Biodiversity and ecosystems

Biodiversity and ecosystems are foundational to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). They are explicitly recognized in SDG 14 (Life Below Water) and SDG 15 (Life on Land), which aim to conserve and sustainably use aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems. Biodiversity and healthy ecosystems also support SDG 2 (Zero Hunger) by providing the variety of life that underpins agricultural productivity. They contribute to SDG 6 (Clean Water and Sanitation) by providing essential water filtration services, and to SDG 3 (Good Health and Well-being) by regulating disease and offering potential sources for medical discoveries. Moreover, these biological resources play a significant role in climate change mitigation and adaptation, linking to SDG 13 (Climate Action). Hence, the protection of biodiversity and ecosystems is essential to achieving multiple SDGs.

Elsevier,

Reference Module in Earth Systems and Environmental Systems, Encyclopedia of the World's Biomes, 2020

This book chapter addresses SDGs 15, 12, and 11 by discussing the conservation of terrestrial, freshwater, and coastal/marine ecosystems, and how to identify global percent protection goals.
Elsevier,

Reference Module in Earth Systems and Environmental Systems, Encyclopedia of the World`s Biomes, 2020

This book chapter addresses goals 15, 13 and 11 by discussing how deserts are biodiverse places where life thrives in the extreme.
This book chapter advances SDGs 15 and 11 by looking at how island biogeography arose in the past and how it is now changing in the Anthropocene. Biogeography is determined by three processes: immigration, evolution, and extinction and in the Anthropocene, human impacts are increasingly more important to island biogeography.
This chapter advances SDG 6, 11, and 14 by providing avenues for the application of sustainable bio-based polymers in wastewater treatment and their role in removing pesticides, to support clean water, a healthy ecosystem, and sustainable consumption.
The destruction of natural habitats is causing loss of biodiversity and ecosystem services. Although a “zero deforestation” is targeted, agriculture expansion caused by increasing human population and per capita consumption might boost the destruction of natural habitats in the coming decades. Here, we estimated the current and future extinction crisis in terrestrial ecoregions caused by habitat destruction and related this pattern with the current conservation efforts.
Elsevier, Biological Conservation, Volume 246, June 2020
Elsevier, Biological Conservation, Volume 246, June 2020
Soil organic matter (OM) stratification and macro and micro fauna are both good indicators for the evaluation of soil ecological functioning, which is interrelated with nutrient cycles. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, responses of the degree of OM stratification with soil depth expressed as a ratio, and belowground biota to forest degradation and land cover changes have received little attention, particularly in northern Iran.
This study aimed to characterize endophytic bacteria associated with root-nodules of a wild legume (Genista cinerea: Fabaceae) growing in arid soils of Algeria. A total of ten non-symbiotic endophytic bacterial strains were isolated and identified using a combination of conventional and molecular approaches based on 16S rRNA gene sequencing. Moreover, growth variations of the isolates under different environmental conditions were examined using advanced statistical modeling techniques (Markov Chain Monte Carlo sampler for multivariate generalized linear mixed models-MCMCglmm).
Climate extremes are expected to become more commonplace and more severe, putting species and ecosystems at unprecedented risks. We recommend that rewilding programs can create conditions for ecosystems to endure and recover rapidly from climate extremes by incorporating ecosystem engineers of various body sizes and life forms.

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