Global models of biodiversity and ecosystem services base their calculations on land use classifications, where agricultural land is only divided into a few categories of management intensity. These land use classifications were not developed to underpin biodiversity models. This is why crop diversity and the presence of non-crop plants or livestock in agricultural land are not considered in these classifications, despite the effect they have on agrobiodiversity and the supply of ecosystem services. Therefore, the use of these classifications in models results in neglecting current diversified agricultural systems and the effect of diversification practices on biodiversity and ecosystem services. In this paper, we present a new global classification of agricultural land management systems organized as a matrix of diversity and intensity ranges. The classification is based on a literature review and expert interviews and is illustrated by examples of agricultural systems around the world. This classification is a first step to build land use and land cover maps that consider diversified agricultural systems, which could then be used by global biodiversity and ecosystem services models. The matrix structure of the classification makes it flexible and adjustable to use for different purposes, such as exploring the potential of preserving biodiversity in agricultural land through land-use scenarios or assessing trade-offs between intensity and diversity.

Globaali luonnon monimuotoisuus vähenee hälyttävällä vauhdilla, johtuen pääosin teollisten prosessien kestämättömästä tasosta. Maankäytön muutos ja metsäkato ovat keskeisiä maaekosysteemeissä tapahtuvan luontokadon ajureita globaalisti sekä Suomessa. Maankäytön aiheuttama luontokato on negatiivinen ulkoisvaikutus, joka johtuu monimuotoisuuden puutteellisesta hinnoittelusta päätöksenteossa. Ekologinen kompensaatio on yksi keino luontokadon arvon sisällyttämiseen maankäyttöön liittyvään päätöksentekoon. Velvoittavaa sääntelyä on jo kymmenissä maissa, minkä lisäksi kompensaatiota tehdään vapaaehtoisesti. Ekologinen kompensaatio on sisällytetty luonnonsuojelulakiin (09/2023) ja vapaaehtoista kompensaatiomarkkinaa kehitetään myös Suomessa. Ekologinen kompensaatio toteuttaa ’aiheuttaja maksaa’ -periaatetta, velvoittaen luontokadon aiheuttaneen yrityksen vastaamaan haitan ennallistamisen kustannuksista. Kompensointi pyrkii edistämään lieventämishierarkian, eli välttävien ja lieventävien toimenpiteiden toteuttamista, samanaikaisesti kuin se mahdollistaa tarpeellisen rakentamisen. Yrityksille vapaaehtoinen kompensaatio tuo hyötyä maineen ja riskienhallinnan kautta, sekä mahdollistaa globaalien tavoitteiden mukaisen kokonaisheikentymättömyyden tavoittelemisen. Tutkimus hyödynsi paikkatietoaineistoja teollisen maankäytön muutoksen aiheuttaman luontokadon arvioimiseen Suomessa vuosina 2019–2023. Tutkimus totesi, että luontokatoa tapahtui jopa luonnon monimuotoisuuden kannalta arvokkaimmissa metsissä. Tutkimus analysoi kompensoimisen kustannustehokkuutta verrattuna luontokadon välttämiseen vaihtoehtoisen paikanvalinnan kautta, ja totesi että merkittävä osa luontokadosta olisi ollut kannattavampaa välttää, kuin kompensoida. Kannustimissa oli kuitenkin merkittäviä eroja alueellisesti. Luontokadon välttäminen oli yleisesti kannattavampaa mitä arvokkaampaa luonnon monimuotoisuus, sekä mitä alhaisempi oli maan arvo. Kompensoinnin kustannuksilla ja toteutustavoilla oli merkittävä vaikutus kannustimiin, ja joillakin alueilla sekä kompensaation että välttämisen kustannukset muodostuivat merkittäviksi, mahdollisesti heikentäen kokonaisheikentymättömyyden tavoittelun kannustimia. Jatkotutkimustarpeet korostavat tarkemman toimiala-analyysin arvoa suurimpien maankäytön muutoksen kautta luontokatoon vaikuttavien toimialojen selvittämiseksi, sekä yritysten päätöksentekoon liittyvien tekijöiden tarkempaan tarkasteluun. | Global biodiversity is declining at an alarming rate, mainly due to unsustainable levels of industrial processes. Land use change is one of the main drivers of terrestrial biodiversity loss, and through deforestation it is also an important contributor to biodiversity loss in Finland. Biodiversity loss is considered as a negative externality, caused by inadequate land pricing that fails to internalize the value biodiversity creates through ecosystem services it supports. Biodiversity offsets constitute one method for pricing biodiversity loss in land use decisions. Mandatory offset policies have been introduced in large number of countries, while offsets are also used on a voluntary basis. Voluntary offset market is being developed also in Finland after the introduction of biodiversity offsets (‘ecological compensation’) in the Finnish Nature Conservation Act. Biodiversity offsets implement the ‘polluter pays’ principle and impose the cost of restoring at least an equal value of biodiversity, to the developer causing the harm. Offsetting aims to incentivize further implementation of the ‘mitigation hierarchy’, i.e., avoidance and reduction of the biodiversity loss, while allowing necessary development to occur. Voluntary offsetting creates benefits for developers through reputation and risk management and provides means to aim for ‘no net loss’ (NNL) of biodiversity – in line with global and national targets. The study used GIS data to estimate the biodiversity loss caused by industrial development in Finland during 2019–2023 and the costs of offsetting or avoiding the loss with alternative site selection to reach NNL. The study found that biodiversity loss from industrial land use change occurred even in the forests with the highest value for biodiversity conservation, while a considerable share of the loss would have been more cost-efficient to avoid than offset. Regional variation in the incentives were large and avoidance was generally incentivized the more valuable the biodiversity, and the lower the pressure on land use in the region. The costs and methods for offsetting the losses had considerable impacts on the economic incentives, whereas in some regions the costs of both alternatives would have been considerable and potentially disincentivized voluntary measures to reach NNL. Further research would be necessary to understand the factors influencing the decision-making of developers in the land use markets and to assess the importance of specific industries and activities on biodiversity loss caused by industrial land use change.

The main causes of habitat conversion, degradation, and fragmentation—all of which add to the loss in biodiversity—are human activities, such as urbanization and farmland reclamation. In order to inform scientific land management and biodiversity conservation strategies and, therefore, advance sustainable development, it is imperative to evaluate the effects of land-use changes on biodiversity, especially in areas with high biodiversity. Using data from five future land-use scenarios under various Shared Socioeconomic Pathways (SSPs) and Representative Concentration Pathways (RCPs), this study systematically assesses the characteristics of land-use and landscape pattern changes in southwest China by 2050. This study builds a comprehensive biodiversity index and forecasts trends in species richness and habitat quality using models like Fragstats and InVEST to evaluate the overall effects of future land-use changes on biodiversity. The research yielded the subsequent conclusions: (1) Grasslands and woods will continue to be the primary land uses in southwest China in the future. But the amount of grassland is expected to decrease by 11,521 to 102,832 km², and the amounts of wasteland and urban area are expected to increase by 8130 to 16,293 km² and 4028 to 19,677 km², respectively. Furthermore, it is anticipated that metropolitan areas will see an increase in landscape fragmentation and shape complexity, whereas forests and wastelands will see a decrease in these aspects. (2) In southwest China, there is a synergistic relationship between species richness and habitat quality, and both are still at relatively high levels. In terms of species richness and habitat quality, the percentage of regions categorized as outstanding and good range from 71.63% to 74.33% and 70.13% to 75.83%, respectively. The environmental circumstances for species survival and habitat quality are expected to worsen in comparison to 2020, notwithstanding these high levels. Western Sichuan, southern Guizhou, and western Yunnan are home to most of the high-habitat-quality and species-richness areas, while the western plateau is home to the majority of the lower scoring areas. (3) The majority of areas (89.84% to 94.29%) are forecast to undergo little change in the spatial distribution of biodiversity in southwest China, and the general quality of the ecological environment is predicted to stay favorable. Except in the SSP1-RCP2.6 scenario, however, it is expected that the region with declining biodiversity will exceed those with increasing biodiversity. In comparison to 2020, there is a projected decline of 1.0562% to 5.2491% in the comprehensive biodiversity index. These results underscore the major obstacles to the conservation of biodiversity in the area, highlighting the need to fortify macro-level land-use management, put into practice efficient regional conservation plans, and incorporate traditional knowledge in order to save biodiversity.

International audience | Identifying themain threats to soil biodiversity is crucial as soils harbor 60% of global biodiversity. Many previous meta-analyses investigating the impact of different global changes (GCs) on biodiversity have omitted soil fauna or are limited by the GCs studied. We conducted a broad-scale meta-analysis focused on soil fauna communities, analyzing 3,161 effect sizes from 624 publications studying climate change, land-use intensification, pollution, nutrient enrichment, invasive species and habitat fragmentation. Land-use intensification resulted in large reductions in soil fauna communities, especially for the largerbodied groups. Unexpectedly, pollution caused the largest negative impact on soil biodiversity – particularly worrying due to continually increasing levels of pollution and poor mechanistic understanding of impacts relative to other GCs. Not all GCs and stressors were detrimental; organic-based nutrient enrichment often resulted in positive responses. Including soil biodiversity in large-scale analyses is vital to fully understand the impact of GCs across the different realms.

Identifying the main threats to soil biodiversity is crucial as soils harbor ∼60% of global biodiversity. Many previous meta-analyses investigating the impact of different global changes (GCs) on biodiversity have omitted soil fauna or are limited by the GCs studied. We conducted a broad-scale meta-analysis focused on soil fauna communities, analyzing 3,161 effect sizes from 624 publications studying climate change, land-use intensification, pollution, nutrient enrichment, invasive species and habitat fragmentation. Land-use intensification resulted in large reductions in soil fauna communities, especially for the larger-bodied groups. Unexpectedly, pollution caused the largest negative impact on soil biodiversity - particularly worrying due to continually increasing levels of pollution and poor mechanistic understanding of impacts relative to other GCs. Not all GCs and stressors were detrimental; organic-based nutrient enrichment often resulted in positive responses. Including soil biodiversity in large-scale analyses is vital to fully understand the impact of GCs across the different realms.

Based on an extensive model intercomparison, we assessed trends in biodiversity and ecosystem services from historical reconstructions and future scenarios of land-use and climate change. During the 20th century, biodiversity declined globally by 2 to 11%, as estimated by a range of indicators. Provisioning ecosystem services increased several fold, and regulating services decreased moderately. Going forward, policies toward sustainability have the potential to slow biodiversity loss resulting from land-use change and the demand for provisioning services while reducing or reversing declines in regulating services. However, negative impacts on biodiversity due to climate change appear poised to increase, particularly in the higher-emissions scenarios. Our assessment identifies remaining modeling uncertainties but also robustly shows that renewed policy efforts are needed to meet the goals of the Convention on Biological Diversity.

Most of Europe’s semi-natural grasslands have been maintained by land use for thousands of years. Consequently, as a side effect of this type of land use, high grassland biodiversity was able to develop in those areas. Today, due to changes in land use, only fragments of the native grasslands and their biodiversity, especially in wetlands, remain. We conducted a study on changes in land use and the conservation context of a species-rich Hungarian fen meadow over 250 years. In addition to the main changes, we focused on sustainable grassland management. For our research, we built a geospatial database in which we attached great importance to georeferenced aerial photographs taken decades ago. To better understand what we can see in aerial photographs, we studied archived newspaper articles and conducted interviews. An aerial photograph taken in 1963 served as an exceptional illustration and data source for the key factors of sustainability and biodiversity. Our case study illustrates most of the major global problems affecting the European fen meadow (drainage, agricultural intensification, expansion of infrastructure networks, abandonment of farming). Based on our research, mosaic, adaptive, small-scale landscape use is necessary for the long-term sustainability of European wet grasslands and their special wildlife.

Recent anthropogenic activities have escalated human exploitation of riparian zones of river ecosystems, consequently diminishing aquatic biodiversity. This intensification of land use is also causing water quality degradation and changes in water environmental factors, evidenced by increased nutrient levels and adversely impacting the community structure and diversity of aquatic organisms. Notably, the Weihe River Basin, the largest tributary of the Yellow River, has demonstrated signs of significant anthropogenic pressure. Despite this, comprehensive investigations examining the effects of land-use intensity on aquatic organism diversity in this watershed remain limited. In this study, the environmental impacts and macroinvertebrate diversity under high-intensity and low-intensity land-use scenarios within the Weihe River Basin were investigated through field surveys conducted during the spring and autumn seasons. Our results demonstrated that areas under high-intensity land use exhibited elevated nutrient concentrations (e.g., total nitrogen) compared to those under low-intensity land use. These environmental changes significantly influenced the macroinvertebrate community structure, reducing functional and phylogenetic diversities in high-intensity land-use watersheds. Hydrological factors (water depth, river width, and discharge) have a significant impact on macroinvertebrate taxonomic diversity. Thus, understanding the effects of land-use intensity on aquatic biodiversity is essential for ecological assessments of impacted watersheds and developing management strategies for the sustainable use and planning of riparian lands in the Weihe River Basin.

1. Local and landscape diversity loss, habitat fragmentation and land-use changes commonly co-occur and impair ecosystem multifunctionality, yet they are often studied in isolation. Therefore, we ignore the relative importance of these drivers of ecosystem change or whether or not they interact to determine ecosystem functioning. 2. We measured how changes in local (plant richness) and landscape (different land uses) diversity, land use (orchards, shrubland, pine, oak and mixed forests) and habitat sise, and their interactions, affected the functioning of Mediterranean ecosystems. At 49 plots, we measured 17 above- and below-ground functions, related to nutrient cycling, carbon sequestration and biotic interactions. Additionally, we generated different combinations of plots to compose artificial landscapes where multifunctionality and biodiversity conservation can be maximised, in order to aid land managers to preserve or design functional and diverse areas. 3. The relative importance of local and landscape attributes varied slightly depending on the target function, yet land use was by far the strongest predictor of most functions and multifunctionality above local plant biodiversity, habitat sise or landscape diversity. Oak and mixed forest were the most multifunctional land uses but were functionally wcomplemented by other land uses that maximised some individual functions. 4. The relative proportion of each land use within optimal landscapes varied if the target was biodiversity conservation (with an even dominance of land uses), carbon stocks or multifunctionality (highly dominated by native oak and mixed forests). 5. Synthesis and applications: Our results highlight the importance of remnant native forest to provide multiple ecosystem functions and the potential to restore them and complement these uses with sustainable agriculture. By merging landscape and ecosystem approaches we provide specific numbers regarding the proportion that each land use should have in order to maximise biodiversity conservation and/or functioning in these charismatic environments. | This research is funded by the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities (project FOBIASS; RTI2018-098895-A-100). Miguel Berdugo acknowledges support by a Ramón y Cajal grant (RYC2021-031797-I) from Spanish Ministry of Science.

Abstract 1. Coastal areas are at the centre of human–nature relationship, shaped by recreation, tourism and aesthetic values. However, socioeconomic drivers of biodiversity change in coastal areas have received less attention. 2. Soft sediment seafloors support diverse species communities and contribute to ecosystem functionality. One of the main threats is dredging, which sweeps resi dent organisms. Dredgings are commonly done to deepen waterways, but also for the purposes of private housing. The ecological impacts of these small-sized dredg ings are not well known over broad environmental and geographical gradients. 3. We developed a simple approach for spatial integration of ecological and socio economic system, to describe how recreational land use change contributes to the loss of marine biodiversity. It shows how human behaviour, such as prefer ence for a location of second home, can be derived from spatial data and coupled with ecological change. 4. We characterize typical locations of second homes based on accessibility, aes thetics and environment, and with the information identified suitable areas for new second homes. We also quantified typical areas of dredging, based on the depth and substrate of the sea floor, and the extent of the reed beds, influenc ing the access to properties. We then simulate an annual increase of new sec ond homes and expected land-use change, namely dredging of shores. Finally, we quantified the realized and projected loss of marine biodiversity from dredged sites, based on species distribution models, relying on extensive ecological data collected from over 170,000 underwater sites. 5. We found that small-sized dredging can be detrimental to coastal biodiversity, as dredging targets shallow, photic bays and lagoons, with diverse algal and aquatic plant communities, with limited recovery potential. Dredgings also had broad impacts on benthic faunal habitats, which maintain ecosystem processes and functions. Our results reveal a significant ecological change driven by recreational land use. 6. Reversing the trend of biodiversity loss requires a holistic understanding of socio ecological systems. Our results highlight the need for integrating land–sea inter actions into conservation policies and reforming current land-use regulation for the benefit of marine biodiversity.