Articles

What are the local impacts of energy systems on marine ecosystem services: a systematic map protocol

Increasing concentrations of atmospheric greenhouse gases (GHG) and its impact on the climate has resulted in many international governments committing to reduce their GHG emissions. The UK, for example, has c...

Authors: Eleni Papathanasopoulou, Ana M Queirós, Nicola Beaumont, Tara Hooper and Joana Nunes

The impact of land use and cover change on above and below-ground carbon stocks of the miombo woodlands since the 1950s: a systematic review protocol

Increasingly, forests are on the international climate change agenda as land use and cover changes drive forest and carbon loss. The ability of forests to store carbon has created programs such as Reducing Emi...

Authors: Stephen Syampungani, Jessica Clendenning, Davison Gumbo, Robert Nasi, Kaala Moombe, Paxie Chirwa, Natasha Ribeiro, Isla Grundy, Nalukui Matakala, Christopher Martius, Moka Kaliwile, Gillian Kabwe and Gillian Petrokofsky

What are the socio-economic impacts of genetically modified crops worldwide? A systematic map protocol

Genetically modified (GM) crops have generated a great deal of controversy. Since commercially introduced to farmers in 1996, the global area cultivated with GM crops has increased 94-fold. The rapid adoption ...

Authors: Jaqueline Garcia-Yi, Tiptunya Lapikanonth, Hanum Vionita, Hanh Vu, Shuang Yang, Yating Zhong, Yifei Li, Veronika Nagelschneider, Birgid Schlindwein and Justus Wesseler

Investigating the effects of mobile bottom fishing on benthic biota: a systematic review protocol

Mobile bottom fishing, such as trawling and dredging, is the most widespread direct human impact on marine benthic systems. Knowledge of the impacts of different gear types on different habitats, the species m...

Authors: Kathryn M Hughes, Michel J Kaiser, Simon Jennings, Robert A McConnaughey, Roland Pitcher, Ray Hilborn, Ricardo O Amoroso, Jeremy Collie, Jan Geert Hiddink, Ana M Parma and Adriaan Rijnsdorp

What is the impact of active management on biodiversity in forests set aside for conservation or restoration? A systematic review protocol

The traditional approach to limiting impacts of forestry on biodiversity is to set aside forest areas of particular conservation interest, either as formally protected reserves or on a voluntary basis. Many se...

Authors: Claes Bernes, Bengt Gunnar Jonsson, Kaisa Junninen, Asko Lõhmus, Ellen Macdonald, Jörg Müller and Jennie Sandström

What are the impacts of urban agriculture programs on food security in low and middle-income countries: a systematic review

Urban Agriculture is considered to contribute to improved food security among the income poor in urban contexts across developing countries. Much literature exists on the topic assuming a positive relationship...

Authors: Marcel Korth, Ruth Stewart, Laurenz Langer, Nolizwe Madinga, Natalie Rebelo Da Silva, Hazel Zaranyika, Carina van Rooyen and Thea de Wet

What are the health and well-being impacts of community gardening for adults and children: a mixed method systematic review protocol

Community gardening is defined by its shared nature; gardeners work collectively to manage a garden for shared benefit. Although communal gardening activities, and recognition of their perceived benefits have ...

Authors: Rebecca Lovell, Kerryn Husk, Alison Bethel and Ruth Garside

What are the environmental impacts of property rights regimes in forests, fisheries and rangelands? a systematic review protocol

Property rights to natural resources comprise a major policy instrument for those seeking to advance sustainable resource use and conservation. Despite decades of policy experimentation and empirical research,...

Authors: Maria Ojanen, Daniel C Miller, Wen Zhou, Baruani Mshale, Esther Mwangi and Gillian Petrokofsky

Quality assessment tools for evidence from environmental science

Assessment of the quality of studies is a critical component of evidence syntheses such as systematic reviews (SRs) that are used to inform policy decisions. To reduce the potential for reviewer bias, and to e...

Authors: Gary S Bilotta, Alice M Milner and Ian L Boyd

Updating reviews: commitments and opportunities

Authors: Andrew S Pullin

Evidence on the environmental impacts of farm land abandonment in high altitude/mountain regions: a systematic map

Many ecosystems have developed in the presence of agriculture and cessation of management resulting from land abandonment can have significant ecological impacts. Around 56 percent of the utilised agricultural...

Authors: Neal R Haddaway, David Styles and Andrew S Pullin

What are the impacts of nature conservation interventions on human well-being: a systematic map protocol

International policy has sought to emphasize and strengthen the link between the conservation of natural ecosystems and human development. Furthermore, international conservation organizations have broadened t...

Authors: Madeleine Bottrill, Samantha Cheng, Ruth Garside, Supin Wongbusarakum, Dilys Roe, Margaret B Holland, Janet Edmond and Will R Turner

To what extent does the presence of forests and trees contribute to food production in humid and dry forest landscapes?: a systematic review protocol

An increasing evidence base is improving our understanding of how forests and trees provide important ecosystem services to agriculture. However, the specific functions and contributions forests and trees make...

Authors: Samson Foli, James Reed, Jessica Clendenning, Gillian Petrokofsky, Christine Padoch and Terry Sunderland

What is the evidence on the inheritance of resistance alleles in populations of lepidopteran/coleopteran maize pest species: a systematic map protocol

Lepidopteran and coleopteran species are the most important insect pests in maize. These pests can be controlled by the cultivation of genetically modified crops expressing insecticidal Bt-proteins. The long term...

Authors: Achim Gathmann and Kai U Priesnitz

How susceptible are different lepidopteran/coleopteran maize pests to Bt-proteins: a systematic review protocol

Lepidopteran and coleopteran species are the most important pests in maize. They can be controlled using genetically modified crops expressing insecticidal Bt-proteins. The long term success of this technology de...

Authors: Achim Gathmann and Kai U Priesnitz

Are soil microbial endpoints changed by Bt crops compared with conventional crops? A systematic review protocol

Bt crops have raised environmental concerns over consequences for sustainability of soil biodiversity and ecosystems services in agricultural land. As Bt crops contain insecticidal proteins potential interaction...

Authors: Kaloyan Kostov, Paul Henning Krogh, Christian Frølund Damgaard, Jeremy B Sweet and Niels Bohse Hendriksen

Are population abundances and biomasses of soil invertebrates changed by Bt crops compared with conventional crops? A systematic review protocol

Bt crops modified by inserting and expressing the Cry toxin from Bacillus thuringiensis have raised environmental concerns over consequences for sustainability of soil biodiversity and ecosystems services in agr...

Authors: Kaloyan Kostov, Christian Frølund Damgaard, Niels Bohse Hendriksen, Jeremy B Sweet and Paul Henning Krogh

Does structural connectivity facilitate movement of native species in Australia’s fragmented landscapes?: a systematic review protocol

Habitat fragmentation and accompanying isolation effects are among the biggest threats to global biodiversity. The goal of restoring connectivity to offset these threats has gained even greater urgency under t...

Authors: Erik D Doerr, Veronica AJ Doerr, Micah J Davies and Heather M McGinness

What are the effects of the cultivation of GM herbicide tolerant crops on botanical diversity? A systematic review protocol

There are concerns that the cultivation of genetically modified herbicide tolerant (GMHT) crops treated with broad spectrum herbicides will cause declines in botanical diversity and hence loss of biodiversity....

Authors: Jeremy Sweet and Kaloyan Kostov

Does the growing of Bt maize change abundance or ecological function of non-target animals compared to the growing of non-GM maize? A systematic review protocol

Since 1996, genetically modified (GM) crops have been grown on an ever increasing area worldwide. Maize producing a Cry protein from the bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) was among the first GM crops released...

Authors: Michael Meissle, Steven E Naranjo, Christian Kohl, Judith Riedel and Jörg Romeis

Are alternative livelihood projects effective at reducing local threats to specified elements of biodiversity and/or improving or maintaining the conservation status of those elements?: a systematic review protocol

Alternative livelihood projects are used by a variety of organisations as a tool for achieving conservation results. Yet these interventions, including their objectives, vary a great deal, and there is no sing...

Authors: Dilys Roe, Mike Day, Francesca Booker, Wen Zhou, Sophie Allebone-Webb, Noëlle Kümpel, Nicholas A O Hill, Juliet Wright, Niki Rust, Terry CH Sunderland, Kent Redford and Gillian Petrokofsky

Evaluating effects of land management on greenhouse gas fluxes and carbon balances in boreo-temperate lowland peatland systems

Peatlands cover 2 to 5 percent of the global land area, while storing between 30 and 50 percent of all global soil carbon (C). Peatlands constitute a substantial sink of atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO₂) via photo...

Authors: Neal R Haddaway, Annette Burden, Chris D Evans, John R Healey, Davey L Jones, Sarah E Dalrymple and Andrew S Pullin

Systematic review of effects on biodiversity from oil palm production

During the past decade there has been a growing interest in bioenergy, driven by concerns about global climate change, growing energy demand, and depleting fossil fuel reserves. The predicted rise in biofuel d...

Authors: Sini Savilaakso, Claude Garcia, John Garcia-Ulloa, Jaboury Ghazoul, Martha Groom, Manuel R Guariguata, Yves Laumonier, Robert Nasi, Gillian Petrokofsky, Jake Snaddon and Michal Zrust

Which components or attributes of biodiversity influence which dimensions of poverty?

There is an explicit assumption in international policy statements that biodiversity can help in efforts to tackle global poverty. This systematic map was stimulated by an interest in better understanding the ...

Authors: Dilys Roe, Max Fancourt, Chris Sandbrook, Mxolisi Sibanda, Alessandra Giuliani and Andrew Gordon-Maclean

What are the effects of agricultural management on soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks?

Changes in soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks significantly influence the atmospheric C concentration. Agricultural management practices that increase SOC stocks thus may have profound effects on climate mitigat...

Authors: Bo Söderström, Katarina Hedlund, Louise E Jackson, Thomas Kätterer, Emanuele Lugato, Ingrid K Thomsen and Helene Bracht Jørgensen

What are the non-food impacts of GM crop cultivation on farmers’ health?

With a steady increase in the area cultivated with genetically modified (GM) crops, the impacts of GM crop cultivation are coming under closer scrutiny around the world. The impacts on humans usually refer to ...

Authors: Monica Racovita, Dennis Ndolo Obonyo, Wendy Craig and Decio Ripandelli

Time to build capacity for evidence synthesis in environmental management

Authors: Andrew S Pullin and Teri Knight

Do mangrove forest restoration or rehabilitation activities return biodiversity to pre-impact levels?

Mangrove forest restoration and rehabilitation programs are increasingly undertaken to re-establish ecosystem services in the context of community-based biodiversity conservation. Restoration is returning a ha...

Authors: Dominic A Andradi-Brown, Caroline Howe, Georgina M Mace and Andrew T Knight

Human well-being impacts of terrestrial protected areas

Establishing Protected Areas (PAs) is among the most common conservation interventions. Protecting areas from the threats posed by human activity will by definition inhibit some human actions. However, adverse...

Authors: Andrew S Pullin, Mukdarut Bangpan, Sarah Dalrymple, Kelly Dickson, Neal R Haddaway, John R Healey, Hanan Hauari, Neal Hockley, Julia P G Jones, Teri Knight, Carol Vigurs and Sandy Oliver

Environmental impacts of farm land abandonment in high altitude/mountain regions: a systematic map of the evidence

Environmental impacts of farm land abandonment can be viewed as either an opportunity for ecological restoration to a state prior to agricultural establishment, or as the loss of an on-going process of land ma...

Authors: Neal R Haddaway, David Styles and Andrew S Pullin

Does production of oil palm, soybean, or jatropha change biodiversity and ecosystem functions in tropical forests

Biofuels, or fuels derived from transformation of biological matter, are hailed by some as a promising source of renewable energy potentially reducing greenhouse gas emissions. A widespread adoption of biofuel...

Authors: Sini Savilaakso, Yves Laumonier, Manuel R Guariguata and Robert Nasi

How effective are created or restored freshwater wetlands for nitrogen and phosphorus removal? A systematic review protocol

Eutrophication of aquatic environments is a major environmental problem in large parts of the world. In Europe, EU legislation (the Water Framework Directive and the Marine Strategy Framework Directive), inter...

Authors: Magnus Land, Wilhelm Granéli, Anders Grimvall, Carl Christian Hoffmann, William J Mitsch, Karin S Tonderski and Jos TA Verhoeven

What is the impact of kelp forest density and/or area on fisheries?

Kelp forests are highly productive ecosystem engineers of rocky cold-water marine coastlines, providing shelter, habitat and food for a variety of associated organisms. Several factors have been related with a...

Authors: Rita M Araujo, Inka Bartsch, Trine Bekkby, Karim Erzini and Isbel Sousa-Pinto

Does the effectiveness of forest protected areas differ conditionally on their type of governance?

In context of protected areas (PAs), governance can be defined as a set of processes, procedures, resources, institutions and actors that determine how decisions are made and implemented. Current governance mo...

Authors: Biljana Macura, Laura Secco and Andrew S Pullin

A systematic review of phenotypic responses to between-population outbreeding

The translocation of plants or animals between populations has been used in conservation to reinforce populations of threatened species, and may be used in the future to buffer species’ ranges from the anticip...

Authors: Raj Whitlock, Gavin B Stewart, Simon J Goodman, Stuart B Piertney, Roger K Butlin, Andrew S Pullin and Terry Burke

Erratum to: a systematic map protocol: which components or attributes of biodiversity affect which dimensions of poverty?

Authors: Dilys Roe, Chris Sandbrook, Max Fancourt, Björn Schulte-Herbrüggen, Robert Munroe and Mxolisi Sibanda

Are interventions to reduce the impact of arsenic contamination of groundwater on human health in developing countries effective? A systematic review

Within developing countries, groundwater provides an alternative drinking source to polluted surface water. However, the presence of arsenic in some groundwater sources has resulted in chronic worldwide poison...

Authors: Tracey Jones-Hughes, Jaime Peters, Rebecca Whear, Chris Cooper, Hywel Evans, Michael Depledge and Mark Pearson

Floodplain management in temperate regions: is multifunctionality enhancing biodiversity?

Floodplains are among the most diverse, dynamic, productive and populated but also the most threatened ecosystems on Earth. Threats are mainly related to human activities that alter the landscape and disrupt f...

Authors: Stefan Schindler, Michaela Kropik, Katrin Euller, Stuart W Bunting, Christiane Schulz-Zunkel, Anna Hermann, Christa Hainz-Renetzeder, Robert Kanka, Volker Mauerhofer, Viktor Gasso, Andreas Krug, Sophie G Lauwaars, Klaus Peter Zulka, Klaus Henle, Maurice Hoffmann, Marianna Biró…

What is the influence on water quality in temperate eutrophic lakes of a reduction of planktivorous and benthivorous fish? A systematic review protocol

In lakes that have become eutrophic due to sewage discharges or nutrient runoff from land, problems such as algal blooms and oxygen deficiency often persist even when nutrient supplies have been reduced. One r...

Authors: Claes Bernes, Stephen R Carpenter, Anna Gårdmark, Per Larsson, Lennart Persson, Christian Skov and Ellen Van Donk

A systematic map protocol: which components or attributes of biodiversity affect which dimensions of poverty?

The assumption that biodiversity and ecosystem services can help in efforts to tackle poverty is implicit in international targets set for biodiversity conservation (by the Convention on Biological Diversity) ...

Authors: Dilys Roe, Chris Sandbrook, Max Fancourt, Bjorn Schulte, Robert Munroe and Mxolisi Sibanda

What are the impacts of urban agriculture programs on food security in low and middle-income countries?

Issues of food security and nutrition have wide reaching implications for people and their environments, particularly in low and middle-income countries. One proposed solution is urban agriculture, which has b...

Authors: Ruth Stewart, Marcel Korth, Laurenz Langer, Shannon Rafferty, Natalie Rebelo Da Silva and Carina van Rooyen

What are the impacts of reindeer/caribou (Rangifer tarandus L.) on arctic and alpine vegetation? A systematic review protocol

Reindeer and caribou (both belonging to the species Rangifer tarandus L.) are among the most important large herbivores in Eurasia’s and North America’s arctic, alpine and boreal zones. In Sweden, the impact of r...

Authors: Claes Bernes, Kari Anne Bråthen, Bruce C Forbes, Annika Hofgaard, Jon Moen and James DM Speed

What is the evidence that invasive species are a significant contributor to the decline or loss of threatened species? A systematic review map

Invasive species have been reported as one of the leading causes of species extinction. However, the evidence to support or contest their effects on the decline and/or extinction of threatened species has been...

Authors: Philip D Roberts, Hilda Diaz-Soltero, David J Hemming, Martin J Parr, Nicola H Wakefield and Holly J Wright

Evaluating the biological effectiveness of fully and partially protected marine areas

Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) encompass a range of protection levels, from fully protected no-take areas to restriction of only particular activities, gear types, user groups, target species or extraction peri...

Authors: Marija Sciberras, Stuart R Jenkins, Michel J Kaiser, Stephen J Hawkins and Andrew S Pullin

Does land abandonment decrease species richness and abundance of plants and animals in Mediterranean pastures, arable lands and permanent croplands?

Obscured by the more prevalent discussion of intensification and expansion of agricultural land, the impacts of the abandonment of many grasslands and croplands of the world in recent decades have received lim...

Authors: Tobias Plieninger, Mirijam Gaertner, Cang Hui and Lynn Huntsinger

Assessing community-based conservation projects: A systematic review and multilevel analysis of attitudinal, behavioral, ecological, and economic outcomes

Community-based conservation (CBC) promotes the idea that long-term conservation success requires engaging with, and providing benefits for local communities. Though widespread, CBC projects are not always suc...

Authors: Jeremy Brooks, Kerry Ann Waylen and Monique Borgerhoff Mulder

How effective are reedbeds, ponds, restored and constructed wetlands at retaining nitrogen, phosphorus and suspended sediment from agricultural pollution in England?

A high priority topic within the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) water quality programme is the mitigation of diffuse rural pollution from agriculture. Wetlands are often cited as be...

Authors: Elizabeth J Palmer-Felgate, Mike C Acreman, Jos TA Verhoeven, Miklas Scholz, Edward Maltby, Charlie J Stratford, Jonathan Newman, James Miller and Deborah Coughlin

Science informing Policy – a health warning for the environment

Authors: Andrew S Pullin and Teri M Knight

Will environmental flows increase the abundance of native riparian vegetation on lowland rivers? A systematic review protocol

The extraction of water and alteration of flow regimes by humans have profound negative effects on river ecosystems. Returning water as “environmental flows” is a primary method for restoration, but evidence l...

Authors: Kimberly A Miller, J Angus Webb, Siobhan C de Little and Michael J Stewardson

Review of the evidence base for ecosystem-based approaches for adaptation to climate change

Ecosystem-based approaches for adaptation (EbA) integrate the use of biodiversity and ecosystem services into an overall strategy for helping people adapt to climate change. To date, insight into these approac...

Authors: Robert Munroe, Dilys Roe, Nathalie Doswald, Tom Spencer, Iris Möller, Bhaskar Vira, Hannah Reid, Andreas Kontoleon, Alessandra Giuliani, Ivan Castelli and Jen Stephens