Top ten priorities for global saltmarsh restoration, conservation and ecosystem service research.

Coastal saltmarshes provide globally important ecosystem services including 'blue carbon' sequestration, flood protection, pollutant remediation, habitat provision and cultural value. Large portions of marshes have been lost or fragmented as a result of land reclamation, embankment construction, and pollution. Sea level rise threatens marsh survival by blocking landward migration where coastlines have been developed. Research-informed saltmarsh conservation and restoration efforts are helping to prevent further loss, yet significant knowledge gaps remain. Using a mixed methods approach, this paper identifies ten research priorities through an online questionnaire and a residential workshop attended by an international, multi-disciplinary network of 35 saltmarsh experts spanning natural, physical and social sciences across research, policy, and practitioner sectors. Priorities have been grouped under four thematic areas of research: Saltmarsh Area Extent, Change and Restoration Potential (including past, present, global variation), Spatio-social contexts of Ecosystem Service delivery (e.g. influences of environmental context, climate change, and stakeholder groups on service provisioning), Patterns and Processes in saltmarsh functioning (global drivers of saltmarsh ecosystem structure/function) and Management and Policy Needs (how management varies contextually; challenges/opportunities for management). Although not intended to be exhaustive, the challenges, opportunities, and strategies for addressing each research priority examined here, providing a blueprint of the work that needs to be done to protect saltmarshes for future generations.

Economic valuation of wildlife conservation.

This paper reviews concepts and methods for the economic valuation of nature in the context of wildlife conservation and questions them in light of alternative approaches based on deliberation. Economic valuations have been used to set priorities, consider opportunity costs, assess co-benefits of conservation, support the case for conservation in public awareness and advocacy, and drive novel schemes to change incentives. We discuss the foundational principles of mainstream economic valuation in terms of its assumptions about values, markets, and human behaviour; propose a list of valuation studies in relation to wildlife protection; and explain the methods used. We then review critiques of these approaches focusing on the narrow way in which economics conceives of values, and institutional, power, and equity concerns. Finally, we complement conventional approaches commonly used for wildlife valuation with two forms of deliberative valuation: deliberated preferences and deliberative democratic monetary valuation. These are discussed in terms of their potential to address the drawbacks of mainstream economics and to realise the potential of valuation in bridging conservation of nature for its own sake and its important contributions to human well-being. Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s10344-023-01658-2.

Integrating ecosystem markets to co-ordinate landscape-scale public benefits from nature.

Ecosystem markets are proliferating around the world in response to increasing demand for climate change mitigation and provision of other public goods. However, this may lead to perverse outcomes, for example where public funding crowds out private investment or different schemes create trade-offs between the ecosystem services they each target. The integration of ecosystem markets could address some of these issues but to date there have been few attempts to do this, and there is limited understanding of either the opportunities or barriers to such integration. This paper reports on a comparative analysis of eleven ecosystem markets in operation or close to market in Europe, based on qualitative analysis of 25 interviews, scheme documentation and two focus groups. Our results indicate three distinct types of markets operating from the regional to national scale, with different modes of operation, funding and outcomes: regional ecosystem markets, national carbon markets and green finance. The typology provides new insights into the operation of ecosystem markets in practice, which may challenge traditionally held notions of Payment for Ecosystem Services. Regional ecosystem markets, in particular, represent a departure from traditional models, by using a risk-based funding model and aggregating both supply and demand to overcome issues of free-riding, ecosystem service trade-offs and land manager engagement. Central to all types of market were trusted intermediaries, brokers and platforms to aggregate supply and demand, build trust and lower transaction costs. The paper outlines six options for blending public and private funding for the provision of ecosystem services and proposes a framework for integrating national carbon markets and green finance with regional ecosystem markets. Such integration may significantly increase funding for regenerative agriculture and conservation across multiple habitats and services, whilst addressing issues of additionality and ecosystem service trade-offs between multiple schemes.

An approach for evaluating the economic impacts of harmful algal blooms: The effects of blooms of toxic Dinophysis spp. on the productivity of Scottish shellfish farms.

Shellfish production is an important activity for the economy of many countries. As well as its direct value, it helps to stabilize communities in rural areas characterized by limited job opportunities. It is also important for consumers who recognize shellfish as a healthy product that gains its nutrition from natural plankton without the need for fertilizers, chemical treatments or other anthropogenic intervention typical of terrestrial agriculture or other marine aquaculture. Nevertheless, global shellfish fisheries are under threat from harmful algal blooms (HABs) and related biotoxins, whose production is potentially exacerbated by global changes. This research provides evidence of economic impacts on Scottish shellfish farms in the last 10 years caused by HABs and their associated biotoxins. In contrast to previous approaches that have focused on variation in production as a function of temporal trends and blooms events, we use a production function approach to show which input factors (labour, capital, climate variables, concentration of biotoxins) have an effect on production. Results show that diarrhoetic shellfish toxins produced by the genera Dinophysis are most significant. A 1% change in the production of these biotoxins reduces shellfish production by 0.66%, with an average yearly negative variation in production of 15% (1,080 ton) and an economic loss (turnover) of  £ (GBP) 1.37 m per year (in 2015 currency) over a national annual industry turnover of ~ £ 12 m. The production function approach is coupled with a multivariate time series model (VAR) capturing the statistical relationship between algal concentration, information on climatic variables and biotoxins to forecast the damage to shellfish production from HABs. This provides producers and regulators with the economic information to plan temporal and spatial mitigating measures necessary to limit damages to production by comparing the costs of these measures with the costs of lost production.

The interplay between economics, legislative power and social influence examined through a social-ecological framework for marine ecosystems services.

In the last 15 years, conservation has shifted increasingly towards perspectives based on the instrumental value of nature, where what counts is what provides benefits to humans. The ecosystem services framework embraces this vision of nature through monetary valuation of the environment to correct market failures and government distortions that hinder efficient allocation of public goods, including goods and services provided by biodiversity and ecosystems. The popularity of this approach is reflected in different countries legislation; for instance, US, EU and UK have introduced economic criteria for comparing costs and benefits of environmental policies in protecting ecosystem services. From an operational perspective, the ecosystem services framework requires ecologists to estimate how the supply of services is affected by changes in the functionality and/or the extent of ecosystems; and economists to identify how changes in the supply affect the flow of direct and indirect benefits to people. However, this approach may be simplistic when faced with the complexity of social-ecological systems. We investigated this for three different marine services: assimilative capacity of waste, coastal defense and renewable energy. We find that economic valuation could provide efficient and fair allocations in the case of assimilative capacity, but leads to social clashes between outputs generated by cost benefit analysis and citizens' expectation in the case of coastal defense. In the case of renewable energy, controversies can be generated by regulatory mechanisms that are not necessarily aligned with the interests of industry or important social groups. We conclude that there is a need to integrate perspectives arising from utilitarian allocation of resources with those involving legislation and communal values in order to reconcile conflicting interests and better sustain marine social-ecological systems.

Assessing the feasibility of carbon payments and Payments for Ecosystem Services to reduce livestock grazing pressure on saltmarshes.

Saltmarshes provide important services including flood control, climate regulation, and provisioning services when grazed by livestock for agriculture and conservation purposes. Grazing diminishes aboveground carbon, creating a trade-off between these two services. Furthermore, saltmarshes are threatened by overgrazing. To provide saltmarsh protection and ensure the continuing delivery of ecosystem services, there is a need to incentivise land managers to stock environmentally sensible densities. We therefore investigated the possibility of agri-environmental schemes and Payments for Ecosystem Services (PES) to compensate for lost livestock revenue under reduced grazing regimes and provide carbon sequestration and other benefits. This is the first study to consider the benefits arising from a potential carbon market to saltmarshes, although similar schemes exist for peatland and woodland. We calculated the net economic benefit (costs of livestock production are removed from revenue) to farmers obtained from a hectare of grazed saltmarsh under low (0.3 Livestock Units per hectare per year), moderate (0.6), high (1.0) and very high (2.0) stocking densities accounting for livestock revenue, carbon benefits, and agri-environmental subsidies. We repeated the procedure considering additional benefits transferred from the literature in terms of provisioning, regulating and cultural ecosystem services provided by protected saltmarshes. The net benefits were assessed for a range of market carbon prices and social costs of carbon, e.g. the opportunity cost of carbon for society. Applying the model to Scottish saltmarshes we find that the current range of market prices could prompt transitions from high to moderate regimes in areas where livestock value is low, however break-even prices for transitions showed high spatial variability due to spatial variability in livestock values. In some areas of the West Highlands, the break-even carbon price is negative, indicating that the current agri-environmental schemes are able to more than compensate for the lost revenue accruing to farmers by a reduced grazing density. However, in other areas, such as the Outer Hebrides, the break-even carbon price is positive. Private PES schemes or increased public subsidies should then be provided to generate net benefits. It is reasonable to infer that a pure carbon market may have limited scope in incentivising consumers to buy carbon services, especially in areas with limited local number of buyers and corporates of small size. Under this circumstance, a premium carbon market offering bundled ecosystem services may help reduce grazing pressure across a larger number of Scottish saltmarshes, thereby providing globally important climate regulation services and at the same time protecting sensitive habitats.

Enteric bacteria of food ice and their survival in alcoholic beverages and soft drinks.

This study aimed to evaluate the levels of enteric bacteria in ice cubes produced in different environments (home-made, prepared in bars and pubs with ice machines and produced in industrial plants) and to determine their survival in different alcoholic beverages and soft drinks. Members of the Enterobacteriaceae family were found in almost all samples analysed. All industrial and the majority of home-made samples did not contain coliforms. Enterococci were not identified in domestic samples while they were detected in two industrial and three bar/pub samples. The samples collected from bars and pubs were characterized by the highest levels of enteric bacteria. Fourteen strains representing 11 species of eight bacterial genera were identified, some of which are known agents of human infections. The most numerous groups included Enterococcus and Stenotrophomonas. The survival of Enterococcus faecium ICE41, Pantoea conspicua ICE80 and Stenotrophomonas maltophilia ICE272, that were detected at the highest levels (100-400 CFU/100 mL thawed ice) in the ice cubes, was tested in six drinks and beverages characterized by different levels of alcohol, CO2, pH and the presence of antibacterial ingredients. The results showed a species-specific behaviour and, in general, a reduction of the microbiological risks associated with ice after its transfer to alcoholic or carbonated beverages.

Secretion of novel SEL1L endogenous variants is promoted by ER stress/UPR via endosomes and shed vesicles in human cancer cells.

We describe here two novel endogenous variants of the human endoplasmic reticulum (ER) cargo receptor SEL1LA, designated p38 and p28. Biochemical and RNA interference studies in tumorigenic and non-tumorigenic cells indicate that p38 and p28 are N-terminal, ER-anchorless and more stable relative to the canonical transmembrane SEL1LA. P38 is expressed and constitutively secreted, with increase after ER stress, in the KMS11 myeloma line and in the breast cancer lines MCF7 and SKBr3, but not in the non-tumorigenic breast epithelial MCF10A line. P28 is detected only in the poorly differentiated SKBr3 cell line, where it is secreted after ER stress. Consistently with the presence of p38 and p28 in culture media, morphological studies of SKBr3 and KMS11 cells detect N-terminal SEL1L immunolabeling in secretory/degradative compartments and extracellularly-released membrane vesicles. Our findings suggest that the two new SEL1L variants are engaged in endosomal trafficking and secretion via vesicles, which could contribute to relieve ER stress in tumorigenic cells. P38 and p28 could therefore be relevant as diagnostic markers and/or therapeutic targets in cancer.

Functional characterization of two secreted SEL1L isoforms capable of exporting unassembled substrate.

SEL1L-A, a transmembrane glycoprotein residing in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER), is a component of the ER-associated degradation (ERAD) pathway. Alternative splicing generates two smaller SEL1L isoforms, -B and -C, that lack the SEL1L-A membrane-spanning region but retain some sel-1-like repeats, known to be involved in multi-protein interactions and signal transduction. In this study the functional characteristics of SEL1L-B and -C were investigated in human cell models. We show that these two isoforms are induced upon ER stress and activation of the unfolded protein response, together with SEL1L-A. Using transient transfection experiments (based on wild-type and mutant SEL1L constructs) combined with several biochemical tests we show that SEL1L-B and, more prominently, SEL1L-C are secreted glycoproteins. Although SEL1L-C is in monomeric form, SEL1L-B is engaged in intramolecular/intermolecular disulfide bonds. Both isoforms localize in secretory and degradative cellular compartments and in areas of cell-cell contact. However, whereas SEL1L-B is mainly associated with membranes, SEL1L-C shows the typical intralumenal localization of soluble proteins and is present in intercellular spaces. Furthermore, because of its peroxisomal domain, SEL1L-C localizes to peroxisomes. Both SEL1L-B and -C are involved in sorting and exporting unassembled Ig-mu(s) but do not affect two other ERAD substrates, the null Hong Kong variant of alpha(1)-antitrypsin, and mutant alpha(1)-AT Z. Overall these findings suggest that SEL1L-B and -C participate to novel molecular pathways that, in parallel with ERAD, contribute to the disposure of misfolded/unfolded or orphan proteins through degradation or secretion.

Autophagy in hematopoietic stem/progenitor cells exposed to heavy metals: Biological implications and toxicological relevance.

The inherent toxicity of many metal compounds, together with their widespread environmental distribution, raises concerns of potential health hazards. Little is known about the impact of these important environmental toxicants on adult stem/progenitor cells, necessary for tissue homeostasis and repair. We recently reported that autophagy is implicated in the response of hematopoietic stem/progenitor cells to toxic concentrations of hexavalent chromium (Cr[VI]) and cadmium (Cd), two well known carcinogenic heavy metal cations. Autophagy may lead to cell death if carried out too extensively, but also acts as a survival pathway in cells under stress. In stem/progenitor cells, an autophagic phenotype could mitigate metal-induced toxicity, contributing to the conservation of tissue renewal capability. Given the key role of toxic damage to adult stem/progenitor cells in cancer, it is necessary to investigate whether autophagic responses modulate the carcinogenic potential of exposure to heavy metals during stem/progenitor cell differentiation.

SEL1L and HRD1 are involved in the degradation of unassembled secretory Ig-mu chains.

When expressed in the absence of light chains, secretory Ig-micro chains (micro(s)) undergo endoplasmic reticulum associated degradation (ERAD). This process involves the recognition of terminally misfolded or unassembled molecules, their retro-translocation across the ER membrane and ubiquitination for degradation by cytosolic proteasomes. The molecular components of the ERAD pathway and their coordination remain largely unknown. Here we employed co-immunoprecipitation, silencing or over-expression assays to show that SEL1L and HRD1 are involved in the degradation of unassembled Ig-micro(s), but have minor effects on another substrate, TCR-alpha. SEL1L and HRD1 localize in the early secretory apparatus and are induced by ER stress and during B cell differentiation, concomitantly with the onset of massive IgM secretion. These findings reveal a role for SEL1L and HRD1 in IgM quality control.

Autophagy as an ultrastructural marker of heavy metal toxicity in human cord blood hematopoietic stem cells.

Stem cells are a key target of environmental toxicants, but little is known about their toxicological responses. We aimed at developing an in-vitro model based on adult human stem cells to identify biomarkers of heavy metal exposure. To this end we investigated the responses of human CD34+ hematopoietic progenitor cells to hexavalent chromium (Cr[VI]) and cadmium (Cd). Parallel cultures of CD34+ cells isolated from umbilical cord blood were exposed for 48 h to 0.1 microM and 10 microM Cr(VI) or Cd. Cultures treated with 10 microM Cr(VI) or Cd showed marked cell loss. Ultrastructural analysis of surviving cells revealed prominent autophagosomes/autophagolysosomes, which is diagnostic of autophagy, associated with mitochondrial damage and replication, dilatation of the rough endoplasmic reticulum and Golgi complex, cytoplasmic lipid droplets and chromatin condensation. Treated cells did not show the morphologic hallmarks of apoptosis. Treatment with 0.1 microM Cr(VI) or Cd did not result in cell loss, but at the ultrastructural level cells showed dilated endoplasmic reticulum and evidence of mitochondrial damage. We conclude that autophagy is implicated in the response of human hematopoietic stem cells to toxic concentrations of Cr(VI) and Cd. Autophagy, which mediates cell survival and death under stress, deserves further evaluation to be established as biomarker of metal exposure.