Blog

Nature Sustainability

Volume 4 Issue 1, January 2021

Carbon trade-offs of animal agriculture

Producing meat requires more land than plants, which could be restored into ecosystems that capture carbon. Hayek and colleagues quantify the carbon opportunity cost of extensive meat production and find that shifting to plant-based diets would capture a CO2 amount that remarkably contributes to the 1.5 °C climate change target.

See Hayek et al.

Image: Dmitrii Melnikov / Alamy Stock Photo. Cover design: Valentina Monaco.

Correspondence

Correspondence | 30 November 2020

Local communities and wildlife consumption bans

• Denise Margaret S. Matias
• Eufemia Felisa Pinto
• & Diana San Jose

Comment & Opinion

Comment | 19 January 2021

The value of China’s ban on wildlife trade and consumption

China’s decision to ban the trade and consumption of terrestrial wild animals, while controversial, is a viable response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The ban has implications that extend beyond safeguarding human health to also help combat illegal wildlife trade and protect threatened species.

• Lian Pin Koh
• Yuhan Li
• & Janice Ser Huay Lee

Comment | 19 January 2021

Possible negative consequences of a wildlife trade ban

The COVID-19 outbreak has stimulated calls for a global wildlife trade ban. Such actions may only partially curb pandemic risk while negatively affecting people who depend on wildlife. More worryingly, they may provide cover for inaction on issues that would make a true difference in preventing future pandemics.

• Dilys Roe
• & Tien Ming Lee

News & Views

News & Views | 31 August 2020

Structures spread across our seas

Construction along coasts and offshore is accelerating. A new study estimates the extent of different developments and their wider influence and forecasts their expansion.

• Stephen J. Hawkins
• Louise B. Firth
•  & Ally J. Evans

Reviews

Review Article | 07 September 2020

Leather-like material biofabrication using fungi

Fungi-derived material can substitute for leather. This Review synthesizes information on this process and its environmental and ethical benefits.

• Mitchell Jones
• Antoni Gandia
•  & Alexander Bismarck

Research

Matters Arising | 21 September 2020

Improper estimation of lead contamination

• Diana Papoulias

Matters Arising | 21 September 2020

Reply to: Improper estimation of lead contamination

• Martí Orta-Martínez
• Pedro Mayor
•  & Antoni Rosell-Melé

Brief Communication | 07 September 2020

The carbon opportunity cost of animal-sourced food production on land

Shifting global food production to plant-based diets by 2050 can sequester 99–163% of the CO2 emissions budget towards limiting climate warming to 1.5 °C.

• Matthew N. Hayek
• Helen Harwatt
•  & Nathaniel D. Mueller

Article | 24 August 2020

The human–environment nexus and vegetation–rainfall sensitivity in tropical drylands

Drylands are under pressure from climate change and population growth. This study finds the sensitivity of dryland vegetation to rainfall changing, with opposite effects in poorer and richer nations.

• Christin Abel
• Stéphanie Horion
• & Rasmus Fensholt

Article | 31 August 2020

Current and projected global extent of marine built structures

Marine construction is sprawling globally. As of 2018, this study finds that the structures occupied 32,000 km2 but affected 1 to 3 million km2, a shadow expected to expand 50–70% by 2028.

• A. B. Bugnot
• M. Mayer-Pinto
• & K. A. Dafforn

Article | 21 September 2020

Unprecedented health costs of smoke-related PM2.5 from the 2019–20 Australian megafires

Worldwide, longer fire seasons are causing unsustainable impacts. This study finds that the 2019–20 Australia fire season caused health-related costs of AU$1.95 billion, nine times the median for the previous 19 years.

• Fay H. Johnston
• Nicolas Borchers-Arriagada
• & David M. J. S. Bowman

Analysis | 31 August 2020

Decoupling livestock and crop production at the household level in China

Recycling nutrient-rich manure helped fertilize traditional farms. This study finds a near 60% drop in the share of rural Chinese households raising livestock and planting crops, a link worth rebuilding regionally to intensify agriculture sustainably.

• Shuqin Jin
• Bin Zhang
• & Jie Chen

Analysis | 31 August 2020

Ecological restoration impact on total terrestrial water storage

While ecological restoration has been promoted for curbing degradation and improving ecosystem health, the impacts on water flux and storage have been understudied. This article finds that large-scale restoration efforts can actually deplete terrestrial water storage, requiring more effort to balance ecosystem needs.

• Meng Zhao
• Geruo A
• & Zhiyong Li

Analysis | 14 September 2020

Mapping the forest disturbance regimes of Europe

Changes in forest disturbance affect their sustainability. This study finds that between 1986 and 2016, 36 million disturbances by humans or other causes affected 17% of Europe’s forest area.

• Cornelius Senf
• & Rupert Seidl

Analysis | 07 September 2020

Circular economy strategies for electric vehicle batteries reduce reliance on raw materials

New battery chemistry can help reduce the reliance on Co for electric vehicles. However, to avoid burden shifting to other resources such as Ni, circular economy strategies with enhanced battery traceability and recycling could contribute substantially to the reduction of primary Co demand from the automotive industry.

• Joris Baars
• Teresa Domenech
• & Oliver Heidrich

Amendments & Corrections

Publisher Correction | 16 December 2020

Publisher Correction: Social value shift in favour of biodiversity conservation in the United States

• Michael J. Manfredo
• Tara L. Teel
• & Shinobu Kitayama