The Viiankiaapa peat bog in Finland faces permanent destruction for a short-term mining project. Even more worryingly, this could be a dangerous test case for the interests of mining for minerals over...

Nature Ecology & Evolution - Citizen science platforms must mitigate against the threat of generative AI

Berlin (dpo) - Hurra! Die FIFA hat heute entschieden, dass Deutschland doch noch in der WM mitspielen darf. Insidern zufolge ging der Entscheidung ein

Industrial-scale mining in Africa to support global supply chains is leading to unprecedented deforestation across the continent, with 34 hectares of forest removed for every single hectare of active ...

Context Land-use change and intensification are major drivers of biodiversity loss. However, estimates of the effects of land use and land-use intensity on biodiversity on broad spatial scales rarely account for species-specific responses across large areas, instead averaging effects on local assemblages. Current understanding of biodiversity effects on broad spatial scales is therefore limited. Objective To investigate the broad-scale effects of land use and land-use intensity on habitat suitability for cropland and forest vertebrates throughout their contemporary ranges in Europe. To summarise regional-scale effects on vertebrate biodiversity patterns in Europe by synthesising the effects on range-wide habitat suitability for individual species. Methods Cropland and forest vertebrate occurrence records and geographic range estimates were combined with a European land-systems map. Species distribution models (SDMs) were used to estimate the effects of land use and land-use intensity on habitat suitability on a landscape scale throughout species’ ranges. Linear coefficients were specified to keep models interpretable, avoid overfitting and facilitate the use of priors based on expert knowledge. Regional-scale effects were explored for species groups based on habitat preferences, taxonomic groups and range sizes. Results Land use and land-use intensity significantly affected cropland and forest vertebrate habitat suitability on a landscape scale across Europe. The effects of land use and land-use intensity on habitat suitability varied among species groups. Land‑use intensification and urbanisation disproportionately favoured more widespread species. Conclusions Landscape-scale land use and land-use intensity help shape regional biodiversity patterns across Europe via their influence on habitat suitability throughout species’ contemporary ranges.

The study finds that large-scale forest protection under 30×30 could increase net forestry sector value as reduced supply raises prices, suggesting producer losses may be smaller than commonly assumed

Background Climate change is intensifying wildfire regimes across European forests, creating urgent management challenges. Fire acts as a powerful selective filter with highly variable, context-depend...

Introduction and Aim The mapping and monitoring of ecosystem size and extent is critical for assessing changes in the environment. Mapping approaches typically include the use of expert-based assess...

Interactive map of 3.4 million Bluesky users, visualised by their follower pattern.

With so little money to go round, the costs of competing for grants can exceed what the grants are worth. When that happens, nobody wins.

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Trees4Adapt project launched to address risks from climate change and biodiversity loss through tree-based solutions