With the right infrastructure, the forces threatening to destroy the world's trees could be their salvation. (Editorial) March 13, 2008

The management and conservation of the world's oceans require synthesis of spatial data on the distribution and intensity of human activities and the overlap of their impacts on marine ecosystems.

A common assumption is that ecosystem services respond linearly to changes in habitat size. This assumption leads frequently to an "all or none" choice of either preserving coastal habitats or converting them to human use. However, the researchers survey of wave attenuation data from field studies of mangroves, salt marshes, seagrass beds, nearshore coral reefs, and sand dunes reveals that these relationships are rarely linear.

Wetland management may be improved by evaluating nonlinear relationships of economic value and ecological services.

As a result of recent infrastructure failures the U.S. Senate passed the National Infrastructure Improvement Act (NIIA), which would create the National Commission on the Infrastructure and its ability to meet current and future demands. Such policy development coincides with ongoing efforts to manage and restore degraded ecosystems.

The forest biome of Amazonia is one of Earth's greatest biological treasures and a major component of the Earth system. This century, it faces the dual threats of deforestation and stress from climate change. In this article, the authors summarize some of the latest findings and thinking on these threats, explore the consequences for the forest ecosystem and its human residents, and outline options for the future of Amazonia.

This paper provides an overview of selected trends and conditions of ecosystem services, in particular, food production and impacts on the environment based on the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment. It then describes outcomes for future ecosystem services under alternative development pathways, with a focus on tradeoffs between food security and the environment, such as implications for fertilizer use, and the role of biofuels.