Environmental Evidence

Goulas, Anaïs; Belhadi, Drifa; Descamps, Alexandre; Andremont, Antoine; Benoit, Pierre; Courtois, Sophie; Dagot, Christophe; Grall, Nathalie; Makowski, David; Nazaret, Sylvie; Nélieu, Sylvie; Patureau, Dominique; Petit, Fabienne; Roose-Amsaleg, Céline; Vittecoq, Marion; Livoreil, Barbara; Laouénan, Cédric

doi: 10.1186/s13750-020-0187-xpmid: N/A

BackgroundAntibiotic resistance is a major concern for public and environmental health. The role played by the environment in disseminating resistance is increasingly considered, as well as its capacity for mitigation. We reviewed the literature on strategies to control dissemination of antibiotic-resistant bacteria (ARB), antibiotic resistance genes (ARG) and mobile genetic elements (MGE) in the environment.MethodsThis systematic review focused on three main strategies: (i) restriction of antibiotic use (S1), (ii) treatments of liquid/solid matrices (S2) and (iii) management of natural environment (S3). Articles were collected from seven scientific databases until July 2017 and from Web of Science until June 2018. Only studies reporting measurements of ARB, ARG or MGE in environmental samples were included. An evidence map was drawn from metadata extracted from all studies eligible for S1, S2 and S3. Subsets of studies were assessed for internal and external validity to perform narrative and quantitative syntheses. A meta-analysis was carried out to assess the effects of organic waste treatments (random-effect models).Review findingsNine hundred and thirty-one articles representing 1316 individual studies (n) were eligible for S1 (n = 59), S2 (n = 781) and S3 (n = 476) strategies, respectively. Effects of interventions to control the dissemination of antibiotic resistance in the environment were primarily studied in strategy S2. A partial efficiency of wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) to reduce antibiotic resistance in treated effluent was reported in 118 high validity studies. In spite of the heterogeneity in published results, the meta-analysis showed that composting and drying were efficient treatments to reduce the relative abundance of ARG and MGE in organic waste, by 84% [65%; 93%] and 98% [80%; 100%], respectively. The effect of anaerobic digestion was not statistically significant (51% reduction [− 2%; 77%]) when organic waste treatments were compared together in the same model. Studies in strategies S1 and S3 mainly assessed the effects of exposure to sources of contamination. For instance, 28 medium/high validity studies showed an increase of antibiotic resistance in aquatic environments at the WWTP discharge point. Some of these studies also showed a decrease of resistance as the distance from the WWTP increases, related to a natural resilience capacity of aquatic environments. Concerning wildlife, nine medium/high validity studies showed that animals exposed to anthropogenic activities carried more ARB.Conclusions and implicationsKnowledge gaps were identified for the relationship between restriction of antibiotic use and variation of antibiotic resistance in the environment, as well as on possible interventions in situ in natural environment. Organic waste treatments with thermophilic phase (> 50 °C) should be implemented before the use/release of organic waste in the environment. More investigation should be conducted with the datasets available in this review to determine the treatment efficiency on ARG carried by specific bacterial communities.

van der Meer, Markus; Kay, Sonja; Lüscher, Gisela; Jeanneret, Philippe

doi: 10.1186/s13750-020-0185-zpmid: N/A

BackgroundBiodiversity loss, partly due to intensification of agriculture, has become a global issue. In this context, fruit producers have been looking for nature-friendly production methods. By reducing intensive pesticide use and enhancing orchard management, they aim to create habitats suitable for beneficial organisms. Fruit production, especially in low-stem orchards, requires several interventions (plant protection, tillage, greenwork) throughout the year, each of them representing a disturbance. Thus, an expert system that evaluates and aggregates the impact of individual farming activities on a set of biodiversity indicators would be a valuable tool for developing new, less biodiversity-damaging scenarios. This expert system should be based on expert knowledge and scientific evidence. Surprisingly, our literature searches suggested that international journals contain few publications on the impact of most practices (except pesticide use) in orchards on biodiversity in general and beneficial organisms in particular. However, in the last decade, an increasing number of published articles have pointed out the rising importance of biodiversity in life cycle assessment. We therefore compiled and structured the available evidence to (1) assess the state of research on discrete biodiversity indicators and agricultural practices, (2) identify the literature relevant for assessing production impact and habitat suitability for supporting biodiversity and (3) provide a wide-ranging overview of existing evidence of the impact of agricultural practices in fruit orchards on biodiversity.MethodsA systematic literature search was performed in scientific journals, agronomy magazines and across the internet in English, German and French. The main reviewer followed a step-by-step eligibility scheme that was validated by a Kappa test between two reviewers. Additionally, a third reviewer checked a subset of articles. We mapped a large range of parameters, which were structured in code sets. To compute a study validity assessment, we used 13 parameters that reflected the relevance of each article to the impact of agricultural practices in fruit orchards on biodiversity indicator species groups.ResultsThe search returned 947 included articles. The map identified major differences in the attention given to different indicators and practices over time, ranging from closely investigated (clusters) to neglected (gaps)—e.g. spiders and birds or amphibians and reptiles, respectively. The majority of studies were short-term surveys, mainly done in low-stem orchards. Main areas studied were Western Europe and Eastern North America. The resulting database is presented along with descriptive statistics of the distribution and abundance of evidence across time, interventions and outcomes.ConclusionsThe current systematic map reveals that rigorous and comprehensive investigations on the suitability of orchards as perennial habitats for wildlife, run on the long-term and following a holistic approach, are still basically lacking. Although evidence base on orchard management effects on particular organisms has grown over the past two decades, information to develop reliable close-to-nature management tools and strategies is insufficient. The implications for policy and research suggest that—in view of worldwide biodiversity loss, which may cause a major threat for food production—a better understanding of the role played by orchards and their management in agricultural landscapes for biodiversity is required.

Sordello, Romain; Ratel, Ophélie; Flamerie De Lachapelle, Frédérique; Leger, Clément; Dambry, Alexis; Vanpeene, Sylvie

doi: 10.1186/s13750-020-00202-ypmid: N/A

BackgroundEcological research now deals increasingly with the effects of noise pollution on biodiversity. Indeed, many studies have shown the impacts of anthropogenic noise and concluded that it is potentially a threat to the persistence of many species. The present work is a systematic map of the evidence of the impacts of all anthropogenic noises (industrial, urban, transportation, etc.) on biodiversity. This report describes the mapping process and the evidence base with summary figures and tables presenting the characteristics of the selected articles.MethodsThe method used was published in an a priori protocol. Searches included peer-reviewed and grey literature published in English and French. Two online databases were searched using English terms and search consistency was assessed with a test list. Supplementary searches were also performed (using search engines, a call for literature and searching relevant reviews). Articles were screened through three stages (titles, abstracts, full-texts). No geographical restrictions were applied. The subject population included all wild species (plants and animals excluding humans) and ecosystems. Exposures comprised all types of man-made sounds in terrestrial and aquatic media, including all contexts and sound origins (spontaneous or recorded sounds, in situ or laboratory studies, etc.). All relevant outcomes were considered (space use, reproduction, communication, etc.). Then, for each article selected after full-text screening, metadata were extracted on key variables of interest (species, types of sound, outcomes, etc.).Review findingsOur main result is a database that includes all retrieved literature on the impacts of anthropogenic noise on species and ecosystems, coded with several markers (sources of noise, species concerned, types of impacts, etc.). Our search produced more than 29,000 articles and 1794 were selected after the three screening stages (1340 studies (i.e. primary research), 379 reviews, 16 meta-analyses). Some articles (n = 19) are written in French and all others are in English. This database is available as an additional file of this report. It provides an overview of the current state of knowledge. It can be used for primary research by identifying knowledge gaps or in view of further analysis, such as systematic reviews. It can also be helpful for scientists and researchers as well as for practitioners, such as managers of transportation infrastructure.ConclusionThe systematic map reveals that the impacts of anthropogenic noises on species and ecosystems have been researched for many years. In particular, some taxonomic groups (mammals, birds, fishes), types of noise (transportation, industrial, abstract) and outcomes (behavioural, biophysiological, communication) have been studied more than others. Conversely, less knowledge is available on certain species (amphibians, reptiles, invertebrates), noises (recreational, military, urban) and impacts (space use, reproduction, ecosystems). The map does not assess the impacts of anthropogenic noise, but it can be the starting point for more thorough synthesis of evidence. After a critical appraisal, the included reviews and meta-analyses could be exploited, if reliable, to transfer the already synthesized knowledge into operational decisions to reduce noise pollution and protect biodiversity.

Sharma, Roshan; Eklund, Johanna; Barnes, Megan; Geldmann, Jonas; Schleicher, Judith; Pressey, Robert L.; Gutierrez, Marco; Jones, Simon; Gordon, Ascelin

doi: 10.1186/s13750-020-00191-ypmid: N/A

BackgroundEstablishing protected areas is a key approach to protecting nature. However, protected areas are often biased towards remote and less productive lands. It is important to evaluate the impacts protected areas have had, or in other words, what changes in outcomes of interest are attributable to protected areas. Studies that evaluate the impact of protected areas on vegetation—the state and processes that support biodiversity—are scarce and published in a range of disciplines. This systematic review will scope, identify, and synthesize studies that quantitatively measure the impact of protected areas on vegetation extent and condition. The findings will be useful for researchers and policy makers and provide important knowledge for setting post 2020 targets of the Convention on Biological Diversity. This review will also identify research gaps in the current evidence base and provide direction for future research.MethodsThis review follows the Collaboration for Environmental Evidence guidelines for evidence synthesis and complies with the ROSES (RepOrting standards for Systematic Evidence Synthesis) reporting framework. We will use a comprehensive search strategy developed through several rounds of scoping review to cover databases; Web of Science, Scopus and CAB Abstracts, 16 organizational websites, google scholar and existing review documents. Our search terms and strategies aim to find impact evaluation studies (both peer-reviewed and grey literature) in English from protected areas globally. The search results will be screened at title, abstract, and then full text by two independent reviewers. A quality appraisal of evidence will be conducted using Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) risk of bias tool. Review results will be presented in the form of narrative synthesis, as well as in meta-analysis form, where data quality and amount allow.

Connelly, Angela; Snow, Andrew; Carter, Jeremy; Lauwerijssen, Rachel

doi: 10.1186/s13750-020-00192-xpmid: N/A

BackgroundNatural flood management (NFM) measures seek to protect, enhance, emulate, or restore the natural function of rivers as part of approaches to flood risk management (FRM). While there is agreement in both academic and practice/policy literature that NFM, in a general sense, should be part of a holistic FRM strategy to address current and future flood risk, the specifics of how to consistently implement NFM successfully in practice are less well known. This is particularly acute for practitioners in the UK given the nature of the UK’s biophysical and socio-political context. There is a recognition that existing reviews of NFM effectiveness in the UK tend to focus on the natural science basis and it is unclear how studies account for climate change. Further, reviews tend to focus only on UK studies. This systematic map aims to highlight the way in which existing NFM studies, from different disciplinary backgrounds and across Europe, evaluate effectiveness, and the extent to which they account for climate change. This knowledge can help to make recommendations for future areas of research where the multiple issues around understanding effectiveness can be synthesised, and where climate change is systematically taken into account.MethodsThis systematic map protocol addresses the following question: what approaches exist to evaluate the effectiveness of UK-relevant natural flood management measures? The protocol details the methodology that will be used to conduct a systematic map of the range of peer-reviewed journal papers, policy documents, guidance, and other forms of grey literature which currently exist on NFM to give an overview on the way in which the effectiveness of NFM is conceived. The methods detail the search strategy employed for gathering items across the peer-reviewed academic literature and grey literature. Additionally, the methods outline how the reviewers will approach article screening, and the eligibility criteria to include/exclude articles. The methods section also details the steps taken to ensure consistency across all reviewers, the data coding strategy, and methods for presenting the final systematic map. Together, the methods employed will help to identify current knowledge gaps, and will enable recommendations to be made for future research.

Bring, Arvid; Rosén, Lars; Thorslund, Josefin; Tonderski, Karin; Åberg, Charlotte; Envall, Ida; Laudon, Hjalmar

doi: 10.1186/s13750-020-00209-5pmid: N/A

BackgroundWetlands in many parts of the world have been degraded, as use of the land for food production and forestry for human needs have taken precedence. Drainage of wetlands has led to deteriorated wetland conditions and lowered water tables. Across the world, there are several programs for wetland restoration and construction, primarily to reintroduce lost habitats for wildlife, and to obtain nutrient retention functions. In Sweden, recent dry and hot summers have reinforced interest in the hydrological functions that wetlands may have, in particular as potential support for water storage in the landscape and added groundwater storage during dry periods. However, the agreement on substantial effects on groundwater is limited, and there are several critical knowledge gaps, including the extent to which such effects extend outside the wetland itself, and how they vary with local conditions, such as topography, soil, and climate. Therefore, this review will address the groundwater storage effect of restoring, constructing or draining wetlands in the boreo-temperate region.MethodsWe will conduct a systematic review of the evidence, drawing on both peer-reviewed and grey literature. Articles in English, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, French, German and Polish will be retrieved from academic databases, Google Scholar, and websites of specialist organizations. We will screen literature in two stages, first at the title and abstract level and then in full text, the latter with blinded decisions by two independent reviewers for all articles. Articles will be included based on relevance criteria for a Swedish context: wetlands on previously glaciated soils in boreal and temperate climates. Data will be extracted from all included articles, including wetland type, intervention type, and hydrogeological setting. Studies will be subject to critical appraisal to evaluate their susceptibility to bias. Provided enough evidence of sufficient reliability, we will carry out meta-analyses of effect sizes in relation to various factors. The review will include a narrative synthesis in which we summarize the results of the review.

Dick, Jan; Carruthers-Jones, Jonathan; Carver, Steve; Dobel, Anne J.; Miller, James D.

doi: 10.1186/s13750-020-00208-6pmid: N/A

BackgroundThe concept of nature-based solutions (NBS) has evolved as an umbrella concept to describe approaches to learning from and using nature to create sustainable socio-ecological systems. Furthermore, NBS often address multiple societal challenges that humans are facing in the medium to long-term and as such can enhance human well-being (HWB). This study was commissioned to fulfil the need for a targeted systematic evidence map on the linkage between NBS and HWB to support focused research going forward that addresses the key knowledge needs of policy makers in the UK and beyond.MethodsA consultation with policy makers and government agency staff (n = 46), in the four component parts of the UK (England, Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland) was conducted in spring 2019. This identified four key societal challenges of operational experience lacking a scientific evidence base. Three of these challenges related to management issues: NBS cost-efficacy, governance in planning, environmental justice. The fourth challenge related to the acoustic environment (soundscape). Using systematic methods, this study searched for and identified studies that assessed NBS on HWB with regard to these four selected societal challenges.Review findingsA total of 7287 articles were returned from the systematic search and screened for suitability at the level of title and abstract. A total of 610 articles passed screening criteria to warrant full text screening. Of these, 115 studies met the full text criteria for eligibility in the final systematic map database. Included studies were coded for twelve NBS interventions and ten HWB related outcome categories. Most of the evidence reviewed referred to natural, blue or green infrastructure in the urban environment and focused on economic, material and health aspects of HWB. Less than 2% of studies identified in the searches robustly reported the role of NBS actions or interventions on HWB compared with non-NBS actions or interventionsConclusionThis systematic map found the evidence base is growing on NBS-HWB linkages, but significant biases persist in the existing literature. There was a bias in favour of the urban environment and restoration studies focused on conservation aspects, with only a few studies investigating the full suite of advantages to HWB that can be delivered from NBS actions and interventions. The soundscape was the least studied of the societal challenges identified as being of key importance by policy makers, with cost-efficiency the most reported. There was a lack of robust long-term studies to clearly test the potential of NBS regarding the HWB outcomes compared with non-NBS alternatives. This lack of robust primary knowledge, covering all four key societal challenges identified, confirms that the knowledge gaps identified by the policy makers persist, and highlights a clear research need for long-term, transdisciplinary studies that focus on comparisons between NBS and non-NBS alternatives

Rubenstein, Madeleine A.; Weiskopf, Sarah R.; Carter, Shawn L.; Eaton, Mitchell J.; Johnson, Ciara; Lynch, Abigail J.; Miller, Brian W.; Morelli, Toni Lyn; Rodriguez, Mari Angel; Terando, Adam; Thompson, Laura M.

doi: 10.1186/s13750-020-00194-9pmid: N/A

BackgroundAmong the most widely anticipated climate-related impacts to biodiversity are geographic range shifts, whereby species shift their spatial distribution in response to changing climate conditions. In particular, a series of commonly articulated hypotheses have emerged: species are expected to shift their distributions to higher latitudes, greater elevations, and deeper depths in response to climate change, reflecting an underlying hypothesis that species will move to cooler locations to track spatial changes in the temperature of their current range. Yet, many species are not demonstrating range shifts consistent with these hypotheses. Resolving this discrepancy and providing effective explanations for the observed variability in species’ range shifts is urgently needed to help support a range of natural resource management decisions. Here, we propose a protocol to review the body of evidence for commonly-held climate change range shift hypotheses at the species level focusing on observed latitudinal, longitudinal, elevational, and depth shifts in response to temperature and precipitation changes. We aim to answer the question: what is the impact of anthropogenic climate change (specifically changes in temperature and precipitation) on species ranges?MethodsIn this review protocol, we propose to conduct a systematic search of literature from internet databases and search engines in English. Articles will be screened in a two-stage process (title/abstract and full text) to evaluate whether they meet a list of eligibility criteria (e.g., presents species-level data, compares > 1 time period). Initial data coding and extraction will be completed by four reviewers and checked by a secondary reviewer from among our co-authors. We will perform a formal meta-analysis to document estimated effect size using the subset of available range-shift data expressed in distance per time (e.g., km/decade). We will also use multinomial logistic regression models to assess the probability that species are shifting in a direction that supports our hypotheses (i.e. towards higher latitudes, greater elevations, and deeper depths). We will account for study methodology as a potential source of variation.

Langridge, Joseph; Sordello, Romain; Reyjol, Yorick

doi: 10.1186/s13750-020-00199-4pmid: N/A

BackgroundConversion, fragmentation, and loss of natural habitats are among the main causes of declining species’ populations worldwide. Protected areas are therefore crucial for biodiversity as they provide refuge and ensure key ecological processes. Wildlife translocations, defined as “the deliberate movement of organisms from one site for release in another”, have been used in conjunction as a conservation tool for a number of decades as wild populations become increasingly fragmented and endangered. Not only are translocations used to bolster the viability of imperiled species but are also recommended for improving population resilience and adapting species’ ranges in response to climate change. Despite translocation being a recognised conservation tool, it remains complex with variable results due to the different factors that can determine its success. Accordingly, the Map will investigate the existing evidence on the links between different types of wildlife translocation interventions and factors that may be important to consider for planning. This will provide an overview of relevant studies for possible future syntheses, and may help to inform management decisions.MethodWe will perform a thorough search of peer-reviewed journal articles and grey literature sources documenting the occurrence of translocations in the context of protected areas. Two databases will be used: Web of science core collection and Scopus, with a supplementary search in Google Scholar. Multiple key specialized websites will also be used. All bibliographic data will be extracted, managed, and screened in Microsoft excel. Three screening stages will be undertaken (title, then abstract, then full texts) against predefined inclusion criteria. The retained relevant literature will be subjected to coding and meta-data extraction. No formal validity appraisal will be undertaken. The Map will particularly highlight translocation operations in terms of origin and destination (i.e. translocating from one protected area to another, within the same area, and from and to non-protected areas) by taxonomic group, among other important factors (e.g. number of individuals, age class, release strategy, distance between capture and release sites etc.). Finally, a database will be provided along with a Map narratively describing the evidence with summary figures and tables of pertinent study characteristics.

Algera, Dirk A.; Rytwinski, Trina; Taylor, Jessica J.; Bennett, Joseph R.; Smokorowski, Karen E.; Harrison, Philip M.; Clarke, Keith D.; Enders, Eva C.; Power, Michael; Bevelhimer, Mark S.; Cooke, Steven J.

doi: 10.1186/s13750-020-0184-0pmid: N/A

BackgroundFish injury and mortality resulting from entrainment and/or impingement during downstream passage over/through hydropower infrastructure has the potential to cause negative effects on fish populations. The primary goal of this systematic review was to address two research questions: (1) What are the consequences of hydroelectric dam fish entrainment and impingement on freshwater fish productivity in temperate regions?; (2) To what extent do various factors like site type, intervention type, and life history characteristics influence the consequences of fish entrainment and impingement?MethodsThe review was conducted using guidelines provided by the Collaboration for Environmental Evidence and examined commercially published and grey literature. All articles found using a systematic search were screened using a priori eligibility criteria at two stages (title and abstract, and full-text, respectively), with consistency checks being performed at each stage. The validity of studies was appraised and data were extracted using tools explicitly designed for this review. A narrative synthesis encompassed all relevant studies and a quantitative synthesis (meta-analysis) was conducted where appropriate.Review findingsA total of 264 studies from 87 articles were included for critical appraisal and narrative synthesis. Studies were primarily conducted in the United States (93%) on genera in the Salmonidae family (86%). The evidence base did not allow for an evaluation of the consequences of entrainment/impingement on fish productivity per se; therefore, we evaluated the risk of freshwater fish injury and mortality owing to downstream passage through common hydropower infrastructure. Our quantitative synthesis suggested an overall increased risk of injury and immediate mortality from passage through/over hydropower infrastructure. Injury and immediate mortality risk varied among infrastructure types. Bypasses resulted in decreased injury risk relative to controls, whereas turbines and spillways were associated with the highest injury risks relative to controls. Within turbine studies, those conducted in a lab setting were associated with higher injury risk than field-based studies, and studies with longer assessment time periods (≥ 24–48 h) were associated with higher risk than shorter duration assessment periods (< 24 h). Turbines and sluiceways were associated with the highest immediate mortality risk relative to controls. Within turbine studies, lab-based studies had higher mortality risk ratios than field-based studies. Within field studies, Francis turbines resulted in a higher immediate mortality risk than Kaplan turbines relative to controls, and wild sourced fish had a higher immediate mortality risk than hatchery sourced fish in Kaplan turbines. No other associations between effect size and moderators were identified. Taxonomic analyses revealed a significant increased injury and immediate mortality risk relative to controls for genera Alosa (river herring) and Oncorhynchus (Pacific salmonids), and delayed mortality risk for Anguilla (freshwater eels).ConclusionsOur synthesis suggests that hydropower infrastructure in temperate regions increased the overall risk of freshwater fish injury and immediate mortality relative to controls. The evidence base confirmed that turbines and spillways increase the risk of injury and/or mortality for downstream passing fish compared to controls. Differences in lab- and field-based studies were evident, highlighting the need for further studies to understand the sources of variation among lab- and field-based studies. We were unable to examine delayed mortality, likely due to the lack of consistency in monitoring for post-passage delayed injury and mortality. Our synthesis suggests that bypasses are the most “fish friendly” passage option in terms of reducing fish injury and mortality. To address knowledge gaps, studies are needed that focus on systems outside of North America, on non-salmonid or non-sportfish target species, and on population-level consequences of fish entrainment/impingement.