Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment最新文献

{"title":"Measuring what matters in the era of big data","authors":"Easton R White","doi":"10.1002/fee.70013","DOIUrl":"10.1002/fee.70013","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Over the past few decades, we’ve witnessed an explosion in the amount of data available to ecologists. We can now measure the greenness of the planet from satellites; track the movements of individual organisms across the globe; and obtain real-time, high-frequency information from sensor networks distributed across land, air, and aquatic systems. But is the current interest in big data distracting us from measuring what truly matters?</p><p>Clearly, so much ecological research involves careful experimental design and considerations of statistical power. But not every hypothesis can be tested with experiments. Here, I am more focused on observational studies with large, often publicly available, datasets. Much of my own research has concentrated on this type of work. Monitoring for the sake of monitoring is important as it can lead to surprising results or new questions we never envisioned. At the same time, I believe that, at both individual and institutional levels, we need to be thoughtful about how we design new monitoring programs or use data from existing programs.</p><p>In some cases, the right variables often prove difficult to measure, while the wrong ones remain within easy reach. For example, imagine you are studying what may be driving invertebrate population dynamics in a temperate estuary. Temperature loggers cost little to deploy, and temperature data may already be available from existing monitoring programs. Each logger can collect millions of datapoints over a short time window, even if there is little variation over time. In addition, we may have equal rationale to consider other variables, such as dissolved oxygen or pH, which are harder and costlier to monitor. The sheer volume of temperature data and relative ease in its collection can create the illusion of importance, but convenience is not the same as relevance. What’s more, when our response variables and predictors are constrained by what data are available, the scope of questions we can ask is also limited.</p><p>The same dynamic plays out with new technologies—from eDNA to acoustic recorders to GPS tags—that generate reams of new data. These tools expand what we can measure, but they don’t tell us what we <i>should</i> measure. Too often, our technological tunnel vision drives the questions we ask, drawing attention away from the data that may be harder to collect but ultimately more important.</p><p>The abundance of data also brings new challenges. With large datasets, issues of data quality and bias can easily go unnoticed, creating a false sense of confidence that more data automatically translates into better science. In hypothesis testing, very large samples reduce standard errors, making even trivial relationships appear statistically significant—though they may have little or no biological meaning.</p><p>To overcome these challenges, we need to return to the roots of our discipline. What questions do we want to address? By choosing the questions ourselves, i","PeriodicalId":171,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment","volume":"23 9","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":7.6,"publicationDate":"2025-11-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/fee.70013","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145469446","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Managing strategic linkages among natural and human systems can enhance ecosystem services","authors":"Zihao Wen,&nbsp;Qinghua Cai,&nbsp;Ming-Chih Chiu,&nbsp;Vincent H Resh","doi":"10.1002/fee.70002","DOIUrl":"10.1002/fee.70002","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Understanding and managing landscape dynamics (for example, spatiotemporal fluxes in abiotic and biotic features within watersheds) is critical to ensure the sustainability of ecosystems and human well-being. This perspective underscores the importance of integrating landscape dynamics into global sustainability strategies, emphasizing the interplay between ecosystems and socioeconomic values. Exploration of how natural and human systems are connected via abiotic and biotic flows can result in improved understanding and management of connections across landscapes. The novelty of this approach lies in its holistic framework for managing landscape dynamics and enhancing resilience to global change. By managing the complex dynamics among human–natural systems, we can unlock their potential to maximize essential socioeconomic benefits and address the impacts of environmental change.</p>","PeriodicalId":171,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment","volume":"23 9","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":7.6,"publicationDate":"2025-11-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145470072","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Inducing biological resistance to invasive plants with adapted native species","authors":"G Scott Clark,&nbsp;Kerri M Crawford","doi":"10.1002/fee.2857","DOIUrl":"10.1002/fee.2857","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Invasive plants often benefit from a change in eco-evolutionary context, escaping the herbivores, pathogens, and competing plants from their native range. Introduced into naïve native communities, invasive plants can spread rapidly, threatening native plant diversity and ecosystem functioning. Increasingly, studies have shown that native species sometimes adapt in response to the selection pressures imposed by an invasive plant. While researchers have periodically suggested using adapted native species in the management of invasive plants, the idea generally has not found its way to the field. Here, we (1) compare the concept to the more established practices of assisted migration, classic biological control, and microbiome engineering; (2) discuss some of the hurdles to practical implementation; and (3) outline directions for further research that would help expose the role of native adaptations in shaping the trajectory of plant invasions.</p>","PeriodicalId":171,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment","volume":"23 9","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":7.6,"publicationDate":"2025-11-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145470168","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Evaluating macroecological fire impacts on bird populations","authors":"Andrew N Stillman,&nbsp;Gavin M Jones,&nbsp;Matthew Strimas-Mackey,&nbsp;Guillermo Duran,&nbsp;Caitlin Andrews,&nbsp;Shawn Ligocki,&nbsp;Tom Auer,&nbsp;Viviana Ruiz-Gutierrez,&nbsp;Sarah C Sawyer,&nbsp;Daniel Fink","doi":"10.1002/fee.70003","DOIUrl":"10.1002/fee.70003","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Fire regimes are context-dependent, as are the ways that animals respond. However, most information on animal responses to fire comes from short-term local field studies, which are hard to extrapolate across large areas for fire management while also capturing spatial variation. To address this challenge, we modeled data from eBird to map the direction, magnitude, and importance of fire regime associations at 27-km resolution across the ranges of six bird species used to guide management decisions in the US: red-cockaded woodpecker (<i>Leuconotopicus borealis</i>), Bachman’s sparrow (<i>Peucaea aestivalis</i>), greater sage-grouse (<i>Centrocercus urophasianus</i>), pinyon jay (<i>Gymnorhinus cyanocephalus</i>), American goshawk (<i>Astur atricapillus</i>), and olive-sided flycatcher (<i>Contopus cooperi</i>). Our findings revealed previously undocumented landscape-scale variation in fire impacts on birds. Critically, the strength of fire regime associations varied widely in magnitude even when the direction of those associations (positive, neutral, or negative) remained constant. This analytical workflow provides not only a flexible approach for assessing macroecological fire impacts but also finer-scale information sufficient for resource prioritization and decision-making.</p>","PeriodicalId":171,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment","volume":"23 9","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":7.6,"publicationDate":"2025-11-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145469473","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"A court decision on endangered species holds lessons for us all","authors":"Adrian Treves","doi":"10.1002/fee.70006","DOIUrl":"10.1002/fee.70006","url":null,"abstract":"&lt;p&gt;In the wake of a 2024 US Supreme Court decision called &lt;i&gt;Loper Bright&lt;/i&gt; (603 US 369), many commentators predicted that the deregulatory mood of the current federal government would unravel numerous environmental protections. That decision struck down the Court's 1984 &lt;i&gt;Chevron&lt;/i&gt; deference doctrine (467 US 837), which instructed judges to defer to federal agency interpretation and technical expertise when a statute is ambiguous or vague. Because statutes are often ambiguous or simply too general to address the specifics of complex environmental problems, the 1984 &lt;i&gt;Chevron&lt;/i&gt; deference was invoked in 18,000 subsequent court decisions, according to one prominent estimate. The new &lt;i&gt;Loper Bright&lt;/i&gt; standard replaced the &lt;i&gt;Chevron&lt;/i&gt; deference with a non-deferential standard—encouraging judges to interpret statutes themselves (as they are trained to do), rather than adopt an agency's interpretation thereof.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;After &lt;i&gt;Loper Bright&lt;/i&gt;, legal scholars expressed concerns about a coming wave of unpredictable, chaotic, and inconsistent decisions across federal courts. With authority returned to the courts under a non-deferential standard, decisions would no longer be as predictable: some judges might persist in deferring to the agency, while other judges might strike out on their own—even if facing similar fact patterns. Likewise, chaos might ensue as judges without training in technical environmental issues hand down decisions guided too much by the influence of their individual preferences. While not immune to political or other pressures, US federal agencies are often constrained by having more individuals involved in decision-making and by legally binding duties to seek public input. To me, it's unclear whether judges are as constrained by either factor. Now that data are beginning to accumulate about the effect of &lt;i&gt;Loper Bright&lt;/i&gt; on environmental policy, I offer one example of a federal court case for those of us conducting policy-relevant research.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;On August 5, 2025, a federal district court judge—in the case &lt;i&gt;Center for Biological Diversity et al. v. US Fish &amp; Wildlife Service et al&lt;/i&gt;. (CV 24-86-M-DWM), Ninth circuit, District Court of Montana—invoked &lt;i&gt;Loper Bright&lt;/i&gt; when explaining why he would disregard a 2014 policy promulgated by the US Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) interpreting a provision of the Endangered Species Act (ESA). At issue was FWS’ interpretation of the term “range” to solely refer to currently occupied range, and Judge Molloy looked to both Congressional intent and the plain language of the ESA, determining that “range” should include historical range. He thus ordered the FWS to reverse course and consider the historical range of gray wolves in the northern Rocky Mountains.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;If the above case (hereafter &lt;i&gt;CBD&lt;/i&gt;) withstands appeal, it could ripple to other endangered species whose current ranges differ substantially from their historical ranges. Beyond endangered species, &lt;i&gt;CBD&lt;/","PeriodicalId":171,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment","volume":"23 8","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":7.6,"publicationDate":"2025-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/fee.70006","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145196712","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Sparse genetic data limit biodiversity assessments in protected areas globally","authors":"Ivan Paz-Vinas,&nbsp;Amy G Vandergast,&nbsp;Chloé Schmidt,&nbsp;Deborah M Leigh,&nbsp;Simon Blanchet,&nbsp;René D Clark,&nbsp;Eric D Crandall,&nbsp;Hanne De Kort,&nbsp;Jeff Falgout,&nbsp;Colin J Garroway,&nbsp;Eleana Karachaliou,&nbsp;Francine Kershaw,&nbsp;David O’Brien,&nbsp;Malin L Pinsky,&nbsp;Gernot Segelbacher,&nbsp;Rachel H Toczydlowski,&nbsp;Margaret E Hunter","doi":"10.1002/fee.2867","DOIUrl":"10.1002/fee.2867","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Global conservation targets include protecting genetic diversity within species. Yet few studies have assessed whether protected areas (PAs) include genetically diverse populations across species globally. A first step is understanding the availability of population genetic data that could be used in these assessments. We surveyed georeferenced population-level nuclear (as opposed to mitochondrial or plastid-based) genetic data across continents and marine biomes (36,354 populations, 2809 species) and found substantial geographic and taxonomic gaps. Most data were concentrated in Europe and North America, with major gaps in Africa and Asia. For most taxonomic groups, data were available for &lt;1% of described species. Globally, 52.08% of the total areal extent of PAs lacked genetically sampled populations. These gaps in data availability highlight the need for targeted genetic data collection, harmonization, and sharing to improve genetic diversity monitoring and conservation planning. Combined with proxy-based genetic indicators, such data are needed to inform PA assessments, bolster area-based conservation initiatives like 30 × 30, and support achievement of global genetic conservation targets.</p>","PeriodicalId":171,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment","volume":"23 8","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":7.6,"publicationDate":"2025-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/fee.2867","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145196737","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"A multi-scale approach to integrating rewilding into agricultural landscapes","authors":"José M Rey Benayas,&nbsp;James M Bullock,&nbsp;Henrique M Pereira","doi":"10.1002/fee.2860","DOIUrl":"10.1002/fee.2860","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Finding ways to improve the sustainability of modern agriculture by recovering nature in agricultural landscapes is critical for conserving biodiversity and enhancing human well-being. Rewilding principles could be applied to any type of landscape, which raises the possibility of employing rewilding approaches in agricultural areas while maintaining some degree of food production therein. Moving beyond the simple dichotomy of land sparing versus land sharing, here we propose a multi-scale approach that integrates rewilding principles into agricultural landscapes by combining the creation of wilder ecosystems in separate set-aside recovered areas with the implementation of farming approaches that are more sustainable, such as precision farming, ecologically intensified farming, and extensive farming, in adjacent areas. Adoption of such approaches would allow for more biodiversity elements to persist within the agricultural matrix. We explain how this approach could support the three critical components of rewilded land—dispersal, trophic complexity, and stochastic disturbances—and create agroecological landscapes that are biodiverse, resilient, and functionally connected at multiple scales.</p>","PeriodicalId":171,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment","volume":"23 8","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":7.6,"publicationDate":"2025-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/fee.2860","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145196804","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"From science to policy: evolving marine biodiversity targets","authors":"Jan-Claas Dajka,&nbsp;Anne K Eilrich,&nbsp;Andrea Franke,&nbsp;Benjamin S Halpern,&nbsp;Bernadette Snow,&nbsp;Amanda T Lombard,&nbsp;Ute Jacob,&nbsp;Silke Laakmann,&nbsp;Amelie Luhede,&nbsp;Helmut Hillebrand","doi":"10.1002/fee.70000","DOIUrl":"10.1002/fee.70000","url":null,"abstract":"<p>The Montreal-Kunming Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) substantially advances biodiversity protection. We systematically reviewed the scholarly literature published during the UN Decade on Biodiversity (2010–2020) to assess whether GBF targets align with scientific approaches and improve upon the Aichi Targets in recognizing the complexity of marine biodiversity. Our findings showed that the new targets have improved to address the full suite of essential biodiversity variable (EBV) classes, reducing the risk of changes in crucial aspects of biodiversity being overlooked. We observed a high degree of alignment between research and policy in EBVs and a relative increase in the reliance of the GBF on secondary variables such as ecosystem function. While this alignment mirrors that within other global frameworks, we caution against overemphasizing secondary variables at the expense of foundational variables such as community composition. Our analysis demonstrates that global policy targets align well with scientific understanding of marine biodiversity. Future efforts should focus on improving national-level implementation and refining indicators to foster transformative change in biodiversity conservation.</p>","PeriodicalId":171,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment","volume":"23 8","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":7.6,"publicationDate":"2025-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/fee.70000","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145196701","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The western North American forestland carbon sink: will our climate commitments go up in smoke?","authors":"Paul F Hessburg,&nbsp;Werner A Kurz,&nbsp;Susan J Prichard,&nbsp;Carolyn E Smyth,&nbsp;Lori D Daniels,&nbsp;Christian P Giardina,&nbsp;Carly A Phillips,&nbsp;Robert W Gray,&nbsp;Florencia Tiribelli,&nbsp;Jennifer N Baron,&nbsp;Jocelyne LaFlamme,&nbsp;Dominik Roeser","doi":"10.1002/fee.2869","DOIUrl":"10.1002/fee.2869","url":null,"abstract":"<p><b>Pathways to achieving net-zero and net-negative greenhouse-gas (GHG) emission targets rely on land-based contributions to carbon (C) sequestration. However, projections of future contributions neglect to consider ecosystems, climate change, legacy impacts of continental-scale fire exclusion, forest accretion and densification, and a century or more of management. These influences predispose western North American forests (wNAFs) to severe drought impacts, large and chronic outbreaks of insect pests, and increasingly large and severe wildfires. To realistically assess contributions of future terrestrial C sinks, we must quantify the amount and configuration of stored C in wNAFs, its vulnerability to severe disturbance and climatic changes, costs and net GHG impacts of feasible transitions to conditions that can tolerate active fire, and opportunities for redirecting thinning-derived biomass to uses that retain harvested C while reducing emissions from alternate products. Failing to adopt this broader mindset, future forest contributions to emission targets will go up in smoke</b>.</p>","PeriodicalId":171,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment","volume":"23 8","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":7.6,"publicationDate":"2025-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/fee.2869","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145196526","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Juvenile salmonids traverse coastal meta-nurseries that connect rivers via the sea","authors":"Stuart H Munsch,&nbsp;Todd R Bennett,&nbsp;Jimmy Faukner,&nbsp;Madison J Halloran,&nbsp;Karrie M Hanson,&nbsp;Martin C Liermann,&nbsp;Michael L McHenry,&nbsp;John R McMillan,&nbsp;Raymond E Moses,&nbsp;Bob Pagliuco,&nbsp;George R Pess,&nbsp;Katherine R Stonecypher,&nbsp;Darren M Ward","doi":"10.1002/fee.2848","DOIUrl":"10.1002/fee.2848","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Conventionally, juvenile salmonids are thought to migrate unidirectionally from freshwater systems to marine systems and therefore only inhabit natal drainages. Although scattered evidence suggests juveniles can move bidirectionally between freshwater rivers and the ocean, including into non-natal drainages, such movements have never been documented with high replication. Here, we detected hundreds of movements of juvenile salmonids between drainages that involved 0–22% of cohort emigrants in Washington State and California. Individuals moved up to nine times and between drainages up to 70 km apart. These findings reveal a life-history type of salmonids whose remarkably complex migrations have gone unnoticed. Implicitly, juveniles may use any coastal freshwater habitat accessible from the sea and may not descend from spawning populations of drainages they inhabit. Consequently, typical conservation focused on natal drainages may overlook freshwater habitat elsewhere. A concept of coastal areas as meta-nurseries formed by multiple watersheds connected by the sea may accurately describe anadromous species’ habitat options and better inform management.</p>","PeriodicalId":171,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment","volume":"23 8","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":7.6,"publicationDate":"2025-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/fee.2848","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145197195","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}