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Climate Adaptation and Biodiversity Conservation

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A special issue of Land (ISSN 2073-445X). This special issue belongs to the section "Land–Climate Interactions".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (28 July 2023) | Viewed by 37462

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Special Issue Editor

Dr. Sarah Clement

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Guest Editor

1. Department of Geography and Planning, School of Environmental Sciences, University of Liverpool, Liverpool L69 3BX, UK
2. Department of Archaeology, Forensics, Geography, and Anthropology, School of Social Sciences, University of Western Australia, Perth, WA 6009, Australia
Interests: environmental governance; adaptive governance; Anthropocene; novel ecosystems; climate change; biodiversity conservation; institutional analysis; nature-based solutions; landscape ecology; restoration ecology; social-ecological systems; resilience

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The intensity and pace of environmental and socio-economic change that characterise the Anthropocene have created unprecedented challenges for managing ecosystems. Not only have we yet to slow rates of biodiversity loss, but in many places around the world, the pace of extinction and ecosystem decline is accelerating, despite biodiversity loss already being well in excess of sustainable planetary boundaries. Climate change is expected to accelerate biodiversity loss and interact synergistically with other drivers (e.g., habitat loss and degradation, altered biogeochemical regimes, urbanisation), potentially leading to the transformation of ecosystems. This Special Issue will bring together research that provides insights into how ecosystems are changing, how we can expect them to change in the future, and how we might intervene through management, policy, and governance to more effectively adapt to climate change and conserve biodiversity. We welcome articles that fill critical knowledge gaps; offer innovative methods for understanding or managing these environmental challenges; or offer empirical case study examples relating to the science, management, and policy of climate change adaptation and biodiversity conservation.

In this Special Issue, we invite papers focusing on, but not limited to, the following topics:

Understanding how climate change is currently affecting ecosystems, and how it is projected to do so in the future;
Consideration of how management and ecological restoration may need to change to more effectively deal with climate change and other drivers of biodiversity loss;
Evaluations of climate change and/or biodiversity policy and governance;
Studies of governance or management effectiveness in these policy areas, particularly with respect to their influence on ecological, social, and economic outcomes;
Methods for targeting drivers of biodiversity loss in complex social-ecological systems;
Insights into the management of ecosystems that are characterised as novel, hybrid, or heavily modified by humans (including urban ecosystems);
Analysis of nature-based solutions or other innovative tools for integrating biodiversity and climate change adaptation into land-use planning.

Dr. Sarah Clement
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Land is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

biodiversity
climate change adaptation
Anthropocene
social-ecological systems
environmental governance
adaptive capacity
ecosystem change
science-based policy
nature-based solutions
ecological restoration

Published Papers (6 papers)

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Research

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12 pages, 1405 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Phylogeny and Morphology Determine Vulnerability to Global Warming in Pristimantis Frogs

by Pamela González-del-Pliego, Robert P. Freckleton, Brett R. Scheffers, Edmund W. Basham, Andrés R. Acosta-Galvis, Claudia A. Medina Uribe, Torbjørn Haugaasen and David P. Edwards

Land 2023, 12(1), 130; https://doi.org/10.3390/land12010130 - 31 Dec 2022

Viewed by 1459

Abstract

Global warming is a great threat to biodiversity with negative impacts spanning the entire biological hierarchy. One of the main species’ traits determining survival at higher temperature is the thermal point at which an animal loses its ability to escape from deadly conditions (critical thermal maximum—CT_max). Variation in CT_max across species is the outcome of environmental and evolutionary factors, but studies do not typically measure the degree to which environment or phylogeny influences the variation in trait values. Here, we aim to elucidate whether local environmental variables or phylogeny influence CT_max in highly climate change-threatened amphibians in the Tropical Andes. We measured CT_max from 204 individuals belonging to seven Pristimantis frog species encountered in primary and secondary forests, and cattle pastures. We recorded their habitat, elevation, and the range of environmental temperatures they experienced over one year. Using phylogenetic analyses, we demonstrate that physiological thermal tolerance is related to phylogeny, positively related to body length, but not affected by environmental factors. We suggest that both phylogeny and morphology determine vulnerability to global warming. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Climate Adaptation and Biodiversity Conservation)

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17 pages, 251 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Elucidating Traditional Rice Varieties for Consilient Biotic and Abiotic Stress Management under Changing Climate with Landscape-Level Rice Biodiversity

by L. Muralikrishnan, Rabindra. N. Padaria, Anchal Dass, Anil K. Choudhary, Bharat Kakade, Shadi Shokralla, Tarek K. Zin El-Abedin, Khalid F. Almutairi and Hosam O. Elansary

Land 2021, 10(10), 1058; https://doi.org/10.3390/land10101058 - 08 Oct 2021

Cited by 6 | Viewed by 2924

Abstract

Rice is grown under diverse agro-climatic conditions and crop management regimes across the globe. Emerging climatic-vulnerabilities and the mismatched farm practices are becoming major challenges for poor or declining rice productivity in potential rice growing regions, especially South Asia. In the biodiversity-rich landscapes of South Asia, many traditional rice varieties (TRVs) are known to exhibit resilience to climate change and climate adaptation besides their therapeutic benefits. Hence, a random sample survey of farmers (n = 320), alongwith secondary data collection from non-governmental organizations/farmers’ organizations/farmers, led to documentation of the information on TRVs’ biodiversity in South Asia. The current study (2015–2019) explored and documented ~164 TRVs which may enhance the resilience to climatic-risks with improved yields besides their unique therapeutic benefits. A large number of TRVs have still not been registered by scientific organizations due to poor awareness by the farmers and community organizations. Hence, it is urgently needed to document, evaluate and harness the desired traits of these TRVs for ecological, economic, nutritional and health benefits. This study suggests taking greater cognizance of TRVs for their conservation, need-based crop improvement, and cultivation in the niche-areas owing to their importance in climate-resilient agriculture for overall sustainable rice farming in South Asia so as to achieve the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Climate Adaptation and Biodiversity Conservation)

26 pages, 2083 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Combining Tree Species Composition and Understory Coverage Indicators with Optimization Techniques to Address Concerns with Landscape-Level Biodiversity

by Brigite Botequim, Miguel N. Bugalho, Ana Raquel Rodrigues, Susete Marques, Marco Marto and José G. Borges

Land 2021, 10(2), 126; https://doi.org/10.3390/land10020126 - 28 Jan 2021

Cited by 11 | Viewed by 5078

Abstract

Sustainable forest management needs to address biodiversity conservation concerns. For that purpose, forest managers need models and indicators that may help evaluate the impact of management options on biodiversity under the uncertainty of climate change scenarios. In this research we explore the potential for designing mosaics of stand-level forest management models to address biodiversity conservation objectives on a broader landscape-level. Our approach integrates (i) an effective stand-level biodiversity indicator that reflect tree species composition, stand age, and understory coverage under divergent climate conditions; and (ii) linear programming optimization techniques to guide forest actors in seeing optimal forest practices to safeguard future biodiversity. Emphasis is on the efficiency and effectiveness of an approach to help assess the impact of forest management planning on biodiversity under scenarios of climate change. Results from a resource capability model are discussed for an application to a large-scale problem encompassing 14,765 ha, extending over a 90-years planning horizon and considering two local-climate scenarios. They highlight the potential of the approach to help assess the impact of both stand and landscape-level forest management models on biodiversity conservation goals. They demonstrate further that the approach provides insights about how climate change, timber demand and wildfire resistance may impact plans that target the optimization of biodiversity values. The set of optimized long-term solutions emphasizes a multifunctional forest that guarantees a desirable local level of biodiversity and resilience to wildfires, while providing a balanced production of wood over time at the landscape scale. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Climate Adaptation and Biodiversity Conservation)

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22 pages, 3697 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Assessing the Impacts of Agriculture and Its Trade on Philippine Biodiversity

by Andrea Monica D. Ortiz and Justine Nicole V. Torres

Land 2020, 9(11), 403; https://doi.org/10.3390/land9110403 - 23 Oct 2020

Cited by 6 | Viewed by 21570

Abstract

Many Philippine species are at risk of extinction because of habitat loss and degradation driven by agricultural land use and land-use change. The Philippines is one of the world’s primary banana and pineapple producers. The input-intensive style of plantation agriculture for these typically exported crops has many adverse effects on the environment. While global studies have attempted to understand the biodiversity impacts of agricultural goods, there are few studies that have investigated the Philippines specifically. In this study, Philippine policies and data are investigated to better characterize the nexus between agriculture, biodiversity, and trade. An analysis of key national policies highlights that more stringent definitions and protections for biodiversity are needed to recognize the increasing roles that agricultural production, and importantly, its global trade, have on threatened Philippine species. A geographical analysis shows that many banana and pineapple plantations in Mindanao and their surrounding agricultural impact zones overlap with ecologically important areas, such as Protected Areas and Important Bird Areas. Overlaps of recorded species occurrence are observed within the immediate zones surrounding 250 plantations for banana and pineapple in Mindanao, with 83 threatened species of Philippine fauna and tree at risk of exposure to the impacts of intensive agriculture. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Climate Adaptation and Biodiversity Conservation)

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18 pages, 1512 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Typology of Climate Change Adaptation Measures in Polish Cities up to 2030

by Eliza Kalbarczyk and Robert Kalbarczyk

Land 2020, 9(10), 351; https://doi.org/10.3390/land9100351 - 24 Sep 2020

Cited by 13 | Viewed by 3632

Abstract

Poland, like other countries in the world, increasingly experiences the ongoing climate change. However, the level of preparation of the country and its society for climate change in the second decade of the 21st century can be evaluated as low. The Municipal Adaptation Plans (MAPs) created in 2017–2019 became a subject of research studies whose main goal was to determine the typology of adaptation actions to be undertaken as part of MAPs in the 14 selected Polish cities in various geographical regions. Moreover, the type and scope of intended actions were analysed according to the planned amount of expenditure and from the perspective of sectors. The tasks accepted for implementation up to 2030 mainly relate to modernisation and development of transport systems and to actions connected with physical infrastructure. A large number of tasks and even a bigger scale of financial sources planned in the analysed MAPs for mitigation actions show that Polish cities are at an initial stage of actions for climate protection. The typology of adaptation actions which the work proposes may be helpful in research carried out in countries of a similar level of preparation for adaptation to climate change. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Climate Adaptation and Biodiversity Conservation)

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14 pages, 2783 KiB

Open AccessPerspective

A Brave New World: Managing for Biodiversity Conservation under Ecosystem Transformation

by Jennifer L. Wilkening, Dawn Robin Magness, Laura M. Thompson and Abigail J. Lynch

Land 2023, 12(8), 1556; https://doi.org/10.3390/land12081556 - 05 Aug 2023

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1009

Abstract

Traditional conservation practices have primarily relied on maintaining biodiversity by preserving species and habitats in place. Many regions are experiencing unprecedented environmental conditions, shifts in species distribution and habitats, and high turnover in species composition, resulting in ecological transformation. Natural resource managers have lacked tools for identifying and selecting strategies to manage ecosystem transformation. A recently formalized decision support framework provides a way for managers to resist, accept, or direct (RAD) the trajectory of change. We begin by identifying how historical conservation practices are built into the RAD framework. Next, we describe how RAD can be used to implement climate change adaptation actions, using examples from the Mojave Desert to provide ecological context. Third, we discuss how the RAD framework can assist with the creation of conservation portfolios, facilitating the maintenance of overall biodiversity across a landscape. Preserving species assemblages in their current state, or restoring them to historical conditions, will not always be possible, and RAD allows for explicit deliberation about when and where to prioritize scarce resources. We conclude with a set of guidelines for conservation practitioners or managers moving forward. Although operating under an increasingly uncertain future is daunting, managers can utilize RAD to conserve biodiversity and effectively handle ecosystem transformation. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Climate Adaptation and Biodiversity Conservation)

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