ORCID Profile
0000-0002-7273-6549
Current Organisation
The Nature Conservancy
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Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 09-12-2019
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 12-2018
Publisher: Springer Netherlands
Date: 2013
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 27-06-2021
DOI: 10.1111/NYAS.14651
Abstract: Spatial prioritization is a critical step in conservation planning, a process designed to ensure that limited resources are applied in ways that deliver the highest possible returns for bio ersity and human wellbeing. In practice, many spatial prioritizations fall short of their potential by focusing on places rather than actions, and by using data of snapshots of assets or threats rather than estimated impacts. We introduce spatial action mapping as an approach that overcomes these shortfalls. This approach produces a spatially explicit view of where and how much a given conservation action is likely to contribute to achieving stated conservation goals. Through seven case ex les, we demonstrate simple to complex versions of how this method can be applied across local to global scales to inform decisions about a wide range of conservation actions and benefits. Spatial action mapping can support major improvements in efficient use of conservation resources and will reach its full potential as the quality of environmental, social, and economic datasets converge and conservation impact evaluations improve.
Publisher: Cambridge University Press (CUP)
Date: 2021
DOI: 10.1017/SUS.2021.2
Abstract: We summarize some of the past year's most important findings within climate change-related research. New research has improved our understanding of Earth's sensitivity to carbon dioxide, finds that permafrost thaw could release more carbon emissions than expected and that the uptake of carbon in tropical ecosystems is weakening. Adverse impacts on human society include increasing water shortages and impacts on mental health. Options for solutions emerge from rethinking economic models, rights-based litigation, strengthened governance systems and a new social contract. The disruption caused by COVID-19 could be seized as an opportunity for positive change, directing economic stimulus towards sustainable investments. A synthesis is made of ten fields within climate science where there have been significant advances since mid-2019, through an expert elicitation process with broad disciplinary scope. Findings include: (1) a better understanding of equilibrium climate sensitivity (2) abrupt thaw as an accelerator of carbon release from permafrost (3) changes to global and regional land carbon sinks (4) impacts of climate change on water crises, including equity perspectives (5) adverse effects on mental health from climate change (6) immediate effects on climate of the COVID-19 pandemic and requirements for recovery packages to deliver on the Paris Agreement (7) suggested long-term changes to governance and a social contract to address climate change, learning from the current pandemic, (8) updated positive cost–benefit ratio and new perspectives on the potential for green growth in the short- and long-term perspective (9) urban electrification as a strategy to move towards low-carbon energy systems and (10) rights-based litigation as an increasingly important method to address climate change, with recent clarifications on the legal standing and representation of future generations. Stronger permafrost thaw, COVID-19 effects and growing mental health impacts among highlights of latest climate science.
Publisher: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Date: 14-03-2022
Abstract: As the global urban population is poised to grow by 2.5 billion over the next 30 y, urban land conversions are expected to be an increasingly prominent driver of habitat and bio ersity loss. Mitigating these impacts urgently requires an improved understanding of where and how these bio ersity losses might occur. Here, we use a recently developed suite of land-use projections to provide an assessment of projected habitat that will be lost to urban land expansion for 30,393 species of terrestrial vertebrates from 2015 to 2050 across three shared socioeconomic pathway (SSP) scenarios. We find that urban land expansion is a contributing driver of habitat loss (≥5% of total loss) for around one-third (26 to 39%) of the species assessed. For up to 855 species (2 to 3% of those assessed), urban land is a direct driver of species imperilment, driving at least one-quarter of a net habitat loss of 10% or more. Urban clusters with the greatest threats to species due to projected expansion are predominantly located in the developing tropical regions of sub-Saharan Africa, South America, Mesoamerica, and Southeast Asia. Our results suggest that strategies for minimizing the impacts of urban land could strengthen global bio ersity protection agreements. Collaborative, global action that focuses on vulnerable species and regions may represent an efficient strategy for avoiding the impacts forecast by our analysis.
Publisher: Springer Netherlands
Date: 2006
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 05-2022
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 04-2008
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 08-2019
Location: United States of America
Location: United States of America
Location: United States of America
No related grants have been discovered for Robert McDonald.