International audience | Over the last few decades, much emphasis has been put on using biomass and other renewable resources for energy production. In a context of increasing human population, global biodiversity decline and rapid climate change, expanding land clearance for bioenergy crop cultivation raises many concerns about the competition for agricultural land use between food, feed, and fibre production. Expanding land for bioenergy therefore challenges the sustainability of agricultural systems as well as its environmental impact. Several studies have attempted to quantify these impacts of land use change (LUC), however they do not take into account the causal chain from “the drivers of LUC to the impact assessment” which is required to understand the underlying mechanism.The work is part of a global project assessing the impact of LUC toward bioenergy crops cultivation considering the causal chain. Here, we review studies assessing how land-use shifts towards bioenergy crops impact biodiversity. The review first reveals that very few studies have assessed biodiversity by considering the whole causal chain. Despite this, a general consensus emerges on a negative impact on biodiversity of bioenergy crops cultivation. This study also points out the diversity of metrics used to assess biodiversity, from species richness to proxies such as habitat quality. Overall, this review suggests that a sounder quantification of the effect of LUC toward bioenergy crops cultivation could be obtained by using more accurate metrics both for biodiversity (i.e. coupling taxonomic and functional diversity indices, and selecting relevant taxa) and the characterization of the environment (i.e. landscape configuration and composition, and the integration of management practices).

Land use and land cover (LULC) change causes biodiversity decline through loss, alteration, and fragmentation of habitats. There are uncertainties on how LULC will change in the future and the effect of such change on biodiversity. In this paper we applied the Land Change Modeler (LCM) and Integrated Valuation of Ecosystem Services and Tradeoffs (InVEST) Scenario Generator tool to develop three spatially explicit LULC future scenarios from 2015 to 2030 in the Pulang Pisau district of Central Kalimantan, Indonesia. The district is experiencing a rapid loss of biodiversity as a result of unprecedented LULC changes. Further, we used the InVEST Habitat Quality model to map habitat quality as a proxy to biodiversity in each of the scenarios. We find habitat quality decline is largest in a scenario where past trends of LULC change continue, followed by a scenario with planned agricultural expansion. Alternately, a conservation-oriented scenario results in significant improvements in habitat quality for biodiversity. This information can support in developing appropriate land use policy for biodiversity conservation in Indonesia.

Biological invasions and changes in land use are two components of global change affecting biodiversity worldwide. Both contemporary and historic land use may influence the spread of invasive plants by altering landscape patterns, soils, and biotic communities. Indeed, invasion within land uses is often associated with the historical legacy of changes in land use. Like in most West African regions, Togodo Protected Area (TPA) and its peripheries experienced notable land use change over the past few decades. These changes led to the spread of many invasive plants that threaten the biodiversity of the TPA and are chores for local farmers. How- ever, despite the legacy of current and past land uses on plant invasion success, few studies have investigated the mechanisms triggering invasion credit and, in Togo, plant invasion ecology has not yet gained enough attention. In this study, we investigated the influence of the current and historic land uses on the diversity of invasive plants in and around TPA. Firstly, we defined land use change trajectories using land use maps performed from Landsat images acquired in 1974, 1986, and 2003 and from Sentinel 2 image acquired in 2016. Secondly, we conducted botanic surveys in the different land use types and, 198 quadrats of 50 x 50 m were laid to make an inventory of all plant species.

Biological invasions and changes in land use are two components of global change affecting biodiversity worldwide. Both contemporary and historic land use may influence the spread of invasive plants by altering landscape patterns, soils, and biotic communities. Indeed, invasion within land uses is often associated with the historical legacy of changes in land use. Like in most West African regions, Togodo Protected Area (TPA) and its peripheries experienced notable land use change over the past few decades. These changes led to the spread of many invasive plants that threaten the biodiversity of the TPA and are chores for local farmers. How- ever, despite the legacy of current and past land uses on plant invasion success, few studies have investigated the mechanisms triggering invasion credit and, in Togo, plant invasion ecology has not yet gained enough attention. In this study, we investigated the influence of the current and historic land uses on the diversity of invasive plants in and around TPA. Firstly, we defined land use change trajectories using land use maps performed from Landsat images acquired in 1974, 1986, and 2003 and from Sentinel 2 image acquired in 2016. Secondly, we conducted botanic surveys in the different land use types and, 198 quadrats of 50 x 50 m were laid to make an inventory of all plant species.

Land‐use change is known to affect biodiversity, and there is increasing concern regarding how these changes may impact the provision of ecosystem services. Although functional composition (diversity and identity) could influence ecosystem properties and services at the community level, there is little quantitative understanding of these relationships in the field. Here, we evaluate the direct and indirect effects (through ecosystem properties) of biodiversity on the provision of multiple ecosystem services in native mixed forest in north‐west Patagonia, and how land‐use intensity influences these relationships. We used structural equation modelling to test hypotheses regarding the relationship between understorey plant functional composition, two ecosystem properties, four ecosystem services and silvopastoral use intensity (SUI). We also evaluated two alternative models to assess the mechanism behind biodiversity and ecosystem properties relationships (biomass ratio and niche complementarity). Finally, we performed pairwise correlations to identify synergies and trade‐offs between ecosystem services. SUI affected functional composition, and the provision of three out of four ecosystem services was indirectly affected by land‐use intensity through changes in ecosystem properties. We found that this indirect effect of biodiversity on ecosystem services happens mainly through changes in functional identity rather than functional diversity. Under increasing land‐use intensity, functional composition changed towards a community characterized by a resource acquisition strategy. Trade‐offs between ecosystem services (provisioning vs. regulating) were enhanced under high SUI, while synergies where enhanced under low SUI (provisioning vs. cultural). Thus, although the strength of these relationships varied between SUI, its nature (trade‐off or synergy) stayed the same. Our results expand on previous studies by simultaneously considering the effect of land‐use intensification directly on functional composition and on the ecosystem processes underpinning ecosystem services, as well as on the relationship among them. We provide evidence of an indirect effect of land‐use intensification on multiple ecosystem services through biodiversity. Moreover, we found that functional identity is more important than diversity for ecosystem functionality. Land‐use intensification affects biodiversity, and thus, ecosystem properties, but does not change the relationship among ecosystem services. | Fil: Chillo, María Verónica. Universidad Nacional de Río Negro. Sede Andina. Instituto de Investigaciones en Recursos Naturales, Agroecología y Desarrollo Rural; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina | Fil: Vazquez, Diego P.. Albert Ludwigs University Of Freiburg; Alemania. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mendoza. Instituto Argentino de Investigaciones de las Zonas Áridas. Provincia de Mendoza. Instituto Argentino de Investigaciones de las Zonas Áridas. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Instituto Argentino de Investigaciones de las Zonas Áridas; Argentina | Fil: Amoroso, Mariano Martin. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Río Negro. Sede Andina. Instituto de Investigaciones en Recursos Naturales, Agroecología y Desarrollo Rural; Argentina | Fil: Bennett, Elena M.. McGill University; Canadá

Human use of the land (for agriculture and settlements) has a substantial negative effect on biodiversity globally. However, not all species are adversely affected by land use, and indeed, some benefit from the creation of novel habitat. Geographically rare species may be more negatively affected by land use than widespread species, but data limitations have so far prevented global multi-clade assessments of land-use effects on narrow-ranged and widespread species. We analyse a large, global database to show consistent differences in assemblage composition. Compared with natural habitat, assemblages in disturbed habitats have more widespread species on average, especially in urban areas and the tropics. All else being equal, this result means that human land use is homogenizing assemblage composition across space. Disturbed habitats show both reduced abundances of narrow-ranged species and increased abundances of widespread species. Our results are very important for biodiversity conservation because narrow-ranged species are typically at higher risk of extinction than widespread species. Furthermore, the shift to more widespread species may also affect ecosystem functioning by reducing both the contribution of rare species and the diversity of species' responses to environmental changes among local assemblages.