United Nations University Institute for Sustainability and Peace

Recent studies have shown that accounting for intraspecific trait variation (ITV) may better address major questions in community ecology. However, a general picture of the relative extent of ITV compared to interspecific trait variation in plant communities is still missing. Here, we conducted a meta-analysis of the relative extent of ITV within and among plant communities worldwide, using a data set encompassing 629 communities (plots) and 36 functional traits. Overall, ITV accounted for 25% of the total trait variation within communities and 32% of the total trait variation among communities on average. The relative extent of ITV tended to be greater for whole-plant (e.g. plant height) vs. organ-level traits and for leaf chemical (e.g. leaf N and P concentration) vs. leaf morphological (e.g. leaf area and thickness) traits. The relative amount of ITV decreased with increasing species richness and spatial extent, but did not vary with plant growth form or climate. These results highlight global patterns in the relative importance of ITV in plant communities, providing practical guidelines for when researchers should include ITV in trait-based community and ecosystem studies.

Recent studies have shown that accounting for intraspecific trait variation (ITV) may better address major questions in community ecology. However, a general picture of the relative extent of ITV compared to interspecific trait variation in plant communities is still missing. Here, we conducted a meta-analysis of the relative extent of ITV within and among plant communities worldwide, using a data set encompassing 629 communities (plots) and 36 functional traits. Overall, ITV accounted for 25% of the total trait variation within communities and 32% of the total trait variation among communities on average. The relative extent of ITV tended to be greater for whole-plant (e.g. plant height) vs. organ-level traits and for leaf chemical (e.g. leaf N and P concentration) vs. leaf morphological (e.g. leaf area and thickness) traits. The relative amount of ITV decreased with increasing species richness and spatial extent, but did not vary with plant growth form or climate. These results highlight global patterns in the relative importance of ITV in plant communities, providing practical guidelines for when researchers should include ITV in trait-based community and ecosystem studies.

Waterborne human enteric viruses, such as noroviruses and adenoviruses, are excreted in the feces of infected individuals and transmitted via the fecal-oral route including contaminated food and water. Since viruses are normally present at low concentrations in aquatic environments, they should be concentrated into smaller volumes prior to downstream molecular biological applications, such as quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR). This review describes recent progress made in the development of concentration and detection methods of human enteric viruses in water, and discusses their applications for providing a better understanding of the prevalence of the viruses in various types of water worldwide. Maximum concentrations of human enteric viruses in water that have been reported in previous studies are summarized to assess viral abundances in aquatic environments. Some descriptions are also available on recent applications of sequencing analyses used to determine the genetic diversity of viral genomes in water samples, including those of novel viruses. Furthermore, the importance and significance of utilizing appropriate process controls during viral analyses are discussed, and three types of process controls are considered: whole process controls, molecular process controls, and (reverse transcription (RT)-)qPCR controls. Although no standards have been established for acceptable values of virus recovery and/or extraction-(RT-)qPCR efficiency, use of at least one of these appropriate control types is highly recommended for more accurate interpretation of observed data. • Recent progress on research regarding waterborne human enteric viruses is summarized. • Methods for concentrating and detecting viruses in water are described. • Existing data on abundance and genetic diversity of viruses in water are compiled. • The characteristics of three types of process controls are introduced. • The inclusion of process control(s) is recommended for better data interpretation.

Members of the ABC (for ATP binding cassette) superfamily of integral membrane transporters function in cellular detoxification, cell-to-cell signaling, and channel regulation. More recently, members of the multidrug resistance P-glycoprotein (MDR/PGP) subfamily of ABC transporters have been shown to function in the transport of the phytohormone auxin in both monocots and dicots. Here, we report that the Arabidopsis thaliana MDR/PGP PGP4 functions in the basipetal redirection of auxin from the root tip. Reporter gene studies showed that PGP4 was strongly expressed in root cap and epidermal cells. PGP4 exhibits apolar plasma membrane localization in the root cap and polar localization in tissues above. Root gravitropic bending and elongation as well as lateral root formation were reduced in pgp4 mutants compared with the wild type. pgp4 exhibited reduced basipetal auxin transport in roots and a small decrease in shoot-to-root transport consistent with a partial loss of the redirective auxin sink in the root. Seedlings overexpressing PGP4 exhibited increased shoot-to-root auxin transport. Heterologous expression of PGP4 in mammalian cells resulted in 1-N-naphthylthalamic acid-reversible net uptake of [3H]indole-3-acetic acid. These results indicate that PGP4 functions primarily in the uptake of redirected or newly synthesized auxin in epidermal root cells.

The Earth System Governance project is a global research alliance that explores novel, effective governance mechanisms to cope with the current transitions in the biogeochemical systems of the planet. A decade after its inception, this article offers an overview of the project's new research framework (which is built upon a review of existing earth system governance research), the goal of which is to continue to stimulate a pluralistic, vibrant and relevant research community. This framework is composed of contextual conditions (transformations, inequality, Anthropocene and diversity), which capture what is being observed empirically, and five sets of research lenses (architecture and agency, democracy and power, justice and allocation, anticipation and imagination, and adaptiveness and reflexivity). Ultimately the goal is to guide and inspire the systematic study of how societies prepare for accelerated climate change and wider earth system change, as well as policy responses.

Abstract Fresh water—the bloodstream of the biosphere—is at the center of the planetary drama of the Anthropocene. Water fluxes and stores regulate the Earth's climate and are essential for thriving aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems, as well as water, food, and energy security. But the water cycle is also being modified by humans at an unprecedented scale and rate. A holistic understanding of freshwater's role for Earth system resilience and the detection and monitoring of anthropogenic water cycle modifications across scales is urgent, yet existing methods and frameworks are not well suited for this. In this paper we highlight four core Earth system functions of water (hydroclimatic regulation, hydroecological regulation, storage, and transport) and key related processes. Building on systems and resilience theory, we review the evidence of regional‐scale regime shifts and disruptions of the Earth system functions of water. We then propose a framework for detecting, monitoring, and establishing safe limits to water cycle modifications and identify four possible spatially explicit methods for their quantification. In sum, this paper presents an ambitious scientific and policy grand challenge that could substantially improve our understanding of the role of water in the Earth system and cross‐scale management of water cycle modifications that would be a complementary approach to existing water management tools.

Abstract The satoyama landscape is a traditional Japanese rural land‐use system that represents a balanced relationship between human beings and nature, thereby sustaining a variety of ecosystem services, including the diversity of secondary natural environments. Overuse of the satoyama, as occurred during the Edo and early Meiji periods, as well as underuse as seen in the wake of the fuel and fertilizer revolutions of the 1960s, destroy this balance and hence the sustainability of this system. The Satoyama Initiative is an effort to rebuild a healthy relationship between nature and people who respect the traditional knowledge embodied in the satoyama system, and to explore new shared management systems (“new” commons) in which various actors, including corporations, participate in working toward the combined goals of a low‐carbon, resource‐circulating, nature‐harmonious society. In the interests of furthering cooperation with developing nations, it is important that this initiative pay heed to the need for improved agricultural, forestry, and livestock industry productivity that harmonizes with the natural environment, and to the improvement of human well‐being and the reduction of poverty.

Implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) requires localization and multi-stakeholder partnerships, and local governments have the best potential to act as intermediaries to facilitate partnerships. This study examines how local governments have facilitated partnerships for the SDGs, especially partnerships with private sectors. It focuses on how local governments conducted their intermediary roles from the perspective of sustainable transitions and analyzes Japanese cases. The results of our analysis provide the following suggestions for local governments to enhance their intermediary roles to facilitate partnerships for the SDGs. First, the SDGs should be recognized as a driver of sustainable transitions. Second, there needs a balance in terms of the level of the public sector's involvement in partnerships, so that local governments can maximize the benefits of informal networks in relation to SDG localization. Third, new intermediaries can be created by local governments. The findings of this study contribute to the growing body of literature on SDG localization and partnerships by identifying possible roles and suggestions that local governments can adopt as transition intermediaries.

Multidrug and toxic compound extrusion (MATE) transporters are a family of cation antiporters occurring in most organisms from prokaryotes to eukaryotes. This family constitutes one of the largest transporter families in plants, with, for example, more than 50 MATE genes in the Arabidopsis genome. Moreover, MATE transporters are involved in a wide variety of physiological functions throughout plant development, transporting a broad range of substrates such as organic acids, plant hormones and secondary metabolites. This review categorizes plant MATE transporters according to their physiological roles and summarizes their tissue specificity, membrane localization, and transport substrates. We also review the molecular evolutionary development of plant MATE transporters.

Nature contributes substantially to human well-being through its diverse material and nonmaterial contributions. However, despite the growing literature on the nonmaterial dimensions of human-nature relations, we lack a systematic understanding of how they are linked with human well-being. Here, we use the concept of cultural ecosystem services (CESs) as a lens to explore this interface. Through a systematic review of the peer-reviewed literature, we elicit the unique pathways and mechanisms linking individual CESs and constituents of human well-being, as well as their relative effects. Subsequently, we identify their complex interactions through latent class analysis and multiple correspondence analysis, which delineate five major assemblages that reflect synergies and trade-offs at the interface of CESs and human well-being. We critically discuss key research trends and gaps and propose directions for future research and practice to leverage the potential of the nonmaterial contributions of nature for human well-being and sustainability more broadly.

This study assessed flood inundation of the Ciliwung River Basin, Greater Jakarta to improve the urban water environment under climate change and unplanned urbanisation. The 1‐day maximum precipitation data for 50‐ and 100‐year return period under current and future climate conditions were used to assess the impact of climate change. Precipitation output of the MRI‐CGCM3, MIROC5, and HadGEM2‐ES General Circulation Models (GCMs) with RCP 4.5 and 8.5 emission scenario over periods 1985–2004 and 2020–2039 representing current and future climate conditions, respectively, were used. Similarly, land use data of 2009 and 2030 were used to represent the current and future conditions, respectively. The HEC‐HMS model was used to simulate the river discharge at Katulampa, which represents the outlet location for the hydrologic modelling and the inlet location for the flood inundation modelling. FLO‐2D, a two‐dimensional hydrodynamic model, was used to simulate current and future flood inundation simulations. Increasing flood inundation areas and depths (6% to 31% for different GCMs) in the future reveal the need to improve flood management tools for the sustainable development of urban water environments.

Lithospermum erythrorhizon cell cultures have been used to produce plant secondary metabolites, as well as in biosynthetic studies. Shikonin, a representative secondary metabolite of L. erythrorhizon, was first produced industrially by dedifferentiated cell cultures in the 1980s. This culture system has since been used in research on various plant secondary metabolites. Other boraginaceaeous plant species, including Arnebia, Echium, Onosma and Alkanna, have been shown to produce shikonin, and studies have assessed shikonin regulation, including transgene expression, in these plants. This review summarizes current knowledge of shikonin production by L. erythrorhizon cell and hairy root cultures, including the historical aspect of large-scale production, and discusses future biochemical and biological research using this species.

Major impacts include greenhouse gas emissions, atmospheric pollution, water overconsumption and pollution, deforestation, biodiversity loss, rural development, food security, energy security, public health, and social conflicts.

Abstract Indigenous ecological knowledge (IEK) can contribute to the management of local ecosystems and landscapes. Cultural landscapes are produced by and reflect the long‐term interactions between humans and nature in indigenous societies. Yunnan Province, located in southwestern China, is the homeland of many ethnic groups, and is also a refuge for numerous species of wild plants and animals. Indigenous people in Yunnan, who have rich ecological knowledge, play an important role in the conservation of local biodiversity and the region's unique terraced agricultural landscapes. We used the Hani people and their outstanding cultural landscape of rice terraces in Yuanyang County of Yunnan Province as a case study to describe their worldview and discuss their formation of IEK; their roles in the preservation of rice landraces and in pest regulation; their management of water, forest, and soil resources; and the vertical landscape pattern and resource‐circulation system that has evolved in the areas managed by the Hani. We also discuss the challenges and threats facing the Hani, their IEK, and their cultural landscape, as well as discuss the potential for integration of the Hani's IEK with modern conservation efforts.

The hydrological stream flow modeling is applied by the Soil for Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) model in the Xedone River basin, covering an area of 7,224.61 km2, in the southern part of Laos. The main objective of this research is to test the performance and feasibility of the SWAT model for predicting stream flow in the river basin. The model is calibrated and validated for two periods: 1993-2000 and 2001-2008, respectively, by using the SUFI-2 technique in this analysis. The SUFI-2 gives good results with the high value of R2 and NSE larger than 0.70 respectively, for daily simulation. Monthly simulation results during calibration and validation are also good with R2> 0.80 and NSE > 0.80. The sensitivity analysis results of the model to each sub-basin delineation and hydrological response unit (HRU) in this basin are 230 HRUs in the whole basin. For uncertainty results, the 95% prediction uncertainty (95PPU) brackets very well with the observed discharge. All of sources uncertainty results are captured by bracketing value, higher than 65% of the observed river discharge. All of the results in this study are important to water discharge. The calibrated model can be used for further analysis of the effects of the climate and land use change, water quality analysis and sediment yield analysis; furthermore, the modelling can be applied for planning dam construction in the future and flood disaster risk management and thereby is useful for the sustainable development of the country.

The interactions between conflict and local development has puzzled scholars and practitioners alike. This article explores why the advent of peace in Colombia’s emerald-mining regions for the past few years, as well as a broader national peace process, has not delivered the expected development dividends among mining communities. We contrast differences in stakeholders’ perceptions between levels of governance (local, regional and national). Based on the research, we conclude that while stakeholder collaboration is successful at the regional and national levels of governance, it fails at the local level. While peace has allowed an increase in mainstream business investment in mining, this has concentrated production in a few hands leading to a deterioration in many aspects of community livelihoods and wealth distribution. There has been a shift in the concentration of wealth and production from traditional elites to large companies. Communities noted a loss of collective assets and lack of community and institutional capacity to overcome pressing issues in a post-conflict market economy that favors those who control capital and technology. Based on an evaluation of community perceptions through a focus group methodology, this study recommends ways to prepare and better coordinate stakeholders to engage with complex relationships, and protect community assets in a collaborative governance scenario. This research suggests that political reconciliation processes amid complex resource geographies require greater devolution and community engagement on post-conflict economic development during the peace process itself.

Abstract To achieve the sustainable development goals (SDGs), all countries’ efforts are essential, and each country needs to recognize their level of achievement in terms of the SDGs, identify the goals and targets that require more effort, and build more effective and well-performed governance systems to accelerate their efforts toward achieving the SDGs. This study identifies different governance system structures for achieving the SDGs and the challenges they face in improving their performance using a new matrix tool to evaluate governance systems for the SDGs. We use Japan and Indonesia as case studies to provide perspectives from countries at different levels of economic development. The results show that the governance systems for the SDGs are structurally and functionally different in the two countries, which face different challenges. Japan has relatively well-structured “vision and objective setting”, “research and assessment”, and “strategy development”, but faces challenges in relation to “implementation” and “monitoring, evaluation, and review”, while Indonesia has relatively well-structured “research and assessment”, “strategy development”, and “monitoring, evaluation, and review.” However, Indonesia faces challenges in relation to “vision and objective setting” and “implementation.” We found that the differences in the governance systems for the SDGs have arisen in relation to three key elements: differences in the development of governance systems for the SDGs, differences in the lead ministries, and the existence or otherwise of a supportive legal framework. We argue that the proposed matrix tool is useful in identifying the structure of governance systems for the SDGs and the challenges that must be overcome to improve the performance of these systems. However, some analytical limitations must be overcome before the tool can be applied to other countries.

Perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) is a persistent, bioaccumulative, and toxic chemical that has the potential for long-range transport in the environment. Its use in a wide variety of consumer products and industrial processes makes a detailed characterization of its emissions sources very challenging. These varied emissions sources all contribute to PFOS' existence within nearly all environmental media. Currently, China is the only country documented to still be producing PFOS, though there is no China PFOS emission inventory available. This study reviews the inventory methodologies for PFOS in other countries to suggest a China-specific methodology framework for a PFOS emission inventory. The suggested framework combines unknowns for PFOS-containing product penetration into the Chinese market with product lifecycle assumptions, centralizing these diverse sources into municipal sewage treatment plants. Releases from industrial sources can be quantified separately using another set of emission factors. Industrial sources likely to be relevant to the Chinese environment are identified.

The rapid increase of the prevalence of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) suggests that exposure to chemicals may impact the development of ASD. Therefore, we reviewed literature on the following chemicals, nutrient to investigate their association with ASD: (1) smoke/tobacco, (2) alcohol, (3) air pollution, (4) pesticides, (5) endocrine-disrupting chemicals, (6) heavy metals, (7) micronutrients, (8) fatty acid, and (9) parental obesity as a proxy of accumulation of specific chemicals or nutritional status. Several chemical exposures such as air pollution (e.g., particular matter 2.5), pesticides, bisphenol A, phthalates, mercury, and nutrition deficiency such as folic acid, vitamin D, or fatty acid may possibly be associated with an increased risk of ASD, whereas other traditional risk factors such as smoking/tobacco, alcohol, or polychlorinated biphenyls are less likely to be associated with ASD. Further research is needed to accumulate evidence on the association between chemical exposure and nutrient deficiencies and ASD in various doses and populations.

Flavonoids, one of the most-described group of plant “specialized metabolites”, consist of more than 10,000 structurally diverse compounds. Most flavonoids accumulate in plant vacuoles as glycosides, with some released by the roots into rhizospheres. These flavonoids are involved in biological communications with rhizobia, arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi, plant growth promoting rhizobacteria, pathogens, nematodes, and other plant species. Both aglycones and glycosides of flavonoids are found in root exudates and in soils. This review describes researches on the mechanisms of flavonoid secretion and the fate of flavonoids released into rhizospheres. This review also discusses the direction of future research that may elucidate the specific roles of flavonoids in biological communications in rhizospheres, enabling the utilization of flavonoid activities and functions in agricultural practice.