The BEC Group develops and applies state-of-the art ecological knowledge, methods, and tools to understand ecosystem functioning, biodiversity change, and feedbacks in coupled social-economic-ecological systems. We use this knowledge to develop management options to achieve biodiversity and sustainability goals
The BEC group is the institute’s hub of applied ecology and conservation research. The group provides the needed ecological and conservation insights to help IIASA promote institutional, demographic, behavioral, technological, social, and economic changes that achieve development goals sustainably.
The group’s key research areas include:
- Ecological responses to natural and anthropogenic drivers of change, for example, land and water management and climate change.
- How to prioritize conservation efforts to maximize positive impacts at scales from local to global (e.g., habitat restoration and conservation, and species management plans).
- How species and ecosystems contribute to selected ecosystem services and human wellbeing.
Models, tools, datasets
Projects
Staff
News
![Route of the waterfalls with 14 waterfalls in corupa one of the last areas of the Atlantic forest in Brazil.](/sites/default/files/styles/thumbnail/public/2024-08/dreamstime_m_126980077.jpg?itok=4FXhLtVH)
22 August 2024
Meeting ambitious restoration targets in Brazil’s Atlantic Forest
![Tropical forest](/sites/default/files/styles/thumbnail/public/2024-08/dreamstime_m_305002797.jpg?itok=WNrTwdQf)
12 August 2024
RESIST updates
![Dehydrated earth or farmland with corn plant struggling for life in dry cracked earth.](/sites/default/files/styles/thumbnail/public/2024-04/dreamstime_m_15065652.jpg?itok=IbeULLuQ)
25 April 2024
Climate change could become the main driver of biodiversity decline by mid-century
Events
Focus
![Butterfly on a pink flower](/sites/default/files/styles/thumbnail/public/2024-07/dreamstime_m_3153536.jpg?itok=JngkDAw7)
17 July 2024
Biodiversity lessons from nature
IIASA researchers Silvia Artuso and Juliette Martin reflect on a recent workshop presented at the Institute as part of the IIASA School Engagement Initiative, during which they introduced students to systems analysis and took them on an adventure to explore the amazing biodiversity of Laxenburg park.
27 June 2024
fairSTREAM
![fairSTREAM](/sites/default/files/styles/thumbnail/public/2024-06/Logo_fairSTREAM_long-01.png?itok=cUkON0Vc)
Publications
Escobar Lanzuela, N. , Seber, G., Skalský, R. , Wögerer, M., Jung, M., & Malina, R. (2024). Spatially-explicit land use change emissions and carbon payback times of biofuels under the carbon offsetting and reduction scheme for international aviation. Science of the Total Environment 948 e174635. 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.174635. Chaplin-Kramer, R., Polasky, S., Alkemade, R., Burgess, N., Cheung, W., Fetzer, I., Harfoot, M., Hertel, T., Hill, S., Andrew Johnson, J., Janse, J., José v. Jeetze, P., Kim, H., Kuiper, J., Lonsdorf, E., Leclere, D., Mulligan, M., Peterson, G., Popp, A., Roe, S., Schipper, A., Snäll, T., van Soesbergen, A., Soterroni, A., Stehfest, E., van Vuuren, D., Visconti, P., Wang-Erlandsson, L., Wells, G., & Pereira, H. (2024). Integrated modeling of nature’s role in human well-being: A research agenda. Global Environmental Change 88 e102891. 10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2024.102891. Martin, J. , Kanade, R., Bhadbhade, N., Joy, K.J., Thomas, B.K., Willaarts, B. , & Hanger-Kopp, S. (2024). Review of the food, water and biodiversity nexus in India. Environmental Science & Policy 159 e103826. 10.1016/j.envsci.2024.103826. Cazalis, V., Di Marco, M., Zizka, A., Butchart, S.H.M., González-Suárez, M., Böhm, M., Bachman, S.P., Hoffmann, M., Rosati, I., De Leo, F., Jung, M., Benítez-López, A., Clausnitzer, V., Cardoso, P., Brooks, T.M., Mancini, G., Lucas, P.M., Young, B.E., Akçakaya, H.R., Schipper, A.M., Hilton-Taylor, C., Pacifici, M., Meyer, C., & Santini, L. (2024). Accelerating and standardising IUCN Red List assessments with sRedList. Biological Conservation 298 e110761. 10.1016/j.biocon.2024.110761. Gopalakrishna, T., Visconti, P., Lomax, G., Boere, E., Malhi, Y., Roy, P.S., Joshi, P.K., Fedele, G., & Yowargana, P. (2024). Optimizing restoration: A holistic spatial approach to deliver Nature’s Contributions to People with minimal tradeoffs and maximal equity. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 121 (34) e2402970121. 10.1073/pnas.2402970121. Wayman, J., Sadler, J., Martin, T., Graham, L., White, H., Tobias, J., & Matthews, T. (2024). Unravelling the complexities of biotic homogenization and heterogenization in the British avifauna. Journal of Animal Ecology 10.1111/1365-2656.14145. (In Press) Shennan-Farpón, Y., Soterroni, A., Scarabello, M., & Visconti, P. (2024). Using policy scenarios to assess challenges and opportunities for reaching restoration targets in Brazil’s Atlantic Forest. Environmental Research Letters 19 (8) e084036. 10.1088/1748-9326/ad5ab2. Boakes, E.H., Dalin, C., Etard, A., & Newbold, T. (2024). Impacts of the global food system on terrestrial biodiversity from land use and climate change. Nature Communications 15 (1) e5750. 10.1038/s41467-024-49999-z. Moersberger, H., Valdez, J., Martin, J.G.C. , Junker, J., Georgieva, I. , Bauer, S., Beja, P., Breeze, T.D., Fernandez, M., Fernández, N., Brotons, L., Jandt, U., Bruelheide, H., Kissling, W.D., Langer, C., Liquete, C., Lumbierres, M., Solheim, A.L., Maes, J., Morán‐Ordóñez, A., Moreira, F., Pe'er, G., Santana, J., Shamoun‐Baranes, J., Smets, B., Capinha, C., McCallum, I. , Pereira, H.M., & Bonn, A. (2024). Biodiversity monitoring in Europe: User and policy needs. Conservation Letters e13038. 10.1111/conl.13038. Hansda, P., Kumar, S., Singh, S., & Garkoti, S.C. (2024). Assessing the influence of invasion of Lantana camara on vegetation attributes and soil properties across varied disturbance gradients in semi-arid forests of Aravali hills, Delhi. Plant Ecology 10.1007/s11258-024-01441-6.