Monitoring

Prioritizing Climate Change Adaptation Needs for Food Security in 2030

BACKGROUND

Adaptation has shown to be one of the solutions to coping with the severe effects of climate change. Investments are being made to improve agricultural production in food insecure regions, in the face of climate change. Adaptation mechanisms to be used include the use of more costly measures and identifying climate risk hotspots.

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Money for Nothing? A Call for Empirical Evaluation of Biodiversity Conservation Investments

Background

The authors assert that while the ecological aspects of conservation efforts are highly investigated and supported by empirical evidence, the policy aspects are not. In response, they argue that conservation policy measures must adopt program evaluation methods that would allow one to determine if intervention would be viable. 

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A Guide to Selecting Ecosystem Service Models for Decision-Making: Lessons from Sub-Saharan Africa

Background

Ecosystem services provide critical resources that support human well-being; therefore, managing for them is vital. This report suggests that modeling may be an effective means of informing management when data is lacking, a problem that many developing countries experience.  

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A tree-based approach to biomass estimation from remote sensing data in a tropical agricultural landscape

Introduction

Due to increasing agricultural landcover throughout the world, it is critical to develop methods that estimate above ground biomass and carbon in order to accurately monitor terrestrial carbon stocks and predicting carbo dynamics. This paper claims that while active remote sensing data may be a means to achieve these estimates, the plot-based methods may not be suitable for these agricultural areas. Thus, the authors seek an alternative. 

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Genetic considerations in ecosystem restoration using native tree species

Introduction

With the rising interest on rehabilitation and restoration of forest landscapes to tackle climate change, there has been a renewed focus on the use of native species. Yet, the authors point out there is a lack of attention paid to genetic diversity among these trees along with their interactions, thus resulting in a failure to adequately assess the success of tree plantings. 

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Módulo 4: Practicando la restauración ecológica: el monitoreo y mantenimiento de áreas

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Antecedentes

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The biogeochemical heterogeneity of tropical forests

Background

This paper states that there has been a breadth of knowledge in relation to the biodiversity of tropical forests but limited about on the abiotic diversity, particularly biogeochemical effects. These later factors are becoming increasingly important to understand due to human perturbations in these forests. 

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IUCN Global Standard for Nature-based Solutions

BACKGROUND

This manual from the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) contains a framework for Nature-based Solutions (NbS) in terms of its verification, design and scaling up. It provides answers on key questions on NbS:  why there is a need for the standard, what does the standard do, who can use the standard, and how can the standard be used. More importantly, it highlights the importance of working with nature and its immense potential of addressing a plethora of societal changes through initiatives that “protect, manage, and restore the environment.”

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Insectos vs suelo: la importancia de elegir indicadores para el monitoreo de la restauración ecológica.

 

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Antecedentes

Amenazados por la degradación de suelos y la sobreexplotación de recursos naturales, los bosques andinos han sido objetos de mutiples proyectos e iniciativas de restauración forestal. Para ser exitosos, los proyectos de restauración deben incluir un plan de monitoreo comprensivo que evalúe indicadores relevantes y sensibles a cambios en el ecosistema. La selección de estos indicadores de monitoreo debe ser juiciosa y hecha en función a los objetivos de la restauración.

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Leverage points for improving global food security and the environment

BACKGROUND

Meeting global food demands is still a challenge, yet agriculture has been one of the main driving forces of greenhouse gas emissions. Hence, this study focused on identifying small regions, actions that can be taken and crops with a potential of increasing global yields, with an efficient system of food delivery and reducing the negative impacts of agriculture on the environment.

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