Landscape changes have the potential to impact people’s abilities to coexist with biodiversity. An analysis of patterns in such documented impacts is essential to understand similarities across geographical regions, research methodologies, and socio-ecological contexts, in addition to the variety of pathways through which human-wildlife coexistence has been shaped by distant and proximate landscape changes. In this paper, we examine selected studies that have provided evidence on how changes in land use, land-based livelihoods, and land use governance shape human-wildlife coexistence. We find that most research focused on assessing impacts of landscape changes on biophysical coexistence dimensions such as habitat size and spatiotemporal overlap between humans and wildlife. However, although impacts on social coexistence dimensions were less commonly studied, the studies still captured a significant variety in them despite the dominance of positivist research philosophies. An examination of studies originating from multiple disciplines shows that impacts of landscape change can spillover to multiple coexistence dimensions irrespective of whether the former is biophysical or social. We conclude that impacts on human-wildlife coexistence are conditional on the centrality of the coexistence dimension affected by landscape change, and hence, not all changes necessarily worsen coexistence.
Temporarily waterlogged soils develop seasonal water tables that can induce hypoxia. Field evidence of how such events affect mature trees remains scarce. We tested in situ whether summer waterlogging influences sap flow density (SFD) in a 54-year-old mixed stand of pedunculate (Quercus robur) and sessile (Quercus petraea) oaks growing on a temporarily waterlogged forest soil. At a site in north-eastern France, we monitored soil moisture down to 110 cm depth, water table fluctuations and dissolved oxygen (DO) concentrations. SFD was measured in 18 (2023) and 24 (2024) oaks with Granier sensors. SFD was compared between summer days with waterlogging (WT+) and without waterlogging (WT–). The water table was present from late autumn to spring, reaching 12.4 ± 3.0 cm (mean ± SE) in depth in 2023 and 8.3 ± 2.4 cm in 2024. In summer 2024, three short waterlogging episodes occurred, during which the water table never rose above 29.6 ± 2.7 cm below the soil surface. DO declined during waterlogging but reached hypoxic thresholds only for a few hours at the end of summer episodes. SFD did not differ between WT– and WT+ for either species. At this site, short-term summer waterlogging episodes below a depth of 30 cm did not reduce SFD. This absence of response is consistent with the limited development of hypoxic conditions, suggesting that under such conditions, mature oak stands are unlikely to experience reductions in tree water use.
Freshwater mussels in the order Unionida are a highly endangered taxon of ecosystem engineers with a variety of conservation and reintroduction efforts around the world attempting to increase wild populations. The unionid lifecycle involves a parasitic larval life-stage (glochidia), primarily adapted for dispersal rather than growth. Little is known about the behavioural effects of the glochidia on their host fish. We investigated the shoaling behaviour and habitat preference of the Eurasian minnow (Phoxinus phoxinus) while infested with the glochidia of one of Europe’s most endangered unionid mussels, the thick-shelled river mussel (Unio crassus). Behavioural assays were carried out in a hydrologically complex flow-through aquaria at two time points of the infestation period, a carrying stage and an excystment stage (14 and 28 days post infestation). We demonstrate that glochidiosis reduces minnow shoaling frequency and increases the number of isolated individuals. However, minnow shoal area and nearest neighbour distance remained unaffected. Infested minnows demonstrated a significant preference for slower flowing and less turbulent habitat. These results suggest that glochidiosis reduces host swimming efficiency, which likely increases predatory pressure on infested minnows. Simultaneously, this preference for calmer habitats may benefit the encysted mussels, as these habitats are better suited for juvenile mussel excystment. Our results highlight the importance of low-flow and low-turbulence habitats for unionid recruitment, as parasitized host individuals tolerate these conditions well. Unionid mussels are an endangered order of parasitic bivalves with a variety of effects on both their hosts and the ecosystem more broadly. While there are many conservation efforts for this order, there are few studies on the ecological impacts of parasitism from unionids on host ecology and behaviour. To address this, we filmed artificially infested hosts in hydrologically complex aquaria to assess the effects of unionid infestation on the shoaling and swimming behaviour of the Eurasian minnow. We demonstrate that parasitized hosts shoaled less frequently but did not alter overall shoal morphology. Additionally, we demonstrate that parasitized hosts prefer slower flowing and less turbulent water. Our results indicate that unionids may manipulate host behaviour and alter host habitat preference to habitats well-suited for excysting juvenile mussels, highlighting the importance of restoring habitat when engaging inunionid conservation.
Reducing enteric methane emissions from ruminant livestock is a common goal of many countries to limit global warming. While direct measurements of enteric methane emissions are limited to a small number of animals, indirect predictive methods based on milk or feces can now be used to assess emissions from large numbers of animals in a variety of contexts. These approaches allow the development of genetic selection models and management practices associated with lower methane emissions for small and large ruminants. A better understanding of the relationships between rumen microbial diversity and the ruminant (host) will help to identify new solutions for modulating rumen microbial populations and hydrogen fluxes, with the aim of reducing methane emissions while maintaining animal production and health. Ruminant diets and herd management are important ways to reduce enteric methane emissions, but the practices are not always suitable for the different pedoclimatic contexts, particularly in hot regions. Trade-off must be evaluated to identify combinations of levers that can reduce enteric methane emissions without compromising the health of animals and the ecosystem services associated with ruminant livestock systems.
Traditional policy research has largely focused on enhancing happiness or well-being, privileging positive outcomes as the primary metric of success. We argue that a systematic focus on the drivers of unhappiness-rather than solely on happiness-offers a complementary analytical framework that can uncover hidden societal deficits and broaden the repertoire of policy interventions. By foregrounding unhappiness, scholars and practitioners can identify latent demand, structural inequities, and unintended negative side effects that are often obscured in happiness-centric analyses. We first articulate why a shift away from predominantly happiness-driven policies is conceptually necessary, demonstrating that unhappiness signals distinct causal pathways and policy levers. Second, we explain how adopting an unhappiness lens can lead to different-and potentially better-policy outcomes. By integrating unhappiness into the policy toolkit, this paper expands the analytical horizon of scholars and offers policymakers actionable insights for more resilient, equitable, and responsive governance. We introduce several novel theoretical issues that provide a strong foundation for a research agenda on unhappiness and its policy implications. We also caution that misusing unhappiness-based arguments poses ethical risks and could exacerbate the very problems such arguments aim to address.
