Biosphere

Scientists Discover Planet Has Everything to Host ‘Earth-Like Life’ In Breakthrough

For the first time, scientists found that a rocky planet in the habitable zone of its star has an atmosphere. It’s the best place to look for alien biosignatures, scientists say.

10 Vital ecosystem services: sustaining life on Earth

Discover the importance of 10 vital ecosystem services that sustain life on Earth, mostly provided by forests, for a resilient and sustainable future.

Holobiont

A holobiont is an assemblage of a host and the many other species living in or around it, which together form a discrete ecological unit through symbiosis, though there is controversy over this discreteness. The components of a holobiont are individual species or bionts, while the combined genome of all bionts is the hologenome. The holobiont concept was initially introduced by the German theoretical biologist Adolf Meyer-Abich in 1943, and then apparently independently by Dr. Lynn Margulis in her 1991 book Symbiosis as a Source of Evolutionary Innovation. The concept has evolved since the original formulations. Holobionts include the host, virome, microbiome, and any other organisms which contribute in some way to the functioning of the whole. Well-studied holobionts include reef-building corals and humans.

Solar System

The Solar System is the gravitationally bound system of the Sun and the masses that orbit it, most prominently its eight planets, of which Earth is one. The system formed about 4.6 billion years ago when a dense region of a molecular cloud collapsed, creating the Sun and a protoplanetary disc from which the orbiting bodies assembled.

A Cell So Minimal That It Challenges Definitions of Life | Quanta Magazine

The newly described microbe represents a world of parasitic, intercellular biodiversity only beginning to be revealed by genome sequencing.

Planetary Lexicon: Key Terms in Earth System Science

Define 90+ terms in planetary science — from Anthropocene and tipping points to planetary boundaries and the ecosphere.

Assessing nature's contributions to people

Recognizing culture, and diverse sources of knowledge, can improve assessments , A major challenge today and into the future is to maintain or enhance beneficial contributions of nature to a good quality of life for all people. This is among the key motivations of the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES), a joint global effort by governments, academia, and civil society to assess and promote knowledge of Earth's biodiversity and ecosystems and their contribution to human societies in order to inform policy formulation. One of the more recent key elements of the IPBES conceptual framework ( 1 ) is the notion of nature's contributions to people (NCP), which builds on the ecosystem service concept popularized by the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MA) ( 2 ). But as we detail below, NCP as defined and put into practice in IPBES differs from earlier work in several important ways. First, the NCP approach recognizes the central and pervasive role that culture plays in defining all links between people and nature. Second, use of NCP elevates, emphasizes, and operationalizes the role of indigenous and local knowledge in understanding nature's contribution to people.

Bioregionalism, Commoning, and Relationalized Finance | David Bollier

Have you noticed how the term “bioregional” is becoming a new eco-buzzword and greenwashing term? At the same time, many ordinary people are genuinely excited about the idea of bioregionalism as a constructive way to focus activism and socioeconomic innovation. Bioregionalism offers a practical, politically accessible space for addressing climate change, social inequality, the eclipse of democracy, out-of-control oligarchs, and capitalist growth.

Ecosystem services - nature’s benefits

Nature's benefits or ecosystem services depend on a healthy environment. Investing in nature will help to secure these benefits for future generations.

Global assessment report on biodiversity and ecosystem services of the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services

IPBES is to perform regular and timely assessments of knowledge on biodiversity and ecosystem services and their interlinkages at the global level. Also addressing an invitation by the Conference of the Parties of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) to prepare a global assessment of biodiversity and ecosystem services building, inter alia, on its own and other relevant regional, subregional and thematic assessments, as well as on national reports. The overall scope of the assessment is to assess the status and trends with regard to biodiversity and ecosystem services, the impact of biodiversity and ecosystem services on human well-being and the effectiveness of responses, including the Strategic Plan and its Aichi Biodiversity Targets. It is anticipated that this deliverable will contribute to the process for the evaluation and renewal of the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity and its Aichi Biodiversity Targets. The IPBES Global Assessment on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services is composed of 1) a Summary for Policymakers (SPM), approved by the IPBES Plenary at its 7th session in May 2019 in Paris, France (IPBES-7); and 2) a set of six Chapters, accepted by the IPBES Plenary.

Biodiversity and human health: mechanisms and evidence of the positive health effects of diversity in nature and green spaces

AbstractIntroduction. Natural environments and green spaces provide ecosystem services that enhance human health and well-being. They improve mental health

Growth, metabolic partitioning, and the size of microorganisms

Population growth rate is a fundamental ecological and evolutionary characteristic of living organisms, but individuals must balance the metabolism devoted to biosynthesis and reproduction against the maintenance of existing structure and other functionality. Here we present a mathematical model that relates metabolic partitioning to the form of growth. The model captures the observed growth trajectory of single cells and individuals for a variety of species and taxa spanning prokaryotes, unicellular eukaryotes, and small multicellular eukaryotes. Our analysis suggests that the per-unit costs of biosynthesis and maintenance are conserved across prokaryotes and eukaryotes. However, the relative metabolic expenditure on growth and maintenance of whole organisms clearly differentiates taxa: prokaryotes spend an increasing fraction of their entire metabolism on growth with increasing cell size, whereas eukaryotes devote a diminishing fraction. These differences allow us to predict the minimum and maximum size for each taxonomic group, anticipating observed evolutionary life-history transitions. The framework provides energetic insights into taxonomic tradeoffs related to growth and metabolism and constrains traits that are important for size-structured modeling of microbial communities and their ecological and biogeochemical effects.

Daniel Christian Wahl: “Bioregional Futures: Reconnecting to Place for Planetary Health” - The Great Simplification

In the past century of abundant energy surplus, humanity’s globalized, large-scale approach to problem-solving

Summary for policymakers of the global assessment report on biodiversity and ecosystem services

IPBES is an independent intergovernmental body comprising over 130 member Governments. Established by Governments in 2012, IPBES provides policymakers with objective scientific assessments about the state of knowledge regarding the planet’s biodiversity, ecosystems and the contributions they make to people, as well as options and actions to protect and sustainably use these vital natural assets. The IPBES Global Assessment of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services represents the landmark product of the first work programme of IPBES (2014-2018). The Global Assessment was initiated following a decision from the IPBES Plenary at its fourth session (IPBES 4, Kuala Lumpur, 2016), and considered by the IPBES Plenary at its seventh session (IPBES 7, Paris, 2019). It is composed of a summary for policymakers, which was approved at IPBES 7, and six chapters, which were accepted at IPBES 7.