Abstract Context The mountainous and seasonally variable landscapes of the Late Pleistocene period posed major challenges for hunter-gatherers, shaping their ecological strategies and demographic limits. In the central Iberian Peninsula, the landscape played a decisive role in shaping herbivore communities and human settlement patterns. While the Iberian Peninsula has a rich Paleolithic record, MIS 5 archaeological sites are scarce in its central region, which includes two plateaus and the Sistema Central mountain range. This area likely had unfavorable ecological conditions for human habitation during parts of the Pleistocene, so people were confined to valleys and localized ecological refuges. In this context, the upper valley of the Lozoya River in Madrid, Spain, is home to the Calvero de la Higuera sites, which provide evidence of Neanderthal occupation in a sub-Mediterranean highland environment; Objetives This study assesses how such a challenging landscape could sustain local Neanderthal populations through large prey resources; Methods Using species distribution models (SDMs) based on fossil occurrences and paleoclimatic data, we estimated the habitat favorability, population density, and biomass of nine large herbivorous mammals recorded at Cueva del Camino (Layer 05, ~ 90 ka); Results The SDMs revealed significant differences in habitat favorability among species, with Cervus elaphus exhibiting the greatest favorability and Rupicapra rupicapra the least. Incorporating habitat favorability into biomass estimates significantly reduced the potential presence of prey, highlighting the spatial limitations of upland ecosystems. Comparisons with modern ecosystems (e.g., Serengeti, Kruger and Hwange) suggest that the results are ecologically feasible; Conclusion Our estimates suggest that the upper valley of the Lozoya River had the potential ecological capacity to support between 14 and 33 Neanderthal individuals. This highlights the delicate ecological balance that may have enabled recurrent Neanderthal presence in the challenging upland environments of central Iberia.

Abstract Context Land Use and Land Cover (LULC) changes represent a major driver of global environmental transformation, posing significant threats to biodiversity and ecosystem services worldwide. Objectives We evaluated the effectiveness of the Natura 2000 Network (NN2000) considering an ecological approach based on ecoregions, over a 31-year period (1987–2018) within Castile and León region (Spain). Methods Using CORINE Land Cover data, we analyzed LULC dynamics across five ecoregions, comparing patterns within protected areas and their unprotected surrounding areas: 1) Eurosiberian-Mediterranean transition mountains; 2) Mediterranean mountains; 3) Mediterranean steppes and moorlands; 4) Mediterranean highlands; and 5) fluvial systems. Vulnerable zones to landscape transformation were identified, and dominant LULC transition trends were assessed temporally and spatially. Results The results reveal that the landscape dynamics within NN2000 were not driven solely by the presence of a protection designation compared to non-protected areas, but landscape dynamics were also strongly shaped by differences among ecoregions. Among the ecoregions, Mediterranean mountains and fluvial systems exhibited the highest alteration rates. Although NN2000 protections limited human alterations within protected areas, substantial changes also occurred in buffer zones, highlighting external pressures, mainly in Mediterranean steppes and moorlands. Dominant processes included natural forest regeneration in unprofitable areas and agricultural intensification in productive areas, particularly during 1987–2000. Conclusions We conclude that while NN2000 contributed to more sustainable landscape dynamics, the observed LULC changes underscore the need for adaptive management strategies that incorporate ecoregional perspectives to enhance the resilience and ecological functionality of protected landscapes.

Abstract Context Climate change is increasing the frequency and severity of droughts worldwide, with profound consequences for forest ecosystems. Although previous studies suggest that taller forests are more vulnerable during drought, their capacity to recover following drought remains poorly understood, creating substantial uncertainty for forest management. Objectives This study aimed to quantify how canopy height influences post-drought forest recovery at a regional scale. Methods We investigated evergreen broad-leaved forests in southwest China following a severe drought in 2010. We used the MODIS Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI) to derive forest recovery metrics, the Standardized Precipitation Evapotranspiration Index (SPEI) to classify drought severity, and a LiDAR-derived canopy height map. We then used linear regression and ANOVA to evaluate relationships between forest recovery and canopy height. Results Short-term (1 year) recovery increased with the intensity of the preceding drought. Under severe and extreme drought conditions, recovery increased significantly with canopy height ( p < 0.001). In contrast, long-term (3 years) recovery did not differ significantly among canopy height classes. Conclusions Our results indicated that although tall forests may experience greater drought impacts, they exhibit stronger short-term recovery, resulting in comparable long-term resilience across canopy-height classes. This size-dependent recovery dynamic is a previously underappreciated mechanism that should be incorporated into forest dynamics models and climate-adaptive management strategies.

Invasion by combustible exotic annual grasses and increased prevalence of extreme fire weather is causing shortened wildfire return intervals in drylands across the western United States. Seeding perennial vegetation and herbicide are used to “break” this exotic grass-fire cycle, but reburning often occurs in rapid succession. We asked how fuels, characterized as fire behavior fuel models (FBFMs), were affected by post-fire treatments. We also considered how the resulting landscape changes affected modeled probability of reburning under different weather scenarios. Treatment effects on FBFMs were determined by comparing plots that received a given treatment (drill seeding with perennial grasses, aerial shrub seeding, or herbicide spraying) during the ten years before monitoring to plots that had not received that treatment (n = 3777) across thirteen burned landscapes in the Great Basin, USA, using multinomial modeling. We used random forests models to map FBFMs in “true fuels” and the counterfactual “no treatment” (the hypothetical situation in which the landscape was not treated) scenarios and evaluated differences for three partially reburned landscapes. Reburn probability and fire size were simulated for each FBFM map using the fire-spread model FLAMMAP under five fire-weather scenarios. Grass fuel loading was greater where seedings occurred and less where herbicide was applied. The “true fuels” scenario resulted in slightly greater reburn probability under extreme fire weather conditions compared the counterfactual “no treatment” scenario. Treatments increased vegetation productivity, which increased fuel loadings and reburn probability under extreme fire weather. More detail in FBFMs and accounting for treatment effects on seasonal variation in fuel moisture may reveal greater benefits of the treatments in moderating reburn potential.

Wildfires generate large, spatially heterogeneous patches in boreal forests, providing a unique opportunity to investigate the spatial pattern of saproxylic beetle colonization. In this study, we analyzed spatial patterns of beetle assemblages within a 76,483 ha wildfire in northern Québec in 2005. Using a spatial modeling approach (Principal Coordinate of Neighboring Matrices, PCNM), we examined how beetle abundance patterns were structured at different spatial scales and whether these patterns were explained by plot-level variables, landscape-scale burn severity, or proximity to potential source habitats. Our results showed that most common saproxylic species exhibited significant spatial structure, primarily at a very large scale (> 2 km), with additional contributions from medium and small scales. These patterns were largely explained by environmental variables, particularly landscape-level attributes such as fire severity, rather than by distance to potential source habitats. While some mycophagous species showed reduced abundance with increasing distance from a recent (2002) burn, overall, distance to unburned or previously burned areas did not strongly constrain colonization. Our findings suggest that early post-fire beetle colonizers possess high dispersal capacities, allowing them to track suitable habitats across large distances. At a close proximity to suitable habitats, fine-scale environmental conditions, such as local fire severity and substrate characteristics, also played an important role, especially for xylophagous and predaceous species. These findings indicate that post-fire saproxylic beetle colonization is driven by a complex interplay of large-scale environmental heterogeneity and species-specific responses to fine-scale habitat features. Our study underscores the importance of incorporating broad spatial extents when studying post-fire colonization dynamics and highlights how spatial modeling can help disentangle the relative influence of environmental structure and dispersal processes.

Abstract Context Cavity-nesting Hymenoptera, including bees and wasps, provide essential ecosystem services such as pollination and biological control in agricultural landscapes. However, their populations are increasingly threatened by habitat loss, landscape simplification and agricultural intensification. As a result, conservation measures aimed at restoring semi-natural habitats and enhancing landscape heterogeneity have been widely implemented in agricultural regions, yet their effectiveness at the landscape scale remains insufficiently understood for cavity-nesting species. Objectives We examined how conservation context, semi-natural habitat cover and edge density affect occupancy, species richness, reproductive performance and parasitism of cavity-nesting Hymenoptera in an agriculturally dominated landscape. Methods In the Günz Valley (southern Germany), we deployed trap-nests at 16 extensively managed meadows using a paired design comparing sites embedded within landscapes dominated by conservation-managed habitats (core areas, CAs) with comparable nearby meadows in conventionally managed landscapes (non-core areas, non-CAs). We quantified the effects of conservation context, semi-natural habitat cover and edge density on Hymenoptera occupancy, bee and wasp species richness, reproductive performance of Osmia bicornis , and parasitism by Melittobia spp. Results Overall Hymenoptera occupancy did not differ between CAs and non-CAs but showed strong context dependency: occupancy increased with semi-natural habitat cover in non-CAs, whereas no relationship was detected within CAs. Wasp species richness was higher in CAs, while bee species richness did not differ between conservation contexts. Reproductive output of O. bicornis increased with semi-natural habitat cover across both contexts, and brood survival increased with edge density. Parasitism by Melittobia spp. increased with host availability and tended to be higher in non-CAs. Conclusions Semi-natural habitats and ecotones play key roles in supporting occupancy and reproductive performance of cavity-nesting Hymenoptera, particularly in intensively managed agricultural landscapes. Conservation clustering alone did not uniformly enhance bee responses but may buffer density-dependent parasitism. Effective conservation strategies should prioritise maintaining semi-natural habitats and structurally heterogeneous landscapes while considering trophic interactions that may influence reproductive success.

Biotic homogenization and differentiation are two possible outcomes of tropical forest fragmentation with ramifications for biodiversity conservation. The extent of either outcome may vary depending on spatial scale and heterogeneity of climate and habitats, but these relationships remain poorly understood for taxonomic, functional, and phylogenetic metrics of diversity. Our goal was to determine the extent to which fragmentation is associated with biotic homogenization and/or differentiation across multiple levels of diversity at landscape versus regional scales. We examined diversity and similarity of understory bird communities in northwestern Ecuador, an ecoregion characterized by climatic variation, habitat loss and fragmentation, and high levels of biodiversity and endemism. At the landscape level, fragmentation was associated with biotic differentiation of understory bird communities between formerly contiguous intact and fragmented humid forests. At the regional scale, we found taxonomic homogenization across climate zones and forest types: the bird community in the fragmented humid landscape was as similar to the nearby intact humid forest community (mean distance = 3.1 km) as it was to that of drier, seasonal intact forest 60 km away. Patterns of landscape-level differentiation and regional homogenization were present but substantially less pronounced for functional and phylogenetic diversity, indicating functional and phylogenetic redundancy despite turnover and abundance shifts among dominant species. Our results suggest fragmentation of tropical forest (associated with homogenization between humid and drier/seasonal forest) may have similar impacts on communities as climate drying, and while many species may be lost, fragmented communities may retain some functional and evolutionary resilience against environmental stressors.

Abstract Context Multifunctional urban nature areas conserve biodiversity while delivering cultural ecosystem services (ESs), yet intensive use can create conflicts between them. While most studies address trade-offs at broader landscape scales, less is known about perceptions at the meso-scale, where people directly experience them. Such perceptions are key for aligning conservation with public values. Objectives This study aims to examine how visitors perceive trade-offs and synergies among biodiversity, aesthetics, and recreation in a multifunctional wetland park. It further seeks to advance understanding of ES interactions by complementing scale perspectives and rethinking trade-offs through public perceptions. Methods Haizhu National Wetland Park, the public-accessible part of the Ramsar-listed Haizhu Wetlands in Guangzhou, China, was selected as a case study for its ecological value and intensive visitation. Visitor perceptions were assessed through discrete choice experiments, participatory mapping, and interviews. Results A biodiversity-sensitive subgroup (17%) benefits from biodiversity gains and is harmed by losses, while others are more sensitive to costs or aesthetics and may tolerate biodiversity decline if scenic quality is preserved. Scenarios expanding recreation while degrading both biodiversity and aesthetics consistently reduce welfare. Strong synergies between aesthetics and biodiversity or recreation suggest that aesthetics may act as a mediator, enabling improvements in aesthetics and biodiversity to sustain overall welfare without enhancing recreation at the expense of biodiversity. Conclusions The findings suggest that prioritising biodiversity-sensitive, aesthetically enriched habitats may yield greater welfare gains than enhancing all services equally and underscore the importance of incorporating heterogeneous human preferences regarding ES relationships into urban nature conservation.

Abstract Context Agricultural intensification leads to habitat loss and fragmentation, disrupting plant-pollinator interactions directly and indirectly, through changes in landscape configuration and altered land-use practices. This has detrimental consequences for the persistence of plants, pollinators, and the ecosystem services they provide. Objectives We investigated the drivers by which landscape and agricultural context (what crops are being grown) impact pollination services and the reproductive success of native plant species in remnant vegetation within an agricultural mosaic landscape. Specifically, we evaluate the direct and indirect effects of landscape fragmentation (remnant size and edge effect) and the crop type adjacent to natural remnants on bee communities and native plants’ seed production. Methods We combined bee community surveys with field pollination experiments on four native annual plant species in core and edge remnants in the York gum-Jam woodlands of SW Western Australia, an endangered ecosystem. For each remnant, we recorded remnant size, adjacent crop type (canola or wheat), and local community predictors (floral abundance, canopy cover, and organic ground cover). We assessed how landscape and local community predictors influence bee communities and reproductive success in our focal plant species, to evaluate variation in pollination services across highly fragmented and isolated vegetation remnants. Results Bee abundance was higher in remnants adjacent to canola than wheat. Native bee abundance decreased, however, from the core to the edge of remnants adjacent to canola (but not wheat), suggesting a possible pollinator dilution effect next to flowering canola fields. Canola directly and indirectly increased seed production of the focal plant species, mediated by changes in bee abundance. Species-specific responses at the local scale resulted in higher pollen limitation in areas with abundant floral resources and low bee abundance. Conclusions Adjacent crop type, position within remnants, and remnant size are all associated with variation in bee abundances and plant reproduction. At local scales, variation in floral abundances relates to pollination services. Our findings indicate that adjacent crop type, combined with the abundance of bees (generalist insect pollinators) in remnant vegetation, impacts the reproductive success of native plants persisting in remnants of an endangered annual plant system within an intensively managed agricultural landscape.