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As more and more carbon dioxide is emitted into the atmosphere, humans and the natural world are beset by the damaging consequences of a rapidly changing climate. Natural and seminatural ecosystems are likely to be the best starting place for immediate adaptation and mitigation solutions. First, though, many natural environments need restoration to maximize their own resilience to climate change. In reviewing our options, Morecroft et al. point out that we can directly observe the success of mitigation strategies by quantifying atmospheric carbon dioxide. Successful adaptation is more challenging because it involves a range of social and biodiversity measures. However, we could make matters worse if we do not constantly monitor the effects of the interventions we devise and react flexibly as changing conditions unfold. Science , this issue p. eaaw9256 Natural and seminatural ecosystems must be at the forefront of efforts to mitigate and adapt to climate change. In the urgency of current circumstances, ecosystem restoration represents a range of available, efficient, and effective solutions to cut net greenhouse gas emissions and adapt to climate change. Although mitigation success can be measured by monitoring changing fluxes of greenhouse gases, adaptation is more complicated to measure, and reductions in a wide range of risks for biodiversity and people must be evaluated. Progress has been made in the monitoring and evaluation of adaptation and mitigation measures, but more emphasis on testing the effectiveness of proposed strategies is necessary. It is essential to take an integrated view of mitigation, adaptation, biodiversity, and the needs of people, to realize potential synergies and avoid conflict between different objectives.

Japanese encephalitis (JE) is a viral disease predominantly located in South East Asia and commonly associated with transmission between amplifying hosts, such as pigs, and the mosquito Culex tritaeniorhynchus, where human infection represents a dead end in the life cycle of the virus. The expansion of JE beyond an Asiatic confine is dependent on a multitude of complex factors that stem back to genetic subtype variation. A complex interplay of the genetic variation and vector competencies combine with variables such as geography, climate change and urbanization. Our understanding of JE is still at an early stage with long-term longitudinal vector surveillance necessary to better understand the dynamics of JE transmission and to characterize the role of potential secondary vectors such as Cx. pipiens and Cx. bitaeniorhynchus. The authors review the vectors indicated in transmission and the ecological, genetic and anthropological factors that affect the disease's range and epidemiology. Monitoring for the presence of JE virus in mosquitoes in general can be used to estimate levels of potential JE exposure, intensity of viral activity and genetic variation of JEV throughout surveyed areas. Increased surveillance and diagnosis of viral encephalitis caused by genotype 5 JE virus is required in particular, with the expansion in epidemiology and disease prevalence in new geographic areas an issue of great concern. Additional studies that measure the impact of vectors (e.g. bionomics and vector competence) in the transmission of JEV and that incorporate environmental factors (e.g. weekly rainfall) are needed to define the roles of Culex species in the viral pathogenesis during outbreak and non-outbreak years.

Large-scale declines in terrestrial insects have been reported over much of Europe and across the world, however, population change assessments of other key invertebrate groups, such as soil invertebrates, have been largely neglected through a lack of available monitoring data. This study collates historic data from previously published studies to assess whether it is possible to infer previously undocumented long-term changes in soil invertebrate abundance. Earthworm and tipulid data were collated from over 100 studies across the UK, spanning almost 100 years. Analyses suggested long-term declines in earthworm abundance of between 1.6 to 2.1% per annum, equivalent to a 33% to 41% decline over 25 years. These appeared greatest in broadleaved woodlands and farmland habitats, and were greater in pasture than arable farmland. Significant differences in earthworm abundance between habitats varied between models but appeared to be highest in urban greenspaces and agricultural pasture. More limited data were available on tipulid abundance, which showed no significant change over time or variation between enclosed farmland and unenclosed habitats. Declines in earthworm populations could be contributing to overall declines in ecosystem function and biodiversity as they are vital for a range of ecosystem services and are keystone prey for many vertebrate species. If robust, our results identify a previously undetected biodiversity decline that would be a significant conservation and economic issue in the UK, and if replicated elsewhere, internationally. We highlight the need for long-term and large-scale soil invertebrate monitoring, which potentially could be carried out by citizen/community scientists.

Migratory species are in rapid decline globally. Although most mortality in long-distance migrant birds is thought to occur during migration, evidence of conditions on migration affecting breeding population sizes has been completely lacking. We addressed this by tracking 42 male Common Cuckoos from the rapidly declining UK population during 56 autumn migrations in 2011–14. Uniquely, the birds use two distinct routes to reach the same wintering grounds, allowing assessment of survival during migration independently of origin and destination. Mortality up to completion of the Sahara crossing (the major ecological barrier encountered in both routes) is higher for birds using the shorter route. The proportion of birds using this route strongly correlates with population decline across nine local breeding populations. Knowledge of variability in migratory behaviour and performance linked to robust population change data may therefore be necessary to understand population declines of migratory species and efficiently target conservation resources. Whether conditions experienced on long-distance migrations affect breeding populations is not clear. Here, the authors tracked migrating Common Cuckoos from the UK to Africa and show that route choices affect mortality during migration, and population decline in this nocturnally migrating bird.

1. Climate change is reported to have caused widespread changes to species' populations and ecological communities. Warming has been associated with population declines in long-distance migrants and habitat specialists, and increases in southerly distributed species. However, the specific climatic drivers behind these changes remain undescribed. 2. We analysed annual fluctuations in the abundance of 59 breeding bird species in England over 45 years to test the effect of monthly temperature and precipitation means upon population trends. 3. Strong positive correlations between population growth and both winter and breeding season temperature were identified for resident and short-distance migrants. Lagged correlations between population growth and summer temperature and precipitation identified for the first time a widespread negative impact of hot, dry summer weather. Resident populations appeared to increase following wet autumns. Populations of long-distance migrants were negatively affected by May temperature, consistent with a potential negative effect of phenological mismatch upon breeding success. There was evidence for some nonlinear relationships between monthly weather variables and population growth. 4. Habitat specialists and cold-associated species showed consistently more negative effects of higher temperatures than habitat generalists and southerly distributed species associated with warm temperatures. Results suggest that previously reported changes in community composition represent the accumulated effects of spring and summer warming. 5. Long-term population trends were more significantly correlated with species' sensitivity to temperature than precipitation, suggesting that warming has had a greater impact on population trends than changes in precipitation. Months where there had been the greatest warming were the most influential drivers of long-term change. There was also evidence that species with the greatest sensitivity to extremes of precipitation have tended to decline. 6. Our results provide novel insights about the impact of climate change on bird communities. Significant lagged effects highlight the potential for altered species' interactions to drive observed climate change impacts, although some community changes may have been driven by more immediate responses to warming. In England, resident and short-distance migrant populations have increased in response to climate change, but potentially at the expense of long-distance migrants, habitat specialists and cold-associated species.

Threats to biodiversity resulting from habitat destruction and deterioration have been documented for many species, whilst climate change is regarded as increasingly impacting upon species' distribution and abundance. However, few studies have disentangled the relative importance of these two drivers in causing recent population declines. We quantify the relative importance of both processes by modelling annual variation in population growth of 18 farmland bird species in the UK as a function of measures of land-use intensity and weather. Modelled together, both had similar explanatory power in accounting for annual fluctuations in population growth. When these models were used to retrodict population trends for each species as a function of annual variation in land-use intensity and weather combined, and separately, retrodictions incorporating land-use intensity were more closely linked to observed population trends than retrodictions based only on weather, and closely matched the UK farmland bird index from 1970 onwards. Despite more stable land-use intensity in recent years, climate change (inferred from weather trends) has not overtaken land-use intensity as the dominant driver of bird populations.

Fatty acids are a primary source of carbon for Pseudomonas aeruginosa (PA) in the airways of people with cystic fibrosis (CF). Here, we use tandem mass-tag proteomics to analyse the protein expression profile of a CF clinical isolate grown on different fatty acids. Two fatty acyl-CoA dehydrogenases (designated FadE1 and FadE2) are strongly induced during growth on fatty acids. FadE1 displays a strong preference for long-chain acyl-CoAs, whereas FadE2 exclusively utilizes medium-chain acyl-CoAs. Structural analysis of the enzymes enables us to identify residues comprising the substrate selectivity filter in each. Engineering these residues enables us to invert the substrate specificity of each enzyme. Mutants in fadE1 displayed impaired virulence in an infection model, and decreased growth on long chain fatty acids. The unique features of the substrate binding pocket enable us to identify an inhibitor that is differentially active against FadE1 and FadE2. Wang et al show that the pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa employs two distinct acyl-CoA dehydrogenases for β-oxidation. They identify the substrate selectivity filter in each enzyme, and show that the enzymes are required for optimal virulence.

Mitigation of anthropogenic climate change involves deployments of renewable energy worldwide, including wind farms, which can pose a significant collision risk to volant animals. Most studies into the collision risk between species and wind turbines, however, have taken place in industrialized countries. Potential effects for many locations and species therefore remain unclear. To redress this gap, we conducted a systematic literature review of recorded collisions between birds and bats and wind turbines within developed countries. We related collision rate to species-level traits and turbine characteristics to quantify the potential vulnerability of 9538 bird and 888 bat species globally. Avian collision rate was affected by migratory strategy, dispersal distance and habitat associations, and bat collision rates were influenced by dispersal distance. For birds and bats, larger turbine capacity (megawatts) increased collision rates; however, deploying a smaller number of large turbines with greater energy output reduced total collision risk per unit energy output, although bat mortality increased again with the largest turbines. Areas with high concentrations of vulnerable species were also identified, including migration corridors. Our results can therefore guide wind farm design and location to reduce the risk of large-scale animal mortality. This is the first quantitative global assessment of the relative collision vulnerability of species groups with wind turbines, providing valuable guidance for minimizing potentially serious negative impacts on biodiversity.

Aim Global declines in the populations of migratory species have been attributed largely to climate change and anthropogenic habitat change. However, the relative contribution of these factors on species’ breeding and non‐breeding ranges is unclear. Here, we present the first large‐scale assessment of the relative importance of climatic conditions and land cover on both the breeding and non‐breeding grounds in driving the long‐term population trends of migratory species. Location Europe and Africa. Methods We use data on the long‐term population trends of 61 short‐ and 39 long‐distance migratory species of European breeding birds. We analyse these population trends in relation to changes in climate and land cover across species’ breeding and non‐breeding ranges over a 36‐year period, along with species’ migratory behaviour. Results The population trends of European migratory birds appear to be more closely related to changes in climate than changes in land cover on their breeding grounds, but the converse is true on their non‐breeding grounds. While improvements in climate suitability across the breeding ranges of short‐distance migrants led to increasing population trends, the same was not true for long‐distance migrants. The combined effects of changes in climate and land cover account for approximately 40% of the variation in migratory species’ population trends, suggesting that factors other than climate and land cover as we have measured them, such as habitat quality, also affect the population trends of migrant birds. Main Conclusions Over recent decades, population trends of most migrant species are most strongly related to climatic conditions on the breeding grounds but land cover change on the non‐breeding grounds. This suggests that management to stem the declines of migrant birds requires an integrated approach that considers all processes affecting migrant birds across their dynamic distributions throughout the year.