Description:    Globally, urban growth will add 1.5 billion people to cities by 2030, making the difficult task of urban water provisions even more challenging. In this article, we develop a conceptual framework of urban water provision as composed of three axes: water availability, water quality, and water delivery. For each axis, we calculate quantitative proxy measures for all cities with more than 50,000 residents, and then briefly discuss the strategies cities are using in response if they are deficient on one of the axes. We show that 523 million people are in cities where water availability may be an issue, 890 million people are in cities where water quality may be an issue, and 1.3 billion people are in cities where water delivery may be an issue. Tapping into groundwater is a widespread response, regardless of the management challenge, with many cities unsustainably using this resource. The strategies used by cities deficient on the water delivery axis are different than for cities deficient on the water quantity or water quality axis, as lack of financial resources pushes cities toward a different and potentially less effective set of strategies. Content Type Journal Article Pages 1-10 DOI 10.1007/s13280-011-0152-6 Authors Robert I. McDonald, Worldwide Office, The Nature Conservancy, 4245 N. Fairfax Drive, Arlington, VA 22203, USA Ian Douglas, School of Environment and Development, University of Manchester, Oxford Road, Manchester, M13 9PL UK Carmen Revenga, Worldwide Office, The Nature Conservancy, 4245 N. Fairfax Drive, Arlington, VA 22203, USA Rebecca Hale, School of Life Sciences, Arizona State University, 1711 South Rural Road, Tempe, AZ 85287, USA Nancy Grimm, Faculty of Ecology, Evolution, & Environmental Science, Arizona State University, 1711 South Rural Road, Tempe, AZ 85287, USA Jenny Grönwall, 110 Marlyn Lodge, Portsoken St, London, E1 8RB UK Balazs Fekete, CUNY Research Foundation, The City College of New York, 160 Convent Avenue, New York, NY 10031, USA Journal AMBIO: A Journal of the Human Environment Online ISSN 1654-7209 Print ISSN 0044-7447

Description:    The emerging interest in the biological and conservation significance of locally rare species prompts a number of questions about their correspondence with other categories of biodiversity, especially global rarity. Here we present an analysis of the correspondence between the distributions of globally and locally rare plants. Using biological hotspots of rarity as our framework, we evaluate the extent to which conservation of globally rare plants will act as a surrogate for conservation of locally rare taxa. Subsequently, we aim to identify gaps between rarity hotspots and protected land to guide conservation planning. We compiled distribution data for globally and locally rare plants from botanically diverse Napa County, California into a geographic information system. We then generated richness maps highlighting hotspots of global and local rarity. Following this, we overlaid the distribution of these hotspots with the distribution of protected lands to identify conservation gaps. Based on occupancy of 1 km 2 grid cells, we found that over half of Napa County is occupied by at least one globally or locally rare plant. Hotspots of global and local rarity occurred in a substantially smaller portion of the county. Of these hotspots, less than 5% were classified as multi-scale hotspots, i.e. they were hotspots of global and local rarity. Although, several hotspots corresponded with the 483 km 2 of protected lands in Napa County, some of the richest areas did not. Thus, our results show that there are important conservation gaps in Napa County. Furthermore, if only hotspots of global rarity are preserved, only a subset of locally rare plants will be protected. Therefore, conservation of global, local, and multi-scale hotspots needs serious consideration if the goals are to protect a larger variety of biological attributes, prevent extinction, and limit extirpation in Napa County. Content Type Journal Article Category Original Paper Pages 1-12 DOI 10.1007/s10531-011-0137-6 Authors Benjamin J. Crain, Department of Biological Sciences, Humboldt State University, 1 Harpst Street, Arcata, CA 95521, USA Jeffrey W. White, Department of Biological Sciences, Humboldt State University, 1 Harpst Street, Arcata, CA 95521, USA Steven J. Steinberg, Department of Environmental Science and Management, Humboldt State University, 1 Harpst Street, Arcata, CA 95521, USA Journal Biodiversity and Conservation Online ISSN 1572-9710 Print ISSN 0960-3115

Description:    Geoengineering methods are intended to reduce climate change, which is already having demonstrable effects on ecosystem structure and functioning in some regions. Two types of geoengineering activities that have been proposed are: carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) removal (CDR), which removes CO 2 from the atmosphere, and solar radiation management (SRM, or sunlight reflection methods), which reflects a small percentage of sunlight back into space to offset warming from greenhouse gases (GHGs). Current research suggests that SRM or CDR might diminish the impacts of climate change on ecosystems by reducing changes in temperature and precipitation. However, sudden cessation of SRM would exacerbate the climate effects on ecosystems, and some CDR might interfere with oceanic and terrestrial ecosystem processes. The many risks and uncertainties associated with these new kinds of purposeful perturbations to the Earth system are not well understood and require cautious and comprehensive research. Content Type Journal Article Category Review Paper Pages 1-20 DOI 10.1007/s13280-012-0258-5 Authors Lynn M. Russell, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California, San Diego, 9500 Gilman Dr. Mail Code 0221, La Jolla, CA 92093-0221, USA Philip J. Rasch, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, 902 Battelle Boulevard, P. O. Box 999, MSIN K9-34, Richland, WA 99352, USA Georgina M. Mace, Centre for Population Biology, Imperial College London, Ascot, Berks SL5 7PY, UK Robert B. Jackson, Nicholas School of the Environment, Duke University, Durham, NC 27708, USA John Shepherd, Earth System Science, School of Ocean and Earth Sciences, National Oceanography Centre, University of Southampton, European Way, Southampton, SO14 3ZH UK Peter Liss, School of Environmental Sciences, University of East Anglia, Norwich, NR4 7TJ UK Margaret Leinen, Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute, 5600 US Rt 1 North, Fort Pierce, FL 34946, USA David Schimel, NEON Inc, 1685 38th Street, Boulder, CO 80305, USA Naomi E. Vaughan, Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research, School of Environmental Sciences, University of East Anglia, Norwich, NR4 7TJ, UK Anthony C. Janetos, Joint Global Change Research Institute Pacific Northwest National Laboratory/University of Maryland, 5825 University Research Court, Suite 3500, College Park, MD 20740, USA Philip W. Boyd, NIWA Centre of Chemical & Physical Oceanography, Department of Chemistry, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand Richard J. Norby, Environmental Sciences Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Bethel Valley Road, Bldg. 2040, MS-6301, Oak Ridge, TN 37831-6301, USA Ken Caldeira, Department of Global Ecology, Carnegie Institution, Stanford, CA 94305, USA Joonas Merikanto, Division of Atmospheric Sciences, Department of Physics, University of Helsinki, P.O Box 64, 00014 Helsinki, Finland Paulo Artaxo, Institute of Physics, University of São Paulo, Rua do Matão, Travessa R, 187, São Paulo, SP CEP 05508-090, Brazil Jerry Melillo, The Ecosystems Center, Marine Biological Laboratory, Woods Hole, MA 02543, USA M. Granger Morgan, Department of Engineering and Public Policy, Carnegie Mellon University, 5000 Forbes Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA Journal AMBIO: A Journal of the Human Environment Online ISSN 1654-7209 Print ISSN 0044-7447

Description:    Land use change and human population growth are accelerating the fragmentation and insularization of wildlife habitats worldwide. The conservation and management of wildlife in the resultant ‘island’ ecosystems in the context of global warming is challenging due to the isolation and reduced size of the ecosystems and hence the scale over which ecosystem processes can operate. We analyzed trends in numbers of nine large herbivores in Kenya’s Lake Nakuru National Park to understand how rainfall and temperature variability, surrounding land use changes, and boundary fencing affected wildlife population dynamics inside the park during 1970–2011. Buffalo, zebra and Thomson’s gazelle numbers increased persistently. Grant’s gazelle and impala increased initially then gradually declined. Waterbuck and warthog numbers progressively declined to levels that potentially threatened their local population persistence. The total biomass of ungulates tripled from 1970 to 2011, with buffalo replacing waterbuck as the predominant species in biomass. Increased competition from buffalo and zebra, heightened predation and illicit human harvests probably all contributed to the declines by waterbuck and warthog. Density-dependent limitation of population growth within the park confines was evident for buffalo, impala, eland, giraffe, Grant’s and Thomson’s gazelles. Fluctuations in the lake level related to varying rainfall affected changes in animal abundance through expansion of the lake area and flooding of grasslands bordering the lake. Unusually, the most stressful conditions were associated with high water levels following high rainfall. There was also evidence of carry-over effects from prior habitat conditions affecting all species. The relatively stable populations of all species except warthog and waterbuck demonstrate the remarkable capacity of this small, insularized park to retain viable populations of most of the large herbivores, without much management intervention. Content Type Journal Article Category Original Paper Pages 1-21 DOI 10.1007/s10531-012-0239-9 Authors Joseph O. Ogutu, International Livestock Research Institute, P.O. Box 30709, Nairobi, 00100 Kenya Norman Owen-Smith, Centre for African Ecology, School of Animal, Plant and Environmental Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Wits, 2050 South Africa Hans-Peter Piepho, Bioinformatics Unit, Institute for Crop Science, University of Hohenheim, Fruwirthstrasse 23, 70599 Stuttgart, Germany Bernard Kuloba, Kenya Wildlife Service, Lake Nakuru National Park, P.O. Box 539, Nakuru, Kenya Joseph Edebe, Kenya Wildlife Service, Lake Nakuru National Park, P.O. Box 539, Nakuru, Kenya Journal Biodiversity and Conservation Online ISSN 1572-9710 Print ISSN 0960-3115

Description:    Before climate change is considered in long-term coastal management, it is necessary to investigate how institutional stakeholders in coastal management conceptualize climate change, as their awareness will ultimately affect their actions. Using questionnaires in eight Baltic Sea riparian countries, this study examines environmental managers’ awareness of climate change. Our results indicate that problems related to global warming are deemed secondary to short-term social and economic issues. Respondents agree that problems caused by global warming will become increasingly important, but pay little attention to adaptation and mitigation strategies. Current environmental problems are expected to continue to be urgent in the future. We conclude that an apparent gap exists between decision making, public concerns, and scientific consensus, resulting in a situation in which the latest evidence rarely influences commonly held opinions. Content Type Journal Article Pages 645-655 DOI 10.1007/s13280-012-0327-9 Authors Joanna Piwowarczyk, Department of Marine Ecology, Institute of Oceanology, Polish Academy of Sciences, 55 Powstancow Warszawy Street, 81-712 Sopot, Poland Anders Hansson, Centre for Climate Science and Policy Research and Water and Environmental Studies, Department of Thematic Studies, Linköping University, Norrköping, Sweden Mattias Hjerpe, Centre for Climate Science and Policy Research and Water and Environmental Studies, Department of Thematic Studies, Linköping University, Norrköping, Sweden Boris Chubarenko, Atlantic Branch of the Institute of Oceanology, Russian Academy of Sciences, Kaliningrad, Russia Konstantin Karmanov, Atlantic Branch of the Institute of Oceanology, Russian Academy of Sciences, Kaliningrad, Russia Journal AMBIO: A Journal of the Human Environment Online ISSN 1654-7209 Print ISSN 0044-7447 Journal Volume Volume 41 Journal Issue Volume 41, Number 6

Description:    Under increasing water scarcity, collective groundwater management is a global concern. This article presents an interdisciplinary analysis of this challenge drawing on a survey including 50 large and small farms and gardens in a village in an agricultural land reclamation area on the edge of the Western Desert of Egypt. Findings revealed that smallholders rely on a practice of shallow groundwater use, through which drainage water from adjacent irrigation areas is effectively recycled within the surface aquifer. Expanding agroindustrial activities in the surrounding area are socio-economically important, but by mining non-renewable water in the surrounding area, they set in motion a degradation process with social and ecological consequences for all users in the multi-layered aquifer system. Based on the findings of our investigation, we identify opportunities for local authorities to more systematically connect available environmental information sources and common pool resource management precedents, to counterbalance the degradation threat. Content Type Journal Article Category Report Pages 1-14 DOI 10.1007/s13280-012-0255-8 Authors Caroline King, Oxford University Centre for the Environment, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, Oxford, UK Boshra Salem, Department of Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Science, University of Alexandria, Alexandria, Egypt Journal AMBIO: A Journal of the Human Environment Online ISSN 1654-7209 Print ISSN 0044-7447