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Background: the concept of 'ecosystem services bundles', i.e. ecosystem services that repeatedly appear together across space and/or time, has been developed and refined as part of an integrated approach to assess interactions between ecosystem services. Nevertheless, published evidence of actual use of bundles in decision-making is lacking. In the light of this gap, a review of what bundle approaches have shown and what they can bring to decision-making is timely. Method: we conducted two separate systematic reviews. The first one addressed emerging issues within what we identify as the diverse utilisation and definition of the concept of 'bundle' in the literature. The second one focused on papers dealing with bundles as sets of consistently associated services. Review Synthesis: the review first highlights that the confusion surrounding the term 'bundle' in ecosystem services literature threatens to weaken the potential for analysis of bundles to inform decision-making. Then, thanks to the review of peer-reviewed papers that detect bundles as sets of consistently associated services, we analyse the diversity of methodological choices and we detail the interactions observed between different ecosystem services across the literature. We also show that landscape features, socio-economic conditions and institutional factors are all potential drivers for the occurrence of specific bundles in a landscape. Discussion: overall, it appears that the analysis of bundles provides an opportunity to enhance policy effectiveness. Nevertheless, the methodological challenges linked to the identification and interpretation of bundles call for careful and reflective study designs. We anticipate that this review will lead to a better understanding by scientists and practitioners of the potential for bundle studies to inform decision-making.

Because we have entered the ‘millennium of the cities’, urban ecological research needs to account for the provisions ecosystem services provide to urban regions. In urban areas, ecosystem service assessment studies need to account for the complex land use patterns, which change over relatively short periods of time. We discuss an analytical framework for the spatial and temporal integration of different ecosystem services in an urban region to determine synergies, trade-offs and losses, and we employ a case study in Leipzig-Halle, Germany. The following five ecosystem services, which are of special importance for urban areas, were selected: local climate regulation, recreation potential, biodiversity potential, food supply, and above-ground carbon storage. These services were analyzed from 1990 to 2006. Our results identified only slight increases in urbanization (1% or 3 km²) and in mining restoration (-11 km²). However, the detected land use changes led to synergies with biodiversity and climate regulation of > 50% of the total area, whereas trade-offs of approximately 60% were detected between variables such as climate regulation and recreation. Finally, we address both the opportunities and the challenges that were encountered in the integration study, specifically with respect to the application in land use planning.

Los parques naturales se diseñaron para compatibilizar objetivos conservacionistas y de desarrollo local, y se han definido como laboratorios de participación social. Usando técnicas grupales (grupo focales) y participativas (talleres), ofrecemos las percepciones de actores sociales e institucionales de los Parques Naturales del Estrecho y Los Alcornocales (Andalucía) tras varias décadas de políticas de conservación. Mostramos la diversidad de agencias sociales, sus discursos sobre la participación en la gestión en cada territorio, sus reivindicaciones sobre la gobernanza, sobre la conservación y sus perspectivas de futuro, así como los trade-offs resultantes de la institucionalización de ambos parques. Concluimos que el parque natural, como herramienta política, no ha logrado su objetivo de aunar conservación y desarrollo en ninguno de los dos territorios, aunque hemos identificado un interés convergente entre técnicos y agencias sociales en lanzar mecanismos de mejora de su gobernanza. 

Ant-plant mutualisms may provide indirect evidence for costs of antiherbivore defenses when plants demonstrate trade-offs between allocating resources and energy into ant attractants versus chemical defenses. We tested the hypothesis that ecological trade-offs in defenses are present in Piper cenocladum. This plant possesses two distinct defenses: food bodies that attract predatory ants that destory herbivore eggs and amides that deter herbivores. Previous studies have demonstrated that the food bodies in P. cenocladum are an effective defense because the ants deter herbivory by specialist herbivores. Amides in other Piper species have been shown to have toxic qualities, but we tested the additional hypothesis that these amides have an actual defensive function in P. cenocladum. To test for ecological trade-offs between the two putative defenses, fragments of P. cenocladum were examined for the presence of amides both when the plant was producing food bodies and when it was not producing food bodies. Plants with active ant colonies had redundant defenses, producing food bodies and high levels of amides at the same time, but we detected a trade-off in that they had significantly lower levels of amides than did plants with no ants. To test for the defensive value of P. cenocladum amides, we used an ant bioassay and we examined herbivory results from previous experiments with plants that had variable levels of amides. These tests demonstrated that amides are deterrent to omnivorous ants, leaf cutting ants, and orthopterans. In contrast, the resident Pheidole bicornis ants are effective at deterring herbivory by specialist herbivores that oviposit eggs on the plant but not at deterring herbivory by nonresident omnivores. We concluded that although both amides and food body production appear to be costly, redundancy in defenses is necessary to avoid damage by a complex suit of herbivores.

Description du sujet. Les parcs agroforestiers de l’Afrique sub-humide connaissent des variations régionales de composition et de densité qui pourraient être liées à des facteurs naturels et aux savoirs et objectifs de leurs gestionnaires quant aux bénéfices et inconvénients des arbres. Objectifs. Afin de vérifier cette dernière l’hypothèse, nous avons utilisé le cadre d’analyse des services et desservices écosystémiques (SE/DSE) en partant du point de vue des familles paysannes qui gèrent les parcs. Méthode. Sur un transect sociétal en zone sud soudanienne du Burkina Faso, dans une zone au milieu suffisamment homogène, six villages divisés en deux groupes (Ouest, Est) selon des critères sociétaux ont fait l’objet de 67 entretiens auprès de familles exploitantes de champs inventoriés par ailleurs. Les enquêteurs ont employé des équivalents de l’idée de bénéfice ou avantage des arbres pour les cultures et l’élevage, et vice versa, dans les langues locales. La fréquence de citation d’un SE/DSE constitue un indicateur d’importance de ce dernier pour une population. Les SE/DSE reconnus par une majorité sont qualifiés « essentiels ». Résultats. Avec huit SE importants pour seulement deux DSE, les avantages mutuels perçus entre composantes de l’association arbres-cultures-élevage dominent. Les SE des arbres aux cultures et au bétail et les SE inverses sont presque aussi nombreux, créant une synergie. À l’Est du transect (parc dense et diversifié sur cultures manuelles de sorgho), l’ensemble constitué de cette synergie, des cinq SE essentiels (fertilité du sol, alimentation bétail – feuilles et fruits –, ombrage du bétail, fertilisation de l’arbre par bétail) et des SE directs (approvisionnement en bois et fruits), est interprétable comme une nécessité perçue d’un peuplement arboré dense et varié, plus qu’un simple bénéfice. Dans l’Ouest en revanche (parc peu dense et pauvre en espèces sur cultures intensives mécanisées), il est perçu un DSE essentiel des arbres (ombrage et gêne des cultures), aussi le parc est pensé comme moins nécessaire et réduit à son minimum pour la seule production lucrative de karité. Conclusions. Ces faisceaux de relations perçues qui dépendent des systèmes de culture et d’élevage menés sont donc à la base de l’arbitrage de densité et de composition. À l’Ouest, la réhabilitation du parc serait facilitée par des appuis et incitations provenant des filières coton et karité, responsables de l’appauvrissement du parc, pour y compenser l’arbitrage défavorable. Cette réhabilitation aurait pour but de rendre des SE spécifiques à la fois locaux (régénération du karité, fourrages, santé du sol) et globaux (biodiversité, carbone). Mutual services of trees, crops, and livestock in agroforestry parks of a sub-humid zone of Burkina Faso Description of the subject. Agroforestry parks in sub-humid Africa show regional variations in composition and density of trees, which may be linked to natural factors and to farmers' knowledge and opinions regarding the benefits and drawbacks of trees. Objectives. In order to test the latter hypothesis, we used the Ecosystem Services/Disservices (ES/DES) framework, starting from the point of view of the farming families who manage the parks. Method. On a societal transect in the sub-humid zone of Burkina Faso, in an area with a sufficiently homogeneous environment, six villages, divided into two groups (West, East) according to societal criteria, were the subject of 67 interviews with families operating inventoried fields. The interviewers used equivalents of the idea of benefit or advantage of trees for crops and livestock, and vice versa, in local languages. The frequency with which an ES/DES is cited is an indicator of its importance for a population. ES recognized by the majority were qualified as “essential ES”. Results. With eight important ES for only two DES, mutual benefits between components of the tree-crop-livestock association dominate. ES from trees to crops and livestock and inverse ES are almost equally numerous, creating synergy. In the eastern part of the transect (dense, diversified park on hand-cultivated sorghum), the combination of this synergy, the five essential ES (soil fertility, livestock feeding - leaves and fruit, cattle shading, tree fertilization by livestock), and the direct ES (wood and fruit supply) can be interpreted as a perceived need for a dense and diversified tree stand, rather than a simple benefit. In the western part, on the other hand (species-poor and sparse park on mechanized intensive crops), trees are perceived as an essential DES (shading and hindrance to crops). Here, the park is perceived as less necessary and is reduced to its minimum for the sole lucrative production of shea fruit. Conclusions. These bundles of perceived relationships, which depend on the cropping and livestock production system, are therefore at the root of density and composition trade-offs. In the West, in addition to conformation pruning to reduce the shading factor, incentives for park rehabilitation by the cotton and shea sectors, which are responsible for park impoverishment, would counterbalance the unfavorable trade-off. They would target both specific local (shea regeneration, fodder, soil health) and global ES (biodiversity, carbon, etc.).

An absence of genetic variance in traits under selection is perhaps the oldest explanation for a limit to evolutionary change, but has also been the most easily dismissed. We review a range of theoretical and empirical results covering single traits to more complex multivariate systems, and show that an absence of genetic variance may be more common than is currently appreciated. From a single-trait perspective, we highlight that it is becoming clear that some trait types do not display significant levels of genetic variation, and we raise the possibility that species with restricted ranges may differ qualitatively from more widespread species in levels of genetic variance in ecologically important traits. A common misconception in many life-history studies is that a lack of genetic variance in single traits, and genetic constraints as a consequence of bivariate genetic correlations, are different causes of selection limits. We detail how interpretations of bivariate patterns are unlikely to demonstrate genetic limits to selection in many cases. We advocate a multivariate definition of genetic constraints that emphasizes the presence (or otherwise) of genetic variance in the multivariate direction of selection. For multitrait systems, recent results using longer term studies of organisms, in which more is understood concerning what traits may be under selection, have indicated that selection may exhaust genetic variance, resulting in a limit to the selection response.

Zusammenfassung Die landwirtschaftliche Nutztierhaltung steht seit Jahren in der öffentlichen Kritik. Insbesondere die vorherrschenden intensiven Haltungsbedingungen werden von weiten Teilen der Gesellschaft kritisiert und sind auch aus tierwissenschaftlicher Sicht stark verbesserungsbedürftig. Mittlerweile ist aber auch hinreichend bekannt, dass die landwirtschaftliche Nutztierhaltung nicht nur negative Auswirkungen auf das Tierwohl, sondern auch auf Umwelt, Klima oder die menschliche Gesundheit hat. Vor diesem Hintergrund ergeben sich unterschiedliche Zielkonflikte, die eine nachhaltige und zukunftsorientierte Transformation des Sektors erschweren. Gerade die Verbesserung des Tierwohls stellt eine komplexe Aufgabe dar, bei der mögliche Zielkonflikte auch aus gesellschaftlicher Sicht identifiziert und bewertet werden müssen, um dem zunehmenden Akzeptanzverlust entgegenzuwirken. Daher hat die vorliegende Studie in einer Online-Befragung mit Hilfe der Methoden des Best-Worst Scaling (BWS) und Rankings untersucht, wie wichtig den Menschen in Deutschland verschiedene relevante Aspekte in der Nutztierhaltung im Konfliktfall sind. Dabei wurde nicht nur die Bewertung von Aspekten verschiedener Zielkategorien wie Tier-, Umwelt- und Klimaschutz oder menschliche Gesundheit betrachtet, sondern auch einzelne Teilaspekte innerhalb des Tierschutzes bzw. Tierwohls für Mastschweine, Milchkühe, Masthähnchen und Legehennen. Die Ergebnisse zeigen, dass die Befragten unabhängig von der Tierart oder der verwendeten Methode dem Tierschutz und der menschlichen Gesundheit eine höhere Priorität einräumen als anderen Nachhaltigkeitsaspekten und insbesondere Produkteigenschaften. Hinsichtlich des Tierwohls wurden bei allen Tierarten die Aspekte gute Haltungsbedingungen, gute Versorgung mit Futter und Wasser und gute Tiergesundheit am höchsten gewichtet. Die Ergebnisse leisten einen wertvollen Beitrag zur Entwicklung politischer Rahmenbedingungen, die auf eine nachhaltige und gesellschaftlich akzeptierte Transformation der derzeitigen landwirtschaftlichen Nutztierhaltung abzielen.

Zusammenfassung Ziel des ersten Arbeitspakets (AP 1) von SocialLab II war der Aufbau eines Monitorings zu Rahmenbedingungen, die Einfluss auf die Entwicklung der gesellschaftlichen Kritik und Akzeptanz der landwirtschaftlichen Nutztierhaltung haben. Basierend auf Ergebnissen von SocialLab I (Christoph-Schulz et al., 2018) ging es um die Etablierung einer langfristig durchzuführenden Längsschnittstudie. Das Monitoring wurde online mit insgesamt 4 Befragungswellen und repräsentativen Stichproben von Verbraucherinnen und Verbrauchern durchgeführt, aufgebaut bzw. getestet. Darüber hinaus wurden landwirtschaftliche Betriebe sowie der Lebensmittelhandel befragt. So konnte ein Befragungstool entwickelt und validiert werden, welches es dem BMEL zukünftig ermöglicht, in regelmäßigen Abständen Erhebungen zu folgenden, in der gesellschaftlichen Debatte um die Weiterentwicklung der landwirtschaftlichen Nutztierhaltung wichtigen Themenkomplexen, durchzuführen.