Forest governance and development effects on tropical charcoal production and deforestation

Severe loss and degradation of tropical forests affects ecosystem services and livelihoods. Charcoal, an important energy and income source for millions of people, causes 7% of tropical deforestation and forest degradation. Forest governance aims at managing forest-related issues. On the one hand, development allows for financial investments in forest governance, e.g., in monitoring and enforcement, which the aim to control deforestation. On the other hand, deforestation often continues with increased human wellbeing. Here, we aim to (i) globally examine effects of forest governance on charcoal production and deforestation, and (ii) understand its association with development. We developed a typology of tropical forest governance systems based on a literature review of 54 USAID Country Profiles and combined it with global data on charcoal production, deforestation, governance quality and development. Our results suggest that countries’ development status affects charcoal production rather than governance quality; we observe a negative relationship between development status and charcoal production per capita (HDI: F(1,50) = 4.85, p = 0.032; GNI: F(1,50) = 4.64, p = 0.036). The limited influence of governance quality and rights on charcoal production per capita and deforestation suggests mismatches between formal and informal governance and exposes challenges in top-down percolation of governance goals. Our results highlight potential importance of tenure rights and potential opportunities for regional governing bodies to bridge local formal and informal actors to improve forest governance. Positive effects of regional tenure are driven by mixed effects of high development and governance quality related to decentralization in Asia and South America, highlighting transitions from charcoal as livelihood energy source to global commodity. Variability in results for FAO and UN charcoal production data advocates for better monitoring programs. Yet, for the first time, we explore global interactive patterns in charcoal production, development and governance – a starting point to differentiate good governance

Long-term transients help explain regime shifts in consumer-renewable resource systems

As planetary boundaries loom, there is an urgent need to develop sustainable equilibriums between societies and the resources they consume, thereby avoiding regime shifts to undesired states. Transient system trajectories to a stable state may differ substantially, posing significant challenges to distinguishing sustainable from unsustainable trajectories. We use stylized models to show how feedbacks between anthropogenic harvest regimes and resource availability drive transient dynamics. We show how substantial time lags may occur between interventions and social-ecological outcomes, and that sudden system collapses need not be linked to recent environmental changes. Historical reconstructions of island state populations show a variety of transient dynamics that closely corresponds to model expectations based on island differences in productivity and harvesting regime. We conclude that vulnerable social-ecological systems may persist when the population:resource ratio remains within a viable range of intermediate (rather than small) values, which implies that averting environmental crises may require counter-intuitive measures

A systematic review on the surgical outcome of preauricular sinus excision techniques

Objectives/Hypothesis: Preauricular sinuses are benign congenital malformations of preauricular soft tissues. Complete excision using either sinectomy or supra-auricular approach is advised to prevent recurrence. Reported recurrence varies between 0 and 42%. We evaluated which surgical technique resulted in lowest complication and recurrence rates. Study Design: PubMed, Embase, Scopus, Web of Science. Methods: Two authors appraised studies on directness of evidence and risk of bias. Original data were extracted and pooled when I2 was smaller than 50%. Results are reported according to Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses statement. Results: Fourteen high directness of evidence studies were included. Reported complication rates were similar: sinectomy [0-31.4%] and supra-auricular approach (SAA) [0-18.2%]. Pooled recurrence rates showed that sinectomy resulted in significantly (P = .04) more recurrence 5.5% (95% confidence interval [CI] 3.6-8.3%) than SAA 2.2% (95% CI 0.7-7.0). Sinectomy using the microscope resulted in the lowest sinectomy recurrence rates (1.9%). SAA in combination with a Penrose drain resulted in 0% recurrence in revision cases. Drain use resulted in the lowest SAA recurrence rates; however, drain application was not advised due to higher complication rates (frequent wound infection [P = .003] and more [P = .002] and longer [P = .001] compression dressing use). Conclusion: SAA could be the preferable technique for preauricular sinus removal. If despite evidence, sinectomy is elected over SAA, microscope use can further decrease recurrence rates comparable to SAA levels. Level of included evidence (Ib-IV) indicates the need for a prospective study comparing surgical outcomes between techniques

A landscape-scale assessment of the relationship between grassland functioning, community diversity, and functional traits

Livestock farmers rely on a high and stable grassland productivity for fodder production to sustain their livelihoods. Future drought events related to climate change, however, threaten grassland functionality in many regions across the globe. The introduction of sustainable grassland management could buffer these negative effects. According to the biodiversity–productivity hypothesis, productivity positively associates with local biodiversity. The biodiversity–insurance hypothesis states that higher biodiversity enhances the temporal stability of productivity. To date, these hypotheses have mostly been tested through experimental studies under restricted environmental conditions, hereby neglecting climatic variations at a landscape-scale. Here, we provide a landscape-scale assessment of the contribution of species richness, functional composition, temperature, and precipitation on grassland productivity. We found that the variation in grassland productivity during the growing season was best explained by functional trait composition. The community mean of plant preference for nutrients explained 24.8% of the variation in productivity and the community mean of specific leaf area explained 18.6%, while species richness explained only 2.4%. Temperature and precipitation explained an additional 22.1% of the variation in productivity. Our results indicate that functional trait composition is an important predictor of landscape-scale grassland productivity

A landscape-scale assessment of the relationship between grassland functioning, community diversity, and functional traits

Livestock farmers rely on a high and stable grassland productivity for fodder production to sustain their livelihoods. Future drought events related to climate change, however, threaten grassland functionality in many regions across the globe. The introduction of sustainable grassland management could buffer these negative effects. According to the biodiversity–productivity hypothesis, productivity positively associates with local biodiversity. The biodiversity–insurance hypothesis states that higher biodiversity enhances the temporal stability of productivity. To date, these hypotheses have mostly been tested through experimental studies under restricted environmental conditions, hereby neglecting climatic variations at a landscape-scale. Here, we provide a landscape-scale assessment of the contribution of species richness, functional composition, temperature, and precipitation on grassland productivity. We found that the variation in grassland productivity during the growing season was best explained by functional trait composition. The community mean of plant preference for nutrients explained 24.8% of the variation in productivity and the community mean of specific leaf area explained 18.6%, while species richness explained only 2.4%. Temperature and precipitation explained an additional 22.1% of the variation in productivity. Our results indicate that functional trait composition is an important predictor of landscape-scale grassland productivity

A landscape-scale assessment of the relationship between grassland functioning, community diversity, and functional traits

Livestock farmers rely on a high and stable grassland productivity for fodder production to sustain their livelihoods. Future drought events related to climate change, however, threaten grassland functionality in many regions across the globe. The introduction of sustainable grassland management could buffer these negative effects. According to the biodiversity-productivity hypothesis, productivity positively associates with local biodiversity. The biodiversity-insurance hypothesis states that higher biodiversity enhances the temporal stability of productivity. To date, these hypotheses have mostly been tested through experimental studies under restricted environmental conditions, hereby neglecting climatic variations at a landscape-scale. Here, we provide a landscape-scale assessment of the contribution of species richness, functional composition, temperature, and precipitation on grassland productivity. We found that the variation in grassland productivity during the growing season was best explained by functional trait composition. The community mean of plant preference for nutrients explained 24.8% of the variation in productivity and the community mean of specific leaf area explained 18.6%, while species richness explained only 2.4%. Temperature and precipitation explained an additional 22.1% of the variation in productivity. Our results indicate that functional trait composition is an important predictor of landscape-scale grassland productivity.ISSN:2045-775