Concentrating vs. spreading our footprint: how to meet humanity's needs at least cost to nature DOI Open Access
Andrew Balmford

Journal of Zoology, Journal Year: 2021, Volume and Issue: 315(2), P. 79 - 109

Published: Oct. 1, 2021

Abstract How to feed, house, clothe and power 11 billion of us without eliminating very many species wrecking Earth's climate is perhaps this century's greatest challenge. We must obviously strive curb growth in resource‐intensive demand, but we also need identify production systems that meet people's needs at least overall cost nature. The land‐sharing/sparing concept provides a quantitative framework for doing this, centred around the principle generating meaningful insights requires comparing alternatives are matched terms production. Applications >2500 individually assessed vertebrates, plants insects across five continents show most decline under farming, would fare badly land‐sparing approach – with high‐yield meeting demand relatively small, farmed area, freeing‐up space conservation intact habitats elsewhere landscape. However, important questions remain how deliver high yields sustainably, ensure farming does indeed spare natural habitat. increasingly being applied other domains too including urban planning, recreation, forestry fisheries where it has potential shed light on long‐running debates about whether nature prefer concentrate our impact or spread more lightly widely. realization cannot be delivered simultaneously considering humanity meets its these sectors particular significance as policymakers establish global environmental targets through 2030 beyond.

Language: Английский

Bending the curve of terrestrial biodiversity needs an integrated strategy DOI
David Leclère, Michael Obersteiner,

Mike Barrett

et al.

Nature, Journal Year: 2020, Volume and Issue: 585(7826), P. 551 - 556

Published: Sept. 10, 2020

Language: Английский

Citations

723
Soil structure and microbiome functions in agroecosystems DOI
Martin Hartmann, Johan Six

Nature Reviews Earth & Environment, Journal Year: 2022, Volume and Issue: 4(1), P. 4 - 18

Published: Nov. 22, 2022

Language: Английский

Citations

583
Forest management in southern China generates short term extensive carbon sequestration DOI Creative Commons
Xiaowei Tong, Martin Brandt, Yuemin Yue

et al.

Nature Communications, Journal Year: 2020, Volume and Issue: 11(1)

Published: Jan. 8, 2020

Land use policies have turned southern China into one of the most intensively managed forest regions in world, with actions maximizing cover on soils marginal agricultural potential while concurrently increasing livelihoods and mitigating climate change. Based satellite observations, here we show that diverse land changes increased standing aboveground carbon stocks by 0.11 ± 0.05 Pg C y-1 during 2002-2017. Most this regional sink was contributed newly established forests (32%), already existing 24%. Forest growth harvested areas 16% non-forest 28% to sink, timber harvest tripled. Soil moisture declined significantly 8% area. We demonstrate management has been removing an amount equivalent 33% fossil CO2 emissions last 6 years, but saturation, competition for food production soil-water depletion challenge longevity service.

Language: Английский

Citations

418
Ten facts about land systems for sustainability DOI Creative Commons
Patrick Meyfroidt, Ariane de Bremond, Casey M. Ryan

et al.

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Journal Year: 2022, Volume and Issue: 119(7)

Published: Feb. 7, 2022

Land use is central to addressing sustainability issues, including biodiversity conservation, climate change, food security, poverty alleviation, and sustainable energy. In this paper, we synthesize knowledge accumulated in land system science, the integrated study of terrestrial social-ecological systems, into 10 hard truths that have strong, general, empirical support. These facts help explain challenges achieving thus also point toward solutions. The are as follows: 1) Meanings values socially constructed contested; 2) systems exhibit complex behaviors with abrupt, hard-to-predict changes; 3) irreversible changes path dependence common features systems; 4) some uses a small footprint but very large impacts; 5) drivers impacts land-use change globally interconnected spill over distant locations; 6) humanity lives on used planet where all provides benefits societies; 7) usually entails trade-offs between different benefits—"win–wins" rare; 8) tenure claims often unclear, overlapping, 9) burdens from unequally distributed; 10) users multiple, sometimes conflicting, ideas what social environmental justice entails. implications for governance, do not provide fixed answers. Instead they constitute set core principles which can guide scientists, policy makers, practitioners meeting use.

Language: Английский

Citations

289
Overcoming the coupled climate and biodiversity crises and their societal impacts DOI
Hans‐Otto Pörtner, Robert J. Scholes, Almut Arneth

et al.

Science, Journal Year: 2023, Volume and Issue: 380(6642)

Published: April 20, 2023

Earth's biodiversity and human societies face pollution, overconsumption of natural resources, urbanization, demographic shifts, social economic inequalities, habitat loss, many which are exacerbated by climate change. Here, we review links among climate, biodiversity, society develop a roadmap toward sustainability. These include limiting warming to 1.5°C effectively conserving restoring functional ecosystems on 30 50% land, freshwater, ocean "scapes." We envision mosaic interconnected protected shared spaces, including intensively used strengthen self-sustaining the capacity people nature adapt mitigate change, nature's contributions people. Fostering interlinked human, ecosystem, planetary health for livable future urgently requires bold implementation transformative policy interventions through institutions, governance, systems from local global levels.

Language: Английский

Citations

241
Working landscapes need at least 20% native habitat DOI Creative Commons
Lucas A. Garibaldi, Facundo J. Oddi, Fernando E. Miguez

et al.

Conservation Letters, Journal Year: 2020, Volume and Issue: 14(2)

Published: Oct. 25, 2020

Abstract International agreements aim to conserve 17% of Earth's land area by 2020 but include no area‐based conservation targets within the working landscapes that support human needs through farming, ranching, and forestry. Through a review country‐level legislation, we found just 38% countries have minimum requirements for conserving native habitats landscapes. We argue increasing at least 20% landscape where it is below this minimum. Such target has benefits food security, nature's contributions people, connectivity effectiveness protected networks in biomes which areas are underrepresented. also maintaining habitat higher levels currently exceeds minimum, performed literature shows even more than 50% restoration needed particular The post‐2020 Global Biodiversity Framework an opportune moment contributes to, does not compete with, initiatives expanding areas, UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration (2021–2030) Sustainable Development Goals.

Language: Английский

Citations

222
The global cropland-sparing potential of high-yield farming DOI
Christian Folberth, Nikolay Khabarov, Juraj Balkovič

et al.

Nature Sustainability, Journal Year: 2020, Volume and Issue: 3(4), P. 281 - 289

Published: April 16, 2020

Language: Английский

Citations

208
Ecosystem services and nature’s contribution to people: negotiating diverse values and trade-offs in land systems DOI Creative Commons
Erle C. Ellis, Unai Pascual, Ole Mertz

et al.

Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability, Journal Year: 2019, Volume and Issue: 38, P. 86 - 94

Published: June 1, 2019

Land is increasingly managed to serve multiple societal demands. Beyond food, fiber, habitation, and recreation, land now being called on meet demands for carbon sequestration, water purification, biodiversity conservation, many others. Meeting these requires negotiating trade-offs among the choices differing values placed them by diverse stakeholders institutions. Here, we review recent advances in understanding role of managing landscapes support demands, from a systems perspective. Recent work IPBES others has recognized need accommodate greater diversity into decision-making through framework ‘nature’s contributions people (NCP)’ providing perspective human–nature relations that goes beyond stock-flow, ecosystem services, framing. NCP offers real potential enable system science better integrate value institutions efforts understand more fairly govern wicked tradeoffs Anthropocene, especially under conditions less well functioning governance.

Language: Английский

Citations

193
Worldwide research trends on sustainable land use in agriculture DOI
José Ángel Aznar Sánchez, María Piquer‐Rodriguez, Juan F. Velasco-Muñoz

et al.

Land Use Policy, Journal Year: 2019, Volume and Issue: 87, P. 104069 - 104069

Published: June 28, 2019

Language: Английский

Citations

191
Protecting half of the planet could directly affect over one billion people DOI
Judith Schleicher, Julie G. Zaehringer, Constance Fastré

et al.

Nature Sustainability, Journal Year: 2019, Volume and Issue: 2(12), P. 1094 - 1096

Published: Nov. 18, 2019

Language: Английский

Citations

184