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The decline of perennial plant species, including oak, olive, and kiwifruit, is a phenomenon currently observed in many areas of the world. In this review, such species are chosen precisely because, despite the differences in their botany, native distribution, and current utilization, they are all affected by significant global or local declines. An analysis of the main common causes involved could be useful for a better understanding of the phenomenon. Quercus species are impacted by “Chronic Oak Decline” (COD), “Sudden Oak Decline” (SOD), and “Acute Oak Decline” (AOD). In Italy, olive groves are severely damaged by “Olive Quick Decline Syndrome”, whereas kiwifruit orchards are struck by “Kiwifruit Vine Decline Syndrome” (KVDS). Among the abiotic inciting stressors, drought, warmer temperatures, and waterlogging, all within a climate change scenario, are involved in all declines described herein as well as in plant dysbiosis. The involvement of some aggressive phytopathogens is another common feature of all these declines. Oomycetes contribute to COD, SOD, and KVDS; Xylella fastidiosa subsp. pauca and Botryosphaeriaceae affect olive, and some enterobacteria are involved in AOD, all representing decisive contributing factors. These declines are quite complex, and a comprehensive approach is required to dissect all the facets involved. A better understanding of altered host–microbial community relationships can lead to a more tailored approach to understanding and managing declines. Maintaining tree resilience in a warmer Earth remains a primary goal to achieve for preserving both natural ecosystems and profitable crops.

Using the example of four regions of the Near North of Russia, the prevalence of educational and health care institutions in 22 thousand settlements (SS) of different status and size is analysed. The proportion of the population that has access to comprehensive or at least basic services at their place of residence is estimated. The dynamics of the population size is analysed depending on the provision of settlements with these institutions during the last intercensal period. The article is based on data collected from open sources on the availability of educational and health care institutions, as well as on population data based on the results of the All-Russian Census of Population of 2010 and 2020. In spite of the fact that educational institutions are available in 7.4% of populated areas, and health care institutions in 14%, the majority of the population (even without considering those living in large cities) is provided with basic services at their place of residence. Calculations are given for the provision of settlements of different sizes and administrative status with all types of educational and health care institutions. Despite the optimisation of the network of institutions, the provision of the population with them did not decrease during the 2010s, as the process of population decline and its concentration in larger settlements proceeded at an equally rapid pace. Regardless of the provision of settlements with educational and health care organisations, the reduction in their population was very significant.

This benchmark volume documents in comprehensive detail a major environmental crisis: rapidly declining amphibian populations and the disturbing developmental problems that are increasingly prevalent within many amphibian species. Horror stories on this topic have been featured in the scientific and popular press over the past fifteen years, invariably asking what amphibian declines are telling us about the state of the environment. Are declines harbingers of devastated ecosystems or simply weird reflections of a peculiar amphibian world? This compendium—presenting new data, reviews of current literature, and comprehensive species accounts—reinforces what scientists have begun to suspect, that amphibians are a lens through which the state of the environment can be viewed more clearly. And, that the view is alarming and presages serious concerns for all life, including that of our own species. The first part of this work consists of more than fifty essays covering topics from the causes of declines to conservation, surveys and monitoring, and education. The second part consists of species accounts describing the life history and natural history of every known amphibian species in the United States.

Demographically and economically, there is an ongoing global shift that has resulted in the uneven development and distribution of monetary, human and knowledge capital. This paper first examines and consolidates economic, social and urban theories of growth and decline and demonstrates how globalisation has conceptually shifted the spatial scale and trajectory of urban change theories. The examination of the population trajectories of the 100 largest American cities from 1980 to 2010 demonstrates that the majority either grew or shrank continuously. This trend counters early cyclical models and supports the argument that globalisation has altered population trajectories. Second, conceptualisations of urban shrinkage trajectories are reviewed and a two-dimensional trajectory typology encompassing both economic and demographic change is presented. The diversity of urban shrinkage experiences is demonstrated through the application of the typology to the 20 largest shrinking American cities, 12 of which experienced overall population loss and simultaneous economic growth. 在人口和经济层面，一项持续的全球转变导致了货币资本、人力资本和知识资本的不均衡 发展和分配。本文首先审视并统合了关于增长和衰退的经济、社会及城市理论，并证明了 全球化如何在概念层面改变了城市变革理论的空间尺度和轨迹。对美国100个大城市从1980到2010年的人口变化轨迹考查证明，大多数城市持续增长或持续衰退。这一趋势反 早期的周期循环模式，支持以下论点：全球化改变了人口变化轨迹。其次，我们考核了城 市收缩轨迹的概念表述，并提出了一种涵盖经济和人口变化的二维轨迹类型学。通过将该 类型学应用于美国前20大收缩城市（其中12个出现了总体人口收缩与经济增长同步发生 的现象），我们证明了城市收缩经验的多样性。

Vultures provide critical ecosystem services, yet populations of many species have collapsed worldwide. We present the first estimates of a 30‐year Pan‐African vulture decline, confirming that declines have occurred on a scale broadly comparable with those seen in Asia, where the ecological, economic, and human costs are already documented. Populations of eight species we assessed had declined by an average of 62%; seven had declined at a rate of 80% or more over three generations. Of these, at least six appear to qualify for uplisting to Critically Endangered. Africa's vultures are facing a range of specific threats, the most significant of which are poisoning and trade in traditional medicines, which together accounted for 90% of reported deaths. We recommend that national governments urgently enact and enforce legislation to strictly regulate the sale and use of pesticides and poisons, to eliminate the illegal trade in vulture body parts, as food or medicine, and to minimize mortality caused by power lines and wind turbines.

Oak decline is a complex disorder caused by multiple stressors. Although declines have been observed across Europe since 1700, there is still a lot of uncertainty around the cause, and therefore the appropriate management techniques. Using literature from across European oak ecosystems, this review and perspective discusses the key stressors associated with oak declines in Quercus robur L. and Q. petraea (Matt.) Liebl. in Europe and the newly described acute oak decline breaking out in the United Kingdom (and beyond), with a view to identifying important evidence gaps and management implications. The key factors implicated in oak decline include drought, pests and pathogens. These factors can interact in positive feedback loops to increase stress and decline within oaks. Extreme frost, waterlogging, soil properties, land management, nitrogen pollution, heavy metal pollution, genetic predisposition and mycorrhizal changes could also be involved in decline, but more research is required to understand these. In acute oak decline, necrotic lesions are caused by a bacterial complex of up to three species, and it has been observed that the presence of the wood borer Agrilus biguttatus Fabricius 1776 can amplify the symptoms. Practical implication: The amount that each stressor contributes towards these declines and the ‘tipping points’ are largely unknown and are likely to differ between decline events, sites and even individual trees. This makes management advice provision exceedingly difficult. Historic records show oaks in decline can recover; therefore, allowing trees time and space to recover should be a priority for management practitioners. Future research recommendations for effective management of declining oaks are discussed. Oak decline is a complex disorder caused by multiple abiotic and biotic stressors, which can interact resulting in deterioration in tree condition. This has resulted in periodic tree mortality across Europe since 1700. This review discusses the key stressors associated with declines in Quercus robur and Q. petraea in Europe, including the newly described acute oak decline.

The majority of the shrinking cities literature focuses solely on instances of population loss and economic decline. This article argues that shrinking cities exist on a spectrum between prosperity and decline. Taking a wider view of population loss, I explore the possibility of prosperous shrinking cities: if they exist, where they exist, and under what conditions shrinking cities can thrive. Examining census place data from the 1980 to 2010 U.S. Census and American Community Surveys, 27 percent of 886 shrinking cities were found to have income levels greater than their surrounding regions. Shrinking and prosperous shrinking cities of all sizes were found across the United States. Shrinkage was most prevalent in the Rust Belt region and prosperous shrinkage in coastal regions. Prosperous shrinking cities were overwhelmingly found within megapolitan regions and were rarely principal cities. Multivariate regression analysis found that both population (city size) and the severity of shrinkage (magnitude of population loss) had no effect on economic prosperity. Talent (location quotient of education) was found to be the strongest predictor of prosperous shrinkage. Key Words: demographic change, economic prosperity, shrinking city, urban decline.

A principal impact of invasive species is that they reduce local species richness. However, it is unknown whether the magnitude of the richness decrease has been consistent over the past two decades of published research. We used cumulative meta-analysis to synthesize evidence from 240 articles evaluating whether this cumulative evidence base generally supports, or refutes, the association between invasive species presence and richness declines. First, we determined whether evidence accumulation lowered the mean effect size of invasive species on local native richness through time; termed the “decline effect.” Then, as mean effect sizes changed over time, we identified when accumulated evidence reached sufficiency, indicating that the mean effect direction (positive or negative) was unlikely to be reversed by unpublished research. We also assessed whether the mean effect size reached a threshold of stability over publication years. To date, no research has tested mechanisms of the decline effect, and here we determine whether publication bias, sample size, time since invasion, or invader trophic position are driving a decline effect in the published evidence base. We found a clear decline in the cumulative mean effect of invasive species on local native species richness as published evidence accumulated between 1999 and 2016. Despite this decline, an average negative association was stable and sufficiently robust to unpublished studies by 2007, showing a 21% mean richness decrease by 2016. Contrary to our expectation, the decline effect manifested consistently regardless of invasive species trophic position, time since invasion, or journal rank. Within taxonomic subgroups, trees, insects, and herbaceous plants exhibit a decline effect, yet still show sufficient and stable negative impacts on richness. However, many other taxonomic subgroups (e.g., crustaceans, fish, mammals) lack evidence for average negative impacts on richness, or have not met sufficiency or stability thresholds.

The population extinction pulse we describe here shows, from a quantitative viewpoint, that Earth’s sixth mass extinction is more severe than perceived when looking exclusively at species extinctions. Therefore, humanity needs to address anthropogenic population extirpation and decimation immediately. That conclusion is based on analyses of the numbers and degrees of range contraction (indicative of population shrinkage and/or population extinctions according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature) using a sample of 27,600 vertebrate species, and on a more detailed analysis documenting the population extinctions between 1900 and 2015 in 177 mammal species. We find that the rate of population loss in terrestrial vertebrates is extremely high—even in “species of low concern.” In our sample, comprising nearly half of known vertebrate species, 32% (8,851/27,600) are decreasing; that is, they have decreased in population size and range. In the 177 mammals for which we have detailed data, all have lost 30% or more of their geographic ranges and more than 40% of the species have experienced severe population declines (>80% range shrinkage). Our data indicate that beyond global species extinctions Earth is experiencing a huge episode of population declines and extirpations, which will have negative cascading consequences on ecosystem functioning and services vital to sustaining civilization. We describe this as a “biological annihilation” to highlight the current magnitude of Earth’s ongoing sixth major extinction event.