Addressing soil protection concerns in forest ecosystem management under climate change

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.

“Good Vibrations”: The Social Networks of Optimists and Alter-Optimists

This study empirically tested if the personality trait of optimism and the interpersonal capability to generate optimism in one’s network nodes (i.e., alter-optimism) influences the social relationship patterns. The results provide evidence that optimism trait is independent from the way social networks of personal-issue sharing, advice-seeking, problem-solving, and innovation, are structured. In contrary, the alter-optimism capability does provide a good explanation of one’s social network position. Implications of these findings are discussed at the end.

The PALDES Project—Development in Níger Trough Palaeontology

The PALDES project results from a partnership between the Aderbissinat government(N(?)ger) and the Elches Palaeontology Museum(Spain).It has the collaboration of the National Natural History Museum (Portugal) and it’s supported by the Spanish government and some spanish private enterprises.The project is based on the palaentological research by means of the development of an area of the Nigerian Sahara,located at the SSW from Agadez,through

The Global Value Chains and the Evolution of Chinese Economic Model

According to the Word Bank,in the first 38 years of China,economic reform took 700 million people out poverty line in China at the same time benefiting the Global South economy due to the integration of the transnational enterprises global value chains with China.Chinese government understood the economic rational of global value chains,Flying Geese Model,and foreign direct investment theories and introduced policies to attract foreign capital,technology,production,and foreign buyers,placing China as the final stage of the production networks in Asia and also transforming China in the biggest buying market of many resources and energy suppliers from less developed countries in Asia,Africa,and South America.But a new model of Chinese economic development even more interconnected and interdependent with the world is now on move.Even quite before the world acknowledge the protectionist mindset of the US in Trump era,Chinese President Xi Jinping launched in 2013 a very ambitious initiative under the name of“One Road,One Belt,the 21st-Century Maritime Silk Road”to enhance a new stage of world globalization,which together with two complimentary initiatives:the“International Production Cooperation”and“Third-Country Market Cooperation”,and in complementarity with the“Made in China 2025”and“Internet Plus”plans will lead China to develop global value chains leaded by Chinese companies and integrating countries of Europe,Africa,Asia,and South America.

Global Governance and International Relations in the New Millennium

Undoubtedly,the first and second decades of the 21st century proved to be a time of unbelievable changes that history rarely contains.At the beginning of the new Millennium,the achievement of the United States,as the sole and hegemonic superpower,was followed by the 9/11 attack,one of the most audacious in history.The“war on terror”of President George W.Bush was put shortly out of control and provoked more broadly a new wave of terror and war all over the world.Later,the 2007/2008 financial crisis erupting in Wall Street and spreading to Europe jeopardize the role of the European Union as a pillar of peace and contributor to global governance,together with the United Nations.Moreover,its manu military alliance with the United States,through the North Atlantic Treaty Organization(NATO),in their offensive to dominate the Middle East,provoked a huge refugee crisis and the rise of populism in Europe.Is there a need for the European Union to change and disregard the American struggle to maintain its hegemonic position undermined by China and other rivals?Through the Theory of International Relations,this is to be uncovered and the consequence of weakened global governance,along with the European Union’s impoverished policies towards its most fragile European member states.

Distinct BSRs and their implications for natural gas hydrate formation and distribution at the submarine Makran accretionary zone

To investigate the nature of gas hydrates in the Makran area,new high-resolution geophysical data were acquired between 2018-2019.The data collected comprise multibeam and two-dimensional multi-channel seismic reflection data.The multibeam bathymetry data show East-North-East(ENE)ridges,piggy-back basins,canyon and channel systems,and the morphology of the abyssal plain.Continuous and discontinuous bottom simulating reflectors(BSRs)occur in the piggy-back basins on most of the seismic profiles available.The BSRs cut the dipping layers with strong amplitude and reversed polarity.Discontinuous BSRs indicate a transition along a dipping high-permeable sand layers from gas-rich segment to the gas hydrate-bearing segment and sugge st alternating sediments of fine and relatively coarse grain size.Double BSRs are highly dynamic and attributed to slumps occurring in the study area.The BSRs induced by slumps are located both at deep and shallow depths,responding to the temperature or pressure variation.For the first time,BSRs are observed in the abyssal plain of the Makran area,being associated with anticline structures,which do not show large spatial continuity and are strongly conditioned by structural conditions such as anticlines and fluid migration pathways,including deep fault,gas chimney,and high-permeable sedimentary layer.Our results may help to assess the gas hydrate potential within the piggy-back basins and to determine the most promising target areas.Moreover,results about the abyssal plain BSR may help to locate hydrocarbon reservoirs in the deep ocean.

Paleogeography and Sequence Stratigraphy in Dariyan Carbonate Reservoir, NE Shiraz

Zagros Basin is a very important hydrocarbon region in the Iran and World. One of the major reservoirs in this basin is the Lower Cretaceous Dariyan Formation. Based on petrographic studies, 9 microfacies were determined and interpreted as related to lagoon, barrier island and open marine environments. Facies associations show deposition in a carbonate ramp. Sequence stratigraphy studies show two sequences, each one with a transgressive system tract, marked by open marine microfacies, and then a retrogradational highstand, marked by barrier and lagoonal facies. Paleogeography and sequence stratigraphy studies of this formation and correlation of it with other sections may provide useful information about reservoir characterizations.

Logistic Optimization in Tourism Networks

Tourism is one of the activities with high benefits on the development and for many regions,enabling the integration of local populations and economies.In our natural laboratory,the Azores Island of São Miguel,an important share of tourists identifies adventure,leisure and touch with nature,as the main reasons for the visit.The use of footpaths can contribute to the satisfaction of tourists,promoting tourism and the region’s development during their movements on the tourism network,tourists appreciate different types of attractions and need the support of a set of facilities.Tourist decisions are not always done in a rational way,emotions add even more complexity to the human decision process.The movement of tourists within a destination depends on factors related to tourist characteristics,like the time budgets,preferences or destination knowledge,and destination features related to attractions characteristics or accessibility level.The existence of a mathematical model that incorporates the main factors that explain the movement of independent tourists within a destination,in a dynamic way,will make possible the creation of an adaptable software tool.This tool will meet the specific needs of tourists,allowing the use of the network in an optimal way by the different tourist profiles,and the needs of regional government and business,allowing better decisions and the offer of relevant tourism products.This article is based on the authors’previous research and identifies the relevance of tourism for regional development,finds the main tourists’mobility criteria on the study territory,using as main support for the footpath network,recognises the necessary modelling process and develops the foundation for the building of the mathematical model that explains the movement of tourists within the destination,making possible a future adaptable software tool.

Using 3-D magnetic modeling to evaluate subsurface structures of the Siwa Oasis,Western Desert,Egypt

This work was designed to study the subsurface structures in the Siwa Oasis area of the Western Desert in Egypt and to determine their effects on surface geologic structures. A detailed land magnetic survey was performed in traverses covering about 400 km2 of the study area. The measured total magnetic field was corrected and reduced to the north magnetic pole. The reduction-to-pole aeromagnetic and Bouguer anomaly maps were used to obtain regional extensions of these subsurface structures, study the continuation of these structures in sedimentary rocks, and delineate the depths to the basement rocks. Data analysis was performed using trend analysis, Euler deconvolution, Werner deconvolution, the Hilbert transform of the analytical signal, and 3-dimensional magnetic modeling methods. The results indicate that the area is affected by tectonic forces in the E-W, N45°-65°E, and N35°-45°W trends, which are correlated with the directions of surface geologic lineaments. The depth to the basement rocks increases from 3.2 km in the southern part to about 3.6 km in the northern part of the area. The results are in good agreement with depths obtained from drill hole data in the area.

A multi-integrated approach on toxicity effects of engineered TiO2 nanoparticles

The new properties of engineered nanoparti- cles drive the need for new knowledge on the safety, fate, behavior and biologic effects of these particles on organisms and ecosystems. Titanium dioxide nanoparticles have been used extensively for a wide range of applica- tions, e.g, self-cleaning surface coatings, solar cells, water treatment agents, topical sunscreens. Within this scenario increased environmental exposure can be expected but data on the ecotoxicological evaluation ofnanoparticles are still scarce. The main purpose of this work was the evaluation of effects of TiO2 nanoparticles in several organisms, covering different trophic levels, using a battery of aquatic assays. Using fish as a vertebrate model organism tissue histological and ultrastructural observations and the stress enzyme activity were also studied. TiO2 nanoparticles （Aeroxide~ P25）, two phase composition ofanatase （65%） and rutile （35%） with an average particle size value of 27.64-11 nm were used. Results on the ECs0 for the tested aquatic organisms showed toxicity for the bacteria, the algae and the crustacean, being the algae the most sensitive tested organism. The aquatic plant Lemna minor showed no effect on growth. The fish Carassius auratus showed no effect on a 21 day survival test, though at a biochemical level the cytosolic Glutathione-S-Transferase total activity, in intestines, showed a general significant decrease （p〈0.05） after 14 days of exposure for all tested concentrations. The presence of TiO2 nanoparticles aggregates were observed in the intestine lumen but their internalization by intestine cells could not be confirmed.