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PubMed1996

Environmental services of biodiversity.

Humans derive many utilitarian benefits from the environmental services of biotas and ecosystems. This is often advanced as a prime argument to support conservation of biodiversity. There is much to be said for this viewpoint, as is documented in this paper through a summary assessment of several categories of environmental services, including regulation of climate and biogeochemical cycles, hydrological functions, soil protection, crop pollination, pest control, recreation and ecotourism, and a number of miscellaneous services. It is shown that the services are indeed significant, whether in ecological or economic senses. Particularly important is the factor of ecosystem resilience, which appears to underpin many of the services. It should not be supposed, however, that environmental services stem necessarily and exclusively from biodiversity. While biodiversity often plays a key role, the services can also derive from biomass and other attributes of biotas. The paper concludes with a brief overview assessment of economic values at issue and an appraisal of the implications for conservation planning.

Journal Article↗
PubMed2026

Prior exposure to hypoxia alters DNA methylation patterns in the eastern oyster.

Environmentally induced epigenetic changes (e.g., DNA methylation) can alter genetic activity to help organisms adapt and respond to variable environments. While many studies have investigated DNA methylation as a response to a stressor at a single timepoint, less well-understood is how methylation may encode memory of past environments and influence the response to current environments (i.e., carryover effects). Oysters are an excellent natural system to study carryover effects due to their sessile nature, which may expose them to increased environmental variability. To better understand how methylation changes in response to a previous exposure of environmental stress, we conducted a fully factorial experiment exposing juvenile oysters to either control or hypoxic conditions at two timepoints separated by 60 days. After the second exposure, whole body tissue samples were collected and processed for methylRAD sequencing. Regardless of treatment, methylation was mostly found in exons. We found both the first and second exposure treatments contributed significantly to the observed variation in gene body methylation. Interestingly, oysters that were first exposed to hypoxia and later exposed to control conditions had methylation patterns that differed the most from any other condition. We found that differentially methylated genes identified in pairwise comparisons were mainly involved in the oxidative stress response, metabolism, and transcription. Together, these findings suggest that early life environments have a lasting impact on the epigenome and that the timing of stress elicits unique response strategies, which highlights potential targets of resilience for oysters.

Animals↗
PubMed2003

The struggle to govern the commons.

Human institutions--ways of organizing activities--affect the resilience of the environment. Locally evolved institutional arrangements governed by stable communities and buffered from outside forces have sustained resources successfully for centuries, although they often fail when rapid change occurs. Ideal conditions for governance are increasingly rare. Critical problems, such as transboundary pollution, tropical deforestation, and climate change, are at larger scales and involve nonlocal influences. Promising strategies for addressing these problems include dialogue among interested parties, officials, and scientists; complex, redundant, and layered institutions; a mix of institutional types; and designs that facilitate experimentation, learning, and change.

Journal Article↗
PubMed2001

20th century climate warming and tree-limit rise in the southern Scandes of Sweden.

Climate warming by ca. 0.8 degree C between the late-19th and late-20th century, although with some fluctuations, has forced multispecies elevational tree-limit advance by > 100 m for the principal tree species in the Swedish part of the Scandinavian mountain range. Predominantly, these processes imply growth in height of old-established individuals and less frequently upslope migration of new individuals. After a slight retardation during some cooler decades after 1940, a new active phase of tree-limit advance has occurred with a series of exceptionally mild winters and some warm summers during the 1990s. The magnitude of total 20th century tree-limit rise varies with topoclimate and is mainly confined to wind-sheltered and snow-rich segments of the landscape. Thickening of birch tree stands in the "advance belt" has profoundly altered the general character of the subalpine/low alpine landscape and provides a positive feedback loop for further progressive change and resilience to short-term cooling episodes. All upslope tree-limit shifts and associated landscape transformations during the 20th century have occurred without appreciable time lags, which constitutes knowledge fundamental to the generation of realistic models concerning vegetation responses to potential future warming. The new and elevated pine tree-limit may be the highest during the past 4000 14C years. Thus, it is tentatively inferred that the 20th century climate is unusually warm in a late-Holocene perspective.

Climate↗
PubMed2006

Understanding managers' views of global environmental risk.

This research investigated managers' views of two global environmental risks: climate change and loss of biodiversity. The intent was to understand why different managers place varying levels of attention and priority on these issues. The data came from in-depth interviews with 28 senior corporate managers across Canada and a range of sectors, although most were employed in the energy sector. Approximately half had direct environmental responsibilities and half had other management duties. Grounded theory was used to collect and analyze the data. From the results, a theoretical framework was constructed to explain important factors that can influence managers' mental models of environmental risk. Four factors relevant to managers' appraisal of the threat of environmental risk include: (1) salience, (2) intrinsic value of nature, (3) knowledge, and (4) perceived resilience of nature. In addition, four factors relevant to managers' view of the appeal of a particular response strategy were: (1) avoidability, (2) perceived costs and benefits, (3) fairness and equity, and (4) effectiveness. The time horizon for decision making was seen as being important in both portions of the mental model.

Biodiversity↗
PubMed2006

Extreme natural hazards: population growth, globalization and environmental change.

Mankind is becoming ever more susceptible to natural disasters, largely as a consequence of population growth and globalization. It is likely that in the future, we will experience several disasters per year that kill more than 10,000 people. A calamity with a million casualties is just a matter of time. This situation is mainly a consequence of increased vulnerability. Climate change may also be affecting the frequency of extreme weather events as well as the vulnerability of coastal areas due to sea-level rise. Disastrous outcomes can only increase unless better ways are found to mitigate the effects through improved forecasting and warning, together with more community preparedness and resilience. There are particular difficulties with extreme events, which can affect several countries, while the largest events can have global consequences. The hazards of supervolcanic eruptions and asteroid impacts could cause global disaster with threats to civilization and deaths of billions of people. Although these are very rare events, they will happen and require consideration. More frequent and smaller events in the wrong place at the wrong time could have very large human, environmental and economic effects. A sustained effort is needed to identify places at risk and take steps to apply science before the events occur.

Disaster Planning↗
PubMed2004

The effect of fire on soil organic matter--a review.

The extent of the soil organic carbon pool doubles that present in the atmosphere and is about two to three times greater than that accumulated in living organisms in all Earth's terrestrial ecosystems. In such a scenario, one of the several ecological and environmental impacts of fires is that biomass burning is a significant source of greenhouse gases responsible for global warming. Nevertheless, the oxidation of biomass is usually incomplete and a range of pyrolysis compounds and particulate organic matter (OM) in aerosols are produced simultaneously to the thermal modification of pre-existing C forms in soil. These changes lead to the evolution of the OM to "pyromorphic humus", composed by rearranged macromolecular substances of weak colloidal properties and an enhanced resistance against chemical and biological degradation. Hence the occurrence of fires in both undisturbed and agricultural ecosystems may produce long-lasting effects on soils' OM composition and dynamics. Due to the large extent of the C pool in soils, small deviations in the different C forms may also have a significant effect in the global C balance and consequently on climate change. This paper reviews the effect of forest fires on the quantity and quality of soils' OM. It is focused mainly on the most stable pool of soil C; i.e., that having a large residence time, composed of free lipids, colloidal fractions, including humic acids (HA) and fulvic acids (FA), and other resilient forms. The main transformations exerted by fire on soil humus include the accumulation of new particulate C forms highly resistant to oxidation and biological degradation including the so-called "black carbon" (BC). Controversial environmental implications of such processes, specifically in the stabilisation of C in soil and their bearing on the global C cycle are discussed.

Benzopyrans↗
PubMed2024

Genetic modification of the shikimate pathway to reduce lignin content in switchgrass (Panicum virgatum L.) significantly impacts plant microbiomes.

UNLABELLED: Switchgrass (Panicum virgatum L.) is considered a sustainable biofuel feedstock, given its fast-impact growth, low input requirements, and high biomass yields. Improvements in bioenergy conversion efficiency of switchgrass could be made by reducing its lignin content. Engineered switchgrass that expresses a bacterial 3-dehydroshikimate dehydratase (QsuB) has reduced lignin content and improved biomass saccharification due to the rerouting of the shikimate pathway towards the simple aromatic protocatechuate at the expense of lignin biosynthesis. However, the impacts of this QsuB trait on switchgrass microbiome structure and function remain unclear. To address this, wild-type and QsuB-engineered switchgrass were grown in switchgrass field soils, and samples were collected from inflorescences, leaves, roots, rhizospheres, and bulk soils for microbiome analysis. We investigated how QsuB expression influenced switchgrass-associated fungal and bacterial communities using high-throughput Illumina MiSeq amplicon sequencing of ITS and 16S rDNA. Compared to wild-type, QsuB-engineered switchgrass hosted different microbial communities in roots, rhizosphere, and leaves. Specifically, QsuB-engineered plants had a lower relative abundance of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF). Additionally, QsuB-engineered plants had fewer Actinobacteriota in root and rhizosphere samples. These findings may indicate that changes in the plant metabolism impact both AMF and Actinobacteriota similarly or potential interactions between AMF and the bacterial community. This study enhances understanding of plant-microbiome interactions by providing baseline microbial data for developing beneficial bioengineering strategies and by assessing nontarget impacts of engineered plant traits on the plant microbiome. IMPORTANCE: Bioenergy crops provide an important strategy for mitigating climate change. Reducing the lignin in bioenergy crops could improve fermentable sugar yields for more efficient conversion into bioenergy and bioproducts. In this study, we assessed how switchgrass engineered for low lignin impacted aboveground and belowground switchgrass microbiome. Our results show unexpected reductions in mycorrhizas and actinobacteria in belowground tissues, raising questions on the resilience and function of genetically engineered plants in agricultural systems.

Panicum↗
PubMed2000

Protecting human health in a changing world: the role of social and economic development.

The biological and physical environment of the planet is changing at an unprecedented rate as a result of human activity, and these changes may have an enormous impact on human health. One of the goals of human development is to protect health in the face of rapid environmental change, but we often fail to do this. The aim in this paper is to distinguish between socioeconomic aspects of development that are likely to be protective and those that are likely to increase vulnerability (the capacity for loss resulting from environmental change). Examples include climate change in the Pacific. We conclude that protecting human health in a changing world requires us to take steps to minimize harmful change wherever possible, and at the same time to be prepared for surprises. The goals of mitigation (reducing or preventing change) and adaptation (response to change) are not mutually exclusive. In fact, steps to make populations more resilient in the face of change are often similar to those that are needed to lighten the load on the environment. We need social policies that convert economic growth into human development. Wider application of sustainable development concepts is part of the solution. In particular, there is a need to promote health as an essential asset of poor and vulnerable populations. It is their key to productivity and to surviving shocks; it is also the key to achieving broader development goals such as universal education. For these reasons it is in the interests of all sectors--economic, social and environmental--to play their particular roles in protecting and improving health.

Adult↗
PubMed2026

Repeated drought induces a reproducible DNA methylation response associated with gene expression in Quercus lobata.

UNLABELLED: Long-lived trees must continually adjust to environmental change and face sustained climatic shifts over their lifetimes. One increasingly important challenge is the rising frequency of drought caused by climate change. Environmentally responsive DNA methylation is widespread in plants, but whether it contributes to gene expression during environmental stress remains unclear, particularly in long-lived trees. Here, we integrated long read methylomes and transcriptomes from valley oak ( Quercus lobata ) seedlings exposed to repeated drought and well-watered treatments. Repeated drought induced a reproducible DNA methylation response that repeatedly targeted the same genomic regions despite turnover of individual methylated sites. These repeatedly targeted regions were transposable elements (TEs) located near genes. Genes adjacent to CHH-methylated TEs were enriched for core drought-response pathways, including abscisic acid signaling, osmotic adjustment and cell-wall remodeling, and remained transcriptionally activated under drought. However, higher CHH methylation levels were associated with progressively smaller transcriptional responses, suggesting that environmentally responsive DNA methylation influences how strongly drought- response genes are activated rather than simply switching them on or off. At the same time, greater CHH methylation was associated with continued repression of nearby TEs, suggesting that this response may simultaneously regulate gene activity while maintaining genome stability. Together, these findings identify a reproducible genome- regulatory response associated with repeated environmental stress in a long-lived tree. By repeatedly targeting the same genomic regions despite turnover of individual sites, this response provides a framework for how long-lived trees repeatedly adjust gene expression while maintaining genome stability during environmental change. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT: Plants cannot escape environmental change, and trees must repeatedly respond to stresses, such as drought, over lifetimes spanning decades to centuries. Yet little is known about the molecular mechanisms that make this remarkable resilience possible. Using a widespread California oak, we show that repeated drought repeatedly induced the same DNA methylation pattern in the same parts of the genome, even though the differentially methylated individual sites changed between drought events. This pattern was linked to how strongly drought-response genes were activated, suggesting that trees repeatedly deploy the same molecular program to respond to environmental stress. Our findings provide a new framework for understanding how long-lived organisms repeatedly adjust to changing climates.

Journal Article↗
PubMed2025

Unraveling the molecular choreography of C3 to CAM transition in Mesembryanthemum crystallinum using phosphoproteomics.

Climate change and population growth threaten global freshwater resources and food security. Crassulacean acid metabolism (CAM) is a specialized photosynthetic adaptation that exhibits superior water use efficiency (WUE) compared to C3 and C4 photosynthesis. Mesembryanthemum crystallinum (common ice plant) is capable of shifting from C3 to CAM, making it a key model for investigating photosynthesis plasticity and its potential to enhance crop stress resilience. To date, the molecular mechanisms underlying this high-WUE photosynthetic transition remain largely unknown. Using mass spectrometry-based proteomics and phosphoproteomics, we quantified 4233 phosphopeptides containing 4758 phosphorylation sites, including the well-characterized Serine 11 of phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase 1 (PEPC1). It is a critical phosphorylation site facilitating nocturnal CO2 fixation during CAM. Our analysis revealed many phosphorylation sites that exhibited similar diel patterns as the PEPC1 pS11, and they may be part of the regulatory network involved in CAM induction. Glycolysis/gluconeogenesis and carbon storage/breakdown modules exhibited extensive phosphorylation regulation, and vesicle trafficking could play a role in nocturnal carbon fixation. Furthermore, glycine-rich RNA-binding protein 7 (GRP7) in association with cold shock protein 1 (CSP1) emerged as a potential transcriptional switch for nocturnal stomatal opening. On the other hand, ABI5-binding protein 1 (AFP1) and oxidative stress 3 (OXS3)-activated ABA signaling, along with high CO2 signaling and suppressed blue light signaling, may contribute to diurnal stomatal closure. These findings shed light on the protein phosphorylation changes and provide valuable targets for functional characterization of their roles in CAM induction.

Mesembryanthemum↗
PubMed2025

A decentralized future for the open-science databases.

The continuous and reliable open access to curated biological data repositories is indispensable for accelerating rigorous scientific inquiry and fostering reproducible research outcomes. However, the current paradigm, which relies heavily on centralized infrastructure for the storage and distribution of foundational biomedical datasets, inherently introduces significant vulnerabilities. This centralized model is susceptible to single points of failure, including cyberattacks, technical malfunctions, natural disasters, and even political or funding uncertainties. Such disruptions can lead to widespread data unavailability, data loss, integrity compromises, and substantial delays in critical research, ultimately impeding scientific progress. The downstream effect of such interruptions can be the widespread paralysis of diverse research activities, including computational, clinical, molecular, and climate studies. This scenario vividly illustrates the inherent dangers of consolidating essential scientific resources within a single geopolitical or institutional locus. As data generation is accelerating and the global landscape continues to fluctuate, the sustainability of centralized models must be critically re-evaluated. A shift toward federated and decentralized architectures may offer a robust and forward-looking approach to enhancing the resilience of scientific data infrastructures by reducing exposure to governance instability, infrastructural fragility, and funding volatility, while also promoting equity and global accessibility. Inspired by established models such as ELIXIR's federated infrastructure and the policy and funding frameworks developed by CODATA and the Global Biodata Coalition (GBC), emerging Decentralized Science (DeSci) initiatives can contribute to building more resilient, fair, and incentive-aligned data ecosystems. The future of open science depends on integrating these complementary approaches to establish a globally distributed, economically sustainable, and institutionally robust infrastructure that safeguards scientific data as a public good, further ensuring continued accessibility, interoperability, and preservation for generations to come. Here, we examine the structural limitations of centralized repositories, evaluate federated and decentralized models, and propose a hybrid framework for resilient, fair, and sustainable scientific data stewardship.

data accessibility↗
PubMed2003

Detection of vegetation degradation on Swedish mountainous heaths at an early stage by image interpretation.

Mountainous vegetation in general, and especially in subpolar regions, is sensitive, compared to vegetation in lowland areas, as mountainous vegetation has low resilience and low productivity. Mountainous areas have been perceived as being sensitive to mechanical damage. Quick methods with a high degree of accuracy are needed for the monitoring of mountainous areas and for planning the sustainable use of resources. The aim was i) to investigate if the dry dwarf shrub heath on hummocky moraine in the southern part of the mountains with a maritime climate and in open areas used for summer grazing, is susceptible to change; and ii) to test if high-resolution IKONOS-2 satellite data can, with a high degree of accuracy, be used for detection, and for quantification and mapping of erosion patches in montane vegetation. In which case, these data can substitute color infrared aerial photos for the early detection of changes. For the detection of changes, visual interpretations on high-quality printouts of IKONOS-2 satellite images from 2000 and of color infrared aerial photographs from 1975 were carried out and the results compared. Interpretations were verified in the field. The results show that for the period 1975-2000, erosion was in process on and around wind heaths, indicating that the wind heath and surrounding dry dwarf shrub heath in this landscape type of hummocky moraine are sensitive to mechanical damage by trampling and grazing, and thus susceptible to change. Most of the wind heaths and changes found were small (50-1000 m2). The results show that it is possible to detect, with good accuracy, detailed changes in the size and distribution of erosion patches and wind heaths by visual interpretation in single images of IKONOS-2 data. This implies that for monitoring these kinds of changes, these high-resolution (4 x 4 m pixel resolution) satellite data can substitute for color infrared aerial photographs.

Altitude↗
PubMed1979

Chemical and physical microenvironments at the Viking landing sites.

Physical and chemical considerations permit the division of the near-surface regolith on Mars into at least six zones of distinct microenvironments. The zones are euphotic, duricrust/peds, tempofrost, permafrost, endolithic, and interfacial/transitional. Microenvironments vary significantly in temperature extremes, mean temperature, salt content, relative pressure of water vapor, UV and visible light irradiance, and exposure to ionizing radiation events (100 Mrad) and oxidative molecular species. From what is known of the chemistry of the atmosphere and regolith fines (soil), limits upon the aqueous chemistry of soil pastes may be estimated. Heat of wetting could reach 45 cal/g dry soil; initial pH is indeterminate between 1 and 10; ionic strength and salinity are predicted to be extremely high; freezing point depression is inadequate to provide quantities of liquid water except in special cases. The prospects for biotic survival are grim by terrestrial standards, but the extremes of biological resiliency are inaccessible to evaluation. Second-generation in situ experiments which will better define Martian microenvironments are clearly possible. Antarctic dry valleys are approximations to Martian conditions, but deviate significantly by at least half-a-dozen criteria.

Chemical Phenomena↗
PubMed1999

Mechanisms of maintenance of tropical freshwater fish communities in the face of disturbance.

Community resistance to, and resilience from, perturbation will determine the trajectory of recovery from disturbance. Although selective timber extraction is considered a severe disturbance, fish communities from headwater streams around Danum Valley Field Centre, Sabah, Malaysia, showed few long-term changes in species composition or abundance. However, some species showed short-term (< 18 months) absence or decrease in abundance. These observations suggested that both resistance and resilience were important in maintaining long-term fish community structure. Resistance to perturbation was tested by monitoring fish communities before and after the creation of log-debris dams, while resilience was investigated by following the time-course of recolonization following complete removal of all fish. High community resistance was generally shown although the response was site-specific, dependent on the composition of the starting community, the size of the stream and physical habitat changes. High resilience was demonstrated in all recolonization experiments with strong correlations between pre- and post-defaunation communities, although there was a significant difference between pool and riffle habitats in the time-course of recovery. These differences can be explained by the movement characteristics of the species found in the different habitats. Resilience appeared to be a more predictable characteristic of the community than resistance and the implications of this for ensuring the long-term persistence of fish in the area are discussed.

Animals↗
PubMed1996

Resilience: analysis of the concept.

Resilience describes a process whereby people bounce back from adversity and go on with their lives. It is a dynamic process highly influenced by protective factors. Protective factors are specific competencies that are necessary for the process of resilience to occur. Competencies are those healthy skills and abilities that the individual can access and may occur within the individual or the interpersonal or family environment. Psychiatric-mental health nursing has always focused on mental-health promotion and attempted to discern positive outcomes from adversity and states of wellness amidst difficult circumstances or severe illness. Defining specific protective factors that facilitate mental health in high-risk groups would enhance our position in today's health care climate.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed2004

Spatial interactions and resilience in arid ecosystems.

We present a mathematical analysis of the consequences of spatial interactions between vegetation patches by means of water flow for the functioning of arid systems. Our model results suggest that spatial exchange of water improved the resilience to disturbances and increased the resistance to human-induced loss of cover. Furthermore, spatial exchange of water allowed vegetation to persist at lower rainfall levels compared to systems that lack spatial interactions. Our analysis stresses the general importance of spatial interactions for the functioning of ecological systems.

Climate↗
PubMed2004

Risk behaviors and resiliency within physically abused adolescents.

OBJECTIVE: This study examines the relationship between physical abuse and several risk behaviors, and thriving behaviors, and the relationship between potential protective factors and engagement in risk and thriving behaviors among victims of physical abuse. Three categories of potential protective factors were examined: (1) individual characteristics, (2) family processes, and (3) extra-familial factors. We expected that high levels of protective factors would reduce engagement in risk behaviors (i.e., alcohol use, tobacco use, drug use, sexual activity, antisocial behavior, attempted suicide, and purging) among abused adolescents. RESULTS: Across all the risk behaviors, abused adolescents reported a higher frequency of engagement than non-abused adolescents. Several protective factors were identified for the seven risk behaviors. Peer group characteristics was a significant predictor in all seven of the logistic regressions, followed by positive school climate (six models), religiosity (five models), other adult support (five models), family support (four models), view of the future (two models), and involvement in extra-curricular activities (two models). The variance accounted for by the models ranged from 2% (risk behavior of purging) to 26% (risk behavior of alcohol use and antisocial behavior). CONCLUSIONS: The findings indicate that, with the exception of sexual activity, the majority of abused adolescents were not engaging in risk behaviors; however, significantly more abused adolescents were engaging in risk behaviors than their non-abused counterparts. In addition, that protective factors were found to exist at various levels of the adolescents' ecology has strong implications for practice.

Adaptation, Psychological↗