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Wetlands, being rich habitats, constitute rich biodiversity while acting as the source of 40% of global ecosystem services. With the shrinkage of the wetland ecosystem, there is an imminent danger of losing several important flora and fauna that depend on this ecosystem. In India, around 589 species of aquatic plants have been recorded; however, there is no comprehensive data set on their distribution and importance in terms of ecosystem services delivered. Data on plant distribution, ecosystem services, habitat characteristics, and lifecycle have been compiled through various databases, including India Biodiversity Portal, Global Biodiversity Information Facility, and from literature, including the book on aquatic plants of India. Using GIS tools, the spatial distribution of wetland plants across India has been illustrated, showcasing the maximum distribution of wetland plants in the Western Ghats and Gangetic plains. Almost 50% of them were found to provide ecosystem services of economic importance. Finally, an attempt has been made to develop a novel framework (index) to assess the vulnerability of wetland plants known to provide ecosystem services of economic importance, named the 'Ecosystem Services Vulnerability Index (ESVI)'. The index included ecological characteristics, socio-economic drivers, and institutional parameters as attributes, and each was weighted accordingly. The ESVI highlighted that although most wetland plants were least vulnerable, 20 species among them need immediate conservation measures due to their high vulnerability. This study also highlighted the effectiveness of ESVI, through which more species were found vulnerable compared to the IUCN red list vulnerability index. This study suggests incorporating ESVI into future ecosystem services research to make it suitable for various ecosystems and habitats worldwide to conserve flora and fauna.

In the last three decades, quantitative approaches that rely on organism traits instead of taxonomy have advanced different fields of ecological research through establishing the mechanistic links between environmental drivers, functional traits, and ecosystem functions. A research subfield where trait-based approaches have been frequently used but poorly synthesized is the ecology of seagrasses; marine angiosperms that colonized the ocean 100M YA and today make up productive yet threatened coastal ecosystems globally. Here, we compiled a comprehensive trait-based response-effect framework (TBF) which builds on previous concepts and ideas, including the use of traits for the study of community assembly processes, from dispersal and response to abiotic and biotic factors, to ecosystem function and service provision. We then apply this framework to the global seagrass literature, using a systematic review to identify the strengths, gaps, and opportunities of the field. Seagrass trait research has mostly focused on the effect of environmental drivers on traits, i.e., “environmental filtering” (72%), whereas links between traits and functions are less common (26.9%). Despite the richness of trait-based data available, concepts related to TBFs are rare in the seagrass literature (15% of studies), including the relative importance of neutral and niche assembly processes, or the influence of trait dominance or complementarity in ecosystem function provision. These knowledge gaps indicate ample potential for further research, highlighting the need to understand the links between the unique traits of seagrasses and the ecosystem services they provide.

Quantitative scenarios are coming of age as a tool for evaluating the impact of future socioeconomic development pathways on biodiversity and ecosystem services. We analyze global terrestrial, freshwater, and marine biodiversity scenarios using a range of measures including extinctions, changes in species abundance, habitat loss, and distribution shifts, as well as comparing model projections to observations. Scenarios consistently indicate that biodiversity will continue to decline over the 21st century. However, the range of projected changes is much broader than most studies suggest, partly because there are major opportunities to intervene through better policies, but also because of large uncertainties in projections.

Coral reefs are rich in biodiversity, in large part because their highly complex architecture provides shelter and resources for a wide range of organisms. Recent rapid declines in hard coral cover have occurred across the Caribbean region, but the concomitant consequences for reef architecture have not been quantified on a large scale to date. We provide, to our knowledge, the first region-wide analysis of changes in reef architectural complexity, using nearly 500 surveys across 200 reefs, between 1969 and 2008. The architectural complexity of Caribbean reefs has declined nonlinearly with the near disappearance of the most complex reefs over the last 40 years. The flattening of Caribbean reefs was apparent by the early 1980s, followed by a period of stasis between 1985 and 1998 and then a resumption of the decline in complexity to the present. Rates of loss are similar on shallow (<6 m), mid-water (6-20 m) and deep (>20 m) reefs and are consistent across all five subregions. The temporal pattern of declining architecture coincides with key events in recent Caribbean ecological history: the loss of structurally complex Acropora corals, the mass mortality of the grazing urchin Diadema antillarum and the 1998 El Nino Southern Oscillation-induced worldwide coral bleaching event. The consistently low estimates of current architectural complexity suggest regional-scale degradation and homogenization of reef structure. The widespread loss of architectural complexity is likely to have serious consequences for reef biodiversity, ecosystem functioning and associated environmental services.

Climate change (CC) threatens ecosystems in both developed and developing countries. As the impacts of CC are pervasive, global, and mostly irreversible, it is gaining worldwide attention. Here we review vulnerability and impacts of CC on forest and freshwater wetland ecosystems. We particularly look at investigations undertaken at different geographic regions in order to identify existing knowledge gaps and possible implications from such vulnerability in the context of Nepal along with available adaptation programs and national-level policy supports. Different categories of impacts which are attributed to disrupting structure, function, and habitat of both forest and wetland ecosystems are identified and discussed. We show that though still unaccounted, many facets of forest and freshwater wetland ecosystems of Nepal are vulnerable and likely to be impacted by CC in the near future. Provisioning ecosystem services and landscape-level ecosystem conservation are anticipated to be highly threatened with future CC. Finally, the need for prioritizing CC research in Nepal is highlighted to close the existing knowledge gap along with the implementation of adaptation measures based on existing location specific traditional socio-ecological system.

Context Climate shifts and increasing disturbance events are affecting forest functioning and stakeholders. Uncertainty in future conditions complicates selecting optimal management strategies, necessitating to evaluate them within the context of changing environmental constraints. Objectives This study explores how different management strategies affect the provision of forest ecosystem services within plantation forests, taking into account spatial variations in climate, risk vulnerability, and soil water reserve. Additionally, it aims to assess the impact of future climates on these services, including economic value, timber production, carbon sequestration in situ and in wood products, and water drainage. Methods We analyzed the spatial distribution of forest ecosystem performances in a 0.8Mha plantation forest across the twenty-first century according to four management options under two climate scenarios (RCP 4.5 and RCP 8.5). We utilized 2006–2100 forest projections of the maritime pine forest in southwestern France. These projections were generated by a suite of process-based models simulating forest growth and management (GO+), potential damage from storms (ForestGales), fire and pests (ex-post calculations), and the carbon lifecycle of wood products (CAT). Results Principal component analysis evidenced the overall pattern of correlation among ecosystem services, risk, and their dynamics. Rainfall emerged as the primary driver of spatial variance in ecosystem services. Wood-product carbon levels distinguished management regimes, while in situ sequestration correlated negatively with export but positively with net present value. The forest vulnerability to risks increased over time for both scenarios. Clustering analysis identified regions with high production potential, areas where current managements should be replaced, and zones at risk of ecosystem performance decline. Conclusions Our geospatial analysis identified distinct ecosystem service bundles and their temporal shifts, highlighting how different management strategies uniquely influence landscape productivity. These insights can guide targeted ecosystem management to optimize service delivery.

ContextMost protected areas are managed based on objectives related to scientific ecological knowledge of species and ecosystems. However, a core principle of sustainability science is that understanding and including local ecological knowledge, perceptions of ecosystem service provision and landscape vulnerability will improve sustainability and resilience of social-ecological systems. Here, we take up these assumptions in the context of protected areas to provide insight on the effectiveness of nature protection goals, particularly in highly human-influenced landscapes.ObjectivesWe examined how residents’ ecological knowledge systems, comprised of both local and scientific, mediated the relationship between their characteristics and a set of variables that represented perceptions of ecosystem services, landscape change, human-nature relationships, and impacts.MethodsWe administered a face-to-face survey to local residents in the Sierra de Guadarrama protected areas, Spain. We used bi- and multi-variate analysis, including partial least squares path modeling to test our hypotheses.ResultsEcological knowledge systems were highly correlated and were instrumental in predicting perceptions of water-related ecosystem services, landscape change, increasing outdoors activities, and human-nature relationships. Engagement with nature, socio-demographics, trip characteristics, and a rural–urban gradient explained a high degree of variation in ecological knowledge. Bundles of perceived ecosystem services and impacts, in relation to ecological knowledge, emerged as social representation on how residents relate to, understand, and perceive landscapes.ConclusionsOur findings provide insight into the interactions between ecological knowledge systems and their role in shaping perceptions of local communities about protected areas. These results are expected to inform protected area management and landscape sustainability.

Freshwater ecosystems are important for global biodiversity and provide essential ecosystem services. There is consensus in the scientific literature that freshwater ecosystems are vulnerable to the impacts of environmental change, which may trigger irreversible regime shifts upon which biodiversity and ecosystem services may be lost. There are profound uncertainties regarding the management and assessment of the vulnerability of freshwater ecosystems to environmental change. Quantitative approaches are needed to reduce this uncertainty. We describe available statistical and modeling approaches along with case studies that demonstrate how resilience theory can be applied to aid decision-making in natural resources management. We highlight especially how long-term monitoring efforts combined with ecological theory can provide a novel nexus between ecological impact assessment and management, and the quantification of systemic vulnerability and thus the resilience of ecosystems to environmental change.

Tropical savannas have a ground cover dominated by C4 grasses, with fire and herbivory constraining woody cover below a rainfall-based potential. The savanna biome covers 50% of the African continent, encompassing diverse ecosystems that include densely wooded Miombo woodlands and Serengeti grasslands with scattered trees. African savannas provide water, grazing and browsing, food and fuel for tens of millions of people, and have a unique biodiversity that supports wildlife tourism. However, human impacts are causing widespread and accelerating degradation of savannas. The primary threats are land cover-change and transformation, landscape fragmentation that disrupts herbivore communities and fire regimes, climate change and rising atmospheric CO2. The interactions among these threats are poorly understood, with unknown consequences for ecosystem health and human livelihoods. We argue that the unique combinations of plant functional traits characterizing the major floristic assemblages of African savannas make them differentially susceptible and resilient to anthropogenic drivers of ecosystem change. Research must address how this functional diversity among African savannas differentially influences their vulnerability to global change and elucidate the mechanisms responsible. This knowledge will permit appropriate management strategies to be developed to maintain ecosystem integrity, biodiversity and livelihoods.

Faced with huge environmental problems of ecosystem degradation, “Ecological Redline Policy (ERP)” in China is a new key national-level policy to manage different land use functions in accordance with development and environmental limits. As the water–land complex ecosystem with the largest freshwater lake, wetland natural reserves and ecological importance in China, Poyang Lake Region (PLR) is selected to quantify and map multiple ecosystem services, investigate the ecological function zoning as part of research on ecological zoning control and major ecological source areas to illustrate and address the implementation of this strategy based on the importance and vulnerability analysis of ecosystem services. According to ecological function zoning results, extremely important, highly important, medium important and important zones respectively account for 26.1%, 28.1%, 17.4% and 28.4% of the total area. With an area of 5422.2 km 2 , the extremely important zone is 1010.6 km 2 larger than the ERP. Moreover, 81.6% of the ERP is located in the extremely important zone. By discussing the implications and applications of ecological management, this study contributes to the ecological protection of Poyang Lake and provides a foundation for research on ecological function zoning at the regional scale.