The biodiversity-wind energy-land use nexus in a global biodiversity hotspot

The interest in harnessing wind energy keeps increasing globally. Iceland is considering building its first wind farms, but its landscape and nature are not only a resource for renewable energy production; they are also the main attraction for tourists. As wind turbines affect how the landscape is perceived and experienced, it is foreseeable that the construction of wind farms in Iceland will create land use conflicts between the energy sector and the tourism industry. This study sheds light on the impacts of wind farms on nature-based tourism as perceived by the tourism industry. Based on 47 semi-structured interviews with tourism service providers, it revealed that the impacts were perceived as mostly negative, since wind farms decrease the quality of the natural landscape. Furthermore, the study identified that the tourism industry considered the following as key factors for selecting suitable wind farm sites: the visibility of wind turbines, the number of tourists and tourist attractions in the area, the area’s degree of naturalness and the local need for energy. The research highlights the importance of analysing the various stakeholders’ opinions with the aim of mitigating land use conflicts and socioeconomic issues related to wind energy development.

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Meta-analysis reveals severe pollen limitation for the flowering plants growing in East Himalaya-Hengduan Mountains region

BMC Ecology ◽

10.1186/s12898-020-00322-6 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 20 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Xianfeng Jiang ◽

Yanping Xie

Keyword(s):

Confidence Interval ◽

Pollen Limitation ◽

Meta Analysis ◽

Flowering Plants ◽

Biodiversity Hotspot ◽

Clear Relationship ◽

Hengduan Mountains ◽

Independent Data ◽

The World ◽

Global Biodiversity

Abstract Background Pollen limitation occurs widely and has an important effect on flowering plants. The East Himalaya-Hengduan Mountains region is a global biodiversity hotspot. However, to our knowledge, no study has synthetically assessed the degree of pollen limitation in this area. The present study aims to reveal the degree of pollen limitation for the flowering plants growing on East Himalaya-Hengduan Mountains and to test whether the reproductive features or the elevation is closely correlated with the degree of pollen limitation in this area. Results We complied data from 76 studies, which included 96 species and 108 independent data records. We found that the flowering plants in this area undergo severe pollen limitation [overall Hedges’ d = 2.004, with a 95% confidence interval (1.3264, 2.6743)] that is much higher than that of the flowering plants growing in many other regions around the world. The degree of pollen limitation was tested to determine the correlation with the capacity for autonomous self-reproduction and with the pollination pattern (generalized vs. specialized pollination) of plants. In addition, we found a clear relationship between elevation and the degree of pollen limitation, which indicates that plants might undergo more severe pollen limitation in relatively high places. Conclusions This paper is the first to address the severe pollen limitation of the flowering plants growing in East Himalaya-Hengduan Mountains region. Moreover, we reveal the positive correlation between elevation and the degree of pollen limitation.

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Mercury pollution by gold mining in a global biodiversity hotspot, the Choco biogeographic region, Colombia

Chemosphere ◽

10.1016/j.chemosphere.2017.10.160 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 193 ◽

pp. 421-430 ◽

Cited By ~ 30

Author(s):

Yuber Palacios-Torres ◽

Karina Caballero-Gallardo ◽

Jesus Olivero-Verbel

Keyword(s):

Gold Mining ◽

Biodiversity Hotspot ◽

Mercury Pollution ◽

Biogeographic Region ◽

Global Biodiversity

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Hotspots of land-use change in global biodiversity hotspots

Resources Conservation and Recycling ◽

10.1016/j.resconrec.2021.105770 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 174 ◽

pp. 105770

Author(s):

Xuesong Kong ◽

Zhengzi Zhou ◽

Limin Jiao

Keyword(s):

Land Use ◽

Land Use Change ◽

Biodiversity Hotspots ◽

Global Biodiversity

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Are there many different routes to becoming a global biodiversity hotspot?

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences ◽

10.1073/pnas.1703798114 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 114 (17) ◽

pp. 4275-4277 ◽

Cited By ~ 13

Author(s):

Colin E. Hughes

Keyword(s):

Biodiversity Hotspot ◽

Global Biodiversity

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Terrestrial Vertebrate Biodiversity Loss under Future Global Land Use Change Scenarios

Sustainability ◽

10.3390/su10082764 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 10 (8) ◽

pp. 2764 ◽

Cited By ~ 17

Author(s):

Abhishek Chaudhary ◽

Arne Mooers

Keyword(s):

Land Use ◽

Land Use Change ◽

Low Income ◽

National Development ◽

Biodiversity Loss ◽

Mitigation Measures ◽

Climate Mitigation ◽

Meat Production ◽

Diversity Loss ◽

Global Biodiversity

Efficient forward-looking mitigation measures are needed to halt the global biodiversity decline. These require spatially explicit scenarios of expected changes in multiple indicators of biodiversity under future socio-economic and environmental conditions. Here, we link six future (2050 and 2100) global gridded maps (0.25° × 0.25° resolution) available from the land use harmonization (LUH) database, representing alternative concentration pathways (RCP) and shared socio-economic pathways (SSPs), with the countryside species–area relationship model to project the future land use change driven rates of species extinctions and phylogenetic diversity loss (in million years) for mammals, birds, and amphibians in each of the 804 terrestrial ecoregions and 176 countries and compare them with the current (1900–2015) and past (850–1900) rates of biodiversity loss. Future land-use changes are projected to commit an additional 209–818 endemic species and 1190–4402 million years of evolutionary history to extinction by 2100 depending upon the scenario. These estimates are driven by land use change only and would likely be higher once the direct effects of climate change on species are included. Among the three taxa, highest diversity loss is projected for amphibians. We found that the most aggressive climate mitigation scenario (RCP2.6 SSP-1), representing a world shifting towards a radically more sustainable path, including increasing crop yields, reduced meat production, and reduced tropical deforestation coupled with high trade, projects the lowest land use change driven global biodiversity loss. The results show that hotspots of future biodiversity loss differ depending upon the scenario, taxon, and metric considered. Future extinctions could potentially be reduced if habitat preservation is incorporated into national development plans, especially for biodiverse, low-income countries such as Indonesia, Madagascar, Tanzania, Philippines, and The Democratic Republic of Congo that are otherwise projected to suffer a high number of land use change driven extinctions under all scenarios.

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