Assessing land-based mitigation implications for biodiversity

The Paris Agreement to keep global temperature increase to well-below 2 °C and to pursue efforts to limit it to 1.5 °C requires to formulate ambitious climate-change mitigation scenarios to reduce CO2 emissions and to enhance carbon sequestration. These scenarios likely require significant land-use change. Failing to mitigate climate change will result in an unprecedented warming with significant biodiversity loss. The mitigation potential on land is high. However, how land-based mitigation options potentially affect biodiversity is poorly understood. Some land-based mitigation options could also counter the biodiversity loss. Here we reviewed the recently scientific literature to assess twenty land-based mitigation options that are implemented in different mitigation pathways to comply with the Paris Agreement for their biodiversity impacts by using the Mean Species Abundance (MSALU) indicator for land use. We showed the likely land-use transition and potential MSALU changes for each option, compared their carbon sequestration opportunities (tC per ha) and assessed the resulting biodiversity change in two case scenarios. Our results showed that most options benefit biodiversity. Reforestation of cultivated and managed areas together with restoration of wetlands deliver the largest MSALU increases, if land is allowed to reach a mature state over time. A quarter of the assessed options, including intensification of agricultural areas and bioenergy with carbon capture and storage, decreased MSALU. Options, such as afforestation and reduced deforestation, either positively or negatively affected MSALU. This depends on their local implementation and adopted forest-conservation schemes. Comparing the different options showed that avoiding deforestation by implementing agroforestry at the expense of pastures delivered both the largest MSALU increases and the highest carbon sequestration opportunities. However, agroforestry that leads to deforestation, enhanced carbon sequestration slightly but with a marginal MSALU increase. This stresses the importance of avoiding forest conversion. Our study advances the understanding on current and future benefits and adverse effects of land-based mitigation options on biodiversity. This certainly helps biodiversity conservation and determines the regions with large land-based mitigation potential.</p

Data for: Assessing land-based mitigation implications for biodiversity

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Well-Being in the Time of Corona: Associations of Nearby Greenery with Mental Well-Being during COVID-19 in The Netherlands

Nature’s mental health benefits are well-established in the literature, but there is little research on which types and characteristics of urban greenery are most relevant for mental well-being in general, and during the COVID-19 pandemic in particular. This study examined the link between having a (green) garden or a green view from the main window of the home, as well as the perceived quantity and quality of neighbourhood green areas and streetscape greenery, and the self-reported change in mental well-being since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Adults residing in the Netherlands (N = 521, 67% female) completed an online survey in December 2020 and January 2021. It included items on the frequency of contact with the aforementioned outdoor spaces, as well as their quantity, natural features, and quality. Hierarchical regression analyses revealed that the quantity of the greenery mattered, but the quality was more strongly associated with well-being. In particular, well-maintained, attractive, and varied streetscape greenery was just as relevant as a garden with diverse plants. This beneficial association between streetscape greenery and mental well-being was stronger for female participants. Understanding the benefits of the different types and characteristics of urban greenery, and who they are most relevant for, can assist policymakers and planners in designing cities that promote health and resilienc

Mortality limits used in wind energy impact assessment underestimate impacts of wind farms on bird populations

Contains fulltext : 224808.pdf (publisher's version ) (Open Access

ON DEDUCING TIME PARAMETERS FROM SPATIAL PATTERNS: THE (AUTO)LOGISTIC MODEL IN LANDSCAPE ECOLOGICAL PROCESSES.

In this paper, a popular metapopulation model is critically examined by putting the model in the context of Markov random fields and the statistical analysis of binary lattice systems. The claim that the model can be used to estimate time-process parameters from spatial-pattern data is examined on a real data set where process information was available.

Assessing the impact of roads on animal population viability

Different tools have been developed to study the potential effects of spatial developments, such as the construction of roads, on the viability of animal populations. For instance, with dynamic (meta)population models the impacts of spatial developments can be accurately quantified. However, these models are often species specific and require detailed field research to validate the parameters used. If a multi-species analyses is needed, the use of such models is often impractical and expensive. In that case, an expert system, in which analyses of different species can be aggregated, may be a better tool to assess these kinds of impacts. Pros and cons of both types of tools are illustrated with (1) the ex-ante analyses of badger (Meles meles) population viability in central Limburg (The Netherlands) after the (proposed) construction of highway A73, and (2) the multi-species analyses of high priority locations to restore habitat connectivity across main roads in The Netherlands

Summary

The incidence function approach to modelling of metapopulation dynamics is critically examined both from the biological perspective and for technical issues, the latter by placing the model in the context of Markov random fields and the statistical analysis of binary lattice systems. The claim that the model can be used to estimate time-process parameters from spatialpattern data is examined using real data sets for which process information was available. The incidence function approach is compared with the alternative approach of estimating extinction and colonization functions from time series data. We discuss the merits of the two approaches as potential tools in conservation of metapopulations and in landscape planning. Key words: incidence function model, logistic regression, spatial data, time series data, snapshot data, spatial dynamics, connectivity measure.