Variation in reproductive life-history traits of Chinese Bulbuls(Pycnonotus sinensis)along the urbanization gradient in Hangzhou,China

Urbanization brings new selection pressures to wildlife living in cities,and changes in the life-history traits of urban species can reflect their responses to such pressures.To date,most of the studies investigating the impacts of urbanization on avian life-history traits are conducted in Europe and North America,while such studies are often lacking in quickly developing countries in Asia(e.g.,China).In this study,we examined the variations in reproductive life-history traits of Chinese Bulbuls(Pycnonotus sinensis)along the urbanization gradient in Hangzhou,China.We detected 234 natural nests of Chinese Bulbuls and continuously monitored them in two continuous breeding seasons from 2012 to 2013.We collected data on seven life-history traits(laying date,incubation period,nestling period,clutch size,egg volume,hatching success rate,and fledging success rate).We used infrared cameras to record the number of feedings per hour as the measure of food resources for the nestlings.We measured nest predation pressure by monitoring 148 natural breeding nests during breeding seasons and 54 artificial nests immediately after breeding seasons.We then calculated the urbanization synthetic index(USI)as a measure of the level of urbanization and examined its relationship with the seven life-history traits.We found that Chinese Bulbuls laid eggs significantly earlier with increasing USI.However,the other six life-history traits did not vary significantly with the USI.Moreover,the feeding frequency of chicks increased significantly with the USI,but the nest predation pressure of Chinese Bulbuls decreased significantly with the USI.Increased food resources and reduced nest predation pressure in cities may lead to earlier laying date of Chinese Bulbuls.Further study should test whether the earlier laying date of Chinese Bulbuls is the result of phenotypic plasticity or genetic change.

Application of Remote Sensing and Geographic Information System to Elaborate UQI （Urban Quality Index）： A Case of Casablanca, Morocco

The urban environmental quality remains currently difficult to be assessed because of overlapping of several natural and anthropogenic factors having socio-economic and environmental outstanding impacts. The fast developing and uncontrolled urbanization is behind the development of some negative side effects on the urban environment. Many studies demonstrate the ability of remote sensing and GIS （geographic information system） to monitor urban environment quality. Casablanca, Morocco＇s economical capital is facing a fast growing demographic development amplified by a massive rural depopulation and all this in an anarchic way. This growth of increased urban activity comes often with the proliferation of informal settlement and shantytown to the detriment of farming areas and green spaces. This study is made possible by using a SPOT-5 image of Casablanca city, taken March 16, 2004 merged with 2.5 m spatial resolution and census data. Indicators were defined and listed in social, economic and environmental categories. An index of environmental quality in Casablanca city for the 17 urban municipalities was calculated after the standardization and weighting of indicators used. The results may be useful to city managers and planners who are concerned with urban environment quality issues and sustainable development.

Field Modeling Method for Identifying Urban Sphere of Influence:A Case Study on Central China

With rapid development of urbanization and regional interaction and interdependence, regional urban agglomeration planning becomes more and more important in China, in order to promote integrated development of various cities with close interrelationship. However, it is still arguable academically on how to define the boundary or which cities to be included for the urban agglomeration of a region. This paper aims to shed lights on how to identify urban spheres of influence scientifically by introducing field modeling method and by practicing a case study on 168 cities in Central China. In our field modeling method, the influence intensities of cities were measured by a compre-ensive index and urban spheres of influence were represented spatially by field intensity. Then, their classification and spatial distribution characteristics of study area in 2007 were identified and explored by using GIS and statistical methods. The result showed that： 1） Wuhan is the absolute dominant city in Central China; 2） the provincial capital cities dominate their own provinces and there are no other lower grade agglomeration centers; and 3） the basic types of organization form of urban sphere of influence are single-polar type, agglomeration type, close-related group type and loose-related group type.

Landscape Structural Indicators as a Tool to Assess Land Use Changes in Planning for Sub-Basin Sustainability (Southeastern Brazil)

Land use is shaped by the interactions between nature and society, and these interactions can inhibit environmental sustainability and deplete the natural capital that provides the ecosystem services upon which humans depend. Urbanity Index and Landscape Vulnerability Indicator have been proposed to improve the impact interpretability of land use changes on sub-basin sustainability for local scenarios of biodiversity conservation. A time series of LandSat 5 Thematic Mapper remote sensing data from S&#227o Carlos municipality, Southeastern Brazil, for the years 1989, 2004 and 2014 revealed that land use changes in the sub-basins do not take place in a progressive and gradual way. Over the 25-year period, the main trends showed the loss and increase of forest cover so that it has remained quantitatively similar over time due to reduced agricultural land use. The aggregation of both indicators enabled the identification of greater naturalness and lower vulnerability, as well as lower naturalness and higher vulnerability under local sub-basin conditions, pointing the need for different strategies for sub-basin biodiversity conservation and sustainability. These preliminary scenarios provide a way to communicate problems of environmental sustainability at different landscape scales to the scientific community as well as to planners, policy makers and the broader public.

Influential Intensity of Urban Agglomeration on Evolution of Ecoenvironmental Pressure:A Case Study of Changchun,China

In this paper,we study the interactive relationship between the agglomeration of urban elements and the evolution of eco-environmental pressure.We build an index system for evaluating the agglomeration of urban elements and eco-environmental pressure.Using the entropy method and response intensity model,we analyze how urban elements agglomeration influenced eco-environmental pressure in Changchun from 1990 to 2012,eliciting the changing features and influential factors.Ultimately,we conclude there is a significant interactive relationship between the agglomeration of urban elements and the evolution of eco-environmental pressure in Changchun.This is inferred from the degree of this agglomeration in Changchun having increased since 1990,with the degree of eco-environmental pressure first decreasing and then increasing.Alongside this,the impact of urban elements agglomeration on eco-environmental pressure has changed from negative to positive.The main reasons behind this shift are arguably the rapid growth of urban investment and ongoing urbanization.

Production of New Adsorbent from Mango residues Collected in the Urban Community of Mamou

Activated coal obtained from mango residues is an alternative for the valorisation of these wastes for applications. This work focuses on the production of a new adsorbent from mango residues collected in the urban common of Mamou (Republic of Guinea) by chemical activation with potassium hydroxide. To do this, the different rates: humidity, cinders, volatile matter, fixed carbon et iodine indices before activation and after activation at 400°C and 700°C were determined which are: (6.28%;0.97%;73.80%;25.23%) respectively. The best indices were found in powdered activated coal compared to grain activated coal for the concentrations used. This study can be an alternative bio-adsorbent for the urban community of Mamou in water treatment.

Driving Mechanism of Urban Space Expansion in Luoyang, China

Urban space expansion is the result of the interaction between internal and external forces of the urban. Based on the remote sensing image data of 1990, 2000, 2010, and 2020, and the social and economic development data, this paper analyzes the driving mechanism of the Luoyang space expansion characteristics and its correlation characteristics. By using urban land use efficiency index, urban expansion elastic index;urban allometric growth index, and grey correlation analysis in 4 times sections and 3 periods. The research results show that the urban space expansion of Luoyang mainly comes from the needs and support of economic development, the coordination between urban space expansion and population development is poor, and urban space expansion effectively attracts the inflow of external funds, and the settlement of migrants, drives the development of the tertiary industry, and increases the local revenue.

Land Use/Cover and Naturalness Changes for Watershed Environmental Management(Southeastern Brazil)

Driving forces on the landscape require regional management and/or local actions, together with other external factors. To operationalize this approach, this paper carried out a comparative analysis of the naturalness dynamics of the Jacaré-Gua&#231u and Jacaré-Pepira watershed, based on land use/cover changes and a structural indicator of the landscape, over the 10-year (2004-2014), as support opportunities for improving its environmental planning and management. Land use/cover dynamics were obtained based on screen digitizing of LandSat imagery, using polygon manual digitalization. Naturalness scenarios of the watersheds, over the 10-year (2004-2014), were obtained based on Urbanity Indicator, which evaluates how much the natural landscapes are dominated by altered systems. The total area of watersheds showed a predominantly scenario, induced by anthropogenic agricultural and non-agricultural expansion areas, mainly by conversion of other land use/cover types in sugarcane cultivation. Despite the increase in natural vegetation areas, over the 10-year (2004-2014), Jacaré-Gua&#231u and Jacaré-Pepira watersheds are far from a sustainable condition. However Jacaré-Gua&#231u watershed presents a scenario of more committed naturalness due to the increase in Urbanity Index values ≥ 0.7. The historical process of land use occupation for agricultural production remains the main driving force of naturalness changes, occupying more than 70% of the total area of watersheds. These results have significant implications for fast urbanizing municipalities in providing key information about long term land use impact on the watershed structure and function, making it possible for policy makers, scientists and stakeholders to identify land uses which are hindered or enhanced under various scenarios of land use change over the time, and making it possible to explore the trade-offs between them to improve watershed management.

Construction and Upgrade of Urban Power Grids:Achievements and Tasks

The significant achievements in construction and upgrade of China’s urban grids in the past two years and more are enumerated with respect to scale of grids, configuration of medium-and high-voltage grids, technical and localizing level of equipment, as well as social and economic benefits. At the same time, the new tasks for the year 2001 is put forth for volume of investment to be completed, projects progressing and operating benefit indexes, etc.

Monitoring of Carbon Monoxide (CO) changes in the atmosphere and urban environmental indices extracted from remote sensing images for 932 Iran cities from 2019 to 2021

Carbon Monoxide(CO)is an important urban pollutant with a relation to 5,transition economies based on emission intensities.In this study,Sentinel-MODerate resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer(MODIS),and Landsat-8 images were used to investigate the variations of CO and urban environmental indices and the correlations between them.From the assessed correlations for 932 Iranian cities,it occurred that the assessed indices were all correlated.The highest CO levels were 0.031 in the spring of 2019 and 2020,whereas in 2021 it was equal to 0.030 in both the spring and winter,respectively.In 2019 and 2020 the maximum values of the Enhanced Vegetation Index(EVI)in the spring were 0.181 and 0.183.Exceptionally high Absorbing Aerosol Index(AAI)values of–0.834 and–1.0,along with Urban Index(UI)of 0.102 and 0.092,were correlated with recorded spikes in CO level,despite that these seasons’EVI values were not so abnormal.It was forecasted that in 2030 rises in the CO level by 13.2%in the winter and by 17.5%in the fall are expected,with the simultaneous increase of AAI by 204.5%and 980.2%,and Aerosol Optical Depth(AOD)by 27%and 5%in the winter and spring,respectively.

Global mapping of urban built-up areas of year 2014 by combining MODIS multispectral data with VIIRS nighttime light data

An improved methodology for the extraction and mapping of urban built-up areas at a global scale is presented in this study.The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer(MODIS)-based multispectral data were combined with the Visible Infrared Imager Radiometer Suite(VIIRS)-based nighttime light(NTL)data for robust extraction and mapping of urban built-up areas.The MODIS-based newly proposed Urban Built-up Index(UBI)was combined with NTL data,and the resulting Enhanced UBI(EUBI)was used as a single master image for global extraction of urban built-up areas.Due to higher variation of the EUBI with respect to geographical regions,a region-specific threshold approach was used to extract urban built-up areas.This research provided 500-m-resolution global urban built-up map of year 2014.The resulted map was compared with three existing moderate-resolution global maps and one high-resolution map in the United States.The comparative analysis demonstrated finer details of the urban built-up cover estimated by the resultant map.

Influence of urban morphological parameters on the distribution and diffusion of air pollutants: A case study in China

Air pollution has a serious fallout on human health,and the influences of the different urban morphological characteristics on air pollutants cannot be ignored.In this study,the relation-ship between urban morphology and air quality(wind speed,CO,and PM_(2.5))in residential neighborhoods at the meso-microscale was investigated.The changes in the microclimate and pollutant diffusion distribution in the neighborhood under diverse weather conditions were simulated by Computational Fluid Dynamics(CFD).This study identified five key urban morphological parameters(Building Density,Average Building Height,Standard Deviation of Building Height,Mean Building Volume,and Degree of Enclosure)which significantly im-pacted the diffusion and distribution of pollutants in the neighborhood.The findings of this study suggested that three specific strategies(e.g.volume of a single building should be re-duced,DE should be increased)and one comprehensive strategy(the width and height of the single building should be reduced while the number of single buildings should be in-creased)could be illustrated as an optimized approach of urban planning to relief the air pollution.The result of the combined effects could provide a reference for mitigating air pollution in sustainable urban environments.

Holistic Disaster Risk Evaluation for the Urban Risk Management Plan of Manizales,Colombia

Disaster risk depends on both the physical vulnerability and a wide range of social, economic, and environmental aspects of a society. For a better risk understanding, a holistic or integrated perspective was considered when risk was assessed for the city of Manizales, Colombia. This assessment accounts not only for the expected physical damage and loss, but also for the socioeconomic vulnerability factors that favor secondorder effects in a disaster. This comprehensive approach allows the identification of different aspects related to physical vulnerability, social fragility, and lack of resilience that can be improved, thus enhancing integrated disaster risk management actions. The outcomes of this comprehensive assessment are currently being used as input to update the disaster risk management plan of Manizales.

Atmospheric environmental capacity and urban atmospheric load in China's Mainland

Daily and annual average atmospheric environmental capacity coefficient(A-value) sequences for China's Mainland are calculated from hourly data recorded at 378 ground stations over 1975–2014. A-values at different recurrence intervals are calculated by fitting the sequences to Pearson type III distribution curves. Based on these A-values and source-sink balance(reference concentration 100 μg m^(-3)), atmospheric environmental capacities at the recurrence intervals are calculated for all of China's Mainland and each provincial administrative region. The climate average atmospheric environmental capacity reference value for the entire mainland is 2.169×10~7 t yr^(-1). An urban atmospheric load index is defined for analyses of the impact of population density on the urban atmospheric environment. Analyses suggest that this index is also useful for differentiating whether air quality changes are attributable to varying meteorological conditions or variations of artificial emission rate.Equations guiding the control of unorganized emission sources are derived for preventing air quality deterioration during urban expansion and population concentration.