Traversing the food-biodiversity nexus towards coexistence by manipulating social-ecological system parameters

Agroecological landscapes have the potential to simultaneously meet food security and biodiversity conservation goals but are hindered by emerging biodiversity conflicts. Here, we opt to view the social-ecological factors that decrease biodiversity impacts or increase tolerance of biodiversity in agroecological landscapes as system parameters for their potential capacity to move a social-ecological system from states of conflict to alternative desired system states devoid of major losses for both food security and biodiversity, that is landscapes of coexistence. We discuss how reframing landscapes as social-ecological systems allows focusing on manageable components, or coexistence parameters, that explain biodiversity impacts and are hence capable of dampening conflicts. Approaches from the social, economic, or ecological sciences allow for the formulation of management strategies tailor-made for each system, with a higher chance of success than one-size-fits-all strategies. Conceptually recognizing coexistence parameters may enable easier assessment of a landscape's current state and identification of the required actions needed to transition towards a state of coexistence.Chilean Comision Nacional de Investigacion Cientifica y Tecnologica scholarship CONICYT 63130184 postdoctoral research project ANID-FONDECYT 320028

Reconciling farming and wild nature: Integrating human–wildlife coexistence into the land-sharing and land-sparing framework

Land has traditionally been spared to protect biodiversity; however, this approach has not succeeded by itself and requires a complementary strategy in human-dominated landscapes: land-sharing. Human–wildlife conflicts are rampant in a land-sharing context where wildlife co-occur with crops or livestock, but whose resulting interactions adversely affect the wellbeing of land owners, ultimately impeding coexistence. Therefore, true land-sharing only works if coexistence is also considered an end goal. We reviewed the literature on land-sharing and found that conflicts have not yet found their way into the land-sharing/sparing framework, with wildlife and humans co-occurring without coexisting in a dynamic process. To successfully implement a land-sharing approach, we must first acknowledge our failure to integrate the body of work on human–wildlife conflicts into the framework and work to implement multidisciplinary approaches from the ecological, economic, and sociological sciences to overcome and prevent conflicts. We suggest the use of Conflict Transformation by means of the Levels of Conflict Model to perceive both visible and deep-rooted causes of conflicts as opportunities to create problem-solving dynamics in affected socio-ecological landscapes. Reconciling farming and nature is possible by aiming for a transition to landscapes that truly share space by virtue of coexistence

Anthropogenic thermal gradient in managed landscapes determines physiological performance and explains the edge-biased distribution of ectothermic arthropods

The intensive management of tree plantations has replaced and fragmented native forests worldwide. A direct consequence of this activity is the creation of new edges, which generate changes in microclimatic conditions in the adjacent forest as well as in the neighboring clearcut stands left over after harvesting by clearcut logging. Thus, newly created anthropogenic thermal gradients could influence ectothermic responses regarding abundance and physiology of native species in fragmented landscapes. Interestingly, the consequences of these changes have not been studied in insects. To test the effects of the anthropogenic thermal gradient on the abundance and physiology of ectothermic species, we chose the fragmented Maulino forest and the ground-dwelling beetle Ceroglossus chilensis (Coleoptera: Carabidae) as our biological model, working with seven fragments of native forest surrounded by active and clearcut pine plantation stands. We measured temperature variable

Accompanying vegetation in young Pinus radiata plantations enhances recolonization by Ceroglossus chilensis (Coleoptera: Carabidae) after clearcutting

The replacement of native forests by Pinus radiata plantations modifies habitat availability and quality for wildlife, constituting a threat to species survival. However, the presence of understory in mature pine plantations minimizes the negative impacts of native forest replacement, rendering a secondary habitat for wildlife. Whether forest-dwelling species recolonize clear-felled areas pending on the spontaneous development of accompanying vegetation growing after harvesting is yet to be assessed. In this context, we analyze the abundance, movement and habitat selection of the endemic ground beetle Ceroglossus chilensis (Coleoptera: Carabidae) in an anthropic forest landscape consisting of native forest remnants, adult pine plantations (> 20 years) with a well-developed understory, and young (1-2 years) pine plantations with varying degrees of accompanying vegetation development. Particularly, we analyze the likelihood that C. chilensis would recolonize young pine plantations depending on the presence (> 70% cover) or the absence (< 20% cover) of this accompanying vegetation. C. chilensis shows a greater probability of selecting habitats with understory (pine plantations and native forest) and young plantations with accompanying vegetation (future understory) than habitats without such vegetation. Movement of C. chilensis also favors their permanence in habitats with understory vegetation, coinciding with higher abundances than in young pine plantations devoid of accompanying vegetation. Hence, the effect of clearcutting could be mitigated by allowing the development of accompanying vegetation into a future understory, which facilitates the recolonization of pine plantations and its use as secondary habitat for wildlife

Responding to an ultimatum: injecting deadwood at the base of Cerro Poqui Mountain might save the only population of the critically endangered and localized endemic Chilean stag beetle Sclerostomulus nitidus (Coleoptera: Lucanidae)

dataset submitted article "Responding to an ultimatum: injecting deadwood at the base of Cerro Poqui Mountain might save the only population of the critically endangered and localized endemic Chilean stag beetle Sclerostomulus nitidus (Coleoptera: Lucanidae)"</p