Moving restoration ecology forward with combinatorial approaches.

Our current planetary crisis, including multiple jointly acting factors of global change, moves the need for effective ecosystem restoration center stage and compels us to explore unusual options. We here propose exploring combinatorial approaches to restoration practices: management practices are drawn at random and combined from a locally relevant pool of possible management interventions, thus creating an experimental gradient in the number of interventions. This will move the current degree of interventions to higher dimensionality, opening new opportunities for unlocking unknown synergistic effects. Thus, the high dimensionality of global change (multiple jointly acting factors) would be more effectively countered by similar high-dimensionality in solutions. In this concept, regional restoration hubs play an important role as guardians of locally relevant information and sites of experimental exploration. Data collected from such studies could feed into a global database, which could be used to learn about general principles of combined restoration practices, helping to refine future experiments. Such combinatorial approaches to exploring restoration intervention options may be our best hope yet to achieve decisive progress in ecological restoration at the timescale needed to mitigate and reverse the most severe losses caused by global environmental change.

Dog ecology and rabies control including canine vaccination coverage: Impacts from a survey in Madagascar.

BACKGROUND: Rabies virus (RABV; species Lyssavirus rabies) is causing one of the oldest zoonotic diseases known to mankind, leading to fatal encephalomyelitis in animals and humans. Despite the existence of safe and effective vaccines to prevent the disease, an estimated 99% of human rabies deaths worldwide are caused by dog-mediated rabies with children at the highest risk of infection. Rabies has been endemic in Madagascar for over a century, yet there has been little research evaluating local knowledge and practices impacting on the rabies control and prevention. Thus, this study was undertaken to better understand the dog ecology including canine vaccine coverage and to assess knowledge and practices of dog owners and veterinarians. METHODOLOGY: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 123 dog-owning households in thirteen fokontanys in Mahajanga from July 4 to September 13, 2016. Single and multi-member dog-owning households in the study area on the day of the interview were eligible for inclusion and purposively selected with the support of a local guide. The survey included a household questionnaire capturing information on the dog's demographics, husbandry practices, knowledge and practices towards rabies and its control measures; the dog ecology questionnaire collected dog characteristics, vaccination status and husbandry practices. All households that reported a dog bite incident, were invited to participate in a dog bite questionnaire. In addition, direct observations of roaming dogs were conducted to assess dog population demographics and to document behavioural characteristics. Two veterinarians were purposively selected and took part in an interview during the survey period, providing information on rabies control activities, including dog-care practices in the area. Descriptive and inferential data analyses were performed using Epi Info version 7.1.5.0 (CDC Atlanta, USA). RESULTS: We recorded a total of 400 dogs, of which 338 (84.5%) were owned amongst 123 households. More than half (67.8%) of owned dogs were between 1 to 5 years old and 95.6% were kept for guarding purposes. 45% of the surveyed dogs had free access to roam outside the premises. The majority (85.4%) of dog owners were knowledgeable that a dog bite could potentially transmit RABV to humans. 19 dog bites were reported and of these 73.6% were caused by the owner's or a neighbour's dog. In 6 of the 19 cases, children between 7 and 15 years of age were the victims. Dog vaccination coverage against rabies was 34% among owned dogs. Of the participants aware of a veterinarian, the majority (55/82) indicated that they accessed veterinarian services at irregular intervals. The main obstacles to vaccinations cited by dog owners were limited financial resources and difficulty accessing veterinary care. CONCLUSION: This study contributes to enhanced understanding of the dog ecology including canine vaccine coverage as well as knowledge and practices of dog owners in Madagascar. Most dogs in the study area were accessible for preventive vaccination through their owners, however only one third of the investigated canine population was vaccinated against rabies. Concerted national efforts towards rabies prevention and control should aim to address financial challenges and access to veterinary services.

Study of biocapacity areas to reduce ecological footprint deficits: A case study of Turkey.

Our world has had difficulty meeting humans' needs in recent years. To ensure that the world can sustain its inhabitability and self-sufficiency in terms of natural resources, it is required to make the total amount of biocapacity areas equal to or higher than the ecological footprint. An analytical study has been carried out to remedy the biocapacity deficit by utilizing this information for Turkey and then these areas are optimized with heuristic optimization techniques. As a result, Artificial Bee Colony provides better objective function results (fewer errors) compared to Particle Swarm Optimization and Global Optimization Method Based on Clustering and Parabolic Approximation in terms of minimum, maximum, average value, and standard deviation. The rates of change according to the current situation of the biocapacity areas in 2016 are 277.97 %, 30.28 %, -29.28 %, 14.97 %, and -44.85 % for cropland, grazing land, forestland, fishing grounds, and built-up land, respectively. Depending on the population growth, these rates should additionally change by 83.24 %, -0.69 %, 3.97 %, 6.22 %, and -14.24 % respectively in 2050. The developed model can be used in industry or within the frame of government development policy and thus the balance between ecological footprint and biocapacity can be kept under control.

Harnessing ecological theory to enhance ecosystem restoration.

Ecosystem restoration can increase the health and resilience of nature and humanity. As a result, the international community is championing habitat restoration as a primary solution to address the dual climate and biodiversity crises. Yet most ecosystem restoration efforts to date have underperformed, failed, or been burdened by high costs that prevent upscaling. To become a primary, scalable conservation strategy, restoration efficiency and success must increase dramatically. Here, we outline how integrating ten foundational ecological theories that have not previously received much attention - from hierarchical facilitation to macroecology - into ecosystem restoration planning and management can markedly enhance restoration success. We propose a simple, systematic approach to determining which theories best align with restoration goals and are most likely to bolster their success. Armed with a century of advances in ecological theory, restoration practitioners will be better positioned to more cost-efficiently and effectively rebuild the world's ecosystems and support the resilience of our natural resources.

Determination of ecological statuses of streams in the Ceyhan River Basin using composition and ecological characteristics of diatoms.

The present study aimed to evaluate the interactions between diatoms and ecological factors in various streams and to test the suitability of diatom indices to evaluate the ecological status of 44 streams in the Ceyhan River Basin during the spring and autumn periods of 2021 and the summer of 2022. Canonical correspondence analysis indicated the significant effects of electrical conductivity (EC), dissolved oxygen, biological oxygen demand (BOD5), total phosphorus (TP), and total nitrogen (TN) on the distribution of diatom species of streams in the Ceyhan River Basin. Of the streams, Aksu and Erkenez streams were associated with high EC, BOD5, and TP and characterized by pollution-tolerant species. Pollution-sensitive species showed close integration with Aksu Spring Brook, Gözpinar Creek, Göksun Creek, and Yesilgöz Spring Brook, which related to a high dissolved oxygen gradient. Different eco-regional diatom indices displayed different scores, representing from bad to high ecological status in the Ceyhan River basin. Among the diatom indices, Trophic Index Turkey (TIT) proved to be the more suitable metric to assess the ecological status of streams. TIT indicated deterioration of water quality in Karasu (S06), Erkenez (S07) streams, and downstream areas of the Ceyhan River and the least distributed sampling stations in the basin. Results suggested that eco-regionally developed diatom indices, like TIT, are required to more accurately assess the ecological status of streams in the Mediterranean region. The study provides a fundamental assessment of the ecological status of streams in the Ceyhan River Basin using an appropriate diatom index before the Pazarcik-centered earthquake on February 6, 2023. Findings allow someone to assess the impact of the earthquake on diatom communities and ecological factors in the region in the future studies.

Special Issue: Molecular Ecology, Physiology and Biochemistry of Insects 3.0.

With the outstanding work of Sir Vincent B [...].

The ecology of the sewer systems: Microbial composition, function, assembly, and network in different spatial locations.

Microbial induced concrete corrosion (MICC) is the primary deterioration affecting global sewers. Disentangling ecological mechanisms in the sewer system is meaningful for implementing policies to protect sewer pipes using trenchless technology. It is necessary to understand microbial compositions, interaction networks, functions, alongside assembly processes in sewer microbial communities. In this study, sewer wastewater samples and microbial samples from the upper part (UP), middle part (MP) and bottom part (BP) of different pipes were collected for 16S rRNA gene amplicon analysis. It was found that BP harbored distinct microbial communities and the largest proportion of unique species (1141) compared to UP and MP. The community in BP tended to be more clustered. Furthermore, significant differences in microbial functions existed in different spatial locations, including the carbon cycle, nitrogen cycle and sulfur cycle. Active microbial sulfur cycling indicated the corrosion risk of MICC. Among the environmental factors, the oxidation‒reduction potential drove changes in BP, while sulfate managed changes in UP and BP. Stochasticity dominated community assembly in the sewer system. Additionally, the sewer microbial community exhibited numerous positive links. BP possessed a more complex, modular network with higher modularity. These deep insights into microbial ecology in the sewer system may guide engineering safety and disaster prevention in sewer infrastructure.

Characteristics and prediction of agricultural ecological efficiency for coordination between economy and environment.

Agricultural ecological efficiency is an important tool with which to measure the coordination of the sustainable development of agricultural economies and ecological environments. In this paper, a super-efficiency slacks-based measures model was used to measure the agricultural ecological efficiency in Hebei Province. The characteristics of spatial and temporal evolution patterns were explored using a spatial Markov transfer matrix. The results showed that (i) based on measurements, the agricultural ecological efficiency in Hebei Province showed regional differences in four regions (eastern, northern, central and southern Hebei) and 141 counties; (ii) from the perspective of evolutionary characteristics of agricultural ecological efficiency, the overall development of in Hebei Province was good, with more concentrated spatial distribution and more obvious direction, while the type of transfer of agricultural ecological efficiency in Hebei Province showed strong stability that was significantly affected by geographical neighborhood conditions and the club convergence phenomenon; (iii) from the perspective of the long-term evolutionary trend of agricultural ecological efficiency, the areas adjacent to counties with low efficiency had limited potential for improvement, and the areas adjacent to counties with high grade had great potential. However, it was difficult to achieve large-scale improvement in agricultural ecological efficiency in Hebei Province, whether the impact of geospatial backgrounds was considered or not.

The rise of baobab trees in Madagascar.

The baobab trees (genus Adansonia) have attracted tremendous attention because of their striking shape and distinctive relationships with fauna1. These spectacular trees have also influenced human culture, inspiring innumerable arts, folklore and traditions. Here we sequenced genomes of all eight extant baobab species and argue that Madagascar should be considered the centre of origin for the extant lineages, a key issue in their evolutionary history2,3. Integrated genomic and ecological analyses revealed the reticulate evolution of baobabs, which eventually led to the species diversity seen today. Past population dynamics of Malagasy baobabs may have been influenced by both interspecific competition and the geological history of the island, especially changes in local sea levels. We propose that further attention should be paid to the conservation status of Malagasy baobabs, especially of Adansonia suarezensis and Adansonia grandidieri, and that intensive monitoring of populations of Adansonia za is required, given its propensity for negatively impacting the critically endangered Adansonia perrieri.

How can open public data promote efficient and equitable green production? Evidence from eco-efficiency in China.

Nowadays, concurrent attention to economic development and ecological issues is becoming an important trend. In this paper, we measure the eco-efficiency of 285 Chinese cities from 2003 to 2019 using a non-radial directional distance function and the data envelopment analysis method, based on which we analyze the club convergence of cities' eco-efficiency using the logt test; we estimate the impact of open public data platforms on eco-efficiency and its convergence using a multi-period difference in difference model and panel-ordered logit model, respectively. We find that, first, open public data platforms improve cities' eco-efficiency by about 6.5%, and the impact mechanisms include scale efficiency, technical efficiency, and total factor productivity, or, at the micro level, increasing the economic agglomeration degree, boosting the amount of foreign investment used, and increasing green innovation level. Second, there are three convergence clubs of eco-efficiency in China's cities, whose average eco-efficiency trends are above, close to, and below average, respectively. Third, public data platforms significantly increase the probability of cities belonging to the convergence clubs of high and medium eco-efficiency (Clubs 1 and 2) and decrease the probability of belonging to the low one (Club 3). However, the mechanisms only include technical efficiency and total factor productivity, or the amount of foreign investment used and the green innovation level at the micro level.

Diana H. Wall (1943-2024).

Pioneering Antarctic ecologist and ambassador for soil health.

A century of statistical Ecology.

As data and computing power have surged in recent decades, statistical modeling has become an important tool for understanding ecological patterns and processes. Statistical modeling in ecology faces two major challenges. First, ecological data may not conform to traditional methods, and second, professional ecologists often do not receive extensive statistical training. In response to these challenges, the journal Ecology has published many innovative statistical ecology papers that introduced novel modeling methods and provided accessible guides to statistical best practices. In this paper, we reflect on Ecology's history and its role in the emergence of the subdiscipline of statistical ecology, which we define as the study of ecological systems using mathematical equations, probability, and empirical data. We showcase 36 influential statistical ecology papers that have been published in Ecology over the last century and, in so doing, comment on the evolution of the field. As data and computing power continue to increase, we anticipate continued growth in statistical ecology to tackle complex analyses and an expanding role for Ecology to publish innovative and influential papers, advancing the discipline and guiding practicing ecologists.

Can environmental policies improve marine ecological efficiency? Examining China's Ecological Civilization Pilot Zones.

Terrestrial ecosystems can benefit from environmental protection policies; however, their impact on marine ecological efficiency deserves further exploration. This study uses China's Ecological Civilization Pilot Zone (ECZ) policy as an example of a quasi-natural experimental study, with data from 11 coastal provinces in China from 2006 to 2019 as the initial sample. First, a Super-SBM model considers undesired outputs to measure marine eco-efficiency, while a synthetic control method (SCM) investigates the effect of environmental regulations on marine eco-efficiency. The results show that ECZ policies can promote marine eco-efficiency and the effect mechanisms of these policies are discussed from national and regional perspectives. This study contributes to the current literature by theoretically evaluating the impact of ECZ policies on the marine environment in coastal areas, enriching the mechanism of integrated environmental policies on marine ecological protection, and providing references for formulating and implementing environmental policies.

A critical review of biochar as an environmental functional material in soil ecosystems for migration and transformation mechanisms and ecological risk assessment.

At present, biochar has a large application potential in soil amelioration, pollution remediation, carbon sequestration and emission reduction, and research on the effect of biochar on soil ecology and environment has made positive progress. However, under natural and anthropogenic perturbations, biochar may undergo a series of environmental behaviors such as migratory transformation, mineralization and decomposition, and synergistic transport, thus posing certain potential risks. This paper outlines the multi-interfacial migration pathway of biochar in "air-soil-plant-animal-water", and analyzes the migration process and mechanism at different interfaces during the preparation, transportation and application of biochar. The two stages of the biochar mineralization process (mineralization of easily degradable aliphatic carbon components in the early stage and mineralization of relatively stable aromatic carbon components in the later stage) were described, the self-influencing factors and external environmental factors of biochar mineralization were analyzed, and the mineral stabilization mechanism and positive/negative excitation effects of biochar into the soil were elucidated. The proximity between field natural and artificially simulated aging of biochar were analyzed, and the change of its properties showed a trend of biological aging > chemical aging > physical aging > natural aging, and in order to improve the simulation and prediction, the artificially simulated aging party needs to be changed from a qualitative method to a quantitative method. The technical advantages, application scope and potential drawbacks of different biochar modification methods were compared, and biological modification can create new materials with enhanced environmental application. The stability performance of modified biochar was compared, indicating that raw materials, pyrolysis temperature and modification method were the key factors affecting the stability of biochar. The potential risks to the soil environment from different pollutants carried by biochar were summarized, the levels of pollutants released from biochar in the soil environment were highlighted, and a comprehensive selection of ecological risk assessment methods was suggested in terms of evaluation requirements, data acquisition and operation difficulty. Dynamic tracing of migration decomposition behavior, long-term assessment of pollution remediation effects, and directional design of modified composite biochar materials were proposed as scientific issues worthy of focused attention. The results can provide a certain reference basis for the theoretical research and technological development of biochar.

Integrating subjective feelings into the evaluation of ecological restoration outcomes of urban green space: Indicator framework from bibliometrics analysis and evidence synthesis.

Despite much progress has been made in the evaluation of ecological restoration outcomes, there is still a lack of a suitable framework for evaluating the ecological restoration outcomes of urban green space. In view of this, this study systematically analyzed the characteristics and differences between the evaluation index systems of ecological restoration outcome and urban green space quality evaluation, and then discussed the relationship between objective elements of landscape and people's subjective feelings. On this basis, an ecological restoration outcome evaluation framework was developed for urban green space considering people's subjective feelings. It was found that the existing studies of ecological restoration outcome evaluation mainly focused on the change of ecological components and structure, while urban green space environmental quality evaluation on the cultural services. Common ecological components and structure and people's subjective feelings were not all synergy or trade-off relations, in fact, there were still cases of trade-off and synergy relations co-existing. Therefore, a framework was constructed for evaluating the ecological restoration outcome of urban green space, including ecological components and structure, ecological services, social services, and people's subjective feelings.

How can governments and fishermen collaborate to participate in a fishing ban for ecological restoration?

To safeguard aquatic ecosystems and fishery resources while facilitating cooperative engagement between local governments and fishermen, an evolutionary game model featuring both stakeholders has been constructed in this study. The model examines the degree of compliance with ecological restoration policies linked to fishing bans, as well as the adaptive strategies of different types of fishermen with varied incentives while simulating the ecological restoration policy under diverse scenarios. The findings suggest that: (1) Compliance with the fishing ban policy among fishermen is determined by their economic interests, environmental preferences, and government regulations, while its enforcement by local authorities is influenced by regulatory costs, political performance, and reputation. (2) Variations in the ecological restoration policy of fishing bans result from several factors, including punitive measures and compensation. The higher the penalty, the greater the chance of compliance among fishermen, and the higher the restoration degree of the watershed ecosystem. Conversely, the higher the compensation, the more satisfied the fishermen are with the fishing ban policy, and the smoother the transformation of their livelihoods. (3) To enhance the effectiveness and sustainability of fishing bans, it is essential to consider the interests of multiple stakeholders and adopt a coordination mechanism that facilitates the design of a reasonable and effective incentive-compatible system, thereby increasing the fairness and acceptability of the policy. This study provides a new theoretical framework and methodology applicable to ecological restoration policies for fishery closures on a global scale, accompanied by robust data support and theoretical guidance for developing and implementing fishery closure policies.

A preliminary epistemological ″human ecology″ framework for understanding the limits of bioethics.

This article tries to set up the epistemological bases of the science of ″human ecology″. This term has started to be used as a synonymous of morality, especially in the Catholic moral social doctrine that used for the first time to justify its marriage prospectives. We look at both terms together (human plus ecology) and we propose that human ecology should be a discipline that in the first time study human behavior and population (objective) using the postulates of the science of ecology (method) and then, once a conceptual framework for social sciences disciplines such as bioethics can be settle, could be used as a way to support or not moral postulates in the name of ecology. We conclude by defining which should be the methods of knowledge acquisition, the limits and the validity of what should be considered ″Human ecology″, that is to say, the ecology of the humans.

Ecological niche measurement and high-quality development of "the Belt and Road" core area.

A new stage in promoting the construction of the Silk Road Economic Belt Core Area, and Xinjiang has been transformed from a relatively closed inland area into an open border. In order to promote the high-quality development of Southern Xinjiang and solve the imbalance contradiction between the development of the Northern Xinjiang and Southern Xinjiang, taking the four districts in Southern Xinjiang as the study area, constructing a high-quality development ecological niche index system of three levels, namely economic, social and ecological, adopting the entropy method to assign weights to the evaluation indexes, and measuring the ecological niche width and the degree of ecological niche overlap of this region in the period from 2011 to 2020. The results show that: Firstly, tourism has the greatest impact on the ecological niche of economic development in state N, with a weighting of 14.18%; Secondly, the ecological status width of economic development in state N demonstrates a structural characteristic of "low level and low gap". The average value of ecological niche width is at class III, indicating a low development status and weak regional influence; Thirdly, the ecological niche overlap of state N is significantly influenced by spatial factors. Regions Z and S are closer together, resulting in higher competition for resource utilization and an average ecological niche overlap at class II. The other two regions are at class III. According to the theory of ecological niche expansion and separation, a specialization separation strategy should be adopted for areas with "low width and high overlap", and a strengthening expansion strategy should be adopted for areas with "low width and low overlap", to optimize the structure of ecological niches and promote high-quality development of the region.

Evaluation method for ecology-agriculture-urban spaces based on deep learning.

With the increasing global population and escalating ecological and farmland degradation, challenges to the environment and livelihoods have become prominent. Coordinating urban development, food security, and ecological conservation is crucial for fostering sustainable development. This study focuses on assessing the "Ecology-Agriculture-Urban" (E-A-U) space in Yulin City, China, as a representative case. Following the framework proposed by Chinese named "environmental capacity and national space development suitability evaluation" (hereinafter referred to as "Double Evaluation"), we developed a Self-Attention Residual Neural Network (SARes-NET) model to assess the E-U-A space. Spatially, the northwest region is dominated by agriculture, while the southeast is characterized by urban and ecological areas, aligning with regional development patterns. Comparative validations with five other models, including Logistic Regression (LR), Naive Bayes (NB), Gradient Boosting Decision Trees (GBDT), Random Forest (RF) and Artificial Neural Network (ANN), reveal that the SARes-NET model exhibits superior simulation performance, highlighting it's ability to capture intricate non-linear relationships and reduce human errors in data processing. This study establishes deep learning-guided E-A-U spatial evaluation as an innovative approach for national spatial planning, holding broader implications for national-level territorial assessments.

Balancing the books of nature by accounting for ecosystem condition following ecological restoration.

Demand for ecological restoration of Earth's degraded ecosystems has increased significantly since the adoption of The Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework in December 2022, with target 2 aiming to ensure that at least 30% of degraded ecosystems are under effective restoration by 2030. More recently, in December 2023, the Australian Parliament introduced the Nature Repair Act, which establishes a framework for the world's first legislated, national, voluntary biodiversity market. How can the effectiveness of these ambitious targets be measured? Natural Capital Accounting (NCA) provides a framework to measure changes in ecosystem condition that is applicable across ecosystems and potentially catalogue effects of restoration interventions to drive investment, improvement to practice, and ultimately, to better protect the Earth's ecosystems. However, the framework has not been tested in this context. In this progressive approach, we populated the leading global NCA framework with ecological data to quantify changes in ecosystem condition after restoration. In principle, NCA is fit for purpose, however, methodological refinements and ecological expertise are needed to unlock its full potential. These tweaks will facilitate adoption and standardisation of reporting as efforts ramp up to meet ambitious global restoration targets.