F1000's recommended open research reading for COP28  - F1000
F1000’s recommended open research reading for COP28 

F1000’s recommended open research reading for COP28 

Continuing on from last year’s F1000 editor and publisher top picks of articles which help confront or tackle the climate crisis across geographic, economic, and disciplinary boundaries, we have highlighted three more recommendations as we look ahead to COP28 at the end of November.  

These articles have been recommended by F1000’s dedicated and expert Content Acquisition Team, with a focus on the dual and connected challenges of climate crisis and threats to biodiversity. 

New picks for 2023 

  1. COPO – Managing sample metadata for biodiversity: considerations from the Darwin Tree of Life project  

In this Open Letter, the authors discuss their recommendations for a standardised metadata framework in relation to a key biodiversity research project, the Darwin Tree of Life, an ambitious 10-year project with the goal of sequencing all 66,000 described species in Britain and Ireland. The project aims to contribute to conservation efforts to mitigate against the effects of climate change. And in the spirit of Open Research, the authors have made all their manifests and standard operating procedure documents openly available.  

 Recommended by Maxine Dillon, Content Acquisition Editor. This Open Letter is published on Wellcome Open Research.  

  1. Evaluating community-wide temporal sampling in passive acoustic monitoring: A comprehensive study of avian vocal patterns in subtropical montane forests  

This Research Article focuses on designing more effective Passive Acoustic Monitoring sampling methods. Passive Acoustic Monitoring is a method where microphones are stashed within a particular area and then they record for a period of time the sounds of the forest (or other environments). This can then be analysed using machine learning and other methods to automatically assign the species to the call (e.g., species of bird). This data is then used to inform us on the species within a given location, or even how biodiverse a location is. While this article focuses on improving methodology to ensure community composition is captured more effectively, it is also a novel area of research that I think the public would find interesting. Generating new methods to measure the impacts of climate and environmental change on species composition is vital to identifying vulnerable species and ecologies. The blog section could explore the innovations going on in this field more generally, before focusing on the findings of this paper – the most effective times to conduct acoustic monitoring.  

Recommended by Callum Scott, Content Acquisition Editor. This Research Article is published on F1000Research.  

  1. Data management challenges for artificial intelligence in plant and agricultural research  

This Opinion Article highlights the crucial role of AI in advancing plant science. AI is a rapidly growing area of research and is particularly timely in the context of climate change and biodiversity. It emphasizes the importance of integrating diverse datasets from various scientific angles, addressing eight key data management challenges which are critical for the field’s advancement. Moreover, the paper advocates for systemic changes and proposes ambitious global projects to tackle climate and biodiversity concerns head-on. 

Recommended by Sarah Rehman, Content Acquisition Editor. This Opinion Article is published on F1000Research.  

F1000 Climate Change recommendations from 2022 

  1. System dynamic modelling of electricity planning and climate change in West Africa  

This Research Article demonstrated the use of system dynamic modelling to aid in resource planning in an inexpensive way to examine low carbon pathway. This was achieved without the cost of controlled trials.  

Recommended by Hannah Wilson, Senior Associate Publisher, and is published on Open Research Africa.  

  1. Climate change mitigation in food systems: the environmental and health impacts of shifting towards sustainable diets, a systematic review protocol  

This Study Protocol has synthesized the evidence of both empirical and modelling studies assessing the direct health outcomes (such as all-cause mortality and body mass index) as well as environmental impacts (greenhouse gas emissions, land use, water use etc.) of shifts towards sustainable diets.   

Recommended by Sheridan Willis, Senior Associate Publisher, and is published on Wellcome Open Research.   

  1. Crossover comparison of climate-change adaptation measures taken in the Gdansk (Baltic-sea) and Rotterdam (Nord-sea) deltas.  

This Research Article compares approaches to flooding in two delta areas in the northern part of Europe, Gdansk and Rotterdam, demonstrating the value of exchanging knowledge and experience in combatting climate change and developing resilience.  

  Recommended by Ruth Fisher, Content Acquisition Editor, and is published on Open Research Europe.  

  1. Physical activity promotion in the age of climate change  

This Opinion Article provides a first overview of interconnections between physical activity promotion and climate action, potential synergies and discrepancies, aiming to stimulate further discussion about this topic.  

  Recommended by Callum Scott, Content Acquisition Editor, and is published on F1000Research.  

  1. Towards an off-grid fecal sludge treatment unit: demonstrating energy positive thermal treatment  

This Research Article demonstrated that there is an excess of energy available and there are reliable mechanisms to generate electrical energy using fecal sludge treatment units.  

  Recommended by Hannah Wilson, Senior Associate Publisher, and is published on Gates Open Research.  

  1. Reconnecting with nature: Developing urban spaces in the age of climate change  

This Opinion Article tells the narrative of how urbanization has been disconnecting humans from nature. It explores how the resilience of urban spaces can be increased through the integration of nature-based solutions, the re-greening of neighborhoods and by correctly attributing value to natural capital.   

  Recommended by Rebecca Hinsley, Assistant Editor, and is published on Emerald Open Research.  

  1. Building a database for energy sufficiency policies  

In this Brief Report, the authors present almost 300 policy instruments clustered into relevant categories and publish them as an “Energy Sufficiency Policy Database”. This paper provides a description of the data clustering, the set-up of the database and an analysis of the policy instruments, providing a starting point for further research on sufficiency and climate change mitigation policies.  

  Recommended by Jack Brook, Associate Publisher, and is published on F1000Research.  

  1. A protocol for an observational cohort study of heat strain and its effect on fetal wellbeing in pregnant farmers in The Gambia  

This Study Protocol describes a study to assess the physiological response of pregnant women to environmental heat stress and the immediate effect this has on fetal wellbeing. This is particularly needed as climate change predictions indicate that global temperatures are likely to exceed those seen in the last 200,000 years, rising by around 4°C above pre-industrial levels by 2100.   

Recommended by Sheridan Willis, Senior Associate Publisher, and is published on Wellcome Open Research.   

  1. Functional genomic approaches to improve crop plant heat stress tolerance  

This Review discusses the potential of various functional genomic approaches, such as genome wide association studies, microarray, and suppression subtractive hybridization, in the process of discovering novel genes related to heat stress, and their functional validation using both reverse and forward genetic approaches. This review also discusses how these functionally validated genes can be used to improve heat stress tolerance through plant breeding, transgenics and genome editing approaches.  

  Recommended by Gearóid Ó Faoleán, Publisher, and is published on F1000Research.  

  1. Assessing the economic impact of climate change in the small-scale aquaculture industry of Ghana, West Africa  

Based on the findings, this Research Article concludes that; floods, rainfall temperature, and drought are the major climatic factors affecting the profitability and sustainability of the pond aquaculture industry. The preliminary recommendation is that there is an urgent need to map out flood-free zones close to perennial water bodies to overcome floods and droughts.    

Recommended by Hannah Wilson, Senior Associate Publisher, and is published on Open Research Africa.  

  

To view further research that enables evidence-based action on climate change, please visit the Climate Gateway on F1000Research.