being is improving even as ecosystem services decline: Why?Global degradation of ecosystems is widely believed to threaten human welfare, yet accepted measures of well-being show that it is on average improving globally, both in poor countries and rich ones. A team of authors writing in the September issue of BioScience dissects explanations for this "environmentalist's paradox." Noting that understanding the paradox is "critical to guiding future management of...

Analysis offers first worldwide estimate of investments in combating water pollution; calls for governments to embrace markets to fight encroaching 'dead zones'An innovative market in water quality is rapidly emerging worldwide, as cash-strapped governments in countries as diverse as China, the United States, Brazil and Australia invest billions of public and private dollars in schemes that reward people who protect water resources, according to a new report that is the first to quantify...

Seven-year experiment shows that pond communities bear a lasting imprint of random events in their pastScientist Jon Chase once worked in a lab that set up small pond ecosystems for experiments on species interactions and food webs."We would try to duplicate pond communities with a given experimental treatment," he says."We put 10 of this species in each pond, and five of these species, and eight of the other species, and 15 milliliters of this nutrient and 5 grams of that and...

Marine Board-ESF presents position paper at EU Maritime Day 2010Food from fisheries, trade and transport through shipping, income from tourism and recreation "“ we rely on our seas. Managing this rich resource is a challenge that calls for reframing humans as integral parts of marine ecosystems, say scientists from three of Europe's leading marine organizations in a new report launching on 19 May ahead of EU Maritime Day 2010.The Marine Board-European Science Foundation, the International...

Nations of the Greater Mekong Subregion need to 'rethink' their agricultural industries to meet future food needs, given the social shifts and climate changes that are forecast for the coming decades. With better farming practices, and by managing agriculture within the wider context of natural ecosystems, nations could boost production and increase the wealth and resilience of poor people in rural communities. Demand for food is forecast to double by 2050, as populations swell and people's...

Ecosystems are essential for preserving the quality of life of human beings, and society should be aware of this, according to Ms Miren Onaindia, biologist and person responsible for the Forest Ecology and Natural Resources research team at the University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU). This group has been investigating the woods and forest of the Autonomous Community of the Basque Country (CAV-EAE) for twenty years now. In recent times they have focused on evaluating the situation of...

Using repeat photography to enhance understanding of riparian areasRiparian areas, ecosystems caught between the land and the stream, are subject to spatial and temporal variability. Effectively managing and protecting riparian areas as well as other ecosystems require understanding these concepts. Fortunately, scientists are investigating new approaches in experiential learning, or learning from direct experiences.One of those approaches is photography. By taking photographs of a specific...

Following an intense study of agricultural ecosystems near Montreal, a new tool that enables the simultaneous analysis and management of a wide range of ecological services has been developed by Ciara Raudsepp-Hearne of McGill University's Department of Geography, Elena Bennett of the McGill School of Environment, and Garry Peterson of the Stockholm Resilience Centre at Stockholm University. Environmental management typically focuses on nature's resources like food, wildlife and timber, but...