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Despite globally agreed sustainability goals, advocacy for specific pathways of action remains highly contested. Disagreement about how best to advance sustainability can produce constructive debate but can also lead to marginalization, conflict, and inaction. This review uncovers how different “values of nature” underpin allegiance to different pathways of action for sustainability. It analyzes four selected pathways: (1) Green Economy, (2) Nature Protection, (3) Earth Stewardship and Biocultural Diversity, and (4) Degrowth and Post-Growth. We identify how these four pathways diverge in the values they prioritize and how these values are inseparable from the kind of knowledge and solutions they advocate to resolve environmental crises. The review reveals the underlying values that differentiate (and connect) competing pathways and argues that transparency and reflection on these differences is a step toward more constructive use of diversity. Looking forward, we identify promising directions involving deliberative governance, institutional reforms, and disruption of dominance.

Twenty-five years since foundational publications on valuing ecosystem services for human well-being1,2, addressing the global biodiversity crisis3still implies confronting barriers to incorporating nature’s diverse values into decision-making. These barriers include powerful interests supported by current norms and legal rules such as property rights, which determine whose values and which values of nature are acted on. A better understanding of how and why nature is (under)valued is more urgent than ever4. Notwithstanding agreements to incorporate nature’s values into actions, including the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF)5and the UN Sustainable Development Goals6, predominant environmental and development policies still prioritize a subset of values, particularly those linked to markets, and ignore other ways people relate to and benefit from nature7. Arguably, a ‘values crisis’ underpins the intertwined crises of biodiversity loss and climate change8, pandemic emergence9and socio-environmental injustices10. On the basis of more than 50,000 scientific publications, policy documents and Indigenous and local knowledge sources, the Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) assessed knowledge on nature’s diverse values and valuation methods to gain insights into their role in policymaking and fuller integration into decisions7,11. Applying this evidence, combinations of values-centred approaches are proposed to improve valuation and address barriers to uptake, ultimately leveraging transformative changes towards more just (that is, fair treatment of people and nature, including inter- and intragenerational equity) and sustainable futures.

Regional food and gastronomy flourish worldwide driven by unique local foods, the remembrance of old culinary traditions, and the visitors’ desire to taste memorable dishes in an environment evoking cultural heritage and geographical uniqueness. The sub-Antarctic Magellan region of Chile is the southernmost zone of the planet and is unique in centenary food and culinary practices. A detailed description of marine and terrestrial local food sources and biocultural traditions is documented. This article presents a PCF to develop local food and gastronomy in this region. Collection and analysis of bibliometric data led to three pillars supporting the FPC: the nutritional value and uniqueness of local foods and culinary traditions; a booming sustainable tourism that drives the development of gastronomic endeavors, and; lessons from past experiences in other remote places. The proposed PCF may be adapted to different regions worldwide. Recent gastronomic initiatives to implement this PCF at the Cape Horn International Center in Puerto Williams (Chile) are also described.

There is limited knowledge about the breeding strategies of birds inhabiting in South American temperate forests. This is particularly true for open-cup forest passerines breeding at high latitudes (> 42°). To better understand the ecology of these species, in this study we described and compared the breeding strategies (i.e., nest dimensions, nest height from the ground, egg laying rhythm, clutch size, length of the developmental periods, breeding phenology, and diversity of nesting substrate) of five passerine birds that inhabit sub-Antarctic ecosystems. During three breeding seasons (2014–2017), we monitored 103 nests of the five most abundant open-cup forest-dwelling passerines (Phrygilus patagonicus, Anairetes parulus, Turdus falcklandii, Elaenia albiceps,and Zonotrichia capensis) on Navarino Island (55°S), Cape Horn Biosphere Reserve, southern Chile. Additionally, we compared the breeding strategies of T. falcklandiito another population breeding at lower latitude (39°S). Most of the species started laying eggs the last week of September; only E. albicepsstarted 2 months later. During the breeding season of 2016–2017 both E. albicepsand Z. capensisstarted laying eggs earlier than the previous year. Anairetes parulusand Z. capensiswere the most specialized in terms of nesting substrate. Turdus falcklandiihad larger clutch sizes and nested closer to the ground on Navarino Island compared to the northern population, which might put this and other ground nesting species of this island at a higher risk of predation by the recently introduced American mink (Neovison vison). Our five study species breed exclusively in open-cups (not in cavities) in sub-Antarctic forests, and some of them built their nests closer to the ground compared to populations breeding at lower latitudes. This may be associated with the lack of terrestrial predators on Navarino Island. Our study opens further questions about the mechanisms driving differences in breeding strategies among populations.

Invasive predators are responsible for the extinction of numerous island species worldwide. The naïve prey hypothesis suggests that the lack of co-evolutionary history between native prey and introduced predators results in the absence of behavioral responses to avoid predation. The lack of terrestrial mammal predators is a core feature of islands at the southern end of the Americas. Recently, however, the American mink (Neovison vison) established as a novel terrestrial predator, where rodents became a main portion of its diet. Here, we investigated on Navarino Island, Chile, macro- and micro-habitat selection of small rodents using Sherman traps. Additionally, we experimentally tested behavioral responses of small rodents to indirect cues of native raptorial predation risk (vegetation cover) and direct cues of novel mink predation risk (gland odor) using Sherman traps and foraging trays (giving-up density (GUD)). At the macro-habitat level, we detected native rodents of the species Abrothrix xanthorhinusand Oligoryzomys longicaudatusand the exotic Mus musculus. In general, rodents preferred scrubland habitats. At the micro-habitat level, we only captured individuals of A. xanthorhinus. They preferred covered habitats with tall vegetation. GUD increased in opened areas (riskier for raptorial predation) regardless of the presence or not of mink odor. These results suggest that A. xanthorhinuscan perceive predation risk by raptors, but not by mink, results that accord with the hypothesis that co-evolutionary history is important for rodents to develop antipredator behavior. Given that these rodents represent an important proportion of mink diet, the low abundances together with the apparent lack of antipredator response raise conservation concerns for the small rodent populations inhabiting the southernmost island ecosystems of the Americas.

The moss Tayloria dubyi(Splachnaceae) is endemic to the subantarctic Magallanes ecoregion where it grows exclusively on bird dung and perhaps only on feces of the goose Chloephaga picta, a unique habitat among Splachnaceae. Some species of Splachnaceae from the Northern Hemisphere are known to recruit coprophilous flies as a vector to disperse their spores by releasing intense odors mimicking fresh dung or decaying corpses. The flies land on the capsule, and may get in contact with the protruding mass of spores that stick to the insect body. The dispersal strategy relies on the spores falling off when the insect reaches fresh droppings or carrion. Germination is thought to be rapid and a new population is quickly established over the entire substrate. The objectives of this investigation were to determine whether the coprophilous T. dubyiattracts flies and to assess the taxonomic diversity of the flies visiting this moss. For this, fly traps were set up above mature sporophyte bearing populations in two peatlands on Navarino Island. We captured 64 flies belonging to the Muscidae (Palpibracus chilensis), Tachinidae (Dasyuromyiasp) and Sarcophagidae (not identified to species) above sporophytes of T. dubyi, whereas no flies were captured in control traps set up above Sphagnummats nearby.

In the Andes of Central Chile, flowering commences 1–2 months earlier on equatorial-(north-) facing than on polar- (south-) facing slopes, and pollinator assemblages also differ between these habitats. In order to understand the potential influence of these differences on gene flow, we monitored flowering periods and insect visitation rates to flowers of 60 individuals of Anarthrophyllum cumingii (Papilionaceae) on two equatorial- and two polar-facing slopes in the Andes of central Chile (33°35′ S;70°32′ W). Flowering began about 30 days earlier on equatorial-facing slopes. Flowering periods of individuals on slopes with the same aspect had a mean overlap of 0.52, while those on opposite slopes had a mean overlap of 0.15. On equatorial-facing slopes Yramea lathionoides (Lepidoptera) accounted for 60% of the visits to flowers of A. cumingii, while on polar-facing slopes Centris cineraria (Hymenoptera) was responsible for more than 80% of flower visits. Average similarities of visitor assemblages among individual plants on slopes with the same aspect was 0.83, while the mean similarity between individuals on opposite slopes was only 0.23. Within slopes fluorescent dyes were dispersed up to 40 m from the donor plants, but there was no movements of dyes between individuals growing on opposite slopes, even when they were separated by less than 10 m. Synchronous blooming and a common pollen vector are necessary conditions for pollen exchange between individuals. The overall probability of pollen exchange estimated by multiplying the inter-individual overlap for both factors, was nearly 0.5 for individuals growing on slopes with the same aspect, and less than 0.04 for individuals growing on opposite slopes. Consequently, at equivalent distances, the probability of pollen exchange between individuals growing on slopes of opposite aspect is more than 10-times lower than between those growing on the same slopes. Seed dispersal cannot compensate for restricted gene flow through pollination, because seeds of A. cumingii were dispersed less than 2 m away from a parent plant. Presumably, restricted gene flow could enhance genetic divergence between populations on slopes of contrasting aspects. This factor could be important in contributing to the high diversity and endemism in the Chilean Andes.