pieceboasting

"Itisinterestingtocontemplateanentangledbank,clothedwithmanyplantsofmanykinds,withbirdssingingonthebushes,withvariousinsectsflittingabout,andwithwormscrawlingthroughthedampearth.
"SoCharlesDarwinbeginstheconcludingparagraphofOntheOriginofSpecies,published150yearsagonextweek.
Byinvokingthisgentleimage,Darwinsoughttoemphasizehow"endlessformsmostbeautifulandmostwonderful"haveallevolvedthroughtheprocessofnaturalselection.
Werehealivetoday,Darwinwouldhavecausetobelessrhapsodic.
Themodernversionofhisbankmightwellbedominatedbyinvasiveshrubs,havingbeendenudedofmostnativeplantsbydeforestation,andnearbystreamswouldprobablybepollutedandfilledwithsedimentfromexcessrun-off.
Itishardlynewsthattherichpageantoflife,whichinspiredDarwinandhiswork,isnowsuffering.
AccordingtodatareleasedthismonthbytheInter-nationalUnionforConservationofNatureinitsRedListofThreatenedSpe-cies,one-fifthofmammalsandnearlyone-thirdofamphibiansarethreatenedwithextinction,andthesituationisnobetteramongplants:almostone-thirdofknowngymnosperms,thegroupthatincludesconifers,arethreatened.
Yetdespiteallthewarningsfromscientistsandenvironmentalists,nationshavedonelittlemorethanfretovertheprob-lem.
Althoughalmost200countrieshavepledgedthroughtheConventiononBio-logicalDiversitytosignificantlyreducetherateofbiodiversitylossbynextyear,leadersofthateffortacknowledgenotonlythattheworldwillcomeupshortofthistarget,butalsothatitwasbasicallyunachievablefromthestartandthatitrepresentedmoreofapoliticalstatement(seepage263).
Thisweek,Natureendsitsyear-longcelebrationofDarwin(www.
nature.
com/darwin)byexaminingsomeofthemostpressingissuesconcerningthelossofbiodiversity,aswellaswaystoaddresstheproblem.
Thefactthatupperlevelsofgovernmentarebeginningtofocustheirattentiononthebiodiversitycrisisgivessomecauseforoptimism.
Forexample,theUnitedNationsGeneralAssemblyhasnamed2010astheInternationalYearofBiodiversity,withameetingscheduledinNewYorknextSeptemberatwhichheadsofstatewilltakeuptheissue.
Thefollowingmonth,partiestothebiodiversityconventionwillgatherinNagoya,Japan,todevelopspe-cificandverifiablebiodiversitytargetsfornationsoverthecomingdecades.
Thesemeetingsgivecountriesanincentivetostartprotectingvitalecosystemsduringthenext11monthssothattheycanheadtotheNagoyasummitboastingofsuccess.
Thereisgrowingrecognitionthatdiverseecosystemscanprovidesub-stantialeconomicbenefits—aconceptknownasecosystemservices—whichhasstrengthenedsupportforconserva-tioninthebusinessandpoliticalcom-munities.
TheNewsFeatureonpage270profilesecologistGretchenDailyofStanfordUniversityinPaloAlto,Cali-fornia,anadvocateofthisconceptwhohelpedittoemergeasamajorideainconservation.
Anotherarticle(page266)showsthisconceptinactioninBrazil,whereithashelpedtopreservetheremainingpatchesofthespecies-richAtlanticforest.
AndinanOpinionpiece(page277),theleaderofaninter-nationalstudy,knownastheEconomicsofEcosystemsandBiodiversity(TEEB)project,arguesthatgovernmentsmustputtaxesandbenefitsinplacetoprotectnature's'publicgoods'.
Justlastweek,theTEEBprojectannouncedinitialresultssuggestingthatinvestmentsinconserva-tioncanreapeconomicbenefitsthatfarexceedtheinitialoutlay.
ThesituationinBrazilisagoodexam-ple.
Preservingpatchesofforesthasnotonlyhelpedthegoldenliontamarintosurvive,buthasalsohelpedtoprovidecleanwater,floodcontrolandothereco-nomicbenefitstonearbycommunities.
These'win–win'situationsarenaturalstartingpointsforconservationeffortsbecausetheyareeasilysoldtopoliticiansandotherstakeholders.
ClimatechangewillplacenewstressesonalreadyweakenedecosystemsbutitcanalsopresentpoliticalandeconomicTheentangledbankunravelsThisthirdspecialissueinNature'syear-longcelebrationofCharlesDarwinfocusesonthedirechallengestoEarth'sbiodiversity—andfindssomereasonforhope.
251www.
nature.
com/natureVol462|Issueno.
7271|19November2009BiodiversityEDITORIAL251TheentangledbankunravelsNEWS263EffortstosustainbiodiversityfallshortNatashaGilbertNEWSFEATURES266Biodiversity'sbrightspotGeneRusso270PuttingapriceonnatureEmmaMarris272OntheoriginofbarcodesNickLaneOPINION277CostingtheEarthPavanSukhdev278AforcetofightglobalwarmingWillR.
Turner,MichaelOppenheimer&DavidS.
Wilcove280LetthelocalsleadRobertJ.
Smith282AcalltothecustodiansofdeeptimeDouglasErwinBOOKS&ARTS287LogoflifebeneaththewavesMarkSchropeForpodcastandmoreonlineextrasseewww.
nature.
com/darwin2009MacmillanPublishersLimited.
Allrightsreservedopportunities.
Oneexampleisastrategyknownasreducingemissionsfromdeforestationandforestdegradation(REDD).
Accordingtoesti-matesbytheIntergovernmentalPanelonClimateChange,theclear-ingofforestsaccountsforapproximatelyone-fifthofgreenhouse-gasemissionsbyhumans.
Thus,stoppingdeforestationcouldbearelativelycheapandeffectivewaytoreduceemissionsandslowtherateofglobalwarming.
Atthesametime,argueWillTurnerandhiscolleaguesinanOpinionpieceonpage278,effortstopreservenaturalecosystemscanhelptoamelioratesomeoftheeffectsofclimatechange.
Theinterna-tionalclimatetreatycurrentlyundernegotiationislikelytoincludeaREDDmechanismthatwouldprovidefundstotropicalcountriestosavetheirforests,amovethatwouldhelptomitigateclimatechangeandsustainbiodiversity.
Althoughecosystemdegradationlookssettoincreaseinthefutureasaresultofclimatechange,thebiggestthreattobiodiversitytodayistherapiddisappearanceofhabitats.
Atpresent,onlyaround14%oflandsurfaceandlessthan6%ofterritorialseasareprotectedworld-wide.
Yetsuchareashelptosupportnearlyone-sixthoftheworld'spopulation,accordingtotheTEEBstudy.
Asnationslookbeyondthelikelyfailureofthe2010biodiversitytarget,theyshouldcommittoplacingmoreareasunderprotection.
Itwillbecrucialtoselectvaluablesitesthatharbourthespeciesthataremostthreatened.
Thewealthiestsectorsofsocietytendtobethemostremovedfromnature,whereastheworld'spoorestpeoplerelyheavilyonthefruitsofdiverseecosystems.
Asaresult,caremustbetakentoensurethatconserva-tioninitiativesdonotcomeattheexpenseofpeople,particularlyindigenouscommunitiesthatcanbeindirectlyharmedwhenlandissuddenlysetaside.
AccessdeniedInformation-sharingresourcesareessentialtobiologistsanddeserveinternationalsupport.
Everyweekday,thousandsofresearchersaroundtheworldaccesstheArabidopsisInformationResource(TAIR),whichcontainsthemostreliableandup-to-dategenomicinformationavailableonthemostwidelyusedmodelorganismintheplantkingdom.
Butnow,tothoseusers'horror,TAIRfacescollapse:theUSNationalScienceFoundation(NSF)isphasingoutfundingafter10yearsasthedataresource'ssolesupporter(seepage258).
TAIR'splightisemblematicofabroadercrisisfacingmanyoftheworld'sbiologicaldatabasesandrepositories.
Researchfundingagen-ciesrecognizethatsuchinfrastructuresarecrucialtotheongoingconductofscience,yetfewarewillingtofinancethemindefinitely.
Suchagenciestendtosupporttheseresourcesduringthedevelop-mentphase,butthenexpectthemtofindsustainablefundingelse-where.
Unfortunately,thatisnoteasy.
Otherfundingagenciesarenomorelikelytoprovidelong-termsupportthantheagencythatlaunchedtheresourceinthefirstplace.
Moreover,anygovernmentagency'slong-termplansarevulnerabletoshort-termpoliticalexpediency.
Witness,forexample,Japan,wherethenewgovernmenthasslashedthebudgetoftheRIKENBioResourceCentrebyone-third(seepage258).
Privatefirmsareequallypoorbets.
Advertisingandsponsorshipareunlikelytobringinenoughmoneytopaytheexpertsneededtomaintainsuchresources.
AndthesuperficiallyplausibleideaofchargingsubscriptionfeesiseffectivelyunworkableforfacilitiessuchasTAIR,becausetheproducersandconsumersofdataareessentiallythesamecommunity.
Scientistsprovidedataandresourcesforfree,becausesharingbenefitseveryone.
However,theywouldbeconsid-erablylesslikelytodepositthefruitsoftheirlabourifthissynergywasremovedfromtheequation.
Subscription-baseddatabasesandresourceswouldthenenteradownwardspiral,becominglessandlesscompleteandsolessandlessvaluable.
Theproblemisacuteevenformodestresources.
TwoexamplesarethekidneydatabaseEuReGeneandthemouse-embryodatabaseEURExpress,bothofwhichwerelaunchedwithfundsfromtheEuro-peanCommissionthathaverunoutinrecentmonths.
Thedatabasesarecurrentlybeingmaintainedonahand-to-mouthbasis,andthescientistswhobuiltthemdon'tknowwheretoturnformaintenancemoney.
YettheEuropeanCommission'sinvestmentwillhavebeenwastedifthedatabasesdisappear.
Itistimeforawholenewapproach.
Front-linebiologycannotfunctionwithouttheseresources,sosolutionsmustbefoundatbothnationalandinternationallevels.
Governmentsmustensurethatatleastoneoftheirnationalfund-ingagencieshasmoneyspecificallysetasideforthelong-termsup-portofbioresourceinfrastructures.
AgoodmodeltoemulatewouldbetheUnitedKingdom'sBiotechnologyandBiologicalSciencesResearchCoun-cil,whichallowsdatabasesandothersuchresourcestoapplyforring-fencedfunding,savingthemfromhavingtocompetewithhypothesis-drivengrants,whicharetheagencies'mainstay.
Butactionisalsoneededontheinternationalfront.
Thesharingofbioresourcesdoesnotandshouldnotstopatnationalborders.
Forexample,onlyaboutaquarterofTAIRusersarebasedintheUnitedStates.
Chinaisthesecondbiggestuserataround12%,fol-lowedbyJapanataround10%.
Thisisnotatypical.
Yetitisdifficultforasinglenationalagencytojustifymaintainingaresourcefortherestoftheworld.
Whatisrequiredisaninternationalcost-sharingorganizationthatcouldfundcompetitivelyselectedinfrastructures,largeandsmall.
TheEuropeanCommissionhasmadeagoodstartwithprojectssuchasELIXIR(EuropeanLifeSciencesInfrastructureforBiologicalInformation),whichisstudyingwaysofsteeringnationalagenciestowardsthejointfundingofbioresources.
Aglobal,ELIXIR-likeini-tiativeisurgentlyneeded,runperhapsbyaninternational,relativelyunbureaucraticorganizationsuchastheHumanFrontierScienceProgram.
Butaninternationalsolutionmaybealongtimecoming.
Inthemeantime,bioresourceinfrastructuresmightbewisetoinvestsometimeinpublicrelations,givingpaymastersagreaterunderstandingoftheconsequencesoftheirdecisions.
"Thesharingofbioresourcesdoesnotandshouldnotstopatnationalborders.
"252NATURE|Vol462|19November2009EDITORIALS2009MacmillanPublishersLimited.
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