Framework Convention on Climate Change

Losses of natural and semi-natural forests, mostly to agriculture, are a significant concern for biodiversity. Against this trend, the area of intensively managed plantation forests increases, and there is much debate about the implications for biodiversity. We provide a comprehensive review of the function of plantation forests as habitat compared with other land cover, examine the effects on biodiversity at the landscape scale, and synthesise context-specific effects of plantation forestry on biodiversity. Natural forests are usually more suitable as habitat for a wider range of native forest species than plantation forests but there is abundant evidence that plantation forests can provide valuable habitat, even for some threatened and endangered species, and may contribute to the conservation of biodiversity by various mechanisms. In landscapes where forest is the natural land cover, plantation forests may represent a low-contrast matrix, and afforestation of agricultural land can assist conservation by providing complementary forest habitat, buffering edge effects, and increasing connectivity. In contrast, conversion of natural forests and afforestation of natural non-forest land is detrimental. However, regional deforestation pressure for agricultural development may render plantation forestry a ‘lesser evil’ if forest managers protect indigenous vegetation remnants. We provide numerous context-specific examples and case studies to assist impact assessments of plantation forestry, and we offer a range of management recommendations. This paper also serves as an introduction and background paper to this special issue on the effects of plantation forests on biodiversity.

Plantation Forests and Biodiversity: Oxymoron or Opportunity?

Agriculture and climate change are internally correlated with each other in various aspects, as climate change is the main cause of biotic and abiotic stresses, which have adverse effects on the agriculture of a region. The land and its agriculture are being affected by climate changes in different ways, e.g., variations in annual rainfall, average temperature, heat waves, modifications in weeds, pests or microbes, global change of atmospheric CO2 or ozone level, and fluctuations in sea level. The threat of varying global climate has greatly driven the attention of scientists, as these variations are imparting negative impact on global crop production and compromising food security worldwide. According to some predicted reports, agriculture is considered the most endangered activity adversely affected by climate changes. To date, food security and ecosystem resilience are the most concerning subjects worldwide. Climate-smart agriculture is the only way to lower the negative impact of climate variations on crop adaptation, before it might affect global crop production drastically. In this review paper, we summarize the causes of climate change, stresses produced due to climate change, impacts on crops, modern breeding technologies, and biotechnological strategies to cope with climate change, in order to develop climate resilient crops. Revolutions in genetic engineering techniques can also aid in overcoming food security issues against extreme environmental conditions, by producing transgenic plants.

Impact of Climate Change on Crops Adaptation and Strategies to Tackle Its Outcome: A Review.

Linking soils to ecosystem services — A global review

Over the past 50 years, humans have altered their environment to a significant extent, although human well-being is dependent on ecosystem functioning. Ecosystems are particularly affected by unsustainable use of resources, such as, food, water, and timber. Ecosystem functions depend on water, carbon, and other nutrients cycles. Human activities have modified these cycles in a number of way. Use of ecosystems for recreation, spiritual enrichment, cultural purposes, and for other short term benefits is growing continuously, although ecosystem capacity to provide such services has reported to be declined significantly. Human well-being depends on material welfare, health, good social relations, security and freedom, which are affected by changes in ecosystem services. Intensive ecosystem use often produces short-term advantage. Poverty level remains high in more than one billion people, who are dependent on ecosystems with an income of less than $1 per day as reported elsewhere. Regions including some parts of Africa, Asia and Latin America have the greatest ecosystemrelated problems and are facing developmental challenges. Habitat change occurs, for instance, when the area of land used for agriculture or cities is expanded. Instability and unproductivity including desertification, water logging, mineralization and many other unwanted outcomes throughout the world are continuing. Habitat fragmentation by roads, canals, power lines limits the species potential for dispersal and colonization. Indirect drivers, like changes in human population, economic activity and technology as well as socio-political and cultural factors affect ecosystems by influencing direct drivers. World climate has changed and continues to change, affecting temperature, rainfall and sea levels. Intensive fertilizer use has polluted ecosystems. Climate change and high nutrient levels in water are becoming increasing problems. Ecosystem management for shortterm benefits is increasing. Loss of biodiversity makes it difficult for ecosystems to recover from damage. Once an ecosystem has undergone an abrupt change, recovery to the original state is slow, costly, and sometimes impossible. Changes in ecosystems complexity- functioning relationships could diminish the stability, resistance and resilience of managed terrestrial ecosystems, and may jeopardize important food and fibre sources, and ability of natural ecosystems both to provide natural resources, and to remove pollutants from atmosphere. Ecological complexity and ecosystem functioning depend on factors that govern species coexistence. Complexity of landscapes is determined by number of ecosystem types, their characteristics, their sizes and shapes, and associated connectivity. Complexity at this scale would have large consequences on regional to global scale processes. Presence and arrangement of keystone ecosystem types, such as, wetlands often determine total carbon and nitrogen balance of a region. Changes in average or extreme environmental events and intense land use management are believed to increase species extinction rate in isolated habitat fragments. Loss of key species, such as, top predators, fruit dispersers and pollinators from habitat may severely disrupt ecosystems functioning. Land use changes due to expanding urbanization, concomitant landscape fragmentation and intensification of production systems. Such change results in transformation of an ecosystem, form one state to another state, via a transition phase. The combined value of 17 ecosystem services has been reported in the estimated range of US$16-54 trillion per year by Costanza and others. About 30% of modern medicines are developed from plants and animals, and 10 of the world's 25 topselling drugs in 1997 were reported to be derived from natural sources. Global market value of pharmaceuticals derived from genetic resources is estimated at US $ 75 000-150 000 million annually. Some 75% of the world's populations rely for health care on traditional medicines, which are derived directly from natural sources as recorded elsewhere. Socio-economic development of human civilization and human well-being depends on long-term health of environment including ecosystems. Environmental problems are generally addressed in isolation, but practically such problems are interrelated, and originate from the root cause of unsustainable development. Damage to natural ecosystems and release of environmental pollutants must be minimized for protecting natural ecosystem, and human well-being.

Ecosystems and Human Well-Being

Wetland ecosystem services.

http://icm.landcareresearch.co.nz/knowledgebase/publications/public/dymond2006.pdf

Validation of a region-wide model of landslide susceptibility in the Manawatu-Wanganui region of New Zealand

Tradeoffs between soil, water, and carbon -- a national scale analysis from New Zealand.

. Increased carbon storage with afforestation leads to a decrease in atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration and thus decreases radiative forcing and cools the Earth. However, afforestation also changes the reflective properties of the surface vegetation from more reflective pasture to relatively less reflective forest cover. This increase in radiation absorption by the forest constitutes an increase in radiative forcing, with a warming effect. The net effect of decreased albedo and carbon storage on radiative forcing depends on the relative magnitude of these two opposing processes. We used data from an intensively studied site in New Zealand's Central North Island that has long-term, ground-based measurements of albedo over the full short-wave spectrum from a developing Pinus radiata forest. Data from this site were supplemented with satellite-derived albedo estimates from New Zealand pastures. The albedo of a well-established forest was measured as 13 % and pasture albedo as 20 %. We used these data to calculate the direct radiative forcing effect of changing albedo as the forest grew. We calculated the radiative forcing resulting from the removal of carbon from the atmosphere as a decrease in radiative forcing of −104 GJ tC−1 yr−1. We also showed that the observed change in albedo constituted a direct radiative forcing of 2759 GJ ha−1 yr−1. Thus, following afforestation, 26.5 tC ha−1 needs to be stored in a growing forest to balance the increase in radiative forcing resulting from the observed albedo change. Measurements of tree biomass and albedo were used to estimate the net change in radiative forcing as the newly planted forest grew. Albedo and carbon-storage effects were of similar magnitude for the first four to five years after tree planting, but as the stand grew older, the carbon storage effect increasingly dominated. Averaged over the whole length of the rotation, the changes in albedo negated the benefits from increased carbon storage by 17–24 %.

https://bg.copernicus.org/articles/8/3687/2011/bg-8-3687-2011.pdf

Anne-Gaelle Ausseil

Papers

Wetland ecosystem services.

Validation of a region-wide model of landslide susceptibility in the Manawatu-Wanganui region of New Zealand

Tradeoffs between soil, water, and carbon -- a national scale analysis from New Zealand.

Implications of albedo changes following afforestation on the benefits of forests as carbon sinks

Adapting global shared socio-economic pathways for national and local scenarios