• Energy Research
• 15. Life on land close
• Frontiers in Environmental Science close

Many lower-income countries are highly vulnerable to the impacts of natural disasters and climate change, due to their geographical location and high levels of poverty. In response, they are developing climate action plans that also support their sustainable development goals, but conventional adaptation approaches such as hard flood defenses can be expensive and unsustainable. Nature-based solutions (NbS) could provide cost-effective options to address these challenges but policymakers lack evidence on their effectiveness. To address this knowledge gap, we focused on Bangladesh, which is exceptionally vulnerable to cyclones, relative sea-level rise, saline intrusion, floods, landslides, heat waves and droughts, exacerbated by environmental degradation. NbS have been implemented in Bangladesh, but there is no synthesis of the outcomes in a form accessible to policymakers. We therefore conducted a systematic review on the effectiveness of NbS for addressing climate and natural hazards, and the outcomes for other sustainable development goals. Research encompasses protection, restoration and participatory management of mangroves, terrestrial forests and wetlands, as well as conservation agriculture and agro-forestry, but there is an evidence gap for urban green infrastructure. There is robust evidence that, if well-designed, these NbS can be effective in reducing exposure to natural disasters, adapting to climate change and reducing greenhouse gas emissions while empowering marginalized groups, reducing poverty, supporting local economies and enhancing biodiversity. However, we found short-term trade-offs with local needs, e.g. through over-harvesting and conversion of ecosystems to aquaculture or agriculture. To maximize NbS benefits while managing trade-offs, we identified four enabling factors: support for NbS in government policies; participatory delivery involving all stakeholders; strong and transparent governance; and provision of secure finance and land tenure, in line with international guidelines. More systematic monitoring of NbS project outcomes is also needed. Bangladesh has an opportunity to lead the way in showing how high quality NbS can be deployed at landscape scale to tackle sustainable development challenges in low to middle income countries, supporting a Green Economic Recovery. Our evidence base highlights the value of protecting irreplaceable natural assets such as mangroves, terrestrial forests and wetlands, and the non-market benefits they deliver, in national planning policies.

Based on the maximum entropy modeling (Maxent) and ArcGIS tool, this study assessed the potential of marginal land and analyzed the impact of environmental variables for Jerusalem artichoke (Helianthus tuberosus L.) in Shaanxi Province, China. The results showed that the dominant land type used for the growth of Jerusalem artichoke was moderately dense grassland. Additionally, significant environmental variables of Jerusalem artichoke and their suitable range in Shaanxi Province were average slope (SLP, 0–5°C), average soil depth (DPT, 1.50–1.60 m), max temperature of the warmest month (Bio5, 30–31°C), annual mean temperature (Bio1, 16.5–18.0°C), precipitation of the wettest quarter (Bio16, 0.01–0.02 m), July solar radiation (SR7, 1.66–1.67 × 107 W/m2), precipitation seasonality (Bio15, 50–60%), precipitation of the driest quarter (Bio17, 0–0.005 m), and isothermality (Bio3, 265–275). Furthermore, the suitable area was mainly distributed in southern (mainly Hanzhong, Ankang, and Shangluo) and northern (mainly Yan’an and Yulin) parts of Shaanxi Province, covering around 8.81 × 1010 m2 and accounting for 42.8% of the total area of the Shaanxi Province. This study can provide a reference for the rational planting of Jerusalem artichoke in Shaanxi Province.

Effective soil management is critical to achieving climate change mitigation in plant-based renewable energy systems, yet limitations exist in our understanding of dynamic belowground responses to the cultivation of energy crops. To better understand the belowground dynamics following cultivation of a grassland in a high-yielding tropical perennial C4 grass in a zero-tillage production system, changes in soil carbon (C) pools were quantified, modeled, and projected and the chemical composition of the aggregate-protected pool was determined in support of the simulated dynamics. Multiple C pools with different ecosystem functions and turnover increased following cultivation: immediately available microbial substrate (measured as hot water-soluble C) and active C (determined through laboratory incubation) increased by 12 and 30% respectively over time and soil C accumulated significantly in multiple physical fractions. A more rapid and dynamic nature of multiple C pools and transfers between pools existed than is often assumed in belowground models used widely in the field to simulate soil C accumulation. Multiple indicators of fresh roots, including the more easily degraded lignin monomers and root-derived long chain substituted fatty acids, appeared in aggregate-protected pools of cultivated soils over time since planting. This rapid transfer of plant inputs through active and intermediate C pools into mineral-dominated pools is the ultimate outcome required for building soil C stocks. Initial model runs suggested that this is evident, even on a 2-year frame, in transfer rates of 0.485 and 0.890 from active to slow and slow to passive pools respectively. The rapid transfer of fresh root-derived input to stable pool suggests that soil C under zero-tillage management may be resilient to disturbances, such as replanting following a kill-harvest, that would otherwise result in losses from unprotected or readily available pools.

Climate change is an existential threat to the vast global permafrost domain. The diverse human cultures, ecological communities, and biogeochemical cycles of this tenth of the planet depend on the persistence of frozen conditions. The complexity, immensity, and remoteness of permafrost ecosystems make it difficult to grasp how quickly things are changing and what can be done about it. Here, we summarize terrestrial and marine changes in the permafrost domain with an eye toward global policy. While many questions remain, we know that continued fossil fuel burning is incompatible with the continued existence of the permafrost domain as we know it. If we fail to protect permafrost ecosystems, the consequences for human rights, biosphere integrity, and global climate will be severe. The policy implications are clear: the faster we reduce human emissions and draw down atmospheric CO2, the more of the permafrost domain we can save. Emissions reduction targets must be strengthened and accompanied by support for local peoples to protect intact ecological communities and natural carbon sinks within the permafrost domain. Some proposed geoengineering interventions such as solar shading, surface albedo modification, and vegetation manipulations are unproven and may exacerbate environmental injustice without providing lasting protection. Conversely, astounding advances in renewable energy have reopened viable pathways to halve human greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 and effectively stop them well before 2050. We call on leaders, corporations, researchers, and citizens everywhere to acknowledge the global importance of the permafrost domain and work towards climate restoration and empowerment of Indigenous and immigrant communities in these regions.

The majority of soil organic nitrogen (N) is bound in protein-like compounds and therefore its proteolysis in peptides and amino acids is considered the initial and rate limiting step of N mineralization. Proteolysis of N bound in organic fertilizer and subsequent provisioning for crops is a central element in agro-ecological intensification. Long-term farming system effects on N provisioning from organic fertilizer to crops and its underlying functional microbial communities were analyzed in experiments conducted in soils from the “DOK” system comparison trial (bio-Dynamic, bio-Organic, and “Konventionell”) subjected to optimal and future projected drought scenarios. A plant nutrition experiment using 15N labeled lupine as a fertilizer (green manure) identified 30% higher amounts of N derived from fertilizer in ryegrass grown on organically compared to conventionally managed soil, but only when subjected to dry conditions. A second experiment, also amended with lupine green manure, assessed the effect of farming system and drought stress on N cycling microbes with a focus on alkaline (apr) and neutral (npr) metallopeptidase encoding microbial communities. apr encoding microbial communities were more strongly affected by farming system and water treatment than npr encoding communities. Differences in structure and diversity of apr encoding microbial communities showed concomitant patterns with distinct N provisioning from organic fertilizer in the plant nutrition experiment. It is suggested that conventionally managed systems are less capable in maintaining diversity and initial structure of apr encoding microbial communities when subjected to drought scenarios. Overall, we demonstrated organically managed soils to provide a more stable N provisioning potential from organic fertilizer under future drought scenarios, likely facilitated by a distinct and more adaptive proteolytic microbial community. This work contributes to an in-depth comprehension of yet poorly studied fundamental soil processes and helps developing strategies to maintain a versatile and functioning microbial community in a rapidly changing environment.

Introduction: The recognition of the Rights of Nature has been established though several constitutional, legislative, and judicial enactments, which aim to provide legal protection for non-humans’ entities and natural systems. Although some countries have made progress in recognizing the rights of nature, the prevailing assumption remains that nature is a resource to be exploited for human benefit. In the context of ecological transition debates, it is important to understand how the European legal system perceives Nature and its rights. Achieving a significant shift in legal and cultural norms that prioritize nature’s protection may be challenging.Methods: This paper reports on research conducted in a sample of 6 countries within the PHOENIX consortium, a European H2020 project that aims to develop participatory methodologies and democratic innovations to facilitate the ecological transition as envisioned by the European Green Deal, whose objective was to find out how these countries embodied the Rights of nature into their legal systems, both at constitutional level and at the level of environmental and related laws and policies.Results: The results indicate that in legislative terms, concepts of nature are absent, and instead, the term environment or natural resources are used. Furthermore, rights of nature are rarely recognized in all countries, with anthropocentric and in instrumental views prevailing. In contrast, the human right to Nature is widely recognized in all countries, referring to the right of all individuals to access to and live in a healthy environment.Discussion: Despite the importance of the human right to Nature as a matter of equity and justice, failure to recognise the rights of nature and protect/respect its limits may constitute a potential barrier to ecological transition.

Climate change and human activities are having increasing impacts on the global water cycle, particularly on streamflow. Current methods for quantifying these impacts are numerous and have their merits and limitations. There is a lack of a guide to help researchers select one or more appropriate methods for attribution analysis. In this study, hydrological modeling, statistical analysis, and conceptual approaches were used jointly to develop a methodological options framework consisting of three modules, to guide researchers in selecting appropriate methods and assessing climatic and anthropogenic contributions to streamflow changes. To evaluate its effectiveness, a case study in the Upper Yangtze River Basin (UYRB) of China was conducted. The results suggest that the SWAT-based method is the best approach to quantify the influences of climate change and human activities on streamflow in the UYRB. The comprehensive assessment indicates that climate change is the dominant cause of streamflow changes in the UYRB, and the contribution of climate change, indirect human activities, and direct human activities to streamflow changes is about 7:1:2. The proposed framework is efficient and valuable in assisting researchers to find appropriate methods for attribution analysis of streamflow changes, which can help to understand the water cycle in changing environments.