Incorporating Biodiversity-Ecosystem Function Relationships into Models and Conservation Planning

Unsustainable use of nature and climate change are leading to unprecedented biodiversity declines. These declines have cascading impacts on ecosystem function and ecosystem services, and ultimately on human well-being. International agreements have been adopted that aim to address both crises. The Paris Agreement, adopted in 2015, set global emission reductions targets. In 2022, most countries agreed to the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF). The GBF sets 23 ambitious targets for 2030 ranging from reducing threats to biodiversity, meeting people’s needs through sustainable use and benefit sharing, and solutions for implementation. Although adopting global goals and targets is an important first step, additional work is required for on-the-ground implementation. Important knowledge gaps include understanding how biodiversity, ecosystem functions, and ecosystem services are linked, modeling how policy scenarios could lead to different outcomes for biodiversity and ecosystem services, and guidance for where and how to prioritize conservation actions. This dissertation aims to fill some of these gaps. Chapters 1 and 2 explore how biodiversity conservation can affect important ecosystem functions and services. Chapter 3 moves from improving our baseline knowledge to thinking about how we can achieve our conservation goals through prioritizing restoration actions. In chapter 1, I focus on the importance of biodiversity-ecosystem function relationships for urban systems. The proportion of people living in urban areas is growing globally. Thus, understanding how to manage urban biodiversity, ecosystem functions, and ecosystem services is important. Biodiversity can increase ecosystem functioning in natural systems. However, few studies have assessed the relationship between biodiversity and ecosystem functioning in urban areas, which differ in abiotic factors, species compositions, food webs, and turnover rates. I systematically reviewed documented evidence of biodiversity-ecosystem function relationships in urban environments and assessed factors that influenced the direction of the relationships. I show that increasing biodiversity, even in small areas, can increase local ecosystem functioning in urban areas. Therefore, local management that increases biodiversity can have positive benefits for ecosystems and people. I also identify research gaps and opportunities to improve biodiversity-ecosystem function research in the urban realm moving forward and discuss how to improve urban green space management. In chapter 2, I explored how biodiversity-ecosystem functioning relationships can be incorporated into modeling. Models of how changes in drivers, including land use change and climate change, lead to changes in biodiversity and ecosystem services are useful tools for policymakers as they consider how to sustainably manage natural resources. Despite known interactions between biodiversity, ecosystem functioning, and ecosystem services, models projecting changes in these domains typically operate independently and do not account for interactions or feedbacks, which may lead to inaccurate estimates in ecosystem functioning and ecosystem service projections. In this chapter, I focused on how plant species diversity affects biomass production and carbon storage. I used the Biogeographic Infrastructure for Large‐scaled Biodiversity Indicators (BILBI) model, a macroecological community-level model, to estimate plant species persistence under different climate and land use change scenarios in 2050. I linked this with empirical data on biodiversity-biomass production relationships to assess how biodiversity loss will affect carbon storage globally. I found that biodiversity has the potential to cause as much carbon loss as emissions from other sources (i.e., they are within the range of uncertainty from biodiversity-mediated carbon loss), so achieving Sustainable Development Goal 15 (Life on Land) is essential to achieving Goal 13 (Climate Action). Because the Paris Agreement does not account for emissions from biodiversity loss, science on its carbon impacts, and action as a result, could be underestimated. This analysis points to the important role that maintaining and/or enhancing the diversity of plant species within areas of natural vegetation, rather than simply maximizing the extent of these areas, can play in addressing the climate change crisis. Alongside increasing the global extent of protected areas to prevent rapid carbon loss from ecosystem degradation, increasing plant species diversity in degraded ecosystems can increase carbon storage potential. However, existing international initiatives like the Bonn Challenge and the Paris Agreement focus on forest extent rather than forest quality for protection, afforestation, and reforestation, and thus are missing a key opportunity for action. In chapter 3, I looked at how we can achieve proposed biodiversity conservation goals. Reversing trends in biodiversity loss and achieving the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) 2050 vision of “Living in harmony with nature” will require not only conserving remaining biodiversity, but also restoring degraded areas. Recent legislative and executive actions in the U.S. have recognized the importance of restoration. Given limited budgets, deciding where to restore habitat will be an important need in the coming decade. In this chapter, I developed a modeling approach to maximize conservation benefit/restoration cost ratios that can be used to map restoration priorities. I illustrated this approach using a case study for highly threatened grassland ecosystems in the Great Plains region of Kansas. I found that for the indicator species that we chose, shortgrass and mixed-grass prairies had the highest conservation benefit to cost ratio. Setting a minimum restoration threshold for each habitat type allowed me to identify high priority tallgrass prairie sites. The modeling approach is flexible and can be updated for different ecosystems, species, and conservation priorities. I outlined potential alterations that can be made in future analyses, depending on desired restoration goals. Biodiversity conservation can increase ecosystem functioning and services. In this dissertation, I show that conserving biodiversity is important for urban ecosystem functioning and global carbon sequestration. Restoring biodiversity will have positive outcomes for ecosystem functions, ecosystem services, and people. My restoration prioritization model can therefore be used to implement conservation actions to achieve global and national biodiversity conservation goals and targets

Bloodlines: mammals, leeches, and conservation in southern Asia

Southern Asia is a biodiversity hotspot both for terrestrial mammals and for leeches. Many small-mammal groups are under-studied in this region, while other mammals are of known conservation concern. In addition to standard methods for surveying mammals, it has recently been demonstrated that residual bloodmeals within leeches can be sequenced to find mammals in a given area. While these invertebrate-parasite-derived DNA (iDNA) methods are promising, most of the leech species utilized for this type of survey remain unevaluated, notwithstanding that their diversity varies substantially. Here we examine approximately 750 individual leech specimens in the genus Haemadipsa across a large range in southern Asia (Bangladesh, Cambodia, and China), specifically reviewing the diversity of mammals they feed on and their own genetic structuring. Leeches were found to feed on a considerable variety of mammals, corroborating prior studies. Additionally, leeches were found to have fed both on bats and on birds, neither of which has previously been recorded with this method. The genetic structuring of the leeches themselves revealed 15 distinct clades of which only two precisely corresponded to previously characterized species, indicating that much work is needed to finalize classifications in this genus. Most importantly, with regards to mammal conservation, leeches in these clades appear to feed on a broad range of mammals

Bringing traits back in the equation : A roadmap to understand species redistribution

Acknowledgments This research is a product of the BIOSHIFTS working group funded by the synthesis center (CESAB) of the French Foundation for Research on Biodiversity (FRB; www.fondationbiodiversite.fr) and the project FRAGSHIFTS funded by the Ministry of Ecological Transition (MTE), French Office for Biodiversity (OFB), and the French Foundation for Research on Biodiversity (FRB). We thank Holly Embke and two reviewers (including Tom Luhring) for their time and constructive comments that have improved the initial submission.Peer reviewe

Expert perspectives on global biodiversity loss and its drivers and impacts on people

Despite substantial progress in understanding global biodiversity loss, major taxonomic and geographic knowledge gaps remain. Decision makers often rely on expert judgement to fill knowledge gaps, but are rarely able to engage with sufficiently large and diverse groups of specialists. To improve understanding of the perspectives of thousands of biodiversity experts worldwide, we conducted a survey and asked experts to focus on the taxa and freshwater, terrestrial, or marine ecosystem with which they are most familiar. We found several points of overwhelming consensus (for instance, multiple drivers of biodiversity loss interact synergistically) and important demographic and geographic differences in specialists’ perspectives and estimates. Experts from groups that are underrepresented in biodiversity science, including women and those from the Global South, recommended different priorities for conservation solutions, with less emphasis on acquiring new protected areas, and provided higher estimates of biodiversity loss and its impacts. This may in part be because they disproportionately study the most highly threatened taxa and habitats

Nutrition, diet and immunosenescence

Ageing is characterized by immunosenescence and the progressive decline in immunity in association with an increased frequency of infections and chronic disease. This complex process affects both the innate and adaptive immune systems with a progressive decline in most immune cell populations and defects in activation resulting in loss of function. Although host genetics and environmental factors, such as stress, exercise and diet can impact on the onset or course of immunosenescence, the mechanisms involved are largely unknown. This review focusses on identifying the most significant aspects of immunosenescence and on the evidence that nutritional intervention might delay this process, and consequently improve the quality of life of the elderly

In Vivo Electroporation Enhances the Immunogenicity of an HIV-1 DNA Vaccine Candidate in Healthy Volunteers

DNA-based vaccines have been safe but weakly immunogenic in humans to date.We sought to determine the safety, tolerability, and immunogenicity of ADVAX, a multigenic HIV-1 DNA vaccine candidate, injected intramuscularly by in vivo electroporation (EP) in a Phase-1, double-blind, randomized placebo-controlled trial in healthy volunteers. Eight volunteers each received 0.2 mg, 1 mg, or 4 mg ADVAX or saline placebo via EP, or 4 mg ADVAX via standard intramuscular injection at weeks 0 and 8. A third vaccination was administered to eleven volunteers at week 36. EP was safe, well-tolerated and considered acceptable for a prophylactic vaccine. EP delivery of ADVAX increased the magnitude of HIV-1-specific cell mediated immunity by up to 70-fold over IM injection, as measured by gamma interferon ELISpot. The number of antigens to which the response was detected improved with EP and increasing dosage. Intracellular cytokine staining analysis of ELISpot responders revealed both CD4+ and CD8+ T cell responses, with co-secretion of multiple cytokines.This is the first demonstration in healthy volunteers that EP is safe, tolerable, and effective in improving the magnitude, breadth and durability of cellular immune responses to a DNA vaccine candidate.ClinicalTrials.gov NCT00545987

Habitat overlap between Asiatic black bear Ursus thibetanus and red panda Ailurus fulgens in Himalaya.

Studying habitat overlap between sympatric species is one of the best ways to identify interspecies relationships and to direct conservation efforts so that multiple species can benefit. However, studies exploring interspecies relationships are very limited in Nepal, making it difficult for the government of Nepal and conservation partners to manage wildlife in their habitats, especially in Himalayan protected areas. In this study, we identified habitat overlap between Asiatic black bear (Ursus thibetanus) and red panda (Ailurus fulgens) as well as important habitat types for both species in the Makalu Barun National Park, Nepal using Maximum Entropy (MaxEnt) modeling. GPS points of species occurrence were collected from the field, and environmental variables were extracted from freely available sources. We found that the study area contained 647 km2 of Asiatic black bear habitat and 443 km2 of the red panda habitat. 368 km2 supported both species, which constituted 57% of the Asiatic black bear habitat and 83% of the red panda habitat. We found that conifer forest was the most important habitat type for both species. Because the largest portions of both species' habitat were located inside the buffer zone, a peripheral zone of national park, conservation efforts for these sympatric species should be focused inside the buffer zone to be most effective

Northeast Bangladesh Camera Trap Data May 2014-January 2015

Results of a camera trap survey conducted between May 1, 2014 and January 29, 2015 using digital remote cameras (Bushnell Trophy Cam HD, Overland Park, KS, USA) in four forest patches in Northeast Bangladesh. The four forest patches are: Atora Hill Reserve Forest (AHRF, ~100km2), Patharia Hill Reserve Forest (PHRF, ~60km2), Rajkandi Reserve Forest (RRF, ~62km2), and Tarap Hill Reserve Forest (THRF, ~82km2). Information included in this file includes: Site and camera number, date, time, photo number, common name, scientific name, number of individuals in the photo, latitude, and longitude. NOTE: the date was not set properly on camera AHRF 02, and thus the dates for this camera are not accurate. R scripts are available upon request

Bangladesh leech data

Results of a blastn search of sequences obtained from Sanger sequencing the blood meals of 191 leeches collected in Bangladesh in October, 2015. Site refers to the four forest patches where leeches were collected: Atora Hill Reserve Forest (AHRF), Patharia Hill Reserve Forest (PHRF), Rajkandi Reserve Forest (RRF), and Tarap Hill Reserve Forest (THRF). A 1% gap indicates that the best match was at least a 1% better percent identity than the next best option

Data from: Using terrestrial haematophagous leeches to enhance tropical biodiversity monitoring programmes in Bangladesh

1. Measuring mammal biodiversity in tropical rainforests is challenging, and methods which reduce effort while maximizing success are crucial for long-term monitoring programmes. Commonly used methods to assess mammal biodiversity may require substantial sampling effort to be effective. Genetic methods are a new and important sampling tool on the horizon, but obtaining sufficient DNA samples can be a challenge. 2. We evaluated the efficacy of using parasitic leeches Haemadipsa spp., as compared to camera trapping, to sample biodiversity. We collected 200 leeches from four forest patches in northeast Bangladesh, and identified recent vertebrate hosts using Sanger sequencing of the 16S rRNA gene extracted from each individual leech’s blood meals. We then compared this data to species data from camera trapping conducted in the same forest patches. 3. Overall, 41.9% of sequenced leeches contained amplifiable non-human mammal DNA. Four days of collecting leeches led to the identification of 12 species, compared to 26 species identified in 1334 camera trap nights. 4. Synthesis and applications. After assessing the cost, effort, and power of each technique, there are pros and cons to both camera trapping and leech blood meal analysis. Camera trapping and leech collection appear to be complementary approaches. When used together, they may provide a more complete monitoring tool for mammal biodiversity in tropical rainforests. Managers should consider adding leech collection to their biodiversity monitoring toolkit, as improved information will allow managers to create more effective conservation programmes. R scripts are available upon request