biodiversity

A new report, published in Nature, identifies two key areas for action to stop global biodiversity loss and 'bend the curve' towards recovery by 2050 or earlier - without jeopardising the achievement of other Sustainable Development Goals. The study calls for bold conservation and restoration efforts, alongside a transformation of the global food system. It forms a core part of WWF's Living Planet Report 2020, and authors include Michael Obersteiner, Director of the ECI.

As Arctic summers warm, Earth's northern landscapes are changing. Using satellite images to track global tundra ecosystems over decades, a new collaborative study involving the University of Oxford and global institutions across the world, found the region has become greener, as warmer air and soil temperatures lead to increased plant growth.

A new study, published in Science magazine by an international team in the Brazilian Amazon, shows that redesigned conservation projects could deliver big gains for critical freshwater ecosystems - raising hopes for the futures of thousands of species. 'In a time when the Amazon is under increasing pressure from human activities, this paper provides effective solutions for biodiversity preservation,' explains co-author Erika Berenguer.

Yadvinder Malhi, Professor of Ecosystem Sciences at the School of Geography and the Environment, University of Oxford, has been awarded a CBE in the Queen's Birthday Honours List, announced on 10th October 2020, for services to Ecosystem Science.

The UK government is developing a new law that prohibits imports of 7 commodities originating from illegally deforested land, including beef, leather, cocoa, palm oil, pulp and paper, timber, rubber and soya. While the stated aim of the policy is to promote sustainability, its current focus on legality overlooks how legal systems can themselves be drivers of both environmental and social harm, writes Constance McDermott, leader of ECI's new Ecosystems Governance Group.

While Arctic tundra greening and browning have received increasing attention over the past decade, one comparatively understudied area is the role of sea ice dynamics and decline as drivers of terrestrial vegetation change and the ecological consequences. A new study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, reveals two important insights that will have important implications for tundra productivity and vegetation-climate feedback. Read in full.

A new study, published this week in BioScience, considers the future of ecology, where technical advancement toward a multidimensional science will continue to fundamentally shift the way we view, explore, and conceptualize the natural world.

New research led by Dr Lisa Wedding, published this week in Global Environmental Change, investigates the carbon-capturing potential of habitats along the California coast and details pathways incorporating blue carbon habitats into climate change policy.

On 5th March, the School of Geography and the Environment became an international hub for decolonizing conservation, by hosting the panel 'The Future of Conservation: COP26 and Beyond'. Born out of #DecoloniseConservation, an engagement campaign from XR Youth Solidarity, the panel was a call to action to begin building solidarity ties between Indigenous and local community leaders and academics, in order to bring a united front to COP26 and seek protections for the rights of over 1.65 billion Indigenous peoples, local communities and Afro-descendants in high biodiversity areas.

Research has shed new light on the impact of humans on Earth's biodiversity. The findings suggest that the rate of change in an ecosystem's plant-life increases significantly during the years following human settlement, with the most dramatic changes occurring in locations colonized in the last 1500 years.