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Grassland biodiversity bounces back from long-term nitrogen addition
The negative effect of increasing atmospheric nitrogen (N) pollution on grassland biodiversity is now incontrovertible1, 2, 3. However, the recent introduction of cleaner technologies in the UK has led to reductions in the emissions of nitrogen…
Ecosystems: Time to model all life on Earth
The authors discuss the importance for international authorities such as the Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services to simulate the physics and chemistry of the ecosystem to better understand the climate system. They…
A Rosetta Stone for Nature’s Benefits to People
After a long incubation period, the Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) is now underway. Underpinning all its activities is the IPBES Conceptual Framework (CF), a simplified model of the interactions between…
A Global System for Monitoring Ecosystem Service Change
Earth's life-support systems are in flux, yet no centralized system to monitor and report these changes exists. Recognizing this, 77 nations agreed to establish the Group on Earth Observations (GEO). The GEO Biodiversity Observation Network (GEO BON)…
Increased Dependence of Humans on Ecosystem Services and Biodiversity
Humans have altered ecosystems more rapidly and extensively than ever, largely to meet rapidly growing demands for resources along with economic development. These demands have been considered important drivers of ecosystemdegradation and…
Biodiversity increases the resistance of ecosystem productivity to climate extremes
Data from experiments that manipulated grassland biodiversity across Europe and North America show that biodiversity increases an ecosystem’s resistance to, although not resilience after, climate extremes.
Global effects of land use on local terrestrial biodiversity
Analysis of a global data set of local biodiversity comparisons reveals an average 13.6% reduction in species richness and 10.7% reduction in abundance as a result of past human land use, and projections based on these data under a business-as-usual…
The benefits of traditional knowledge
A study of two Balkan ethnic groups living in close proximity finds that traditional knowledge about local plant resources helps communities to cope with periods of famine, and can promote the conservation of biodiversity.
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Aleksander Stamboliski and the Bulgarian Contract
Bulgaria suffered a swift and devastating defeat in the First World War, due, G.D. Sheppard argues, to its peasant leader-in-waiting’s shrewd use of…