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In 2015, the United Nations (UN) General Assembly agreed on 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) with 169 targets as part of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Although the SDGs, which are to be achieved by 2030, are not the first attempt to guide policy actors through global goals, they go far beyond earlier agreements in their detail, comprehensiveness, and ambition. Yet the 2022 SD
Pesticides represent one of the greatest threats to bees and other beneficial insects in agricultural landscapes. Potential exposure is generated through compound- and crop-specific patterns of pesticide use over space and time and unique degradation behavior among compounds. Realized exposure develops through bees foraging from their nests across the spatiotemporal mosaic of floral resources and
The implementation of circular economy strategies, such as the reuse of building materials, represents a valid opportunity for the building and construction sector to diminish the consumption of raw materials and generate revenues and, thus, to contribute to the Sustainable Development Goals 11 and 12. However, the reuse of building materials is still limited. Previous studies suggest that one rea
Habitat loss and population fragmentation pose severe threats to biodiversity and the survival of many species. Population isolation and the decline in effective population size lead to increased genetic drift and inbreeding. In turn, this reduces neutral diversity, and it also affects the genetic load of deleterious mutations. Here, we analyse the effect of such genomic erosion by designing a spa
The microbial use of resources to sustain life and reproduce influences for example, decomposition and plant nutrient provisioning. The study of “limiting factors” has shed light on the interaction between plants and their environment. Here, we investigated whether carbon (C), nitrogen (N), or phosphorus (P) was limiting for soil microorganisms in a subarctic tundra heath, and how changes in resou
Sustainable agriculture requires balancing crop yields with the effects of pesticides on non-target organisms, such as bees and other crop pollinators. Field studies demonstrated that agricultural use of neonicotinoid insecticides can negatively affect wild bee species 1,2, leading to restrictions on these compounds 3. However, besides neonicotinoids, field-based evidence of the effects of lands
Approaches integrating interdisciplinary perspectives are necessary to address current and future health and environmental challenges. Many policy initiatives have embraced more holistic approaches to tackle these challenges, e.g., the One Health concept, the Farm to Fork (F2F), Biodiversity and Chemical strategies within the European Green Deal and the global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
An essential prerequisite to safeguard pollinator species is characterisation of the multifaceted diversity of crop pollinators and identification of the drivers of pollinator community changes across biogeographical gradients. The extent to which intensive agriculture is associated with the homogenisation of biological communities at large spatial scales remains poorly understood. In this study,
Climate change predictions suggest that arctic and subarctic ecosystems will be particularly affected by rising temperatures and extreme weather events, including severe heat waves. Temperature is one of the most important environmental factors controlling and regulating microbial decomposition in soils; therefore, it is critical to understand its impact on soil microorganisms and their feedback t
Soil microbial communities play a pivotal role in regulating ecosystem functioning. But they are increasingly being shaped by human-induced environmental change, including intense “pulse” perturbations, such as droughts, which are predicted to increase in frequency and intensity with climate change. While it is known that soil microbial communities are sensitive to such perturbations and that effe
Soil microbes function as decomposers in terrestrial ecosystems. They break down the organic matter, which plays a significant role in supplying nutrients to plants, but also in regulating biogeochemical cycling which feeds back to climate change. Like other organisms, soil microbes can be limited by the availability of essential resources, which could consequently affect their ability to decompos
Microbial carbon use efficiency (CUE) and nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) are key parameters determining the fate of C and N in soils. Atmospheric N deposition has been found to heavily impact multiple soil C and N transformations, but we lack understanding of the responses of CUE and NUE to N deposition, and it remains uncertain whether responses may be mediated by topography. Here, a N addition ex
For many species, the ability to rapidly adapt to changes in seasonality is essential for long-term survival. In the Arctic, seasonal moulting is a key life-history event that provides year-round camouflage and thermal protection. However, increased climatic variability of seasonal events can lead to phenological mismatch. In this study, we investigated whether winter-white (white morph) and winte
The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) were an important precursor to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Hence, identifying the conditions that made the MDGs successful enhances our understanding of global goal-setting and informs the global endeavour to achieve the SDGs. Drawing on a comprehensive review of 316 articles published between 2009 and 2018, we identify six factors that have en
Soil microorganisms regulate the decomposition of organic matter. However, microbial activities can also be rate-limited by the resource in lowest supply. Arctic ecosystems are being exposed to pronounced climate warming, with arctic greening, treeline advance and shrubification resulting in increased plant-derived carbon (C) inputs to soils, and faster rates of decomposition releasing mineral nut
Climate change stressors, including warming and heatwaves, can alter plankton composition and dominance patterns in temperate shallow lakes, which can disrupt ecosystem function and curtail ecosystem services. Understanding how these alterations could take place under future climates is therefore important. To understand such changes, we performed a year-long mesocosm experiment with controls refl
Soil microbial growth and activity are generally assumed to recover rapidly after dissipation of organic toxicants. We studied the effects of four readily degradable isothiazolinone biocides (benzisothiazolinone, BIT; methylisothiazolinone, MIT; octylisothiazolinone, OIT; 4,5-dichloro-2-octyl-isothiazolinone, DCOIT) on bacterial growth, fungal growth, basal respiration, and substrate-induced respi
