This page provides a list of plain language summaries of some recent CEE Evidence Syntheses. If a plain language summary has been produced you can also find it on the completed review page alongside the review itself.

Existing evidence on the impact of changes in marine ecosystem structure and functioning on ecosystem service delivery: a systematic map

Carole Sylvie Campagne, Laurie-Anne Roy, Joseph Langridge, Joachim Claudet, Rémi Mongruel, Damien Beillouin & Éric Thiébaut.  Existing evidence on the impact of changes in marine ecosystem structure and functioning on ecosystem service delivery: a systematic map

The scope and extent of literature that maps threats to species globally: a systematic map

Francesca A. Ridley, Emily J. Hickinbotham, Andrew J. Suggitt, Philip J. K. McGowan & Louise Mair. The scope and extent of literature that maps threats to species globally: a systematic map

Effects of artificial light on bird movement and distribution: a systematic map

Carrie Ann Adams, Esteban Fernández-Juricic, Erin Michael Bayne & Colleen Cassady St. Clair. Effects of artificial light on bird movement and distribution: a systematic map

On-site communication measures as a tool in outdoor recreation management: a systematic map

Sofie Kjendlie Selvaag, Rose Keller, Øystein Aas, Vegard Gundersen & Frode Thomassen Singsaas. On-site communication measures as a tool in outdoor recreation management: a systematic map

Climate change and the global redistribution of biodiversity: substantial variation in empirical support for expected range shifts

Madeleine A. Rubenstein, Sarah R. Weiskopf, Romain Bertrand, Shawn L. Carter, Lise Comte, Mitchell J. Eaton, Ciara G. Johnson, Jonathan Lenoir, Abigail J. Lynch, Brian W. Miller, Toni Lyn Morelli, Mari Angel Rodriguez, Adam Terando & Laura M. Thompson. Climate change and the global redistribution of biodiversity: substantial variation in empirical support for expected range shifts.

What evidence exists on the impact of anthropogenic radiofrequency electromagnetic fields on animals and plants in the environment: a systematic map

Ken Karipidis, Chris Brzozek, Rohan Mate, Chhavi Raj Bhatt, Sarah Loughran & Andrew W Wood. What evidence exists on the impact of anthropogenic radiofrequency electromagnetic fields on animals and plants in the environment: a systematic map.

Identifying the most effective behavioural assays and predator cues for quantifying anti-predator responses in mammals: a systematic review

Natasha D. Harrison, Rochelle Steven, Ben L. Phillips, Jan M. Hemmi, Adrian F. Wayne & Nicola J. Mitchell. Identifying the most effective behavioural assays and predator cues for quantifying anti-predator responses in mammals: a systematic review.

What are the toxicity thresholds of chemical pollutants for tropical reef-building corals? A systematic review

Dakis-Yaoba Ouédraogo, Hugo Mell, Olivier Perceval, Karen Burga, Isabelle Domart-Coulon, Laetitia Hédouin, Mathilde Delaunay, Mireille M. M. Guillaume, Magalie Castelin, Christophe Calvayrac, Odile Kerkhof, Romain Sordello, Yorick Reyjol & Christine Ferrier-Pagès. What are the toxicity thresholds of chemical pollutants for tropical reef-building corals? A systematic review.

Existing evidence on antibiotic resistance exposure and transmission to humans from the environment: a systematic map

Isobel Catherine Stanton, Alison Bethel, Anne Frances Clare Leonard, William Hugo Gaze & Ruth Garside. Existing evidence on antibiotic resistance exposure and transmission to humans from the environment: a systematic map.

Existing evidence on the outcomes of wildlife translocations in protected areas: a systematic map

Joseph Langridge, Romain Sordello & Yorick Reyjol. Existing evidence on the outcomes of wildlife translocations in protected areas: a systematic map.

Evidence for the impacts of agroforestry on ecosystem services and human well-being in high-income countries: a systematic map

Sarah E. Castle, Daniel C. Miller, Nikolas Merten, Pablo J. Ordonez & Kathy Baylis. Evidence for the impacts of agroforestry on ecosystem services and human well-being in high-income countries: a systematic map.

 

Scientific evidence of sustainable plant disease protection strategies for oats in Sweden: a systematic map

Elisa Vilvert, Åke Olson, Ann-Charlotte Wallenhammar, Jonas Törngren & Anna Berlin. Scientific evidence of sustainable plant disease protection strategies for oats in Sweden: a systematic map.

 

Evidence for the effects of decommissioning man-made structures on marine ecosystems globally: a systematic map.

Anaëlle J. Lemasson, Paul J. Somerfield, Michaela Schratzberger, Caroline Louise McNeill, Joana Nunes, Christine Pascoe, Stephen C. L. Watson, Murray S. A. Thompson, Elena Couce & Antony M. Knights. Evidence for the effects of decommissioning man-made structures on marine ecosystems globally: a systematic map

 

Effects on groundwater storage of restoring, constructing or draining wetlands in temperate and boreal climates: a systematic review

Arvid Bring, Josefin Thorslund, Lars Rosén, Karin Tonderski, Charlotte Åberg, Ida Envall & Hjalmar Laudon. Effects on groundwater storage of restoring, constructing or draining wetlands in temperate and boreal climates: a systematic review

 

How do changes in flow magnitude due to hydropower operations affect fish abundance and biomass in temperate regions? A systematic review

Meagan Harper, Trina Rytwinski, Jessica J. Taylor, Joseph R. Bennett, Karen E. Smokorowski, Julian D. Olden, Keith D. Clarke, Tom Pratt, Neil Fisher, Alf Leake & Steven J. Cooke How do changes in flow magnitude due to hydropower operations affect fish abundance and biomass in temperate regions? A systematic review

 

Does the growing of Bt maize change abundance or ecological function of non-target animals compared to the growing of non-GM maize? A systematic review

Michael Meissle, Steven E. Naranjo & Jörg Romeis. Does the growing of Bt maize change abundance or ecological function of non-target animals compared to the growing of non-GM maize? A systematic review

 

Evidence on the impact of Baltic Sea ecosystems on human health and well-being: a systematic map

Storie, J., Suškevičs, M., Nevzati, F., Külvik, M., Kuhn, T., Burkhard, B., Vikström, S., Lehtoranta, V., Riikonen, S., Oinonen, S. Evidence on the impact of Baltic Sea ecosystems on human health and well-being: A systematic map.

Response of chlorophyll a to total nitrogen and total phosphorus concentrations in lotic ecosystems: a systematic review

Bennett, M. G., Lee, S. S., Schofield, K. A., Ridley, C. E., Washington, B. J. & Gibbs, A. A.

Chlorophyll from algae and cyanobacteria increase with increasing total nitrogen and total phosphorus in streams and rivers.

Evidence on the impacts of chemicals arising from human activity on tropical reef-building corals; a systematic map

Ouédraogo, D., Delaunay, M., Sordello, R., Hédouin, L., Castelin, M., Perceval, O., Domart-Coulon, I., Burga, K., Ferrier-Pagès, C., Multon, R., Guillaume, M. M. M., Léger, C., Calvayrac, C., Joannot, P., Reyjol, Y.

Evidence for impacts of individual chemicals on tropical reef- building corals is generally available but experimental studies on combined effects of more than two chemical categories are completely absent.

Herbivory research does not cover a sufficient range of environmental variation in the Arctic to estimate herbivore impacts on vegetation

Soininen, E.M., Barrio, I.C., Bjørkås, R., Björnsdóttir, K., Ehrich, D., Hopping, K.A., Kaarlejärvi, E., Kolstad, A.L., Abdulmanova, S., Björk, R.G.,, Bueno, C.G., Eischeid, I.,, Finger-Higgens, R., Forbey, J.S., Gignac, C., Gilg, O.,, den Herder, M., Holm, H.S., Hwang, B.C., Jepsen, J.U., Kamenova, S.,, Kater, I., Koltz, A.M.,, Kristensen, J.A.,, Little, C.J., Macek, P.,, Mathisen, K.M., Metcalfe, D.B.,, Mosbacher, J.B., Mörsdorf, M., Park, T.,, Propster, J.R.,, Roberts, A.J., Serrano, E., Spiegel, M.P., Tamayo, M., Tuomi, M.W., Verma, M., Vuorinen, K.E.M., Väisänen, M., van der Wal, R., Wilcots, M.E., Yoccoz, N.G., Speed, J. D.

The effects of herbivores on vegetation may depend on climatic and ecological context. Research on the impacts of herbivores on arctic vegetation is concentrated in those parts of the Arctic that are warmer, wetter, near the coast, and that have experienced a moderate increase in temperature. The current evidence base might therefore provide an incomplete picture of the effects of herbivores on arctic vegetation throughout the region.

Urban green areas are cooler and have lower concentrations of nitrogen oxides air pollution than non-green areas, but this varies according to type and extent of vegetation

Teri Knight, Sian Price, Diana Bowler, Amy Hookway, Sian King, Ko Konno, Raja Lorena Richter

In summer, urban green areas, including parks, gardens, green roofs and walls, can be cooler than urban areas without vegetation. The magnitude of the cooling effect depends on factors such as the nature of park vegetation or green roof water level. Park cooling effects can extend up to roughly 1 km from the park edge. Nitrogen dioxide (NO2) concentrations can be lower under or within tree canopies compared with open areas but this effect varies across tree species. Vegetated urban spaces, especially areas with trees, have the potential to provide public health benefits in terms of improved thermal comfort and air quality.

Research of crop yields under low-inputs should be reprioritised to ensure the assessment of integrated interventions

Fanny Tran, Jonathan E. Holland, Nora Quesada, Mark Young, Damian Bienkowski, Dimitrios Savvas, Andrea Schubert, Georgia Ntatsi, Philip J. White, Graham S. Begg and Pietro P. M. Iannetta

Using tomato as an example crop, this work reviewed approaches tested in-field to improve or maintain yield under conditions where water-, nitrogen- and/or phosphorus-use was reduced. Such reductions are a demand of future- agriculture, which must become more environmentally sensitive. The review demonstrated that there is a lack of studies assessing tomato crop yield responses to integrated interventions and various key-resource deficits at the same time. This highlighted the need to reprioritise research and development efforts globally to ensure multiple interventions and resource deficits are assessed simultaneously to optimise resource use and crop production, whilst minimising environmental burdens.

Small, protected habitat patches within boreal production forests contribute to biodiversity conservation

Matti Häkkilä, Anna Johansson, Terhi Sandgren, Anne Uusitalo, Mikko Mönkkönen, Pasi Puttonen & Sini Savilaakso

Small, protected habitat patches have a higher number of species and more deadwood than surrounding production forest areas although the number of individuals is similar. They have a similar number of species and individuals and deadwood volume compared to natural forests. However, species assemblages in small, protected habitat patches differ from both natural and production forests, which means they are not a substitute for larger protected areas.

Habitat preferences determine species’ response to forest management in boreal production forests of Fennoscandia and European Russia

Savilaakso, S., Johansson, A., Häkkilä, M., Uusitalo, A., Sandgren, T., Mönkkönen, M., & Puttonen, P.

Habitat preferences determine species’ response to forest management in boreal production forests of Fennoscandia and European Russia. Uneven-aged forest management shows a strong positive effect on species richness of forest dependent species when compared to even-aged forests less than 80 years old. A similar effect is noticed when young even-aged forests are compared to mature (>80 years old) even-aged forests. In young even-aged forests and forests having undergone retention harvest, open habitat species and their individuals are more numerous. Natural forests have overall more species than even-aged forests, especially forest dependent species, but have a similar number of species than uneven-aged forests.

Struvite precipitation is an effective technology for nutrient recovery from anaerobic digestate, while there is limited evidence to conclude the effectiveness of ammonia stripping

Dag Lorick, Biljana Macura, Marcus Ahlström, Anders Grimvall & Robin Harder

Struvite precipitation was found to be an effective technology for nutrient recovery from the liquid phase of anaerobic digestate. The precipitation process is most efficient at a pH of around 9.5 and higher molar ratio of magnesium to phosphate (up to 4:1) in liquid phase of anaerobic digestate. These conditions have a positive effect on phosphorus removal. The evidence base for ammonia stripping was limited and therefore no conclusive results about appropriate conditions for the most efficient nitrogen extraction could be made.