| 1. |
- Abdel-Hameed, Amal Mohamed, et al.
(författare)
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Winter Potato Water Footprint Response to Climate Change in Egypt
- 2022
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Ingår i: Atmosphere. - : MDPI. - 2073-4433. ; 13:7
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The limited amount of freshwater is the most important challenge facing Egypt due to increasing population and climate change. The objective of this study was to investigate how climatic change affects the winter potato water footprint at the Nile Delta covering 10 governorates from 1990 to 2016. Winter potato evapotranspiration (ETC) was calculated based on daily climate variables of minimum temperature, maximum temperature, wind speed and relative humidity during the growing season (October–February). The Mann–Kendall test was applied to determine the trend of climatic variables, crop evapotranspiration and water footprint. The results showed that the highest precipitation values were registered in the northwest governorates (Alexandria followed by Kafr El-Sheikh). The potato water footprint decreased from 170 m3 ton−1 in 1990 to 120 m3 ton−1 in 2016. The blue-water footprint contributed more than 75% of the total; the remainder came from the green-water footprint. The findings from this research can help government and policy makers better understand the impact of climate change on potato crop yield and to enhance sustainable water management in Egypt’s major crop-producing regions to alleviate water scarcity.
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| 2. |
- Akpalu, Wisdom, et al.
(författare)
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Connectivity at a cost : Economic dynamics of restoring habitat connectivity
- 2021
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Ingår i: Natural Resource Modeling. - : John Wiley & Sons. - 0890-8575 .- 1939-7445. ; 34:1
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Both in the United States and in Europe there is ongoing work on reversing habitat fragmentation and the attendant loss in biodiversity in river systems caused by hydropower and other developments. Fish ladders and other measures are being introduced to restore the connectivity in river systems. In this paper, we set up a theoretical model to investigate what the conditions are for such an investment to be socially profitable. We find that, even in cases where it would have been socially preferable not to build hydropower installations in the first place, connectivity-restoring measures affecting the installations are not necessarily socially beneficial. This is the case for a wide range of plausible assumptions about discount rates, investment costs and productivity losses.
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| 3. |
- Al Bayaty, Majd, et al.
(författare)
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Riparian Management and Nutrients Distribution in Different Zones of Euphrates Riverbanks
- 2023
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Ingår i: International Journal of Design & Nature and Ecodynamics. - : International Information and Engineering Technology Association. - 1755-7437 .- 1755-7445. ; 18:1, s. 1-10
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The dynamic of nutrient cycling is a critical factor in riparian regions. It is essential to understand the behaviour of riparian areas in the maintenance and management river ecosystem. Sediment load, nutrients, and pathogens are transported to water bodies through land drainage and riverside flow. The classification of environmental agencies was poor for them. In this study, a qualitative investigation was implemented to determine the relationship between these practices and variations in nutrient retention for several types of riverbank soil. Also, the riverbank soils were including soil covered by wild reed plants. All the field works were along the Euphrates River in three locations. Moreover, study the variation in the content of vegetation riverbank soils from nitrogen, organic matter (OM), potassium (K), phosphorus (P), and PH. The results presented that riverbanks consider important locations for nutrient retention. Whilst agricultural activities have minimized the content of soil of OM (30%), N (49%), and K (3%), in subsurface soil but not so great lowering in surface layers. In contrast, management practices and human activities such as burning caused an apparent increase of OM (4%), N (77%), and a clear reduction in P (12%) content at both surface and subsurface layers of soil. Under all circumstances, riverbank soils showed a relative increase of nutrients at wet toe-slopes. Furthermore, it is noted that riparian vegetation and aquatic plants played a significant role by causing critical changes in riparian sides or even contrary effects on riverbank management practices and destruction of natural soil nutrient conditions. Thus, it should be carefully considered when evaluating the ecological impacts of riparian disturbances.
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| 4. |
- Amuakwa-Mensah, Franklin, et al.
(författare)
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Deriving a Benefit Transfer Function for Threatened and Endangered Species in Interaction with Their Level of Charisma
- 2018
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Ingår i: Environments. - : MDPI. - 2076-3298 .- 0711-6780. ; 5:2
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Biodiversity and species conservation are among the most urgent global issues. Both are under serious threat because of human intrusion and as a result, it is likely that present and future projects will affect threatened and endangered species. Thus, it is important to account for these impacts when evaluating and conducting cost and benefit analyses of projects. Due to their public good character and non-tradability, the total economic value of threatened and endangered species cannot be reflected by a market price and therefore, alternative approaches (stated preference method) are needed to determine their monetary value. This paper reviews and compares the valuation literature on threatened and endangered animals and conducts a meta-analysis regression to identify explanatory variables for the variation in willingness to pay for threatened and endangered species. The main findings of the meta-analysis show that the interaction of the level of threat and charisma have a positive effect on willingness to pay. Furthermore, developed countries have a higher willingness to pay compared to developing countries. Similarly, visitors of conservation sites have higher willingness to pay than residents. The provided example of a benefit transfer of the estimated function shows the practicability of our results.
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| 5. |
- Andersson, Erik, et al.
(författare)
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Ambio fit for the 2020s
- 2022
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Ingår i: Ambio. - : Springer Nature. - 0044-7447 .- 1654-7209. ; 51:5, s. 1091-1093
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)
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| 6. |
- Angelstam, Per, 1953-, et al.
(författare)
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Two-dimensional gap analysis : a tool for efficient conservation planning and biodiversity policy implementation
- 2003
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Ingår i: Ambio. - : Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. - 0044-7447 .- 1654-7209. ; 32:8, s. 527-534
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The maintenance of biodiversity by securing representative and well-connected habitat networks in managed landscapes requires a wise combination of protection, management, and restoration of habitats at several scales. We suggest that the integration of natural and social sciences in the form of "Two-dimensional gap analysis" is an efficient tool for the implementation of biodiversity policies. The tool links biologically relevant "horizontal" ecological issues with "vertical" issues related to institutions and other societal issues. Using forest biodiversity as an example, we illustrate how one can combine ecological and institutional aspects of biodiversity conservation, thus facilitating environmentally sustainable regional development. In particular, we use regional gap analysis for identification of focal forest types, habitat modelling for ascertaining the functional connectivity of "green infrastructures", as tools for the horizontal gap analysis. For the vertical dimension we suggest how the social sciences can be used for assessing the success in the implementation of biodiversity policies in real landscapes by identifying institutional obstacles while implementing policies. We argue that this interdisciplinary approach could be applied in a whole range of other environments including other terrestrial biota and aquatic ecosystems where functional habitat connectivity, nonlinear response to habitat loss and a multitude of economic and social interests co-occur in the same landscape.
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| 7. |
- Bell, David, et al.
(författare)
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Forest restoration to attract a putative umbrella species, the white-backed woodpecker, benefited saproxylic beetles
- 2015
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Ingår i: Ecosphere. - 2150-8925 .- 2150-8925. ; 6:12
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Umbrella species are often spatially demanding and have limited ability to adapt to environmental changes induced by human land-use. This makes them vulnerable to human encroachment. In Sweden, broadleaved trees are disadvantaged by forestry, and commercially managed forests are often deprived of dead wood. This has led to a situation where previously widespread top predators in saproxylic food webs, such as the white-backed woodpecker (Dendrocopos leucotos), have become species of conservation concern. The white-backed woodpecker is generally considered an umbrella species, and it has been linked to forests with large volumes of dead wood from broadleaved trees. In recent years, forest stands have been restored for the white-backed woodpecker, but post-treatment evaluations have rarely included other species that also occur in broad-leaved forests (co-occurring species). Many co-occurring species are saproxylic beetles. In this study, we collected saproxylic beetles and environmental data in restored and commercially managed forests to evaluate if habitat restoration for the white-backed woodpecker also benefited other species with similar habitat associations. We found that volumes of coarse woody debris were higher in restored than in commercially managed forests, and that a majority of man-made snags and downed logs were created from birch trees (Betula spp.). Most spruce trees (Picea abies) were extracted during forest restoration, and this opened up the forest canopy, and created stands dominated by broadleaved trees. Many saproxylic beetles were more common in restored forests, and there were significant differences in species composition between treatments. These differences were largely explained by species traits. Effects of sun-exposure were particularly important, but many beneficiary species were also linked to dead wood from broadleaved trees. Red-listed saproxylic beetles showed a similar pattern with more species and individuals in restored sites. The white-backed woodpecker is still critically endangered in Sweden, but important prey species are already responding to forest restoration at the stand level. We recognize that landscape-level improvements will be required to bring the white-backed woodpecker back, but also that the umbrella species concept can provide a useful framework for successful forest restoration as many co-occurring saproxylic beetle species seemingly benefitted from restoration for the white-backed woodpecker.
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| 8. |
- Bergmark, Paulina, et al.
(författare)
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Lophelia pertusa conservation in the North Sea using obsolete offshore structures as artificial reefs
- 2014
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Ingår i: Marine Ecology Progress Series. - : Inter-Research Science Center. - 0171-8630 .- 1616-1599. ; 516, s. 275-280
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Deep-water coral reefs are classified as vulnerable marine ecosystems, with trawling identified as the primary cause of reef destruction. Lophelia pertusa is the main reef-building species in deep-water coral reefs. In addition to occurring on natural hard substrates, the species has been previously observed on standing offshore oil and gas structures in the North Sea. In this study, we review the available published information about Lophelia growth on standing offshore oil and gas industry structures in the North Sea. We discuss the potential uses of obsolete offshore structures repurposed as artificial reefs for targeted Lophelia habitat. Our survey of previous studies indicates that artificial reefs created from obsolete structures have a strong potential to form Lophelia reef communities similar to those found on natural substrates, although the absence of the polychaete worm Eunice norvegica poses some concerns about the completeness of the coral communities that develop on artificial reef structures.
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| 9. |
- Breitbarth, Eike, et al.
(författare)
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Dissolved iron (II) in the Baltic Sea surface water and implications for cyanobacterial bloom development
- 2009
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Ingår i: Biogeosciences. - : Copernicus GmbH. - 1726-4170 .- 1726-4189. ; 6:Special issue, s. 2397-2420
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Iron chemistry measurements were conducted during summer 2007 at two distinct locations in the Baltic Sea (Gotland Deep and Landsort Deep) to evaluate the role of iron for cyanobacterial bloom development in these estuarine waters. Depth profiles of Fe(II) were measured by chemiluminescent flow injection analysis (CL-FIA). Up to 0.9 nmol Fe(II) L−1 were detected in light penetrated surface waters, which constitutes up to 20% to the dissolved Fe pool. This bioavailable iron source is a major contributor to the Fe requirements of Baltic Sea phytoplankton and apparently plays a major role for cyanobacterial bloom development during our study. Measured Fe(II) half life times in oxygenated water exceed predicted values and indicate organic Fe(II) complexation. Potential sources for Fe(II) ligands, including rainwater, are discussed. Fe(II) concentrations of up to 1.44 nmol L−1 were detected at water depths below the euphotic zone, but above the oxic anoxic interface. Mixed layer depths after strong wind events are not deep enough in summer time to penetrate the oxic-anoxic boundary layer. However, Fe(II) from anoxic bottom water may enter the sub-oxic zone via diapycnal mixing and diffusion.
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| 10. |
- Brown, Ludovick, et al.
(författare)
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Lead exposure in brown bears is linked to environmental levels and the distribution of moose kills
- 2023
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Ingår i: Science of the Total Environment. - : Elsevier B.V.. - 0048-9697 .- 1879-1026. ; 873
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Lead (Pb) is heterogeneously distributed in the environment and multiple sources like Pb ammunition and fossil fuel combustion can increase the risk of exposure in wildlife. Brown bears (Ursus arctos) in Sweden have higher blood Pb levels compared to bears from other populations, but the sources and routes of exposure are unknown. The objective of this study was to quantify the contribution of two potential sources of Pb exposure in female brown bears (n = 34 individuals; n = 61 samples). We used multiple linear regressions to determine the contribution of both environmental Pb levels estimated from plant roots and moose (Alces alces) kills to blood Pb concentrations in female brown bears. We found positive relationships between blood Pb concentrations in bears and both the distribution of moose kills by hunters and environmental Pb levels around capture locations. Our results suggest that the consumption of slaughter remains discarded by moose hunters is a likely significant pathway of Pb exposure and this exposure is additive to environmental Pb exposure in female brown bears in Sweden. We suggest that spatially explicit models, incorporating habitat selection analyses of harvest data, may prove useful in predicting Pb exposure in scavengers.
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