• Energy Research

Ecosystem services have been steadily incorporated into policy and planning, particularly for conservation. While biophysical and economic values are often part of ecosystems assessments, integrating participatory approaches with these valuation tools into planning is essential. This study demonstrates the importance of undertaking case studies with an integrated approach from valuation to practice. We focus on the evaluation of ecosystem services based on user priorities in three different countries that comprise the northwestern part of the Amazon basin: Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru. A total of 473 community and government representatives were interviewed and their priorities for ecosystem services were elicited. We used three approaches to value the prioritized services, market prices, cost avoided, and the value transfer method. We linked the economic valuation results with policy and development alternatives that focus on ES management and we utilized an adaptive policy framework as a crucial step to assess the “trade off” in relation to any given economic, social, and environmental goal. Seven ecosystem services were identified as priorities: fish, timber, and non-timber forest products as provisioning services; disease regulation, water purification, and carbon sequestration as regulating services; and scenic beauty as the only cultural service. The ecosystem services contributing to the highest proportion of local GDP were regulation of malaria (3.9%) in Colombia, followed by ecotourism (1.75%) in Ecuador and fish (1.7%) in Peru. The instruments developed to help integrate this information into policy actions are mostly related to improving the property right systems currently implemented in each country. The results of this study will enable the management of ecosystem service values to be targeted in planning development at the subnational level in each country.

Novel fire regimes are emerging worldwide and pose substantial challenges to biodiversity conservation. Addressing these challenges and mitigating their impacts on biodiversity will require developing a wide range of fire management practices. In this paper, we leverage research across taxa, ecosystems and continents to highlight strategies for applying fire knowledge in biodiversity conservation. First, we define novel fire regimes and outline different fire management practices in contemporary landscapes from different parts of the world. Next, we synthesize recent research on fire use and biodiversity, and provide a decision-making framework for biodiversity conservation under novel fire regimes. We recommend that fire management strategies for preserving biodiversity should consider both social and ecological factors, iterative learning informed by effective monitoring, and developing and testing new management actions. An integrated approach to learning about fire and biodiversity will help to navigate the complexities of novel fire regimes and preserve biodiversity in a rapidly changing world. This article is part of the theme issue ‘Novel fire regimes under climate changes and human influences: impacts, ecosystem responses and feedbacks’.

Le défi mondial consistant à nourrir deux milliards de personnes supplémentaires d'ici 2050, en utilisant des pratiques agricoles plus durables tout en faisant face aux incertitudes liées aux changements environnementaux, nécessite une transformation des systèmes alimentaires. Nous présentons une nouvelle perspective sur la façon dont les progrès de la science des réseaux peuvent fournir de nouvelles façons de mieux comprendre, exploiter et restaurer de multiples processus écologiques dans les environnements agricoles. Nous décrivons : (i) un cadre axé sur les réseaux pour la gestion des agro-écosystèmes qui tient compte des multiples interactions entre la biodiversité et les services écosystémiques associés ; (ii) des conseils pour intégrer les facteurs socio-économiques dans les réseaux écologiques ; et (iii) le potentiel d'améliorer les méthodes de réseau pour éclairer les efforts visant à renforcer la résilience, y compris les chaînes mondiales d'approvisionnement alimentaire. Ce faisant, nous visons à faciliter l'application de la science des réseaux en tant que moyen basé sur les systèmes pour relever les défis d'assurer une distribution équitable de la nourriture. El desafío global de alimentar a dos mil millones de personas más para 2050, utilizando prácticas agrícolas más sostenibles y lidiando con las incertidumbres asociadas con el cambio ambiental, requiere una transformación de los sistemas alimentarios. Presentamos una nueva perspectiva sobre cómo los avances en la ciencia de redes pueden proporcionar formas novedosas de comprender, aprovechar y restaurar mejor múltiples procesos ecológicos en entornos agrícolas. Describimos: (i) un marco centrado en la red para la gestión de agroecosistemas que tiene en cuenta las múltiples interacciones entre la biodiversidad y los servicios ecosistémicos asociados; (ii) orientación para incorporar factores socioeconómicos en las redes ecológicas; y (iii) el potencial de ampliar los métodos de red para informar los esfuerzos para desarrollar la resiliencia, incluidas las cadenas mundiales de suministro de alimentos. Al hacerlo, nuestro objetivo es facilitar la aplicación de la ciencia de redes como una forma basada en sistemas para abordar los desafíos de garantizar una distribución equitativa de los alimentos. The global challenge of feeding two billion more people by 2050, using more sustainable agricultural practices whilst dealing with uncertainties associated with environmental change, requires a transformation of food systems. We present a new perspective for how advances in network science can provide novel ways to better understand, harness, and restore multiple ecological processes in agricultural environments. We describe: (i) a network-focused framework for managing agro-ecosystems that accounts for the multiple interactions between biodiversity and associated ecosystem services; (ii) guidance for incorporating socio-economic factors into ecological networks; and (iii) the potential to upscale network methods to inform efforts to build resilience, including global food-supply chains. In doing so we aim to facilitate the application of network science as a systems-based way to tackle the challenges of securing an equitable distribution of food. يتطلب التحدي العالمي المتمثل في إطعام ملياري شخص إضافي بحلول عام 2050، باستخدام ممارسات زراعية أكثر استدامة مع التعامل مع الشكوك المرتبطة بالتغير البيئي، تحويل النظم الغذائية. نقدم منظورًا جديدًا لكيفية توفير التقدم في علم الشبكات لطرق جديدة لفهم وتسخير واستعادة العمليات البيئية المتعددة في البيئات الزراعية بشكل أفضل. نحن نصف: (1) إطار عمل يركز على الشبكة لإدارة النظم الإيكولوجية الزراعية التي تمثل التفاعلات المتعددة بين التنوع البيولوجي وخدمات النظم الإيكولوجية المرتبطة به ؛ (2) إرشادات لدمج العوامل الاجتماعية والاقتصادية في الشبكات الإيكولوجية ؛ و (3) إمكانية الارتقاء بأساليب الشبكة لتوجيه الجهود الرامية إلى بناء القدرة على الصمود، بما في ذلك سلاسل الإمدادات الغذائية العالمية. وبذلك نهدف إلى تسهيل تطبيق علم الشبكات كطريقة قائمة على الأنظمة لمواجهة تحديات تأمين التوزيع العادل للغذاء.

AbstractBackground‘Megafire’ is an emerging concept commonly used to describe fires that are extreme in terms of size, behaviour, and/or impacts, but the term’s meaning remains ambiguous.ApproachWe sought to resolve ambiguity surrounding the meaning of ‘megafire’ by conducting a structured review of the use and definition of the term in several languages in the peer‐reviewed scientific literature. We collated definitions and descriptions of megafire and identified criteria frequently invoked to define megafire. We recorded the size and location of megafires and mapped them to reveal global variation in the size of fires described as megafires.ResultsWe identified 109 studies that define the term ‘megafire’ or identify a megafire, with the term first appearing in the peer‐reviewed literature in 2005. Seventy‐one (~65%) of these studies attempted to describe or define the term. There was considerable variability in the criteria used to define megafire, although definitions of megafire based on fire size were most common. Megafire size thresholds varied geographically from > 100–100,000 ha, with fires > 10,000 ha the most common size threshold (41%, 18/44 studies). Definitions of megafire were most common from studies led by authors from North America (52%, 37/71). We recorded 137 instances from 84 studies where fires were reported as megafires, the vast majority (94%, 129/137) of which exceed 10,000 ha in size. Megafires occurred in a range of biomes, but were most frequently described in forested biomes (112/137, 82%), and usually described single ignition fires (59% 81/137).ConclusionAs Earth’s climate and ecosystems change, it is important that scientists can communicate trends in the occurrence of larger and more extreme fires with clarity. To overcome ambiguity, we suggest a definition of megafire as fires > 10,000 ha arising from single or multiple related ignition events. We introduce two additional terms – gigafire (> 100,000 ha) and terafire (> 1,000,000 ha) – for fires of an even larger scale than megafires.

AbstractThe tropical Andes are one of the most important biodiversity hotspots on Earth, yet our understanding of how their biotas have responded to Quaternary climatic oscillations is extraordinarily limited and the alternative models proposed to explain their demographic dynamics have been seldom formally evaluated. Here, we test the hypothesis that the interplay between the spatial configuration of geographical barriers to dispersal and elevational displacements driven by Quaternary cooling–warming cycles has shaped the demographic trajectories of montane oak forests (Quercus humboldtii) from the Colombian Andes. Specifically, we integrate genomic data and environmental niche modelling at fine temporal resolution to test competing spatially explicit demographic and coalescent models, including scenarios considering (i) isotropic gene flow through the landscape, (ii) the hypothetical impact of contemporary barriers to dispersal (i.e., inter‐Andean valleys), and (iii) distributional shifts of montane oak forests from the Last Glacial Maximum to the present. Although our data revealed a marked genetic fragmentation of montane oak forests, statistical support for isolation‐with‐migration models indicates that geographically separated populations from the different Andean Cordilleras regularly exchange gene flow. Accordingly, spatiotemporally explicit demographic analyses supported a model of flickering connectivity, with scenarios considering isotropic gene flow or currently unsuitable habitats as persistent barriers to dispersal providing a comparatively worse fit to empirical genomic data. Overall, these results emphasize the role of landscape heterogeneity on shaping spatial patterns of genomic variation in montane oak forests, rejecting the hypothesis of genetic continuity and supporting a significant impact of Quaternary climatic oscillations on their demographic trajectories.

Las Comunicaciones Nacionales sobre Cambio Climático (CNCC) son un mecanismo para que los países informen sus avances en mitigación y adaptación, y constituyen uno de los elementos de base para la política sobre cambio climático a escala nacional. Colombia ha emitido tres CNCC. La tercera plantea un escenario que considera las proyecciones de diversos modelos incluidos en la quinta fase del Proyecto de Comparación de Modelos Acoplados (Coupled Model Intercomparison Project, CMIP), el cual se estima como el promedio de las proyecciones correspondientes a las cuatro trayectorias de concentración representativa (Representative Concentration Pathways,RCP) presentadas en el quinto reporte de evaluación del Panel Intergubernamental sobre Cambio Climático. Cada una de estas RCP representa una trayectoria de concentración de gases de efecto invernadero (GEI) para un escenario particular de crecimiento poblacional, económico y tecnológico que conduce a una posible trayectoria de evolución del sistema climático. En este estudio se comparan las proyecciones presentadas en la Tercera CNCC con las obtenidas directamente de los modelos empleados. Nuestros resultados demuestran que al utilizarse un promedio de RCP se pierden escenarios alternos que podrían ser importantes a la hora de considerar posibles futuros diferentes y anulan la utilidad de plantear diversas trayectorias de emisiones de GEI. Más aun, una comparación entre la Segunda y la Tercera CNCC muestra proyecciones de precipitación opuestas para diferentes regiones del país, lo cual es de particular importancia, pues el escenario de cambio climático planteado en la Tercera CNCC sirve de referencia para la toma de decisiones en materia de cambio climático a nivel nacional.