Conservation behavior is a relatively new interdisciplinary field aimed at investigating how proximate and ultimate aspects of animal behavior can be of value in preventing the loss of biodiversity. This new discipline’s usefulness in promoting practical conservation-matters is subject to debate, with some scientists arguing that the importance of behavior in conservation practice is overemphasized. Here, we propose a conceptual model that identifies the key linkages between animal behavior and conservation biology. The model is a simply structured, hierarchical, and parsimonious framework that will help bridge the gap between the 2 disciplines and establish a common ground on which the field of conservation behavior can evolve and from which paradigms can be developed. Key words: adaptive behavior, behavior-based management, behavioral indicators, conceptual model, conservation behavior. [Behav Ecol]

Integrating animal behavior and conservation biology: a conceptual framework

The Potential of Peatlands as Nature-Based Climate Solutions

Peatlands and forests cover large areas of the boreal biome and are critical for global climate regulation. They also regulate regional climate through heat and water vapour exchange with the atmosphere. Understanding how land-atmosphere interactions in peatlands differ from forests may therefore be crucial for modelling boreal climate system dynamics and for assessing climate benefits of peatland conservation and restoration. To assess the biophysical impacts of peatlands and forests on peak growing season air temperature and humidity, we analysed surface energy fluxes and albedo from 35 peatlands and 37 evergreen needleleaf forests - the dominant boreal forest type - and simulated air temperature and vapour pressure deficit (VPD) over hypothetical homogeneous peatland and forest landscapes. We ran an evapotranspiration model using land surface parameters derived from energy flux observations and coupled an analytical solution for the surface energy balance to an atmospheric boundary layer (ABL) model. We found that peatlands, compared to forests, are characterized by higher growing season albedo, lower aerodynamic conductance, and higher surface conductance for an equivalent VPD. This combination of peatland surface properties results in a ∼20% decrease in afternoon ABL height, a cooling (from 1.7 to 2.5 °C) in afternoon air temperatures, and a decrease in afternoon VPD (from 0.4 to 0.7 kPa) for peatland landscapes compared to forest landscapes. These biophysical climate impacts of peatlands are most pronounced at lower latitudes (∼45°N) and decrease toward the northern limit of the boreal biome (∼70°N). Thus, boreal peatlands have the potential to mitigate the effect of regional climate warming during the growing season. The biophysical climate mitigation potential of peatlands needs to be accounted for when projecting the future climate of the boreal biome, when assessing the climate benefits of conserving pristine boreal peatlands, and when restoring peatlands that have experienced peatland drainage and mining. © 2020 The Author(s). Published by IOP Publishing Ltd. (Less)

The biophysical climate mitigation potential of boreal peatlands during the growing season

Freshwater wetlands are significant carbon sinks, however, altering a wetland’s hydrology can reduce its ability to sequester carbon and may lead to the release of previously stored soil carbon. Rehabilitating a wetland’s water table has the potential to restore the natural process of wetland soil carbon sequestration and storage. Further, little is known about the role of microbial communities that mediate carbon cycling during wetland rehabilitation practices. Here, we examined the carbon emissions and microbial community diversity during a wetland rehabilitation process known as ‘environmental watering’ (rewetting) in an Australian, semi-arid freshwater floodplain wetland. By monitoring carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane (CH4) emissions during dry and wet phases of an environmental watering event, we determined that adding water to a degraded semi-arid floodplain wetland reduces carbon emissions by 28-84%. The watering event increased anoxic levels and plant growth in the aquatic zone of the wetland, which may correlate with lower carbon emissions during and after environmental watering due to lower anaerobic microbial decomposition processes and higher CO2 sequestration by vegetation. During the watering event, areas with higher inundation had lower CO2 emissions (5.15 ± 2.50 g CO2 m-2 d-1) compared to fringe areas surrounding the wetland (11.89 ± 4.25 g CO2 m-2 d-1). CH4 flux was inversely correlated with CO2 emissions during inundation periods, showing a 38% (0.013 ± 0.061 g CO2-e m-2 d-1) increase when water was present in the wetland. During the dry phases of environmental watering, there was CH4 uptake within the fringe and aquatic zones (-0.013 ± 0.063 g CO2-e m-2 d-1). A clear succession of soil microbial community was observed during the dry-wet phases of the environmental watering process. This suggests that wetland hydrology plays a large role in the microbial community structure of these wetland ecosystems, and is consequently linked to CO2 and CH4 emissions. Overall, the total carbon emissions (CO2 + CH4) were reduced within the wetland during and after the environmental watering event, due to increasing vegetative growth and subsequent CO2 sequestration. We recommend environmental watering practices in this degraded arid wetland ecosystem to improve conditions for wetland carbon sequestration and storage.

Reducing Emissions From Degraded Floodplain Wetlands

Peatlands cover 3% of the land, occur in 169 countries, and have—by sequestering 600 Gt of carbon—cooled the global climate by 0.6 °C. After a general review about peatlands worldwide, this paper describes the importance of the Great Vasyugan Mire and presents suggestions about its protection and future research. The World’s largest peatland, the Great Vasyugan Mire in West-Siberia, forms the border between the Taiga and the Forest-Steppe biomes and harbours rare species and mire types and globally unique self-organizing patterns. Current oil and gas exploitation may arguably be largely phased out by 2050, which will pave the way for a stronger focus on the mire’s role in buffering climate change, maintaining ecosystem diversity, and providing other ecosystem services. Relevant new research lines will benefit from the extensive data sets that earlier studies have gathered for other purposes. Its globally unique character as the ‘largest life form on land’ qualifies the Great Vasyugan Mire in its entirety to be designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site and a Ramsar Wetland of International Importance.

Great Vasyugan Mire: How the world's largest peatland helps addressing the world's largest problems.

Land use, land use change and forestry (LULUCF) have been directly altering climate and it has been proposed that such changes could mitigate anthropogenic climate warming brought about by increases in greenhouse gas emissions to the atmosphere. Changes due to LULUCF alter the Bowen ratio, surface roughness and albedo and so directly change air temperatures. Previous studies have focused on changes in the area of forestry and have used space‐for‐time substitutions to assess the impact of LULUCF. This study considered 18‐years of daytime land surface temperature over an area of actual land use change in comparison to its surrounding landscape and considered the restoration of a lowland peat bog: satellite land surface temperature data across 49, one km2 grid squares with 20 on peatland and 29 on surrounding agricultural land on mineral soils from 2000 to 2017. The peatland squares were, until 2004, dug for horticultural peat and after 2004 were restored with revegetation of bare soil and restoration of natural water tables. Over the eighteen years, the average annual daytime land surface temperature (LST) significantly decreased for 6 grid squares, 5 of which were on the restored peatland where LST decreased by 2 K. In 2000, before restoration, the peatland was 0.7 K warmer than the surrounding agricultural land on mineral soils but by 2016 was 0.5 K cooler. This study has shown that anthropogenic land use change could cool a landscape and that functioning peatlands could act as cool, humid islands within a landscape.

/pdf/the-impact-of-peatland-restoration-on-local-climate-4kcquiyrbt.pdf

The Impact of Peatland Restoration on Local Climate: Restoration of a Cool Humid Island

We hypothesize that peatlands represent a cool humid island in their landscape context and that this cool humid island effect could be brought about by successful peatland restoration. This study used 20 years of Earth observation data for land surface temperature (day‐ and night‐ time LST), albedo (near infra‐red white sky albedo) and vegetation indices measured for 42 one km2 grid squares across two peatlands and their surrounding arable fields. The peatlands have undergone restoration (re‐vegetation and raising of water tables) since 2004. The results show that over the restored peatlands: Day time temperatures over the peatlands cooled relative to the surrounding arable‐land by up to 1.1 K (°C), but there was no significant change in night time temperatures. Over the peatlands the average amplitude of the diurnal temperature cycle decreased by up to 2.4 K (°C) over the period of the restoration. Comparison to vegetation indices and albedo shows the cooling effect of increasing albedo was smaller than warming effect of changes aerodynamic resistance brought about by development of shrubby vegetation. The presence of an overall cooling effect, despite a warming effect due to vegetation development, means that a rising water table led to a lowering of the Bowen ratio. Peatlands revegetated to, or dominated by, moss carpets rather than shrubby vegetation will maximise the potential cooling effect, whereas shrub development across peatlands without a rise in water table would lead to warming.

Local climate impacts from ongoing restoration of a peatland

This study proposed that due to their high standing water tables that peatlands would be cold humid islands within their landscape, and especially so relative to farmland on mineral soils. To test this hypothesis, we measured air temperature and humidity at 17 locations along a 7.8 km transect across the UK's largest lowland raised bog from February 2018 to January 2019. Air temperature and humidity were measured hourly for 1 year and supported with spot albedo measurements. The study represented a factorial experiment with respect to sites of measurement, the type of land use (peat vs. arable land) and time of sampling over both the seasonal and diurnal cycles. We show that: (a) That although mean annual temperature was not significantly different between arable and peatlands, the arable land showed a decreased amplitude to its seasonal cycle – this is the reverse of the expected pattern. (b) The albedo of the peatland was significantly lower than that of arable land showing that vegetated peatland still absorbed more solar radiation. (c) The specific humidity was lower on the peatland than on the surrounding arable land. The study showed that while shrubby vegetation exists over a peatland then energy budgets are more likely to be dominated by the lower aerodynamic resistance and lower albedo of the vegetated peatland relative to arable land. Thus, shrub‐dominated peatlands will not be a cold humid island in their landscape

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/hyp.13921

Are peatlands cool humid islands in a landscape

Previous articleNext article No AccessBook ReviewsFrom House Societies to States: Early Political Organization from Antiquity to the Middle Ages. Juan Carlos Moreno García, ed. Oxbow Books, 2022, 352 pp. £50.00, cloth. ISBN 9781789258622.Tim KohlerTim KohlerWashington State University, Santa Fe Institute, Crow Canyon Archaeological Center, University of Durham Search for more articles by this author PDFPDF PLUSFull Text Add to favoritesDownload CitationTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints Share onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmailPrint SectionsMoreDetailsFiguresReferencesCited by Journal of Anthropological Research Volume 79, Number 2Summer 2023 Article DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1086/724467 Views: 15Total views on this site For permission to reuse, please contact [email protected]PDF download Crossref reports no articles citing this article. 

:From House Societies to States: Early Political Organization from Antiquity to the Middle Ages

/pdf/are-peatlands-cool-humid-islands-in-a-landscape-1105uh8bmt.pdf

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The Impact of Peatland Restoration on Local Climate: Restoration of a Cool Humid Island

Local climate impacts from ongoing restoration of a peatland

Are peatlands cool humid islands in a landscape

:From House Societies to States: Early Political Organization from Antiquity to the Middle Ages

Are peatlands cool humid islands in a landscape