2017 has been a year of change. As our scientists often say, “change is the new normal.” With each day that passes, the forces of global change—the warming climate, expanding human footprint, and loss of forests, grasslands, shores, and waters—threaten biodiversity and all life that depends on it.
The purpose of the EcoVeg classification approach is to describe the diversity of terrestrial ecosystems across the globe and inform decisions about conservation and resource management.
To achieve the goal of sustaining healthy diverse, and resilient coastal and marine habitats and living marine species in the Gulf of Mexico, resource managers need a way to take the pulse of this vast ecosystem, to evaluate its health and its ability to provide needed ecosystem services.
To achieve the goal of sustaining healthy, diverse, and resilient coastal and marine habitats and living marine resources in the Northern Gulf of Mexico, resource managers need a way to take the pulse of this vast ecosystem, to evaluate its health and its ability to provide needed ecosystem services.
In support of natural resource agencies in Canada, the USA, and Mexico, we report on a series of component analyses and an updated Landscape Conservation Design for temperate grassland conservation. We targeted twelve major grassland ecosystem types that occur across the Great Plains and Chihuahuan Desert regions. Component analyses included: a) documenting long-term trends in extent by grassland type, b) identifying species of concern associated with the major grassland types, c) documenting current protected areas including each grassland type, d) assessing landscape intactness and connectivity among grassland areas, and, e) identifying Grassland Potential Conservation Areas to advance grassland conservation.
In support of natural resource agencies in Canada, the USA, and Mexico, we report on a series of component analyses and an updated continental-scaled Landscape Conservation Design for temperate grassland conservation. We targeted twelve major grassland ecosystem types that occur across the Great Plains and Chihuahuan Desert regions. Component analyses included: a) documenting long-term trends in extent by grassland type, b) identifying species of concern associated with the major grassland types, c) documenting current protected areas including each grassland type, d) assessing landscape intactness and connectivity among grassland areas, and, e) identifying Grassland Potential Conservation Areas to advance grassland conservation.
Increasing attention to pollinators and their role in providing ecosystem services has revealed a paucity of studies on long-term population trends of most insect pollinators in many parts of the world. Because targeted monitoring programs are resource intensive and unlikely to be performed on most insect pollinators, we took advantage of existing collection records to examine long-term trends in northeastern United States populations of 26 species of hawk moths (family Sphingidae) that are presumed to be pollinators.