Pandemic lockdown highlights humans as both threats and custodians of biodiversity

 By Richard B. Primack

“There would be this advantage in travelling in your own country even in your own neighborhood, that you would be so thoroughly prepared to understand what you saw.” 

Henry David Thoreau in his Journal.

The global lockdown to mitigate COVID-19 pandemic health risks in 2020 altered human interactions with nature as described in a recent article. Hundreds of unusual species observations from around the world suggest that animals quickly responded to the reductions in human presence.

Figure 1: Wildlife reports from around the world describes changes in distribution and abundance during the pandemic.

Overall, there is a complex mixture of positive and negative effects of the pandemic lockdown on wildlife and nature conservation. 

Figure 2: The pandemic lockdown had a mixture of positive and negative effects on nature.

This unplanned global quasi-experimental perturbation highlights the dual role that humans play in threatening and protecting species and ecosystems. Pathways to favorably tilt this delicate balance toward protecting biodiversity include reducing human impacts and increasing conservation effectiveness. 

The article appeared as: Bates, AE, Primack, RB, et al. 2021. Biological Conservation. 

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2021.109175 

Siberian plants shift phenology due to climate change

By Tara K. Miller

 
Siberia has undergone dramatic climatic changes due to global warming in recent decades. We used the Russian ‘Chronicles of Nature’ network to analyze the long-term (1976–2018) phenological shifts in leaf out, flowering, fruiting and leaf senescence of 67 common Siberian plant species. We found that plant phenology is changing dramatically in this remote and under-studied region.
 

Figure 1: Location of the study site by Lake Baikal, Siberia

 
Siberian boreal forest plants advanced their early season (leaf out and flowering) and mid-season (fruiting) phenology by 2.2, 0.7 and 1.6 days per decade, and delayed leaf senescence by 1.6 days per decade during this period.
 
Individual species shifted their phenology at different rates, and these results could be used to identify plants particularly at risk of decline due to their low adaptive capacity or a loss of synchronization with important ecological partners, such as pollinators or seed dispersers.
 

Figure 4: Species-specific phenological shifts of 67 Siberian plants from 1976 to 2018.
Dots indicate mean values, and horizontal lines are 95% confidence intervals.
(a) first leaf out, (b) first flower, (c) first fruit, and (d) leaf senescence.

 
 
This article appeared as: Rosbakh et al. 2021. Siberian plants shift their phenology in response to climate change. Global Change Biology. DOI: 10.1111/gcb.15744

Confronting ethical challenges in long-term research programs in the tropics

 By Richard B. Primack

“The deepest and most original thinker is the farthest traveled.” Henry David Thoreau in his Journal.

 

Ecologists and conservation biologists conducting long-term research programs in the tropics must confront serious ethical challenges. In a recent article, researchers share their experiences and perspectives.  Four key points are made:

 

The first and primary responsibility of anyone visiting and working in another country and culture is to understand cultural differences and adapt to them as much as possible. 

 

Local field assistants working with BU Professor Chery Knott (center) in West Kalimantan, Indonesia. (Photo © Tim Laman)

 

A second obligation is ensure that the research project brings added value to the local community, beyond simply paying for accommodation and support as would any other visitor (although that is important too!). 

 

Research Associate Poonam Rai discusses research project with community members outside Singalila National Park, in the Darjeeling Himalaya (India).  (Photo © Reinmar Seidler) 

 

A third responsibility among research programs is to share the resulting information and knowledge with local people, students, the scientific community, and government agencies. This often requires extra time and effort, yet it is imperative from both ethical and utilitarian viewpoints. 

 

Finally, researchers need to recognize that for the people who live in the midst of it, “biodiversity” is not always an unalloyed good. Researchers need to be empathetic concerns from the local community. 

 

This article appeared as:  Seidler et al. 2021.  Confronting ethical challenges in long-term research programs in the tropics. Biological Conservation https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2020.108933 

A Network of Tropical Forest Plots

By Richard B. Primack 

“In the summer we lay up a stock of experiences for the winter, as a squirrel of nuts. Something for conversation in winter evenings.” Henry David Thoreau in his Journal. 

Tropical forests are the most diverse and productive ecosystems on Earth. To investigate these forests, three networks of long-term forest plots have been established for South America (RAINFOR), Africa (AfriTRON) and Southeast Asia (T-FORCES). As described in a recent article, these initiatives are now integrated via ForestPlots.net cyber-infrastructure, linking colleagues from 54 countries across 24 plot networks. 

Tropical Forest plots in ForestPlots.net are widely distributed across the globe with the greatest abundance in South America. 

These networks are transforming our understanding of tropical forests and their role in the global environment. For example, there is no apparent relationship between tree species richness and carbon storage either within continents or across continents. 

There is no obvious relationship between species richness and carbon storage.

Also, tropical forests are responding to climate change by increasing their biomass; that is, they are acting as sinks for atmospheric carbon dioxide. 

Tropical forests are increasing in biomass, Asian forests (gray), increasing faster than South American (blue) and African (orange) forests.

This network of forest plots has the potential to utilize an old technology to gain important insights into the future of these diverse forests and their role in addressing global climate change. 

This article appeared as: ForestPlots.net et al. 2021. Taking the pulse of Earth’s tropical forests using networks of highly distributed plots. Biological Conservation https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2020.108849