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The intense human pressures in the Anthropocene epoch are causing an alarming decline in marine coastal ecosystems and an unprecedented loss of biodiversity. This situation underscores the urgency of making ecological restoration a global priority to recover degraded ecosystems. Meadows of the endemic Mediterranean seagrass Posidonia oceanica have lost more than half of their original extent in the last century, necessitating immediate conservation and management measures, supported by active restoration interventions. This paper explores new opportunities and provides specific recommendations to enhance restoration as a fundamental strategy for reversing the decline of P. oceanica ecosystems in the Mediterranean Sea. When a return to a historical pristine reference condition may not be feasible in the short term or desirable given current environmental conditions and uncertainty, transplanting the tolerant and fast-growing seagrass species Cymodocea nodosa could facilitate natural recolonization. This would occur through secondary ecological succession, benefiting the sensitive and slow-growing species P. oceanica. Future global and local efforts should primarily focus on proactive management to prevent further alterations by planning appropriate conservation measures in a timely manner to mitigate and reverse global changes. As a secondary step, restoration programs can be implemented with a focus on 'target-oriented' rather than 'reference-oriented' conditions, aiming to establish ecosystems capable of sustaining the future rather than replicating the historical environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the context of information literacy (IL) research, the Anthropocene age offers an opportunity for researchers to explore to develop a more sophisticated understanding of the complexity of information literacy which result from rapid and complex social, political and economic change; to address the risk of societal fragmentation which is created by misinformation/disinformation; and to understand the risk to democratically encouraged information environments that will come with increasing incorporation of AI and opinion-driven social platforms into everyday life. For library practitioners who provide instruction or education, challenges exist in relation to scaffolding and encouraging sustainable, transferrable information and technological practices, not only in our own inward facing professional practice but in our outward facing practice with the myriad communities we support. Against this problematisation, this brief, but broad ranging paper aims to identify a range of questions for thinking about the practice of IL in the Anthropocenic age. No attempt is made to answer these questions, instead they act as an impetus for future researchers and practitioner researchers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Current debate on the status and character of the Anthropocene is focussed on whether this interval of geological time should be designated as a formal unit of epoch/series rank in the International Chronostratigraphic Chart/Geological Time Scale, or whether it is more appropriate for it to be considered as an informal 'event' comparable in significance with other major transformative events in deeper geological time. The case for formalizing the Anthropocene as a chronostratigraphical unit with a base at approximately 1950 CE is being developed by the Anthropocene Working Group of the Subcommission on Quaternary Stratigraphy. Here we outline the alternative position and explain why the time‐transgressive nature of human impact on global environmental systems that is reflected in the recent stratigraphical record means that the Anthropocene is better seen not as a series/epoch with a fixed lower boundary, but rather as an unfolding, transforming and intensifying geological event. The case for formalising the Anthropocene as a chronostratigraphic unit with a base at approximately 1950 CE is being developed by the Anthropocene Working Group of the Subcommission on Quaternary Stratigraphy. Here we outline the alternative position and explain why the time‐transgressive nature of human impact on global environmental systems is more accurately reflected by defining the Anthropocene as a continuing event, with no fixed basal boundary. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Oxbows, once an abundant and natural feature of the landscape, have been nearly eliminated due to the effects of the Anthropocene, consequently impacting water quality, flood storage capacity, and the wildlife that depend on this habitat. These depressional basins within floodplains naturally accumulate sediment over time, but the sedimentation rate of oxbows over the last 100 years has greatly increased. The primary sources of sediment are from human activity, including erosion from agricultural fields and urban developments, drainage alterations, precipitation changes associated with climate change, and disconnection from their rivers and natural river hydraulics. Outlined in this manuscript is a step-by-step guide for restoring oxbows, based on 20 years of experience and lessons learned implementing oxbow restorations in Iowa on first-, second-, and third-order streams. Our goal is to provide conservation services providers and others interested in restoring degraded oxbows with the tools and expertise to confidently restore oxbows to achieve conservation goals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Soil moisture (SM) is essential for sustaining services from Earth's critical zone, a thin-living skin spanning from the canopy to groundwater. In the Anthropocene epoch, intensive afforestation has remarkably contributed to global greening and certain service improvements, often at the cost of reduced SM. However, attributing the response of SM in deep soil to such human activities is a great challenge because of the scarcity of long-term observations. Here, we present a 37 y (1985 to 2021) analysis of SM dynamics at two scales across China's monsoon loess critical zone. Site-scale data indicate that land-use conversion from arable cropland to forest/grassland caused an 18% increase in SM deficit over 0 to 18 m depth (P < 0.01). Importantly, this SM deficit intensified over time, despite limited climate change influence. Across the Loess Plateau, SM storage in 0 to 10 m layer exhibited a significant decreasing trend from 1985 to 2021, with a turning point in 1999 when starting afforestation. Compared with SM storage before 1999, the relative contributions of climate change and afforestation to SM decline after 1999 were -8% and 108%, respectively. This emphasizes the pronounced impacts of intensifying land-use conversions as the principal catalyst of SM decline. Such a decline shifts 18% of total area into an at-risk status, mainly in the semiarid region, thereby threatening SM security. To mitigate this risk, future land management policies should acknowledge the crucial role of intensifying land-use conversions and their interplay with climate change. This is imperative to ensure SM security and sustain critical zone services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The geological epoch of the Anthropocene has challenged traditional definitions of what intellectual abilities are necessary to creatively problem-solve, understand, and address contemporary societal and environmental crises. If we hope to make meaningful changes to how our society addresses these complex issues and pave the way for a better future for generations to come, we must advance traditional theories and measures of higher-order abilities to reflect equity and inclusion. To this end, we must address global issues by integrating the complexities of intersectional identities as they impact our understanding of what constitutes intelligence in individuals, groups, and diverse communities. This re-envisioning of intelligence presents new complexities for understanding and challenges for our field beyond the boundaries of what has been previously touted by many disciplines, including psychology. It is an opportunity to re-envision what it means to be intelligent in a diverse global context while also honoring and recognizing the value of difference, positionality, and other ways of knowing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Perspectives on Culture / Perspektywy Kultury is the property of Jesuit University Ignatianum in Krakow and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Human activities have had a significant impact on Earth's systems and processes, leading to a transition of Earth's state from the relatively stable Holocene epoch to the Anthropocene. The planetary boundary framework characterizes major risks of destabilization, particularly in the core dimensions of climate and biosphere change. Land system change, including deforestation and urbanization, alters ecosystems and impacts the water and energy cycle between the land surface and atmosphere, while climate change can disrupt the balance of ecosystems and impact vegetation composition and soil carbon pools. These drivers also interact with each other, further exacerbating their impacts. Earth system models have been used recently to illustrate the risks and interacting effects of transgressing selected planetary boundaries, but a detailed analysis is still missing. Here, we study the impacts of long-term transgressions of the climate and land system change boundaries on the Earth system using an Earth system model with an incorporated detailed dynamic vegetation model. In our centennial-scale simulation analysis, we find that transgressing the land system change boundary results in increases in global temperatures and aridity. Furthermore, this transgression is associated with a substantial loss of vegetation carbon, exceeding 200 Pg C, in contrast to conditions considered safe. Concurrently, the influence of climate change becomes evident as temperatures surge by 2.7–3.1 °C depending on the region. Notably, carbon dynamics are most profoundly affected within the large carbon reservoirs of the boreal permafrost areas, where carbon emissions peak at 150 Pg C. While a restoration scenario to reduce human pressure to meet the planetary boundaries of climate change and land system change proves beneficial for carbon pools and global mean temperature, a transgression of these boundaries could lead to profoundly negative effects on the Earth system and the terrestrial biosphere. Our results suggest that respecting both boundaries is essential for safeguarding Holocene-like planetary conditions that characterize a resilient Earth system and are in accordance with the goals of the Paris Climate Agreement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Environmental & Social Management Journal / Revista de Gestão Social e Ambiental is the property of Environmental & Social Management Journal and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The results of study of the REE ID‒ICP‒MS, 86Sr/87Sr, and 147Sm‒143Nd AL ID-TIMS isotope systematics of spinel lherzolite from the Northern Kraka Massif, which is part of the largest (>900 km2) lherzolitic allochthon thrust over the bathyal and shelf deposits of the passive continental margin of the East European Platform, are reported. As a result, an isochron dependence (MSWD = 0.85) was revealed for the first time, which determines the age of 545 ± 26 Ma and the high value of the initial ratio (143Nd/144Nd)0 = 0.512390 ± 0.000054, corresponding to εNd = +8.9 within the model. The resulting REE, 87Sr/86Sr, and 147Sm–143Nd isotopic signatures indicate the melting of an already depleted protolith, which can be identified as a mantle source, with MORB-like parameters. The calculated isochron age of homogenization of the 147Sm–143Nd isotope system in combination with the available complex of geological and geochemical data allows us to place the Late Vendian phase (epoch) of folding and orogeny in the Urals in the interval of 545 ± 26 Ma. Comparison of these data with materials on the geology of Central and Western Europe allows us to correlate the Timanide structures formed as a result of this phase of folding with the Cadomian, which, based on global reconstructions of continents for the end of the Proterozoic, will ultimately authorize the hypothesis of the existence of the Cadomian orogeny on the periphery of Gondwana. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]