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Coastal wetland resilience through local, regional and global conservation

Coastal wetlands, including tidal marshes, mangrove forests and tidal flats, support the livelihoods of millions of people. Understanding the resilience of coastal wetlands to the increasing number and intensity of anthropogenic threats (such as habitat conversion, pollution, fishing and climate change) can inform what conservation actions will be effective. In this Review, we synthesize anthropogenic threats to coastal wetlands and their resilience through the lens of scale. Over decades and centuries, anthropogenic threats have unfolded across local, regional and global scales, reducing both the extent and quality of coastal wetlands. The resilience of existing coastal wetlands is driven by their quality, which is modulated by both physical conditions (such as sediment supply) and ecological conditions (such as species interactions operating from local through to global scales). Protection and restoration efforts, however, are often localized and focus on the extent of coastal wetlands. The future of coastal wetlands will depend on an improved understanding of their resilience, and on society’s actions to enhance both their extent and quality across different scales.

Achieving at-scale seascape restoration by optimising cross-habitat facilitative processes

Cross-habitat facilitative processes can enhance seascape restoration outcomes but there is uncertainty around the spatial dependencies of these processes across habitats. We synthesised the influence of environmental parameters on six processes underpinning cross-habitat facilitation and identified the linear distances over which they operate between habitats. All six process types occur at distances commonly used in seascape restoration demonstrating how harnessing facilitation can scale-up restoration to meet national and international goals.

Spatial evolution of traditional waterside settlements south of the Yangtze River and the distribution of settlement heritage: evidence from the Nanxi River Basin

The study of ancient settlements in the traditional waterside towns of Jiangnan is an important part of scientific research on architectural heritage. This study examines ancient settlements in the Nanxi River Basin during various historical periods, such as the Neolithic Age, Eastern Han Dynasty, Tang-Five Dynasty, Song-Yuan Dynasty, Ming Dynasty, and Qing Dynasty. It investigates their temporal and spatial evolution and the factors that influence their distribution, with a particular focus on the role of intangible cultural heritage. This study focuses on the relationship between the spatial evolution of traditional waterside settlements in the Nanxi River Basin and the distribution of intangible heritage and analyzes the driving factors of their development. How settlements changed over time and space was examined with geographic information systems (GIS) software and by using kernel density, elliptical variance, and spatial autocorrelation methods on 204 ancient settlement points. This study also employs buffer and data overlay methods to analyze the factors that affect settlement distribution by elevation, slope, water system distance, and distance to intangible cultural heritage points. The study reveals the following. (1) During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, clans, culture, and the economy drove the expansion of early settlements, which relied on water systems and flat terrain, to form a multicenter distribution. (2) The settlement distribution in the Nanxi River Basin has undergone a transformation from single-point distribution to multipoint aggregation and divergence during the evolution from the Neolithic Age to the Qing Dynasty. The overall center of gravity of the settlements shifts from south to north and east, and the overall distribution of the settlements is in a state of aggregation. (3) The spatial and temporal evolution of settlements is jointly influenced by the natural environment and cultural factors. The natural environment determines the spatial distribution of early settlements, while cultural factors promote the evolution and development of the settlement space. This study further clarifies the key role of intangible cultural heritage in the formation and development of settlements and provides a reference framework for future heritage protection policies.

Protein signatures predict coral resilience and survival to thermal bleaching events

Coral bleaching events from thermal stress are increasing globally in duration, frequency, and intensity. While bleaching can cause mortality, some corals survive, reacquire symbionts, and recover. We experimentally bleached Montipora capitata to examine molecular and physiological differences between corals that recover (resilient) and those that die (susceptible). Corals were collected and monitored for eight months post-bleaching to identify genets with long-term resilience. Using an integrated systems-biology approach that included quantitative proteomics, 16S rRNA sequencing to characterize the coral microbiome, total coral lipids, symbiont community composition and density, we explored molecular-level mechanisms of tolerance in corals pre- and post-bleaching. Prior to thermal stress, resilient corals have a more diverse microbiome and abundant proteins essential for carbon acquisition, symbiont retention, and pathogen resistance. Protein signatures of susceptible corals showed early symbiont rejection and utilized urea for carbon and nitrogen. Our results reveal molecular factors for surviving bleaching events and identify diagnostic protein biomarkers for reef management and restoration.

Integrating the multiple perspectives of people and nature in place-based marine spatial planning

Marine spatial planning (MSP) has emerged as a tool to enable marine ecosystem-based management that seeks to balance human demands for ocean space with environmental protection. However, there is a history of thinking about our ocean systems as spaces, not places. As a result, most MSPs have been implemented without consideration of place. The relationship between people and the rest of nature is at the core of the UN SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals). Due to significant knowledge gaps in sociocultural connections, people and their place-based perspectives and needs are often overlooked in the MSP process. New approaches are required to equip societies with information to inform sustainable ocean planning relevant to environmental change and the local sociocultural context. We encourage the inclusion of a distinct place-based characteristic in MSP and argue that bringing in the concepts of space and place from the discipline of geography can enable a broader view of the seascape in MSP. Here, we provide five core considerations of place-based MSP that include: (1) sense of place; (2) social-ecological systems; (3) ocean and human health; (4) multiple ways of knowing; and (5) social knowledge. We review available methods and suggest a multi-evidence-based approach that can highlight dynamic eco-cultural connections between people and the biophysical patterns and processes of interlinked landscapes and seascapes. Moving towards place-based MSP can help to solve three important issues in the current context of global socio-environmental transformations. First, these key concepts are relevant for interdisciplinary science, as solving problems raised by MSP requires more than superimposing spatial layers of scientific knowledge. Second, marine planning and management is less efficient if policies are not integrated and if issues are addressed by each individual sector rather than in a holistic manner. Third, a place-based approach accounts for individual and collective values and may open new ways to solve governance issues. A shift from understanding and managing ocean spaces to including ocean places can support progress towards sustainable and equitable MSP goals.

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