Integrating biodiversity, remote sensing, and auxiliary information for the study of ecosystem functioning and conservation at large spatial scales

Assessing patterns and processes of plant functional, taxonomic, genetic, and structural biodiversity at large scales is essential across many disciplines, including ecosystem management, agriculture, ecosystem risk and service assessment, conservation science, and forestry. In situ data housed in databases necessary to perform such assessments over large parts of the world are growing steadily. Integrating these in situ data with remote sensing (RS) products helps not only to improve data completeness and quality but also to account for limitations and uncertainties associated with each data product. Here, we outline how auxiliary environmental and socioeconomic data might be integrated with biodiversity and RS data to expand our knowledge about ecosystem functioning and inform the conservation of biodiversity. We discuss concepts, data, and methods necessary to assess plant species and ecosystem properties across scales of space and time and provide a critical discussion of outstanding issues

Could populism be good for constitutional democracy?

Populism is Janus-faced. There is not a single form of populism but rather a variety of different forms, each with profoundly different political consequences. Despite the current hegemony of authoritarian populism, a much different sort of populism is also possible: democratic and antiestablishment populism, which combines elements of liberal and democratic convictions. When we examine the relationship between populism and constitutional democracy, populism should not be considered in isolation from its host ideology. Examples of democratic, liberal, socially inclusive forms of populism quite clearly show that authoritarianism and anti-pluralism are not necessarily the key elements of populism. However, the paucity of democratic populism also suggests that we have to look at factors other than ideology to understand why nativist and authoritarian populism currently dominates the political scene. Without understanding the political economy of the populist revolt, it is difficult to understand the true roots of populism and, consequently, to devise an appropriate democratic alternative to authoritarian populism. The ascendancy of right-wing nationalist populism today is a symptom of the failure of progressive politics