Bushfires are devastating to forest managers,owners,residents,and the natural environment.Recent tech-nological advances indicate a potential for faster response times in terms of detecting and suppressing fires.Howev...Bushfires are devastating to forest managers,owners,residents,and the natural environment.Recent tech-nological advances indicate a potential for faster response times in terms of detecting and suppressing fires.However,to date,all these technologies have been applied in isola-tion.This paper introduces the latest fire detection and sup-pression technologies from ground to space.An operations research method was used to assemble these technologies into a theoretical framework for fire detection and suppres-sion.The framework harnesses the advantages of satellite-based,drone,sensor,and human reporting technologies as well as image processing and artificial intelligence machine learning.The study concludes that,if a system is designed to maximise the use of available technologies and carefully adopts them through complementary arrangements,a fire detection and resource suppression system can achieve the ultimate aim:to reduce the risk of fire hazards and the dam-age they may cause.展开更多
Major fires and floods have enormous impacts on natural ecosystems and are predicted to increase in frequency with global warming.Land managers need to make decisions on the prioritisation of weeds for control in post...Major fires and floods have enormous impacts on natural ecosystems and are predicted to increase in frequency with global warming.Land managers need to make decisions on the prioritisation of weeds for control in post-disturbance landscapes,but little is available in the way of guidance to support timely decision making.Semi-quantitative models(e.g.,scoring systems)have been employed routinely in weed risk assessment,which considers the potential impacts posed by weeds,as well as the likelihood of these impacts being realised.Some progress has been made in the development of similar models addressing the topic of weed risk management.Under conditions prevailing after major disturbances,changes(both positive and negative)can be expected in the multiple factors that determine weed management feasibility,relative to pre-disturbance conditions.A semi-quantitative model is proposed that is based on the key factors that contribute to weed management feasibility in post-disturbance environments,along with annotated modules that could be used by land managers in both post-fire and post-flood situations.The fundamental challenge for weed management in these scenarios lies in the identification of differences between weeds and native species in relation to(1)patterns of seedling emergence;and(2)detectability relative to the growth stage.These two factors will determine the timing of control actions that are designed to address the trade-off between weed control and off-target damage during the period when both types of plants are recovering from a major disturbance event.The model is intuitively sound,but field testing is required to determine both its practical value and any necessary improvement.展开更多
Management of forest lands considering multi-functional approaches is the basis to sustain or enhance the provi-sion of specific benefits,while minimizing negative impacts to the environment.Defining a desired managem...Management of forest lands considering multi-functional approaches is the basis to sustain or enhance the provi-sion of specific benefits,while minimizing negative impacts to the environment.Defining a desired management itinerary to a forest depends on a variety of factors,including the forest type,its ecological characteristics,and the social and economic needs of local communities.A strategic assessment of the forest use suitability(FUS)(namely productive,protective,conservation-oriented,social and multi-functional)at regional level,based on the provision of forest ecosystem services and trade-offs between FUS alternatives,can be used to develop management strategies that are tailored to the specific needs and conditions of the forest.The present study assesses the provision of multiple forest ecosystem services and employs a decision model to identify the FUS that sup-ports the most present and productive ecosystem services in each stand in Catalonia.For this purpose,we apply the latest version of the Ecosystem Management Decision Support(EMDS)system,a spatially oriented decision support system that provides accurate results for multi-criteria management.We evaluate 32 metrics and 12 as-sociated ecosystem services indicators to represent the spatial reality of the region.According to the results,the dominant primary use suitability is social,followed by protective and productive.Nevertheless,final assignment of uses is not straightforward and requires an exhaustive analysis of trade-offs between all alternative options,in many cases identifying flexible outcomes,and increasing the representativeness of multi-functional use.The assignment of forest use suitability aims to significantly improve the definition of the most adequate management strategy to be applied.展开更多
Payments for ecosystem services (PES) have been created worldwide to assist watershed management and improve or maintain water quality. Considering their importance, we conducted a holistic review of payment for water...Payments for ecosystem services (PES) have been created worldwide to assist watershed management and improve or maintain water quality. Considering their importance, we conducted a holistic review of payment for water-related ecosystem services to understand how this instrument has been applied in watershed management worldwide. First, we identified the watershed management actions considered by the PES programs and the challenges of implementing water-related PES. After we identified the methods and criteria used to define priority areas for water-related PES. Our review considered articles published on the Web of Science from 2011 to 2022. We found 236 articles relating PES to water resources, highlighting the main water conservation strategies: native vegetation conservation, native vegetation restoration, and implementing best agricultural practices. The method most frequent was interview, followed by the use of technologies, document analysis, and hydrological models. Another significant result was that priority areas for receiving PES are mainly riparian zones, areas near or with native vegetation cover, areas with higher erosion potential, steep areas, and areas with socially vulnerable communities. This review was crucial to identify efficient water resource conservation strategies and potential challenges in the implementation and development of PES programs.展开更多
Embracing software product lines(SPLs)is pivotal in the dynamic landscape of contemporary software devel-opment.However,the flexibility and global distribution inherent in modern systems pose significant challenges to...Embracing software product lines(SPLs)is pivotal in the dynamic landscape of contemporary software devel-opment.However,the flexibility and global distribution inherent in modern systems pose significant challenges to managing SPL variability,underscoring the critical importance of robust cybersecurity measures.This paper advocates for leveraging machine learning(ML)to address variability management issues and fortify the security of SPL.In the context of the broader special issue theme on innovative cybersecurity approaches,our proposed ML-based framework offers an interdisciplinary perspective,blending insights from computing,social sciences,and business.Specifically,it employs ML for demand analysis,dynamic feature extraction,and enhanced feature selection in distributed settings,contributing to cyber-resilient ecosystems.Our experiments demonstrate the framework’s superiority,emphasizing its potential to boost productivity and security in SPLs.As digital threats evolve,this research catalyzes interdisciplinary collaborations,aligning with the special issue’s goal of breaking down academic barriers to strengthen digital ecosystems against sophisticated attacks while upholding ethics,privacy,and human values.展开更多
The circumboreal forest encompasses diverse landscape structures, dynamics and forest age distributions determined by their physical setting, and historical and current disturbance regimes. However, due to intensifyin...The circumboreal forest encompasses diverse landscape structures, dynamics and forest age distributions determined by their physical setting, and historical and current disturbance regimes. However, due to intensifying forest utilisation, and in certain areas due to increasing natural disturbances, boreal forest age-class structures have changed rapidly, so that the proportion of old forest has substantially declined, while that of young post-harvest and post-natural-disturbance forest proportions have increased. In the future, with a warming climate in certain boreal regions, this trend may further be enhanced due to an increase in natural disturbances and large-scale use of forest biomass to replace fossil-based fuels and products.The major drivers of change of forest age class distributions and structures include the use of clearcut shortrotation harvesting, more frequent and severe natural disturbances due to climate warming in certain regions. The decline in old forest area, and increase in managed young forest lacking natural post-disturbance structural legacies,represent a major transformation in the ecological conditions of the boreal forest beyond historical limits of variability.This may introduce a threat to biodiversity, ecosystem resilience and long-term adaptive capacity of the forest ecosystem.To safeguard boreal forest biodiversity and ecosystem functioning, and to maintain the multiple services provided to societies by this forest biome, it is pivotal to maintain an adequate share and the ecological qualities of young postdisturbance stages, along with mature forest stages with old-growth characteristics. This requires management for natural post-disturbance legacy structures, and innovative use of diverse uneven-aged and continuous cover management approaches to maintain critical late-successional forest structures in landscapes.展开更多
The paper demonstrates why it is necessary to take the restoration of marine coastal ecosystem health as a new goal for integrated catchment management, in coastal area of the Tolo Harbour. The present goal of integra...The paper demonstrates why it is necessary to take the restoration of marine coastal ecosystem health as a new goal for integrated catchment management, in coastal area of the Tolo Harbour. The present goal of integrated catchment management (ICM) in the Tolo Harbour is to meet with Water Quality Objectives. The performance of an ICM plan, Tolo Harbour Action Plan (THAP), is evaluated by using marine coastal ecosystem health indicators including stress indicators and responses indicators. Since the implementation of THAP in 1988, some significant reduction in pollution loading has been observed - reduction of 83 % of BOD load and 82 % of TN between 1988 and 1999. There has been an improvement in the health state of Tolo Harbour marine coastal ecosystem as evidenced in the trends of the physical, chemical and biological indicators, although some reverse fluctuations in some periods exist. However, this can only be considered as the first sign of the ecosystem health restoration, since ecosystem health展开更多
Background: Climate change may strongly influence soil erosion risk, namely through variations in the precipitation pattern. Forests may contribute to mitigate the impacts of climate change on soil erosion and forest ...Background: Climate change may strongly influence soil erosion risk, namely through variations in the precipitation pattern. Forests may contribute to mitigate the impacts of climate change on soil erosion and forest managers are thus challenged by the need to define strategies that may protect the soil while addressing the demand for other ecosystem services. Our emphasis is on the development of an approach to assess the impact of silvicultural practices and forest management models on soil erosion risks under climate change. Specifically, we consider the annual variation of the cover-management factor(C) in the Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation over a range of alternative forest management models to estimate the corresponding annual soil losses, under both current and changing climate conditions. We report and discuss results of an application of this approach to a forest area in Northwestern Portugal where erosion control is the most relevant water-related ecosystem service.Results: Local climate change scenarios will contribute to water erosion processes, mostly by rainfall erosivity increase.Different forest management models provide varying levels of soil protection by trees, resulting in distinct soil loss potential.Conclusions: Results confirm the suitability of the proposed approach to address soil erosion concerns in forest management planning. This approach may help foresters assess management models and the corresponding silvicultural practices according to the water-related services they provide.展开更多
There is a growing need for both science and practice domains to collaboratively and systematically seek knowledge-based strategies for sustainable development. In recent years, transdisciplinary research has emerged ...There is a growing need for both science and practice domains to collaboratively and systematically seek knowledge-based strategies for sustainable development. In recent years, transdisciplinary research has emerged as a new approach that enables joint problem solving among scientists and stakeholders in various fields. In this paper, we aim to introduce transdisciplinary research for supporting the integration of the concept of eco- system services into land and water management in the Tarim River Basin, Xinjiang, Northwest China. While a large number of ecosystem service studies have helped to raise the awareness for the value of nature in China, a number of challenges remain, including an improved understanding of the relationships between ecosystem structure, functions and services, and the interaction of the various ecosystem services. A meaningful valuation of ecosystem services also requires the consideration of their strong spatial heterogeneity. In addition, ways to introduce the con- cept of ecosystem services into decision-making in China need to be explored. Thus, successful integration of the concept of ecosystem services into actual land and water management requires a broad knowledge base that only a number of scientific disciplines and stakeholders can provide jointly, via a transdisciplinary research process. We regard transdisciplinary research as a recursive process to support adaptive management that includes joint knowledge generation and integration among scientists and stakeholders. System, target, and transformation knowledge are generated and integrated during the process of (1) problem (re)definition, (2) problem analysis and strategy development, and (3) evaluation of the impact of the derived strategy. Methods to support transdisciplinary research comprise participatory modelling (actor-based modelling and Bayesian Networks modelling) and partici- patory scenario development. Actor-based modelling is a semi-quantitative method that is based on the analysis of problem perspectives of individual stakeholders as depicted in perception graphs. With Bayesian Networks, com- plex problem fields are modelled probabilistically in a simplified manner, using both quantitative data and qualitative expert judgments. These participatory methods serve to integrate diverse scientific and stakeholder knowledge and to support the generation of actually implementable management strategies for sustainable development. For the purpose of integrating ecosystem services in land and water management in the Tarim River Basin through trans- disciplinary research, collaboration among scientists and institutional stakeholders from different sectors including water, agriculture, forestry, and nature conservation is required. The challenge is to adapt methods of transdisci- plinary research to socio-cultural conditions in China, particularly regarding ways of communication and deci- sion-making.展开更多
Ecosystem maps are vital to represent ecological patterns and processes in a region. It enables the use of ecosystem goods and services as a robust unit for a variety of applications, including conservation planning, ...Ecosystem maps are vital to represent ecological patterns and processes in a region. It enables the use of ecosystem goods and services as a robust unit for a variety of applications, including conservation planning, climate change adaptation and mitigation measures, resource management, and the economic estimation of ecosystem benefits. As different elements of eco-geological components, such as the geological, soil, and biotic assemblages organize an ecosystem;here, we developed an ecosystem map of the State of Selangor, Peninsular Malaysia, using geology, soil, elevation, and land-use data. Landsat ETM+ images, ASTER Digital Elevation Model (DEM) data, and digitized soil and geological data were integrated to develop a map of the types of ecosystem for 2005. We found 19 different natural ecosystems in the studied region that represented approximately 35% of the total land area. Among the natural ecosystems, peat-swamp forest represents highest (at ~10%), while montane ericaceous forest representing the lowest (at ~0.008%) and the hill dipterocarp quartz forest, lowland dipterocarp sandstone forest, upper dipterocarp quartz forest, and mangrove forest are representing approximately 6.4%, 4.6%, 3% and 2.6% of the total land area respectively. These data can be used to prioritize the areas deserving attention due to their value for biodiversity conservation and for the production of goods and supply of ecosystem services. In addition to a variety of ecological and environmental aspects, such an ecosystem map has potential use for the sustainable management of natural resources at the national, regional, continental, and global scales.展开更多
In this paper, the conceptions and developments of ecosystem and ecosystem ecology were reviewed and summarized. Then, the conception, connotation, objective, and development of ecosystem management were expounded. Ba...In this paper, the conceptions and developments of ecosystem and ecosystem ecology were reviewed and summarized. Then, the conception, connotation, objective, and development of ecosystem management were expounded. Based on these discussions, forest ecosystem management was discussed. The viewpoint was that the former unreasonable forest resources management should be changed, and forest ecosystem management was a suitable way to sustainable development of forestry. The chief research contents were also pointed out in this paper.展开更多
Due to the rapid economic growth and the continuous increase of human, ecosystem disturbances and habitat destructions, the biodiversity of freshwater ecosystems in China is rapidly declining. This issue is gradually ...Due to the rapid economic growth and the continuous increase of human, ecosystem disturbances and habitat destructions, the biodiversity of freshwater ecosystems in China is rapidly declining. This issue is gradually gaining the government’s attention as its environmental policy becomes more and more equally-weighed on both “pollution prevention and control” and “ecological conservation” issues while only the former was emphasized in the past. However, some unsolved issues still exist with regard to aquatic biodiversity monitoring and management in China. For example, there are functional overlaps among governmental departments; regional ecological function divisions are not clarified; biodiversity is usually neglected or not emphasized in environmental impact assessment for construction projects; and so on. In our opinion, the following areas should be emphasied: (a) enhancing the cooperation among governmental departments; (b) setting up mechanisms to allow ecological watershed management; (c) establishing the biodiversity conservation and ecological restoration planning for local freshwater ecosystem; (d) clarifying the ecological function divisions; (e) enhancing the biodiversity monitoring and management for freshwater ecosystem in environmental impact assessment studies for industrial construction and rural development projects; (f) establishing a technical regulatory framework for related monitoring and management activities which includes an index system for monitoring and assessment; (g) studying and establishing the related biological criteria for formulating assessment standards; and (h) paying attention to aquatic vegetation, fishes, benthic macro-invertebrates and other key aquatic assemblages.展开更多
Slope farmland is an important component of farmland resources in China.The utilization and change of slope farmland have significant effects on ecosystems,and understanding the impact of slope farmland change on ecos...Slope farmland is an important component of farmland resources in China.The utilization and change of slope farmland have significant effects on ecosystems,and understanding the impact of slope farmland change on ecosystem services(ESs)is critical for effective land utilization and ecosystem protection.This study aims to analyze slope farmland changes in China between 2000 and 2020 and quantify the impact of these changes on ESs by the use of a land use dynamic attitude study,and an ecosystem services value(ESV)equivalent.Results show that the area of slope farmland in China was mainly concentrated on slopes of 2°-6°,and exhibited a downward trend between 2000 and 2020.There were significant differences in the spatial distribution of the farmland,which was mainly located in the Taihang,Qinling,Wushan,and Xuefeng mountains.ESV increased by$179.235 million due to the conversion between slope farmland and forest,grassland,and construction land from 2000-2010.Conversely,from 2010 to 2020,ESV decreased by$2613.919 million due to the conversion of forest and grassland to slope farmland as well as the conversion of slope farmland to construction land.展开更多
Along with the industrial development, adverse impacts on the natural environment become more serious, and ecosystem health and ecological security have also been deteriorated. The traditional environment management f...Along with the industrial development, adverse impacts on the natural environment become more serious, and ecosystem health and ecological security have also been deteriorated. The traditional environment management focused on the shorterm and economic benefits. Such managing pattern is not accommodating to the new situation of increasingly global environment problems and large scale marine environment problems. This paper introduces the advance and definition of a new managing patternecosystem management. Meanwhile, the con- notation of ecosystem management was summarized as seven points: Sustainability; Human is an important aspect of ecosystem management; Cooperation is the foundation of ecosystem management; Maintain health and security of ecosystem; Ecological diversity protection characters ecosystem management; Maintain the integrity of ecosystem; Ecosystem management must be founded on scientific theories and precise information. Somebody said Ecosystem Management is "a new label of old ideas". However, there is an essential difference between ecosystem management and traditional environmental management. In the last part of this paper, the differences of the approaches between ecosystem management and traditional environmental management are compared.展开更多
Since acorn production is a foundational process of ecosystems dominated by oaks, understanding the impact of forest management practices on acorn production is critical to the sustainable management of oak forests. T...Since acorn production is a foundational process of ecosystems dominated by oaks, understanding the impact of forest management practices on acorn production is critical to the sustainable management of oak forests. This investigation addressed the impact of even-aged management (EAM), uneven-aged management (UAM), and no-harvest management (NHM) on the production of mature, sound acorns over an 18-year period (1993-2010) of a long-term, landscape-scale forest management experiment in the Missouri Ozarks. Forest management impacts were investigated at two operational scales: the multi-stand compartment and the stand. We hypothesized that acorn production at both scales would be lower under active management (EAM and UAM) than NHM on these oak-dominated landscapes. Acorn production (acorns/ha/year) of red oaks (mainly black oak (Quercus velutina) and scarlet oak (Q. coccinea)) at the compartment level was lower under active management than NHM during the post-treatment period (1997-2010), but not for white oaks (mainly white oak (Q. alba) and post oak (Q. stellata)), which was largely a result of greater abundance and preferential harvesting of mature red oaks. At the stand scale, acorn production following either intermediate thinning or single-tree selection was comparable to yields observed in untreated stands suggesting that partial overstory removal can be implemented for harvesting timber and other silvicultural objectives without sacrificing acorn production. In many oak-dominated forests, active management will be necessary to mitigate future losses of acorn production driven by oak decline, succession, and climate change, including approaches for sustaining oak recruitment and acorn production.展开更多
Our case study analyzed the proximity of previously mapped fractures in the aquifer matrix to 93 Florida panther (Puma concolor coryi) dens mapped from 2007-2016 in south Florida. Dens occurred in five counties (Colli...Our case study analyzed the proximity of previously mapped fractures in the aquifer matrix to 93 Florida panther (Puma concolor coryi) dens mapped from 2007-2016 in south Florida. Dens occurred in five counties (Collier = 77, Dade = 1, Hendry = 9, Lee = 5, and Monroe = 1) and three sub-basins of the Greater Everglades Basin (Big Cypress Swamp = 83, Caloosahatchee = 3, and Everglades = 7). Fractured aquifers occur worldwide, but are not the focus of habitat suitability studies, despite evidence that fractures influence plant species composition and density. Habitat alterations can occur many kilometers from the surface footprint of groundwater alterations in the regional Floridan aquifer system via preferential flow through fractures. Increased natural discharge from and recharge to the aquifer occur at fracture intersections. Greater induced recharge and habitat changes also may occur at fracture intersections. All dens were within 5 km of a previously mapped fracture;36% and 74% were within 1 km and 2 km, respectively, of those fractures;and 47%, 74%, and 90% of dens were within 2 km, 3.25 km and 5 km, respectively, from the nearest fracture intersection. Results suggest fractures influence the suitability and/or availability of habitat for panther dens, selection of den sites, and availability as well as abundance of high quality prey items essential for the nutritional demands of successfully rearing panther kittens in the wild. We recommend more detailed investigations of: a) vegetation characteristics near dens, b) groundwater alterations and cumulative impacts of those alterations associated with fractures in panther habitat (e.g., altered plant species composition and density), and c) influence of aquifer fractures in all habitats underlain by fractures.展开更多
Pine wood nematode (PWN), Bursaphelenchus xylophilus (Steiner et Buhrer) Nickle is an important invasive alien species in forests of China and has become one of the most destructive forest diseases. In order to im...Pine wood nematode (PWN), Bursaphelenchus xylophilus (Steiner et Buhrer) Nickle is an important invasive alien species in forests of China and has become one of the most destructive forest diseases. In order to improve the resistance and resilience of pine forest ecosystems against B. xylophilus invasion and make the pine forest ecosystem more timely responsive to PWN invasion, we made some recommendations based on five years of intensive observations. We advocate a set of management measures with the theme “Prevention is priority, but integrated with curative techniques and ecological resilience” on the pine forest ecosystem invaded by B. xylophilus; details of accurate measures are proposed. The aim is to discover the underlying problems of present pine forest ecosys-tems and to take, correspondingly, administrative measures and strategies, which will encourage the pine forest ecosystem to develop in a benign way.展开更多
Unorganized municipal solid waste (MSW) disposal system leads to stress on ecosystems and disturbs various nature cycles and human health. Solid waste management all over world is looked as a major challenge to civil ...Unorganized municipal solid waste (MSW) disposal system leads to stress on ecosystems and disturbs various nature cycles and human health. Solid waste management all over world is looked as a major challenge to civil bodies, especially in developing countries like Bangladesh. The proper management system of municipal solid waste depends on various factors like social, cultural, financial, political, environmental, physical and institutional and so on. The purpose of this study is to explore the leading factors that affect the solid waste management in Barishal city. For achieving this purpose, this research first has identified the socio-economic, cultural, physical and technical, institutional and environmental factors and then analyzed the factors which affect the solid waste management system in the study area. To achieve the purpose of the study, quantitative method has been used in this research. As a sample of this study, 150 household heads from total household members of the city have been selected randomly by using lottery method. A structured questionnaire has been constructed for collecting quantitative data. The quantitative data have been analyzed in this study by using SPSS Program, and Microsoft Excel. The findings of the study show that all city people know solid waste and solid waste management stakeholders present in the city and waste pickers collect all types of waste in the city and socio-economic, cultural, physical and technical, institutional factors affect the effective solid waste management in the study area where environmental factors have no influence on effective solid waste management in the study area. The study people have a bad impression of the current existing management system of the solid waste and they express their expectations where they mention that if municipal authorities improve the condition of the infrastructure, roads and vehicles;allow more budgets to manage waste;take proper strategies and planning to manage waste smartly like imposing fines, set up rules, then the municipal authorities will be able to manage solid waste properly. Finally, this research has proposed some recommendations that might be helpful for the policy-makers in the study area for making policies and further research regarding solid waste management.展开更多
基金supported by the National Institute for Forest Products Innovation (NIFPI) Australia (Project No. NS034),titled Scoping an Automated Forest Fire Detection and Suppression Framework for the Green Triangle.
文摘Bushfires are devastating to forest managers,owners,residents,and the natural environment.Recent tech-nological advances indicate a potential for faster response times in terms of detecting and suppressing fires.However,to date,all these technologies have been applied in isola-tion.This paper introduces the latest fire detection and sup-pression technologies from ground to space.An operations research method was used to assemble these technologies into a theoretical framework for fire detection and suppres-sion.The framework harnesses the advantages of satellite-based,drone,sensor,and human reporting technologies as well as image processing and artificial intelligence machine learning.The study concludes that,if a system is designed to maximise the use of available technologies and carefully adopts them through complementary arrangements,a fire detection and resource suppression system can achieve the ultimate aim:to reduce the risk of fire hazards and the dam-age they may cause.
文摘Major fires and floods have enormous impacts on natural ecosystems and are predicted to increase in frequency with global warming.Land managers need to make decisions on the prioritisation of weeds for control in post-disturbance landscapes,but little is available in the way of guidance to support timely decision making.Semi-quantitative models(e.g.,scoring systems)have been employed routinely in weed risk assessment,which considers the potential impacts posed by weeds,as well as the likelihood of these impacts being realised.Some progress has been made in the development of similar models addressing the topic of weed risk management.Under conditions prevailing after major disturbances,changes(both positive and negative)can be expected in the multiple factors that determine weed management feasibility,relative to pre-disturbance conditions.A semi-quantitative model is proposed that is based on the key factors that contribute to weed management feasibility in post-disturbance environments,along with annotated modules that could be used by land managers in both post-fire and post-flood situations.The fundamental challenge for weed management in these scenarios lies in the identification of differences between weeds and native species in relation to(1)patterns of seedling emergence;and(2)detectability relative to the growth stage.These two factors will determine the timing of control actions that are designed to address the trade-off between weed control and off-target damage during the period when both types of plants are recovering from a major disturbance event.The model is intuitively sound,but field testing is required to determine both its practical value and any necessary improvement.
基金the Catalan Government Predoctoral Schol-arship(AGAUR-FSE 2020 FI_B200147)SuFoRun Marie Sklodowska-Curie Research and Innovation Staff Exchange(RISE)Program(Grant No.691149)the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation(PID2020-120355RB-IOO).
文摘Management of forest lands considering multi-functional approaches is the basis to sustain or enhance the provi-sion of specific benefits,while minimizing negative impacts to the environment.Defining a desired management itinerary to a forest depends on a variety of factors,including the forest type,its ecological characteristics,and the social and economic needs of local communities.A strategic assessment of the forest use suitability(FUS)(namely productive,protective,conservation-oriented,social and multi-functional)at regional level,based on the provision of forest ecosystem services and trade-offs between FUS alternatives,can be used to develop management strategies that are tailored to the specific needs and conditions of the forest.The present study assesses the provision of multiple forest ecosystem services and employs a decision model to identify the FUS that sup-ports the most present and productive ecosystem services in each stand in Catalonia.For this purpose,we apply the latest version of the Ecosystem Management Decision Support(EMDS)system,a spatially oriented decision support system that provides accurate results for multi-criteria management.We evaluate 32 metrics and 12 as-sociated ecosystem services indicators to represent the spatial reality of the region.According to the results,the dominant primary use suitability is social,followed by protective and productive.Nevertheless,final assignment of uses is not straightforward and requires an exhaustive analysis of trade-offs between all alternative options,in many cases identifying flexible outcomes,and increasing the representativeness of multi-functional use.The assignment of forest use suitability aims to significantly improve the definition of the most adequate management strategy to be applied.
文摘Payments for ecosystem services (PES) have been created worldwide to assist watershed management and improve or maintain water quality. Considering their importance, we conducted a holistic review of payment for water-related ecosystem services to understand how this instrument has been applied in watershed management worldwide. First, we identified the watershed management actions considered by the PES programs and the challenges of implementing water-related PES. After we identified the methods and criteria used to define priority areas for water-related PES. Our review considered articles published on the Web of Science from 2011 to 2022. We found 236 articles relating PES to water resources, highlighting the main water conservation strategies: native vegetation conservation, native vegetation restoration, and implementing best agricultural practices. The method most frequent was interview, followed by the use of technologies, document analysis, and hydrological models. Another significant result was that priority areas for receiving PES are mainly riparian zones, areas near or with native vegetation cover, areas with higher erosion potential, steep areas, and areas with socially vulnerable communities. This review was crucial to identify efficient water resource conservation strategies and potential challenges in the implementation and development of PES programs.
基金supported via funding from Ministry of Defense,Government of Pakistan under Project Number AHQ/95013/6/4/8/NASTP(ACP).Titled:Development of ICT and Artificial Intelligence Based Precision Agriculture Systems Utilizing Dual-Use Aerospace Technologies-GREENAI.
文摘Embracing software product lines(SPLs)is pivotal in the dynamic landscape of contemporary software devel-opment.However,the flexibility and global distribution inherent in modern systems pose significant challenges to managing SPL variability,underscoring the critical importance of robust cybersecurity measures.This paper advocates for leveraging machine learning(ML)to address variability management issues and fortify the security of SPL.In the context of the broader special issue theme on innovative cybersecurity approaches,our proposed ML-based framework offers an interdisciplinary perspective,blending insights from computing,social sciences,and business.Specifically,it employs ML for demand analysis,dynamic feature extraction,and enhanced feature selection in distributed settings,contributing to cyber-resilient ecosystems.Our experiments demonstrate the framework’s superiority,emphasizing its potential to boost productivity and security in SPLs.As digital threats evolve,this research catalyzes interdisciplinary collaborations,aligning with the special issue’s goal of breaking down academic barriers to strengthen digital ecosystems against sophisticated attacks while upholding ethics,privacy,and human values.
基金carried out in the framework of the EBOR-project funded by the Academy of Finland(Proj.No.276255)
文摘The circumboreal forest encompasses diverse landscape structures, dynamics and forest age distributions determined by their physical setting, and historical and current disturbance regimes. However, due to intensifying forest utilisation, and in certain areas due to increasing natural disturbances, boreal forest age-class structures have changed rapidly, so that the proportion of old forest has substantially declined, while that of young post-harvest and post-natural-disturbance forest proportions have increased. In the future, with a warming climate in certain boreal regions, this trend may further be enhanced due to an increase in natural disturbances and large-scale use of forest biomass to replace fossil-based fuels and products.The major drivers of change of forest age class distributions and structures include the use of clearcut shortrotation harvesting, more frequent and severe natural disturbances due to climate warming in certain regions. The decline in old forest area, and increase in managed young forest lacking natural post-disturbance structural legacies,represent a major transformation in the ecological conditions of the boreal forest beyond historical limits of variability.This may introduce a threat to biodiversity, ecosystem resilience and long-term adaptive capacity of the forest ecosystem.To safeguard boreal forest biodiversity and ecosystem functioning, and to maintain the multiple services provided to societies by this forest biome, it is pivotal to maintain an adequate share and the ecological qualities of young postdisturbance stages, along with mature forest stages with old-growth characteristics. This requires management for natural post-disturbance legacy structures, and innovative use of diverse uneven-aged and continuous cover management approaches to maintain critical late-successional forest structures in landscapes.
文摘The paper demonstrates why it is necessary to take the restoration of marine coastal ecosystem health as a new goal for integrated catchment management, in coastal area of the Tolo Harbour. The present goal of integrated catchment management (ICM) in the Tolo Harbour is to meet with Water Quality Objectives. The performance of an ICM plan, Tolo Harbour Action Plan (THAP), is evaluated by using marine coastal ecosystem health indicators including stress indicators and responses indicators. Since the implementation of THAP in 1988, some significant reduction in pollution loading has been observed - reduction of 83 % of BOD load and 82 % of TN between 1988 and 1999. There has been an improvement in the health state of Tolo Harbour marine coastal ecosystem as evidenced in the trends of the physical, chemical and biological indicators, although some reverse fluctuations in some periods exist. However, this can only be considered as the first sign of the ecosystem health restoration, since ecosystem health
基金ALTERFOR project,“Alternative models and robust decision-making for future forest management”,H2020-ISIB-2015-2/grant agreement No. 676754,funded by European Union Seventh Framework ProgrammeSUFORUN project,‘Models and decision SUpport tools for integrated FOrest policy development under global change and associated Risk and UNcertainty’ funded by the European Union’s H2020 research and innovation program under the Marie Sklodowska-Curie Grant Agreement number 691149+2 种基金BIOECOSYS project,“Forest ecosystem management decision-making methods an integrated bioeconomic approach to sustainability”(LISBOA-01-0145-FEDER-030391,PTDC/ASP-SIL/30391/2017)MedFOR,Master Programme on Mediterranean Forestry and Natural Resources Management (Erasmus+Erasmus Mundus Joint Master Degrees,Project 20171917)Centro de Estudos Florestais,research unit funded by Fundacao para a Ciência e a Tecnologia I.P.(FCT),Portugal within UIDB/00239/2020。
文摘Background: Climate change may strongly influence soil erosion risk, namely through variations in the precipitation pattern. Forests may contribute to mitigate the impacts of climate change on soil erosion and forest managers are thus challenged by the need to define strategies that may protect the soil while addressing the demand for other ecosystem services. Our emphasis is on the development of an approach to assess the impact of silvicultural practices and forest management models on soil erosion risks under climate change. Specifically, we consider the annual variation of the cover-management factor(C) in the Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation over a range of alternative forest management models to estimate the corresponding annual soil losses, under both current and changing climate conditions. We report and discuss results of an application of this approach to a forest area in Northwestern Portugal where erosion control is the most relevant water-related ecosystem service.Results: Local climate change scenarios will contribute to water erosion processes, mostly by rainfall erosivity increase.Different forest management models provide varying levels of soil protection by trees, resulting in distinct soil loss potential.Conclusions: Results confirm the suitability of the proposed approach to address soil erosion concerns in forest management planning. This approach may help foresters assess management models and the corresponding silvicultural practices according to the water-related services they provide.
基金funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research(BMBF)
文摘There is a growing need for both science and practice domains to collaboratively and systematically seek knowledge-based strategies for sustainable development. In recent years, transdisciplinary research has emerged as a new approach that enables joint problem solving among scientists and stakeholders in various fields. In this paper, we aim to introduce transdisciplinary research for supporting the integration of the concept of eco- system services into land and water management in the Tarim River Basin, Xinjiang, Northwest China. While a large number of ecosystem service studies have helped to raise the awareness for the value of nature in China, a number of challenges remain, including an improved understanding of the relationships between ecosystem structure, functions and services, and the interaction of the various ecosystem services. A meaningful valuation of ecosystem services also requires the consideration of their strong spatial heterogeneity. In addition, ways to introduce the con- cept of ecosystem services into decision-making in China need to be explored. Thus, successful integration of the concept of ecosystem services into actual land and water management requires a broad knowledge base that only a number of scientific disciplines and stakeholders can provide jointly, via a transdisciplinary research process. We regard transdisciplinary research as a recursive process to support adaptive management that includes joint knowledge generation and integration among scientists and stakeholders. System, target, and transformation knowledge are generated and integrated during the process of (1) problem (re)definition, (2) problem analysis and strategy development, and (3) evaluation of the impact of the derived strategy. Methods to support transdisciplinary research comprise participatory modelling (actor-based modelling and Bayesian Networks modelling) and partici- patory scenario development. Actor-based modelling is a semi-quantitative method that is based on the analysis of problem perspectives of individual stakeholders as depicted in perception graphs. With Bayesian Networks, com- plex problem fields are modelled probabilistically in a simplified manner, using both quantitative data and qualitative expert judgments. These participatory methods serve to integrate diverse scientific and stakeholder knowledge and to support the generation of actually implementable management strategies for sustainable development. For the purpose of integrating ecosystem services in land and water management in the Tarim River Basin through trans- disciplinary research, collaboration among scientists and institutional stakeholders from different sectors including water, agriculture, forestry, and nature conservation is required. The challenge is to adapt methods of transdisci- plinary research to socio-cultural conditions in China, particularly regarding ways of communication and deci- sion-making.
文摘Ecosystem maps are vital to represent ecological patterns and processes in a region. It enables the use of ecosystem goods and services as a robust unit for a variety of applications, including conservation planning, climate change adaptation and mitigation measures, resource management, and the economic estimation of ecosystem benefits. As different elements of eco-geological components, such as the geological, soil, and biotic assemblages organize an ecosystem;here, we developed an ecosystem map of the State of Selangor, Peninsular Malaysia, using geology, soil, elevation, and land-use data. Landsat ETM+ images, ASTER Digital Elevation Model (DEM) data, and digitized soil and geological data were integrated to develop a map of the types of ecosystem for 2005. We found 19 different natural ecosystems in the studied region that represented approximately 35% of the total land area. Among the natural ecosystems, peat-swamp forest represents highest (at ~10%), while montane ericaceous forest representing the lowest (at ~0.008%) and the hill dipterocarp quartz forest, lowland dipterocarp sandstone forest, upper dipterocarp quartz forest, and mangrove forest are representing approximately 6.4%, 4.6%, 3% and 2.6% of the total land area respectively. These data can be used to prioritize the areas deserving attention due to their value for biodiversity conservation and for the production of goods and supply of ecosystem services. In addition to a variety of ecological and environmental aspects, such an ecosystem map has potential use for the sustainable management of natural resources at the national, regional, continental, and global scales.
文摘In this paper, the conceptions and developments of ecosystem and ecosystem ecology were reviewed and summarized. Then, the conception, connotation, objective, and development of ecosystem management were expounded. Based on these discussions, forest ecosystem management was discussed. The viewpoint was that the former unreasonable forest resources management should be changed, and forest ecosystem management was a suitable way to sustainable development of forestry. The chief research contents were also pointed out in this paper.
文摘Due to the rapid economic growth and the continuous increase of human, ecosystem disturbances and habitat destructions, the biodiversity of freshwater ecosystems in China is rapidly declining. This issue is gradually gaining the government’s attention as its environmental policy becomes more and more equally-weighed on both “pollution prevention and control” and “ecological conservation” issues while only the former was emphasized in the past. However, some unsolved issues still exist with regard to aquatic biodiversity monitoring and management in China. For example, there are functional overlaps among governmental departments; regional ecological function divisions are not clarified; biodiversity is usually neglected or not emphasized in environmental impact assessment for construction projects; and so on. In our opinion, the following areas should be emphasied: (a) enhancing the cooperation among governmental departments; (b) setting up mechanisms to allow ecological watershed management; (c) establishing the biodiversity conservation and ecological restoration planning for local freshwater ecosystem; (d) clarifying the ecological function divisions; (e) enhancing the biodiversity monitoring and management for freshwater ecosystem in environmental impact assessment studies for industrial construction and rural development projects; (f) establishing a technical regulatory framework for related monitoring and management activities which includes an index system for monitoring and assessment; (g) studying and establishing the related biological criteria for formulating assessment standards; and (h) paying attention to aquatic vegetation, fishes, benthic macro-invertebrates and other key aquatic assemblages.
基金supported in part by grants from the National Natural Science Foundation of China(Grant Nos.42001187 and 41701629)。
文摘Slope farmland is an important component of farmland resources in China.The utilization and change of slope farmland have significant effects on ecosystems,and understanding the impact of slope farmland change on ecosystem services(ESs)is critical for effective land utilization and ecosystem protection.This study aims to analyze slope farmland changes in China between 2000 and 2020 and quantify the impact of these changes on ESs by the use of a land use dynamic attitude study,and an ecosystem services value(ESV)equivalent.Results show that the area of slope farmland in China was mainly concentrated on slopes of 2°-6°,and exhibited a downward trend between 2000 and 2020.There were significant differences in the spatial distribution of the farmland,which was mainly located in the Taihang,Qinling,Wushan,and Xuefeng mountains.ESV increased by$179.235 million due to the conversion between slope farmland and forest,grassland,and construction land from 2000-2010.Conversely,from 2010 to 2020,ESV decreased by$2613.919 million due to the conversion of forest and grassland to slope farmland as well as the conversion of slope farmland to construction land.
文摘Along with the industrial development, adverse impacts on the natural environment become more serious, and ecosystem health and ecological security have also been deteriorated. The traditional environment management focused on the shorterm and economic benefits. Such managing pattern is not accommodating to the new situation of increasingly global environment problems and large scale marine environment problems. This paper introduces the advance and definition of a new managing patternecosystem management. Meanwhile, the con- notation of ecosystem management was summarized as seven points: Sustainability; Human is an important aspect of ecosystem management; Cooperation is the foundation of ecosystem management; Maintain health and security of ecosystem; Ecological diversity protection characters ecosystem management; Maintain the integrity of ecosystem; Ecosystem management must be founded on scientific theories and precise information. Somebody said Ecosystem Management is "a new label of old ideas". However, there is an essential difference between ecosystem management and traditional environmental management. In the last part of this paper, the differences of the approaches between ecosystem management and traditional environmental management are compared.
文摘Since acorn production is a foundational process of ecosystems dominated by oaks, understanding the impact of forest management practices on acorn production is critical to the sustainable management of oak forests. This investigation addressed the impact of even-aged management (EAM), uneven-aged management (UAM), and no-harvest management (NHM) on the production of mature, sound acorns over an 18-year period (1993-2010) of a long-term, landscape-scale forest management experiment in the Missouri Ozarks. Forest management impacts were investigated at two operational scales: the multi-stand compartment and the stand. We hypothesized that acorn production at both scales would be lower under active management (EAM and UAM) than NHM on these oak-dominated landscapes. Acorn production (acorns/ha/year) of red oaks (mainly black oak (Quercus velutina) and scarlet oak (Q. coccinea)) at the compartment level was lower under active management than NHM during the post-treatment period (1997-2010), but not for white oaks (mainly white oak (Q. alba) and post oak (Q. stellata)), which was largely a result of greater abundance and preferential harvesting of mature red oaks. At the stand scale, acorn production following either intermediate thinning or single-tree selection was comparable to yields observed in untreated stands suggesting that partial overstory removal can be implemented for harvesting timber and other silvicultural objectives without sacrificing acorn production. In many oak-dominated forests, active management will be necessary to mitigate future losses of acorn production driven by oak decline, succession, and climate change, including approaches for sustaining oak recruitment and acorn production.
文摘Our case study analyzed the proximity of previously mapped fractures in the aquifer matrix to 93 Florida panther (Puma concolor coryi) dens mapped from 2007-2016 in south Florida. Dens occurred in five counties (Collier = 77, Dade = 1, Hendry = 9, Lee = 5, and Monroe = 1) and three sub-basins of the Greater Everglades Basin (Big Cypress Swamp = 83, Caloosahatchee = 3, and Everglades = 7). Fractured aquifers occur worldwide, but are not the focus of habitat suitability studies, despite evidence that fractures influence plant species composition and density. Habitat alterations can occur many kilometers from the surface footprint of groundwater alterations in the regional Floridan aquifer system via preferential flow through fractures. Increased natural discharge from and recharge to the aquifer occur at fracture intersections. Greater induced recharge and habitat changes also may occur at fracture intersections. All dens were within 5 km of a previously mapped fracture;36% and 74% were within 1 km and 2 km, respectively, of those fractures;and 47%, 74%, and 90% of dens were within 2 km, 3.25 km and 5 km, respectively, from the nearest fracture intersection. Results suggest fractures influence the suitability and/or availability of habitat for panther dens, selection of den sites, and availability as well as abundance of high quality prey items essential for the nutritional demands of successfully rearing panther kittens in the wild. We recommend more detailed investigations of: a) vegetation characteristics near dens, b) groundwater alterations and cumulative impacts of those alterations associated with fractures in panther habitat (e.g., altered plant species composition and density), and c) influence of aquifer fractures in all habitats underlain by fractures.
文摘Pine wood nematode (PWN), Bursaphelenchus xylophilus (Steiner et Buhrer) Nickle is an important invasive alien species in forests of China and has become one of the most destructive forest diseases. In order to improve the resistance and resilience of pine forest ecosystems against B. xylophilus invasion and make the pine forest ecosystem more timely responsive to PWN invasion, we made some recommendations based on five years of intensive observations. We advocate a set of management measures with the theme “Prevention is priority, but integrated with curative techniques and ecological resilience” on the pine forest ecosystem invaded by B. xylophilus; details of accurate measures are proposed. The aim is to discover the underlying problems of present pine forest ecosys-tems and to take, correspondingly, administrative measures and strategies, which will encourage the pine forest ecosystem to develop in a benign way.
文摘Unorganized municipal solid waste (MSW) disposal system leads to stress on ecosystems and disturbs various nature cycles and human health. Solid waste management all over world is looked as a major challenge to civil bodies, especially in developing countries like Bangladesh. The proper management system of municipal solid waste depends on various factors like social, cultural, financial, political, environmental, physical and institutional and so on. The purpose of this study is to explore the leading factors that affect the solid waste management in Barishal city. For achieving this purpose, this research first has identified the socio-economic, cultural, physical and technical, institutional and environmental factors and then analyzed the factors which affect the solid waste management system in the study area. To achieve the purpose of the study, quantitative method has been used in this research. As a sample of this study, 150 household heads from total household members of the city have been selected randomly by using lottery method. A structured questionnaire has been constructed for collecting quantitative data. The quantitative data have been analyzed in this study by using SPSS Program, and Microsoft Excel. The findings of the study show that all city people know solid waste and solid waste management stakeholders present in the city and waste pickers collect all types of waste in the city and socio-economic, cultural, physical and technical, institutional factors affect the effective solid waste management in the study area where environmental factors have no influence on effective solid waste management in the study area. The study people have a bad impression of the current existing management system of the solid waste and they express their expectations where they mention that if municipal authorities improve the condition of the infrastructure, roads and vehicles;allow more budgets to manage waste;take proper strategies and planning to manage waste smartly like imposing fines, set up rules, then the municipal authorities will be able to manage solid waste properly. Finally, this research has proposed some recommendations that might be helpful for the policy-makers in the study area for making policies and further research regarding solid waste management.