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Shrinking windows of opportunity for oak seedling establishment in southern California mountains

Seedling establishment is a critical step that may ultimately govern tree species’ distribution shifts under environmental change. Annual variation in the location of seed rain and microclimates results in transient “windows of opportunity” for tree seedling establishment across the landscape. These establishment windows vary at fine spatiotemporal scales that are not considered in most assessments of climate change impacts on tree species range dynamics and habitat displacement.

Improving estimates of population status and trend with superensemble models

Navigating uncertainty in environmental composite indicators

Composite indicators (CIs) are increasingly used to measure and track environmental systems. However, they have faced criticism for not accounting for uncertainties and their often arbitrary nature. This review highlights methodological challenges and uncertainties involved in creating CIs and provides advice on how to improve future CI development in practice. Linguistic and epistemic uncertainties enter CIs at different stages of development and may be amplified or reduced based on subjective decisions during construction.

Best practices for virtual participation in meetings: Experiences from synthesis centers

Where does river runoff matter for coastal marine conservation?

Excess sediment and nutrient runoff from land-based human activities are considered serious threats to coastal and marine ecosystems by most conservation practitioners, resource managers, fishers, and other “downstream” resource users. Deleterious consequences of coastal runoff, including eutrophication and hypoxia, have been observed worldwide. Literature on integrated coastal management offers numerous methods to address land-based activities that generate runoff, but many of these approaches are time- and resource-intensive.

Cyberinfrastructure for an integrated botanical information network to investigate the ecological impacts of global climate change on plant biodiversity

To answer many of the major questions in comparative botany, ecology, and global change biology it is necessary to extrapolate across enormous geographic, temporal and taxonomic scales. Yet much ecological knowledge is still based on observations conducted within a local area or even a few hundred square meters. Understanding ecological patterns and how plants respond to global warming and human alteration of landscapes and ecosystems necessitates a holistic approach. Such an approach must be conducted at a scale that is commensurate with the breadth of the questions being asked.

Public perceptions of aquaculture: Evaluating spatiotemporal patterns of sentiment around the world

Aquaculture is developing rapidly at a global scale and sustainable practices are an essential part of meeting the protein requirements of the ballooning human population. Locating aquaculture offshore is one strategy that may help address some issues related to nearshore development. However, offshore production is nascent and distinctions between the types of aquatic farming may not be fully understood by the public–important for collaboration, research, and development.

Dynamic interactions among boundaries and the expansion of sustainable aquaculture

Aquaculture is the fastest growing food production system in the world, generating more than half of the global seafood harvested today. These type of activities are crucial to provide key nutritional components for humanity in the future as populations worldwide are increasing and the demands for securing food resources are imperative. Multiple socio-ecological factors such as weak regulations and focus on maximizing production limit production and threaten the sustainable growth of aquaculture.

Effects of roads and land use on frog distributions across spatial scales and regions in the Eastern and Central United States

Understanding the scales over which land use affects animal populations is critical for conservation planning, and it can provide information about the mechanisms that underlie correlations between species distributions and land use. We used a citizen science database of anuran surveys to examine the relationship between road density, land use and the distribution of frogs and toads across spatial scales and regions of the United States.

Using the Ocean Health Index to Identify Opportunities and Challenges to Improving Southern Ocean Ecosystem Health

The Antarctic coast and seas are considered some of the most pristine marine systems on Earth. Their comprehensive assessment is critical because meeting ambitious conservation objectives while maintaining sustainable human uses will be increasingly challenging with growing climate change impacts, recovery from past overharvesting, and potential revision of activities permitted with future revisions of the existing governance structure. We used the Ocean Health Index (OHI) to deliver an integrated assessment of the Antarctic marine ecosystems' evolving ecological and social dimensions.