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Biodiversity is declining globally at unprecedented rates. Ecological niche models (ENMs) are one of the most widely used toolsets to appraise global change impacts on biodiversity. Here, we identify a variety of advantages of incorporating remotely sensed ecosystem functioning attributes (EFAs) into ENMs. The development of ENMs that explicitly incorporate ecosystem functioning will allow a more holistic and integrative perspective of the habitat dynamics. The synergies between the increasingly available open‐access satellite images and cloud‐based platforms for planetary‐scale geospatial analysis offer an unprecedented opportunity to incorporate ecosystem processes and disturbances (such as fires, insect outbreaks or droughts) that have been so far largely neglected in ecological niche characterization and modelling. The most paradigmatic example of EFAs is the application of time series of spectral vegetation indices related to primary productivity and carbon cycle. EFAs related to surface energy balance and water cycles derived from remote sensing products such as land surface temperature or soil moisture enable a fine‐scale characterization of the species' niche—eventually improving the predictive performance of ENMs. All these advantages confirm that a new generation of ENMs based on such EFAs would offer great perspectives to increase our ability to monitor habitat suitability trends and population dynamics. However, despite the technical advances and increasing effort of remote sensing community to develop integrative EFAs, ENMs have yet to make full profit of the most recent developments by integrating them in ENMs. A coordinated agenda for remote sensing experts and ecological modellers will be essential over the coming years to bridge the gap between remote sensing and ecology disciplines and to take full (and timely) advantage of the fast‐growing body of Earth observation data and remote sensing technologies—with special emphasis on the development and testing of new variables related to key processes driving ecosystem functioning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Social‐ecological memory (SEM) may be a key source of resilience in social‐ecological systems (SES), allowing for renewal and reorganisation after disturbances. This study provides an overview of the genesis and evolution of the SEM concept, its research trends and gaps, and its potential applicability to geographical thought. Combining systematic review and bibliometric analysis, we collected 219 records published in the last two decades, which were reduced to 87 relevant records after applying the inclusion/exclusion criterion. The results indicate that interest in SEM research is growing, but wide acceptance and concordance around terminology are still lagging. The concept has substantially evolved and expanded over the last decade but remains mostly abstract and conceptual. Research has focused predominantly on European countries, rural contexts, and westernised societies, identified multiple disturbances and ecosystem services as driving the maintenance and evolution of SEM, and highlighted an unequal interest between social and ecological memory carriers. Our review underlines the strong pertinence of the SEM concept for the study and management of social‐ecological systems, which would benefit from the development of application strategies and tools. In the future, researchers should seek to expand the idea of social‐ecological memory into an applied field having clearer links and boundaries with more established concepts important in geography, among them traditional ecological knowledge. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Invasive alien plants negatively impact ecosystems, necessitating intricate management actions. In a critically endangered vegetation type within the fynbos biome of South Africa, a study was performed comparing different management interventions over plots invaded by Acacia saligna. A dynamic modeling approach was designed to analyze field data and simulate the effectiveness of several restoration methods. Field data for vegetation recovery rates over the course of 2 years were fed into the model, which allowed the extrapolation of multiple recovery trajectories over a long time‐span, not possible to obtain from traditional short‐term field surveys. Our model simulations show that different treatments in similarly degraded states at the time of clearing can result in vastly different recovery trajectories. Active seed sowing was initially most expensive but resulted in the most successful native shrub recovery, decreasing costs of longer‐term follow‐up acacia clearing. Clearing without burning was cheapest but resulted in limited establishment of both native and acacia cover, providing an opportunity for secondary invasion by alien forbs. In this case, biotic thresholds may have been crossed which prevented recovery of certain vegetation components. Active sowing can partially reverse thresholds by restoring shrub cover but not structural diversity. Therefore, even applying this treatment did not resemble vegetation structure of the reference condition after an extended period of 30 years, but does show how restoration can be improved by native seed sowing compared to passive restoration alone. Our model simulations provide a useful tool to support decision‐making by providing management recommendations for optimizing alien plant‐clearing protocols. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the "digital conservation" age, big data from Earth observations and from social media have been increasingly used to tackle conservation challenges. Here, we combined information from those two digital sources in a multimodel inference framework to identify, map, and predict the potential for nature's cultural contributions to people in two contrasting UNESCO biosphere reserves: Doñana and Sierra Nevada (Spain). The content analysis of Flickr pictures revealed different cultural contributions, according to the natural and cultural values of the two reserves. Those contributions relied upon landscape variables computed from Earth observation data: the variety of colors and vegetation functioning that characterize Doñana landscapes, and the leisure facilities, accessibility features, and heterogeneous landscapes that shape Sierra Nevada. Our findings suggest that social media and Earth observations can aid in the cost‐efficient monitoring of nature's contributions to people, which underlie many Sustainable Development Goals and conservation targets in protected areas worldwide. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Farmlands are currently among the dominant uses of the land. When managed under low‐input farming systems, farmlands are associated with diverse cultural and natural heritages around the world. Known in Europe as high nature value (HNV) farmlands, these agricultural landscapes and their associated farming systems evolved as tightly coupled socioecological systems, and are essential to biodiversity conservation and the delivery of ecosystem services to society. However, HNV farmlands are vulnerable to socioeconomic changes that lead to either agricultural intensification or land abandonment. We present a range of plausible future scenarios for HNV farmlands, and discuss the related management options and expected socioecological outcomes for each scenario. We then provide recommendations for policy, practice, and research on how to best ensure the socioecological viability of HNV farming systems in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An introduction is presented in which the editor discusses various reports published within the issue which include the concept of the Essential Biodiversity Variables (EBVs), the development of the Species Distribution Models, and the cost-efficiency of monitoring networks sampling technique.

The Eurasian skylark Alauda arvensis is very susceptible to the negative effects of wind farms. In northern Portugal, this evidence is particularly severe due to the skylark's preference for mountain breeding habitats where most wind farms are located. Facing the frequent failure of environmental impact assessments ( EIA) to evaluate the cumulative impacts of wind farms on wildlife, this study aimed to develop and test a methodology to quantify local and regional consequences on birds, using skylarks as a test species, taking into account future predictable environmental changes., We propose a spatially explicit dynamic approach that combines the results from multiple modelling techniques under a common framework to assess the local and cumulative regional impacts of wind farms on skylark populations. This includes the following: (i) modelling the local impact of wind farms (in terms of collision mortality) on the skylark population dynamics by developing an index for quantitative assessments, (ii) determining the actual and future skylark breeding distribution across northern Portugal and (iii) integrating the above contributions in an emergent spatially explicit regional representation to capture the ecological cumulative consequences as a whole., The simulations show an increasing average local impact for the skylark breeding populations directly affected by wind farms, expressed in mean number of collision fatalities per UTM study unit (1 km2), representing 1·3% of the local breeders in 2006 and 4% in 2026., The distribution area of skylark breeding populations was predicted to decrease around 4·5% throughout a period of 15 years, as a result of the scenario of climate and land cover changes in the study area. When combined with a concomitant increase in skylark global mortality ( c. 184%) induced by all wind farms in the study region, the above trend contributes to an intensification of the regional cumulative impact from 1·2% to 3·7% of the total estimated breeding individuals., Synthesis and applications. The proposed modelling framework represents a step forward in evaluating the multi-scale cumulative consequences of wind farms on vulnerable birds, using skylarks as a test species. This could be used in the future to guide monitoring efforts and to improve the applicability of the data bases generated by long-term ecological research and monitoring studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The importance of monitoring biodiversity to detect and understand changes throughout time and to inform management is increasingly recognized. Monitoring schemes should be globally unified, spatially integrated across scales, long term, and cost-efficient., We propose a framework to design optimized multispecies-targeted monitoring networks over large areas. The method builds upon previous developments on systematic conservation planning in terms of optimizing resource allocation in space, and comprises seven steps: (a) determine which questions will be addressed, (b) define species to be monitored, (c) compile occurrence data for all defined species, (d) predict the overall distribution of each species, (e) collect relevant environmental data and identify homogeneous strata, (f) set targets for the minimum number of monitoring sites per species and/or stratum and (g) identify optimal monitoring sites., We tested whether the monitoring networks designed with our framework have increased performance when compared to networks obtained with simple-random or stratified-random sampling by using a set of different indicators. To that end, we designed monitoring networks using optimized and non-optimized sampling schemes, applied to a case study in Portugal, where the goal was to design a monitoring network for amphibians and reptiles, to complement the one currently established in Spain., Results allowed us to conclude that monitoring networks designed with our method tend to outperform the non-optimized ones, in terms of higher species diversity (i.e. higher number of species and equity across monitoring sites), higher representation of environmental strata, and particularly higher coverage of rare species, with less survey effort., Synthesis and applications. We developed a framework to allocate monitoring sites for multiple species at broad scales using predictive models and optimization algorithms currently applied in systematic conservation planning. This framework presents field survey cost-efficiency advantages when compared to other standard sampling designs and can significantly contribute to improving the design of monitoring schemes. Thus, we recommend its application to design new multispecies monitoring networks or to extend existing ones. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ecological monitoring programmes are designed to detect and measure changes in biodiversity and ecosystems. In the case of biological invasions, they can contribute to anticipating risks and adaptively managing invaders. However, monitoring is often expensive because large amounts of data might be needed to draw inferences. Thus, careful planning is required to ensure that monitoring goals are realistically achieved., Species distribution models ( SDMs) can provide estimates of suitable areas to invasion. Predictions from these models can be applied as inputs in optimization strategies seeking to identify the optimal extent of the networks of areas required for monitoring risk of invasion under current and future environmental conditions. A hierarchical framework is proposed herein that combines SDMs, scenario analysis and cost analyses to improve invasion assessments at regional and local scales. We illustrate the framework with Acacia dealbata Link. (Silver-wattle) in northern Portugal. The framework is general and applicable to any species., We defined two types of monitoring networks focusing either on the regional-scale management of an invasion, or management focus within and around protected areas. For each one of these two schemes, we designed a hierarchical framework of spatial prioritization using different information layers (e.g. SDMs, habitat connectivity, protected areas). We compared the performance of each monitoring scheme against 100 randomly generated models., In our case study, we found that protected areas will be increasingly exposed to invasion by A. dealbata due to climate change. Moreover, connectivity between suitable areas for A. dealbata is predicted to increase. Monitoring networks that we identify were more effective in detecting new invasions and less costly to management than randomly generated models. The most cost-efficient monitoring schemes require 18% less effort than the average networks across all of the 100 tested options., Synthesis and applications. The proposed framework achieves cost-effective monitoring networks, enabling the interactive exploration of different solutions and the combination of quantitative information on network performance with orientations that are rarely incorporated in a decision support system. The framework brings invasion monitoring closer to European legislation and management needs while ensuring adaptability under rapid climate and environmental change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In their paper entitled "Wildfires as an ecosystem service", Pausas and Keeley ([7]) summarize the benefits generated by - as well as the evolutionary and socioecological importance of - wildfires for humankind. The ecosystem services cascade model (Potschin and Haines-Young [9]) helped to distinguish between ecosystem structures, processes, functions, services, benefits, and values. [Extracted from the article]

Although invasive animals can compete with native species for resources, detrimental competition for food is seldom reported in the avian invasions literature. In temperate climates, food limitation and energetic stress are higher during winter and, thus, winter diets might reveal competition that is not apparent during the rest of the year. We compared autumn and winter diets of the invasive common waxbill Estrilda astrild in northwest Iberia, and of the native bird most similar to it in foraging behaviour, the European serin Serinus serinus. Both bird species forage for seeds in open habitats, mostly in or around agricultural areas. We found that food preferences of the two species were substantially different when foraging on the same agricultural landscape. Contrary to the prediction that food scarcity in winter would make diets more similar, the diets of waxbills and serins diverged in winter, indicating low potential for detrimental interspecific competition. Differences in diet were in part due to foraging on non‐native plants. Non‐native seeds represented a large part of the waxbill diet in autumn (a non‐native grass), and a small part of serin's (a non‐native forb), substantially decreasing their diet similarity. Our results are consistent with the view that waxbills are using a vacant niche in human‐modified habitats, in this case involving non‐crop plants associated with agricultural practices (e.g. irrigation, tillage, harvest) that are underexploited by the native fauna. Understanding which invasive animals fill those vacant niches and, thus, may interfere minimally with native faunas, helps to prioritize conservation actions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A letter to the editor about monitoring global biodiversity is presented.