Applying GLOBIO at Different Geographical Levels

2011 ◽  
pp. 150-170 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rob Alkemade ◽  
Jan Janse ◽  
Wilbert van Rooij ◽  
Yongyut Trisurat
Keyword(s):  
River Flow ◽  
Human Impacts ◽  
Biodiversity Loss ◽  
Environmental Drivers ◽  
Infrastructure Development ◽  
Response Options ◽  
Biodiversity Changes ◽  
Original Species ◽  
Terrestrial Biodiversity ◽  
Meta Analyses

Biodiversity is decreasing at high rates due to a number of human impacts. The GLOBIO3 model has been developed to assess human-induced changes in terrestrial biodiversity at national, regional, and global levels. Recently, GLOBIO-aquatic has been developed for inland aquatic ecosystems. These models are built on simple cause–effect relationships between environmental drivers and biodiversity, based on meta-analyses of literature data. The mean abundance of original species relative to their abundance in undisturbed ecosystems (MSA) is used as the indicator for biodiversity. Changes in drivers are derived from the IMAGE 2.4 model. Drivers considered are land-cover change, land-use intensity, fragmentation, climate change, atmospheric nitrogen deposition, excess of nutrients, infrastructure development, and river flow deviation. GLOBIO addresses (1) the impacts of environmental drivers on MSA and their relative importance; (2) expected trends under various future scenarios; and (3) the likely effects of various policy-response options. The changes in biodiversity can be assessed by the GLOBIO model at different geographical levels. The application depends largely on the availability of future projections of drivers. From the different analyses at the different geographical levels, it can be seen that biodiversity loss, in terms of MSA, will continue, and current policies may only reduce the rate of loss.

Threats to terrestrial biodiversity

2019 ◽  
pp. 177-212
Author(s):  
Richard T. Corlett
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Human Population ◽  
Human Impacts ◽  
Emerging Infectious Diseases ◽  
Forest Products ◽  
Wildlife Trade ◽  
Infrastructure Development ◽  
Non Timber Forest Products ◽  
Negative Impacts ◽  
Terrestrial Biodiversity

More than a billion people inhabit Tropical East Asia today and negative impacts on ecosystems and wild species are pervasive. Historically, the ultimate driver has been human population growth, but while this is now slowing, there is no prospect of an early reduction in human impacts. Poverty, corruption, weak governance, and globalization are additional underlying drivers. The major proximal threats and their consequences—deforestation, habitat fragmentation, mining, urbanization and infrastructure development, logging and the collection of non-timber forest products, hunting and the wildlife trade, fires, invasive species, emerging infectious diseases, air pollution and nutrient enrichment, and anthropogenic climate change—are described in turn in this chapter. Finally, the problems of assessing and predicting extinctions are discussed.

scholarly journals Assessing Habitat Vulnerability and Loss of Naturalness: Applying the GLOBIO3 Model in the Czech Republic

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (10) ◽  
pp. 5355
Author(s):  
Vilém Pechanec ◽  
Ondřej Cudlín ◽  
Miloš Zapletal ◽  
Jan Purkyt ◽  
Lenka Štěrbová ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Czech Republic ◽  
Habitat Quality ◽  
Species Abundance ◽  
Biodiversity Loss ◽  
Infrastructure Development ◽  
Natural Habitats ◽  
The Czech Republic ◽  
New Equation ◽  
The Impact

Global and regional biodiversity loss is caused by several drivers including urban development, land use intensification, overexploitation of natural resources, environmental pollution, and climate change. The main aim of our study was to adapt the GLOBIO3 model to the conditions of the Czech Republic (CR) to assess loss of naturalness and biodiversity vulnerability at the habitat level on a detailed scale across the entire CR. An additional aim was to assess the main drivers affecting the biodiversity of habitat types. The GLOBIO3 model was adapted to CZ-GLOBIO by adapting global to local scales and using habitat quality and naturalness data instead of species occurrence data. The total mean species abundance (MSA) index of habitat quality, calculated from the spatial overlay of the four MSA indicators by our new equation, reached the value 0.62. The total value of MSA for natural and near-natural habitats was found to be affected mainly by infrastructure development and fragmentation. Simultaneously, intensity of land use change and atmospheric nitrogen deposition contributed primarily to the low total value of MSA for distant natural habitats. The CZ-GLOBIO model can be an important tool in political decision making to reduce the impact of the main drivers on habitat biodiversity in the CR.

scholarly journals Biodiversity and conservation of terricolous lichens and bryophytes in continental lowlands of northern Italy: the role of different dry habitat types

2020 ◽  
Vol 29 (13) ◽  
pp. 3533-3550
Author(s):  
Gabriele Gheza ◽  
Silvia Assini ◽  
Chiara Lelli ◽  
Lorenzo Marini ◽  
Helmut Mayrhofer ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Species Richness ◽  
Vegetation Dynamics ◽  
Biodiversity Loss ◽  
Northern Italy ◽  
Environmental Drivers ◽  
Dry Grasslands ◽  
Species Of Conservation Concern ◽  
Terricolous Lichens ◽  
Landscape Scales

Abstract In dry habitats of European lowlands terricolous lichens and bryophytes are almost neglected in conservation practises, even if they may strongly contribute to biodiversity. This study aims at (a) testing the role of heathlands, acidic and calcareous dry grasslands for lichen and bryophyte diversity and conservation in lowland areas of northern Italy characterized by high human impact and habitat fragmentation; (b) detecting the effect of environmental drivers and vegetation dynamics on species richness and composition. Lichens, bryophytes, vascular plants, and environmental variables were recorded in 287 circular plots for 75 sites. Our results indicate that heathlands, acidic and calcareous dry grasslands host peculiar terricolous lichen and bryophyte communities that include several species of conservation concern. Thus, each habitat provides a complementary contribution to lichen and bryophyte diversity in continental lowland landscapes. Furthermore, in each habitat different factors drive species richness and composition with contrasting patterns between lichens and bryophytes. In terms of conservation, our results indicate that management of lowland dry habitats should act at both local and landscape scales. At local scale, vegetation dynamics should be controlled in order to avoid biodiversity loss due to vegetation dynamics and wood encroachment. At the landscape scale, patches of all the three habitats should be maintained to maximize regional diversity.

scholarly journals Anthropogenic and Climate Effects on a Free Dam Tropical River: Measuring the Contributions on Flow Regime

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (23) ◽  
pp. 10030
Author(s):  
Verônica Léo ◽  
Hersília Santos ◽  
Letícia Pereira ◽  
Lilia Oliveira
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Flow Regime ◽  
River Flow ◽  
Human Impacts ◽  
Global Climate ◽  
Rate Of Change ◽  
Hydrologic Alteration ◽  
Tropical River ◽  
Range Of Variability Approach ◽  
Flow Components

The demand for freshwater resources and climate change pose a simultaneous threat to rivers. Those impacts are often analyzed separately, and some human impacts are widely evaluated in river dynamics—especially in downstream areas rather than the consequences of land cover changes in headwater reaches. The distinction between anthropogenic and climate on the components of the flow regime is proposed here for an upstream free dam reach whose watershed is responsible for the water supply in Rio de Janeiro. Indicators of hydrologic alteration (IHA) and the range of variability approach (RVA) combined with statistical analyses of anthropogenic and climate parameters indicated that (1) four river flow components (magnitude, frequency, duration, and rate of change) were greatly altered from the previous period (1947 to 1967) and the actual (1994 to 2014); (2) shifts in the sea surface temperature of the Atlantic correlated with flow magnitude; (3) the cattle activity effects on the flow regime of the studied area decreased 42.6% of superficial discharge; global climate change led to a 10.8% reduction in the same river component. This research indicated that climate change will impact the intensification of human actions on rivers in the southeast Brazilian headwaters.

scholarly journals Millennial-scale faunal record reveals differential resilience of European large mammals to human impacts across the Holocene

2016 ◽  
Vol 283 (1827) ◽  
pp. 20152152 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer J. Crees ◽  
Chris Carbone ◽  
Robert S. Sommer ◽  
Norbert Benecke ◽  
Samuel T. Turvey
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Temporal Dynamics ◽  
Human Impacts ◽  
Biodiversity Loss ◽  
Mammal Species ◽  
The Holocene ◽  
Range Change ◽  
Spatio Temporal ◽  
Patterns And Processes ◽  
Species Specific

The use of short-term indicators for understanding patterns and processes of biodiversity loss can mask longer-term faunal responses to human pressures. We use an extensive database of approximately 18 700 mammalian zooarchaeological records for the last 11 700 years across Europe to reconstruct spatio-temporal dynamics of Holocene range change for 15 large-bodied mammal species. European mammals experienced protracted, non-congruent range losses, with significant declines starting in some species approximately 3000 years ago and continuing to the present, and with the timing, duration and magnitude of declines varying individually between species. Some European mammals became globally extinct during the Holocene, whereas others experienced limited or no significant range change. These findings demonstrate the relatively early onset of prehistoric human impacts on postglacial biodiversity, and mirror species-specific patterns of mammalian extinction during the Late Pleistocene. Herbivores experienced significantly greater declines than carnivores, revealing an important historical extinction filter that informs our understanding of relative resilience and vulnerability to human pressures for different taxa. We highlight the importance of large-scale, long-term datasets for understanding complex protracted extinction processes, although the dynamic pattern of progressive faunal depletion of European mammal assemblages across the Holocene challenges easy identification of ‘static’ past baselines to inform current-day environmental management and restoration.

scholarly journals Overlooked biodiversity loss in Amazonian smallholder agriculture

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jacob B. Socolar ◽  
Elvis H. Valderrama Sandoval ◽  
David S. Wilcove
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Beta Diversity ◽  
Biodiversity Loss ◽  
Habitat Specialization ◽  
Primary Forest ◽  
Infrastructure Development ◽  
Smallholder Agriculture ◽  
Case Scenario ◽  
Habitat Features ◽  
Bird Richness

ABSTRACTDiversified smallholder agriculture is the main human land-use affecting the western Amazon, home to the world’s richest terrestrial biota, but the scant available data to date have suggested that the biodiversity impacts of this land-use are small. Here, we present comprehensive surveys of birds and trees in primary forest and smallholder agricultural mosaics in northern Peru. These surveys reveal substantial biodiversity losses that have been overlooked by other studies. Avian biodiversity losses arise primarily from biotic homogenization across infrequently surveyed forest habitats (a loss of beta-diversity). Furthermore, tree species richness declines much more steeply than bird richness. Statistical modeling of local habitat features that allow forest-associated species to persist in the smallholder mosaic strongly suggests that our results represent a best-case scenario for Amazonian agricultural biodiversity. We conclude that previous assessments of the biodiversity value of Amazonian smallholder agriculture have been overly optimistic because they are restricted to upland habitat, thereby missing losses in beta diversity; do not evaluate trees; and/or rely on generalizations from less speciose areas of the Neotropics, where habitat specialization amongst species is less prevalent. Smallholder agriculture will likely expand in western Amazonia due to infrastructure development, and it must be seen as a serious threat to the region’s biodiversity.

scholarly journals PEIXES NÃO-NATIVOS EM RIACHOS NO BRASIL: ESTADO DA ARTE, LACUNAS DE CONHECIMENTO E PERSPECTIVAS

2021 ◽  
Vol 25 (02) ◽  
pp. 565-587
Author(s):  
Diego Azevedo Zoccal Garcia ◽  
◽  
Fernando Mayer Pelicice ◽  
Marcelo Fulgêncio Guedes de Brito ◽  
Mário Luís Orsi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Native Species ◽  
Propagule Pressure ◽  
Human Impacts ◽  
Biodiversity Loss ◽  
Legal Aspects ◽  
Native Fish ◽  
Management Actions ◽  
Brazilian Legislation ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Native Fishes

Biological invasions are among the main causes of biodiversity loss on planet. Losses are accentuated in streams, which are sensitive to human impacts, since they have specialized fauna and higher degree of endemism. Despite this, studies on invasions by non-native fish in streams are incipient in Brazil. In this review, we present an introduction on the process (i.e., stages) of biological invasion, the environmental factors that influence the establishment and the impacts of non-native species in streams. A methodological step-by-step is also presented as a way to guide the conduct of studies on non-native species in Brazilian streams. In addition, management actions measures are presented to prevent new cases of introductions and suggestions for studies on invasions in streams. Avoiding propagule pressure and environmental education, as well as legal aspects of Brazilian legislation, are management actions that can prevent new introductions. Finally, gaps in knowledge and perspectives are raised as an incentive for interested parties to enter the subject and develop new studies on non-native fishes in Brazilian streams.

scholarly journals Validation and development of COI metabarcoding primers for freshwater macroinvertebrate bioassessment

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vasco Elbrecht ◽  
Florian Leese
Keyword(s):  
In Silico ◽  
Sequence Data ◽  
Human Impacts ◽  
Biodiversity Loss ◽  
Freshwater Ecosystems ◽  
Amplification Efficiency ◽  
Mock Community ◽  
Sequence Alignments ◽  
Freshwater Invertebrate ◽  
Dna Metabarcoding

A central challenge in the present era of biodiversity loss is to assess and manage human impacts on freshwater ecosystems. Macroinvertebrates are an important group for bioassessment as many taxa show specific responses to environmental conditions. However, generating accurate macroinvertebrate inventories based on larval morphology is difficult and error-prone. Here, DNA metabarcoding provides new opportunities. Its potential to accurately identify invertebrates in bulk samples to the species level, has been demonstrated in several case studies. However, DNA based identification is often limited by primer bias, potentially leading to taxa in the sample remaining undetected. Thus, the success of DNA metabarcoding as an emerging technique for bioassessment critically relies on carefully evaluating primers. We used the R package PrimerMiner to obtain and process cytochrome c oxidase I (COI) sequence data for the 15 most globally relevant freshwater invertebrate groups for stream assessment. Using these sequence alignments, we developed four primer combinations optimized for freshwater macrozoobenthos. All primers were evaluated by sequencing ten mock community samples, each consisting of 52 freshwater invertebrate taxa. Additionally, popular metabarcoding primers from the literature and the developed primers were tested in silico against the 15 relevant invertebrate groups. The developed primers varied in amplification efficiency and the number of detected taxa, yet all detected more taxa than standard ‘Folmer’ barcoding primers. Two new primer combinations showed more consistent amplification than a previously tested ribosomal marker (16S) and detected all 42 insect taxa present in the mock community samples. In silico evaluation revealed critical design flaws in some commonly used primers from the literature. We demonstrate a reliable strategy to develop optimized primers using the tool PrimerMiner. The developed primers detected almost all taxa present in the mock samples, and we argue that high base degeneracy is necessary to decrease primer bias as confirmed by experimental results and in silico primer evaluation. We further demonstrate that some primers currently used in metabarcoding studies may not be suitable for amplification of freshwater macroinvertebrates. Therefore, careful primer evaluation and more region / ecosystem specific primers are needed before DNA metabarcoding can be used for routine bioassessment of freshwater ecosystems.

scholarly journals Biodiversity mediates the effects of stressors but not nutrients on litter decomposition

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Léa Beaumelle ◽  
Frederik De Laender ◽  
Nico Eisenhauer
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Change ◽  
Litter Decomposition ◽  
Ecosystem Functioning ◽  
Structural Equation ◽  
Environmental Changes ◽  
Meta Analysis ◽  
Biodiversity Loss ◽  
Nutrient Inputs ◽  
Biodiversity Change ◽  
Biodiversity Changes

AbstractUnderstanding the consequences of ongoing biodiversity changes for ecosystems is a pressing challenge. Controlled biodiversity-ecosystem function experiments with random biodiversity loss scenarios have demonstrated that more diverse communities usually provide higher levels of ecosystem functioning. However, it is not clear if these results predict the ecosystem consequences of environmental changes that cause non-random alterations in biodiversity and community composition. We synthesized 69 independent studies reporting 660 observations of the impacts of two pervasive drivers of global change (chemical stressors and nutrient enrichment) on animal and microbial decomposer diversity and litter decomposition. Using meta-analysis and structural equation modelling, we show that declines in decomposer diversity and abundance explain reduced litter decomposition in response to stressors but not to nutrients. While chemical stressors generally reduced biodiversity and ecosystem functioning, detrimental effects of nutrients occurred only at high levels of nutrient inputs. Thus, more intense environmental change does not always result in stronger responses, illustrating the complexity of ecosystem consequences of biodiversity change. Overall, these findings provide strong empirical evidence for significant real-world biodiversity-ecosystem functioning relationships when human activities decrease biodiversity. This highlights that the consequences of biodiversity change for ecosystems are nontrivial and depend on the kind of environmental change.

scholarly journals Validation and development of freshwater invertebrate metabarcoding COI primers for Environmental Impact Assessment

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vasco Elbrecht ◽  
Florian Leese
Keyword(s):  
In Silico ◽  
Sequence Data ◽  
Human Impacts ◽  
Biodiversity Loss ◽  
Freshwater Ecosystems ◽  
Amplification Efficiency ◽  
Mock Community ◽  
Sequence Alignments ◽  
Freshwater Invertebrate ◽  
Dna Metabarcoding

A central challenge in the present era of biodiversity loss is to assess and manage human impacts on freshwater ecosystems. Macroinvertebrates are an ideal group for Environmental Impacts Assessment (EIA). However, generating accurate macroinvertebrate inventories based on larval morphology is difficult and error-prone. Here, DNA metabarcoding provides new opportunities. Its potential to accurately identify invertebrates in bulk samples at the species level, has been demonstrated in several case studies. However, DNA based identification is often limited by primer bias, potentially leading to taxa in the sample remaining undetected. Thus, the success of DNA metabarcoding as an emerging technique for EIA critically relies on carefully evaluating primers. We used the R package PrimerMiner to obtain and process cytochrome c oxidase I (COI) sequence data for the 15 most globally relevant freshwater invertebrate groups in EIAs. Using these sequence alignments, we developed four primer combinations optimized for freshwater macrozoobenthos. All primers were evaluated by sequencing ten mock community samples each consisting of 52 freshwater invertebrate taxa. Additionally, popular metabarcoding primers from the literature and the developed primers were tested in silico against the 15 relevant invertebrate groups. The developed primers varied in amplification efficiency and the number of detected taxa, yet all detected more taxa than standard ‘Folmer’ barcoding primers. Two new primer combinations showed more consistent amplification than a previously tested ribosomal marker (16S) and detected all 42 insect taxa present in the mock community samples. In silico evaluation revealed critical design flaws in some commonly used primers from the literature. We demonstrate a reliable strategy to develop optimized primers using the tool PrimerMiner. The developed primers detected almost all taxa present in the mock samples, and we argue that high base degeneracy is necessary to decrease primer bias as confirmed by experimental results and in silico primer evaluation. We further demonstrate that some primers currently used in metabarcoding studies may not be suitable for amplification of insect and freshwater taxa. Therefore, careful primer evaluation and more region / ecosystem specific primers are needed before DNA metabarcoding can be used for routine EIA of freshwater ecosystems.

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