Journal: BioScience

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Oxford University Press

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0006-3568
1525-3244

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Publications 1 - 10 of 18
  • Integrating belowground recovery into tropical forest restoration design and monitoring
    Item type: Journal Article
    Toro, Laura; Werden, Leland K.; Addo-Danso, Shalom D.; et al. (2025)
    BioScience
    There is growing recognition that tropical forest restoration is key for sequestering carbon and enhancing ecosystem resilience. Soils, roots, and soil biota are central to ecosystem function and services, but belowground recovery is largely overlooked in restoration monitoring frameworks. Here, we outline current understanding of the links between above- and belowground recovery in tropical forests by examining how belowground properties before and after intervention influence recovery; by evaluating whether aboveground recovery can serve as a proxy for belowground dynamics; and by proposing a blueprint for monitoring dynamic soil physical (bulk density, aggregate stability), chemical (organic matter or carbon, pH), and biological properties (decomposition rate, macrofauna abundance) in resource-constrained projects. Although we highlight some aboveground proxies for assessing belowground recovery, a better understanding of relationships between above- and belowground indicators across diverse restoration interventions remains essential. Overall, we provide an actionable path toward integrating belowground recovery into restoration design and assessment.
  • Approaches to Forecasting Damage by Invasive Forest Insects and Pathogens: A Cross-Assessment
    Item type: Review Article
    Raffa, Kenneth F.; Brockerhoff, Eckehard G.; Grégoire, Jean-Claude; et al. (2023)
    BioScience
    Nonnative insects and pathogens pose major threats to forest ecosystems worldwide, greatly diminishing the ecosystem services trees provide. Given the high global diversity of arthropod and microbial species, their often unknown biological features or even identities, and their ease of accidental transport, there is an urgent need to better forecast the most likely species to cause damage. Several risk assessment approaches have been proposed or implemented to guide preventative measures. However, the underlying assumptions of each approach have rarely been explicitly identified or critically evaluated. We propose that evaluating the implicit assumptions, optimal usages, and advantages and limitations of each approach could help improve their combined utility. We consider four general categories: using prior pest status in native and previously invaded regions; evaluating statistical patterns of traits and gene sequences associated with a high impact; sentinel and other plantings to expose trees to insects and pathogens in native, nonnative, or experimental settings; and laboratory assays using detached plant parts or seedlings under controlled conditions. We evaluate how and under what conditions the assumptions of each approach are best met and propose methods for integrating multiple approaches to improve our forecasting ability and prevent losses from invasive pests.
  • Responsible Use of Language in Scientific Writing and Science Communication
    Item type: Journal Article
    Kueffer, Christoph; Larson, Brendon M.H. (2014)
    BioScience
  • Gaps in CITES policy undermine conservation of threatened species by providing loopholes for illegal trade
    Item type: Journal Article
    Waeber, Patrick O.; Roberts, Mark W.; Schuurman, Derek; et al. (2023)
    BioScience
  • How Social Considerations Improve the Equity and Effectiveness of Ecosystem Restoration
    Item type: Journal Article
    Löfqvist, Sara; Kleinschroth, Fritz; Bey, Adia; et al. (2023)
    BioScience
    Ecosystem restoration is an important means to address global sustainability challenges. However, scientific and policy discourse often overlooks the social processes that influence the equity and effectiveness of restoration interventions. In the present article, we outline how social processes that are critical to restoration equity and effectiveness can be better incorporated in restoration science and policy. Drawing from existing case studies, we show how projects that align with local people's preferences and are implemented through inclusive governance are more likely to lead to improved social, ecological, and environmental outcomes. To underscore the importance of social considerations in restoration, we overlay existing global restoration priority maps, population, and the Human Development Index (HDI) to show that approximately 1.4 billion people, disproportionately belonging to groups with low HDI, live in areas identified by previous studies as being of high restoration priority. We conclude with five action points for science and policy to promote equity-centered restoration.
  • Dancing on the Roof of the World
    Item type: Journal Article
    Pandit, Maharaj K.; Manish, Kumar; Koh, Lian Pin (2014)
    BioScience
  • Towards an Integrative, Eco-Evolutionary Understanding of Ecological Novelty: Studying and Communicating Interlinked Effects of Global Change
    Item type: Review Article
    Heger, Tina; Bernard-Verdier, Maud; Gessler, Arthur; et al. (2019)
    BioScience
    Global change has complex eco-evolutionary consequences for organisms and ecosystems, but related concepts (e.g., novel ecosystems) do not cover their full range. Here we propose an umbrella concept of “ecological novelty” comprising (1) a site-specific and (2) an organism-centered, eco-evolutionary perspective. Under this umbrella, complementary options for studying and communicating effects of global change on organisms, ecosystems, and landscapes can be included in a toolbox. This allows researchers to address ecological novelty from different perspectives, e.g., by defining it based on (a) categorical or continuous measures, (b) reference conditions related to sites or organisms, and (c) types of human activities. We suggest striving for a descriptive, non-normative usage of the term “ecological novelty” in science. Normative evaluations and decisions about conservation policies or management are important, but require additional societal processes and engagement with multiple stakeholders.
  • The 2024 state of the climate report: Perilous times on planet Earth
    Item type: Journal Article
    Ripple, William J.; Wolf, Christopher; Gregg, Jillian W.; et al. (2024)
    BioScience
  • Landscape genetics
    Item type: Journal Article
    Holderegger, Rolf; Wagner, Helene H. (2008)
    BioScience
  • Constraint breeds creativity: A brainstorming method to jumpstart out-of-the-box thinking for sustainability science
    Item type: Journal Article
    Gould, Rachelle K.; Saito, Tomomi; Allen, Karen E.; et al. (2023)
    BioScience
    Conservation science often addresses highly complex issues; creative approaches can help develop new ways of doing so. We describe constraint-based brainstorming, a 10-minute creativity-inducing exercise inspired by design thinking. Although we applied the method with the goal of developing creative environmental valuation methods, it is applicable to almost any complex, interdisciplinary environmental research problem. We tried the approach at two academic workshops, in Japan and in Germany. We generated, in each short activity, scores of unique ideas for the target question. We present this engaging activity as a way to simultaneously achieve multiple outcomes that can support innovative conservation science: quickly generate many seeds of ideas to address a challenge or goal, offer insight into nuances of and shared convictions related to the topic at hand, set a tone of creativity and breaking outside of established thought structures, and build community around a willingness to take risks and freely share ideas.
Publications 1 - 10 of 18