Private forest-land owners of the Southern United States, 1994

Science.gov (United States)

Thomas W. Birch; Thomas W. Birch

1997-01-01

A statistical analytical report on mail canvass of private forest-land owners in the Southern United States. Landowner characteristics, attitudes, harvesting experience, tenure, and management planning are discussed.

The Southern Nevada Agency Partnership Science and Research Synthesis: Science to support land management in Southern Nevada - Executive Summary

Science.gov (United States)

Jeanne C. Chambers; Matthew L. Brooks; Burton K. Pendleton; Carol B. Raish

2013-01-01

This synthesis provides information related to the Southern Nevada Agency Partnership (SNAP) Science and Research Strategy Goal 1 - to restore, sustain and enhance southern Nevada’s ecosystems - and Goal 2 - to provide for responsible use of southern Nevada’s lands in a manner that preserves heritage resources and promotes an understanding of human interaction with the...

THE GREAT SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA SHAKEOUT: Earthquake Science for 22 Million People

Science.gov (United States)

Jones, L.; Cox, D.; Perry, S.; Hudnut, K.; Benthien, M.; Bwarie, J.; Vinci, M.; Buchanan, M.; Long, K.; Sinha, S.; Collins, L.

2008-12-01

Earthquake science is being communicated to and used by the 22 million residents of southern California to improve resiliency to future earthquakes through the Great Southern California ShakeOut. The ShakeOut began when the USGS partnered with the California Geological Survey, Southern California Earthquake Center and many other organizations to bring 300 scientists and engineers together to formulate a comprehensive description of a plausible major earthquake, released in May 2008, as the ShakeOut Scenario, a description of the impacts and consequences of a M7.8 earthquake on the Southern San Andreas Fault (USGS OFR2008-1150). The Great Southern California ShakeOut was a week of special events featuring the largest earthquake drill in United States history. The ShakeOut drill occurred in houses, businesses, and public spaces throughout southern California at 10AM on November 13, 2008, when southern Californians were asked to pretend that the M7.8 scenario earthquake had occurred and to practice actions that could reduce the impact on their lives. Residents, organizations, schools and businesses registered to participate in the drill through www.shakeout.org where they could get accessible information about the scenario earthquake and share ideas for better reparation. As of September 8, 2008, over 2.7 million confirmed participants had been registered. The primary message of the ShakeOut is that what we do now, before a big earthquake, will determine what our lives will be like after. The goal of the ShakeOut has been to change the culture of earthquake preparedness in southern California, making earthquakes a reality that are regularly discussed. This implements the sociological finding that 'milling,' discussing a problem with loved ones, is a prerequisite to taking action. ShakeOut milling is taking place at all levels from individuals and families, to corporations and governments. Actions taken as a result of the ShakeOut include the adoption of earthquake

Recreation use on federal lands in southern Nevada [Chapter 10] (Executive Summary)

Science.gov (United States)

Alice M. McSweeney

2013-01-01

Providing for appropriate, diverse, and high quality recreation use of southern Nevada’s lands and ensuring responsible visitor use is an ongoing challenge for Federal agencies that manage much of this land (fig. 1.1). This chapter examines recreation on these Federal lands and addresses Sub-goal 2.4 in the SNAP Science Research Strategy (table 1.1). The demands for...

Recreation use on federal lands in southern Nevada [Chapter 10

Science.gov (United States)

Alice M. McSweeney

2013-01-01

Providing for appropriate, diverse, and high quality recreational use of southern Nevada’s lands and ensuring responsible visitor use is an ongoing challenge for the Federal agencies that manage the majority of the area (fig. 1.1). Over 87 percent (61,548,000 acres out of Nevada’s 70,275,000) of Nevada’s lands are administered by the Federal government, which is the...

A Prototype Physical Database for Passive Microwave Retrievals of Precipitation over the US Southern Great Plains

Science.gov (United States)

Ringerud, S.; Kummerow, C. D.; Peters-Lidard, C. D.

2015-01-01

An accurate understanding of the instantaneous, dynamic land surface emissivity is necessary for a physically based, multi-channel passive microwave precipitation retrieval scheme over land. In an effort to assess the feasibility of the physical approach for land surfaces, a semi-empirical emissivity model is applied for calculation of the surface component in a test area of the US Southern Great Plains. A physical emissivity model, using land surface model data as input, is used to calculate emissivity at the 10GHz frequency, combining contributions from the underlying soil and vegetation layers, including the dielectric and roughness effects of each medium. An empirical technique is then applied, based upon a robust set of observed channel covariances, extending the emissivity calculations to all channels. For calculation of the hydrometeor contribution, reflectivity profiles from the Tropical Rainfall Measurement Mission Precipitation Radar (TRMM PR) are utilized along with coincident brightness temperatures (Tbs) from the TRMM Microwave Imager (TMI), and cloud-resolving model profiles. Ice profiles are modified to be consistent with the higher frequency microwave Tbs. Resulting modeled top of the atmosphere Tbs show correlations to observations of 0.9, biases of 1K or less, root-mean-square errors on the order of 5K, and improved agreement over the use of climatological emissivity values. The synthesis of these models and data sets leads to the creation of a simple prototype Tb database that includes both dynamic surface and atmospheric information physically consistent with the land surface model, emissivity model, and atmospheric information.

Forest to agriculture conversion in southern Belize: Implications for migrant land birds

Science.gov (United States)

Spruce, J.P.; Dowell, B.A.; Robbins, C.S.; Sader, S.A.; Doyle, Jamie K.; Schelhas, John

1993-01-01

Central America offers a suite of neotropical habitats vital to overwintering migrant land birds. The recent decline of many forest dwelling avian migrants is believed to be related in part to neotropical deforestation and land use change. However, spatio-temporal trends in neotropical habitat availability and avian migrant habitat use are largely unknown. Such information is needed to assess the impact of agriculture conversion on migrant land birds. In response, the USDI Fish and Wildlife Service and the University of Maine began a cooperative study in 1988 which applies remote sensing and field surveys to determine current habitat availability and avian migrant habitat use. Study sites include areas in Belize, Costa Rica, Guatemala and southern Mexico. Visual assessment of Landsat TM imagery indicates southern Belize forests are fragmented by various agricultural systems. Shifting agriculture is predominant in some areas, while permanent agriculture (citrus and mixed animal crops) is the primary system in others. This poster focuses on efforts to monitor forest to agriculture conversion in southern Belize using remote sensing, field surveys and GIS techniques. Procedures and avian migrant use of habitat are summarized.

Great Basin land managers provide detailed feedback about usefulness of two climate information web applications

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Chad Zanocco

Full Text Available Land managers in the Great Basin are working to maintain or restore sagebrush ecosystems as climate change exacerbates existing threats. Web applications delivering climate change and climate impacts information have the potential to assist their efforts. Although many web applications containing climate information currently exist, few have been co-produced with land managers or have incorporated information specifically focused on land managers’ needs. Through surveys and interviews, we gathered detailed feedback from federal, state, and tribal sagebrush land managers in the Great Basin on climate information web applications targeting land management. We found that a managers are searching for weather and climate information they can incorporate into their current management strategies and plans; b they are willing to be educated on how to find and understand climate related web applications; c both field and administrative-type managers want data for timescales ranging from seasonal to decadal; d managers want multiple levels of climate information, from simple summaries, to detailed descriptions accessible through the application; and e managers are interested in applications that evaluate uncertainty and provide projected climate impacts. Keywords: Great Basin, Sagebrush, Land management, Climate change, Web application, Co-production

Land consolidation in mountain areas. Case study from southern Poland

Science.gov (United States)

Janus, Jarosław; Łopacka, Magdalena; John, Ewa

2017-12-01

Land consolidation procedures are an attempt to comprehensively change the existing spatial structure of land in rural areas. This treatment also brings many other social and economic benefi ts, contributing to the development of consolidated areas. Land consolidation in mountain areas differs in many respects from those implemented in areas with more favorable conditions for the functioning of agriculture. The unfavorable values of land fragmentation indices, terrain conditions and lower than the average soil quality affect both the dominant forms of agricultural activity and the limited opportunities to improve the distribution of plots in space, parameters of shape, and the area as a result of land consolidation. For this reason, the effectiveness of land consolidation in mountain areas can be achieved by improving the quality of transportation network and the accessibility of the plots, arranging ownership issues and improving the quality of cadastral documentation. This article presents the evaluation of the measures of effectiveness of land consolidation realized in mountain areas on the example of Łetownia Village in the Małopolska Province, located in the southern part of Poland. Selected village is an area with unfavorable conditions for the functioning of agriculture and high values of land fragmentation indices.

Land consolidation in mountain areas. Case study from southern Poland

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Janus Jarosław

2017-12-01

Full Text Available Land consolidation procedures are an attempt to comprehensively change the existing spatial structure of land in rural areas. This treatment also brings many other social and economic benefi ts, contributing to the development of consolidated areas. Land consolidation in mountain areas differs in many respects from those implemented in areas with more favorable conditions for the functioning of agriculture. The unfavorable values of land fragmentation indices, terrain conditions and lower than the average soil quality affect both the dominant forms of agricultural activity and the limited opportunities to improve the distribution of plots in space, parameters of shape, and the area as a result of land consolidation. For this reason, the effectiveness of land consolidation in mountain areas can be achieved by improving the quality of transportation network and the accessibility of the plots, arranging ownership issues and improving the quality of cadastral documentation. This article presents the evaluation of the measures of effectiveness of land consolidation realized in mountain areas on the example of Łetownia Village in the Małopolska Province, located in the southern part of Poland. Selected village is an area with unfavorable conditions for the functioning of agriculture and high values of land fragmentation indices.

Greenhouse Gas Emissions of Beef Cattle Production in the Southern Great Plains

Science.gov (United States)

Kannan, N.; Niraula, R.; Saleh, A.; Osei, E.; Cole, A.; Todd, R.; Waldrip, H.; Aljoe, H.

2017-12-01

A five-year USDA-funded study titled "Resilience and vulnerability of beef cattle production in the Southern Great Plains under changing climate, land use, and markets" was initiated as a multi-institutional collaboration involving Texas Institute for Applied Environmental Research (TIAER)—Tarleton State University, United States Department of Agriculture (USDA)—Agricultural Research Service (ARS) in El Reno, Oklahoma, USDA—ARS in Bushland, Texas, Kansas State University, Oklahoma State University, University of Oklahoma, and the Noble Research Institute in Ardmore, Oklahoma. The project goal is to safeguard and promote regional beef production while mitigating its environmental footprint. Conducting a full Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) is one of the major objectives of the study, in addition to field experiments, extension, outreach, and education. Estimation of all the resource use and greenhouse gas emissions are parts of the LCA. A computer model titled Animal Production Life Cycle Analysis Tool (APLCAT) is developed and applied to conduct the LCA on beef cattle production in the study region. The model estimates water use, energy requirements, and emissions of enteric methane, manure methane, nitrous oxide, and carbon dioxide. Also included in the LCA analysis are land-atmospheric exchanges of methane, nitrous oxide, carbon dioxide and the global warming potential. Our study is focused on the cow-calf and stocker phases of beef cattle production. The animal production system in the study region is predominantly forage based with protein and energy supplements when needed. Spring calving typical to the study region. In the cow-calf phase animals typically graze native prairie although introduced pasture grazing is also prevalent. Stockers use winter pasture as the major feed. The results of greenhouse gas emissions summarized per kg of hot carcass weight or animal fed will be presented.

The ITE Land classification: Providing an environmental stratification of Great Britain.

Science.gov (United States)

Bunce, R G; Barr, C J; Gillespie, M K; Howard, D C

1996-01-01

The surface of Great Britain (GB) varies continuously in land cover from one area to another. The objective of any environmentally based land classification is to produce classes that match the patterns that are present by helping to define clear boundaries. The more appropriate the analysis and data used, the better the classes will fit the natural patterns. The observation of inter-correlations between ecological factors is the basis for interpreting ecological patterns in the field, and the Institute of Terrestrial Ecology (ITE) Land Classification formalises such subjective ideas. The data inevitably comprise a large number of factors in order to describe the environment adequately. Single factors, such as altitude, would only be useful on a national basis if they were the only dominant causative agent of ecological variation.The ITE Land Classification has defined 32 environmental categories called 'land classes', initially based on a sample of 1-km squares in Great Britain but subsequently extended to all 240 000 1-km squares. The original classification was produced using multivariate analysis of 75 environmental variables. The extension to all squares in GB was performed using a combination of logistic discrimination and discriminant functions. The classes have provided a stratification for successive ecological surveys, the results of which have characterised the classes in terms of botanical, zoological and landscape features.The classification has also been applied to integrate diverse datasets including satellite imagery, soils and socio-economic information. A variety of models have used the structure of the classification, for example to show potential land use change under different economic conditions. The principal data sets relevant for planning purposes have been incorporated into a user-friendly computer package, called the 'Countryside Information System'.

Effect of land use and land cover changes on carbon sequestration in vegetation and soils between 1956 and 2007 (southern Spain)

Science.gov (United States)

Muñoz-Rojas, M.; Jordán, A.; Zavala, L. M.; de la Rosa, D.; Abd-Elmabod, S. K.; Anaya-Romero, M.

2012-04-01

Land use has significantly changed during the last decades at global and local scale, while the importance of ecosystems as sources/sinks of C has been highlighted, emphasizing the global impact of land use changes. The aim of this research was to improve and test methodologies to assess land use and land cover change dynamics and temporal and spatial variability in C stored in soils and vegetation at a wide scale. A Mediterranean region (Andalusia, Southern Spain) was selected for this pilot study in the period 1956-2007. Land use changes were detected by comparison of data layers, and soil information was gathered from available spatial databases. Data from land use and land cover change were reclassified according to CORINE Land Cover legend, according to land cover flows reported in Europe. Carbon vegetation stocks for 1956 and 2007 were calculated by multiplying C density for each land cover class and area. Soil carbon stocks were determined for each combination of soil and land use type at different standard depths (0-25, 25-50 and 50-75 cm). Total current carbon stocks (2007) are 156.1 Tg in vegetation and 415 Tg in soils (in the first 75 cm). Southern Spain has supported intense land cover changes affecting more than one third of the study area, with significant consequences for C stocks. Vegetation carbon increased 17.24 Mt since 1956 after afforestation practices and intensification of agriculture. Soil C stock decreased mainly in Cambisols and Regosols (above 80%) after forest areas were transformed into agricultural areas. The methodologies and information generated in this project constitute a basis for modelling of C sequestration and analysis of potential scenarios, as a new component of MicroLEIS DSS. This study highlights the importance of land cover changes for C sequestration in Mediterranean areas, highlighting possible trends for management policies in Europe in order to mitigate climate change.

Assessing the Accuracy of MODIS-NDVI Derived Land-Cover Across the Great Lakes Basin

Science.gov (United States)

This research describes the accuracy assessment process for a land-cover dataset developed for the Great Lakes Basin (GLB). This land-cover dataset was developed from the 2007 MODIS Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) 16-day composite (MOD13Q) 250 m time-series data. Tr...

The Development of Tourist Relations during the Economic Crisis through the Example of the Southern Great Plain Region and Serbia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

PÉTER GULYÁS

2016-06-01

Full Text Available Since the beginning of the economic crisis, nearby feeder markets have become increasingly important for Hungary’s tourism sector with cross-border cooperation schemes playing an ever increasing role. This also holds true for Hungary’s Southern Great Plain Region when viewed in its relationship with neighbouring Serbia. This paper examines tourism flow changes in the Southern Hungarian Great Plain Region during the period of the economic crisis especially as far as tourism flows from Serbia are concerned. The analysis is based on official statistical data available in respect of commercial accommodation facilities, analyses on tourism trends carried out at the European level, and regional development documents drawn up for the Hungarian–Serbian cross border region. The economic crisis caused a significant downturn in tourism flows in the Southern Great Plain Region. However, the number of tourists arriving from Serbia to the Southern Great Plain and the number of nights they spent there increased even during the crisis partly because of the favourable geographical location of the region, partly because of the intensive cooperation schemes implemented in the tourism sector, and partly because of organised marketing campaigns.

Land Surface Phenologies of the Northern Great Plains: Possible Futures Arising From Land and Climate Change

Science.gov (United States)

Henebry, G. M.; Wimberly, M. C.; Senay, G.; Wang, A.; Chang, J.; Wright, C. R.; Hansen, M. C.

2008-12-01

Land cover change across the Northern Great Plains of North America over the past three decades has been driven by changes in agricultural management (conservation tillage; irrigation), government incentives (Conservation Reserve Program; subsidies to grain-based ethanol), crop varieties (cold-hardy soybean), and market dynamics (increasing world demand). Climate change across the Northern Great Plains over the past three decades has been evident in trends toward earlier warmth in the spring and a longer frost-free season. Together these land and climate changes induce shifts in local and regional land surface phenologies (LSPs). Any significant shift in LSP may correspond to a significant shift in evapotranspiration, with consequences for regional hydrometeorology. We explored possible future scenarios involving land use and climate change in six steps. First, we defined the nominal draw areas of current and future biorefineries in North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Minnesota, and Iowa and masked those land cover types within the draw areas that were unlikely to change to agricultural use (open water, settlements, forests, etc.). Second, we estimated the proportion of corn and soybean remaining within the masked draw areas using MODIS-derived crop maps. Third, in each draw area, we modified LSPs to simulate crop changes for a control and two treatment scenarios. In the control, we used LSP profiles identified from MODIS Collection 5 NBAR data. In one treatment, we increased the proportion of tallgrass LSPs in the draw areas to represent widespread cultivation of a perennial cellulosic crop, like switchgrass. In a second treatment, we increased the proportion of corn LSPs in the draw areas to represent increased corn cultivation. Fourth, we characterized the seasonal progression of the thermal regime associated with the LSP profiles using MODIS Land Surface Temperature (LST) products. Fifth, we modeled the LSP profile as a quadratic function of accumulated

Temporal changes of land use in Asi river delta (Hatay, Southern Turkey).

Science.gov (United States)

Korkmaz, Hüseyin; Cetin, Bayram; Kuscu, Veysel; Ege, Ismail; Bom, Ahmet; Ozsahin, Emre; Karatas, Atilla

2012-04-01

Increasing non-ecological land use necessitates more efficient using and utilization of land by man. Therefore, in recent years studies on sustainable land use have gained momentum. In this study, temporal change in land use, mainly between years 1940 and 2010, in Asi river delta on Southern Turkey was covered. To this end, in addition to literature, topographical maps and satellite images from year 1940 and after were used. Also, data were collected through field studies and interviews. Collected data were evaluated from geographical viewpoint using Geographical information system (GIS) and Remote sensing (RS) methods. Unplanned settlement in delta has reached levels high enough to threaten agricultural fields. Especially, greattendencyshown by Samandag city and the villages around it towards expanding into delta is an indicatorof this threat In additon, uncontrolled sand mining and touristic facilities on the coastline are also indicators of wrong land use. In future, direction of settlement to slopes around the delta rather than lowlands will be a much more ecological approach.

A New Orbit for Comet C/1865 B1 (Great Southern Comet of 1865)

Science.gov (United States)

Branham, Richard L., Jr.

2018-04-01

Comet C/1865 B1 (Great southern comet of 1865), observed only in the southern hemisphere, is one of a large number of comets with parabolic orbits. Given that there are 202 observations in right ascension and 165 in declination it proves possible to calculate a better orbit than that Körber published in 1887, the orbit used in various catalogs and data bases. C/1865 B1's orbit is hyperbolic and statistically distinguishable from a parabola. This object, therefore, cannot be considered an NEO. The comet has a small perihelion distance of 0.026 AU.

The Role of Surface Energy Exchange for Simulating Wind Inflow: An Evaluation of Multiple Land Surface Models in WRF for the Southern Great Plains Site Field Campaign Report

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wharton, Sonia [Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States); Simpson, Matthew [Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States); Osuna, Jessica [Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States); Newman, Jennifer [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Biraud, Sebastien [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)

2016-05-01

The Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model is used to investigate choice of land surface model (LSM) on the near-surface wind profile, including heights reached by multi-megawatt wind turbines. Simulations of wind profiles and surface energy fluxes were made using five LSMs of varying degrees of sophistication in dealing with soil-plant-atmosphere feedbacks for the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Climate Research Facility’s Southern Great Plains (SGP) Central Facility in Oklahoma. Surface-flux and wind-profile measurements were available for validation. The WRF model was run for three two-week periods during which varying canopy and meteorological conditions existed. The LSMs predicted a wide range of energy-flux and wind-shear magnitudes even during the cool autumn period when we expected less variability. Simulations of energy fluxes varied in accuracy by model sophistication, whereby LSMs with very simple or no soil-plant-atmosphere feedbacks were the least accurate; however, the most complex models did not consistently produce more accurate results. Errors in wind shear also were sensitive to LSM choice and were partially related to the accuracy of energy flux data. The variability of LSM performance was relatively high, suggesting that LSM representation of energy fluxes in the WRF model remains a significant source of uncertainty for simulating wind turbine inflow conditions.

The role of non-industrial private forest lands in the conservation of southern fire-dependent wildlife

Science.gov (United States)

Christopher E. Moorman; Peter T. Bromley; Mark A. Megalos; David Drake

2002-01-01

Although scientific support for fire as a land management tool has grown, non-industrial private forest (NIPF) landowners often fail to burn on their properties. These lands comprise approximately 70 percent of southern forests, making them critical to the long-term conservation of wildlife and plant species. Natural resource professionals must overcome key constraints...

Land tenure insecurity, vulnerability to climate-induced disaster and opportunities for redress in southern Africa

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tigere Chagutah

2013-02-01

Full Text Available Land tenure is an important variable impacting on vulnerability to climate-related disaster. Land tenure insecurity is widespread in southern Africa and manifests itself in a number of ways that accentuate vulnerability to climate change impacts. Insecure tenure is seen to heighten vulnerability against growing demand for land for residential purposes and working space in urban areas while in the rural areas insecure tenure militates against diversified livelihoods and hinders investment in appropriate technologies and uptake of sound environmental management practices. Using the focused synthesis method, this article (1 maps the intersections between land tenure insecurity and vulnerability to climate-induced disaster in southern Africa; and (2 identifies the opportunities tenure reforms hold for vulnerability reduction in a region predicted to suffer widespread impacts from climate change. The paper contends that land tenure is a critical component of the milieu of factors – economic, social, cultural, institutional, political and even psychological – that are known to shape vulnerability and determine the environment that people live in. The study finds that land tenure reforms can help to reduce vulnerability and enhance community resilience to climate change. In this regard, the article outlines how tenure reforms can help build diverse household livelihoods, improve environmental management, particularly in the rural areas, and encourage investment in robust housing and safe neighbourhoods among the urban poor – all of which are integral to the region’s response to climate change.

Evapotranspiration in winter wheat under different grazing and tillage practices in the southern Great Plains

Science.gov (United States)

Precipitation in the Southern Great Plains (SGP) is highly variable both spatially and temporally with recurring periods of severe drought. Winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) – summer fallow system with conventional tillage is the principal dryland cropping system in this region for both grazing an...

LBA-ECO LC-24 Landsat TM and ETM+ Land Cover, Southern Para, Brazil: 1984-2003

Data.gov (United States)

National Aeronautics and Space Administration — This data set is a five-class land cover for Southern Para for the years 1984 (Landsat MSS), 1988 (Landsat TM), 1996, and 2003 (Landsat ETM+). The final...

LBA-ECO LC-24 Landsat TM and ETM+ Land Cover, Southern Para, Brazil: 1984-2003

Data.gov (United States)

National Aeronautics and Space Administration — ABSTRACT: This data set is a five-class land cover for Southern Para for the years 1984 (Landsat MSS), 1988 (Landsat TM), 1996, and 2003 (Landsat ETM+). The final...

Aerosol measurements at the Southern Great Plains Site: Design and surface installation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Leifer, R.; Knuth, R.H.; Guggenheim, S.F.; Albert, B. [Department of Energy, New York, NY (United States)

1996-04-01

To impropve the predictive capabilities of the Atmospheric Radiation Measurements (ARM) program radiation models, measurements of awserosol size distributions, condensation particle concentrations, aerosol scattering coefficients at a number of wavelenghts, and the aerosol absorption coefficients are needed at the Southern Great Plains (SGP) site. Alos, continuous measurements of ozone concnetrations are needed for model validation. The environmental Measuremenr Laboratory (EMK) has the responsibility to establish the surface aerosol measurements program at the SGP site. EML has designed a special sampling manifold.

Mutual mortality of great horned owl and southern black racer: a potential risk of raptors preying on snakes

Science.gov (United States)

Roger W. Perry; Raymond E. Brown; D. Craig Rudolph

2001-01-01

We encountered a dead southern black racer snake (Coluber constrictor priapus) coiled around a dead Great Horned Owl (Bubo virginianus). We suggest the owl was strangled by the snake before the snake did of wounds inflicted by the owl. There are previous reports of intense physical struggle between Great Horned Owls (and...

LAND USE/LAND COVER CHANGES IN SEMI-ARID MOUNTAIN LANDSCAPE IN SOUTHERN INDIA: A GEOINFORMATICS BASED MARKOV CHAIN APPROACH

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S. A. Rahaman

2017-05-01

Full Text Available Nowadays land use/ land cover in mountain landscape is in critical condition; it leads to high risky and uncertain environments. These areas are facing multiple stresses including degradation of land resources; vagaries of climate and depletion of water resources continuously affect land use practices and livelihoods. To understand the Land use/Land cover (Lu/Lc changes in a semi-arid mountain landscape, Kallar watershed of Bhavani basin, in southern India has been chosen. Most of the hilly part in the study area covers with forest, plantation, orchards and vegetables and which are highly affected by severe soil erosion, landslide, frequent rainfall failures and associated drought. The foothill regions are mainly utilized for agriculture practices; due to water scarcity and meagre income, the productive agriculture lands are converted into settlement plots and wasteland. Hence, land use/land cover change deduction; a stochastic processed based method is indispensable for future prediction. For identification of land use/land cover, and vegetation changes, Landsat TM, ETM (1995, 2005 and IRS P6- LISS IV (2015 images were used. Through CAMarkov chain analysis, Lu/Lc changes in past three decades (1995, 2005, and 2015 were identified and projected for (2020 and 2025; Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI were used to find the vegetation changes. The result shows that, maximum changes occur in the plantation and slight changes found in forest cover in the hilly terrain. In foothill areas, agriculture lands were decreased while wastelands and settlement plots were increased. The outcome of the results helps to farmer and policy makers to draw optimal lands use planning and better management strategies for sustainable development of natural resources.

Land Use/land Cover Changes in Semi-Arid Mountain Landscape in Southern India: a Geoinformatics Based Markov Chain Approach

Science.gov (United States)

Rahaman, S. A.; Aruchamy, S.; Balasubramani, K.; Jegankumar, R.

2017-05-01

Nowadays land use/ land cover in mountain landscape is in critical condition; it leads to high risky and uncertain environments. These areas are facing multiple stresses including degradation of land resources; vagaries of climate and depletion of water resources continuously affect land use practices and livelihoods. To understand the Land use/Land cover (Lu/Lc) changes in a semi-arid mountain landscape, Kallar watershed of Bhavani basin, in southern India has been chosen. Most of the hilly part in the study area covers with forest, plantation, orchards and vegetables and which are highly affected by severe soil erosion, landslide, frequent rainfall failures and associated drought. The foothill regions are mainly utilized for agriculture practices; due to water scarcity and meagre income, the productive agriculture lands are converted into settlement plots and wasteland. Hence, land use/land cover change deduction; a stochastic processed based method is indispensable for future prediction. For identification of land use/land cover, and vegetation changes, Landsat TM, ETM (1995, 2005) and IRS P6- LISS IV (2015) images were used. Through CAMarkov chain analysis, Lu/Lc changes in past three decades (1995, 2005, and 2015) were identified and projected for (2020 and 2025); Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) were used to find the vegetation changes. The result shows that, maximum changes occur in the plantation and slight changes found in forest cover in the hilly terrain. In foothill areas, agriculture lands were decreased while wastelands and settlement plots were increased. The outcome of the results helps to farmer and policy makers to draw optimal lands use planning and better management strategies for sustainable development of natural resources.

Energy-conserving perennial agriculture for marginal land in southern Appalachia. Final technical report

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Williams, G.

1982-01-30

USDA economists predict the end of surplus farm production in the US within this decade. More and more marginal land will be cropped to provide feed for the growing world population and to produce energy. Much of this potential cropland in Southern Appalachia is poorly suited to annual crops, such as corn. Perennial crops are much better suited to steep, rocky, and wet sites. Research was undertaken on the theoretical potentials of perennial species with high predicted yields of protein, carbohydrates, or oils. Several candidate staple perennial crops for marginal land in Southern Appalachia were identified, and estimates were made of their yields, energy input requirements, and general suitabilities. Cropping systems incorporating honeylocust, persimmon, mulberry, jujube, and beech were compared with corn cropping systems. It appears that these candidate staple perennials show distinct advantages for energy conservation and environmental preservation. Detailed economic analyses must await actual demonstration trials, but preliminary indications for ethanol conversion systems with honeylocust are encouraging. It is suggested that short-term loans to farmers undertaking this new type of agriculture would be appropriate to solve cash-flow problems.

Correlation of Optical Properties with Atmospheric Solid Organic Particles (ASOPs) in the Southern Great Plains

Science.gov (United States)

Bonanno, D.; Fraund, M. W.; Pham, D.; China, S.; Wang, B.; Laskin, A.; Gilles, M. K.; Moffet, R.

2017-12-01

The Holistic Interactions of Shallow Clouds, Aerosols, and Land-Ecosystems (HI-SCALE) Campaign was carried out to gain a better understanding of the lifecycle of shallow clouds. The HISCALE experiment was designed to contrast two seasons, wet and dry, and determine their effect on atmospheric cloud and aerosol processes. The spring component to HISCALE was selected to characterize mixing state for particles collected onto substrates. Sampling was performed to obtain airborne soil organic particles (ASOP), which are believed to be ejected following rain events. The unique composition of the ASOP have been shown to affect optical properties. The collection of particles took place at the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement Southern Great Plains (ARM SGP) field site. The Scanning Transmission X-Ray Microscope (STXM) was used to image the samples collected during the first HI-SCALE Campaign to determine the carbonaceous mixing state. Scanning Electron Microscopy Energy-dispersive X-ray (SEM/EDX) analysis is more sensitive to the inorganic makeup of particles, while STXM renders a more comprehensive analysis of the organics. Measurements such as nephelometry, Particle Soot Absorption Photometry (PSAP) from the ARM archive are correlated with microscopy measurements. The primary focus is the relation between composition and morphology of ASOP with optical properties.

Modeling detection probability to improve marsh bird surveys in southern Canada and the Great Lakes states

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Douglas C. Tozer

2016-12-01

Full Text Available Marsh birds are notoriously elusive, with variation in detection probability across species, regions, seasons, and different times of day and weather. Therefore, it is important to develop regional field survey protocols that maximize detections, but that also produce data for estimating and analytically adjusting for remaining differences in detections. We aimed to improve regional field survey protocols by estimating detection probability of eight elusive marsh bird species throughout two regions that have ongoing marsh bird monitoring programs: the southern Canadian Prairies (Prairie region and the southern portion of the Great Lakes basin and parts of southern Québec (Great Lakes-St. Lawrence region. We accomplished our goal using generalized binomial N-mixture models and data from ~22,300 marsh bird surveys conducted between 2008 and 2014 by Bird Studies Canada's Prairie, Great Lakes, and Québec Marsh Monitoring Programs. Across all species, on average, detection probability was highest in the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence region from the beginning of May until mid-June, and then fell throughout the remainder of the season until the end of June; was lowest in the Prairie region in mid-May and then increased throughout the remainder of the season until the end of June; was highest during darkness compared with light; and did not vary significantly according to temperature (range: 0-30°C, cloud cover (0%-100%, or wind (0-20 kph, or during morning versus evening. We used our results to formulate improved marsh bird survey protocols for each region. Our analysis and recommendations are useful and contribute to conservation of wetland birds at various scales from local single-species studies to the continental North American Marsh Bird Monitoring Program.

Microscopic composition measurements of organic individual particles collected in the Southern Great Plains

Science.gov (United States)

Bonanno, D.; China, S.; Fraund, M. W.; Pham, D.; Kulkarni, G.; Laskin, A.; Gilles, M. K.; Moffet, R.

2016-12-01

The Holistic Interactions of Shallow Clouds, Aerosols, and Land-Ecosystems (HI-SCALE) Campaign was carried out to gain a better understanding of the lifecycle of shallow clouds. The HISCALE experiment was designed to contrast two seasons, wet and dry, and determine their effect on atmospheric cloud and aerosol processes. The spring component to HISCALE was selected to characterize mixing state for particles collected onto substrates. Sampling was performed before and after rain events to obtain airborne soil organic particles (ASOP), which are ejected after rain events. The unique composition of the ASOP may affect optical properties and/or hygroscopic properties. The collection of particles took place at the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement Southern Great Plains (ARM SGP) field site. The Scanning Transmission X-Ray Microscope (STXM) was used to image the samples collected during the first HI-SCALE Campaign to determine the carbonaceous mixing state. Scanning Electron Microscopy Energy-dispersive X-ray (SEM/EDX) analysis is more sensitive to the inorganic makeup of particles, while STXM renders a more comprehensive analysis of the organics. Measurements such as nephelometry, Particle Soot Absorption Photometry (PSAP), and Aerosol Mass Spectrometry (AMS) from the ARM archive will be correlated with microscopy measurements. The primary focus is the relation between composition and morphology of ASOP with hygroscopicity and optical properties. Further investigation of these organic particles will be performed to provide a mixing state parameterization and aid in the advancement of current climate models.

Land use change effects on forest carbon cycling throughout the southern United States

Science.gov (United States)

Peter B. Woodbury; Linda S. Heath; James E. Smith

2006-01-01

We modeled the effects of afforestation and deforestation on carbon cycling in forest floor and soil from 1900 to 2050 throughout 13 states in the southern United States. The model uses historical data on gross (two-way) transitions between forest, pasture, plowed agriculture, and urban lands along with equations describing changes in carbon over many decades for each...

Land subsidence and earth fissures in south-central and southern Arizona, USA

Science.gov (United States)

Conway, Brian D.

2016-05-01

Land subsidence due to groundwater overdraft has been an ongoing problem in south-central and southern Arizona (USA) since the 1940s. The first earth fissure attributed to excessive groundwater withdrawal was discovered in the early 1950s near Picacho. In some areas of the state, groundwater-level declines of more than 150 m have resulted in extensive land subsidence and earth fissuring. Land subsidence in excess of 5.7 m has been documented in both western metropolitan Phoenix and Eloy. The Arizona Department of Water Resources (ADWR) has been monitoring land subsidence since 2002 using interferometric synthetic aperture radar (InSAR) and since 1998 using a global navigation satellite system (GNSS). The ADWR InSAR program has identified more than 25 individual land subsidence features that cover an area of more than 7,300 km2. Using InSAR data in conjunction with groundwater-level datasets, ADWR is able to monitor land subsidence areas as well as identify areas that may require additional monitoring. One area of particular concern is the Willcox groundwater basin in southeastern Arizona, which is the focus of this paper. The area is experiencing rapid groundwater declines, as much as 32.1 m during 2005-2014 (the largest land subsidence rate in Arizona State—up to 12 cm/year), and a large number of earth fissures. The declining groundwater levels in Arizona are a challenge for both future groundwater availability and mitigating land subsidence associated with these declines. ADWR's InSAR program will continue to be a critical tool for monitoring land subsidence due to excessive groundwater withdrawal.

Regional CO2 and latent heat surface fluxes in the Southern Great Plains: Measurements, modeling, and scaling

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Riley, W. J.; Biraud, S.C.; Torn, M.S.; Fischer, M.L.; Billesbach, D.P.; Berry, J.A.

2009-08-15

Characterizing net ecosystem exchanges (NEE) of CO{sub 2} and sensible and latent heat fluxes in heterogeneous landscapes is difficult, yet critical given expected changes in climate and land use. We report here a measurement and modeling study designed to improve our understanding of surface to atmosphere gas exchanges under very heterogeneous land cover in the mostly agricultural U.S. Southern Great Plains (SGP). We combined three years of site-level, eddy covariance measurements in several of the dominant land cover types with regional-scale climate data from the distributed Mesonet stations and Next Generation Weather Radar precipitation measurements to calibrate a land surface model of trace gas and energy exchanges (isotope-enabled land surface model (ISOLSM)). Yearly variations in vegetation cover distributions were estimated from Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer normalized difference vegetation index and compared to regional and subregional vegetation cover type estimates from the U.S. Department of Agriculture census. We first applied ISOLSM at a 250 m spatial scale to account for vegetation cover type and leaf area variations that occur on hundred meter scales. Because of computational constraints, we developed a subsampling scheme within 10 km 'macrocells' to perform these high-resolution simulations. We estimate that the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement Climate Research Facility SGP region net CO{sub 2} exchange with the local atmosphere was -240, -340, and -270 gC m{sup -2} yr{sup -1} (positive toward the atmosphere) in 2003, 2004, and 2005, respectively, with large seasonal variations. We also performed simulations using two scaling approaches at resolutions of 10, 30, 60, and 90 km. The scaling approach applied in current land surface models led to regional NEE biases of up to 50 and 20% in weekly and annual estimates, respectively. An important factor in causing these biases was the complex leaf area index (LAI) distribution

Fuels management in the southern Appalachian Mountains, hot continental division

Science.gov (United States)

Matthew J. Reilly; Thomas A. Waldrop; Joseph J. O’Brien

2012-01-01

The Southern Appalachian Mountains, Hot Continental Mountains Division, M220 (McNab and others 2007) are a topographically and biologically complex area with over 10 million ha of forested land, where complex environmental gradients have resulted in a great diversity of forest types. Abundant moisture and a long, warm growing season support high levels of productivity...

The potential and sustainability of agricultural land use in a changing ecosystem in southern Greenland

Science.gov (United States)

Hunziker, Matthias; Caviezel, Chatrina; Kuhn, Nikolaus J.

2015-04-01

Southern Greenland currently experiences an increase in summer temperatures and a prolonged growing season (Masson-Delmotte et al. 2012), resulting in an increased potential regarding agricultural land use. Subsequently, the agricultural sector is expected to grow. Thereby, a higher hay production and grazing capacity is pursued by applying more efficient farming practices (Greenland Agriculture Advisory Board 2009). However, agricultural potential at borderline ecotones is not only influenced by factors like temperature and growing season but also by other ecologic parameters. In addition, the intensification of land use in the fragile boreal - tundra border ecotone has various environmental impacts (Perren et al. 2012; Normand et al. 2013). Already the Norse settlers practiced animal husbandry in southern Greenland between 986-1450 AD. Several authors mention the unadapted land use as main reason for the demise of the Norse in Greenland, as grazing pressure exceeded the resilience of the landscape and pasture economy failed (Fredskild 1988; Perren et al. 2012). During the field work in summer 2014, we compared the pedologic properties of already used hay fields, grazed land, birch woodland and barren, unused land around Igaliku (South Greenland), in order to estimate the potential and the sustainability of the land use in southern Greenland. Beside physical soil properties, nutrient condition of the different land use types, the shrub woodland and barren areas was analyzed. The results of the study show that the most suitable areas for intensive agricultural activity are mostly occupied. Further on, the fields, which were used by the Norse, seem to be the most productive sites nowadays. Less productive hay fields are characterized by a higher coarse fraction, leading to a reduced ability to store water and to an unfavorable nutrient status. An intensification of the agricultural land use by applying fertilizer would lead to an increased environmental impact

The Effect Of Land Cover/Land Use On Groundwater Resources In Southern Egypt (Luxor Area): Remote Sensing And Field Studies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Faid, A.M.; Hinz, E.A.; Montgomery, H.

2003-01-01

The impact of land cover/land use on groundwater can be critical. Land cover / land use maps give an early warning for planners and developers to protect groundwater resources from depletion and preserve its sustain ability. These land cover / land use maps can be used for the planning of groundwater development to prevent the deterioration of the aquifer. The Research Institute for Groundwater of Egypt (RIGW) has carried out hydrogeological studies in 1990 to evaluate the potentiality of groundwater in Luxor area in southern Egypt close to the Nile valley. The region is characterized by a rapid and continuous increase in land reclamation and development on the fringes which surround the already heavily cultivated land within the Nile valley. This presented a need for continuous monitoring and information updating over a vast region in a short time and at a reasonable cost. This study illustrates how remote sensing techniques can be effectively used for monitoring changes in land cover / land use in an effort to aid groundwater management. Landsat Thematic Mapper (TM) data collected in 1984 and 2000 were processed and analyzed over the study area to produce land cover/land use maps. The Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) technique is used for Landsat TM images of to quantify areas which are covered by vegetation. Results indicated significant increase in cultivated areas. Remote sensing results are compared with iso-piezo metric maps and iso-salinity maps that were produced in 1984 and 2000. Comparison of these maps indicates groundwater depletion and salinity increase from 1984 to 2000. We relate this to the increase of the area being cultivated

Isotopic character of Cambro-Ordovician plutonism, southern Victoria Land

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cox, S.C.; Parkinson, D.L.; Allibone, A.H.; Cooper, A.F.

2000-01-01

Previous mapping of granitoid rocks in the Dry Valleys area of southern Victoria Land, Antarctica, identified the calc-alkaline (DV1a), adakitic (DV1b), and monzonitic (DV2) suites. A fourth older suite comprising alkaline gabbro, syenite, and A-type granite occurs in the Mt Dromedary area c. 80 km to the south. U-Pb zircon dating of Bonney Pluton, the largest calc-alkaline DV1a intrusion, indicates emplacement of this regional-scale body at 505 +/- 2 Ma. Pb-loss and inherited zircon were common to Bonney Pluton analyses of this study. U-Pb dating of monazite from Valhalla Pluton, a principal DV1b suite adakitic intrusion, indicates emplacement at 488 +/- 2 Ma. The Bonney Pluton age constrains the peak of calc-alkaline plutonism at 505 Ma and the Valhalla Pluton age records the major pulse of adakitic plutonism that is inferred to mark the final stages of subduction c. 490 Ma along this section of the East Antarctic margin. Nd and Sr isotope data for the calc-alkaline DV1a suite and adakitic DV1b suite define distinct ranges for each suite, supporting their subdivision on the basis of field relationships, petrography, and whole-rock geochemistry. Calc-alkaline DV1a suite granite magmas have eNd(T) = -4.2 to -6.1 and Sri = 0.7071-0.7079, whereas the adakitic DV1b suite rocks have a wider range of eNd(T) = -1.9 to -7.2 and Sri = 0.7065-0.7097. The isotopic data suggest a significant mantle component and subordinate crustal component in the source region of both suites. Time-dependent variations in the isotopic ratios of DV1a and DV1b suites imply a progressive increase in the proportion of more radiogenic material in the source region of the granitoid rocks, either mantle- or crust-derived material. Larger adakitic DV1b plutons are more 'evolved' than equivalent, smaller plutons of the same DV1b suite. Vanda Dikes and monzonitic DV2 suite intrusions are characterised by particularly low Sri = 0.7044-0.7067 and near-constant eNd(T) = -4.8 to -5.3, which indicate a

The Fontaine Pluton : an early Ross Orogeny calc-alkaline gabbro from southern Victoria Land, Antarctica

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cottle, J.M.; Cooper, A.F.

2006-01-01

The Fontaine Pluton is a previously undescribed mafic intrusion outcropping at Fontaine Bluff on the south side of the Carlyon Glacier in southern Victoria Land, Antarctica. It is the southern-most member of a laterally extensive mafic suite emplaced at mid-crustal depths during the initial stages of the Ross Orogeny. The pluton comprises recrystallised hornblende-biotite gabbro, which in places shows well-defined centimetre to metre scale primary igneous layering. Recrystallised ultramafic enclaves composed of amphibole-chlorite-talc are inferred to be remnants of a chemically and mineralogically distinct cumulate fraction. The intrusion has a 87 Sr/ 86 Sr (i) ratio of 0.70679 and a 143 Nd/ 144 Nd (i) ratio of 0.51187 (εNd (i) = -1.2). This, coupled with other geochemical data, implies that the Fontaine Pluton was formed by c. 15% partial melting of a depleted mantle source that was subsequently contaminated by continental crust. Preliminary U-Pb geochronology on zircon suggests an emplacement age for the pluton of 546 ± 10 Ma. These new data indicate that Ross Orogeny magmatism in this area of southern Victoria Land was initiated in the late Neoproterozoic along a subducting plate margin. (author). 55 refs., 10 figs., 3 tabs

Science-based management of public lands in southern Nevada [Chapter 11] (Executive Summary)

Science.gov (United States)

Matthew L. Brooks; Jeanne C. Chambers

2013-01-01

Landmark legislation provides guiding principles for land management planning in southern Nevada and the rest of the United States. Such legislation includes, but is not limited to, the Forest Service Organic Administration Act of 1897 (16 U.S.C. 473-478, 479-482 and 551), National Park Service Organic Act of 1916 (U.S.C. Title 16, Secs. 1-4), Wilderness Act 1964 (P.L....

Integrated climate and land change research to improve decision-making and resource management in Southern Africa: The SASSCAL approach

Science.gov (United States)

Helmschrot, J.; Olwoch, J. M.

2017-12-01

The ability of countries in southern Africa to jointly respond to climate challenges with scientifically informed and evidence-based actions and policy decisions remains low due to limited scientific research capacity and infrastructure. The Southern African Science Service Centre for Climate Change and Adaptive Land Management (SASSCAL; www.sasscal.org) addresses this gap by implementing a high-level framework to guide research and innovation investments in climate change and adaptive land management interventions in Southern Africa. With a strong climate service component as cross-cutting topic, SASSCAL's focus is to improve the understanding of climate and land management change impacts on the natural and socio-economic environment in Southern Africa. The paper presents a variety of SASSCAL driven activities which contribute to better understand climate and long-term environmental change dynamics at various temporal and spatial scales in Southern Afrika and how these activities are linked to support research and decision-making to optimize agricultural practices as well as sustainable environmental and water resources management. To provide consistent and reliable climate information for Southern Africa, SASSCAL offers various climate services ranging from real-time climate observation across the region utilizing the SASSCAL WeatherNet to regional climate change analysis and modelling efforts at seasonal-to-decadal timescales using climate data from various sources. SASSCAL also offers the current state of the environment in terms of recent data on changes in the environment that are necessary for setting appropriate adaptation strategies . The paper will further demonstrate how these services are utilized for interdisciplinary research on the impact of climate change on natural resources and socio-economic development in the SASSCAL countries and how this knowledge can be effectively used to mitigate and adapt to climate change by informed decision-making from

Southern Peru desert shattered by the great 2001 earthquake: Implications for paleoseismic and paleo-El Niño–Southern Oscillation records

OpenAIRE

Keefer, David K.; Moseley, Michael E.

2004-01-01

In the desert region around the coastal city of Ilo, the great southern Peru earthquake of June 23, 2001 (8.2–8.4 moment magnitude), produced intense and widespread ground-failure effects. These effects included abundant landslides, pervasive ground cracking, microfracturing of surficial hillslope materials, collapse of drainage banks over long stretches, widening of hillside rills, and lengthening of first-order tributary channels. We have coined the term “shattered landscape” to describe th...

Organic carbon stocks in Mediterranean soil types under different land uses (Southern Spain)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Munoz-Rojas, M. [CSIC Spin-off, Instituto de Recursos Naturales y Agrobiologia de Sevilla (CSIC), Seville (Spain). Evenor-Tech; Sevilla Univ. (Spain). MED Soil Research Group; Jordan, A.; Zavala, L.M. [Sevilla Univ. (Spain). MED Soil Research Group; Rosa, D. de la [Instituto de Recursos Naturales y Agrobiologia de Sevilla (CSIC), Seville (Spain); Abd-Elmabod, S.K. [Instituto de Recursos Naturales y Agrobiologia de Sevilla (CSIC), Seville (Spain); National Research Centre, Cairo (Egypt). Dept. of Soil and Water Use; Anaya-Romero, M. [CSIC Spin-off, Instituto de Recursos Naturales y Agrobiologia de Sevilla (CSIC), Seville (Spain). Evenor-Tech

2012-07-01

Soil C sequestration through changes in land use and management is one of the sustainable and long-term strategies to mitigate climate change. This research explores and quantifies the role of soil and land use as determinants of the ability of soils to store C along Mediterranean systems. Detailed studies of soil organic C (SOC) dynamics are necessary in order to identify factors determining fluctuations and intensity of changes. In this study, SOC contents from different soil and land use types have been investigated in Andalusia (Southern Spain). We have used soil information from different databases, as well as land use digital maps, climate databases and digital elevation models. The average SOC content for each soil control section (0-25, 25-50 and 50-75 cm) was determined and SOC stocks were calculated for each combination of soil and land use type, using soil and land cover maps. The total organic C stocks in soils of Andalusia is 415 Tg for the upper 75 cm, with average values ranging from 15.9 MgC ha{sup -1} (Solonchaks under ''arable land'') to 107.6 MgC ha{sup -1} (Fluvisols from ''wetlands''). Up to 55% of SOC accumulates in the top 25 cm of soil (229.7 Tg). This research constitutes a preliminary assessment for modelling SOC stock under scenarios of land use and climate change. (orig.)

Quantifying gross vs. net agricultural land use change in Great Britain using the Integrated Administration and Control System

OpenAIRE

Tomlinson, Samuel J.; Dragosits, Ulrike; Levy, Peter E.; Thomson, Amanda M.; Moxley, Janet

2018-01-01

Land use change has impacts upon many natural processes, and is one of the key measures of anthropogenic disturbance on ecosystems. Agricultural land covers 70% of Great Britain's (GB) land surface and annually undergoes disturbance and change through farming practices such as crop rotation, ploughing and the planting and subsequent logging of forestry. It is important to quantify how much of GB's agricultural land undergoes such changes and what those changes are at an annual temporal resolu...

Tamarisk control on public lands in the desert of southern California: two case studies

Science.gov (United States)

1994-01-01

As a land manager, the Federal Government faces enormous challenges from exotic pest invasions and associated changes to the structure and stability of native ecosystems (Bureau of Land Management, 1988). On public lands administered by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) alone, it is estimated that almost three million hectares are occupied by invasive exotic plant species (weeds). Assuming an annual rate of invasion of 14 percent, 930 hectares of BLM-administered land are infested everyday by weeds (Jerry Asher, personal communication). When one considers the fact that BLM administers only about one-third of the public land in the United States (The Keystone Center, 1991), the magnitude of the problem assumes staggering proportions. The scenario described in the quote above portrays only some of the problems associated with the spread of the exotic plant tamarisk, a species on the California Exotic Pest Plant Council’s list of exotic pest plants of greatest concern (California Exotic Pest Plant Council, 1993). In this paper we review the threats posed by tamarisk invasion and proliferation and examine the traits that make the plant such a successful competitor. In addition, we highlight two tamarisk control efforts conducted by the Bureau of Land Management in the southern California desert.

Multi-Temporal Landslide Susceptibility Maps and Future Scenarios for Expected Land Cover Changes (Southern Apennines, Italy)

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Pisano, Luca; Zumpano, Veronica; Malek, Ziga; Micu, Mihai; Rosskopf, Carmen Maria; Parise, Mario; Mikoš, Matjaž; Vilímek, Vít; Yin, Yueping; Sassa, Kyoji

2017-01-01

Human activities, including extensive land use practices, such as deforestation and intensive cultivation, may severely affect the landscape, and have caused important changes to the extent of natural forests during the last century in Southern Italy. Such changes had a strong influence on the

Evaluating connection of aquifers to springs and streams, Great Basin National Park and vicinity, Nevada

Science.gov (United States)

Prudic, David E.; Sweetkind, Donald S.; Jackson, Tracie R.; Dotson, K. Elaine; Plume, Russell W.; Hatch, Christine E.; Halford, Keith J.

2015-12-22

Federal agencies that oversee land management for much of the Snake Range in eastern Nevada, including the management of Great Basin National Park by the National Park Service, need to understand the potential extent of adverse effects to federally managed lands from nearby groundwater development. As a result, this study was developed (1) to attain a better understanding of aquifers controlling groundwater flow on the eastern side of the southern part of the Snake Range and their connection with aquifers in the valleys, (2) to evaluate the relation between surface water and groundwater along the piedmont slopes, (3) to evaluate sources for Big Springs and Rowland Spring, and (4) to assess groundwater flow from southern Spring Valley into northern Hamlin Valley. The study focused on two areas—the first, a northern area along the east side of Great Basin National Park that included Baker, Lehman, and Snake Creeks, and a second southern area that is the potential source area for Big Springs. Data collected specifically for this study included the following: (1) geologic field mapping; (2) drilling, testing, and water quality sampling from 7 test wells; (3) measuring discharge and water chemistry of selected creeks and springs; (4) measuring streambed hydraulic gradients and seepage rates from 18 shallow piezometers installed into the creeks; and (5) monitoring stream temperature along selected reaches to identify places of groundwater inflow.

Review: Lorenzo Cotula, The Great African Land Grab?: Agricultural Investments and the Global Food System (2013

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kerstin Nolte

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Review of the monograph:Lorenzo Cotula, The Great African Land Grab?: Agricultural Investments and the Global Food System, London, New York: Zed Books, 2013, ISBN 9781780324203, 248 pages

Min(d)ing the land: The relationship between artisanal and small-scale mining and surface land arrangements in the southern Philippines, eastern DRC and Liberia

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Verbrugge, B.L.P.; Cuvelier, J.; Bockstael, S. van

2015-01-01

This article examines the relationship between artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) and surface land tenure arrangements, through a comparison of mining areas in the southern Philippines, the eastern DRC and Liberia. In all three cases, ASM takes place in peripheral regions outside central state

Preliminary assessment of the risk of volcanism at a proposed nuclear-waste repository in the southern Great Basin

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Crowe, B.M.; Carr, W.J.

1980-01-01

Volcanic hazard studies of the southern Great Basin are being conducted on behalf of the Nevada Nuclear Waste Storage Investigations program. Current work is chiefly concerned with characterizing the geology, chronology, and tectonic setting of Pliocene and Quaternary volcanism in the Nevada Test Site region, and assessing volcanic risk through consequence and probability studies, particularly with respect to a potential site in the southwestern Nevada Test Site. Young ( - 6 volcanic events per year. Based on this rate, the annual probability of disruption of a 10-km 2 repository located within a 25-km radius circle centered at Yucca Mountain, southwestern Nevada Test Site, is 10 - 8 . A larger area, 50-km radius, yields a disruption probability of 10 - 9 per year. Current tectonic zonation studies of the southern Great Basin will reduce the calculated probabilities of basaltic eruption for certain areas. 21 references, 3 figures

The Holocene Great Belt connection to the southern Kattegat, Scandinavia

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bendixen, Carina; Jensen, Jørn Bo; Boldreel, Lars Ole

2017-01-01

Late- and postglacial geological evolution of the southern Kattegat connection to the Great Belt was investigated from high-resolution seismic data and radiocarbon-dated sediment cores in order to elucidate the Ancylus Lake drainage/Littorina Sea transgression. It was found that glacial deposits...... form the acoustic basement and are covered by Lateglacial (LG) marine sediments and postglacial (PG; Holocene) material. The LG deposits form a highstand systems tract, whereas the PG deposits cover a full depositional sequence, consisting of a lowstand systems tract (PG I), transgressive systems tract...... (PG II; subdivided into three parasequences) and finally a highstand systems tract (PG III). PG I sand deposits (11.7–10.8 cal. ka BP) are found in a major western channel and in a secondary eastern channel. PG II (10.8–9.8 cal. ka BP) consists of estuarine and coastal deposits linked to an estuary...

Coastal Change Analysis Program (C-CAP) Great Lakes; Michigan 1996-2001 era land cover change analysis (NODC Accession 0042189)

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — This data set is a change analysis of 1996-era C-CAP land cover and 2001-era C-CAP land cover for the State of Michigan, in the Great Lakes Region of the U.S. This...

Traveling Weather Disturbances in Mars Southern Extratropics: Sway of the Great Impact Basins

Science.gov (United States)

Hollingsworth, Jeffery L.

2016-01-01

' transient barotropic/baroclinic eddies are significantly influenced by the great impact basins of this hemisphere (e.g., Argyre and Hellas). In addition, the occurrence of a southern storm zone in late winter and early spring is keyed particularly to the western hemisphere via orographic influences arising from the Tharsis highlands, and the Argyre and Hellas impact basins. Geographically localized transient-wave activity diagnostics are constructed that illuminate fundamental differences amongst such simulations and these are described.

Influence of land use on metal concentrations in playa sediments and amphibians in the Southern High Plains

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Venne, Louise S. [Department of Environmental Toxicology, Institute of Environmental and Human Health, Texas Tech University, MS 1163, Lubbock, TX 79409 (United States)]. E-mail: louise.venne@tiehh.ttu.edu; Cobb, George P. [Department of Environmental Toxicology, Institute of Environmental and Human Health, Texas Tech University, MS 1163, Lubbock, TX 79409 (United States); Coimbatore, Gopal [Department of Environmental Toxicology, Institute of Environmental and Human Health, Texas Tech University, MS 1163, Lubbock, TX 79409 (United States); Smith, Loren M. [Wildlife and Fisheries Management Institute, Texas Tech University, MS 2125, Lubbock, TX 79409 (United States); McMurry, Scott T. [Department of Environmental Toxicology, Institute of Environmental and Human Health, Texas Tech University, MS 1163, Lubbock, TX 79409 (United States)

2006-11-15

The Southern High Plains (SHP) is a semi-arid region in which playa wetlands are the focal points of biodiversity. Playas are highly influenced by surrounding land use. Most of the SHP is in agricultural production (primarily cotton) with a history of arsenic-containing herbicide use. Metals influence reproduction and development in amphibians. We analyzed metal residues in playa sediment and whole body tissue of Spea spp. and Bufo cognatus metamorphs from two land uses: cropland and native grassland. Cd and Ni concentrations in B. cognatus tissues differed between land uses. Metal concentrations in Spea spp. tissues did not differ between land uses. Ba was higher in Spea spp. than B. cognatus collected from the same grassland playas, indicating differential habitat use. No correlations between sediment and tissue concentrations were found. Land use appeared to have little influence on metal concentrations and levels were below those known to cause effects in amphibians. - Land use surrounding playas has little effect on metal concentrations in sediments.

Decadal changes in the land use/land cover and shoreline along the coastal districts of southern Gujarat, India.

Science.gov (United States)

Misra, A; Balaji, R

2015-07-01

The coastal zone along the districts of Surat, Navsari, and Valsad in southern Gujarat, India, is reported to be facing serious environmental challenges in the form of shoreline erosion, wetland loss, and man-made encroachments. This study assesses the decadal land use/ land cover (LULC) changes in these three districts for the years 1990, 2001, and 2014 using satellite datasets of Landsat TM, ETM, and OLI. The LULC changes are identified by using band ratios as a pre-classification step, followed by implementation of hybrid classification (a combination of supervised and unsupervised classification). An accuracy assessment is carried out for each dataset, and the overall accuracy ranges from 90 to 95%. It is observed that the spatial extents of aquaculture, urban built-up, and barren classes have appreciated over time, whereas the coverage of mudflats has depreciated due to rapid urbanization. The changes in the shoreline of these districts have also been analyzed for the same years, and significant changes are found in the form of shoreline erosion. The LULC maps prepared as well as the shoreline change analysis done for this study area will enable the local decision makers to adopt better land-use planning and shoreline protection measures, which will further aid in sustainable future developments in this region.

Gendered Access and Control Over Land and Water Resources in the Southern Agricultural Growth Corridor of Tanzania

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Anna N. Sikira

2016-12-01

Full Text Available This paper assessed the gendered access and control over land and water, using the Ihemi cluster of the Southern Agricultural Growth Corridor of Tanzania (SAGCOT as a study area. Specifically, the paper answered the question on how decisions are made between men and women over land and water in the SAGCOT area, as well as how access and control over land and water is conducted. Data for this paper was drawn from the baseline study which was conducted for the project known as Laying Foundation for Effective Landscape-level Planning for Sustainable Development (LiFELand. A cross-sectional research design was used, whereby a questionnaire was administered to 167 women and 440 men. In addition, focus group discussions and key informant interviews were also conducted to complement and allow triangulation of data. Quantitative data was analyzed descriptively; while, qualitative data was analyzed using content analysis. In general, the results show that female headed households accounted for more than a quarter of the surveyed households; the number was slightly higher in the Njombe region. Results further show that women had no control over land and water as important productive resources in rural areas. The results also show that a larger proportion of both men and women had no right of occupancy over the land they owned hence their inability to use it as collateral in accessing loans from formal financial institutions. The paper therefore recommends efforts be made to empower women, hence enabling them to actively participate in decision-making, particularly regarding land and water. Equitable decision-making power can immensely enhance ecosystem conservation and sustainable utilization over land and water as women are the major actors in agriculture. To achieve gender equality there is a need for awareness creation for both men and women using gender sensitive programs that will allow not only equality in use but a sustainable utilization of Land

Land use in the Northern Great Plains region of the U.S. influences the survival and productivity of honey bee colonies

Science.gov (United States)

Smart, Matthew; Pettis, Jeff S.; Euliss, Ned H. Jr.; Spivak, Marla S.

2016-01-01

The Northern Great Plains region of the US annually hosts a large portion of commercially managed U.S. honey bee colonies each summer. Changing land use patterns over the last several decades have contributed to declines in the availability of bee forage across the region, and the future sustainability of the region to support honey bee colonies is unclear. We examined the influence of varying land use on the survivorship and productivity of honey bee colonies located in six apiaries within the Northern Great Plains state of North Dakota, an area of intensive agriculture and high density of beekeeping operations. Land use surrounding the apiaries was quantified over three years, 2010–2012, and survival and productivity of honey bee colonies were determined in response to the amount of bee forage land within a 3.2-km radius of each apiary. The area of uncultivated forage land (including pasture, USDA conservation program fields, fallow land, flowering woody plants, grassland, hay land, and roadside ditches) exerted a positive impact on annual apiary survival and honey production. Taxonomic diversity of bee-collected pollen and pesticide residues contained therein varied seasonally among apiaries, but overall were not correlated to large-scale land use patterns or survival and honey production. The predominant flowering plants utilized by honey bee colonies for pollen were volunteer species present in unmanaged (for honey bees), and often ephemeral, lands; thus placing honey bee colonies in a precarious situation for acquiring forage and nutrients over the entire growing season. We discuss the implications for land management, conservation, and beekeeper site selection in the Northern Great Plains to adequately support honey bee colonies and insure long term security for pollinator-dependent crops across the entire country.

Determinants of Persistence and Tolerance of Carnivores on Namibian Ranches: Implications for Conservation on Southern African Private Lands

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Lindsey, P.A.; Havemann, C.P.; Lines, R.M.; Palazy, L.; Price, A.E.; Retief, T.A.; Rhebergen, T.; Waal, van der C.

2013-01-01

Changing land use patterns in southern Africa have potential to dramatically alter the prospects for carnivore conservation. Understanding these influences is essential for conservation planning. We interviewed 250 ranchers in Namibia to assess human tolerance towards and the distribution of large

Benefits of wildlife-based land uses on private lands in Namibia and limitations affecting their development

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Lindsey, P.A.; Havemann, C.P.; Lines, R.M.; Price, A.E.; Retief, T.A.; Rhebergen, T.; Waal, van der C.; Romanach, S.

2013-01-01

Legislative changes during the 1960s–1970s granted user rights over wildlife to landowners in southern Africa, resulting in a shift from livestock farming to wildlife-based land uses. Few comprehensive assessments of such land uses on private land in southern Africa have been conducted and the

Resistance and Contingent Contestations to Large-Scale Land Concessions in Southern Laos and Northeastern Cambodia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ian G. Baird

2017-02-01

Full Text Available Over the last decade, there have been considerable concerns raised regarding the social and environmental impacts of large-scale land concessions for plantation development in various parts of the world, especially in the tropics, including in Laos and Cambodia. However, there is still much to learn about the various connections and interactions associated with reactions to what are often referred to as “land grabs”, and the ways they are associated or not associated with broader social movements and networks opposed to land grabbing. There is also the need to develop language for discussing these circumstances, something I aim to contribute to in this article. Here, I present four different cases of types of resistance, or what I refer to as contingent contestations, to land concessions in southern Laos and northeastern Cambodia (two from each country, focusing on the perspectives and associated strategies of smallholder farmers, but without ignoring broader issues. I consider the roles of locals in these contestations, through emphasizing the importance of histories, identities/ethnicities, politics, and geography in determining the types of responses to these land deals that emerge, and the strategies that are adopted for contesting these developments.

Development of a Bi-National Great Lakes Coastal Wetland and Land Use Map Using Three-Season PALSAR and Landsat Imagery

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Laura Bourgeau-Chavez

2015-07-01

Full Text Available Methods using extensive field data and three-season Landsat TM and PALSAR imagery were developed to map wetland type and identify potential wetland stressors (i.e., adjacent land use for the United States and Canadian Laurentian coastal Great Lakes. The mapped area included the coastline to 10 km inland to capture the region hydrologically connected to the Great Lakes. Maps were developed in cooperation with the overarching Great Lakes Consortium plan to provide a comprehensive regional baseline map suitable for coastal wetland assessment and management by agencies at the local, tribal, state, and federal levels. The goal was to provide not only land use and land cover (LULC baseline data at moderate spatial resolution (20–30 m, but a repeatable methodology to monitor change into the future. The prime focus was on mapping wetland ecosystem types, such as emergent wetland and forested wetland, as well as to delineate wetland monocultures (Typha, Phragmites, Schoenoplectus and differentiate peatlands (fens and bogs from other wetland types. The overall accuracy for the coastal Great Lakes map of all five lake basins was 94%, with a range of 86% to 96% by individual lake basin (Huron, Ontario, Michigan, Erie and Superior.

Determinants of persistence and tolerance of carnivores on Namibian ranches: implications for conservation on Southern African private lands.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Peter Andrew Lindsey

Full Text Available Changing land use patterns in southern Africa have potential to dramatically alter the prospects for carnivore conservation. Understanding these influences is essential for conservation planning. We interviewed 250 ranchers in Namibia to assess human tolerance towards and the distribution of large carnivores. Cheetahs (Acinonyx jubatus, leopards (Panthera pardus and brown hyaenas (Hyaena brunnea were widely distributed on Namibian farmlands, spotted hyaenas (Crocuta crocuta had a narrower distribution, and wild dogs (Lycaon pictus and lions (Panthera leo are largely limited to areas near source populations. Farmers were most tolerant of leopards and least tolerant of lions, wild dogs and spotted hyaenas. Several factors relating to land use correlated consistently with carnivore-presence and landowner tolerance. Carnivores were more commonly present and/or tolerated where; wildlife diversity and biomass were higher; income from wildlife was higher; income from livestock was lower; livestock biomass was lower; in conservancies; game fencing was absent; and financial losses from livestock depredation were lower. Efforts to create conditions whereby the costs associated with carnivores are lowest, and which confer financial value to them are likely to be the most effective means of promoting carnivore conservation. Such conditions are achieved where land owners pool land to create conservancies where livestock are replaced with wildlife (or where livestock husbandry is improved and where wildlife generates a significant proportion of ranch income. Additional measures, such as promoting improved livestock husbandry and educational outreach efforts may also help achieve coexistence with carnivores. Our findings provide insights into conditions more conducive to the persistence of and tolerance towards large carnivores might be increased on private (and even communal lands in Namibia, elsewhere in southern and East Africa and other parts of the world

Role of Surface Energy Exchange for Simulating Wind Turbine Inflow: A Case Study in the Southern Great Plains, USA

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sonia Wharton

2014-12-01

Full Text Available The Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF model is used to investigate choice of land surface model (LSM on the near surface wind profile, including heights reached by multi-megawatt (MW wind turbines. Simulations of wind profiles and surface energy fluxes were made using five LSMs of varying degrees of sophistication in dealing with soil–plant–atmosphere feedbacks for the Department of Energy (DOE Southern Great Plains (SGP Atmospheric Radiation Measurement Program (ARM Central Facility in Oklahoma, USA. Surface flux and wind profile measurements were available for validation. WRF was run for three, two-week periods covering varying canopy and meteorological conditions. The LSMs predicted a wide range of energy flux and wind shear magnitudes even during the cool autumn period when we expected less variability. Simulations of energy fluxes varied in accuracy by model sophistication, whereby LSMs with very simple or no soil–plant–atmosphere feedbacks were the least accurate; however, the most complex models did not consistently produce more accurate results. Errors in wind shear were also sensitive to LSM choice and were partially related to energy flux accuracy. The variability of LSM performance was relatively high suggesting that LSM representation of energy fluxes in WRF remains a large source of model uncertainty for simulating wind turbine inflow conditions.

Effects of Land-use/Land-cover and Climate Changes on Water Quantity and Quality in Sub-basins near Major US Cities in the Great Lakes Region

Science.gov (United States)

Murphy, L.; Al-Hamdan, M. Z.; Crosson, W. L.; Barik, M.

2017-12-01

Land-cover change over time to urbanized, less permeable surfaces, leads to reduced water infiltration at the location of water input while simultaneously transporting sediments, nutrients and contaminants farther downstream. With an abundance of agricultural fields bordering the greater urban areas of Milwaukee, Detroit, and Chicago, water and nutrient transport is vital to the farming industry, wetlands, and communities that rely on water availability. Two USGS stream gages each located within a sub-basin near each of these Great Lakes Region cities were examined, one with primarily urban land-cover between 1992 and 2011, and one with primarily agriculture land-cover. ArcSWAT, a watershed model and soil and water assessment tool used in extension with ArcGIS, was used to develop hydrologic models that vary the land-covers to simulate surface runoff during a model run period from 2004 to 2008. Model inputs that include a digital elevation model (DEM), Landsat-derived land-use/land-cover (LULC) satellite images from 1992, 2001, and 2011, soil classification, and meteorological data were used to determine the effect of different land-covers on the water runoff, nutrients and sediments. The models were then calibrated and validated to USGS stream gage data measurements over time. Additionally, the watershed model was run based on meteorological data from an IPCC CMIP5 high emissions climate change scenario for 2050. Model outputs from the different LCLU scenarios were statistically evaluated and results showed that water runoff, nutrients and sediments were impacted by LULC change in four out of the six sub-basins. In the 2050 climate scenario, only one out of the six sub-basin's water quantity and quality was affected. These results contribute to the importance of developing hydrologic models as the dependence on the Great Lakes as a freshwater resource competes with the expansion of urbanization leading to the movement of runoff, nutrients, and sediments off the

Land cover, land use, and climate change impacts on agriculture in southern Vietnam

Science.gov (United States)

Kontgis, Caitlin

Global environmental change is rapidly changing the surface of the Earth in varied and irrevocable ways. Across the world, land cover and land use have been altered to accommodate the needs of expanding populations, and climate change has required plant, animal, and human communities to adapt to novel climates. These changes have created unprecedented new ecosystems that affect the planet in ways that are not fully understood and difficult to predict. Of utmost concern is food security, and whether agro-ecosystems will adapt and respond to widespread changes so that growing global populations can be sustained. To understand how one staple food crop, rice, responds to global environmental change in southern Vietnam, this dissertation aims to accomplish three main tasks: (1) quantify the rate and form of urban and peri-urban expansion onto cropland using satellite imagery and demographic data, (2) track changes to annual rice paddy harvests using time series satellite data, and (3) model the potential effects of climate change on rice paddies by incorporating farmer interview data into a crop systems model. The results of these analyses show that the footprint of Ho Chi Minh City grew nearly five times between 1990 and 2012. Mismatches between urban development and population growth suggest that peri-urbanization is driven by supply-side investment, and that much of this form of land expansion has occurred near major transit routes. In the nearby Mekong River Delta, triple-cropped rice paddy area doubled between 2000 and 2010, from one-third to two-thirds of rice fields, while paddy area expanded by about 10%. These results illustrate the intensification of farming practices since Vietnam liberalized its economy, yet it is not clear whether such practices are environmentally sustainable long-term. Although triple-cropped paddy fields have expanded, future overall production is estimated to decline without the effects of CO2 fertilization. Temperatures are anticipated

Land Cover Change in the Andes of Southern Ecuador—Patterns and Drivers

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Giulia F. Curatola Fernández

2015-03-01

Full Text Available In the megadiverse tropical mountain forest in the Andes of southern Ecuador, a global biodiversity hotspot, the use of fire to clear land for cattle ranching is leading to the invasion of an aggressive weed, the bracken fern, which is threatening diversity and the provisioning of ecosystem services. To find sustainable land use options adapted to the local situation, a profound knowledge of the long-term spatiotemporal patterns of land cover change and its drivers is necessary, but hitherto lacking. The complex topography and the high cloud frequency make the use of remote sensing in this area a challenge. To deal with these conditions, we pursued specific pre-processing steps before classifying five Landsat scenes from 1975 to 2001. Then, we quantified land cover changes and habitat fragmentation, and we investigated landscape changes in relation to key spatial elements (altitude, slope, and distance from roads. Good classification results were obtained with overall accuracies ranging from 94.5% to 98.5% and Kappa statistics between 0.75 and 0.98. Forest was strongly fragmented due to the rapid expansion of the arable frontier and the even more rapid invasion by bracken. Unexpectedly, more bracken-infested areas were converted to pastures than vice versa, a practice that could alleviate pressure on forests if promoted. Road proximity was the most important spatial element determining forest loss, while for bracken the altitudinal range conditioned the degree of invasion in deforested areas. The annual deforestation rate changed notably between periods: ~1.5% from 1975 to 1987, ~0.8% from 1987 to 2000, and finally a very high rate of ~7.5% between 2000 and 2001. We explained these inconstant rates through some specific interrelated local and national political and socioeconomic drivers, namely land use policies, credit and tenure incentives, demography, and in particular, a severe national economic and bank crisis.

Water balance in afforestation chronosequences of common oak and Norway spruce on former arable land in Denmark and southern Sweden

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Rosenqvist, L.; Hansen, K.; Vesterdal, L.; Salm, van der C.

2010-01-01

Precipitation, throughfall and soil moisture were measured, and interception, transpiration and water recharge were estimated in four afforestation chronosequences on former arable land at two Danish locations (Vestskoven and Gejlvang) and at one southern Swedish location (Tonnersjoheden).

Land and Forest Management by Land Use/ Land Cover Analysis and Change Detection Using Remote Sensing and GIS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ankana

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Remote sensing and Geographical Information System (GIS are the most effective tools in spatial data analysis. Natural resources like land, forest and water, these techniques have proved a valuable source of information generation as well as in the management and planning purposes. This study aims to suggest possible land and forest management strategies in Chakia tahsil based on land use and land cover analysis and the changing pattern observed during the last ten years. The population of Chakia tahsil is mainly rural in nature. The study has revealed that the northern part of the region, which offers for the settlement and all the agricultural practices constitutes nearly 23.48% and is a dead level plain, whereas the southern part, which constitute nearly 76.6% of the region is characterized by plateau and is covered with forest. The southern plateau rises abruptly from the northern alluvial plain with a number of escarpments. The contour line of 100 m mainly demarcates the boundary between plateau and plain. The plateau zone is deeply dissected and highly rugged terrain. The resultant topography comprises of a number of mesas and isolated hillocks showing elevation differences from 150 m to 385 m above mean sea level. Being rugged terrain in the southern part, nowadays human encroachment are taking place for more land for the cultivation. The changes were well observed in the land use and land cover in the study region. A large part of fallow land and open forest were converted into cultivated land.

Incorporating JULES into NASA's Land Information System (LIS) and Investigations of Land-Atmosphere Coupling

Science.gov (United States)

Santanello, Joseph

2011-01-01

NASA's Land Information System (LIS; lis.gsfc.nasa.gov) is a flexible land surface modeling and data assimilation framework developed over the past decade with the goal of integrating satellite- and ground-based observational data products and advanced land surface modeling techniques to produce optimal fields of land surface states and fluxes. LIS features a high performance and flexible design, and operates on an ensemble of land surface models for extension over user-specified regional or global domains. The extensible interfaces of LIS allow the incorporation of new domains, land surface models (LSMs), land surface parameters, meteorological inputs, data assimilation and optimization algorithms. In addition, LIS has also been demonstrated for parameter estimation and uncertainty estimation, and has been coupled to the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) mesoscale model. A visiting fellowship is currently underway to implement JULES into LIS and to undertake some fundamental science on the feedbacks between the land surface and the atmosphere. An overview of the LIS system, features, and sample results will be presented in an effort to engage the community in the potential advantages of LIS-JULES for a range of applications. Ongoing efforts to develop a framework for diagnosing land-atmosphere coupling will also be presented using the suite of LSM and PBL schemes available in LIS and WRF along with observations from the U. S .. Southern Great Plains. This methodology provides a potential pathway to study factors controlling local land-atmosphere coupling (LoCo) using the LIS-WRF system, which will serve as a testbed for future experiments to evaluate coupling diagnostics within the community.

Utilizing CLASIC observations and multiscale models to study the impact of improved Land surface representation on modeling cloud- convection

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Niyogi, Devdutta S. [Purdue

2013-06-07

The CLASIC experiment was conducted over the US southern great plains (SGP) in June 2007 with an objective to lead an enhanced understanding of the cumulus convection particularly as it relates to land surface conditions. This project was design to help assist with understanding the overall improvement of land atmosphere convection initiation representation of which is important for global and regional models. The study helped address one of the critical documented deficiency in the models central to the ARM objectives for cumulus convection initiation and particularly under summer time conditions. This project was guided by the scientific question building on the CLASIC theme questions: What is the effect of improved land surface representation on the ability of coupled models to simulate cumulus and convection initiation? The focus was on the US Southern Great Plains region. Since the CLASIC period was anomalously wet the strategy has been to use other periods and domains to develop the comparative assessment for the CLASIC data period, and to understand the mechanisms of the anomalous wet conditions on the tropical systems and convection over land. The data periods include the IHOP 2002 field experiment that was over roughly same domain as the CLASIC in the SGP, and some of the DOE funded Ameriflux datasets.

Integration of remote sensing (RS) and geographic information system (GIS) techniques for change detection of the land use and land cover (LULC) for soil management in the southern Port Said region, Egypt

Science.gov (United States)

Hassan, Mohamed Abd El Rehim Abd El Aziz

2014-11-01

The monitoring of land use/land cover (LULC) changes in southern Port Said region area is very important for the planner of managements, governmental and non-governmental organizations, decision makers and the scientific community. This information is essential for planning and implementing policies to optimize the use of natural resources and accommodate development whilst minimizing the impact on the environment. To monitor these changes in the study area, two sets of satellite images (Landsat TM-5 and ETM+7) data were used with Path/Row (175/38) in date 1986 and 2006, respectively. The Landsat TM and ETM data are useful for this type of study due to its high spatial resolution, spectral resolution and low repetitive acquisition (16 days). A postclassification technique is used in this study based on hybrid classification (Unsupervised and Supervised). Each method used was assessed, and checked in field. Eight to Twelve LULC classes are recognized and mapping produced. The soils in southern Port Said area were classification in two orders for soil taxonomic units, which are Entisols and Aridisols and four sub-orders classes. The study land was evaluated into five classes from non suitable (N) to very highly suitable (S1) for some crops in the southern region of Port Said studied soils, with assess the nature of future change following construction of the international coastal road which crosses near to the study area.

Translation of Land Surface Model Accuracy and Uncertainty into Coupled Land-Atmosphere Prediction

Science.gov (United States)

Santanello, Joseph A.; Kumar, Sujay; Peters-Lidard, Christa D.; Harrison, Kenneth W.; Zhou, Shuija

2012-01-01

Land-atmosphere (L-A) Interactions playa critical role in determining the diurnal evolution of both planetary boundary layer (PBL) and land surface heat and moisture budgets, as well as controlling feedbacks with clouds and precipitation that lead to the persistence of dry and wet regimes. Recent efforts to quantify the strength of L-A coupling in prediction models have produced diagnostics that integrate across both the land and PBL components of the system. In this study, we examine the impact of improved specification of land surface states, anomalies, and fluxes on coupled WRF forecasts during the summers of extreme dry (2006) and wet (2007) land surface conditions in the U.S. Southern Great Plains. The improved land initialization and surface flux parameterizations are obtained through the use of a new optimization and uncertainty estimation module in NASA's Land Information System (US-OPT/UE), whereby parameter sets are calibrated in the Noah land surface model and classified according to a land cover and soil type mapping of the observation sites to the full model domain. The impact of calibrated parameters on the a) spinup of the land surface used as initial conditions, and b) heat and moisture states and fluxes of the coupled WRF Simulations are then assessed in terms of ambient weather and land-atmosphere coupling along with measures of uncertainty propagation into the forecasts. In addition, the sensitivity of this approach to the period of calibration (dry, wet, average) is investigated. Finally, tradeoffs of computational tractability and scientific validity, and the potential for combining this approach with satellite remote sensing data are also discussed.

Translation of Land Surface Model Accuracy and Uncertainty into Coupled Land-Atmosphere Prediction

Science.gov (United States)

Santanello, J. A.; Kumar, S.; Peters-Lidard, C. D.; Harrison, K. W.; Zhou, S.

2012-12-01

Land-atmosphere (L-A) interactions play a critical role in determining the diurnal evolution of both planetary boundary layer (PBL) and land surface heat and moisture budgets, as well as controlling feedbacks with clouds and precipitation that lead to the persistence of dry and wet regimes. Recent efforts to quantify the strength of L-A coupling in prediction models have produced diagnostics that integrate across both the land and PBL components of the system. In this study, we examine the impact of improved specification of land surface states, anomalies, and fluxes on coupled WRF forecasts during the summers of extreme dry (2006) and wet (2007) land surface conditions in the U.S. Southern Great Plains. The improved land initialization and surface flux parameterizations are obtained through the use of a new optimization and uncertainty estimation module in NASA's Land Information System (LIS-OPT/UE), whereby parameter sets are calibrated in the Noah land surface model and classified according to a land cover and soil type mapping of the observation sites to the full model domain. The impact of calibrated parameters on the a) spinup of the land surface used as initial conditions, and b) heat and moisture states and fluxes of the coupled WRF simulations are then assessed in terms of ambient weather and land-atmosphere coupling along with measures of uncertainty propagation into the forecasts. In addition, the sensitivity of this approach to the period of calibration (dry, wet, average) is investigated. Finally, tradeoffs of computational tractability and scientific validity, and the potential for combining this approach with satellite remote sensing data are also discussed.

Land Tenure and Land Reform in Namibia. | Amoo | Review of ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

... problems relating to the ownership and administration of the communal lands. Within the parameters of the Constitution, pieces of legislation have been promulgated and new policies have been formulated aimed at both land distribution and land reform. Review of Southern African Studies Volume 3 No. 1 June 1999, pp.

Regional characteristics of land use in northeast and southern Blue Ridge province: Associations with acid-rain effects on surface-water chemistry

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Liegel, L.; Cassell, D.; Stevens, D.; Shaffer, P.; Church, R.

1991-01-01

The Direct/Delayed Response Project (DDRP) is one of several being conducted by the United States Environmental Protection Agency to assess risk to surface waters from acidic deposition in the eastern United States. In one phase of DDRP, land use, wetland, and forest cover data were collected for statistical samples of 145 northeast lakes and 35 southern Blue Ridge Province stream watersheds. Land use and other data were then extrapolated from individual to target watershed populations in both study regions. Project statistical design allows summarization of results for various subsets of the target population. The article discusses results and implications of the land-use and land-cover characterization for both regions

Land-sea coupling of early Pleistocene glacial cycles in the southern North Sea exhibit dominant Northern Hemisphere forcing

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Donders, Timme; Van Helmond, Niels A.G.M.; Verreussel, Roel; Munsterman, Dirk; Veen, Johan Ten; Speijer, Robert P.; Weijers, Johan W.H.; Sangiorgi, Francesca; Peterse, Francien; Reichart, Gert-Jan; Sinninghe Damsté, Jaap S.; Lourens, Lucas; Kuhlmann, Gesa; Brinkhuis, Henk

2018-01-01

We assess the disputed phase relations between forcing and climatic response in the early Pleistocene with a spliced Gelasian (ĝ1/4 2.6-1.8ĝ€Ma) multi-proxy record from the southern North Sea basin. The cored sections couple climate evolution on both land and sea during the intensification of

A Study of the Connection Among Basin-Fill Aquifers, Carbonate-Rock Aquifers, and Surface-Water Resources in Southern Snake Valley, Nevada

Science.gov (United States)

,

2008-01-01

The Secretary of the Interior through the Southern Nevada Public Lands Management Act approved funding for research to improve understanding of hydrologic systems that sustain numerous water-dependent ecosystems on Federal lands in Snake Valley, Nevada. Some of the streams and spring-discharge areas in and adjacent to Great Basin National Park have been identified as susceptible to ground-water withdrawals (Elliott and others, 2006) and research has shown a high potential for ground-water flow from southern Spring Valley into southern Snake Valley through carbonate rocks that outcrop along a low topographic divide known as the Limestone Hills (Welch and others, 2007). Comprehensive geologic, hydrologic, and chemical information will be collected and analyzed to assess the hydraulic connection between basin-fill aquifers and surface-water resources, water-dependent ecological features, and the regional carbonate-rock aquifer, the known source of many high-discharge springs. Understanding these connections is important because proposed projects to pump and export ground water from Spring and Snake Valleys in Nevada may result in unintended capture of water currently supplying springs, streams, wetlands, limestone caves, and other biologically sensitive areas (fig. 1). The methods that will be used in this study may be transferable to other areas in the Great Basin. The National Park Service, Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and U.S. Forest Service submitted the proposal for funding this research to facilitate science-based land management. Scientists from the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Water Resources and Geologic Disciplines, and the University of Nevada, Reno, will accomplish four research elements through comprehensive data collection and analysis that are concentrated in two distinct areas on the eastern and southern flanks of the Snake Range (fig. 2). The projected time line for this research is from July 2008 through September 2011.

Soil macrofauna community structure along a gradient of land use intensification in the humid forest zone of southern Cameroon.

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Madong à Birang,

2004-01-01

The impact of land use systems on soil macrofauna community structures is described as well as their relationships with the vegetation and soil parameters in the humid forest zone of southernCameroon

Sensitivity of coral cays to climatic variations, southern Great Barrier Reef, Australia

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Flood, P G

1986-01-01

Analysis of available wind data for the years 1962-80 from Heron Island which is located within the southern Great Barrier Reef indicates that the annual wind energy vector has oscillated within a 45 degree arc from the SSE in the early 1960's to ESE in the late 1970's. Such changes in wind direction influence the direction of propagation of the waves which mold the shape of coral sand cays in this region. Documentation is provided which shows that the variability of the shoreline positions on Erskine Island, an uninhabited vegetated sand cays reflects this change. The implication is that contemporary shoreline erosion on Heron Island is not caused by the development associated with the tourist resort there. It is a symptom of the change in the propagation direction of the wind-induced waves which is related to long-term climatic change.

A Late Quaternary palynological and sedimentological record from two coastal swamps at southern Kaitoke, Great Barrier Island, New Zealand

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Horrocks, M.; Ogden, J.; Nichol, S.L.; Alloway, B.V.; Sutton, D.G.

2000-01-01

Pollen and sediment analyses of two cores from southern Kaitoke (Forsythes' Paddock and Blackwells' Bush), Great Barrier Island, show that at c. 7500 cal. yr BP, the area was an estuary with tidal flats and Avicennia. By c. 3000 cal. yr BP, a Restionaceae (Leptocarpus) salt marsh had developed in the estuary as marine influences lessened. By c. cal. 2550 yr BP, fresh water swamp (Cyperacceae-Gleichenia-Leptspermum) had replaced the salt marsh. Conifer-hardwood forest surrounding the southern Kaitoke sites from c. 7500-c. 2800 cal. yr BP was dominated by Daceydium, Metrosideros and Libocedrus. After c. 2800 cal. yr BP Metrosideros was replaced by Agathis, Phyllocladus and Prumnopitys taxifolia, suggesting climatic change to more variable conditions. The presence of the Kaharoa Tephra suggests that major Polynesian deforestation at southern Kaitoke began c. 600 cal. yr BP Minor pre-Kaharoa fire disturbance is evident c. 1750 cal. yr BP and c. 1290-970 cal. yr BP (author). 52 refs., 4 figs., 2 tabs

Changes in the dreissenid community in the lower Great Lakes with emphasis on southern Lake Ontario

Science.gov (United States)

Mills, Edward L.; Chrisman, Jana R.; Baldwin, Brad; Owens, Randall W.; O'Gorman, Robert; Howell, Todd; Roseman, Edward F.; Raths, Melinda K.

1999-01-01

A field study was conducted in the lower Great Lakes to assess changes in spatial distribution and population structure of dreissenid mussel populations. More specifically, the westward range expansion of quagga mussel into western Lake Erie and toward Lake Huron was investigated and the shell size, density, and biomass of zebra and quagga mussel with depth in southern Lake Ontario in 1992 and 1995 were compared. In Lake Erie, quagga mussel dominated the dreissenid community in the eastern basin and zebra mussel dominated in the western basin. In southern Lake Ontario, an east to west gradient was observed with the quagga mussel dominant at western sites and zebra mussel dominant at eastern locations. Mean shell size of quagga mussel was generally larger than that of zebra mussel except in western Lake Erie and one site in eastern Lake Erie. Although mean shell size and our index of numbers and biomass of both dreissenid species increased sharply in southern Lake Ontario between 1992 and 1995, the increase in density and biomass was much greater for quagga mussels over the 3-year period. In 1995, zebra mussels were most abundant at 15 to 25 m whereas the highest numbers and biomass of quagga mussel were at 35 to 45 m. The quagga mussel is now the most abundant dreissenid in areas of southern Lake Ontario where the zebra mussel was once the most abundant dreissenid; this trend parallels that observed for dreissenid populations in the Dneiper River basin in the Ukraine.

An Innovative Approach to Effective Climate Science Application through Stakeholder Participation in Great Plains Grasslands

Science.gov (United States)

Athearn, N.; Broska, J.

2015-12-01

For natural resource managers and other Great Plains stakeholders, climate uncertainties further confound decision-making on a highly altered landscape. Partner organizations comprising the Great Plains Landscape Conservation Cooperative (GPLCC) acknowledge climate change as a high-priority threat to grasslands and associated habitats, affecting water availability, species composition, and other factors. Despite its importance, incorporation of climate change impacts into planning is hindered by high uncertainty and lack of translation to a tangible outcome: effects on species and their habitats. In 2014, the GPLCC initiated a Landscape Conservation Design (LCD) process to ultimately improve the size and connectivity of grasslands - informing land managers of the landscape-scale impacts of local decisions about where to restore, enhance, protect, and develop lands. Defining this goal helped stakeholders envision a tangible product. High resolution land cover data recently completed for Texas and Oklahoma represent current grassland locations. By focusing climate change models to project changes in these land cover datasets, resulting land cover projections can be directly incorporated into LCD-based models to focus restoration where future climates will support grasslands. Broad organizational cooperation has been critical for this USGS-led project, which uses downscaled climate data and other support from the South Central Climate Science Center Consortium and builds on existing work including LCD efforts of the Playa Lakes Joint Venture and the Bureau of Land Management's Southern Great Plains Rapid Ecological Assessment. Ongoing stakeholder guidance through an advisory team ensures effective application of a product that will be both relevant to and understood by decision makers, for whom the primary role of research is to reduce uncertainties and clear the path for more efficient decision-making in the face of climatic uncertainty.

Spatial Variation of Temperature and Precipitation in Bhutan and Links to Vegetation and Land Coveropen access

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Dorji, Ugyen; Olesen, Jørgen Eivind; Bøcher, Peder Klith

2016-01-01

Bhutan, located in the Himalayas in the South Asian monsoon region, has extremely high variation in elevation, climatic conditions, and land cover despite its small geographical area, as well as great biodiversity. This paper provides the first comprehensive description of climatic conditions....... The spatial distribution of precipitation was mainly controlled by latitude, having a quadratic relationship, with the highest rates in the southern foothills of the Himalayan range and the lowest at midlatitudes. The land cover is affected by topography and local climate, with variations in temperature being...... a main deciding factor for vegetation types; most human settlements and associated land uses are concentrated at lower elevations....

Woody encroachment in northern Great Plains grasslands: Perceptions, actions, and needs

Science.gov (United States)

Symstad, Amy J.; Leis, Sherry A.

2017-01-01

The United States Northern Great Plains (NGP) has a high potential for landscape-scale conservation, but this grassland landscape is threatened by encroachment of woody species. We surveyed NGP land managers to identify patterns in, and illustrate a broad range of, individual managers' perceptions on (1) the threat of woody encroachment to grasslands they manage, and (2) what management practices they use that may influence woody encroachment in this region. In the 34 surveys returned, which came from predominantly public lands in the study area, 79% of responses reported moderate or substantial woody encroachment. Eastern redcedar (Juniperus virginiana) and Rocky Mountain juniper (Juniperus scopulorum) were the most problematic encroachers. Thirty-one survey respondents said that prescribed fire was used on the lands they manage, and 64% of these responses reported that controlling woody encroachment was a fire management objective. However, only 18% of survey respondents using prescribed fire were achieving their desired fire return interval. Most respondents reported using mechanical and/or chemical methods to control woody species. In contrast to evidence from the central and southern Great Plains, few survey respondents viewed grazing as affecting encroachment. Although the NGP public land managers we surveyed clearly recognize woody encroachment as a problem and are taking steps to address it, many feel that the rate of their management is not keeping pace with the rate of encroachment. Developing strategies for effective woody plant control in a variety of NGP management contexts requires filling ecological science gaps and overcoming societal barriers to using prescribed fire.

Anthropogenic contaminants in Indo-Pacific humpback and Australian snubfin dolphins from the central and southern Great Barrier Reef

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cagnazzi, Daniele; Fossi, Maria Cristina; Parra, Guido J.; Harrison, Peter L.; Maltese, Silvia; Coppola, Daniele; Soccodato, Alice; Bent, Michael; Marsili, Letizia

2013-01-01

We present the first evidence of accumulation of organochlorine compounds (DDTs, PCBs, HCB) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in Indo-Pacific humpback and Australian snubfin dolphins from the central and southern Great Barrier Reef. These dolphins are considered by the Great Barrier Marine Park Authority to be high priority species for management. Analyses of biopsy samples, collected from free ranging individuals, showed PAHs levels comparable to those reported from highly industrialized countries. DDTs and HCB were found at low levels, while in some individuals, PCBs were above thresholds over which immunosuppression and reproductive anomalies occur. These results highlight the need for ongoing monitoring of these and other contaminants, and their potential adverse effects on dolphins and other marine fauna. This is particularly important given the current strategic assessment of the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area being undertaken by the Australian Government and the Queensland Government. -- Potentially hazardous levels of some coastal contaminants were found in two species of dolphins inhabiting the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park coastal region

Effects of Watershed Land Use and Geomorphology on Stream Low Flows During Severe Drought Conditions in the Southern Blue Ridge Mountains, Georgia and North Carolina, United States

Science.gov (United States)

Land use and physiographic variability influence stream low flows, yet their interactions and relative influence remain unresolved. Our objective was to assess the influence of land use and watershed geomorphic characteristics on low-flow variability in the southern Blue Ridge Mo...

Pollution characteristics and ecological risk assessment of heavy metals in three land-use types on the southern Loess Plateau, China.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Yubin; Wu, Faqi; Zhang, Xinsheng; Cao, Ning

2017-08-25

The accumulation of heavy metals in agricultural soils has been the subject of great concern because these metals have the potential to be transferred to soil solutions and subsequently accumulate in the food chain. To study the persistence of trace metals in crop and orchard soils, representative surface soil samples were collected from terrace farmland that had been cultivated for various numbers of years (3, 8, 12, 15, and >20 years), terrace orchard land that had been cultivated for various numbers of years (4, 7, 10, 12, 15, 18, 25, and >30 years), and slope farmland with various gradients (3°, 5°, 8°, 12°, 15°, and 25°) and analyzed for heavy metals (As, Cr, Cu, Hg, Ni, and Zn). These samples were collected from Nihegou catchment of Chunhua county in the southern Loess Plateau of China. The six heavy metals demonstrated different trends with time or gradient in the three land-use types. The Cu and Zn contents of the soil were higher than the referee background values of the loessal soil, and the contents of Cr and Ni, and especially those of As and Hg, were lower. Cu was the only heavy metal that just met the Grade III Environmental Quality Standard for Soils of China, while the others reached grade I. Cu and Hg were considered contaminant factors and Hg was a moderate potential ecological risk factor in the catchment. Of the sites investigated, 89.5% fell into the category with a low degree of contamination (C d ) and rest were moderate, while all three land-use types had low potential ecological risk (RI). Changes of C d and RI were consistent with the cultivated time in the terrace farmland and terrace orchard land. Values of RI increased while C d decreased with the increasing of slope gradient in the slope farmland. Evaluating the ecological risk posed by heavy metals using more soil samples in a larger study area is necessary on the Loess Plateau of China.

Preparing a population for an earthquake like Chi-Chi: The Great Southern California ShakeOut

Science.gov (United States)

Jones, Lucile M.; ,

2009-01-01

The Great Southern California ShakeOut was a week of special events featuring the largest earthquake drill in United States history. On November 13, 2008, over 5 million southern Californians pretended that a magnitude-7.8 earthquake had occurred and practiced actions that could reduce its impact on their lives. The primary message of the ShakeOut is that what we do now, before a big earthquake, will determine what our lives will be like after. The drill was based on a scenario of the impacts and consequences of such an earthquake on the Southern San Andreas Fault, developed by over 300 experts led by the U.S. Geological Survey in partnership with the California Geological Survey, the Southern California Earthquake Center, Earthquake Engineering Research Institute, lifeline operators, emergency services and many other organizations. The ShakeOut campaign was designed and implemented by earthquake scientists, emergency managers, sociologists, art designers and community participants. The means of communication were developed using results from sociological research on what encouraged people to take action. This was structured around four objectives: 1) consistent messages – people are more inclined to believe something when they hear the same thing from multiple sources; 2) visual reinforcement – people are more inclined to do something they see other people doing; 3) encourage “milling” or discussing contemplated action – people need to discuss an action with others they care about before committing to undertaking it; and 4) focus on concrete actions – people are more likely to prepare for a set of concrete consequences of a particular hazard than for an abstract concept of risk. The goals of the ShakeOut were established in Spring 2008 and were: 1) to register 5 million people to participate in the drill; 2) to change the culture of earthquake preparedness in southern California; and 3) to reduce earthquake losses in southern California. All of these

Land use in the northern Coachella Valley

Science.gov (United States)

Bale, J. B.; Bowden, L. W.

1973-01-01

Satellite imagery has proved to have great utility for monitoring land use change and as a data source for regional planning. In California, open space desert resources are under severe pressure to serve as a source for recreational gratification to individuals living in the heavily populated southern coastal plain. Concern for these sensitive arid environments has been expressed by both federal and state agencies. The northern half of the Coachella Valley has historically served as a focal point for weekend recreational activity and second homes. Since demand in this area has remained high, land use change from rural to urban residential has been occurring continuously since 1968. This area of rapid change is an ideal site to illustrate the utility of satellite imagery as a data source for planning information, and has served as the areal focus of this investigation.

Aerosol properties and their impacts on surface CCN at the ARM Southern Great Plains site during the 2011 Midlatitude Continental Convective Clouds Experiment

Science.gov (United States)

Logan, Timothy; Dong, Xiquan; Xi, Baike

2018-02-01

Aerosol particles are of particular importance because of their impacts on cloud development and precipitation processes over land and ocean. Aerosol properties as well as meteorological observations from the Department of Energy Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) platform situated in the Southern Great Plains (SGP) are utilized in this study to illustrate the dependence of continental cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) number concentration ( N CCN) on aerosol type and transport pathways. ARM-SGP observations from the 2011 Midlatitude Continental Convective Clouds Experiment field campaign are presented in this study and compared with our previous work during the 2009-10 Clouds, Aerosol, and Precipitation in the Marine Boundary Layer field campaign over the current ARM Eastern North Atlantic site. Northerly winds over the SGP reflect clean, continental conditions with aerosol scattering coefficient ( σ sp) values less than 20 Mm-1 and N CCN values less than 100 cm-3. However, southerly winds over the SGP are responsible for the observed moderate to high correlation ( R) among aerosol loading ( σ sp moisture via the Gulf of Mexico, indicating a strong dependence on air mass type. NASA MERRA-2 reanalysis aerosol and chemical data are moderately to highly correlated with surface ARM-SGP data, suggesting that this facility can represent surface aerosol conditions in the SGP, especially during strong aerosol loading events that transport via the Gulf of Mexico. Future long-term investigations will help to understand the seasonal influences of air masses on aerosol, CCN, and cloud properties over land in comparison to over ocean.

Wintering Sandhill Crane exposure to wind energy development in the central and southern Great Plains, USA

Science.gov (United States)

Pearse, Aaron T.; Brandt, David; Krapu, Gary

2016-01-01

Numerous wind energy projects have been constructed in the central and southern Great Plains, USA, the main wintering area for midcontinental Sandhill Cranes (Grus canadensis). In an initial assessment of the potential risks of wind towers to cranes, we estimated spatial overlap, investigated potential avoidance behavior, and determined the habitat associations of cranes. We used data from cranes marked with platform transmitting terminals (PTTs) with and without global positioning system (GPS) capabilities. We estimated the wintering distributions of PTT-marked cranes prior to the construction of wind towers, which we compared with current tower locations. Based on this analysis, we found 7% spatial overlap between the distributions of cranes and towers. When we looked at individually marked cranes, we found that 52% would have occurred within 10 km of a tower at some point during winter. Using data from cranes marked after tower construction, we found a potential indication of avoidance behavior, whereby GPS-marked cranes generally used areas slightly more distant from existing wind towers than would be expected by chance. Results from a habitat selection model suggested that distances between crane locations and towers may have been driven more by habitat selection than by avoidance, as most wind towers were constructed in locations not often selected by wintering cranes. Our findings of modest regional overlap and that few towers have been placed in preferred crane habitat suggest that the current distribution of wind towers may be of low risk to the continued persistence of wintering midcontinental Sandhill Cranes in the central and southern Great Plains.

Household Land Management and Biodiversity: Secondary Succession in a Forest-Agriculture Mosaic in Southern Mexico

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rinku Roy Chowdhury

2007-12-01

Full Text Available This study evaluates anthropogenic and ecological dimensions of secondary forest succession in Mexico's southern Yucatán peninsular region, a hotspot of biodiversity and tropical deforestation. Secondary succession in particular constitutes an ecologically and economically important process, driven by and strongly influencing land management and local ecosystem structure and dynamics. As agents of local land management, smallholding farmers in communal, i.e., ejido lands affect rates of forest change, biodiversity, and sustainability within and beyond their land parcels. This research uses household surveys and land parcel mapping in two ejidos located along the buffer of the Calakmul Biosphere Reserve to analyze how household socioeconomics and policy institutions drive allocations to successional forests in traditional crop fallows and in enriched fallows. Results indicate that household tenancy, livestock holdings, labor-consumer ratios, and receipts of agricultural subsidies are the strongest determinants of traditional fallow areas. Whereas the latter two factors also influence enriched successions, local agroforestry and reforestation programs were the strongest drivers of fallow enrichment. Additionally, the study conducts field vegetation sampling in a nested design within traditional and enriched fallow sites to comparatively assess biodiversity consequences of fallow management. Although enriched fallows display greater species richness in 10x10 m plots and 2x2 m quadrats, plot-scale data reveal no significant differences in Shannon-Wiener or Simpson's diversity indices. Traditional fallows display greater species heterogeneity at the quadrat scale, however, indicating a complex relationship of diversity to fallow management over time. The article discusses the implications of the social and ecological analyses for land change research and conservation policies.

Conserving the birds of Uganda's banana-coffee arc: land sparing and land sharing compared.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mark F Hulme

Full Text Available Reconciling the aims of feeding an ever more demanding human population and conserving biodiversity is a difficult challenge. Here, we explore potential solutions by assessing whether land sparing (farming for high yield, potentially enabling the protection of non-farmland habitat, land sharing (lower yielding farming with more biodiversity within farmland or a mixed strategy would result in better bird conservation outcomes for a specified level of agricultural production. We surveyed forest and farmland study areas in southern Uganda, measuring the population density of 256 bird species and agricultural yield: food energy and gross income. Parametric non-linear functions relating density to yield were fitted. Species were identified as "winners" (total population size always at least as great with agriculture present as without it or "losers" (total population sometimes or always reduced with agriculture present for a range of targets for total agricultural production. For each target we determined whether each species would be predicted to have a higher total population with land sparing, land sharing or with any intermediate level of sparing at an intermediate yield. We found that most species were expected to have their highest total populations with land sparing, particularly loser species and species with small global range sizes. Hence, more species would benefit from high-yield farming if used as part of a strategy to reduce forest loss than from low-yield farming and land sharing, as has been found in Ghana and India in a previous study. We caution against advocacy for high-yield farming alone as a means to deliver land sparing if it is done without strong protection for natural habitats, other ecosystem services and social welfare. Instead, we suggest that conservationists explore how conservation and agricultural policies can be better integrated to deliver land sparing by, for example, combining land-use planning and agronomic

Second intermediate host land snails and definitive host animals of Brachylaima cribbi in southern Australia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Butcher A.R.

2005-03-01

Full Text Available This study of infection of southern Australian land snails with Brachylaima cribbi metacercariae has shown that all commonly encountered native and introduced snails are susceptible second intermediate hosts. The range of infected snails is extensive with metacercariae-infected snails being present in all districts across southern Australia. C. virgata has the highest average natural metacercarial infection intensity of 6.1 metacercariae per infected snail. The susceptibility of birds, mammals and reptiles to B. cribbi infection was studied in South Australia by capturing, dissecting and examining the intestinal tract contents of animals which commonly eat land snails as a food source. Indigenous Australian little ravens (Corvus mellori, which are a common scavenger bird, and two other passeriform birds, the black bird (Turdus merula and the starling (Sturnus vulgaris, which are both introduced European birds, were found to have the highest infection rates of all animals examined. Other birds found infected with B. cribbi were an emu (Dromaius novaehollandiae, chickens (Gallus gallus and a pigeon (Columba livia. Natural infections were also detected in field mice (Mus domesticus and shingleback lizards (Tiliqua rugosa although the intensity of infection was lower than that observed in birds. Susceptibility studies of laboratory mice, rats and ducks showed that mice developed patent infections which persisted for several weeks, rats developed a short-lived infection of three weeks’ duration and ducks did not support infection. This study has shown for the first time that a brachylaimid can infect a wide host range of birds, mammals and reptiles in nature.

Environmental assessment for the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Program: Southern Great Plains Cloud and Radiation Testbed (CART) site

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Policastro, A.J.; Pfingston, J.M.; Maloney, D.M.; Wasmer, F.; Pentecost, E.D.

1992-03-01

The Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Program is aimed at supplying improved predictive capability of climate change, particularly the prediction of cloud-climate feedback. The objective will be achieved by measuring the atmospheric radiation and physical and meteorological quantities that control solar radiation in the earth's atmosphere and using this information to test global climate and related models. The proposed action is to construct and operate a Cloud and Radiation Testbed (CART) research site in the southern Great Plains as part of the Department of Energy's Atmospheric Radiation Measurement Program whose objective is to develop an improved predictive capability of global climate change. The purpose of this CART research site in southern Kansas and northern Oklahoma would be to collect meteorological and other scientific information to better characterize the processes controlling radiation transfer on a global scale. Impacts which could result from this facility are described

Environmental assessment for the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Program: Southern Great Plains Cloud and Radiation Testbed (CART) site

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Policastro, A.J.; Pfingston, J.M.; Maloney, D.M.; Wasmer, F.; Pentecost, E.D.

1992-03-01

The Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Program is aimed at supplying improved predictive capability of climate change, particularly the prediction of cloud-climate feedback. The objective will be achieved by measuring the atmospheric radiation and physical and meteorological quantities that control solar radiation in the earth`s atmosphere and using this information to test global climate and related models. The proposed action is to construct and operate a Cloud and Radiation Testbed (CART) research site in the southern Great Plains as part of the Department of Energy`s Atmospheric Radiation Measurement Program whose objective is to develop an improved predictive capability of global climate change. The purpose of this CART research site in southern Kansas and northern Oklahoma would be to collect meteorological and other scientific information to better characterize the processes controlling radiation transfer on a global scale. Impacts which could result from this facility are described.

Land-use change reduces habitat suitability for supporting managed honey bee colonies in the Northern Great Plains

Science.gov (United States)

Otto, Clint R.; Roth, Cali; Carlson, Benjamin; Smart, Matthew

2016-01-01

Human reliance on insect pollination services continues to increase even as pollinator populations exhibit global declines. Increased commodity crop prices and federal subsidies for biofuel crops, such as corn and soybeans, have contributed to rapid land-use change in the US Northern Great Plains (NGP), changes that may jeopardize habitat for honey bees in a part of the country that supports >40% of the US colony stock. We investigated changes in biofuel crop production and grassland land covers surrounding ∼18,000 registered commercial apiaries in North and South Dakota from 2006 to 2014. We then developed habitat selection models to identify remotely sensed land-cover and land-use features that influence apiary site selection by Dakota beekeepers. Our study demonstrates a continual increase in biofuel crops, totaling 1.2 Mha, around registered apiary locations in North and South Dakota. Such crops were avoided by commercial beekeepers when selecting apiary sites in this region. Furthermore, our analysis reveals how grasslands that beekeepers target when selecting commercial apiary locations are becoming less common in eastern North and South Dakota, changes that may have lasting impact on pollinator conservation efforts. Our study highlights how land-use change in the NGP is altering the landscape in ways that are seemingly less conducive to beekeeping. Our models can be used to guide future conservation efforts highlighted in the US national pollinator health strategy by identifying areas that support high densities of commercial apiaries and that have exhibited significant land-use changes.

Aerosol Properties and Their Impacts on Surface CCN at the ARM Southern Great Plains Site during the 2011 Midlatitude Continental Convective Clouds Experiment

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

Timothy LOGAN; Xiquan DONG; Baike XI

2018-01-01

Aerosol particles are of particular importance because of their impacts on cloud development and precipitation processes over land and ocean.Aerosol properties as well as meteorological observations from the Department of Energy Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) platform situated in the Southern Great Plains (SGP) are utilized in this study to illustrate the dependence of continental cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) number concentration (NCCN) on aerosol type and transport pathways.ARM-SGP observations from the 2011 Midlatitude Continental Convective Clouds Experiment field campaign are presented in this study and compared with our previous work during the 2009-10 Clouds,Aerosol,and Precipitation in the Marine Boundary Layer field campaign over the current ARM Eastern North Atlantic site.Northerly winds over the SGP reflect clean,continental conditions with aerosol scattering coefficient (σsp) values less than 20 Mm-1 and NCCN values less than 100 cm-3.However,southerly winds over the SGP are responsible for the observed moderate to high correlation (R)among aerosol loading (σsp > 60 Mm-1) and NCCN,carbonaceous chemical species (biomass burning smoke),and precipitable water vapor.This suggests a common transport mechanism for smoke aerosols and moisture via the Gulf of Mexico,indicating a strong dependence on air mass type.NASA MERRA-2 reanalysis aerosol and chemical data are moderately to highly correlated with surface ARM-SGP data,suggesting that this facility can represent surface aerosol conditions in the SGP,especially during strong aerosol loading events that transport via the Gulf of Mexico.Future long-term investigations will help to understand the seasonal influences of air masses on aerosol,CCN,and cloud properties over land in comparison to over ocean.

Agro-fuels: southern impacts

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Duterme, B.

2011-01-01

At a time of controversies about global warming, agro-fuels production is often presented as a future solution for automotive fuels and as a new way of development for southern countries. However, in Asia, South America and Africa, it very often takes the form of huge mono-culture areas of sugar cane, palm oil and soy bean in the hands of multinational companies of the agriculture and food industry. The consequences of these land, social and environmental impacts in Southern countries is an increase of disequilibria and a threat for the diet of local populations by changing the appropriation of lands. Deforestation, private monopolization of lands, concentration of profits, soils and water pollution, biodiversity impoverishment, exploitation of vulnerable manpower, populations migration, violation of human rights are today the consequences of mass production of agro-fuels in Southern countries. To what conditions a fair re-appropriation and a sustainable development of agro-fuels production and consumption is foreseeable? The solutions require a re-shaping of economical and agricultural politics. The book gathers testimonies and analyses from specialists who have evaluated locally the consequences of these energy choices. (J.S.)

Effects of watershed land use and geomorphology on stream low flows during severe drought conditions in the southern Blue Ridge Mountains, Georgia and North Carolina, United States

Science.gov (United States)

Katie Price; C. Jackson; Albert Parker; Trond Reitan; John Dowd; Mike Cyterski

2011-01-01

Land use and physiographic variability influence stream low flows, yet their interactions and relative influence remain unresolved. Our objective was to assess the influence of land use and watershed geomorphic characteristics on low-flow variability in the southern Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina and Georgia. Ten minute interval discharge data for 35 streams (...

Demographic factors and land-use planning in the small islands of Southern Europe

Science.gov (United States)

Soliani, Lamberto; Rossi, Orazio

1992-09-01

Since the end of the 1970s, the southern European countries have shown an exceptional reduction in fertility rate. From the highest levels among the developed nations, these countries dropped beneath the substitution rate level: in Greece there is an average of about 1.5 children per woman, and Italy (starting three to four years ago), with 1.3 children per woman, is now the country with the lowest fecundity rate in the world. Land-use planning in southern European small islands therefore requires substantial revision. In the areas where western civilization began, which are highly populated and have a long history, cultural and ethnic aspects of tradition are fundamental to environmental management and to the defense of historical heritage. They also place a strong value on sustaining tourism, the most relevant economic activity, that allows them to survive and maintain a high welfare level. For some decades they have had populations with a marked presence of young people and high emigration rates, but now they are fast becoming dominated by the elderly and must prepare for a period of fast reduction in youth of the workforce, while the peripheral areas of Asia and Africa are entering a sudden demographic growth phase. The demographic structure has also been deeply altered both by previous migrations and by random variations, as usually happens in all small communities. Social services for younger and older people have had to be adapted rapidly, reorganizing high-school management, hospital and health-care structures, in-house assistance, and so on. There is a need to rethink the job market and favor the immigration of highly specialized workers, which is a necessity for technical evolution. Sustainable development is constrained nowadays not only by the scarcity of natural resources, but also by the quality and quantity of human resources. Proper policies for population and land-use planning are highly correlated factors; they have to be considered with respect

Building resilience into practical conservation: identifying local management responses to global climate change in the southern Great Barrier Reef

Science.gov (United States)

Maynard, J. A.; Marshall, P. A.; Johnson, J. E.; Harman, S.

2010-06-01

Climate change is now considered the greatest long-term threat to coral reefs, with some future change inevitable despite mitigation efforts. Managers must therefore focus on supporting the natural resilience of reefs, requiring that resilient reefs and reef regions be identified. We develop a framework for assessing resilience and trial it by applying the framework to target management responses to climate change on the southern Great Barrier Reef. The framework generates a resilience score for a site based on the evaluation of 19 differentially weighted indicators known or thought to confer resilience to coral reefs. Scores are summed, and sites within a region are ranked in terms of (1) their resilience relative to the other sites being assessed, and (2) the extent to which managers can influence their resilience. The framework was applied to 31 sites in Keppel Bay of the southern Great Barrier Reef, which has a long history of disturbance and recovery. Resilience and ‘management influence potential’ were both found to vary widely in Keppel Bay, informing site selection for the staged implementation of resilience-based management strategies. The assessment framework represents a step towards making the concept of resilience operational to reef managers and conservationists. Also, it is customisable, easy to teach and implement and effective in building support among local communities and stakeholders for management responses to climate change.

[Spatial pattern of land surface dead combustible fuel load in Huzhong forest area in Great Xing'an Mountains].

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Zhi-Hua; Chang, Yu; Chen, Hong-Wei; Zhou, Rui; Jing, Guo-Zhi; Zhang, Hong-Xin; Zhang, Chang-Meng

2008-03-01

By using geo-statistics and based on time-lag classification standard, a comparative study was made on the land surface dead combustible fuels in Huzhong forest area in Great Xing'an Mountains. The results indicated that the first level land surface dead combustible fuel, i. e., 1 h time-lag dead fuel, presented stronger spatial auto-correlation, with an average of 762.35 g x m(-2) and contributing to 55.54% of the total load. Its determining factors were species composition and stand age. The second and third levels land surface dead combustible fuel, i. e., 10 h and 100 h time-lag dead fuels, had a sum of 610.26 g x m(-2), and presented weaker spatial auto-correlation than 1 h time-lag dead fuel. Their determining factor was the disturbance history of forest stand. The complexity and heterogeneity of the factors determining the quality and quantity of forest land surface dead combustible fuels were the main reasons for the relatively inaccurate interpolation. However, the utilization of field survey data coupled with geo-statistics could easily and accurately interpolate the spatial pattern of forest land surface dead combustible fuel loads, and indirectly provide a practical basis for forest management.

Multiple Stressors at the Land-Sea Interface: Cyanotoxins at the Land-Sea Interface in the Southern California Bight.

Science.gov (United States)

Tatters, Avery O; Howard, Meredith D A; Nagoda, Carey; Busse, Lilian; Gellene, Alyssa G; Caron, David A

2017-03-09

Blooms of toxic cyanobacteria in freshwater ecosystems have received considerable attention in recent years, but their occurrence and potential importance at the land-sea interface has not been widely recognized. Here we present the results of a survey of discrete samples conducted in more than fifty brackish water sites along the coastline of southern California. Our objectives were to characterize cyanobacterial community composition and determine if specific groups of cyanotoxins (anatoxins, cylindrospermopsins, microcystins, nodularins, and saxitoxins) were present. We report the identification of numerous potentially harmful taxa and the co-occurrence of multiple toxins, previously undocumented, at several locations. Our findings reveal a potential health concern based on the range of organisms present and the widespread prevalence of recognized toxic compounds. Our results raise concerns for recreation, harvesting of finfish and shellfish, and wildlife and desalination operations, highlighting the need for assessments and implementation of monitoring programs. Such programs appear to be particularly necessary in regions susceptible to urban influence.

Systematically variable planktonic carbon metabolism along a land-to-lake gradient in a Great Lakes coastal zone.

Science.gov (United States)

Weinke, Anthony D; Kendall, Scott T; Kroll, Daniel J; Strickler, Eric A; Weinert, Maggie E; Holcomb, Thomas M; Defore, Angela A; Dila, Deborah K; Snider, Michael J; Gereaux, Leon C; Biddanda, Bopaiah A

2014-11-01

During the summers of 2002-2013, we measured rates of carbon metabolism in surface waters of six sites across a land-to-lake gradient from the upstream end of drowned river-mouth Muskegon Lake (ML) (freshwater estuary) to 19 km offshore in Lake Michigan (LM) (a Great Lake). Despite considerable inter-year variability, the average rates of gross production (GP), respiration (R) and net production (NP) across ML (604 ± 58, 222 ± 22 and 381 ± 52 µg C L -1 day -1 , respectively) decreased steeply in the furthest offshore LM site (22 ± 3, 55 ± 17 and -33 ± 15 µg C L -1 day -1 , respectively). Along this land-to-lake gradient, GP decreased by 96 ± 1%, whereas R only decreased by 75 ± 9%, variably influencing the carbon balance along this coastal zone. All ML sites were consistently net autotrophic (mean GP:R = 2.7), while the furthest offshore LM site was net heterotrophic (mean GP:R = 0.4). Our study suggests that pelagic waters of this Great Lakes coastal estuary are net carbon sinks that transition into net carbon sources offshore. Reactive and dynamic estuarine coastal zones everywhere may contribute similarly to regional and global carbon cycles.

Southern Peru desert shattered by the great 2001 earthquake: implications for paleoseismic and paleo-El Nino-Southern Oscillation records.

Science.gov (United States)

Keefer, David K; Moseley, Michael E

2004-07-27

In the desert region around the coastal city of Ilo, the great southern Peru earthquake of June 23, 2001 (8.2-8.4 moment magnitude), produced intense and widespread ground-failure effects. These effects included abundant landslides, pervasive ground cracking, microfracturing of surficial hillslope materials, collapse of drainage banks over long stretches, widening of hillside rills, and lengthening of first-order tributary channels. We have coined the term "shattered landscape" to describe the severity of these effects. Long-term consequences of this landscape shattering are inferred to include increased runoff and sediment transport during postearthquake rainstorms. This inference was confirmed during the first minor postearthquake rainstorm there, which occurred in June and July of 2002. Greater amounts of rainfall in this desert region have historically been associated with El Niño events. Previous studies of an unusual paleoflood deposit in this region have concluded that it is the product of El Niño-generated precipitation falling on seismically disturbed landscapes. The effects of the 2001 earthquake and 2002 rainstorm support that conclusion.

A cloud climatology of the Southern Great Plains ARM CART

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lazarus, S.M.; Krueger, S.K.; Mace, G.G.

2000-05-15

Cloud amount statistics from three different sources were processed and compared. Surface observations from a National Centers for Environmental Prediction dataset were used. The data (Edited Cloud Report; ECR) consist of synoptic weather reports that have been edited to facilitate cloud analysis. Two stations near the Southern Great Plains (SGP) Cloud and Radiation Test Bed (CART) in north-central Oklahoma (Oklahoma City, Oklahoma and Wichita, Kansas) were selected. The ECR data span a 10-yr period from December 1981 to November 1991. The International Satellite Cloud Climatology Project (ISCCP) provided cloud amounts over the SGP CART for an 8-yr period (1983--91). Cloud amounts were also obtained from Micro Pulse Lidar (MPL) and Belfort Ceilometer (BLC) cloud-base height measurements made at the SGP CART over a 1-yr period. The annual and diurnal cycles of cloud amount as a function of cloud height and type were analyzed. The three datasets closely agree for total cloud amount. Good agreement was found in the ECR and MPL-BLC monthly low cloud amounts. With the exception of summer and midday in other seasons, the ISCCP low cloud amount estimates are generally 5%--10% less than the others. The ECR high cloud amount estimates are typically 10%--15% greater than those obtained from either the ISCCP or MPL-BLC datasets. The observed diurnal variations of altocumulus support the authors' model results of radiatively induced circulations.

Community participatory sustainable land management byelaw ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Widespread adoption of sustainable land management (SLM) innovations by land users is considered key in addressing the rampant land degradation in the high rainfall and densely populated highlands of eastern and southern Africa. However, absence of enabling policy environments hamperes massive adoption of SLM ...

Integrating land use and climate change scenarios and models into assessment of forested watershed services in Southern Thailand.

Science.gov (United States)

Trisurat, Yongyut; Eawpanich, Piyathip; Kalliola, Risto

2016-05-01

The Thadee watershed, covering 112km(2), is the main source of water for agriculture and household consumption in the Nakhon Srithammarat Province in Southern Thailand. As the natural forests upstream have been largely degraded and transformed to fruit tree and rubber plantations, problems with landslides and flooding have resulted. This research attempts to predict how further land-use/land-cover changes during 2009-2020 and conceivable changes in rainfall may influence the future levels of water yield and sediment load in the Thadee River. Three different land use scenarios (trend, development and conservation) were defined in collaboration with the local stakeholders, and three different rainfall scenarios (average rainfall, climate change and extreme wet) were determined on the basis of literature sources. Spatially explicit empirical modelling was employed to allocate future land demands and to assess the contributions of land use and rainfall changes, considering both their separate and combined effects. The results suggest that substantial land use changes may occur from a large expansion of rubber plantations in the upper sub-watersheds, especially under the development land use scenario. The reduction of the current annual rainfall by approximately 30% would decrease the predicted water yields by 38% from 2009. According to the extreme rainfall scenario (an increase of 36% with respect to current rainfall), an amplification of 50% of the current runoff could result. Sensitivity analyses showed that the predicted soil loss is more responsive to changes in rainfall than to the compared land use scenarios alone. However, very high sediment load and runoff levels were predicted on the basis of combined intensified land use and extreme rainfall scenarios. Three conservation activities-protection, reforestation and a mixed-cropping system-are proposed to maintain the functional watershed services of the Thadee watershed region. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc

Holistic Interactions of Shallow Clouds, Aerosols, and Land-Ecosystems (HI-SCALE) Science Plan

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Fast, JD [Pacific Northwest National Laboratory; Berg, LK [Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

2015-12-01

Cumulus convection is an important component in the atmospheric radiation budget and hydrologic cycle over the Southern Great Plains and over many regions of the world, particularly during the summertime growing season when intense turbulence induced by surface radiation couples the land surface to clouds. Current convective cloud parameterizations contain uncertainties resulting in part from insufficient coincident data that couples cloud macrophysical and microphysical properties to inhomogeneities in boundary layer and aerosol properties. The Holistic Interactions of Shallow Clouds, Aerosols, and Land-Ecosystems (HI-SCALE) campaign is designed to provide a detailed set of measurements that are needed to obtain a more complete understanding of the life cycle of shallow clouds by coupling cloud macrophysical and microphysical properties to land surface properties, ecosystems, and aerosols. HI-SCALE consists of 2, 4-week intensive observational periods, one in the spring and the other in the late summer, to take advantage of different stages and distribution of “greenness” for various types of vegetation in the vicinity of the Atmospheric Radiation and Measurement (ARM) Climate Research Facility’s Southern Great Plains (SGP) site as well as aerosol properties that vary during the growing season. Most of the proposed instrumentation will be deployed on the ARM Aerial Facility (AAF) Gulfstream 1 (G-1) aircraft, including those that measure atmospheric turbulence, cloud water content and drop size distributions, aerosol precursor gases, aerosol chemical composition and size distributions, and cloud condensation nuclei concentrations. Routine ARM aerosol measurements made at the surface will be supplemented with aerosol microphysical properties measurements. The G-1 aircraft will complete transects over the SGP Central Facility at multiple altitudes within the boundary layer, within clouds, and above clouds.

Silvicultural Considerations in Managing Southern Pine Stands in the Context of Southern Pine Beetle

Science.gov (United States)

James M. Guldin

2011-01-01

Roughly 30 percent of the 200 million acres of forest land in the South supports stands dominated by southern pines. These are among the most productive forests in the nation. Adapted to disturbance, southern pines are relatively easy to manage with even-aged methods such as clearcutting and planting, or the seed tree and shelterwood methods with natural regeneration....

Impact of Optimized Land Surface Parameters on the Land-Atmosphere Coupling in WRF Simulations of Dry and Wet Extremes

Science.gov (United States)

Kumar, S.; Santanello, J. A.; Peters-Lidard, C. D.; Harrison, K.

2011-12-01

Land-atmosphere (L-A) interactions play a critical role in determining the diurnal evolution of both planetary boundary layer (PBL) and land surface temperature and moisture budgets, as well as controlling feedbacks with clouds and precipitation that lead to the persistence of dry and wet regimes. Recent efforts to quantify the strength of L-A coupling in prediction models have produced diagnostics that integrate across both the land and PBL components of the system. In this study, we examine the impact of improved specification of land surface states, anomalies, and fluxes on coupled WRF forecasts during the summers of extreme dry (2006) and wet (2007) conditions in the U.S. Southern Great Plains. The improved land initialization and surface flux parameterizations are obtained through the use of a new optimization and uncertainty module in NASA's Land Information System (LIS-OPT), whereby parameter sets are calibrated in the Noah land surface model and classified according to the land cover and soil type mapping of the observations and the full domain. The impact of the calibrated parameters on the a) spinup of land surface states used as initial conditions, and b) heat and moisture fluxes of the coupled (LIS-WRF) simulations are then assessed in terms of ambient weather, PBL budgets, and precipitation along with L-A coupling diagnostics. In addition, the sensitivity of this approach to the period of calibration (dry, wet, normal) is investigated. Finally, tradeoffs of computational tractability and scientific validity (e.g.,. relating to the representation of the spatial dependence of parameters) and the feasibility of calibrating to multiple observational datasets are also discussed.

Moistening of the northern North American Great Plains enhances land-atmosphere coupling

Science.gov (United States)

Gerken, T.; Bromley, G. T.; Stoy, P. C.

2017-12-01

Land use change impacts planetary boundary layer processes and regional climate by altering the magnitude and timing of water and energy flux into the atmosphere. In the North American Great Plains (NGP), a decline in the practice of summer fallow on the order of 20 Mha from the 1970s until the present has coincided with a decrease in summertime radiative forcing, on the order of 6 W m-2. MERRA 2 (Modern-Era Retrospective analysis for Research and Applications) for the area near Fort Peck, Montana, (a FLUXNET site established in 2000) shows a decrease of summertime (June-August) sensible heat fluxes ranging from -3.6 to -8.5 W m-2 decade-1, associated with an increase of latent heat fluxes (5.2-9.1 W m-2 decade-1) since the 1980s. Net radiation changed little. The result was a strong decrease of summer Bowen ratios from 1.5-2 in 1980 to approximately 1 in 2015. Findings are consistent with the effects on increased summertime evapotranspiration due to reduction in summer fallow that should lead to smaller Bowen ratios and a larger build-up of moist static energy. We use a mixed-layer (ML) atmospheric modeling framework to further investigate the impact of the surface energy balance on convective development and local land-atmosphere coupling in the NGP. Using summertime eddy covariance data from Fort Peck and atmospheric soundings from the nearby Glasgow airport, we compare the development of modeled ML and lifted condensation level (LCL) to find times of ML exceeding LCL, a necessary but not sufficient condition for the occurrence of convective precipitation. We establish that the ML model adequately captures ML heights and timing of locally triggered convection at the site and that there is a c. 10% increase in modeled convection permitting conditions today compared to 1975-85 in response to ML-moistening and decreasing Bo. We find that growing season land-atmosphere coupling develops from wet preference in May to dry coupling in July and atmospheric suppression

Detecting temporal change in land-surface altitude using robotic land-surveying techniques and geographic information system applications at an earthen dam site in Southern Westchester County, New York

Science.gov (United States)

Noll, Michael L.; Chu, Anthony

2017-08-14

In 2005, the U.S. Geological Survey began a cooperative study with New York City Department of Environmental Protection to characterize the local groundwater-flow system and identify potential sources of seeps on the southern embankment at the Hillview Reservoir in southern Westchester County, New York. Monthly site inspections at the reservoir indicated an approximately 90-square-foot depression in the land surface directly upslope from a seep that has episodically flowed since 2007. In July 2008, the U.S. Geological Survey surveyed the topography of land surface in this depression area by collecting high-accuracy (resolution less than 1 inch) measurements. A point of origin was established for the topographic survey by using differentially corrected positional data collected by a global navigation satellite system. Eleven points were surveyed along the edge of the depression area and at arbitrary locations within the depression area by using robotic land-surveying techniques. The points were surveyed again in March 2012 to evaluate temporal changes in land-surface altitude. Survey measurements of the depression area indicated that the land-surface altitude at 8 of the 11 points decreased beyond the accepted measurement uncertainty during the 44 months from July 2008 to March 2012. Two additional control points were established at stable locations along Hillview Avenue, which runs parallel to the embankment. These points were measured during the July 2008 survey and measured again during the March 2012 survey to evaluate the relative accuracy of the altitude measurements. The relative horizontal and vertical (altitude) accuracies of the 11 topographic measurements collected in March 2012 were ±0.098 and ±0.060 feet (ft), respectively. Changes in topography at 8 of the 11 points ranged from 0.09 to 0.63 ft and topography remained constant, or within the measurement uncertainty, for 3 of the 11 points.Two cross sections were constructed through the depression area

The Southern Kalahari: a potential new dust source in the Southern Hemisphere?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bhattachan, Abinash; D’Odorico, Paolo; Baddock, Matthew C; Zobeck, Ted M; Okin, Gregory S; Cassar, Nicolas

2012-01-01

Most sources of atmospheric dust on Earth are located in the Northern Hemisphere. The lower dust emissions in the Southern Hemisphere in part limit the supply of micronutrients (primarily soluble iron) to the Southern Ocean, thereby constraining its productivity. Climate and land use change can alter the current distribution of dust source regions on Earth. Can new dust sources be activated in the Southern Hemisphere? Here we show that vegetation loss and dune remobilization in the Southern Kalahari can promote dust emissions comparable to those observed from major contemporary dust sources in the Southern African region. Dust generation experiments support the hypothesis that, in the Southern Kalahari, aeolian deposits that are currently mostly stabilized by savanna vegetation are capable of emitting substantial amounts of dust from interdune areas. We show that dust from these areas is relatively rich in soluble iron, an important micronutrient for ocean productivity. Trajectory analyses show that dust from the Kalahari commonly reaches the Southern Ocean and could therefore enhance its productivity. (letter)

Development and application of multi-proxy indices of land use change for riparian soils in southern New England, USA.

Science.gov (United States)

Ricker, M C; Donohue, S W; Stolt, M H; Zavada, M S

2012-03-01

Understanding the effects of land use on riparian systems is dependent upon the development of methodologies to recognize changes in sedimentation related to shifts in land use. Land use trends in southern New England consist of shifts from forested precolonial conditions, to colonial and agrarian land uses, and toward modern industrial-urban landscapes. The goals of this study were to develop a set of stratigraphic indices that reflect these land use periods and to illustrate their applications. Twenty-four riparian sites from first- and second-order watersheds were chosen for study. Soil morphological features, such as buried surface horizons (layers), were useful to identify periods of watershed instability. The presence of human artifacts and increases in heavy metal concentration above background levels, were also effective indicators of industrial-urban land use periods. Increases and peak abundance of non-arboreal weed pollen (Ambrosia) were identified as stratigraphic markers indicative of agricultural land uses. Twelve 14C dates from riparian soils indicated that the rise in non-arboreal pollen corresponds to the start of regional deforestation (AD 1749 +/- 56 cal yr; mean +/- 2 SD) and peak non-arboreal pollen concentration corresponds to maximum agricultural land use (AD 1820 +/- 51 cal yr). These indices were applied to elucidate the impact of land use on riparian sedimentation and soil carbon (C) dynamics. This analysis indicated that the majority of sediment and soil organic carbon (SOC) stored in regional riparian soils is of postcolonial origins. Mean net sedimentation rates increased -100-fold during postcolonial time periods, and net SOC sequestration rates showed an approximate 200-fold increase since precolonial times. These results suggest that headwater riparian zones have acted as an effective sink for alluvial sediment and SOC associated with postcolonial land use.

Preliminary seismicity and focal mechanisms for the southern Great Basin of Nevada and California: January 1992 through September 1992

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Harmsen, S.C.

1994-01-01

The telemetered southern Great Basin seismic network (SGBSN) is operated for the Department of Energy's Yucca Mountain Project (YMP). The US Geological Survey, Branch of Earthquake and Landslide Hazards, maintained this network until September 30, 1992, at which time all operational and analysis responsibilities were transferred to the University of Nevada at Reno Seismological Laboratory (UNRSL). This report contains preliminary earthquake and chemical explosion hypocenter listings and preliminary earthquake focal mechanism solutions for USGS/SGBSN data for the period January 1, 1992 through September 30, 1992, 15:00 UTC

Diversity, Seasonality, and Context of Mammalian Roadkills in the Southern Great Plains

Science.gov (United States)

Smith-Patten, Brenda D.; Patten, Michael A.

2008-06-01

Thousands of mammals are killed annually from vehicle collisions, making the issue an important one for conservation biologists and environmental managers. We recorded all readily identifiable kills on or immediately adjacent to roads in the southern Great Plains from March 2004-March 2007. We also recorded distance traveled, whether a road was paved or divided, the number of lanes, and prevailing habitat. Surveys were opportunistic and were conducted by car during conditions of good visibility. Over our 239 surveys and >16,500 km traveled, we recorded 1412 roadkills from 18 different mammal species (size ranged from Sciurus squirrels to the white-tailed deer, Odocolieus virginianus). The overall kill rate was 8.50 / 100 km. Four species were prone to collisions: the Virginia opossum ( Didelphis virginiana), nine-banded armadillo ( Dasypus novemcinctus), striped skunk ( Mephitis mephitis), and northern raccoon ( Procyon lotor). Together they accounted for approximately 85% (1198) of all roadkills. Mortality rate differed significantly between 2- and 4-lane roads (8.39 versus 7.79 / 100 km). Kill rates were significantly higher on paved versus unpaved roads (8.60 versus 3.65 / 100 km), but did not depend on whether a road was divided. Roadkills were higher in spring than in fall (1.5×), winter (1.4×), or summer (1.3×). The spring peak (in kills / 100 km) was driven chiefly by the armadillo (2.76 in spring/summer versus 0.73 in autumn/winter) and opossum (2.65 versus 1.47). By contrast, seasonality was dampened by a late winter/early spring peak in skunk mortalities, for which 41% occurred in the 6-week period of mid-February through March. The raccoon did not exhibit a strong seasonal pattern. Our data are consistent with dispersal patterns of these species. Our results underscore the high rate of highway mortality in the southern plains, as well as differences in seasonality and road type that contribute to mortality. Conservation and management efforts should

Land-Sparing Opportunities for Solar Energy Development in Agricultural Landscapes: A Case Study of the Great Central Valley, CA, United States.

Science.gov (United States)

Hoffacker, Madison K; Allen, Michael F; Hernandez, Rebecca R

2017-12-19

Land-cover change from energy development, including solar energy, presents trade-offs for land used for the production of food and the conservation of ecosystems. Solar energy plays a critical role in contributing to the alternative energy mix to mitigate climate change and meet policy milestones; however, the extent that solar energy development on nonconventional surfaces can mitigate land scarcity is understudied. Here, we evaluate the land sparing potential of solar energy development across four nonconventional land-cover types: the built environment, salt-affected land, contaminated land, and water reservoirs (as floatovoltaics), within the Great Central Valley (CV, CA), a globally significant agricultural region where land for food production, urban development, and conservation collide. Furthermore, we calculate the technical potential (TWh year -1 ) of these land sparing sites and test the degree to which projected electricity needs for the state of California can be met therein. In total, the CV encompasses 15% of CA, 8415 km 2 of which was identified as potentially land-sparing for solar energy development. These areas comprise a capacity-based energy potential of at least 17 348 TWh year -1 for photovoltaic (PV) and 2213 TWh year -1 for concentrating solar power (CSP). Accounting for technology efficiencies, this exceeds California's 2025 projected electricity demands up to 13 and 2 times for PV and CSP, respectively. Our study underscores the potential of strategic renewable energy siting to mitigate environmental trade-offs typically coupled with energy sprawl in agricultural landscapes.

Spatial decision support for strategic environmental assessment of land use plans. A case study in southern Italy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Geneletti, Davide; Bagli, Stefano; Napolitano, Paola; Pistocchi, Alberto

2007-01-01

This paper presents and discusses the construction of a spatial decision-support tool for the Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) of a land use plan: the spatial coordination plan of the Province of Naples, in southern Italy. The decision-support tool organises the relevant information, spatially resolves the actions of the plan, predicts their environmental impacts, and generates overall performance maps. Its final goal is to provide a suitable technical support to a formal SEA procedure. The expected implications of the plan, such as changes in land use and traffic flows and urban expansion, were modelled and assessed against a set of environmental criteria using SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats) analysis and mapping. It was found that the SWOT analysis provided a good basis for assessment and strategy formulation. The paper also intends to contribute to the topic of data and scale issues in SEA, by exemplifying the role played by spatial data and spatial analyses to support informative SEA

Formation of albitite-hosted uranium within IOCG systems: the Southern Breccia, Great Bear magmatic zone, Northwest Territories, Canada

Science.gov (United States)

Montreuil, Jean-François; Corriveau, Louise; Potter, Eric G.

2015-03-01

Uranium and polymetallic U mineralization hosted within brecciated albitites occurs one kilometer south of the magnetite-rich Au-Co-Bi-Cu NICO deposit in the southern Great Bear magmatic zone (GBMZ), Canada. Concentrations up to 1 wt% U are distributed throughout a 3 by 0.5 km albitization corridor defined as the Southern Breccia zone. Two distinct U mineralization events are observed. Primary uraninite precipitated with or without pyrite-chalcopyrite ± molybdenite within magnetite-ilmenite-biotite-K-feldspar-altered breccias during high-temperature potassic-iron alteration. Subsequently, pitchblende precipitated in earthy hematite-specular hematite-chlorite veins associated with a low-temperature iron-magnesium alteration. The uraninite-bearing mineralization postdates sodic (albite) and more localized high-temperature potassic-iron (biotite-magnetite ± K-feldspar) alteration yet predates potassic (K-feldspar), boron (tourmaline) and potassic-iron-magnesium (hematite ± K-feldspar ± chlorite) alteration. The Southern Breccia zone shares attributes of the Valhalla (Australia) and Lagoa Real (Brazil) albitite-hosted U deposits but contains greater iron oxide contents and lower contents of riebeckite and carbonates. Potassium, Ni, and Th are also enriched whereas Zr and Sr are depleted with respect to the aforementioned albitite-hosted U deposits. Field relationships, geochemical signatures and available U-Pb dates on pre-, syn- and post-mineralization intrusions place the development of the Southern Breccia and the NICO deposit as part of a single iron oxide alkali-altered (IOAA) system. In addition, this case example illustrates that albitite-hosted U deposits can form in albitization zones that predate base and precious metal ore zones in a single IOAA system and become traps for U and multiple metals once the tectonic regime favors fluid mixing and oxidation-reduction reactions.

Modeling land development along highway 4 in Southern Thailand

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Potjamas Chuangchang

2014-12-01

Full Text Available This study aims to investigate the change of developed land in three different locations along Highway 4 Road from Phattalung to HatYai. The method involves creating a digitized grid of geographical coordinates covering the study area. The land-use codes and plot identifiers were recorded in database tables indexed by grid coordinates. Logistic regression of land development adjusted for spatial correlation was used to model its change over a 9-year period using land-use at the previous survey combined with location as a determinant. The results show increasing average percentages of developed land (3% in 2000 and 5% in 2009. Land development occurred mostly in the northern location along the Pattalung to HatYai road.

Black Mats, Spring-Fed Streams, and Late-Glacial-Age Recharge in the Southern Great Basin

Science.gov (United States)

Quade, Jay; Forester, R.M.; Pratt, W.L.; Carter, C.

1998-01-01

Black mats are prominent features of the late Pleistocene and Holocene stratigraphic record in the southern Great Basin. Faunal, geochemical, and sedimentological evidence shows that the black mats formed in several microenvironments related to spring discharge, ranging from wet meadows to shallow ponds. Small land snails such as Gastrocopta tappaniana and Vertigo berryi are the most common mollusk taxa present. Semiaquatic and aquatic taxa are less abundant and include Catinellids, Fossaria parva, Gyraulus parvus, and others living today in and around perennial seeps and ponds. The ostracodes Cypridopsis okeechobi and Scottia tumida, typical of seeps and low-discharge springs today, as well as other taxa typical of springs and wetlands, are common in the black mats. Several new species that lived in the saturated subsurface also are present, but lacustrine ostracodes are absent. The ??13C values of organic matter in the black mats range from -12 to -26???, reflecting contributions of tissue from both C3 (sedges, most shrubs and trees) and C4 (saltbush, saltgrass) plants. Carbon-14 dates on the humate fraction of 55 black mats fall between 11,800 to 6300 and 2300 14C yr B.P. to modern. The total absence of mats in our sample between 6300 and 2300 14C yr B.P. likely reflects increased aridity associated with the mid-Holocene Altithermal. The oldest black mats date to 11,800-11,600 14C yr B.P., and the peak in the 14C black mat distribution falls at ???10,000 14C yr B.P. As the formation of black mats is spring related, their abundance reflects refilling of valley aquifers starting no later than 11,800 and peaking after 11,000 14C yrB.P. Reactivation of spring-fed channels shortly before 11,200 14C yr B.P. is also apparent in the stratigraphic records from the Las Vegas and Pahrump Valleys. This age distribution suggests that black mats and related spring-fed channels in part may have formed in response to Younger Dryas (YD)-age recharge in the region. However, the

Impacts of land-use change on the water cycle of urban areas within the Upper Great Lakes drainage basin

Science.gov (United States)

Bowling, L. C.; Cherkauer, K. A.; Pijanowski, B. C.; Niyogi, D.

2006-12-01

Urbanization is altering the global landscape at an unprecedented rate. This form of land cover/land-use change (LCLUC) can significantly reduce infiltration and runoff response times, and alter heat and water vapor fluxes, which can further alter surface-forced regional circulation patterns and modulate precipitation volume and intensity. Spatial patterns of future LCLUC are projected using the Land Transformation Model (LTM), enhanced to incorporate dynamic landcover, economics and policy using Bayesian Belief Networks (LTM- BBN). Different land use scenarios predicted by the LTM-BBN as well as a pre-development scenario are represented through the Unified Noah Land Surface Model (LSM) with an enhanced urban canopy model, embedded in the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model. The coupled WRF-Noah LSM model will be used to investigate the connections between land-use, hydrometeorology and the atmosphere, through analysis of water and energy balances over several urbanized watersheds within the Upper Great Lakes region. Preliminary results focus on a single watershed, the White River in Indiana, which includes the city of Indianapolis. Coupled WRF-Noah simulations made using pre and post-development land use maps provide a 7 year climatology of convective storm morphology around the urban center. Precipitation and other meteorological variables from the WRF-Noah simulations are used to drive simulations of the White River watershed using the Variable Infiltration Capacity (VIC) macroscale hydrologic model. The VIC model has been modified to represent urban areas and has been calibrated for modern flow regimes in the White River watershed. Pre- and post-development VIC simulations are used to assess the impact of Indianapolis area infiltration changes. Finally, VIC model simulations utilizing projected land use change from 2005 through 2040 for the Indianapolis metropolitan area explore the magnitude of future hydrologic change, especially peak flow response

A comparison of radiometric fluxes influenced by parameterization cirrus clouds with observed fluxes at the Southern Great Plains (SGP) cloud and radiation testbed (CART) site

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Mace, G.G.; Ackerman, T.P.; George, A.T. [Penn State Univ., University Park, PA (United States)

1996-04-01

The data from the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Program`s Southern Great plains Site (SCP) is a valuable resource. We have developed an operational data processing and analysis methodology that allows us to examine continuously the influence of clouds on the radiation field and to test new and existing cloud and radiation parameterizations.

Deepwater Chondrichthyan Bycatch of the Eastern King Prawn Fishery in the Southern Great Barrier Reef, Australia.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Cassandra L Rigby

Full Text Available The deepwater chondrichthyan fauna of the Great Barrier Reef is poorly known and life history information is required to enable their effective management as they are inherently vulnerable to exploitation. The chondrichthyan bycatch from the deepwater eastern king prawn fishery at the Swain Reefs in the southern Great Barrier Reef was examined to determine the species present and provide information on their life histories. In all, 1533 individuals were collected from 11 deepwater chondrichthyan species, with the Argus skate Dipturus polyommata, piked spurdog Squalus megalops and pale spotted catshark Asymbolus pallidus the most commonly caught. All but one species is endemic to Australia with five species restricted to waters offshore from Queensland. The extent of life history information available for each species varied but the life history traits across all species were characteristic of deep water chondrichthyans with relatively large length at maturity, small litters and low ovarian fecundity; all indicative of low biological productivity. However, variability among these traits and spatial and bathymetric distributions of the species suggests differing degrees of resilience to fishing pressure. To ensure the sustainability of these bycatch species, monitoring of their catches in the deepwater eastern king prawn fishery is recommended.

Southern Peru desert shattered by the great 2001 earthquake: Implications for paleoseismic and paleo-El Niño–Southern Oscillation records

Science.gov (United States)

Keefer, David K.; Moseley, Michael E.

2004-01-01

In the desert region around the coastal city of Ilo, the great southern Peru earthquake of June 23, 2001 (8.2–8.4 moment magnitude), produced intense and widespread ground-failure effects. These effects included abundant landslides, pervasive ground cracking, microfracturing of surficial hillslope materials, collapse of drainage banks over long stretches, widening of hillside rills, and lengthening of first-order tributary channels. We have coined the term “shattered landscape” to describe the severity of these effects. Long-term consequences of this landscape shattering are inferred to include increased runoff and sediment transport during postearthquake rainstorms. This inference was confirmed during the first minor postearthquake rainstorm there, which occurred in June and July of 2002. Greater amounts of rainfall in this desert region have historically been associated with El Niño events. Previous studies of an unusual paleoflood deposit in this region have concluded that it is the product of El Niño-generated precipitation falling on seismically disturbed landscapes. The effects of the 2001 earthquake and 2002 rainstorm support that conclusion. PMID:15263069

Improving the Understanding and Model Representation of Processes that Couple Shallow Clouds, Aerosols, and Land-Ecosystems

Science.gov (United States)

Fast, J. D.; Berg, L. K.; Schmid, B.; Alexander, M. L. L.; Bell, D.; D'Ambro, E.; Hubbe, J. M.; Liu, J.; Mei, F.; Pekour, M. S.; Pinterich, T.; Schobesberger, S.; Shilling, J.; Springston, S. R.; Thornton, J. A.; Tomlinson, J. M.; Wang, J.; Zelenyuk, A.

2016-12-01

Cumulus convection is an important component in the atmospheric radiation budget and hydrologic cycle over the southern Great Plains and over many regions of the world, particularly during the summertime growing season when intense turbulence induced by surface radiation couples the land surface to clouds. Current convective cloud parameterizations, however, contain uncertainties resulting from insufficient coincident data that couples cloud macrophysical and microphysical properties to inhomogeneity in surface layer, boundary layer, and aerosol properties. We describe the measurement strategy and preliminary findings from the recent Holistic Interactions of Shallow Clouds, Aerosols, and Land-Ecosystems (HI-SCALE) campaign conducted in May and September of 2016 in the vicinity of the DOE's Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Southern Great Plains (SGP) site located in Oklahoma. The goal of the HI-SCALE campaign is to provide a detailed set of aircraft and surface measurements needed to obtain a more complete understanding and improved parameterizations of the lifecycle of shallow clouds. The sampling is done in two periods, one in the spring and the other in the late summer to take advantage of variations in the "greenness" for various types of vegetation, new particle formation, anthropogenic enhancement of biogenic secondary organic aerosol (SOA), and other aerosol properties. The aircraft measurements will be coupled with extensive routine ARM SGP measurements as well as Large Eddy Simulation (LES), cloud resolving, and cloud-system resolving models. Through these integrated analyses and modeling studies, the affects of inhomogeneity in land use, vegetation, soil moisture, convective eddies, and aerosol properties on the evolution of shallow clouds will be determined, including the feedbacks of cloud radiative effects.

Site scientific mission plan for the Southern Great Plains CART site: July--December 1997

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Peppler, R.A.; Lamb, P.J. [Univ. of Oklahoma, Norman, OK (United States). Cooperative Inst. for Mesoscale Meteorological Studies; Sisterson, D.L. [Argonne National Lab., IL (United States). Environmental Research Div.

1997-07-01

The Southern Great Plains (SGP) Cloud and Radiation Testbed (CART) site is designed to help satisfy the data needs of the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Program Science Team. This document defines the scientific priorities for site activities during the six months beginning on July 1, 1997, and looks forward in lesser detail to subsequent six-month periods. The primary purpose of this Site Scientific Mission Plan is to provide guidance for the development of plans for site operations. It also provides information on current plans to the ARM functional teams and serves to disseminate the plans more generally within the ARM Program and among the members of the Science Team. This document includes a description of the operational status of the site and the primary site activities envisioned, together with information concerning approved and proposed intensive observation periods (IOPs). This plan is a living document that is updated and reissued every six months as the observational facilities are developed, tested, and augmented and as priorities are adjusted in response to developments in scientific planning and understanding.

A one-year climatology using data from the Southern Great Plains (SGP) site micropulse lidar

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Mace, G.G.; Ackerman, T.P. [Penn State Univ., University Park, PA (United States); Spinhirne, J.; Scott, S. [NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD (United States)

1996-04-01

The micropulse lidar (MPL) has been operational at the Southern Great Plains (SGP) site of the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement Program for the past 15 months. The compact MPL is unique among research lidar systems in that it is eye-safe and operates continuously, except during precipitation. The MPL is capable of detecting cloud base throughout the entire depth of the troposphere. The MPL data set is an unprecedented time series of cloud heights. It is a vital resource for understanding the frequency of cloud ocurrence and the impact of clouds on the surface radiation budget, as well as for large-scale model validation and satellite retrieval verification. The raw lidar data are processed for cloud base height at a temporal frequency of one minute and a vertical resolution of 270 m. The resultant time series of cloud base is used to generate histograms as a function of month and time of day. Sample results are described.

Organic and Elemental Carbon Aerosol Particulates at the Southern Great Plains Site Field Campaign Report

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Cary, Robert

2016-04-01

The purpose of this study was to measure the organic carbon (OC) and elemental carbon (EC) fractions of PM2.5 particulate matter at the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)’s Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Climate Research Facility Southern Great Plains (SGP) sampling site for a 6-month period during the summer of 2013. The site is in a rural location remote from any populated areas, so it would be expected to reflect carbon concentration over long-distance transport patterns. During the same period in 2012, a number of prairie fires in Oklahoma and Texas had produced large plumes of smoke particles, but OC and EC particles had not been quantified. In addition, during the summer months, other wild fires, such as forest fires in the Rocky Mountain states and other areas, can produce carbon aerosols that are transported over long distances. Both of these source types would be expected to contain mixtures of both OC and EC.

The ecological and economic consequences of changing land use in the southern Drakensberg grasslands, South Africa

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

JK Turpie

2014-05-01

Full Text Available The grassland biome of the southern Drakensberg region of South Africa is characterized by a relatively rich floral biodiversity, including a high level of endemics.  Land use in the area was traditionally dominated by livestock ranching based mainly on indigenous grassland that conserved biodiversity to some degree.  Currently however, market demands and risk factors are shifting land use in the area to a matrix of beef, cropping, dairy and particularly, towards plantation forestry.  A spreadsheet model was constructed to understand how expected land use conversion will likely influence the biodiversity, and consequently, the total economic value (TEV of the area.  Six scenarios of increasing dairy and forestry intensification were modelled that incorporated biophysical and legal constraints to development.  Results indicate that enhanced development is likely to have significant negative biodiversity impacts including the reduction of the alpha diversity of the indigenous plants in the region, a diminished local invertebrate diversity, an increase in invasions, and could also jeopardize the long term survival of the rare Wattled Crane and Oribi.  Furthermore, while the direct use value derived from agriculture and forestry increases with increasing development, its negative influence on the indirect value of water runoff, by far the greatest value of the area, is sufficient to potentially offset the benefits.  Other major direct-use, indirect-use, option and existence values are also considered.

Recent trends (2003-2013) of land surface heat fluxes on the southern side of the central Himalayas, Nepal

Science.gov (United States)

Amatya, Pukar Man; Ma, Yaoming; Han, Cunbo; Wang, Binbin; Devkota, Lochan Prasad

2015-12-01

Novice efforts have been made in order to study the regional distribution of land surface heat fluxes on the southern side of the central Himalayas utilizing high-resolution remotely sensed products, but these have been on instantaneous scale. In this study the Surface Energy Balance System model is used to obtain annual averaged maps of the land surface heat fluxes for 11 years (2003-2013) and study their annual trends on the central Himalayan region. The maps were derived at 5 km resolution using monthly input products ranging from satellite derived to Global Land Data Assimilation System meteorological data. It was found that the net radiation flux is increasing as a result of decreasing precipitation (drier environment). The sensible heat flux did not change much except for the northwestern High Himalaya and High Mountains. In northwestern High Himalaya sensible heat flux is decreasing because of decrease in wind speed, ground-air temperature difference, and increase in winter precipitation, whereas in High Mountains it is increasing due to increase in ground-air temperature difference and high rate of deforestation. The latent heat flux has an overall increasing trend with increase more pronounced in the lower regions compared to high elevated regions. It has been reported that precipitation is decreasing with altitude in this region. Therefore, the increasing trend in latent heat flux can be attributed to increase in net radiation flux under persistent forest cover and irrigation land used for agriculture.

SGP Cloud and Land Surface Interaction Campaign (CLASIC): Measurement Platforms

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

MA Miller; R Avissar; LK Berg; SA Edgerton; ML Fischer; TJ Jackson; B. Kustas; PJ Lamb; G McFarquhar; Q Min; B Schmid; MS Torn; DD Tuner

2007-06-01

The Cloud and Land Surface Interaction Campaign (CLASIC) will be conducted from June 8 to June 30, 2007, at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Climate Research Facility (ACRF) Southern Great Plains (SGP) site. Data will be collected using eight aircraft equipped with a variety of specialized sensors, four specially instrumented surface sites, and two prototype surface radar systems. The architecture of CLASIC includes a high-altitude surveillance aircraft and enhanced vertical thermodynamic and wind profile measurements that will characterize the synoptic scale structure of the clouds and the land surface within the ACRF SGP site. Mesoscale and microscale structures will be sampled with a variety of aircraft, surface, and radar observations. An overview of the measurement platforms that will be used during the CLASIC are described in this report. The coordination of measurements, especially as it relates to aircraft flight plans, will be discussed in the CLASIC Implementation Plan.

Cahora Bassa and Tete Province (Mozambique): A great potential for an industrial hub in Southern Africa

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sebitosi, A.B.; Graca, A. da

2009-01-01

Mozambique is host to the great Zambezi River Basin and the World Famous Cahora Bassa power plant that generates some 13,000 GWh annually. The bulk of this energy (85%) is exported but the revenue raised does not appear to have any appreciable impact on the host economy. Moreover it is estimated that a further 10% of the generated energy is lost along the 1414 km long transmission line to South Africa. So quite evidently, Mozambique would benefit more if its energy were utilized by locally based industry. This would also save on the losses that are currently incurred during regional transmission. In this paper the authors visit Tete, the Mozambican Province that hosts the Zambezi Basin. They examine its natural and human resources. They observe that its strategic location gives it easy access to regional markets. They also hold interviews with a number of administrators in the Province. Finally, they conclude that Tete is uniquely advantaged to develop into the next regional industrial hub for the Southern African region. This would also greatly add value to the local resources. To realize this dream will require, conviction supported by strong and timely political commitment as well as hard work. Current trends towards integrated regional trading blocks will provide an even easier access to potential markets and human skills pools.

[US Geological Survey research in radioactive waste disposal, fiscal year 1980:] Tectonics, seismicity, volcanism, and erosion rates in the southern Great Basin

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Carr, W.J.; Rogers, A.M.

1982-01-01

The objective is to assess the potential for faulting, damaging earthquakes, recurrence of volcanism, and local acceleration of erosion in parts of the southern Great Basin. The following approaches are being used: (1) investigating the rate, intensity, and distribution of faulting during approximately the last 25 m.y., with emphasis on the last 10 m.y.; (2) monitoring and interpreting present seismicity; (3) studying the history of volcanism; and (4) evaluating past rates of erosion and deposition. Progress is reported

Land Use Effects on Net Greenhouse Gas Fluxes in the US Great Plains: Historical Trends and Model Projections

Science.gov (United States)

Del Grosso, S. J.; Parton, W. J.; Ojima, D. S.; Mosier, A. R.; Mosier, A. R.; Paustian, K.; Peterson, G. A.

2001-12-01

We present maps showing regional patterns of land use change and soil C levels in the US Great Plains during the 20th century and time series of net greenhouse gas fluxes associated with different land uses. Net greenhouse gas fluxes were calculated by accounting for soil CO2 fluxes, the CO2 equivalents of N2O emissions and CH4 uptake, and the CO2 costs of N fertilizer production. Both historical and modern agriculture in this region have been net sources of greenhouse gases. The primary reason for this, prior to 1950, is that agriculture mined soil C and resulted in net CO2 emissions. When chemical N fertilizer became widely used in the 1950's agricultural soils began to sequester CO2-C but these soils were still net greenhouse gas sources if the effects of increased N2O emissions and decreased CH4 uptake are included. The sensitivity of net greenhouse gas fluxes to conventional and alternative land uses was explored using the DAYCENT ecosystem model. Model projections suggest that conversion to no-till, reduction of the fallow period, and use of nitrification inhibitors can significantly decrease net greenhouse gas emissions in dryland and irrigated systems, while maintaining or increasing crop yields.

Second-Generation Outcomes of the Great Migration.

Science.gov (United States)

Alexander, J Trent; Leibbrand, Christine; Massey, Catherine; Tolnay, Stewart

2017-12-01

The mass migration of African Americans out of the South during the first two-thirds of the twentieth century represents one of the most significant internal migration flows in U.S. Those undertaking the Great Migration left the South in search of a better life, and their move transformed the cultural, social, and political dynamics of African American life specifically and U.S. society more generally. Recent research offers conflicting evidence regarding the migrants' success in translating their geographic mobility into economic mobility. Due in part to the lack of a large body of longitudinal data, almost all studies of the Great Migration have focused on the migrants themselves, usually over short periods of their working lives. Using longitudinally linked census data, we take a broader view, investigating the long-term economic and social effects of the Great Migration on the migrants' children. Our results reveal modest but statistically significant advantages in education, income, and poverty status for the African American children of the Great Migration relative to the children of southerners who remained in the South. In contrast, second-generation white migrants experienced few benefits from migrating relative to southern or northern stayers.

Land cover controls on depression-focused recharge: an example from southern Ontario

Science.gov (United States)

Buttle, J. M.; Greenwood, W. J.

2015-12-01

The Oak Ridges Moraine (ORM) is a critical hydrogeologic feature in southern Ontario. Although previous research has highlighted the implications of spatially-focused recharge in closed topographic depressions for regional groundwater resources, such depression-focused recharge (DFR) has not been empirically demonstrated on the ORM. Permeable surficial sands and gravels mantling much of the ORM imply that water fluxes will largely be vertical recharge rather than lateral downslope transfer into depressions. Nevertheless, lateral fluxes may occur in winter and spring, when concrete frost development encourages surface runoff of rainfall and snowmelt. The potential for DFR was examined under forest and agricultural land cover with similar soils and surficial geology. Soil water contents, soil temperatures and ground frost thickness were measured at the crest and base of closed depressions in two agricultural fields and two forest stands on permeable ORM outcrops. Recharge from late-fall to the end of spring snowmelt was estimated via 1-d water balances and surface-applied bromide tracing. Both forest and agricultural sites experienced soil freezing; however, greater soil water contents prior to freeze-up at the latter led to concrete soil frost development. This resulted in lateral movement of snowmelt and rainfall into topographic depressions and surface ponding, which did not occur in forest depressions. Water balance recharge exceeded estimates from the bromide tracer approach at all locations; nevertheless, both methods indicated DRF exceeded recharge at the depression crest in agricultural areas with little difference in forest areas. Water balance estimates suggest winter-spring DFR (1300 - 2000 mm) is 3-5× recharge on level agricultural sites. Differences in the potential for DFR between agricultural and forest land covers have important implications for the spatial variability of recharge fluxes and the quality of recharging water on the ORM.

Site scientific mission plan for the southern Great Plains CART site, January--June 1998

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Peppler, R.A.; Lamb, P.J. [Univ. of Oklahoma, Norman, OK (United States). Cooperative Inst. for Mesoscale Meteorological Studies; Sisterson, D.L. [Argonne National Lab., IL (United States). Environmental Research Div.

1998-01-01

The Southern Great Plains (SGP) Cloud and Radiation Testbed (CART) site is designed to help satisfy the data needs of the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Program Science Team. The primary purpose of this site scientific mission plan is to provide guidance for the development of plans for site operations. It also provides information on current plans to the ARM functional teams (Management Team, Data and Science Integration Team, Operations Team, and Instrument Team) and serves to disseminate the plans more generally within the ARM Program and among the members of the Science Team. This document includes a description of the operational status of the site and the primary site activities envisioned, together with information concerning approved and proposed intensive observation periods (IOPs). The primary users of this document are the Site operator, the Site Scientist Team (SST), the Science Team through the ARM Program science director, the ARM Program Experiment Center, and the aforementioned ARM Program functional teams. This plan is a living document that is updated and reissued every six months as the observational facilities are developed, tested, and augmented and as priorities are adjusted in response to developments in scientific planning and understanding.

I Got Them Dust Bowl Blues: Wind Erosion in the Music of the Southern Great Plains

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, J. A.

2017-12-01

This paper deals with the role of wind erosion and blowing dust on the music of the Dust Bowl region, a portion of the southern Great Plains of the United States. A defining characteristic of the region is dust storms, and in the 1930s, severe dust storms created dramatic images that came to symbolize all of the economic, social and environmental hardships suffered by the people during the 1930s. The music of the time, by Woody Guthrie and others, suggested that the region was being destroyed, never to recover. The region was resilient, however, and in recent decades, dust has been depicted in songs either as an adversity to be endured or simply as a normal part of life in the area. It may be that blowing dust has become a defining characteristic of the region because of a somewhat warped sense of pride in living in an often-difficult environment.

Impact of Soil Moisture Assimilation on Land Surface Model Spin-Up and Coupled LandAtmosphere Prediction

Science.gov (United States)

Santanello, Joseph A., Jr.; Kumar, Sujay V.; Peters-Lidard, Christa D.; Lawston, P.

2016-01-01

Advances in satellite monitoring of the terrestrial water cycle have led to a concerted effort to assimilate soil moisture observations from various platforms into offline land surface models (LSMs). One principal but still open question is that of the ability of land data assimilation (LDA) to improve LSM initial conditions for coupled short-term weather prediction. In this study, the impact of assimilating Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer for EOS (AMSR-E) soil moisture retrievals on coupled WRF Model forecasts is examined during the summers of dry (2006) and wet (2007) surface conditions in the southern Great Plains. LDA is carried out using NASAs Land Information System (LIS) and the Noah LSM through an ensemble Kalman filter (EnKF) approach. The impacts of LDA on the 1) soil moisture and soil temperature initial conditions for WRF, 2) land-atmosphere coupling characteristics, and 3) ambient weather of the coupled LIS-WRF simulations are then assessed. Results show that impacts of soil moisture LDA during the spin-up can significantly modify LSM states and fluxes, depending on regime and season. Results also indicate that the use of seasonal cumulative distribution functions (CDFs) is more advantageous compared to the traditional annual CDF bias correction strategies. LDA performs consistently regardless of atmospheric forcing applied, with greater improvements seen when using coarser, global forcing products. Downstream impacts on coupled simulations vary according to the strength of the LDA impact at the initialization, where significant modifications to the soil moisture flux- PBL-ambient weather process chain are observed. Overall, this study demonstrates potential for future, higher-resolution soil moisture assimilation applications in weather and climate research.

The Great Plains low-level jet (LLJ) during the atmospheric radiation measurement (ARM) intensive observation period (IOP)-4 and simulations of land use pattern effect on the LLJ

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wu, Y.; Raman, S. [North Carolina State Univ., Raleigh, NC (United States)

1996-04-01

The Great Plains low-level jet (LLJ) is an important element of the low-level atmospheric circulation. It transports water vapor from the Gulf of Mexico, which in turn affects the development of weather over the Great Plains of the central United States. The LLJ is generally recognized as a complex response of the atmospheric boundary layer to the diurnal cycle of thermal forcing. Early studies have attributed the Great Plains LLJ to the diurnal oscillations of frictional effect, buoyancy over sloping terrain, and the blocking effects of the Rocky Mountains. Recent investigations show that the speed of the LLJ is also affected by the soil type and soil moisture. Some studies also suggest that synoptic patterns may play an important role in the development of the LLJ. Land surface heterogeneties significantly affect mesoscale circulations by generating strong contrasts in surface thermal fluxes. Thus one would expect that the land use pattern should have effects on the LLJ`s development and structure. In this study, we try to determine the relative roles of the synoptic forcing, planetary boundary layers (PBL) processes, and the land use pattern in the formation of the LLJ using the observations from the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Intensive Operation Period (IOP)-4 and numerical sensitivity tests.

Hypogeous fungi from Southern Spanish semi-arid lands

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Honrubia, M.; Cano, A.; Molina-Niñirola, C.

1992-01-01

Six hypogeous fungi of Ascomycotina and Basidiomycotina have been studied from semiarid zones in Southern Spain. Melanogaster variegatus (Vitt.) Tul. is recorded for the first time from Spain. Picoa juniperi Vitt. and Terfezia claveryi Chat. are revealed as the most frequent species in semi-arid

Land use and land management effects on soil organic carbon stock in Mediterranean agricultural areas (Southern Spain)

Science.gov (United States)

Parras-Alcántara, Luis; Lozano-García, Beatriz

2014-05-01

Anderson-Darling test at each horizon or a combination of horizons for each soil type. RESULTS The LUC had a negative impact in the soil, reducing the SOC and TN stocks. The conversion from AC to V and OG involved the loss of the SOC stock (52.7% and 64.9% to V and OG respectively) and the loss of the TN stock (42.6% and 38.1% to V and OG respectively). The reduction of SOC by LUC, can be explained by a degraded process (due to vegetation losses and unsustainable soil management, which result in progressive impoverishment in the soil organic matter (OM) content, causing low productivity, which derived in unsuitable chemical properties) and by the reduced input of OM in cultivated soils, which reduced physical protection of soil and increased water erosion. However, 46 years of LUC had a positive effect in the soil, increasing the SR (in V and OG) of SOC, TN and C:N ratio (Parras-Alcántara et al., 2013). REFERENCES Parras-Alcántara, L., Martín-Carrillo, M., Lozano-García, B. 2013. Impacts of land use change in soil carbon and nitrogen in a Mediterranean agricultural area (Southern Spain). Solid Earth, 4: 167-177.

Geology of Southern Quintana Roo (Mexico) and the Chicxulub Ejecta Blanket

Science.gov (United States)

Schönian, F.; Tagle, R.; Stöffler, D.; Kenkmann, T.

2005-03-01

In southern Quintana Roo (Mexico) the Chicxulub ejecta blanket is discontinuously filling a karstified pre-KT land surface. This suggests a completely new scenario for the geological evolution of the southern Yucatán Peninsula.

Change detection and identification of land potential for planting Krajood (Lepironia articulata in Thale Noi, Southern Thailand

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jitnapa Maeaid

2012-07-01

Full Text Available Lepironia articulata, commonly called grey sedge or krajood, can be transformed into various products to generateextra income for local families in the southern part of Thailand. In recent years, the amount of Lepironia articulata used asraw material has decreased and does not currently meet the demand for the resource. Appropriate areas where naturalresources and the environment can be restored and the abundance of natural produce can be increased must be sought.Therefore, this research considered the opportunity to identify appropriate areas for planting Lepironia articulata. Geographicinformation system (GIS and remote sensing were integrated to map land use changes in 1990, 1998 and 2006 in theThale Noi area. The study found that from 1990-1998, emergent aquatic areas increased by 16.18 square kilometers, the areaof swamp forests increased by 15.33 square kilometers, the area of rice paddies decreased by 0.80 square kilometers, and thearea of mixed orchards increased by approximately 0.32 square kilometers. From 1998-2006, the area of swamp forestsincreased by 1.9 square kilometers, but emergent aquatic areas decreased by 1.23 square kilometers. The area of rubberplantations increased by 0.63 square kilometers, and the area of rice paddies decreased by 0.69 square kilometers. This studyaimed to define land potential for Krajood (Lepironia articulata cultivation in the Thale Noi area by considering five factors:land use, distance from water sources, slope, soil characteristics, and soil drainage. The study found that the areas of highpotential for planting Lepironia articulata were wetlands and near water sources, covering a total area of 5.54 square kilometers.The areas with moderate potential were swamp forests and rice paddies, covering a total area of 4.27 square kilometres.GIS and remote sensing were found to be very useful for identifying land use changes and potential areas for plantingLepironia articulata.

Southern Great Plains Ice Nuclei Characterization Experiment Final Campaign Summary

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

DeMott, PJ [Colorado State University; Suski, KJ [Colorado State University; Hill, TCJ [Colorado State University; Levin, EJT [Colorado State University

2015-03-01

The first ever ice nucleating particle (INP) measurements to be collected at the Southern Great Plains site were made during a period from late April to June 2014, as a trial for possible longer-term measurements at the site. These measurements will also be used to lay the foundation for understanding and parameterizing (for cloud resolving modeling) the sources of these climatically important aerosols as well as to augment the existing database containing this knowledge. Siting the measurements during the spring was intended to capture INP sources in or to this region from plant, soil, dust transported over long distances, biomass burning, and pollution aerosols at a time when they may influence warm-season convective clouds and precipitation. Data have been archived of real-time measurements of INP number concentrations as a function of processing conditions (temperature and relative humidity) during 18 days of sampling that spanned two distinctly different weather situations: a warm, dry and windy period with regional dust and biomass burning influences in early May, and a cooler period of frequent precipitation during early June. Precipitation delayed winter wheat harvesting, preventing intended sampling during that perturbation on atmospheric aerosols. INP concentrations were highest and most variable at all temperatures in the dry period, where we attribute the INP activity primarily to soil dust emissions. Additional offline INP analyses are underway to extend the characterization of INP to cover the entire mixed phase cloud regime from -5°C to -35°C during the full study. Initial comparisons between methods on four days show good agreement and excellent future promise. The additional offline immersion freezing data will be archived as soon as completed under separate funding. Analyses of additional specialized studies for specific attribution of INP to biological and smoke sources are continuing via the National Science Foundation and National Aeronautics

Small scale variability of soil parameters in different land uses on the southern slopes of Mount Kilimanjaro

Science.gov (United States)

Bogner, Christina; Kühnel, Anna; Hepp, Johannes; Huwe, Bernd

2016-04-01

The Kilimanjaro region in Tanzania constitutes a particularity compared to other areas in the country. Because enough water is available the population grows rapidly and large areas are converted from natural ecosystems to agricultural areas. Therefore, the southern slopes of Mt. Kilimanjaro encompass a complex mosaic of different land uses like coffee plantations, maize, agroforestry or natural savannah. Coffee is an important cash crop in the region and is owned mostly by large companies. In contrast, the agroforestry is a traditional way of agriculture and has been sustained by the Chagga tribe for centuries. These so called homegardens are organised as multi-level systems and contain a mixture of different crops. Correlations in soil and vegetation data may serve as indicators for crop and management impacts associated to different types of land use. We hypothesize that Chagga homegardens, for example, show a more pronounced spatial autocorrelation compared to coffee plantations due to manifold above and belowground crop structures, whereas the degree of anisotropy is assumed to be higher in the coffee sites due to linear elements in management. Furthermore, we hypothesize that the overall diversity of soil parameters in homegardens on a larger scale is higher, as individual owners manage their field differently, whereas coffee plantation management often follows general rules. From these general hypotheses we derive two specific research questions: a) Are there characteristic differences in the spatial organisation of soil physical parameters of different land uses? b) Is there a recognizable relationship between vegetation structure and soil physical parameters of topsoils? We measured soil physical parameters in the topsoil (bulk density, stone content, texture, soil moisture and penetration resistance). Additionally, we took spectra of soil samples with a portable VIS-NIR spectrometer to determine C and N and measured leaf area index and troughfall as an

Agro-fuels: southern impacts; Agrocarburants: impacts au Sud

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Duterme, B.

2011-07-01

At a time of controversies about global warming, agro-fuels production is often presented as a future solution for automotive fuels and as a new way of development for southern countries. However, in Asia, South America and Africa, it very often takes the form of huge mono-culture areas of sugar cane, palm oil and soy bean in the hands of multinational companies of the agriculture and food industry. The consequences of these land, social and environmental impacts in Southern countries is an increase of disequilibria and a threat for the diet of local populations by changing the appropriation of lands. Deforestation, private monopolization of lands, concentration of profits, soils and water pollution, biodiversity impoverishment, exploitation of vulnerable manpower, populations migration, violation of human rights are today the consequences of mass production of agro-fuels in Southern countries. To what conditions a fair re-appropriation and a sustainable development of agro-fuels production and consumption is foreseeable? The solutions require a re-shaping of economical and agricultural politics. The book gathers testimonies and analyses from specialists who have evaluated locally the consequences of these energy choices. (J.S.)

Long-Term Urban Growth and Land Use Efficiency in Southern Europe: Implications for Sustainable Land Management

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marco Zitti

2015-03-01

Full Text Available The present study illustrates a multidimensional analysis of an indicator of urban land use efficiency (per-capita built-up area, LUE in mainland Attica, a Mediterranean urban region, along different expansion waves (1960–2010: compaction and densification in the 1960s, dispersed growth along the coasts and on Athens’ fringe in the 1970s, fringe consolidation in the 1980s, moderate re-polarization and discontinuous expansion in the 1990s and sprawl in remote areas in the 2000s. The non-linear trend in LUE (a continuous increase up to the 1980s and a moderate decrease in 1990 and 2000 preceding the rise observed over the last decade reflects Athens’ expansion waves. A total of 23 indicators were collected by decade for each municipality of the study area with the aim of identifying the drivers of land use efficiency. In 1960, municipalities with low efficiency in the use of land were concentrated on both coastal areas and Athens’ fringe, while in 2010, the lowest efficiency rate was observed in the most remote, rural areas. Typical urban functions (e.g., mixed land uses, multiple-use buildings, vertical profile are the variables most associated with high efficiency in the use of land. Policies for sustainable land management should consider local and regional factors shaping land use efficiency promoting self-contained expansion and more tightly protecting rural and remote land from dispersed urbanization. LUE is a promising indicator reflecting the increased complexity of growth patterns and may anticipate future urban trends.

Partners in flight bird conservation plan for the Upper Great Lakes Plain (Physiographic Area 16)

Science.gov (United States)

Knutson, M.G.; Butcher, G.; Fitzgerald, J.; Shieldcastle, J.

2001-01-01

1 November 2001. Conservation of bird habitats is a major focus of effort by Partners in Flight, an international coalition of agencies, citizens, and other groups dedicated to 'keeping common birds common'. USGS worked on a planning team to publish a bird conservation plan for the Upper Great Lakes Plain ecoregion (PIF 16), which includes large portions of southern Wisconsin, southern Michigan and parts of Minnesota, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio. The conservation plan outlines specific habitat restoration and bird population objectives for the ecoregion over the next decade. The plan provides a context for on-the-ground conservation implementation by the US Fish and Wildlife Service, the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, the US Forest Service, states, and conservation groups. Citation: Knutson, M. G., G. Butcher, J. Fitzgerald, and J. Shieldcastle. 2001. Partners in Flight Bird Conservation Plan for The Upper Great Lakes Plain (Physiographic Area 16). USGS Upper Midwest Environmental Sciences Center in cooperation with Partners in Flight, La Crosse, Wisconsin. Download from website: http://www.blm.gov/wildlife/pifplans.htm. The Upper Great Lakes Plain covers the southern half of Michigan, northwest Ohio, northern Indiana, northern Illinois, southern Wisconsin, and small portions of southwest Minnesota and northwest Iowa. Glacial moraines and dissected plateaus are characteristic of the topography. Broadleaf forests, oak savannahs, and a variety of prairie communities are the natural vegetation types. A oDriftless Areao was not glaciated during the late Pleistocene and emerged as a unique area of great biological diversity. Priority bird species for the area include the Henslow's Sparrow, Sedge Wren, Bobolink, Golden-winged Warbler, Cerulean Warbler, Black-billed Cuckoo, and Red-headed Woodpecker. There are many large urban centers in this area whose growth and sprawl will continue to consume land. The vast majority of the presettlement forest and

Evapotranspiration measurements in rainfed and irrigated cropland illustrate trade-offs in land and water management in Southern Amazonia's agricultural frontier

Science.gov (United States)

Lathuilliere, M. J.; Dalmagro, H. J.; Black, T. A.; Arruda, P. H. Z. D.; Hawthorne, I.; Couto, E. G.; Johnson, M. S.

2017-12-01

Southern Amazonia, Brazil, is home to a rapidly expanding agricultural frontier in which tropical forest and savanna landscapes have been increasingly replaced by agricultural land since the 1990s. One important impact of deforestation is the reduction in water vapour transferred to the atmosphere via evapotranspiration (ET) from rainfed agriculture landscapes compared to natural vegetation, leading to a reduction in regional precipitation recycling. Here, we discuss land and water management choices for future agricultural production in Southern Amazonia and their potential effects on the atmospheric water cycle. We illustrate these choices by presenting ET measurements on an agricultural landscape by eddy covariance (EC) between September 2015 and February 2017. Measurements were made for two fields adjacent to one micrometeorological EC tower: (1) one rainfed field containing a succession of soybean, maize, brachiara and soybean, and (2) one irrigated field with a succession of soybean, rice, beans, and soybean. Over the time period, total ET in the rainfed and irrigated fields was 1266 ± 294 mm and 1415 ± 180 mm, respectively for a total precipitation of 3099 mm. The main difference in ET between the fields was attributed to the application of 118 mm of surface water irrigated for bean production in the irrigated field between June and September 2016. In the rainfed field, soybean ET was 332 ± 82 mm (2015-2016) and 423 ± 99 mm (2016-2017) for 824 mm and 1124 mm of precipitation, respectively. In the irrigated field, soybean ET was 271 ± 38 mm (2015) and 404 ± 60 mm (2016-2017) with supplemental irrigation added in 2015. Our results illustrate how supplemental irrigation can favour early soybean planting while transferring additional water vapour to the atmosphere at levels similar to natural vegetation. We conclude by discussing our results in the context of future land and water trade-offs for agricultural intensification in Brazil's "arc-of-deforestation".

Conserving the birds of Uganda's Banana-Coffee Arc: Land Sparing and Land Sharing Compared

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hulme, Mark F.; Vickery, Juliet A.; Green, Rhys E.

2013-01-01

Reconciling the aims of feeding an ever more demanding human population and conserving biodiversity is a difficult challenge. Here, we explore potential solutions by assessing whether land sparing (farming for high yield, potentially enabling the protection of non-farmland habitat), land sharing...... (lower yielding farming with more biodiversity within farmland) or a mixed strategy would result in better bird conservation outcomes for a specified level of agricultural production. We surveyed forest and farmland study areas in southern Uganda, measuring the population density of 256 bird species...... explore how conservation and agricultural policies can be better integrated to deliver land sparing by, for example, combining land-use planning and agronomic support for small farmers....

'The Finn line' - a historical curiosity or a juridicial rality? The Sami reindeer herders' land rights in southern Sami areas evaluated from land consolidation practice (In Norwegian with Summary in English

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Øyvind Ravna

2005-04-01

Full Text Available Attitudes towards the land rights of Sami reindeer herders have changed considerably during the last 100 years. So, too, has consideration of how such rights should be treated by Land Consolidation Courts. This paper reviews changes in attitudes to the Sami land rights with respect to how these are considered in Land Con¬solidation Courts in southern Sami areas in Norway. The review also considers changing attitudes regarding the competence of Land Consolidation Courts to deal with such matters. There were several cases in the 20th Century in which Land Consolidation Courts treated Sami land rights in a restricted and unfortunate manner. Legal practice, however, was not always like that, evidenced by the so-called 'Finn line' (Norwegian: 'finnelinja' -'Finn' is an archaic name for Sami. This boundary was established during a land consolidation case in 1873 and was confirmed in 1883. At that time, Sami land rights were evidently accepted as appurtenant right in privately owned mountain pasture and the Sami were treated in the same way as others who enjoyed rights of usufruct on it. The regulation of 1883 included rules governing compensation for grazing damage on farming land. In particular, responsibility for grazing damage was divided between owners and the reindeer herders, providing these looked after their animals properly, 'The Finn line' subsequently achieved wider importance. The case of 1873¬1883 has been referred to several times as a valuable and valid precedent for a way in which to organize grazing conflicts in other Sami areas. It was used in 1964 as evidence of the special rights of Sami reindeer people in the Brekken common land case. The Sami won this case in 1968 and, in its judgement, the Norwegian Supreme Court of Justice emphasised the importance of the line (Rt. 1968, p. 394. Although, owing to changes in land use practices, the 'Finn line' no longer has any practical significance, its juridical significance remains

Origins and Implications of a Primary Crown-of-Thorns Starfish Outbreak in the Southern Great Barrier Reef

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Ian Miller

2015-01-01

Full Text Available The crown-of-thorns starfish (COTS is a major predator of hard corals. Repeated COTS outbreaks in the Cairns and Central sections of the Great Barrier Reef (GBR have been responsible for greater declines in coral cover than any other type of disturbance, including cyclones, disease, and coral bleaching. Knowledge of the precise timing and location of primary outbreaks could reveal the initial drivers of outbreaks and so could indicate possible management measures. In the central GBR, COTS outbreaks appear to follow major flooding events, but despite many years of observations, no primary outbreak has ever been unequivocally identified in the central and northern GBR. Here we locate a primary outbreak of COTS on the southern GBR which is not correlated with flooding. Instead it appears to have been the result of a combination of life history traits of COTS and prevailing oceanographic conditions. The hydrodynamic setting implies that the outbreak could disperse larvae to other reefs in the region.

The impact of Great Cormorants on biogenic pollution of land ecosystems: Stable isotope signatures in small mammals

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Balčiauskas, Linas; Skipitytė, Raminta; Jasiulionis, Marius; Trakimas, Giedrius; Balčiauskienė, Laima; Remeikis, Vidmantas

2016-01-01

Studying the isotopic composition of the hair of two rodent species trapped in the territories of Great Cormorant colonies, we aimed to show that Great Cormorants transfer biogens from aquatic ecosystems to terrestrial ecosystems, and that these substances reach small mammals through the trophic cascade, thus influencing the nutrient balance in the terrestrial ecosystem. Analysis of δ"1"3C and δ"1"5N was performed on two dominant species of small mammals, Apodemus flavicollis and Myodes glareolus, inhabiting the territories of the colonies. For both species, the values of δ"1"3C and δ"1"5N were higher in the animals trapped in the territories of the colonies than those in control territories. In the hair of A. flavicollis and M. glareolus, the highest values of δ"1"5N (16.31 ± 3.01‰ and 17.86 ± 2.76‰, respectively) were determined in those animals trapped in the biggest Great Cormorant colony. δ"1"5N values were age dependent, highest in adult A. flavicollis and M. glareolus and lowest in juvenile animals. For δ"1"3C values, age-dependent differences were not registered. δ"1"5N values in both small mammal species from the biggest Great Cormorant colony show direct dependence on the intensity of influence. Biogenic pollution is at its strongest in the territories of the colonies with nests, significantly diminishing in the ecotones of the colonies and further in the control zones, where the influence of birds is negligible. Thus, Great Cormorant colonies alter ecosystem functioning by enrichment with biogens, with stable isotope values in small mammals significantly higher in the affected territories. - Highlights: • Cormorants transport nutrients from water to land ecosystems and pollute biogenically. • We studied stable isotope composition of small mammal hair in 3 cormorant colonies. • δ"1"3C and δ"1"5N were measured using elemental analyzer–isotope ratio mass spectrometer. • δ"1"3C and δ"1"5N values were higher in rodents inhabiting

The impact of Great Cormorants on biogenic pollution of land ecosystems: Stable isotope signatures in small mammals

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Balčiauskas, Linas, E-mail: linasbal@ekoi.lt [Nature Research Centre, Akademijos 2, LT-08412 Vilnius (Lithuania); Skipitytė, Raminta, E-mail: raminta.skipityte@ftmc.lt [Nature Research Centre, Akademijos 2, LT-08412 Vilnius (Lithuania); Center for Physical Sciences and Technology, Savanorių 231, LT-02300 Vilnius (Lithuania); Jasiulionis, Marius, E-mail: mjasiulionis@ekoi.lt [Nature Research Centre, Akademijos 2, LT-08412 Vilnius (Lithuania); Trakimas, Giedrius, E-mail: giedrius.trakimas@gf.vu.lt [Center for Ecology and Environmental Research, Vilnius University, Vilnius (Lithuania); Institute of Life Sciences and Technology, Daugavpils University, Parades Str. 1a, Daugavpils, LV-5401 (Latvia); Balčiauskienė, Laima, E-mail: laiba@ekoi.lt [Nature Research Centre, Akademijos 2, LT-08412 Vilnius (Lithuania); Remeikis, Vidmantas, E-mail: vidrem@fi.lt [Center for Physical Sciences and Technology, Savanorių 231, LT-02300 Vilnius (Lithuania)

2016-09-15

Studying the isotopic composition of the hair of two rodent species trapped in the territories of Great Cormorant colonies, we aimed to show that Great Cormorants transfer biogens from aquatic ecosystems to terrestrial ecosystems, and that these substances reach small mammals through the trophic cascade, thus influencing the nutrient balance in the terrestrial ecosystem. Analysis of δ{sup 13}C and δ{sup 15}N was performed on two dominant species of small mammals, Apodemus flavicollis and Myodes glareolus, inhabiting the territories of the colonies. For both species, the values of δ{sup 13}C and δ{sup 15}N were higher in the animals trapped in the territories of the colonies than those in control territories. In the hair of A. flavicollis and M. glareolus, the highest values of δ{sup 15}N (16.31 ± 3.01‰ and 17.86 ± 2.76‰, respectively) were determined in those animals trapped in the biggest Great Cormorant colony. δ{sup 15}N values were age dependent, highest in adult A. flavicollis and M. glareolus and lowest in juvenile animals. For δ{sup 13}C values, age-dependent differences were not registered. δ{sup 15}N values in both small mammal species from the biggest Great Cormorant colony show direct dependence on the intensity of influence. Biogenic pollution is at its strongest in the territories of the colonies with nests, significantly diminishing in the ecotones of the colonies and further in the control zones, where the influence of birds is negligible. Thus, Great Cormorant colonies alter ecosystem functioning by enrichment with biogens, with stable isotope values in small mammals significantly higher in the affected territories. - Highlights: • Cormorants transport nutrients from water to land ecosystems and pollute biogenically. • We studied stable isotope composition of small mammal hair in 3 cormorant colonies. • δ{sup 13}C and δ{sup 15}N were measured using elemental analyzer–isotope ratio mass spectrometer. • δ{sup 13}C and �

77 FR 74739 - Norfolk Southern Railway Company-Petition for Declaratory Order

Science.gov (United States)

2012-12-17

... DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION Surface Transportation Board [Docket No. FD 35701] Norfolk Southern Railway Company--Petition for Declaratory Order Norfolk Southern Railway Company (NS) filed a petition for..., APCO began removing trees and erecting electrical transmission towers and lines on its land. Thereafter...

Geomorphic and land cover identification of dust sources in the eastern Great Basin of Utah, U.S.A.

Science.gov (United States)

Hahnenberger, Maura; Nicoll, Kathleen

2014-01-01

This study identifies anthropogenically disturbed areas and barren playa surfaces as the two primary dust source types that repeatedly contribute to dust storm events in the eastern Great Basin of western Utah, U.S.A. This semi-arid desert region is an important contributor to dust production in North America, with this study being the first to specifically identify and characterize regional dust sources. From 2004 to 2010, a total of 51 dust event days (DEDs) affected the air quality in Salt Lake City, UT. MODIS satellite imagery during 16 of these DEDs was analyzed to identify dust plumes, and assess the characteristics of dust source areas. A total of 168 plumes were identified, and showed mobilization of dust from Quaternary deposits located within the Bonneville Basin. This analysis identifies 4 major and 5 secondary source areas for dust in this region, which produce dust primarily during the spring and fall months and during moderate or greater drought conditions, with a Palmer Drought Index (PDI) of - 2 or less. The largest number of observed dust plumes (~ 60% of all plumes) originated from playas (ephemeral lakes) and are classified as barren land cover with a silty clay soil sediment surface. Playa surfaces in this region undergo numerous recurrent anthropogenic disturbances, including military operations and anthropogenic water withdrawal. Anthropogenic disturbance is necessary to produce dust from the vegetated landscape in the eastern Great Basin, as evidenced by the new dust source active from 2008 to 2010 in the area burned by the 2007 Milford Flat Fire; this fire was the largest in Utah's history due to extensive cover of invasive cheatgrass (Bromus tectorum) along with drought conditions. However, dust mobilization from the Milford Flat Burned Area was limited to regions that had been significantly disturbed by post-fire land management techniques that consisted of seeding, followed by chaining or tilling of the soil. Dust storms in the eastern

Land cover fire proneness in Europe

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mario Gonzalez Pereira

2014-12-01

Full Text Available Aim of study: This study aims to identify and characterize the spatial and temporal evolution of the types of vegetation that are most affected by forest fires in Europe. The characterization of the fuels is an important issue of the fire regime in each specific ecosystem while, on the other hand, fire is an important disturbance for global vegetation dynamics.Area of study: Southern European countries: Portugal, Spain, France, Italy and Greece.Material and Methods: Corine Land Cover maps for 2000 and 2006 (CLC2000, CLC2006 and burned area (BA perimeters, from 2000 to 2013 in Europe are combined to access the spatial and temporal evolution of the types of vegetation that are most affected by wild fires using descriptive statistics and Geographical Information System (GIS techniques.Main results: The spatial and temporal distribution of BA perimeters, vegetation and burnt vegetation by wild fires was performed and different statistics were obtained for Mediterranean and entire Europe, confirming the usefulness of the proposed land cover system. A fire proneness index is proposed to assess the fire selectivity of land cover classes. The index allowed to quantify and to compare the propensity of vegetation classes and countries to fire.Research highlights: The usefulness and efficiency of the land cover classification scheme and fire proneness index. The differences between northern Europe and southern Europe and among the Mediterranean region in what concerns to vegetation cover, fire incidence, area burnt in land cover classes and fire proneness between classes for the different countries.Keywords: Fire proneness; Mixed forests; Land cover/land use; Fire regime; Europe; GIS; Corine land cover. 

Insights into the history and timing of post-European land use disturbance on sedimentation rates in catchments draining to the Great Barrier Reef.

Science.gov (United States)

Bartley, Rebecca; Thompson, Chris; Croke, Jacky; Pietsch, Tim; Baker, Brett; Hughes, Kate; Kinsey-Henderson, Anne

2018-06-01

Sediment runoff has been cited as a major contributor to the declining health of the Great Barrier Reef (GBR), however, climate and land use drivers have not been jointly evaluated. This study used alluvial archives from fluvial benches in two tributaries of the Upper Burdekin catchment together with the best available land use history and climate proxy records to provide insights into the timing of depositional events in this region over the past 500 years. This study suggests that mining and the increased runoff variability in the latter half of the nineteenth century are the likely sources of the original excess sediment that was used to build the bench features in these catchments. Grazing also contributed to increased bench sedimentation prior to 1900, however, the contribution of grazing was likely more significant in the second half of the 20th century, and continues to be a dominant land use contributor today. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Southern hemisphere ocean CO2 uptake: reconciling atmospheric and oceanic estimates

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Roy, T.; Matear, R.; Rayner, P.; Francey, R.

2003-01-01

Using an atmospheric inversion model we investigate the southern hemisphere ocean CO 2 uptake. From sensitivity studies that varied both the initial ocean flux distribution and the atmospheric data used in the inversion, our inversion predicted a total (ocean and land) uptake of 1.65-1.90 Gt C/yr. We assess the consistency between the mean southern hemisphere ocean uptake predicted by an atmospheric inversion model for the 1991-1997 period and the T99 ocean flux estimate based on observed pCO 2 in Takahashi et al. (2002; Deep-Sea Res II, 49, 1601-1622). The inversion can not match the large 1.8 Gt C/yr southern extratropical (20-90 deg S) uptake of the T99 ocean flux estimate without producing either unreasonable land fluxes in the southern mid-latitudes or by increasing the mismatches between observed and simulated atmospheric CO 2 data. The southern extratropical uptake is redistributed between the mid and high latitudes. Our results suggest that the T99 estimate of the Southern Ocean uptake south of 50 deg S is too large, and that the discrepancy reflects the inadequate representation of wintertime conditions in the T99 estimate

The ecology of 'Acroporid white syndrome', a coral disease from the southern Great Barrier Reef.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

George Roff

Full Text Available Outbreaks of coral disease have increased worldwide over the last few decades. Despite this, remarkably little is known about the ecology of disease in the Indo-Pacific Region. Here we report the spatiotemporal dynamics of a coral disease termed 'Acroporid white syndrome' observed to affect tabular corals of the genus Acropora on the southern Great Barrier Reef. The syndrome is characterised by rapid tissue loss initiating in the basal margins of colonies, and manifests as a distinct lesion boundary between apparently healthy tissue and exposed white skeleton. Surveys of eight sites around Heron Reef in 2004 revealed a mean prevalence of 8.1±0.9%, affecting the three common species (Acropora cytherea, A. hyacinthus, A. clathrata and nine other tabular Acropora spp. While all sizes of colonies were affected, white syndrome disproportionately affected larger colonies of tabular Acroporids (>80 cm. The prevalence of white syndrome was strongly related to the abundance of tabular Acroporids within transects, yet the incidence of the syndrome appears unaffected by proximity to other colonies, suggesting that while white syndrome is density dependant, it does not exhibit a strongly aggregated spatial pattern consistent with previous coral disease outbreaks. Acroporid white syndrome was not transmitted by either direct contact in the field or by mucus in aquaria experiments. Monitoring of affected colonies revealed highly variable rates of tissue loss ranging from 0 to 1146 cm(-2 week(-1, amongst the highest documented for a coral disease. Contrary to previous links between temperature and coral disease, rates of tissue loss in affected colonies increased threefold during the winter months. Given the lack of spatial pattern and non-infectious nature of Acroporid white syndrome, further studies are needed to determine causal factors and longer-term implications of disease outbreaks on the Great Barrier Reef.

Southern Research Station Global Change Research Strategy 2011-2019

Science.gov (United States)

Kier Klepzig; Zoe Hoyle; Stevin Westcott; Emrys Treasure

2012-01-01

In keeping with the goals of the Research and Development agenda of the Forest Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), the Southern Research Station (SRS) provides the information and technology needed to develop best management practices for the forest lands of the Southern United States, where science-guided actions are needed to sustain ecosystem health,...

Penultimate Glacial-Interglacial Climate Variability in the Southern Great Plains of North America

Science.gov (United States)

Bartow-Gillies, E.; Maupin, C. R.; Roark, E. B.; Chou, Y. C.; White, K.; Kampen-Lewis, S. V.; Shen, C. C.

2017-12-01

Projections of changes in rainfall under future warming scenarios vary in their sign and intensity over the Southern Great Plains (SGP). A scarcity of local paleoclimate information before the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) limits our understanding of regional climate responses to changes in mean state and forcing. Here, we present absolutely U/Th-dated oxygen and carbon isotope records from a calcite stalagmite near Georgetown, Texas (30°N, 98°W), spanning 98 to 209 kyr before present (kyr BP). SGP moisture is primarily sourced from the Gulf of Mexico, and precipitation exhibits clear seasonality, with a biannual rainy season divided into late boreal spring and fall. We interpret the oxygen isotopic composition of the stalagmite to reflect changes in rainwater δ18O composition, as well as cave temperature, through time. There are no clear kinetic isotope effects observed within the stalagmite. More negative (positive) δ18O values are a reflection of warmer and wetter (cooler and drier) conditions based on modern observations of rainwater δ18O at the study site. Variations in stalagmite δ13C may be driven by shifts in overlying vegetation type and changes in the rates of karst flow and prior calcite precipitation. The stalagmite records include Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 5e, an interval where global temperatures may have been as much as 2°C warmer and sea level 4-6 m higher than present. Thus, our δ18O record provides context of unique importance for how SGP hydroclimate may respond to future warming. Prominent features in the δ18O record, including a warm and wet MIS 5e appear to be paced by precession, with the timing of δ18O minima (maxima) broadly consistent with that of maxima (minima) in monthly insolation at 30°N. The δ13C record exhibits a striking similarity to canonical, sawtooth records of glacial-interglacial variability, which suggests Great Plains vegetation communities may be sensitive to the status of Northern Hemisphere glaciation. Our SGP

Negative effects of land-use changes in the karst setting of Apulia, southern Italy

Science.gov (United States)

Parise, Mario

2010-05-01

Apulia is an almost entirely carbonate region in south-eastern Italy, representing the heel of the boot-shaped Italian peninsula. Due to its location in the heart of the Mediterranean basin, and its geographical configuration, which in some way connects the Italian territory to the eastward lands, it had a long history of human settlements, as shown by the many remarkable prehistoric findings that have been recorded in this area during the last century. The flatness of the region, derived from the geologic origin of Apulia as the undeformed foreland of the Southern Apenninic Chain of Italy, together with its NW-SE oriented peninsula configuration and the long coastlines, are at the origin of the good-continuity occupation by man during the different phases of human history. The original karst landscape, characterized by absence of surface runoff, due to rapid infiltration of surface water into the network of karst conduits and fissures within the carbonate rock mass, was with time modified by man. Agriculture initially developed in the narrow strips of land where the presence of residual deposits (terre rosse) allowed the establishment of thin soil layers, and/or in small depressions where water was able to be kept for a longer time within the epikarst. Outside of these sites, the karst landscape typically consisted of stony plateaus and subdued rounding hills. To gain further space to agricultural practices, part of the surrounding stony areas was cleared of rocks: the latter were extracted by hand, and used to build dry stone walls to delimitate the properties, and/or to act as a barrier to soil erosion or to work as terrace walls in the sectors with higher gradients. At the same time, extraction and re-use of carbonate rocks originated some of the typical rural architecture common in Apulia, from "trulli" to "pagliare" and, later on, to "masserie" (the old countryside mansions). In the last decades of XX century, thanks to the use of modern technologies and

Shuttle imaging radar-A (SIR-A) data analysis. [geology of the Ozark Plateau of southern Missouri, land use in western Illinois, and vegetation types at Koonamore Station, Australia

Science.gov (United States)

Arvidson, R. E.

1983-01-01

The utility of shuttle imaging radar (SIR-A) data was evaluated in several geological and environmental contexts. For the Ozark Plateau of southern Missouri, SIR-A data were of little use in mapping structural features, because of generally uniform returns. For western Illinois, little was to be gained in terms of identifying land use categories by examining differences between overlapping passes. For southern Australia (Koonamore Station), information ion vegetation types that was not obtainable from LANDSAT MSS data alone was obtained. Specifically, high SIR-A returns in the Australian site were found to correlate with locations where shrubs increase surface roughness appreciably. The Australian study site results demonstrate the synergy of acquiring spectral reflectance and radar data over the same location and time. Such data are especially important in that region, since grazing animals have substantially altered and are continuing to alter the distribution of shrublands, grasslands, and soil exposures. Periodic, synoptic acquisition of MSS and SAR data would be of use in monitoring the dynamics of land-cover change in this environment.

Changing the countryside by land consolidation

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Benthem, Roelof Jan

Land consolidation is a system of technical and legal measures for the improvement of farming conditions and land productivity. In western and central Europe, the execution of these land consolidation schemes causes great changes in the appearance of the countryside: existing landscape elements such

Agronomy Students at Southern Land-Grant Universities.

Science.gov (United States)

Dunkelberger, John E.; Molnar, Joseph J.

The background characteristics, occupational goals, and attitudes of agriculture students enrolled in 1890 and 1862 land grant universities in 1977 were examined by questionnaire, to construct a profile of agronomy majors as compared to animal science majors and to agriculture majors as a whole. Females comprised 38.2% of animal science majors but…

Temperature variations in the southern Great Lakes during the last deglaciation: Comparison between pollen and GDGT proxies

Science.gov (United States)

Watson, Benjamin I.; Williams, John W.; Russell, James M.; Jackson, Stephen T.; Shane, Linda; Lowell, Thomas V.

2018-02-01

Our understanding of deglacial climate history in the southern Great Lakes region of the United States is primarily based upon fossil pollen data, with few independent and multi-proxy climate reconstructions. Here we introduce a new, well-dated fossil pollen record from Stotzel-Leis, OH, and a new deglacial temperature record based on branched glycerol dialkyl glycerol tetraethers (brGDGTs) at Silver Lake, OH. We compare these new data to previously published records and to a regional stack of pollen-based temperature reconstructions from Stotzel-Leis, Silver Lake, and three other well-dated sites. The new and previously published pollen records at Stotzel-Leis are similar, but our new age model brings vegetation events into closer alignment with known climatic events such as the Younger Dryas (YD). brGDGT-inferred temperatures correlate strongly with pollen-based regional temperature reconstructions, with the strongest correlation obtained for a global soil-based brGDGT calibration (r2 = 0.88), lending confidence to the deglacial reconstructions and the use of brGDGT and regional pollen stacks as paleotemperature proxies in eastern North America. However, individual pollen records show large differences in timing, rates, and amplitudes of inferred temperature change, indicating caution with paleoclimatic inferences based on single-site pollen records. From 16.0 to 10.0ka, both proxies indicate that regional temperatures rose by ∼10 °C, roughly double the ∼5 °C estimates for the Northern Hemisphere reported in prior syntheses. Change-point analysis of the pollen stack shows accelerated warming at 14.0 ± 1.2ka, cooling at 12.6 ± 0.4ka, and warming from 11.6 ± 0.5ka into the Holocene. The timing of Bølling-Allerød (B-A) warming and YD onset in our records lag by ∼300-500 years those reported in syntheses of temperature records from the northern mid-latitudes. This discrepancy is too large to be attributed to uncertainties in radiocarbon dating, and

Review of Land Use and Land Cover Change research progress

Science.gov (United States)

Chang, Yue; Hou, Kang; Li, Xuxiang; Zhang, Yunwei; Chen, Pei

2018-02-01

Land Use and Land Cover Change (LUCC) can reflect the pattern of human land use in a region, and plays an important role in space soil and water conservation. The study on the change of land use patterns in the world is of great significance to cope with global climate change and sustainable development. This paper reviews the main research progress of LUCC at home and abroad, and suggests that land use change has been shifted from land use planning and management to land use change impact and driving factors. The development of remote sensing technology provides the basis and data for LUCC with dynamic monitoring and quantitative analysis. However, there is no uniform standard for land use classification at present, which brings a lot of inconvenience to the collection and analysis of land cover data. Globeland30 is an important milestone contribution to the study of international LUCC system. More attention should be paid to the accuracy and results contrasting test of land use classification obtained by remote sensing technology.

Site scientific mission plan for the Southern Great Plains CART Site, January--June 1999

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Peppler, R.A.; Sisterson, D.L.; Lamb, P.

1999-03-10

The Southern Great Plains (SGP) Cloud and Radiation Testbed (CART) site was designed to help satisfy the data needs of the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Program Science Team. This Site Scientific Mission Plan defines the scientific priorities for site activities during the six months beginning on January 1, 1999, and looks forward in lesser detail to subsequent six-month periods. The primary purpose of this document is to provide scientific guidance for the development of plans for site operations. It also provides information on current plans to the ARM functional teams (Management Team, Data and Science Integration Team [DSIT], Operations Team, and Instrument Team [IT]) and serves to disseminate the plans more generally within the ARM Program and among the members of the Science Team. This document includes a description of the operational status of the site and the primary site activities envisioned, together with information concerning approved and proposed intensive observation periods (IOPs). The primary users of this document are the site operator, the site program manager, the Site Scientist Team (SST), the Science Team through the ARM Program science director, the ARM Program Experiment Center, and the aforementioned ARM Program functional teams. This plan is a living document that is updated and reissued every six months as the observational facilities are developed, tested, and augmented and as priorities are adjusted in response to developments in scientific planning and understanding.

Site scientific mission plan for the Southern Great Plains CART site: July--December 1998

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Peppler, R.A.; Lamb, P. [Univ. of Oklahoma, Norman, OK (United States). Cooperative Inst. for Mesoscale Meteorological Studies; Sisterson, D.L. [Argonne National Lab., IL (United States). Environmental Research Div.

1998-07-01

The Southern Great Plains (SGP) Cloud and Radiation Testbed (CART) site was designed to help satisfy the data needs of the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Program Science Team. This Site Scientific Mission Plan defines the scientific priorities for site activities during the six months beginning on July 1, 1998, and looks forward in lesser detail to subsequent six-month periods. The primary purpose of this document is to provide scientific guidance for the development of plans for site operations. It also provides information on current plans to the ARM functional teams (Management Team, Data and Science Integration Team [DSIT], Operations Team, and Instrument Team [IT]) and serves to disseminate the plans more generally within the ARM Program and among the members of the Science Team. This document includes a description of the operational status of the site and the primary site activities envisioned, together with information concerning approved and proposed intensive observation periods (IOPs). The primary users of this document are the site operator, the site program manager, the Site Scientist Team (SST), the Science Team through the ARM Program science director, the ARM program Experiment Center, and the aforementioned ARM Program functional teams. This plan is a living document that is updated and reissued every six months as the observational facilities are developed, tested, and augmented and as priorities are adjusted in response to developments in scientific planning and understanding.

Site scientific mission plan for the southern Great Plain CART site July-December 1997.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lamb, P.J.; Peppler, R.A.; Sisterson, D.L.

1997-08-28

The Southern Great Plains (SGP) Cloud and Radiation Testbed (CART) site is designed to help satisfy the data needs of the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Program Science Team. This document defines the scientific priorities for site activities during the six months beginning on July 1, 1997, and looks forward in lesser detail to subsequent six-month periods. The primary purpose of this Site Scientific Mission Plan is to provide guidance for the development of plans for site operations. It also provides information on current plans to the ARM functional teams (Management Team, Data and Science Integration Team [DSIT], Operations Team, Instrument Team [IT], and Campaign Team) and serves to disseminate the plans more generally within the ARM Program and among the members of the Science Team. This document includes a description of the operational status of the site and the primary site activities envisioned, together with information concerning approved and proposed intensive observation periods (IOPs). The primary users of this document are the site operator, the Site Scientist Team (SST), the Science Team through the ARM Program science director, the ARM Program Experiment Center, and the aforementioned ARM Program functional teams. This plan is a living document that is updated and reissued every six months as the observational facilities are developed, tested, and augmented and as priorities are adjusted in response to developments in scientific planning and understanding.

Variability and decline in the number of severe tropical cyclones making land-fall over eastern Australia since the late nineteenth century

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Callaghan, Jeff [Bureau of Meteorology, Brisbane (Australia); Power, Scott B. [Bureau of Meteorology, Centre for Australian Weather and Climate Research, GPO Box 1289, Melbourne (Australia)

2011-08-15

Recent studies have raised concerns that tropical cyclones (TCs), particularly severe TCs, have become more frequent in many places in response to global warming. Other studies discuss errors in TC data that can cause large inaccuracies in some of the observed trends. Additional studies conclude that TCs are likely to become more intense in the future in response to global warming, while regional modelling studies for the south-west Pacific near north-eastern Australia project an intensification of TCs and either a decrease or no change in TC numbers. Here we describe and use a new data base of severe land-falling TCs for eastern Australia derived from numerous historical sources, that has taken over a decade to develop. It provides one of the world's longest reliable records of tropical cyclone activity, and allows us to document changes over much longer periods than has been done previously for the Southern Hemisphere. Land-fall numbers are shown to vary a great deal on interannual, decadal and longer time-scales. The interannual variability is consistent with previous studies using much shorter data sets: land-fall numbers are well-simulated as a Poisson process and are modulated by the El Nino-Southern Oscillation (ENSO). Land-falls occurred almost twice as often in La Nina years as they did in El Nino years, and multiple land-falls only occurred during La Nina years. The statistical link between land-falls and pre-season values of the Southern Oscillation Index provides a modest predictive capability. Decadal variability in ENSO drives some of the decadal variability in land-fall numbers. The sign and magnitude of trends calculated over 30 years periods vary substantially, highlighting that caution needs to be taken in making inferences about trends based on e.g. satellite era data only. The linear trend in the number of severe TCs making land-fall over eastern Australia declined from about 0.45 TCs/year in the early 1870s to about 0.17 TCs/year in recent

Homogenization of northern U.S. Great Lakes forests due to land use

Science.gov (United States)

Lisa A. Schulte; David J. Mladenoff; Thomas R. Crow; Laura C. Merrick; David T. Cleland

2007-01-01

Human land use of forested regions has intensified worldwide in recent decades, threatening long-term sustainability. Primary effects include conversion of land cover or reversion to an earlier stage of successional development. Both types of change can have cascading effects through ecosystems; however, the longterm effects where forests are allowed to regrow are...

Sixty-Seven Years of Land-Use Change in Southern Costa Rica.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rakan A Zahawi

Full Text Available Habitat loss and fragmentation of forests are among the biggest threats to biodiversity and associated ecosystem services in tropical landscapes. We use the vicinity of the Las Cruces Biological Station in southern Costa Rica as a regional case study to document seven decades of land-use change in one of the most intensively studied sites in the Neotropics. Though the premontane wet forest was largely intact in 1947, a wave of immigration in 1952 initiated rapid changes over a short period. Overall forest cover was reduced during each time interval analyzed (1947-1960, 1960-1980, 1980-1997, 1997-2014, although the vast majority of forest loss (>90% occurred during the first two time intervals (1947-1960, 1960-1980 with an annual deforestation rate of 2.14% and 3.86%, respectively. The rate dropped to 100 km of linear strips of vegetation within a 3 km radius of the station, which may facilitate landscape-level movement for some species. Despite the extent of forest loss, a substantial number of regional landscape-level studies over the past two decades have demonstrated the persistence of many groups of organisms such as birds and mammals. Nonetheless, the continued decline in the quantity and quality of remaining habitat (~30% of remaining forest is secondary, as well as the threat of an extinction debt (or time lag in species loss, may result in the extirpation of additional species if more proactive conservation measures are not taken to reverse current trends-a pattern that reflects many other tropical regions the world over.

A boundary-layer cloud study using Southern Great Plains Cloud and radiation testbed (CART) data

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Albrecht, B.; Mace, G.; Dong, X.; Syrett, W. [Pennsylvania State Univ., University Park, PA (United States)] [and others

1996-04-01

Boundary layer clouds-stratus and fairweather cumulus - are closely coupled involves the radiative impact of the clouds on the surface energy budget and the strong dependence of cloud formation and maintenance on the turbulent fluxes of heat and moisture in the boundary layer. The continuous data collection at the Southern Great Plains (SGP) Cloud and Radiation Testbed (CART) site provides a unique opportunity to study components of the coupling processes associated with boundary layer clouds and to provide descriptions of cloud and boundary layer structure that can be used to test parameterizations used in climate models. But before the CART data can be used for process studies and parameterization testing, it is necessary to evaluate and validate data and to develop techniques for effectively combining the data to provide meaningful descriptions of cloud and boundary layer characteristics. In this study we use measurements made during an intensive observing period we consider a case where low-level stratus were observed at the site for about 18 hours. This case is being used to examine the temporal evolution of cloud base, cloud top, cloud liquid water content, surface radiative fluxes, and boundary layer structure. A method for inferring cloud microphysics from these parameters is currently being evaluated.

Applying Geospatial Techniques to Investigate Boundary Layer Land-Atmosphere Interactions Involved in Tornadogensis

Science.gov (United States)

Weigel, A. M.; Griffin, R.; Knupp, K. R.; Molthan, A.; Coleman, T.

2017-12-01

Northern Alabama is among the most tornado-prone regions in the United States. This region has a higher degree of spatial variability in both terrain and land cover than the more frequently studied North American Great Plains region due to its proximity to the southern Appalachian Mountains and Cumberland Plateau. More research is needed to understand North Alabama's high tornado frequency and how land surface heterogeneity influences tornadogenesis in the boundary layer. Several modeling and simulation studies stretching back to the 1970's have found that variations in the land surface induce tornadic-like flow near the surface, illustrating a need for further investigation. This presentation introduces research investigating the hypothesis that horizontal gradients in land surface roughness, normal to the direction of flow in the boundary layer, induce vertically oriented vorticity at the surface that can potentially aid in tornadogenesis. A novel approach was implemented to test this hypothesis using a GIS-based quadrant pattern analysis method. This method was developed to quantify spatial relationships and patterns between horizontal variations in land surface roughness and locations of tornadogenesis. Land surface roughness was modeled using the Noah land surface model parameterization scheme which, was applied to MODIS 500 m and Landsat 30 m data in order to compare the relationship between tornadogenesis locations and roughness gradients at different spatial scales. This analysis found a statistical relationship between areas of higher roughness located normal to flow surrounding tornadogenesis locations that supports the tested hypothesis. In this presentation, the innovative use of satellite remote sensing data and GIS technologies to address interactions between the land and atmosphere will be highlighted.

Atmospheric Chemistry Over Southern Africa

Science.gov (United States)

Gatebe, Charles K.; Levy, Robert C.; Thompson, Anne M.

2011-01-01

During the southern African dry season, regional haze from mixed industrial pollution, biomass burning aerosol and gases from domestic and grassland fires, and biogenic sources from plants and soils is worsened by a semi-permanent atmosphere gyre over the subcontinent. These factors were a driver of several major international field campaigns in the 1990s and early 2000s, and attracted many scientists to the region. Some researchers were interested in understanding fundamental processes governing chemistry of the atmosphere and interaction with climate change. Others found favorable conditions for evaluating satellite-derived measurements of atmospheric properties and a changing land surface. With that background in mind a workshop on atmospheric chemistry was held in South Africa. Sponsored by the International Commission for Atmospheric Chemistry and Global Pollution (ICACGP; http://www.icacgp.org/), the workshop received generous support from the South African power utility, Eskom, and the Climatology Research Group of the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa. The purpose of the workshop was to review some earlier findings as well as more recent findings on southern African climate vulnerability, chemical changes due to urbanization, land-use modification, and how these factors interact. Originally proposed by John Burrows, president of ICACGP, the workshop was the first ICACGP regional workshop to study the interaction of air pollution with global chemical and climate change. Organized locally by the University of the Witwatersrand, the workshop attracted more than 60 delegates from South Africa, Mozambique, Botswana, Zimbabwe, France, Germany, Canada, and the United States. More than 30 presentations were given, exploring both retrospective and prospective aspects of the science. In several talks, attention was focused on southern African chemistry, atmospheric pollution monitoring, and climate processes as they were studied in the field

Estimation of daily minimum land surface air temperature using MODIS data in southern Iran

Science.gov (United States)

Didari, Shohreh; Norouzi, Hamidreza; Zand-Parsa, Shahrokh; Khanbilvardi, Reza

2017-11-01

Land surface air temperature (LSAT) is a key variable in agricultural, climatological, hydrological, and environmental studies. Many of their processes are affected by LSAT at about 5 cm from the ground surface (LSAT5cm). Most of the previous studies tried to find statistical models to estimate LSAT at 2 m height (LSAT2m) which is considered as a standardized height, and there is not enough study for LSAT5cm estimation models. Accurate measurements of LSAT5cm are generally acquired from meteorological stations, which are sparse in remote areas. Nonetheless, remote sensing data by providing rather extensive spatial coverage can complement the spatiotemporal shortcomings of meteorological stations. The main objective of this study was to find a statistical model from the previous day to accurately estimate spatial daily minimum LSAT5cm, which is very important in agricultural frost, in Fars province in southern Iran. Land surface temperature (LST) data were obtained using the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) onboard Aqua and Terra satellites at daytime and nighttime periods with normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) data. These data along with geometric temperature and elevation information were used in a stepwise linear model to estimate minimum LSAT5cm during 2003-2011. The results revealed that utilization of MODIS Aqua nighttime data of previous day provides the most applicable and accurate model. According to the validation results, the accuracy of the proposed model was suitable during 2012 (root mean square difference ( RMSD) = 3.07 °C, {R}_{adj}^2 = 87 %). The model underestimated (overestimated) high (low) minimum LSAT5cm. The accuracy of estimation in the winter time was found to be lower than the other seasons ( RMSD = 3.55 °C), and in summer and winter, the errors were larger than in the remaining seasons.

Venetian Diplomacy and the Great Horde in the 1470’s.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

V.P. Gulevich

2017-03-01

Full Text Available Objective: To investigate Republic of San Marco’s attempts to engage the Great Horde Tatars in war against the Ottoman Empire and find out their consequences. Research materials: The research based on archive documents published in Venice, the Annals of Jan Długosz, the chronicles of the Northeast Russia, as well as Turkish-Horde diplomatic correspondence materials. Results and scientific novelty: After the fall of Constantinople in 1453, the trading posts of Venice, in the Black and Azov seas were under the greatest threat. They had not enough forces in Venice for the war with the Ottomans. The Venetian Senate was constantly searching for allies to create an anti-Ottoman coalition. In addition to European countries, Venice saw the Ak-Koyunlu and the Great Horde among them. Drawing the Polish Kingdom into the war failed, and the Ak-Koynulu was defeated by the Turks. In this connection, the Venetian Senate paid particular attention to the Great Horde. But many objective factors prevented the successful implementation of Venetian plans, such as: the distance from the Great Horde to Venice and the Balkans, the reluctance of the Polish king Casimir IV giving a way to the Great Horde Tatars through his land, suspicion of the Moscow ruler Ivan III, and the Venetians erroneous assessment of Ahmad Khan’s desires and possibilities. The situation was complicated for the Venetians by the rapidly changing setting in the northern Black Sea region due to the Ottoman wars in the mid–1470’s against the Moldavian principality, their seizure of southern coast of the Crimea and the subordination of the Crimean Khanate. Ahmad Khan’s ambassadors’ arrival in Venice was unable to accelerate the implementation of the Venetian Senate plans. Furthermore, in the 1470’s, Ottoman diplomacy did not leave without attention the northern Black Sea region and after a long break regained embassies exchange with the Great Horde. Venetian diplomats’ reinforced

Hunter-gatherer adaptations and environmental change in the southern Great Basin: The evidence from Pahute and Rainier mesas

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Pippin, L.C.

1998-06-01

This paper reviews the evidence for fluctuations in past environments in the southern Great Basin and examines how these changes may have affected the strategies followed by past hunter and gatherers in their utilization of the resources available on a highland in this region. The evidence used to reconstruct past environments for the region include botanical remains from packrat middens, pollen spectra from lake and spring deposits, faunal remains recovered from archaeological and geologic contexts, tree-ring indices from trees located in sensitive (tree-line) environments, and eolian, alluvial and fluvial sediments deposited in a variety of contexts. Interpretations of past hunter and gatherer adaptive strategies are based on a sample of 1,311 archaeological sites recorded during preconstruction surveys on Pahute and Rainier mesas in advance of the US Department of Energy`s nuclear weapons testing program. Projectile point chronologies and available tree-ring, radiocarbon, thermoluminescence and obsidian hydration dates were used to assign these archaeological sites to specific periods of use.

The ugly face of tourism: Marine debris pollution linked to visitation in the southern Great Barrier Reef, Australia.

Science.gov (United States)

Wilson, Scott P; Verlis, Krista M

2017-04-15

Marine debris is one of the most significant issues facing oceans worldwide. The sources of this debris vary depending on proximity to urban centres and the nature of activities within an area. This paper examines the influence of tourism in the southern Great Barrier Reef (GBR), and its contribution to litter levels in the region. By conducting beach debris surveys on occupied and unoccupied islands, this study found that debris was prevalent throughout the region with significant differences in material types between locations. The greatest source of debris from publically accessible islands was tourist-related, with this source also influencing debris loads on nearby uninhabited islands. A focus on debris at Heron Island, showed that sites close to amenities had greater levels of tourist-sourced items like cigarette butts. These findings indicate the contribution of tourists to this problem and that working with operators and managers is needed to minimise visitor impacts. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Understanding Informal Urban Land Market Functioning in Peri ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Understanding Informal Urban Land Market Functioning in Peri-urban Areas of Secondary Towns of Rwanda: Case Study of Tumba Sector, Butare Town. ... Land price is negotiable and varies greatly based on the land size and its specific location and is higher than the reference land price. Land right transfer is evidenced ...

Mass Claims in Land and Property Following the Arab Spring: Lessons from Yemen

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jon D Unruh

2016-07-01

Full Text Available The Arab Spring uprisings have released a flood of land and property conflicts, brought about by decades of autocratic rule. Expropriations, corruption, poor performance of the rule of law, patronage and sectarian discrimination built up a wide variety of land and property transgressions over approximately 30 years. The result has been the creation of longstanding, acute grievances among large components of national populations who now seek to act on them. If new, transitional or reforming governments and their international partners fail to effectively attend to such grievances, the populations concerned may act on them in ways that detract from stability. This article critiques the case of Yemen, whose transitional government, with international support, initiated a land and property mass claims process in the South in order to address a primary grievance of the southern population as part of the National Dialogue transition. A series of techniques are described that would greatly improve the mass claims process once it inevitably recommences after the Houthi conflict comes to an end. These improvements would attach more importance to socio-political realities and how to quickly attend to them, as opposed to an over-reliance on specific legalities. Such an approach could have wider utility among Arab Spring states seeking to address similar land and property grievances.

Land Use, Land Conservation, and Wind Energy Development Outcomes in New England

Science.gov (United States)

Weimar, William Cameron

This dissertation provides three independent research inquiries. The first examines how inter-governmental policy, site-specific, and social factors lead to the success, prolonged delay, or failure of inland wind power projects in New England. The three case studies examined include the 48 megawatt Glebe Mountain Wind Farm proposal in southern Vermont, the 30 megawatt Hoosac Wind Farm in western Massachusetts, and the 24 megawatt Lempster Wind Farm in southern New Hampshire. To ascertain why the project outcomes varied, 45 semi-structured interviews were conducted with a range of stakeholders, including wind development firms, utility companies, state regulatory agencies, regional planning commissions, town officials, land conservation organizations, and opposition groups. The second study establishes a comprehensive set of thirty-seven explanatory variables to determine the amount of suitable land and the corresponding electricity generation potential within the prime wind resource areas of Western Massachusetts. The explanatory variables are incorporated into Boolean GIS suitability models which represent the two divergent positions towards wind power development in Massachusetts, and a third, balanced model. The third study determines that exurban residential development is not the only land use factor that reduces wind power development potential in Western Massachusetts. A set of Boolean GIS models for 1985 and 2009 find the onset of conservation easements on private lands having the largest impact. During this 25 year period a combination of land use conversion and land conservation has reduced the access to prime wind resource areas by 18% (11,601 hectares), an equivalent loss of 5,800--8,700 GWh/year of zero carbon electricity generation. The six main findings from this research are: (1) Visual aesthetics remain the main factor of opposition to specific projects; (2) The Not-in-my Backyard debate for wind power remains unsettled; (3) Widespread support

Great Basin Factsheet Series 2016 - Information and tools to restore and conserve Great Basin ecosystems

Science.gov (United States)

Jeanne C. Chambers

2016-01-01

Land managers are responsible for developing effective strategies for conserving and restoring Great Basin ecosystems in the face of invasive species, conifer expansion, and altered fire regimes. A warming climate is magnifying the effects of these threats and adding urgency to implementation of management practices that will maintain or improve ecosystem...

Analytical study of the effects of the Low-Level Jet on moisture convergence and vertical motion fields at the Southern Great Plains Cloud and Radiation Testbed site

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bian, X.; Zhong, S.; Whiteman, C.D.; Stage, S.A. [Pacific Northwest National Lab., Richland, WA (United States)

1996-04-01

The Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Southern Great Plains (SGP) Cloud and Radiation Testbed (CART) is located in a region that is strongly affected by a prominent meteorological phenomenon--the Great Plains Low-Level Jet (LLJ). Observations have shown that the LLJ plays a vital role in spring and summertime cloud formation and precipitation over the Great Plains. An improved understanding of the LLJ characteristics and its impact on the environment is necessary for addressing the fundamental issue of development and testing of radiational transfer and cloud parameterization schemes for the general circulation models (GCMs) using data from the SGP CART site. A climatological analysis of the summertime LLJ over the SGP has been carried out using hourly observations from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Wind Profiler Demonstration Network and from the ARM June 1993 Intensive Observation Period (IOP). The hourly data provide an enhanced temporal and spatial resolution relative to earlier studies which used 6- and 12-hourly rawinsonde observations at fewer stations.

Site Scientific Mission Plan for the Southern Great Plains CART site: January--June 1994

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Schneider, J.M.; Lamb, P.J. [Univ. of Oklahoma, Norman, OK (United States). Cooperative Inst. for Mesoscale Meteorological Studies; Sisterson, D.L. [Argonne National Lab., IL (United States). Environmental Research Div.

1993-12-01

The Southern Great Plains (SGP) Cloud and Radiation Testbed (CART) site is designed to help satisfy the data needs of the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Program Science Team. This document defines the scientific priorities for site activities during the six months beginning on January 1, 1994, and also looks forward in lesser detail to subsequent six-month periods. The primary purpose of this Site Scientific Mission Plan is to provide guidance for the development of plans for site operations. It also provides information on current plans to the ARM Functional Teams (Management Team, Experiment Support Team, Operations Team, Data Management Team, Instrument Team, and Campaign Team), and it serves to disseminate the plans more generally within the ARM Program and among the Science Team. This document includes a description of the site`s operational status and the primary envisaged site activities, together with information concerning approved and proposed Intensive Observation Periods. Amendments will be prepared and distributed whenever the content changes by more than 30% within a six-month period. The primary users of this document are the site operator, the site scientist, the Science Team through the ARM Program Science Director, the ARM Program Experiment Center, and the aforementioned ARM Program Functional Teams. This plan is a living document that will be updated and reissued every six months as the observational facilities are developed, tested, and augmented and as priorities are adjusted in response to developments in scientific planning and understanding.

76 FR 41788 - Southern Star Central Gas Pipeline, Inc.; Notice of Intent To Prepare an Environmental Assessment...

Science.gov (United States)

2011-07-15

... DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY Federal Energy Regulatory Commission [ Docket No. CP11-481-000] Southern Star... Southern Star Central Gas Pipeline, Inc. (Southern Star) in Rice County, Kansas. This EA will be used by... Facility On My Land? What Do I Need To Know?'' was attached to the project notice Southern Star provided to...

Temperature variations in the southern Great Lakes during the last deglaciation: Comparison between pollen and GDGT proxies

Science.gov (United States)

Watson, Benjamin I.; Williams, John W.; Russell, James M.; Jackson, Stephen T.; Shane, Linda; Lowell, Thomas V.

2018-01-01

Our understanding of deglacial climate history in the southern Great Lakes region of the United States is primarily based upon fossil pollen data, with few independent and multi-proxy climate reconstructions. Here we introduce a new, well-dated fossil pollen record from Stotzel-Leis, OH, and a new deglacial temperature record based on branched glycerol dialkyl glycerol tetraethers (brGDGTs) at Silver Lake, OH. We compare these new data to previously published records and to a regional stack of pollen-based temperature reconstructions from Stotzel-Leis, Silver Lake, and three other well-dated sites. The new and previously published pollen records at Stotzel-Leis are similar, but our new age model brings vegetation events into closer alignment with known climatic events such as the Younger Dryas (YD). brGDGT-inferred temperatures correlate strongly with pollen-based regional temperature reconstructions, with the strongest correlation obtained for a global soil-based brGDGT calibration (r2 = 0.88), lending confidence to the deglacial reconstructions and the use of brGDGT and regional pollen stacks as paleotemperature proxies in eastern North America. However, individual pollen records show large differences in timing, rates, and amplitudes of inferred temperature change, indicating caution with paleoclimatic inferences based on single-site pollen records. From 16.0 to 10.0ka, both proxies indicate that regional temperatures rose by ∼10 °C, roughly double the ∼5 °C estimates for the Northern Hemisphere reported in prior syntheses. Change-point analysis of the pollen stack shows accelerated warming at 14.0 ± 1.2ka, cooling at 12.6 ± 0.4ka, and warming from 11.6 ± 0.5ka into the Holocene. The timing of Bølling-Allerød (B-A) warming and YD onset in our records lag by ∼300–500 years those reported in syntheses of temperature records from the northern mid-latitudes. This discrepancy is too large to be attributed to uncertainties in

Impacts of land use and land cover on surface and air temperature in urban landscapes

Science.gov (United States)

Crum, S.; Jenerette, D.

2015-12-01

Accelerating urbanization affects regional climate as the result of changing land cover and land use (LCLU). Urban land cover composition may provide valuable insight into relationships among urbanization, air, and land-surface temperature (Ta and LST, respectively). Climate may alter these relationships, where hotter climates experience larger LULC effects. To address these hypotheses we examined links between Ta, LST, LCLU, and vegetation across an urban coastal to desert climate gradient in southern California, USA. Using surface temperature radiometers, continuously measuring LST on standardized asphalt, concrete, and turf grass surfaces across the climate gradient, we found a 7.2°C and 4.6°C temperature decrease from asphalt to vegetated cover in the coast and desert, respectively. There is 131% more temporal variation in asphalt than turf grass surfaces, but 37% less temporal variation in concrete than turf grass. For concrete and turf grass surfaces, temporal variation in temperature increased from coast to desert. Using ground-based thermal imagery, measuring LST for 24 h sequences over citrus orchard and industrial use locations, we found a 14.5°C temperature decrease from industrial to orchard land use types (38.4°C and 23.9°C, respectively). Additionally, industrial land use types have 209% more spatial variation than orchard (CV=0.20 and 0.09, respectively). Using a network of 300 Ta (iButton) sensors mounted in city street trees throughout the region and hyperspectral imagery data we found urban vegetation greenness, measured using the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), was negatively correlated to Ta at night across the climate gradient. Contrasting previous findings, the closest coupling between NDVI and Ta is at the coast from 0000 h to 0800 h (highest r2 = 0.6, P urbanized regions of southern California, USA decrease Ta and LST and spatial variation in LST, while built surfaces and land uses have the opposite effect. Furthermore

The history of human disturbance in forest ecosystems of southern Indiana

Science.gov (United States)

Michael A. Jenkins

2013-01-01

The forests of southern Indiana have been shaped and defined by anthropogenic disturbance. Native Americans influenced composition and structure through land clearing and burning, but the scale and rate of human disturbance intensified with European settlement. Sustained settlement led to the loss of forest land to agriculture and livestock grazing. Forests were also...

Site scientific mission plan for the Southern Great Plains CART site: January 1997--June 1997

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Peppler, R.A.; Lamb, P.J. [Univ. of Oklahoma, Norman, OK (United States). Cooperative Institute for Mesoscale Meteorological Studies; Sisterson, D.L. [Argonne National Lab., IL (United States)

1997-01-01

The Southern Great Plains (SGP) Cloud and Radiation Testbed (CART) site is designed to help satisfy the data needs of the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Program Science Team. This document defines the scientific priorities for site activities during the six months beginning on January 1, 1997, and looks forward in lesser detail to subsequent six-month periods. The primary purpose of this Site Scientific Mission Plan is to provide guidance for the development of plans for site operations. It also provides information on current plans to the ARM functional teams (Management Team, Data and Science Integration Team [DSIT], Operations Team, Instrument Team [IT], and Campaign Team) and serves to disseminate the plans more generally within the ARM Program and among the members of the Science Team. This document includes a description of the operational status of the site and the primary site activities envisioned, together with information concerning approved and proposed intensive observation periods (IOPs). The primary users of this document are the site operator, the Site Scientist Team (SST), the Science Team through the ARM Program science director, the ARM Program Experiment Center, and the aforementioned ARM Program functional teams. This plan is a living document that is updated and reissued every six months as the observational facilities are developed, tested, and augmented and as priorities are adjusted in response to developments in scientific planning and understanding.

Surface Characterization for Land-Atmosphere Studies of CLASIC

Science.gov (United States)

Jackson, T. J.; Kustas, W.; Torn, M. S.; Meyers, T.; Prueger, J.; Fischer, M. L.; Avissar, R.; Yueh, S.; Anderson, M.; Miller, M.

2006-12-01

The Cloud and Land Surface Interaction Campaign will focus on interactions between the land surface, convective boundary layer, and cumulus clouds. It will take place in the Southern Great Plains (SGP) area of the U.S, specifically within the US DOE ARM Climate Research Facility. The intensive observing period will be June of 2007, which typically covers the winter wheat harvest in the region. This region has been the focus of several related experiments that include SGP97, SGP99, and SMEX03. For the land surface, some of the specific science questions include 1) how do spatial variations in land cover along this trajectory modulate the cloud structure and the low-level water vapor budget, 2) what are the relationships between land surface characteristics (i.e., soil texture, vegetation type and fractional cover) and states (particularly soil moisture and surface temperature) and the resulting impact of the surface energy balance on boundary layer and cloud structure and dynamics and aerosol loading; and 3) what is the interplay between cumulus cloud development and surface energy balance partitioning between latent and sensible heat, and implications for the carbon flux? Most of these objectives will require flux and state measurements throughout the dominant land covers and distributed over the geographic domain. These observations would allow determining the level of up- scaling/aggregation required in order to understand the impact of landscape changes affecting energy balance/flux partitioning and impact on cloud/atmospheric dynamics. Specific contributions that are planned to be added to CLASIC include continuous tower-based monitoring of surface fluxes for key land cover types prior to, during, and post-IOP, replicate towers to quantify flux variance within each land cover, boundary layer properties and fluxes from a helicopter-based system, airplane- and satellite-based flux products throughout the region, aircraft- and tower-based concentration data for

Herbicides: A new threat to the Great Barrier Reef

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lewis, Stephen E.; Brodie, Jon E.; Bainbridge, Zoe T.; Rohde, Ken W.; Davis, Aaron M.; Masters, Bronwyn L.; Maughan, Mirjam; Devlin, Michelle J.; Mueller, Jochen F.; Schaffelke, Britta

2009-01-01

The runoff of pesticides (insecticides, herbicides and fungicides) from agricultural lands is a key concern for the health of the iconic Great Barrier Reef, Australia. Relatively low levels of herbicide residues can reduce the productivity of marine plants and corals. However, the risk of these residues to Great Barrier Reef ecosystems has been poorly quantified due to a lack of large-scale datasets. Here we present results of a study tracing pesticide residues from rivers and creeks in three catchment regions to the adjacent marine environment. Several pesticides (mainly herbicides) were detected in both freshwater and coastal marine waters and were attributed to specific land uses in the catchment. Elevated herbicide concentrations were particularly associated with sugar cane cultivation in the adjacent catchment. We demonstrate that herbicides reach the Great Barrier Reef lagoon and may disturb sensitive marine ecosystems already affected by other pressures such as climate change. - Herbicide residues have been detected in Great Barrier Reef catchment waterways and river water plumes which may affect marine ecosystems.

Southern Annular Mode drives multicentury wildfire activity in southern South America.

Science.gov (United States)

Holz, Andrés; Paritsis, Juan; Mundo, Ignacio A; Veblen, Thomas T; Kitzberger, Thomas; Williamson, Grant J; Aráoz, Ezequiel; Bustos-Schindler, Carlos; González, Mauro E; Grau, H Ricardo; Quezada, Juan M

2017-09-05

The Southern Annular Mode (SAM) is the main driver of climate variability at mid to high latitudes in the Southern Hemisphere, affecting wildfire activity, which in turn pollutes the air and contributes to human health problems and mortality, and potentially provides strong feedback to the climate system through emissions and land cover changes. Here we report the largest Southern Hemisphere network of annually resolved tree ring fire histories, consisting of 1,767 fire-scarred trees from 97 sites (from 22 °S to 54 °S) in southern South America (SAS), to quantify the coupling of SAM and regional wildfire variability using recently created multicentury proxy indices of SAM for the years 1531-2010 AD. We show that at interannual time scales, as well as at multidecadal time scales across 37-54 °S, latitudinal gradient elevated wildfire activity is synchronous with positive phases of the SAM over the years 1665-1995. Positive phases of the SAM are associated primarily with warm conditions in these biomass-rich forests, in which widespread fire activity depends on fuel desiccation. Climate modeling studies indicate that greenhouse gases will force SAM into its positive phase even if stratospheric ozone returns to normal levels, so that climate conditions conducive to widespread fire activity in SAS will continue throughout the 21st century.

Diagnosing the Nature of Land-Atmosphere Coupling: A Case Study of Dry/Wet Extremes

Science.gov (United States)

Santanello, Joseph A., Jr.; Peters-Lidard, Christa; Kennedy, Aaron D.

2012-01-01

Land-atmosphere (L-A) interactions play a critical role in determining the diurnal evolution of land surface and planetary boundary layer (PBL) temperature and moisture states and fluxes. In turn, these interactions regulate the strength of the connection between surface moisture and precipitation in a coupled system. To address deficiencies in numerical weather prediction and climate models due to improper treatment of L-A interactions, recent studies have focused on development of diagnostics to quantify the strength and accuracy of the land-PBL coupling at the process-level. In this study, a diagnosis of the nature and impacts oflocalland-atmosphere coupling (LoCo) during dry and wet extreme conditions is presented using a combination of models and observations during the summers of2006-7 in the U.S. Southern Great Plains. Specifically, the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model has been coupled to NASA's Land Information System (LIS), which provides a flexible and high-resolution representation and initialization of land surface physics and states. A range of diagnostics exploring the links and feedbacks between soil moisture and precipitation are examined for the dry/wet regimes of this region, along with the behavior and accuracy of different land-PBL scheme couplings under these conditions. In addition, we examine the impact of improved specification ofland surface states, anomalies, and fluxes that are obtained through the use of a hew optimization and uncertainty module in LIS, on the L-A coupling in WRF forecasts. Results demonstrate how LoCo diagnostics can be applied to coupled model components in the context of their integrated impacts on the process-chain connecting the land surface to the PBL and support of hydrological anomalies.

Effects of mercury on health and first-year survival of free-ranging great egrets (Ardea albus) from southern Florida.

Science.gov (United States)

Sepúlveda, M S; Williams, G E; Frederick, P C; Spalding, M G

1999-10-01

The objectives of this study were to determine whether elevated mercury (Hg) concentrations have a negative impact on the health and survival of nestling and juvenile free-ranging great egrets (Ardea albus) from southern Florida. During 1994, when health and survival was monitored in a cohort of young birds with naturally variable concentrations of Hg, packed cell volume was positively correlated with blood Hg concentrations, and high Hg concentration in blood was not related to the probability of surviving during the first 10.5 months of life. During 1995, 70 first-hatched great egret chicks were included in a Hg field-dosing experiment to compare the effects of elevated Hg on health and survival. Birds were dosed while in the nest orally every 2.5 days for 15 days with 0.5 mg of methyl mercury chloride (MeHgCl) for an estimated intake of 1.54 mg MeHgCl/kg food intake. These birds were compared with controls, which received an estimated 0.41 mg MeHgCl/kg food. No differences were observed in health parameters or in the probability of surviving during the first 8 months of age between egrets that were dosed with Hg and those that were not. A likely explanation for the lack of any effects on health and survival between both groups could be that chicks at this age were eliminating most of the dietary Hg through the production of new feathers.

Monitoring Urbanization-Related Land Cover Change on the U.S. Great Plains and Impacts on Remotely Sensed Vegetation Dynamics

Science.gov (United States)

Krehbiel, C. P.; Jackson, T.; Henebry, G. M.

2014-12-01

Earth is currently in an era of rapid urban growth with >50% of global population living in urban areas. Urbanization occurs alongside urban population growth, as cities expand to meet the demands of increasing population. Consequently, there is a need for remote sensing research to detect, monitor, and measure urbanization and its impacts on the biosphere. Here we used MODIS and Landsat data products to (1) detect urbanization-related land cover changes, (2) investigate urbanization-related impacts on land surface phenology (LSP) across rural to urban gradients and (3) explore fractional vegetation and impervious surface area regionally across the US Great Plains and within 14 cities in this region. We used the NLCD Percent Impervious Surface Area (%ISA) and Land Cover Type (LCT) products from 2001, 2006, and 2011 for 30m classification of the peri-urban environment. We investigated the impacts of urbanization-related land cover change on urban LSP at 30m resolution using the NDVI product from Web Enabled Landsat Data (http://weld.cr.usgs.gov) with accumulated growing degree-days calculated from first-order weather stations. We fitted convex quadratic LSP models to a decade (2003-2012) of observations to yield these phenometrics: modeled peak NDVI, time (thermal and calendar) to modeled peak, duration of season (DOS), and model fit. We compared our results to NDVI from MODIS NBAR (500m) and we explored the utility of 4 μm radiance (MODIS band 23) at 1 km resolution to characterize fractional vegetation dynamics in and around urbanized areas. Across all 14 cities we found increases in urbanized area (>25 %ISA) exceeding 10% from 2001-2011. Using LSP phenometrics, we were able to detect changes from cropland to suburban LCTs. In general we found negative relationships between DOS and distance from city center. We found a distinct seasonal cycle of MIR radiance over cropland LCTs due to the spectral contrast between bare soils and green vegetation.

Validating the use of 137Cs and 210Pbex measurements to estimate rates of soil loss from cultivated land in southern Italy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Porto, Paolo; Walling, Des E.

2012-01-01

Soil erosion represents an important threat to the long-term sustainability of agriculture and forestry in many areas of the world, including southern Italy. Numerous models and prediction procedures have been developed to estimate rates of soil loss and soil redistribution, based on the local topography, hydrometeorology, soil type and land management. However, there remains an important need for empirical measurements to provide a basis for validating and calibrating such models and prediction procedures as well as to support specific investigations and experiments. In this context, erosion plots provide useful information on gross rates of soil loss, but are unable to document the efficiency of the onward transfer of the eroded sediment within a field and towards the stream system, and thus net rates of soil loss from larger areas. The use of environmental radionuclides, particularly caesium-137 ( 137 Cs) and excess lead-210 ( 210 Pb ex ), as a means of estimating rates of soil erosion and deposition has attracted increasing attention in recent years and the approach has now been recognised as possessing several important advantages. In order to provide further confirmation of the validity of the estimates of longer-term erosion and soil redistribution rates provided by 137 Cs and 210 Pb ex measurements, there is a need for studies aimed explicitly at validating the results obtained. In this context, the authors directed attention to the potential offered by a set of small erosion plots located near Reggio Calabria in southern Italy, for validating estimates of soil loss provided by 137 Cs and 210 Pb ex measurements. A preliminary assessment suggested that, notwithstanding the limitations and constraints involved, a worthwhile investigation aimed at validating the use of 137 Cs and 210 Pb ex measurements to estimate rates of soil loss from cultivated land could be undertaken. The results demonstrate a close consistency between the measured rates of soil loss and

Validating the use of 137Cs and 210Pbex measurements to estimate rates of soil loss from cultivated land in southern Italy.

Science.gov (United States)

Porto, Paolo; Walling, Des E

2012-04-01

Soil erosion represents an important threat to the long-term sustainability of agriculture and forestry in many areas of the world, including southern Italy. Numerous models and prediction procedures have been developed to estimate rates of soil loss and soil redistribution, based on the local topography, hydrometeorology, soil type and land management. However, there remains an important need for empirical measurements to provide a basis for validating and calibrating such models and prediction procedures as well as to support specific investigations and experiments. In this context, erosion plots provide useful information on gross rates of soil loss, but are unable to document the efficiency of the onward transfer of the eroded sediment within a field and towards the stream system, and thus net rates of soil loss from larger areas. The use of environmental radionuclides, particularly caesium-137 ((137)Cs) and excess lead-210 ((210)Pb(ex)), as a means of estimating rates of soil erosion and deposition has attracted increasing attention in recent years and the approach has now been recognised as possessing several important advantages. In order to provide further confirmation of the validity of the estimates of longer-term erosion and soil redistribution rates provided by (137)Cs and (210)Pb(ex) measurements, there is a need for studies aimed explicitly at validating the results obtained. In this context, the authors directed attention to the potential offered by a set of small erosion plots located near Reggio Calabria in southern Italy, for validating estimates of soil loss provided by (137)Cs and (210)Pb(ex) measurements. A preliminary assessment suggested that, notwithstanding the limitations and constraints involved, a worthwhile investigation aimed at validating the use of (137)Cs and (210)Pb(ex) measurements to estimate rates of soil loss from cultivated land could be undertaken. The results demonstrate a close consistency between the measured rates of soil

SAFARI 2000 Estimated BVOC Emissions for Southern African Land Cover Types

Data.gov (United States)

National Aeronautics and Space Administration — ABSTRACT: Improved vegetation distribution and emission data for Africa south of the equator were developed for the Southern African Regional Science Initiative...

BLM/OCS Southern California Outer Continental Shelf Environmental Baseline Studies

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Data in this file were produced by Science Applications, Inc., prime contractor on the Bureau of Land Management/Outer Continental Shelf - Southern California...

SAFARI 2000 Estimated BVOC Emissions for Southern African Land Cover Types

Data.gov (United States)

National Aeronautics and Space Administration — Improved vegetation distribution and emission data for Africa south of the equator were developed for the Southern African Regional Science Initiative (SAFARI 2000)...

Wet Snow Mapping in Southern Ontario with Sentinel-1A Observations

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, H.; Kelly, R. E. J.

2017-12-01

Wet snow is defined as snow with liquid water present in an ice-water mix. It is can be an indicator for the onset of the snowmelt period. Knowledge about the extent of wet snow area can be of great importance for the monitoring of seasonal snowmelt runoff with climate-induced changes in snowmelt duration having implications for operational hydrological and ecological applications. Spaceborne microwave remote sensing has been used to observe seasonal snow under all-weather conditions. Active microwave observations of snow at C-band are sensitive to wet snow due to the high dielectric contrast with non-wet snow surfaces and synthetic aperture radar (SAR) is now openly available to identify and map the wet snow areas globally at relatively fine spatial resolutions ( 100m). In this study, a semi-automated workflow is developed from the change detection method of Nagler et al. (2016) using multi-temporal Sentinel-1A (S1A) dual-polarization observations of Southern Ontario. Weather station data and visible-infrared satellite observations are used to refine the wet snow area estimates. Wet snow information from National Operational Hydrologic Remote Sensing Center (NOHRSC) is used to compare with the S1A estimates. A time series of wet snow maps shows the variations in backscatter from wet snow on a pixel basis. Different land cover types in Southern Ontario are assessed with respect to their impacts on wet snow estimates. While forests and complex land surfaces can impact the ability to map wet snow, the approach taken is robust and illustrates the strong sensitivity of the approach to wet snow backscattering characteristics. The results indicate the feasibility of the change detection method on non-mountainous large areas and address the usefulness of Sentinel-1A data for wet snow mapping.

Ecological Carrying Capacity of Land Use Changes in Da'an City

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, H.; Zhang, J.; Li, B.

2018-04-01

Based on GIS and RS technology, this paper analyzed the land use change in Da'an city from 1995 to 2010. land-use ecological evaluation index was constructed to evaluate the land-use ecological risk of Da 'an city dynamically, and the land-use ecological risk level map was made, and then the distribution and change of the land-use ecological carrying capacity pattern of Da'an city were analyzed qualitatively. According to the evaluation results of ecological carrying capacity, the ecological environment of Da'an city has deteriorated in fifteen years. in 1995, the poor ecological environment area is mainly distributed in the northeast area of Da'an city, and the area is small, while the area of the central and southern areas is large; In 2010, the western region also appeared environmental degradation, the northeast environment deterioration is serious, the dominant area is reduced, and a small amount of deterioration in the central and southern regions. According to the study of this paper, in the future, we should strengthen the comprehensive management of this part of the area, strengthen vegetation coverage, reduce soil erosion, ensure the effective improvement of ecological environment.

Chondrosarcoma in a wild great white heron from southern Florida.

Science.gov (United States)

Spalding, M G; Woodard, J C

1992-01-01

A typical chondrosarcoma is reported from the nictitating membrane of a great white heron (Ardea herodius occidentalis). This is the first report of a neoplasm in a free flying ciconiiform, and was the only one found in a survey of 957 carcasses from Florida.

Vertically resolved concentration and liquid water content of atmospheric nanoparticles at the US DOE Southern Great Plains site

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

H. Chen

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Most prior field studies of new particle formation (NPF have been performed at or near ground level, leaving many unanswered questions regarding the vertical extent of NPF. To address this, we measured concentrations of 11–16 nm diameter particles from ground level to 1000 m during the 2013 New Particle Formation Study at the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement Southern Great Plains site in Lamont, Oklahoma. The measurements were performed using a tethered balloon carrying two condensation particle counters that were configured for two different particle cut-off diameters. These observations were compared to data from three scanning mobility particle sizers at the ground level. We observed that 11–16 nm diameter particles were generated at the top region of the boundary layer, and were then rapidly mixed throughout the boundary layer. We also estimate liquid water content of nanoparticles using ground-based measurements of particle hygroscopicity obtained with a Humidified Tandem Differential Mobility Analyzer and vertically resolved relative humidity (RH and temperature measured with a Raman lidar. Our analyses of these observations lead to the following conclusions regarding nanoparticles formed during NPF events at this site: (1 ground-based observations may not always accurately represent the timing, distribution, and meteorological conditions associated with the onset of NPF; (2 nanoparticles are highly hygroscopic and typically contain up to 50 % water by volume, and during conditions of high RH combined with high particle hygroscopicity, particles can be up to 95 % water by volume; (3 increased liquid water content of nanoparticles at high RH greatly enhances the partitioning of water-soluble species like organic acids into ambient nanoparticles.

Vertically resolved concentration and liquid water content of atmospheric nanoparticles at the US DOE Southern Great Plains site

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Haihan; Hodshire, Anna L.; Ortega, John; Greenberg, James; McMurry, Peter H.; Carlton, Annmarie G.; Pierce, Jeffrey R.; Hanson, Dave R.; Smith, James N.

2018-01-01

Most prior field studies of new particle formation (NPF) have been performed at or near ground level, leaving many unanswered questions regarding the vertical extent of NPF. To address this, we measured concentrations of 11-16 nm diameter particles from ground level to 1000 m during the 2013 New Particle Formation Study at the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement Southern Great Plains site in Lamont, Oklahoma. The measurements were performed using a tethered balloon carrying two condensation particle counters that were configured for two different particle cut-off diameters. These observations were compared to data from three scanning mobility particle sizers at the ground level. We observed that 11-16 nm diameter particles were generated at the top region of the boundary layer, and were then rapidly mixed throughout the boundary layer. We also estimate liquid water content of nanoparticles using ground-based measurements of particle hygroscopicity obtained with a Humidified Tandem Differential Mobility Analyzer and vertically resolved relative humidity (RH) and temperature measured with a Raman lidar. Our analyses of these observations lead to the following conclusions regarding nanoparticles formed during NPF events at this site: (1) ground-based observations may not always accurately represent the timing, distribution, and meteorological conditions associated with the onset of NPF; (2) nanoparticles are highly hygroscopic and typically contain up to 50 % water by volume, and during conditions of high RH combined with high particle hygroscopicity, particles can be up to 95 % water by volume; (3) increased liquid water content of nanoparticles at high RH greatly enhances the partitioning of water-soluble species like organic acids into ambient nanoparticles.

The Great Famine in Nationalist and Land League propaganda 1879-1882

OpenAIRE

RYNNE, Frank

2015-01-01

Introduction In the late 1870s news of famines in India and China appeared continuously in Irish newspapers. The reporting of these famines in Ireland sometimes directly alluded to Ireland’s Great Famine with The Nation reporting: A great deal has been said about over-population in India, just as there has been talk about overpopulation in Ireland, and the Earl of Beaconsfield, or some other political leader, may yet call for three cheers for famine for having removed "the redundant people."...

Soyabeans and sustainable agriculture in southern Africa

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Giller, K.E.; Murwira, M.S.; Dhliwayo, D.K.C.; Mafongoya, P.L.; Mpepereki, S.

2011-01-01

Maize is the dominant staple crop across most of southern Africa - it is so dominant in some areas that more than 80 per cent of the smallholder land area is planted with maize. Soyabean was identified as the crop with a potential to address the need for diversifying the cropping systems, which

Adjustments in channel morphology due to land-use changes and check dam installation in mountain torrents of Calabria (Southern Italy)

Science.gov (United States)

Fortugno, Diego; Zema, Demetrio Antonio; Bombino, Giuseppe; Tamburino, Vincenzo; Quinonero Rubio, Juan Manuel; Boix-Fayos, Carolina

2016-04-01

In Mediterranean semi-arid conditions the geomorphic effects of land-use changes and check dam installation on active channel headwater morphology are not completely understood. In such environments, the availability of specific studies, which monitor channel adjustments as a response to reforestation and check dams over representative observation periods, could help develop new management strategies and erosion control measures. This investigation is an integrated approach assessing the adjustments of channel morphology in a typical torrent (Sant'Agata, Calabria, Southern Italy) after land-use changes (e.g. fire, reforestation, land abandonment) and check dam construction across a period of about 60 years (1955-2012). A statistical analysis of historical rainfall records, an analysis of land-use change in the catchment area and a geomorphological mapping of channel adjustments were carried out and combined with field surveys of bed surface grain-size over a 5-km reach including 14 check dams. The analysis of the historical rainfall records showed a slight decrease in the amount and erosivity of precipitation. Mapping of land-use changes highlighted a general increase of vegetal coverage on the slopes adjacent to the monitored reaches. Together with the check dam network installation, this increase could have induced a reduction in water and sediment supply. The different erosional and depositional forms and adjustments showed a general narrowing between consecutive check dams together with local modifications detected upstream (bed aggradation and cross section expansion together with low-flow realignments) and downstream (local incision) of the installed check dams. Changes in the torrent bends were also detected as a response to erosional and depositional processes with different intensities. The study highlighted: (i) the efficiency of check dams against the disrupting power of the most intense floods by stabilising the active channel; and (ii) the influence of

Land-use changes, farm management and the decline of butterflies associated with semi-natural grasslands in southern Sweden

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sven G. Nilsson

2013-11-01

Full Text Available Currently, we are experiencing biodiversity loss on different spatial scales. One of the best studied taxonomic groups in decline is the butterflies. Here, we review evidence for such declines using five systematic studies from southern Sweden that compare old butterfly surveys with the current situation. Additionally, we provide data on butterfly and burnet moth extinctions in the region’s counties. In some local areas, half of the butterfly fauna has been lost during the last 60-100 years. In terms of extinctions, counties have lost 2-10 butterfly and burnet moth species. Land use has changed markedly with key butterfly habitats such as hay meadows disappearing at alarming rates. Grazed, mixed open woodlands have been transformed into dense coniferous forests and clear-cuts and domestic grazers have been relocated from woodlands to arable fields and semi-natural grasslands. Ley has increased rapidly and is used for bale silage repeatedly during the season. Overall, the changed and intensified land use has markedly reduced the availability of nectar resources in the landscape. Species that decline in Sweden are strongly decreasing or already extinct in other parts of Europe. Many typical grassland species that were numerous in former times have declined severely; among those Hesperia comma, Lycaena virgaureae, Lycaena hippothoe, Argynnis adippe, and Polyommatus semiargus. Also, species associated with open woodlands and wetlands such as, Colias palaeno, Boloria euphrosyne and the glade-inhabiting Leptidea sinapis have all decreased markedly. Current management practise and EU Common Agricultural Policy rules favour intensive grazing on the remaining semi-natural grasslands, with strong negative effects on butterfly diversity. Abandoned grasslands are very common in less productive areas of southern Sweden and these habitats may soon become forests. There is an urgent need for immediate action to preserve unfertilized, mown and lightly grazed

Evaluating Impacts of Land Use/Land Cover Change on Water Resources in Semiarid Regions

Science.gov (United States)

Scanlon, B. R.; Faunt, C. C.; Pool, D. R.; Reedy, R. C.

2017-12-01

Land use/land cover (LU/LC) changes play an integral role in water resources by controlling the partitioning of water at the land surface. Here we evaluate impacts of changing LU/LC on water resources in response to climate variation and change and land use change related to agriculture using data from semiarid regions in the southwestern U.S. Land cover changes in response to climate can amplify or dampen climate impacts on water resources. Changes from wet Pleistocene to much drier Holocene climate resulted in expansion of perennial vegetation, amplifying climate change impacts on water resources by reducing groundwater recharge as shown in soil profiles in the southwestern U.S.. In contrast, vegetation response to climate extremes, including droughts and floods, dampen impacts of these extremes on water resources, as shown by water budget monitoring in the Mojave Desert. Agriculture often involves changes from native perennial vegetation to annual crops increasing groundwater recharge in many semiarid regions. Irrigation based on conjunctive use of surface water and groundwater increases water resource availability, as shown in the Central Valley of California and in southern Arizona. Surface water irrigation in these regions is enhanced by water transported from more humid settings through extensive pipelines. These projects have reversed long-term declining groundwater trends in some regions. While irrigation design has often focused on increased efficiency, "more crop per drop", optimal water resource management may benefit more from inefficient (e.g. flood irrigation) surface-water irrigation combined with efficient (e.g. subsurface drip) irrigation to maximize groundwater recharge, as seen in parts of the Central Valley. Flood irrigation of perennial crops, such as almonds and vineyards, during winter is being considered in the Central Valley to enhance groundwater recharge. Managed aquifer recharge can be considered a special case of conjunctive use of

Temporal complexity of southern Beaufort Sea polar bear diets during a period of increasing land use

Science.gov (United States)

McKinney, Melissa A.; Atwood, Todd C.; Iverson, Sara J.; Peacock, Elizabeth

2017-01-01

From 2000 to 2013, use of land as a seasonal habitat by polar bears (Ursus maritimus) of the southern Beaufort Sea (SB) subpopulation substantially increased. This onshore use has been linked to reduced spatial and temporal availability of sea ice, as well as to the availability of subsistence‐harvested bowhead whale (Balaena mysticetus) bone piles. Here, we evaluated the role of climate conditions on consumption of traditional ice‐associated prey relative to onshore bowhead whale bone piles. We determined seasonal and interannual trends in the diets of SB polar bears using fatty acid‐based analysis during this period of increasing land use. Diet estimates of 569 SB polar bears from 2004 to 2012 showed high seasonal fluctuations in the proportions of prey consumed. Higher proportions of bowhead whale, as well as ringed seal (Pusa hispida) and beluga whale (Delphinapterus leucas), were estimated to occur in the winter–spring diet, while higher proportions of bearded seal (Erignathus barbatus) were estimated for summer–fall diets. Trends in the annual mean proportions of individual prey items were not found in either period, except for significant declines in the proportion of beluga in spring‐sampled bears. Nonetheless, in years following a high winter Arctic oscillation index, proportions of ice‐associated ringed seal were lower in the winter–spring diets of adult females and juveniles. Proportions of bowhead increased in the winter–spring diets of adult males with the number of ice‐free days over the continental shelf. In one or both seasons, polar bears that were in better condition were estimated to have consumed less ringed seal and/or more bowhead whale than those in worse condition. Therefore, climate variation over this recent period appeared to influence the extent of onshore vs. on‐ice food use, which in turn, appeared to be linked to fluctuating condition of SB polar bears.

Adaptation of C4 Bioenergy Crop Species to Various Environments within the Southern Great Plains of USA

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sumin Kim

2017-01-01

Full Text Available As highly productive perennial grasses are evaluated as bioenergy feedstocks, a major consideration is biomass yield stability. Two experiments were conducted to examine some aspects of yield stability for two biofuel species: switchgrass (Panicum vigratum L. and Miscanthus x giganteus (Mxg. Biomass yields of these species were evaluated under various environmental conditions across the Southern Great Plains (SGP, including some sites with low soil fertility. In the first experiment, measured yields of four switchgrass ecotypes and Mxg varied among locations. Overall, plants showed optimal growth performance in study sites close to their geographical origins. Lowland switchgrass ecotypes and Mxg yields simulated by the ALMANAC model showed reasonable agreement with the measured yields across all study locations, while the simulated yields of upland switchgrass ecotypes were overestimated in northern locations. In the second experiment, examination of different N fertilizer rates revealed switchgrass yield increases over the range of 0, 80, or 160 kg N ha−1 year−1, while Mxg only showed yield increases between the low and medium N rates. This provides useful insights to crop management of two biofuel species and to enhance the predictive accuracy of process-based models, which are critical for developing bioenergy market systems in the SGP.

Chapter 16. Conservation status of great gray owls in the United States

Science.gov (United States)

Gregory D. Hayward

1994-01-01

Previous chapters outlined the biology and ecology of great gray owls as well as the ecology of this species in the western United States. That technical review provides the basis to assess the current conservation status of great gray owls in the United States. Are populations of great gray owls in the United States currently threatened? Are current land management...

The Water Reuse project: Sustainable waste water re-use technologies for irrigated land in NIS and southern European states; project overview and results.

Science.gov (United States)

van den Elsen, E.; Doerr, S.; Ritsema, C. J.

2009-04-01

In irrigated areas in the New Independent States (NIS) and southern European States, inefficient use of conventional water resources occurs through incomplete wetting of soils, which causes accelerated runoff and preferential flow, and also through excessive evaporation associated with unhindered capillary rise. Furthermore, a largely unexploited potential exists to save conventional irrigation water by supplementation with organic-rich waste water, which, if used appropriately, can also lead to improvements to soil physical properties and soil nutrient and organic matter content. This project aims to (a) reduce irrigation water losses by developing, evaluating and promoting techniques that improve the wetting properties of soils, and (b) investigate the use of organic-rich waste water as a non-conventional water resource in irrigation and, in addition, as a tool in improving soil physical properties and soil nutrient and organic matter content. Key activities include (i) identifying, for the NIS and southern European partner countries, the soil type/land use combinations, for which the above approaches are expected to be most effective and their implementation most feasible, using physical and socio-economic research methods, and (ii) examining the water saving potential, physical, biological and chemical effects on soils of the above approaches, and also their impact on performance. Expected outputs include techniques for sustainable improvements in soil wettability management as a novel approach in water saving, detailed evaluation of the prospects and effects of using supplemental organic-rich waste waters in irrigation, an advanced process-based numerical hydrological model, fully adapted to quantify and upscale resulting water savings and nutrient and potential contaminant fluxes for irrigated areas, and identification of suitable areas in the NIS and Mediterranean (in soil, land use, legislative and socio-economic terms) for implementation.

76 FR 32857 - Great Outdoors Month, 2011

Science.gov (United States)

2011-06-07

... protecting an iconic vast public land, or by creating a community garden or an urban park. Last year, I was... leaders, students, and community groups led to a report unveiled in February, America's Great Outdoors: A Promise to Future Generations, which lays the foundation for smarter, more community-driven action to...

Geochemical signature of land-based activities in Caribbean coral surface samples

Science.gov (United States)

Prouty, N.G.; Hughen, K.A.; Carilli, J.

2008-01-01

Anthropogenic threats, such as increased sedimentation, agrochemical run-off, coastal development, tourism, and overfishing, are of great concern to the Mesoamerican Caribbean Reef System (MACR). Trace metals in corals can be used to quantify and monitor the impact of these land-based activities. Surface coral samples from the MACR were investigated for trace metal signatures resulting from relative differences in water quality. Samples were analyzed at three spatial scales (colony, reef, and regional) as part of a hierarchical multi-scale survey. A primary goal of the paper is to elucidate the extrapolation of information between fine-scale variation at the colony or reef scale and broad-scale patterns at the regional scale. Of the 18 metals measured, five yielded statistical differences at the colony and/or reef scale, suggesting fine-scale spatial heterogeneity not conducive to regional interpretation. Five metals yielded a statistical difference at the regional scale with an absence of a statistical difference at either the colony or reef scale. These metals are barium (Ba), manganese (Mn), chromium (Cr), copper (Cu), and antimony (Sb). The most robust geochemical indicators of land-based activities are coral Ba and Mn concentrations, which are elevated in samples from the southern region of the Gulf of Honduras relative to those from the Turneffe Islands. These findings are consistent with the occurrence of the most significant watersheds in the MACR from southern Belize to Honduras, which contribute sediment-laden freshwater to the coastal zone primarily as a result of human alteration to the landscape (e.g., deforestation and agricultural practices). Elevated levels of Cu and Sb were found in samples from Honduras and may be linked to industrial shipping activities where copper-antimony additives are commonly used in antifouling paints. Results from this study strongly demonstrate the impact of terrestrial runoff and anthropogenic activities on coastal water

Impacts of decadal variations in natural emissions due to land-cover changes on ozone production in southern China

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mengmeng Li

2015-09-01

Full Text Available The decadal variations in emissions of high-reactivity biogenic volatile organics (BVOCs, as a result of land-cover changes, could significantly impact ozone (O3 production. In this study, the Weather Research and Forecasting/Chemistry (WRF/Chem modelling system, coupled with dynamic vegetation data sets derived from Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS, 2001–2012 and Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR, early 1990s measurements, were used to investigate the impacts of land-cover changes on natural emissions, and consequently O3 production, in the Pearl River Delta (PRD region of southern China over the past two decades. Model results indicate that BVOC emissions were highly dependent on forest area. The total BVOC emissions in the modelling domain increased by a factor of two due to afforestation since the early 1990s, declined slowly (−5.8% yr−1 until 2006 and then increased continuously (+9.1% yr−1 to 2012. The decadal variations in BVOC emissions have complex implications for summer O3 production in PRD, depending on the chemical regimes and prevailing winds. The impacts on O3 production were most sensitive in downwind areas, and it was found that the large increase in BVOC emissions during 2006–2012 tended to reduce surface O3 concentrations by 1.6–2.5 ppb in rural regions, but caused an increment of O3 peaks by up to 2.0–6.0 ppb in VOC-limited urban areas (e.g., Guangzhou, Foshan and Zhongshan. The opposite was true in the period 2001–2006, when the reduced BVOC emissions resulted in 1.3–4.0 ppb increases in daytime O3 concentrations over northern rural regions. Impact of the two-fold increase in BVOC emissions since the early 1990s to 2006 was a 0.9–4.6 ppb increment in surface O3 concentrations over the downwind areas. This study suggests that the potential impacts on ozone chemistry should be considered in long-term land-use planning and air-quality management.

Groundwater Depletion and the Sharp Increase of Seismicity in the Southern States, How GRACE Data Could Help?

Science.gov (United States)

Hong, Z.; Hasan, E.; Hong, Y.; Xia, B.; Zhong, H.

2016-12-01

This study is a contribution to how NASA's Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) data may be used to track anthropogenic related change in the groundwater in the Southern Great Plains (SGP) as well recently increased seismicity in the southern states. The SGP contains one of the most important groundwater aquifers in the United States, the Ogallala groundwater aquifer, which has been exploited since 1900. Meanwhile, the recent activities of oil and gas extraction from the unconventional shall reservoir systems has led to significantly increased groundwater withdrawal and injection of wastewater. Consequently, numerous induced fracture related earthquakes have been recorded in Oklahoma and Texas between 2002 and 2016 The current paper investigates the utility of GRACE data along with the Land Water Content (LWC) information from the Global Land Data Assimilation System (GLDAS) to monitor and track the groundwater changes in three southern states of SGP (Oklahoma, Texas and New Mexico). Additionally, the paper investigates links between active seismicity and the injection of the wastewater due to the oil and gas production. Using GRACE data yields unprecedented information about the inter-annual changes in the Total Water Storage (TWS) from 2002 to 2016 over SGP. The LWC data set sums the soil moisture records with the the total canopy water storage to reveal the total land surface water content. The arithmetic difference between the TWS and LWC is the Groundwater Anomaly (GWA) for any particular region. In the current study, the GWA analysis reveals the following: (1) statistically significant drop of the GWA of about - 27 mm from 2002 to 2007 due to natural and anthropogenic causes; (2) the increased precipitation records from 2008 to 2011 over SGP leads to significant recovery in TWS and an increase in the groundwater content of about 40 mm; (3) the period from 2012 to 2015 experienced increased GWA of about - 6 mm for the period. Using the available

Hyalomma ticks on northward migrating birds in southern Spain: Implications for the risk of entry of Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever virus to Great Britain.

Science.gov (United States)

England, Marion E; Phipps, Paul; Medlock, Jolyon M; Atkinson, Peter M; Atkinson, Barry; Hewson, Roger; Gale, Paul

2016-06-01

Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever virus (CCHFV) is a zoonotic virus transmitted by Hyalomma ticks, the immature stages of which may be carried by migratory birds. In this study, a total of 12 Hyalomma ticks were recovered from five of 228 migratory birds trapped in Spring, 2012 in southern Spain along the East Atlantic flyway. All collected ticks tested negative for CCHFV. While most birds had zero Hyalomma ticks, two individuals had four and five ticks each and the statistical distribution of Hyalomma tick counts per bird is over-dispersed compared to the Poisson distribution, demonstrating the need for intensive sampling studies to avoid underestimating the total number of ticks. Rates of tick exchange on migratory birds during their northwards migration will affect the probability that a Hyalomma tick entering Great Britain is positive for CCHFV. Drawing on published data, evidence is presented that the latitude of a European country affects the probability of entry of Hyalomma ticks on wild birds. Further data on Hyalomma infestation rates and tick exchange rates are required along the East Atlantic flyway to further our understanding of the origin of Hyalomma ticks (i.e., Africa or southern Europe) and hence the probability of entry of CCHFV into GB. © 2016 The Society for Vector Ecology.

Can conservation trump impacts of climate change on soil erosion? An assessment from winter wheat cropland in the Southern Great Plains of the United States

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jurgen D. Garbrecht

2015-12-01

Full Text Available With the need to increase crop production to meet the needs of a growing population, protecting the productivity of our soil resource is essential. However, conservationists are concerned that conservation practices that were effective in the past may no longer be effective in the future under projected climate change. In winter wheat cropland in the Southern Great Plains of the U.S., increased precipitation intensity and increased aridity associated with warmer temperatures may pose increased risks of soil erosion from vulnerable soils and landscapes. This investigation was undertaken to determine which conservation practices would be necessary and sufficient to hold annual soil erosion by water under a high greenhouse gas emission scenario at or below the present soil erosion levels. Advances in and benefits of agricultural soil and water conservation over the last century in the United States are briefly reviewed, and challenges and climate uncertainties confronting resource conservation in this century are addressed. The Water Erosion Prediction Project (WEPP computer model was used to estimate future soil erosion by water from winter wheat cropland in Central Oklahoma and for 10 projected climates and 7 alternative conservation practices. A comparison with soil erosion values under current climate conditions and conventional tillage operations showed that, on average, a switch from conventional to conservation tillage would be sufficient to offset the average increase in soil erosion by water under most projected climates. More effective conservation practices, such as conservation tillage with a summer cover crop would be required to control soil erosion associated with the most severe climate projections. It was concluded that a broad range of conservation tools are available to agriculture to offset projected future increases in soil erosion by water even under assumed worst case climate change scenarios in Central Oklahoma. The problem

Coastal Urbanization and Land Planning in Southern France

OpenAIRE

Robert , Samuel; Prévost , Aurélie; Fox , Dennis; Trémélo , Marie-Laure; Pasqualini , Vanina

2015-01-01

International audience; Urban sprawl is one of the main pressures affecting coastal areas in the Mediterranean. To assist spatial planning and coastal management policies, the study of urbanization and the characterization of the evolution of built-up areas along the coast are essential prerequisites. In this perspective, the production of land use data sets at a large-scale is necessary. They allow spatio-temporal analysis and, simultaneously, may be used to assess the efficiency of city pla...

76 FR 30739 - Notice of Availability of the Record of Decision for Southern California Edison's Eldorado...

Science.gov (United States)

2011-05-26

... LLCAD09000] Notice of Availability of the Record of Decision for Southern California Edison's Eldorado... INFORMATION: Southern California Edison (SCE) filed an application under Title V of the Federal Land Policy...) for further requirements. Authority: 40 CFR 1506.6. Thomas Pogacnik, Deputy State Director. [FR Doc...

Increased Wildfire Risk Driven by Climate and Development Interactions in the Bolivian Chiquitania, Southern Amazonia.

Science.gov (United States)

Devisscher, Tahia; Anderson, Liana O; Aragão, Luiz E O C; Galván, Luis; Malhi, Yadvinder

2016-01-01

Wildfires are becoming increasingly dominant in tropical landscapes due to reinforcing feedbacks between land cover change and more severe dry conditions. This study focused on the Bolivian Chiquitania, a region located at the southern edge of Amazonia. The extensive, unique and well-conserved tropical dry forest in this region is susceptible to wildfires due to a marked seasonality. We used a novel approach to assess fire risk at the regional level driven by different development trajectories interacting with changing climatic conditions. Possible future risk scenarios were simulated using maximum entropy modelling with presence-only data, combining land cover, anthropogenic and climatic variables. We found that important determinants of fire risk in the region are distance to roads, recent deforestation and density of human settlements. Severely dry conditions alone increased the area of high fire risk by 69%, affecting all categories of land use and land cover. Interactions between extreme dry conditions and rapid frontier expansion further increased fire risk, resulting in potential biomass loss of 2.44±0.8 Tg in high risk area, about 1.8 times higher than the estimates for the 2010 drought. These interactions showed particularly high fire risk in land used for 'extensive cattle ranching', 'agro-silvopastoral use' and 'intensive cattle ranching and agriculture'. These findings have serious implications for subsistence activities and the economy in the Chiquitania, which greatly depend on the forestry, agriculture and livestock sectors. Results are particularly concerning if considering the current development policies promoting frontier expansion. Departmental protected areas inhibited wildfires when strategically established in areas of high risk, even under drought conditions. However, further research is needed to assess their effectiveness accounting for more specific contextual factors. This novel and simple modelling approach can inform fire and land

Global Land Surface Temperature From the Along-Track Scanning Radiometers

Science.gov (United States)

Ghent, D. J.; Corlett, G. K.; Göttsche, F.-M.; Remedios, J. J.

2017-11-01

The Leicester Along-Track Scanning Radiometer (ATSR) and Sea and Land Surface Temperature Radiometer (SLSTR) Processor for LAnd Surface Temperature (LASPLAST) provides global land surface temperature (LST) products from thermal infrared radiance data. In this paper, the state-of-the-art version of LASPLAST, as deployed in the GlobTemperature project, is described and applied to data from the Advanced Along-Track Scanning Radiometer (AATSR). The LASPLAST retrieval formulation for LST is a nadir-only, two-channel, split-window algorithm, based on biome classification, fractional vegetation, and across-track water vapor dependences. It incorporates globally robust retrieval coefficients derived using highly sampled atmosphere profiles. LASPLAST benefits from appropriate spatial resolution auxiliary information and a new probabilistic-based cloud flagging algorithm. For the first time for a satellite-derived LST product, pixel-level uncertainties characterized in terms of random, locally correlated, and systematic components are provided. The new GlobTemperature GT_ATS_2P Version 1.0 product has been validated for 1 year of AATSR data (2009) against in situ measurements acquired from "gold standard reference" stations: Gobabeb, Namibia, and Evora, Portugal; seven Surface Radiation Budget stations, and the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement station at Southern Great Plains. These data show average absolute biases for the GT_ATS_2P Version 1.0 product of 1.00 K in the daytime and 1.08 K in the nighttime. The improvements in data provenance including better accuracy, fully traceable retrieval coefficients, quantified uncertainty, and more detailed information in the new harmonized format of the GT_ATS_2P product will allow for more significant exploitation of the historical LST data record from the ATSRs and a valuable near-real-time service from the Sea and Land Surface Temperature Radiometers (SLSTRs).

Assessing the Impacts of Climate and Land Use Change on Streamflow and Nutrient Loading in the Arroyo Colorado Watershed in Southern Texas

Science.gov (United States)

Osidele, O.; Sun, A.; Green, R.

2011-12-01

Based on results of the Second National Climate Assessment reported in 2009, the U.S. Global Change Research Program projects temperatures in southern Texas will increase 5 to 8° F by the end of the 21st century, with larger changes occurring under scenarios of higher greenhouse gas emissions. Temperature increases in summer are projected to be larger than in winter. Although drier conditions are expected in the region, sea-level rise, extreme rainfall events, and associated storm surges are projected to occur more frequently because of the likely increase in intensity of hurricanes and tropical storms in the Gulf of Mexico. The range of possible responses to climate change is attributable to a combination of characteristics at global, regional, and local scales. The risk of flooding and catastrophic infrastructure damage due to global climate phenomena has been incorporated into local climate adaptation plans for many low-lying areas and communities in the Gulf Coast region of southern Texas. However, because this region is dominated by irrigated agriculture and the population is projected to double by 2050, it is important to examine how climate change will affect water resources and environmental quality. The purpose of this study is to investigate the potential hydrologic and water quality impacts of projected climate change, land use change, and population change scenarios in the headwaters of the Arroyo Colorado. The results of this work will provide content for a web-based, collaborative geospatial decision support system being developed to support environmental management in the Arroyo Colorado Watershed. Presently, land use in the Arroyo Colorado Watershed is more than 50 percent agricultural and almost 25 percent residential with varying levels of urbanization. As a result, flow in the Arroyo Colorado is sustained primarily by discharge from municipal wastewater treatment facilities, irrigation return flows, and urban storm runoff. In this study

Potential of Sugarcane in Modern Energy Development in Southern Africa

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Souza, Simone P., E-mail: sp.souza@yahoo.com.br; Horta Nogueira, Luiz A. [Interdisciplinary Center for Energy Planning, University of Campinas (UNICAMP), Campinas, SP (Brazil); Watson, Helen K. [School of Agricultural, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, KZN (South Africa); Lynd, Lee Rybeck [Dartmouth College, Thayer School of Engineering, Dartmouth, NH (United States); Elmissiry, Mosad [New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD), Johannesburg, GT (South Africa); Cortez, Luís A. B. [Faculty of Agricultural Engineering, University of Campinas (UNICAMP), Campinas, SP (Brazil)

2016-12-26

For more than half of the Southern African population, human development is limited by a lack of access to electricity and modern energy for cooking. Modern bioenergy merits consideration as one means to address this situation in areas where sufficient arable land is available. While numerous studies have concluded that Africa has significant biomass potential, they do not indicate by how much it can effectively reduce the use of traditional biomass and provide more accessible energy, especially at a country level. Here, we evaluate the potential of sugarcane to replace traditional biomass and fossil fuel and enlarge the access to electricity in Southern Africa. By using its current molasses for ethanol production, Swaziland could increase electricity generation by 40% using bagasse and replace 60% of cooking fuel or 30% of liquid fossil fuel. Sugarcane expansion over 1% of the pasture land in Angola, Mozambique, and Zambia could replace greater than 70% of cooking fuel. Bioelectricity generation from modest sugarcane expansion could be increased by 10% in Malawi, Mozambique, and Zambia and by 20% in Angola. Our results support the potential of sugarcane as a modern energy alternative for Southern Africa.

Potential of Sugarcane in Modern Energy Development in Southern Africa

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Souza, Simone P.; Horta Nogueira, Luiz A.; Watson, Helen K.; Lynd, Lee Rybeck; Elmissiry, Mosad; Cortez, Luís A. B.

2016-01-01

For more than half of the Southern African population, human development is limited by a lack of access to electricity and modern energy for cooking. Modern bioenergy merits consideration as one means to address this situation in areas where sufficient arable land is available. While numerous studies have concluded that Africa has significant biomass potential, they do not indicate by how much it can effectively reduce the use of traditional biomass and provide more accessible energy, especially at a country level. Here, we evaluate the potential of sugarcane to replace traditional biomass and fossil fuel and enlarge the access to electricity in Southern Africa. By using its current molasses for ethanol production, Swaziland could increase electricity generation by 40% using bagasse and replace 60% of cooking fuel or 30% of liquid fossil fuel. Sugarcane expansion over 1% of the pasture land in Angola, Mozambique, and Zambia could replace greater than 70% of cooking fuel. Bioelectricity generation from modest sugarcane expansion could be increased by 10% in Malawi, Mozambique, and Zambia and by 20% in Angola. Our results support the potential of sugarcane as a modern energy alternative for Southern Africa.

Sixty-Seven Years of Land-Use Change in Southern Costa Rica.

Science.gov (United States)

Zahawi, Rakan A; Duran, Guillermo; Kormann, Urs

2015-01-01

Habitat loss and fragmentation of forests are among the biggest threats to biodiversity and associated ecosystem services in tropical landscapes. We use the vicinity of the Las Cruces Biological Station in southern Costa Rica as a regional case study to document seven decades of land-use change in one of the most intensively studied sites in the Neotropics. Though the premontane wet forest was largely intact in 1947, a wave of immigration in 1952 initiated rapid changes over a short period. Overall forest cover was reduced during each time interval analyzed (1947-1960, 1960-1980, 1980-1997, 1997-2014), although the vast majority of forest loss (>90%) occurred during the first two time intervals (1947-1960, 1960-1980) with an annual deforestation rate of 2.14% and 3.86%, respectively. The rate dropped to forest recovery in fallow areas more recently, but overall forest cover has continued to decline. Approximately 27.9% of the study area is forested currently. Concomitantly, the region shifted from a single contiguous forest to a series of progressively smaller forest fragments with each successive survey. A strong reduction in the amount of core habitat was paralleled by an increased proportion of edge habitat, due to the irregular shape of many forest fragments. Structural connectivity, however, remains high, with an expansive network of >100 km of linear strips of vegetation within a 3 km radius of the station, which may facilitate landscape-level movement for some species. Despite the extent of forest loss, a substantial number of regional landscape-level studies over the past two decades have demonstrated the persistence of many groups of organisms such as birds and mammals. Nonetheless, the continued decline in the quantity and quality of remaining habitat (~30% of remaining forest is secondary), as well as the threat of an extinction debt (or time lag in species loss), may result in the extirpation of additional species if more proactive conservation measures

Soil Erosion Research Based on USLE in Great Khinggan

OpenAIRE

Wei Li; Wenyi Fan; Xuegang Mao

2014-01-01

Based on the amended model of USLE universal soil loss equation and GIS technology, combined with the natural geographical features of Great Khinggan area, it has conducted quantitative analysis of the factor in Soil loss equation. Uses 2011 years TM/ETM images classification are land uses/cover type figure, combination Great Khinggan area Digital Elevation Model (DEM) and soil type distribution figure and research regional rainfall information, we gets all factors values of space distributio...

76 FR 10925 - Bio-Life Labs, Inc., BSI2000, Inc., Calais Resources, Inc., EGX Funds Transfer, Inc., Great...

Science.gov (United States)

2011-02-28

... SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION [File No. 500-1] Bio-Life Labs, Inc., BSI2000, Inc., Calais Resources, Inc., EGX Funds Transfer, Inc., Great Western Land Recreation, Inc. (a/k/a Great Western Land and... securities of Bio-Life Labs, Inc. because it has not filed any periodic reports since the period ended March...

The Neogene lakes on the Balkan land

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Krstić Nadežda

2012-01-01

Full Text Available Palaeogeographic maps of the lacustrine Miocene and Pliocene have been constructed according to all the known geological data. The Lakes of the Balkan Land, depending on the tectonics, migrated due to causes from the deep subsurface. There are several phases of the Miocene lakes: the lowermost Miocene transiting from marine Oligocene, Lower, Middle, Upper Miocene covering, in patches, the main part of the Land. The Pliocene lakes spread mostly to the north of the Balkan Land and covered only its marginal parts. Other lake-like sediments, in fact freshened parts of the Black Sea Kuialnician (Upper Pliocene, stretched along the middle and southern portions of the Balkan Peninsula (to the south of the Balkan Mt.. Subsequently, the Balkan Peninsula was formed.

Placing value on the products and patrimony of rural lands in southern Brazil: contribution to sustainable land development.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Claire Cerdan

2009-10-01

Full Text Available This article contributes an analysis of the way in which agents of rural development have elaborated and implemented mechanisms to place value on the local specificities within two states of Brazil’s southern region. Within this context, consideration of biological and cultural diversity from a perspective of sustainable development imposes itself, whether directly or indirectly. We base our argument on two case studies of experiences that promote these mechanisms through placing emphasis on origins: i beef produced in native pastures of Rio Grande do Sul and ii Goethe wine, made in the Urussanga region of Santa Catarina. Both cases are considered illustrative of the current phase of evolution of debates dealing with the interface of geographic origins, protection of national heritage and sustainable rural development. Keywords: rural development, sustainable development, cultural heritage, Southern Brazil.

Native plant development and restoration program for the Great Basin, USA

Science.gov (United States)

N. L. Shaw; M. Pellant; P. Olweli; S. L. Jensen; E. D. McArthur

2008-01-01

The Great Basin Native Plant Selection and Increase Project, organized by the USDA Bureau of Land Management, Great Basin Restoration Initiative and the USDA Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station in 2000 as a multi-agency collaborative program (http://www.fs.fed.us/rm/boise/research/shrub/greatbasin.shtml), has the objective of improving the availability of...

President's message on the first issue of the Southern Hemisphere ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

It was certainly with great sadness and nostalgia that the SAIF Council, and I am sure most members, saw the passing of the former Southern African Forestry Journal. This publication stood us in good stead for many years and it carried the thoughts and ideas of a great many pioneers to a forestry industry that has been ...

A Synthesis of Studies on Land Use and Land Cover Dynamics during 1930–2015 in Bangladesh

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Raju Rai

2017-10-01

Full Text Available Land use and land cover (LULC is dynamic and changes in it have important environmental and socio-economic consequences. The pathways and pace of change vary with space and time and are related to the interaction between human activities and biophysical conditions in an area. This study provides a systematic review of the changing status, patterns, and compositions of LULC in Bangladesh on national, regional, and local scales over the past 85 years. The primary LULC classes in Bangladesh are agricultural land, urban and built-up area, forest and vegetation, water bodies, and wetlands. Most of the country is covered with agricultural land, followed by urban areas; the latter has been expanding rapidly in the area surrounding the capital city, Dhaka, especially the southern capital area. Forest cover is mostly concentrated in southeast Bangladesh, the Chittagong district, and the mangrove forests are predominantly located in the southwest, with the Gangetic delta. High population growth, rapid urbanization, and infrastructure development have been directly associated with changing patterns of land use across the country. In recent decades, urban areas and water bodies have been increasing, to the detriment of both forests and agricultural land. Most of the studies reviewed here describe a general trend involving agricultural and forested land being transformed into urban areas.

Keeping "Community" in a Community Land Trust

Science.gov (United States)

Gray, Karen A.; Galande, Mugdha

2011-01-01

This instrumental case study examined the role of grassroots community organizing in a community land trust (CLT) in a southern U.S. city. Twenty-nine homeowners, renters, board members, community members, and current and former CLT employees were interviewed. In addition, two focus groups of 11 and six participants composed of CLT residents and…

Human interactions with the environment through time in southern Nevada [Chapter 8] (Executive Summary)

Science.gov (United States)

Carol B. Raish

2013-01-01

Southern Nevada is rich in irreplaceable cultural resources that include archeological remains, historic sites, cultural landscapes, and other areas of significance to Native Americans and other cultural groups. This chapter provides information related to Goal 2 in the SNAP Science Research Strategy, which is to “Provide for responsible use of Southern Nevada’s lands...

Saving Soil for Sustainable Land Use

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Carmelo M. Torre

2017-02-01

Full Text Available This paper experiments with some costs-benefit analyses, seeking a balance between soil-take and buildability due to land policy and management. The activities have been carried out inside the MITO lab (Lab for Multimedia Information for Territorial Objects of the Polytechnic University of Bari. Reports have been produced about the Southern Italian Apulia Region, which is rich in farmland and coastline, often invaded by construction, with a severe loss of nature, a degradation of the soil, landscape, and ecosystem services. A methodological approach to the assessment of sustainability of urban expansion related, on one hand, to “plus values” deriving from the transformation of urban fringes and, on the other hand to the analysis of the transition of land-use, with the aim of “saving soil” against urban sprawl. The loss of natural and agricultural surfaces due to the expanding artificial lands is an unsustainable character of urban development, especially in the manner in which it was carried out in past decades. We try to assess how plus value can be considered “unearned”, and to understand if the “land value recapture” can compensate for the negative environmental effects of urban expansion. We measured the transition from farmlands and natural habitat to urbanization with the support of the use of some Geographic Information Systems (GIS tools, in favor of a new artificial land cover in the region of Apulia, Southern Italy. Data have been collected at the regional scale and at the local level, producing information about land use change and increases of property values due to improvements, referring to the 258 municipalities of the region. Looking at the results of our measurements, we started an interpretation of the driving forces that favor the plus values due to the transition of land-use. Compensation, easements, recapture of plus value, and improvement are, nowadays in Italy, discussed as major land-policy tools for

Climate change induced by Southern Hemisphere desertification

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Ye; Yan, Xiaodong

2017-12-01

Some 10-20% of global dry-lands are already degraded, and the ongoing desertification threatens the world's poorest populations. Studies on desertification effects are essential for humans to adapt to the environmental challenges posed by desertification. Given the importance of the much larger southern ocean to the global climate and the Southern Hemisphere (SH) climate changes in phase with those in the north, the biogeophysical effects of the SH desertification on climate are assessed using an Earth system model of intermediate complexity, MPM-2. This analysis focuses on differences in climate among the averages of simulations with desert expansion in different latitude bands by year 2000. The localized desertification causes significant global changes in temperature and precipitation as well as surface albedo. On the global scale, cooling dominates the SH desertification effects. However, the biogeophysical effects are most significant in regions with desertification, and the cooling is also prominent in northern mid-latitudes. Desert expansion in 15°-30°S reveals statistically most significant cooling and increased precipitation over the forcing regions during spring. The global and regional scale responses from desertification imply the climate teleconnection and address the importance of the effects from the SH which are contingent on the location of the forcing. Our study indicates that biogeophysical mechanisms of land cover changes in the SH need to be accounted for in the assessment of land management options especially for latitude band over 15°-30°S.

Dust from southern Africa: rates of emission and biogeochemical properties

Science.gov (United States)

Bhattachan, A.; D'Odorico, P.; Zobeck, T. M.; Okin, G. S.; Dintwe, K.

2012-12-01

The stabilized linear dunefields in the southern Kalahari show signs of reactivation due to reduced vegetation cover owing to drought and/or overgrazing. It has been demonstrated with a laboratory dust generator that the southern Kalahari soils are good emitters of dust and that large-scale dune reactivation can potentially make the region an important dust source in the relatively low-dust Southern Hemisphere. We show that emergence of the southern Kalahari as a new dust source may affect ocean biogeochemistry as the soils are rich in soluble iron and the dust from the southern Kalahari commonly reaches the Southern Ocean. We investigate the biogeochemical properties of the fine fraction of soil from the Kalahari dunes and compare them to those of currently active dust sources such as the Makgadikgadi and the Etosha pans as well as other smaller pans in the region. Using field measurements of sediment fluxes and satellite images, we calculate the rates of dust emission from the southern Kalahari under different land cover scenarios. To assess the reversibility of dune reactivation in the southern Kalahari, we investigate the resilience of dunefield vegetation by looking at changes in soil nutrients, fine soil fractions, and seed bank in areas affected by intense denudation.

Site scientific mission plan for the southern great plains CART site January-June 2000.; TOPICAL

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Peppler, R. A.; Sisterson, D. L.; Lamb, P.

2001-01-01

The Southern Great Plains (SGP) Cloud and Radiation Testbed (CART) site was designed to help satisfy the data needs of the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Program Science Team. This Site Scientific Mission Plan defines the scientific priorities for site activities during the six months beginning on January 1, 2000, and looks forward in less detail to subsequent six-month periods. The primary purpose of this document is to provide scientific guidance for the development of plans for site operations. It also provides information on current plans to the ARM functional teams (Management Team, Data and Science Integration Team[DSIT], Operations Team, and Instrument Team[IT]) and serves to disseminate the plans more generally within the ARM Program and among the members of the Science Team. This document includes a description of the operational status of the site and the primary site activities envisioned, together with information concerning approved and proposed intensive observation periods (IOPs). The primary users of this document are the site operator, the site program manager, the Site Scientist Team (SST), the Science Team through the ARM Program science director, the ARM Program Experiment Center, and the aforementioned ARM Program functional teams. This plan is a living document that is updated and reissued every six months as the observational facilities are developed, tested, and augmented and as priorities are adjusted in response to developments in scientific planning and understanding. With this issue, many aspects of earlier Site Scientific Mission Plan reports have been moved to ARM sites on the World Wide Web. This report and all previous reports are available on the SGP CART web site

Spring soil moisture-precipitation feedback in the Southern Great Plains: How is it related to large-scale atmospheric conditions?

KAUST Repository

Su, Hua

2014-02-22

The Southern Great Plains (SGP) has been shown as a region of significant soil moisture-precipitation (S-P) coupling. However, how strong evapotranspiration (ET) can affect regional precipitation remains largely unclear, impeding a full grasp of the S-P feedback in that area. The current study seeks to unravel, in a spring month (April), the potential role played by large-scale atmospheric conditions in shaping S (ET)-P feedback. Our regional climate modeling experiments demonstrate that the presence of anomalous low (high) pressure and cyclonic (anticyclonic) flows at the upper/middle troposphere over the relevant areas is associated with strongest (minimum) positive S-P feedback in the SGP. Their impacts are interpreted in terms of large-scale atmospheric dynamical disturbance, including the intensity and location of synoptic eddies. Further analyses of the vertical velocity fields corroborate these interpretations. In addition, the relationship between lower tropospheric moisture conditions (including winds) and feedback composites is evaluated. Key Points The S-P feedback strength in SGP in April varies inter-annually The atmospheric dynamic features affect significantly the feedback strength composite moisture conditions are related to atmospheric circulation structure ©2014. American Geophysical Union. All Rights Reserved.

Spring soil moisture-precipitation feedback in the Southern Great Plains: How is it related to large-scale atmospheric conditions?

KAUST Repository

Su, Hua; Yang, Zong-Liang; Dickinson, Robert E.; Wei, Jiangfeng

2014-01-01

The Southern Great Plains (SGP) has been shown as a region of significant soil moisture-precipitation (S-P) coupling. However, how strong evapotranspiration (ET) can affect regional precipitation remains largely unclear, impeding a full grasp of the S-P feedback in that area. The current study seeks to unravel, in a spring month (April), the potential role played by large-scale atmospheric conditions in shaping S (ET)-P feedback. Our regional climate modeling experiments demonstrate that the presence of anomalous low (high) pressure and cyclonic (anticyclonic) flows at the upper/middle troposphere over the relevant areas is associated with strongest (minimum) positive S-P feedback in the SGP. Their impacts are interpreted in terms of large-scale atmospheric dynamical disturbance, including the intensity and location of synoptic eddies. Further analyses of the vertical velocity fields corroborate these interpretations. In addition, the relationship between lower tropospheric moisture conditions (including winds) and feedback composites is evaluated. Key Points The S-P feedback strength in SGP in April varies inter-annually The atmospheric dynamic features affect significantly the feedback strength composite moisture conditions are related to atmospheric circulation structure ©2014. American Geophysical Union. All Rights Reserved.

Wildlife habitats in managed rangelands—the Great Basin of southeastern Oregon: introduction.

Science.gov (United States)

Chris Maser; Jack Ward. Thomas

1983-01-01

The need for a way by which rangeland managers can account for wildlife in land-use planning, in on-the-ground management actions, and in preparation of environmental impact statements is discussed. Principles of range-land-wildlife interactions and management are described along with management systems. The Great Basin of southeastern Oregon was selected as a well-...

From Slash-and-burn to Disk Ploughing: The Land Policy and Tractors Behind Erosion and Forest Pioneer Farming in Southern Xayabury Province (Laos

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marc Dufumier

2013-02-01

Full Text Available Bordering Thailand, the southern part of Xayabury province is engaged in international trade and has experienced agricultural growth like nowhere else in Laos. The rapid transformation from manual slash-and-burn agriculture to mechanized, chemical-based cropping systems is often cited by Laotian authorities as a model of development. But a careful study of changes underway indicates that the reality is far less encouraging than it would appear at first. If many farmers have indeed bolstered their incomes over the last twenty years, it is no less true that some of the poorest peasants have become increasingly poorer and that the new techniques cause serious erosion, as they have not been able to prevent the expansion of cultivated areas on sloping lands.

Oligocene paleogeography of the northern Great Plains and adjacent mountains

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Seeland, D.

1985-01-01

Early Oligocene paleogeography of the northern Great Plains and adjacent mountains is inferred in part from published surface and subsurface studies of the pre-Oligocene surface. These studies are combined with published and unpublished information on clast provenance, crossbedding orientation, and Eocene paleogeography. The Oligocene Arctic Ocean-Gulf of Mexico continental divide extended from the southern Absaroka Mountains east along the Owl Creek Mountains, across the southern Powder River Basin, through the northern Black Hills, and eastward across South Dakota. Streams north of the divide flowed northeastward. The Olligocene White River Group contains 50 to 90 percent airfall pyroclastic debris from a northern Great Basin source. Most of the uranium deposits of the region in pre-Oligocene rocks can be related to a uranium source in the volcanic ash of the White River; in many places the pre-Oligocene deposits can be related to specific Oligocene channels. Uranium deposits in sandstones of major Oligocene rivers are an important new type of deposit. The Oligocene channel sandstones also contain small quantities of gold, molybdenum, gas, and oil

Land and agronomic potential for biofuel production in Southern Africa

OpenAIRE

von Maltitz, Graham; van der Merwe, Marna

2017-01-01

The Southern African region, from a purely biophysical perspective, has huge potential for biofuel production, especially in Mozambique and Zambia. Although many of the soils are sandy and acidic, with careful management and correct fertilization, they should be highly productive. We suggest that sugarcane is the crop most easily mobilized for biofuel. A number of other crops, such as sweet sorghum, cassava, and tropical sugar beet, have good potential but will need further agronomic and proc...

Converting Paddy Rice Field to Urban Use Dramatically Altered the Water and Energy Balances in Southern China

Science.gov (United States)

Hao, L.; Sun, G.; Liu, Y.; Qin, M.; Huang, X.; Fang, D.

2017-12-01

Paddy rice wetlands are the main land use type across southern China, which impact the regional environments by affecting evapotranspiration (ET) and other water and energy related processes. Our study focuses on the effects of land-cover change on water and energy processes in the Qinhuai River Basin, a typical subtropical humid region that is under rapid ecological and economical transformations. This study integrates multiple methods and techniques including remote sensing, water and energy balance model (i.e., Surface Energy Balance Algorithm for Land, SEBAL), ecohydrological model (i.e., Soil and Water Assessment Tool, SWAT), and ground observation (Eddy Covariance measurement, etc.). We found that conversion of paddy rice field to urban use led to rise in vapor pressure deficit (VPD) and reduction in ET, and thus resulted in changes in local and regional water and heat balance. The effects of the land-use change on ET and VPD overwhelmed the effects of regional climate warming and climate variability. We conclude that the ongoing large-scale urbanization of the rice paddy-dominated regions in humid southern China and East Asia will likely exacerbate environmental consequences (e.g., elevated storm-flow volume, aggravated flood risks, and intensified urban heat island and urban dry island effects). The potential role of vegetated land cover in moderating water and energy balances and maintaining a stable climate should be considered in massive urban planning and global change impact assessment in southern China.

A New Metric for Land-Atmosphere Coupling Strength: Applications on Observations and Modeling

Science.gov (United States)

Tang, Q.; Xie, S.; Zhang, Y.; Phillips, T. J.; Santanello, J. A., Jr.; Cook, D. R.; Riihimaki, L.; Gaustad, K.

2017-12-01

A new metric is proposed to quantify the land-atmosphere (LA) coupling strength and is elaborated by correlating the surface evaporative fraction and impacting land and atmosphere variables (e.g., soil moisture, vegetation, and radiation). Based upon multiple linear regression, this approach simultaneously considers multiple factors and thus represents complex LA coupling mechanisms better than existing single variable metrics. The standardized regression coefficients quantify the relative contributions from individual drivers in a consistent manner, avoiding the potential inconsistency in relative influence of conventional metrics. Moreover, the unique expendable feature of the new method allows us to verify and explore potentially important coupling mechanisms. Our observation-based application of the new metric shows moderate coupling with large spatial variations at the U.S. Southern Great Plains. The relative importance of soil moisture vs. vegetation varies by location. We also show that LA coupling strength is generally underestimated by single variable methods due to their incompleteness. We also apply this new metric to evaluate the representation of LA coupling in the Accelerated Climate Modeling for Energy (ACME) V1 Contiguous United States (CONUS) regionally refined model (RRM). This work is performed under the auspices of the U.S. Department of Energy by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory under Contract DE-AC52-07NA27344. LLNL-ABS-734201

Land Grabbing and the Commodification of Agricultural Land in Africa

Science.gov (United States)

D'Odorico, P.; Rulli, M. C.

2014-12-01

The increasing global demand for farmland products is placing unprecedented pressure on the global agricultural system. The increasing demand can be met through either the intensification or the expansion of agricultural production at the expenses of other ecosystems. The ongoing escalation of large scale land acquisitions in the developing world may contribute to both of these two processes. Investments in agriculture have become a priority for a number of governments and corporations that are trying to expand their agricultural production while securing good profits. It is unclear however to what extent these investments are driving the intensification or the expansion of agriculture. In the last decade large scale land acquisitions by external investors have increased at unprecedented rates. This global land rush was likely enhanced by recent food crises, when prices skyrocketed in response to crop failure, new bioenergy policies, and the increasing demand for agricultural products by a growing and increasingly affluent human population. Corporations recognized the potential for high return investments in agricultural land, while governments started to enhance their food security by purchasing large tracts of land in foreign countries. It has been estimated that, to date, about 35.6 million ha of cropland - more than twice the agricultural land of Germany - have been acquired by foreign investors worldwide. As an effect of these land deals the local communities lose legal access to the land and its products. Here we investigate the effect of large scale land acquisition on agricultural intensification or expansion in African countries. We discuss the extent to which these investments in agriculture may increase crop production and stress how this phenomenon can greatly affect the local communities, their food security, economic stability and the long term resilience of their livelihoods, regardless of whether the transfer of property rights is the result of an

The effects of land use change on mercury distribution in soils of Alta Floresta, Southern Amazon

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lacerda, Luiz D.; Souza, Margareth de; Ribeiro, Mario G.

2004-01-01

This study presents the spatial distribution, degree of contamination and storage capacity of Hg in surface forest and pasture soils from Alta Floresta, Southern Amazon, a significant gold mining site from 1980 to 1996. During that period, average annual gold production was about 6.5 tons, with an estimated Hg annual emission to the environment of about 8.8 tons, 60-80% of it being emitted to the atmosphere. Mercury sources to the region are mining sites and gold-dealer shops at the city of Alta Floresta, where gold is smelted and commercialized. Mercury concentrations in forest soils (15-248 ng g -1 , average=61.9 ng g -1 ) were 1.5-3.0 times higher than in pasture soils (10-74 ng g -1 , average=33.8 ng g -1 ), suggesting strong re-mobilization after deforestation. Highest Hg concentrations were found within a distance of 20-30 km from mining sites in both soil types. The influence of the refining operations within the city of Alta Floresta, however, was less clear. Somewhat higher concentrations were observed only within a 5 km radius from the city center where gold-dealer shops are located. Wind direction controls the spatial distribution of Hg. Background concentrations (15-50 ng g -1 ) were generally found at the outer perimeter of the sampling grid, about 40 km from sources. This suggests that Hg released from mining and refining activities undergoes rapid deposition. Estimated cumulative Hg burdens for the first 10 cm of soil averaged 8.3 mg m -2 and 4.9 mg m -2 , for forest and pasture soils respectively and compare well with ultisols and hydromorphic oxisols, but were lower than those found in yellow-red and yellow latosols and podsols from other Amazonian areas. Our results show that changing land use in the Amazon is a strong re-mobilizing agent of Hg deposited on soils from the atmosphere. - Land use change is a strong re-mobilizing agent of Hg distribution in Amazon soils

The Mapuche People's Battle for Indigenous Land. Litigation as a Strategy to Defend Indigenous Land Rights

OpenAIRE

Skjævestad, Anne

2008-01-01

Land is the foundation for the economic sustenance of indigenous peoples and for the continued survival of their cultures. One of the major problems faced by indigenous peoples is the dispossession of their traditional lands and territories. The activities of business interests and economic development projects in indigenous territories – such as forest logging and infrastructure projects - and the environmental implications of such activities, often constitute a great threat to the livelihoo...

76 FR 42725 - Notice of Availability of the Record of Decision for the Southern California Edison Company...

Science.gov (United States)

2011-07-19

... DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR Bureau of Land Management [CACA-17905, LLCAD06000 L51010000 ER0000 LVRWB09B1820] Notice of Availability of the Record of Decision for the Southern California Edison Company Devers-Palo Verde No. 2 Transmission Line Project, California AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, Interior...

Impacts of urbanization on carbon balance in terrestrial ecosystems of the Southern United States

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhang Chi; Tian Hanqin; Chen, Guangsheng; Chappelka, Arthur; Xu Xiaofeng; Ren Wei; Hui Dafeng; Liu Mingliang; Lu Chaoqun; Pan, Shufen; Lockaby, Graeme

2012-01-01

Using a process-based Dynamic Land Ecosystem Model, we assessed carbon dynamics of urbanized/developed lands in the Southern United States during 1945–2007. The results indicated that approximately 1.72 (1.69–1.77) Pg (1P = 10 15 ) carbon was stored in urban/developed lands, comparable to the storage of shrubland or cropland in the region. Urbanization resulted in a release of 0.21 Pg carbon to the atmosphere during 1945–2007. Pre-urbanization vegetation type and time since land conversion were two primary factors determining the extent of urbanization impacts on carbon dynamics. After a rapid decline of carbon storage during land conversion, an urban ecosystem gradually accumulates carbon and may compensate for the initial carbon loss in 70–100 years. The carbon sequestration rate of urban ecosystem diminishes with time, nearly disappearing in two centuries after land conversion. This study implied that it is important to take urbanization effect into account for assessing regional carbon balance. - Highlights: ► A series of spatial and temporal urban/developed land maps were generated. ► Urbanization effects on regional carbon dynamics were studied with a process-based Dynamic Land Ecosystem Model (DLEM). ► Carbon storage of urban/developed land was comparable to that stored in cropland and shrubland in the Southern United States. ► Pre-urbanization vegetation type and time since land conversion were two primary factors determining the extent of urbanization impacts on carbon dynamics. ► Urbanization resulted in carbon emission, but established urban areas may gradually accumulate carbon over time. - Urbanization has resulted in carbon release to the atmosphere, but established urban areas may gradually accumulate carbon over time.

Operational monitoring of land-cover change using multitemporal remote sensing data

Science.gov (United States)

Rogan, John

2005-11-01

Land-cover change, manifested as either land-cover modification and/or conversion, can occur at all spatial scales, and changes at local scales can have profound, cumulative impacts at broader scales. The implication of operational land-cover monitoring is that researchers have access to a continuous stream of remote sensing data, with the long term goal of providing for consistent and repetitive mapping. Effective large area monitoring of land-cover (i.e., >1000 km2) can only be accomplished by using remotely sensed images as an indirect data source in land-cover change mapping and as a source for land-cover change model projections. Large area monitoring programs face several challenges: (1) choice of appropriate classification scheme/map legend over large, topographically and phenologically diverse areas; (2) issues concerning data consistency and map accuracy (i.e., calibration and validation); (3) very large data volumes; (4) time consuming data processing and interpretation. Therefore, this dissertation research broadly addresses these challenges in the context of examining state-of-the-art image pre-processing, spectral enhancement, classification, and accuracy assessment techniques to assist the California Land-cover Mapping and Monitoring Program (LCMMP). The results of this dissertation revealed that spatially varying haze can be effectively corrected from Landsat data for the purposes of change detection. The Multitemporal Spectral Mixture Analysis (MSMA) spectral enhancement technique produced more accurate land-cover maps than those derived from the Multitemporal Kauth Thomas (MKT) transformation in northern and southern California study areas. A comparison of machine learning classifiers showed that Fuzzy ARTMAP outperformed two classification tree algorithms, based on map accuracy and algorithm robustness. Variation in spatial data error (positional and thematic) was explored in relation to environmental variables using geostatistical interpolation

The Marital Immigrant. Land, and Agricultue: A Malawian Case Study

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The central and southern regions of Malawi predominantly follow matrilineal succession and inheritance and practice uxorilocal marriages. Women, rather than men, own the primary land rights. Colonial government officials and some Eurocentric scholars have argued that the system of uxorilocal marriages and female ...

Invasive species in southern Nevada [Chapter 4

Science.gov (United States)

Mathew L. Brooks; Steven M. Ostoja; Jeanne C. Chambers

2013-01-01

Southern Nevada contains a wide range of topographies, elevations, and climatic zones emblematic of its position at the ecotone between the Mojave Desert, Great Basin, and Colorado Plateau ecoregions. These varied environmental conditions support a high degree of biological diversity (Chapter 1), but they also provide opportunities for a wide range of invasive species...

Comparison of groundwater flow in Southern California coastal aquifers

Science.gov (United States)

Hanson, Randall T.; Izbicki, John A.; Reichard, Eric G.; Edwards, Brian D.; Land, Michael; Martin, Peter

2009-01-01

Development of the coastal aquifer systems of Southern California has resulted in overdraft, changes in streamflow, seawater intrusion, land subsidence, increased vertical flow between aquifers, and a redirection of regional flow toward pumping centers. These water-management challenges can be more effectively addressed by incorporating new understanding of the geologic, hydrologic, and geochemical setting of these aquifers.

An assessment of agroforestry systems in the southern USA

Science.gov (United States)

F. C. Zinkhan; D. Evan Mercer

1997-01-01

An assessment of the southern USA, based on a survey of land-use professionalsand a review of theliterature, revealed that it is a diverse region with substantial potential for agroforestry to address a combination of problems and opportunities. The survey indicated that silvopastoml systems are the most common form of agroforestry in the region. Increased economic...

Evaluating land cover changes in Eastern and Southern Africa from 2000 to 2010 using validated Landsat and MODIS data

Science.gov (United States)

Al-Hamdan, Mohammad Z.; Oduor, Phoebe; Flores, Africa I.; Kotikot, Susan M.; Mugo, Robinson; Ababu, Jaffer; Farah, Hussein

2017-10-01

In this study, we assessed land cover land use (LCLU) changes and their potential environmental drivers (i.e., precipitation, temperature) in five countries in Eastern & Southern (E&S) Africa (Rwanda, Botswana, Tanzania, Malawi and Namibia) between 2000 and 2010. Landsat-derived LCLU products developed by the Regional Centre for Mapping of Resources for Development (RCMRD) through the SERVIR (Spanish for ;to serve;) program, a joint initiative of NASA and USAID, and NASA's Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) data were used to evaluate and quantify the LCLU changes in these five countries. Given that the original development of the MODIS land cover type standard products included limited training sites in Africa, we performed a two-level verification/validation of the MODIS land cover product in these five countries. Precipitation data from CHIRPS dataset were used to evaluate and quantify the precipitation changes in these countries and see if it was a significant driver behind some of these LCLU changes. MODIS Land Surface Temperature (LST) data were also used to see if temperature was a main driver too. Our validation analysis revealed that the overall accuracies of the regional MODIS LCLU product for this African region alone were lower than that of the global MODIS LCLU product overall accuracy (63-66% vs. 75%). However, for countries with uniform or homogenous land cover, the overall accuracy was much higher than the global accuracy and as high as 87% and 78% for Botswana and Namibia, respectively. In addition, the wetland and grassland classes had the highest user's accuracies in most of the countries (89%-99%), which are the ones with the highest number of MODIS land cover classification algorithm training sites. Our LCLU change analysis revealed that Botswana's most significant changes were the net reforestation, net grass loss and net wetland expansion. For Rwanda, although there have been significant forest, grass and crop expansions in

Land and agronomic potential for biofuel production in Southern Africa

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Von Maltitz, Graham P

2017-04-01

Full Text Available the maize seed. It is likely that second-generation ethanol will be produced from maize stalks in the future. The stalk-to-seed ratio on a dry mass basis is very close to 1:1 and this ratio stays relatively constant with yield. Nevertheless, the use... of maize stalks in Southern Africa for ethanol does not appear to be a likely scenario for two reasons. First, current maize yields are very low, meaning that the mass of stalks is also low. This means that stalks would have to be collected from vast...

Fluvial responses to land-use changes and climatic variations within the Drury Creek watershed, southern Illinois

Science.gov (United States)

Miller, Suzanne Orbock; Ritter, Dale F.; Kochel, R. Craig; Miller, Jerry R.

1993-04-01

Fluvial responses to climatic variation and Anglo-American settlement were documented for the Drury Creek watershed, southern Illinois by examining stratigraphic, geomorphic, climatic, and historical data. Regional analyses of long-term precipitation records document a period of decreasing mean annual precipitation from 1904 to about 1945, and an increasing trend in annual precipitation from 1952 to the present. The period between 1945 and 1951 experienced a large number of intense storms that resulted in high annual precipitation totals. Statistical relationships illustrate that changes in precipitation totals are transferred to the hydrologic system as fluctuations in stream discharge. Historical records of southern Illinois show that a maximum period of settlement and deforestation occurred between the 1860s and 1920s. This era ended in the 1940s when large tracts of land were revegetated in an attempt to curtail erosion which had caused extensive upland degradation. In response to hillslope erosion at least two meters of fine-grained sediments were deposited on valley floors. Average sedimentation rates, determined using decdrochronologic techniques, are estimated to be 2.11 cm/yr for the period between 1890 and 1988; rates that are 1 to 2 orders of magnitude greater than pre-settlement values calculated for other areas of the midwest. However, botanical data suggest that aggradation was episodic, possibly occurring during three periods characterized by greater annual precipitation. Since the 1940s, sedimentation rates have declined. Reduced rates of sedimentation are related to an episode of channel entrenchment that reduced overbank flooding. Entrenchment coincided with a period of: (1) reduced sediment yields associated with watershed revegetation and the introduction of soil conservation practices, and (2) intense storm activity that resulted in long periods of high discharge. As a result of channel incision and hillslope erosion, newly exposed bedrock in

76 FR 10914 - Notice of Public Meetings: Mojave-Southern Great Basin Resource Advisory Council, Nevada

Science.gov (United States)

2011-02-28

... Area (NCA) Visitor's Center, Las Vegas, Nevada; July 21, 2011, at the BLM Southern Nevada District... final meeting agenda that will be available two weeks prior to each meeting. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION... be raised by RAC members. The final agendas with any additions/corrections to agenda topics...

Les « boutiques ». Regard sur quelques bourgades du sud de la Thaïlande The “Shops”. A Glance at some Southern Thailand Towns

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Pierre Le Roux

2011-10-01

Full Text Available à travers une visite informelle du sud de la Thaïlande, à la population majoritairement jawi, malaise et musulmane mêlée de courants siamois, chinois et môn, et de reliquats proto-malais, par une rapide description de quelques-unes de ses villes et bourgades, marquées par l'histoire particulière de ce terroir et des formes urbaines et architecturales qui y dominent pour des raisons culturelles, religieuses, économiques ou politiques, on découvre un véritable carrefour de civilisations et de cultures. Celles-ci, assemblées de façon originale, façonnent une région caractéristique qui est à la fois la plus riche du royaume de Thaïlande et la plus éprouvée par une situation politique et militaire, instable depuis des décennies.This article is based on a journey through Southern Thailand, where the population, mostly Jawi, Malay, and Muslim, displays Siamese, Chinese, and Mon cultural features as well as some ancient Proto-Malay traits. It offers a description of some of its cities and towns, marked by the region's particular history and by urbanistic and architectural forms locally prominent for cultural, religious, economical, and political reasons. It shows that Southern Thailand is a complex crossroads of various civilizations and cultures, combined in a unique manner to form a specific domain, which is both the richest region of the kingdom of Thailand and one that has been, for decades on end, most stricken by an unstable political and military situation.

An overview of the Southern Nevada Agency Partnership Science and Research Synthesis [Chapter 1] (Executive Summary)

Science.gov (United States)

Jeanne C. Chambers; Matthew L. Brooks; Kent Turner; Carol B. Raish; Steven M.. Ostoja

2013-01-01

Maintaining and restoring the diverse ecosystems and resources that occur in southern Nevada in the face of rapid socio-economic and ecological change presents numerous challenges to Federal land managers. Rapid population growth since the1980s, the land uses associated with that growth, and the interactions of those uses with the generally dry and highly variable...

Industrial Physics---Southern California Style

Science.gov (United States)

Leslie, Stuart

2013-03-01

Only in Southern California did space-age style really come into its own as a unique expression of Cold War scientific culture. The corporate campuses of General Atomic in San Diego and North American Aviation in Los Angeles perfectly expressed the exhilarating spirit of Southern California's aerospace era, scaling up the residential version of California modernism to industrial proportion. Architects William Pereira and A.C. Martin Jr., in collaboration with their scientific counterparts, fashioned military-industrial `dream factories' for industrial physics that embodied the secret side of the space-age zeitgeist, one the public could only glimpse of in photographs, advertisements, and carefully staged open houses. These laboratories served up archetypes of the California dream for a select audience of scientists, engineers, and military officers, live-action commercials for a lifestyle intended to lure the best and brightest to Southern California. Paradoxically, they hid in plain sight, in the midst of aerospace suburbs, an open secret, at once visible and opaque, the public face of an otherwise invisible empire. Now, at the end of the aerospace era, these places have become an endangered species, difficult to repurpose, on valuable if sometimes highly polluted land. Yet they offer an important reminder of a more confident time when many physicists set their sights on the stars.

Analysis of hydrological response to land use changes based on Low Impact Development—a case study on the southern area of Fangshan National Geopark in Nanjing city, China

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Y.; Fu, D., Sr.

2016-12-01

and identifies the sponge facilities with the aid of XPDrainage software on the southern area of Fangshan National Geopark in Nanjing city, China. A technical method to evaluate the influence of land use change on hydrological process and its response during the sponge city construction process is preliminarily discussed.

Hydrologic modeling for monitoring water availability in Eastern and Southern Africa

Science.gov (United States)

McNally, A.; Harrison, L.; Shukla, S.; Pricope, N. G.; Peters-Lidard, C. D.

2017-12-01

Severe droughts in 2015, 2016 and 2017 in Ethiopia, Southern Africa, and Somalia have negatively impacted agriculture and municipal water supplies resulting in food and water insecurity. Information from remotely sensed data and field reports indicated that the Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS NET) Land Data Assimilation (FLDAS) accurately tracked both the anomalously low soil moisture, evapotranspiration and runoff conditions. This work presents efforts to more precisely monitor how the water balance responds to water availability deficits (i.e. drought) as estimated by the FLDAS with CHIRPS precipitation, MERRA-2 meteorological forcing and the Noah33 land surface model.Preliminary results indicate that FLDAS streamflow estimates are well correlated with observed streamflow where irrigation and other channel modifications are not present; FLDAS evapotranspiration (ET) is well correlated with ET from the Operational Simplified Surface Energy Balance model (SSEBop) in Eastern and Southern Africa. We then use these results to monitor availability, and explore trends in water supply and demand.

Factors influencing adoption of soil and water conservation measures in southern Mali

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Bodnar, F.; Graaff, de J.

2003-01-01

A soil and water conservation (SWC) extension programme, promoting erosion control measures and soil fertility measures, has been going on in southern Mali since 1986. Five factors that influence farmer adoption of SWC measures were analysed: land pressure, cotton-growing area, possession of

Increased Wildfire Risk Driven by Climate and Development Interactions in the Bolivian Chiquitania, Southern Amazonia.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tahia Devisscher

Full Text Available Wildfires are becoming increasingly dominant in tropical landscapes due to reinforcing feedbacks between land cover change and more severe dry conditions. This study focused on the Bolivian Chiquitania, a region located at the southern edge of Amazonia. The extensive, unique and well-conserved tropical dry forest in this region is susceptible to wildfires due to a marked seasonality. We used a novel approach to assess fire risk at the regional level driven by different development trajectories interacting with changing climatic conditions. Possible future risk scenarios were simulated using maximum entropy modelling with presence-only data, combining land cover, anthropogenic and climatic variables. We found that important determinants of fire risk in the region are distance to roads, recent deforestation and density of human settlements. Severely dry conditions alone increased the area of high fire risk by 69%, affecting all categories of land use and land cover. Interactions between extreme dry conditions and rapid frontier expansion further increased fire risk, resulting in potential biomass loss of 2.44±0.8 Tg in high risk area, about 1.8 times higher than the estimates for the 2010 drought. These interactions showed particularly high fire risk in land used for 'extensive cattle ranching', 'agro-silvopastoral use' and 'intensive cattle ranching and agriculture'. These findings have serious implications for subsistence activities and the economy in the Chiquitania, which greatly depend on the forestry, agriculture and livestock sectors. Results are particularly concerning if considering the current development policies promoting frontier expansion. Departmental protected areas inhibited wildfires when strategically established in areas of high risk, even under drought conditions. However, further research is needed to assess their effectiveness accounting for more specific contextual factors. This novel and simple modelling approach can

LandSense: A Citizen Observatory and Innovation Marketplace for Land Use and Land Cover Monitoring

Science.gov (United States)

Moorthy, Inian; Fritz, Steffen; See, Linda; McCallum, Ian

2017-04-01

numerous pathways of citizen empowerment via the LandSense Engagement Platform, i.e. tools for discussion, online voting collaborative mapping, as well as events linked to public consultation and cooperative planning. In addition to creating tools for data collection, quality assurance, and interaction with the public, the project aims to drive innovation through collaboration with the private sector. LandSense will build an innovation marketplace to attract a vast community of users across numerous disciplines and sectors and boost Europe's role in the business of ground-based monitoring. The anticipated outcomes of LandSense have considerable potential to lower expenditure costs on ground-based data collection and greatly extend the current sources of such data, thereby realizing citizen-powered innovations in the processing chain of LULC monitoring activities both within and beyond Europe.

Factors contributing to record-breaking heat waves over the Great Plains during the 1930s Dust Bowl

Science.gov (United States)

Cowan, T.; Hegerl, G. C.

2016-12-01

Record-breaking summer heat waves that plagued contiguous United States in the 1930s emerged during the decade-long "Dust Bowl" drought. Using high-quality daily temperature observations, the Dust Bowl heat wave characteristics for the Great Plains are assessed using metrics that describe variations in heat wave activity and intensity. We also quantify record-breaking heat waves over the pre-industrial period for 22 CMIP5 model multi-century realisations. The most extreme Great Plains heat wave summers in the Dust Bowl decade (e.g. 1931, 1934, 1936) were pre-conditioned by anomalously dry springs, as measured by proxy drought indices. In general, summer heat waves over the Great Plains develop 15-20 days earlier after anomalously dry springs, and are also significantly longer and hotter, indicative of the importance of land surface feedbacks in heat wave intensification. The majority of pre-industrial climate model experiments capture regionally clustered summer heat waves across North America, although the North Pacific and Atlantic sea surface temperature patterns associated with the heat waves vary considerably between models. Sea surface temperature patterns may be more important for influencing winter and spring precipitation, thus amplifying summer heat waves during drought periods. The synoptic pattern that commonly appeared during the exceptional Dust Bowl heat waves featured an anomalous broad surface pressure ridge straddling an upper level blocking anticyclone over the western United States. This forced significant subsidence and adiabatic warming over the Great Plains, and triggered anomalous southward warm advection over southern regions, prolonging and amplifying the heat waves over central United States. Importantly, the results show that despite the sparsity of stations in the 1930s, homogeneous observations are crucial in accurately quantifying the Dust Bowl decade heat waves, as opposed to solely relying on atmospheric reanalysis.

A synthesis of rates and controls on elemental mercury evasion in the Great Lakes Basin

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Denkenberger, Joseph S.; Driscoll, Charles T.; Branfireun, Brian A.; Eckley, Chris S.; Cohen, Mark; Selvendiran, Pranesh

2012-01-01

Rates of surface-air elemental mercury (Hg 0 ) fluxes in the literature were synthesized for the Great Lakes Basin (GLB). For the majority of surfaces, fluxes were net positive (evasion). Digital land-cover data were combined with representative evasion rates and used to estimate annual Hg 0 evasion for the GLB (7.7 Mg/yr). This value is less than our estimate of total Hg deposition to the area (15.9 Mg/yr), suggesting the GLB is a net sink for atmospheric Hg. The greatest contributors to annual evasion for the basin are agricultural (∼55%) and forest (∼25%) land cover types, and the open water of the Great Lakes (∼15%). Areal evasion rates were similar across most land cover types (range: 7.0–21.0 μg/m 2 -yr), with higher rates associated with urban (12.6 μg/m 2 -yr) and agricultural (21.0 μg/m 2 -yr) lands. Uncertainty in these estimates could be partially remedied through a unified methodological approach to estimating Hg 0 fluxes. - Highlights: ► Considerable variability exists across spatial/temporal scales in Hg 0 evasion rates. ► Methodological approaches vary for estimating and reporting gaseous Hg 0 fluxes. ► Hg 0 evasion from the Great Lakes Basin is estimated at 7.7 Mg/yr (10.2 μg/m 2 -yr). ► Hg flux estimates suggest region is a net sink for atmospheric Hg. ► 95% of Hg 0 evasion in the region is from agriculture, forest, and the Great Lakes. - A synthesis of Hg evasion was conducted and this information was used to develop an estimate of Hg evasion for the Great Lakes Basin.

Grasslands, wetlands, and agriculture: the fate of land expiring from the Conservation Reserve Program in the Midwestern United States

Science.gov (United States)

Morefield, Philip E.; LeDuc, Stephen D.; Clark, Christopher M.; Iovanna, Richard

2016-09-01

The Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) is the largest agricultural land-retirement program in the United States, providing many environmental benefits, including wildlife habitat and improved air, water, and soil quality. Since 2007, however, CRP area has declined by over 25% nationally with much of this land returning to agriculture. Despite this trend, it is unclear what types of CRP land are being converted, to what crops, and where. All of these specific factors greatly affect environmental impacts. To answer these questions, we quantified shifts in expiring CRP parcels to five major crop-types (corn, soy, winter and spring wheat, and sorghum) in a 12-state, Midwestern region of the United States using a US Department of Agriculture (USDA), field-level CRP database and USDA’s Cropland Data Layer. For the years 2010 through 2013, we estimate almost 30%, or more than 530 000 ha, of expiring CRP land returned to the production of these five crops in our study area, with soy and corn accounting for the vast majority of these shifts. Grasslands were the largest type of CRP land converted (360 000 ha), followed by specifically designated wildlife habitat (76 000 ha), and wetland areas (53 000 ha). These wetland areas were not just wetlands themselves, but also a mix of land covers enhancing or protecting wetland ecosystem services (e.g., wetland buffers). Areas in the Dakotas, Nebraska, and southern Iowa were hotspots of change, with the highest areas of CRP land moving back to agriculture. By contrast, we estimate only a small amount (˜3%) of the expiring land shifted into similar, non-CRP land-retirement or easement programs. Reconciling needs for food, feed, fuel, and healthy ecosystems is an immense challenge for farmers, conservationists, and state and federal agencies. Reduced enrollment and the turnover of CRP land from conservation to agriculture raises questions about sustaining ecosystem services in this region.

Using the FORE-SCE model to project land-cover change in the southeastern United States

Science.gov (United States)

Sohl, Terry; Sayler, Kristi L.

2008-01-01

A wide variety of ecological applications require spatially explicit current and projected land-use and land-cover data. The southeastern United States has experienced massive land-use change since European settlement and continues to experience extremely high rates of forest cutting, significant urban development, and changes in agricultural land use. Forest-cover patterns and structure are projected to change dramatically in the southeastern United States in the next 50 years due to population growth and demand for wood products [Wear, D.N., Greis, J.G. (Eds.), 2002. Southern Forest Resource Assessment. General Technical Report SRS-53. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Southern Research Station, Asheville, NC, 635 pp]. Along with our climate partners, we are examining the potential effects of southeastern U.S. land-cover change on regional climate. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Land Cover Trends project is analyzing contemporary (1973-2000) land-cover change in the conterminous United States, providing ecoregion-by-ecoregion estimates of the rates of change, descriptive transition matrices, and changes in landscape metrics. The FORecasting SCEnarios of future land-cover (FORE-SCE) model used Land Cover Trends data and theoretical, statistical, and deterministic modeling techniques to project future land-cover change through 2050 for the southeastern United States. Prescriptions for future proportions of land cover for this application were provided by ecoregion-based extrapolations of historical change. Logistic regression was used to develop relationships between suspected drivers of land-cover change and land cover, resulting in the development of probability-of-occurrence surfaces for each unique land-cover type. Forest stand age was initially established with Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) data and tracked through model iterations. The spatial allocation procedure placed patches of new land cover on the landscape until the scenario

The quinoa boom of the southern Bolivian Altiplano - linking geomorphology, erosion and spatial production patterns

Science.gov (United States)

Sander, Lasse; Jacobsen, Sven-Erik

2014-05-01

Quinoa (Chenopodium quinoa Willd.) is a native Andean crop that gained worldwide popularity over the last few decades due to its outstanding nutritional properties. The plant is characterized by an exceptional adaptation and is able to produce decent yields despite harsh environmental conditions like drought, frost, or soil salinity. Quinoa is thus an exceptional income opportunity in the arid southern Bolivian Altiplano, an area endemically struck by rural poverty and malnutrition. In the early 1970s, the Bolivian government introduced the first tractors to southern Bolivia's Salar region with the intention to push agricultural development - with obvious success. The cultivation of quinoa is today the most important land use, with a continued increase in production volume and areal extent. We here trace back land-use changes from 1972 to 2013 in one of the most important areas of quinoa production. Using Landsat images, SRTM elevations and field survey data, we investigate the relationship of field areas to erosion patterns and large-scale geomorphology. The soils of the southern Bolivian Altiplano are highly susceptible to particle entrainment due to a loose and sandy substrate, strong winds, and rapid drainage during precipitation and snow melt events. It appears that many of the first quinoa fields were established on flood plain deposits, where good yields could be anticipated despite the apparent risk of erosion. The subsequent expansion of production areas was paralleled by an increase in field density. Locally, this implied a reduction of fallowing length and the incorporation of marginal lands. The almost complete removal of natural (i.e. protecting) vegetation over large and continuous areas, results in increased wind erosion and partial crop failure. While production extended by approx. 1,6 % per year between 1985 and 2003, an average annual increase of 8,4 % could be observed for the last decade, when many new fields were established at lower elevations

Development of a high spectral resolution surface albedo product for the ARM Southern Great Plains Central Facility

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

McFarlane, Sally A.; Gaustad, Krista L.; Mlawer, Eli J.; Long, Charles N.; Delamere, Jennifer

2011-09-01

We present a method for identifying dominant surface type and estimating high spectral resolution surface albedo at the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) facility at the Southern Great Plains (SGP) site in Oklahoma for use in radiative transfer calculations. Given a set of 6-channel narrowband visible and near-infrared irradiance measurements from upward and downward looking multi-filter radiometers (MFRs), four different surface types (snow-covered, green vegetation, partial vegetation, non-vegetated) can be identified. A normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) is used to distinguish between vegetated and non-vegetated surfaces, and a scaled NDVI index is used to estimate the percentage of green vegetation in partially vegetated surfaces. Based on libraries of spectral albedo measurements, a piecewise continuous function is developed to estimate the high spectral resolution surface albedo for each surface type given the MFR albedo values as input. For partially vegetated surfaces, the albedo is estimated as a linear combination of the green vegetation and non-vegetated surface albedo values. The estimated albedo values are evaluated through comparison to high spectral resolution albedo measurements taken during several Intensive Observational Periods (IOPs) and through comparison of the integrated spectral albedo values to observed broadband albedo measurements. The estimated spectral albedo values agree well with observations for the visible wavelengths constrained by the MFR measurements, but have larger biases and variability at longer wavelengths. Additional MFR channels at 1100 nm and/or 1600 nm would help constrain the high resolution spectral albedo in the near infrared region.

Development of a high spectral resolution surface albedo product for the ARM Southern Great Plains central facility

Science.gov (United States)

McFarlane, S. A.; Gaustad, K. L.; Mlawer, E. J.; Long, C. N.; Delamere, J.

2011-09-01

We present a method for identifying dominant surface type and estimating high spectral resolution surface albedo at the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) facility at the Southern Great Plains (SGP) site in Oklahoma for use in radiative transfer calculations. Given a set of 6-channel narrowband visible and near-infrared irradiance measurements from upward and downward looking multi-filter radiometers (MFRs), four different surface types (snow-covered, green vegetation, partial vegetation, non-vegetated) can be identified. A normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) is used to distinguish between vegetated and non-vegetated surfaces, and a scaled NDVI index is used to estimate the percentage of green vegetation in partially vegetated surfaces. Based on libraries of spectral albedo measurements, a piecewise continuous function is developed to estimate the high spectral resolution surface albedo for each surface type given the MFR albedo values as input. For partially vegetated surfaces, the albedo is estimated as a linear combination of the green vegetation and non-vegetated surface albedo values. The estimated albedo values are evaluated through comparison to high spectral resolution albedo measurements taken during several Intensive Observational Periods (IOPs) and through comparison of the integrated spectral albedo values to observed broadband albedo measurements. The estimated spectral albedo values agree well with observations for the visible wavelengths constrained by the MFR measurements, but have larger biases and variability at longer wavelengths. Additional MFR channels at 1100 nm and/or 1600 nm would help constrain the high resolution spectral albedo in the near infrared region.

Development of a high spectral resolution surface albedo product for the ARM Southern Great Plains central facility

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

J. Delamere

2011-09-01

Full Text Available We present a method for identifying dominant surface type and estimating high spectral resolution surface albedo at the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM facility at the Southern Great Plains (SGP site in Oklahoma for use in radiative transfer calculations. Given a set of 6-channel narrowband visible and near-infrared irradiance measurements from upward and downward looking multi-filter radiometers (MFRs, four different surface types (snow-covered, green vegetation, partial vegetation, non-vegetated can be identified. A normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI is used to distinguish between vegetated and non-vegetated surfaces, and a scaled NDVI index is used to estimate the percentage of green vegetation in partially vegetated surfaces. Based on libraries of spectral albedo measurements, a piecewise continuous function is developed to estimate the high spectral resolution surface albedo for each surface type given the MFR albedo values as input. For partially vegetated surfaces, the albedo is estimated as a linear combination of the green vegetation and non-vegetated surface albedo values. The estimated albedo values are evaluated through comparison to high spectral resolution albedo measurements taken during several Intensive Observational Periods (IOPs and through comparison of the integrated spectral albedo values to observed broadband albedo measurements. The estimated spectral albedo values agree well with observations for the visible wavelengths constrained by the MFR measurements, but have larger biases and variability at longer wavelengths. Additional MFR channels at 1100 nm and/or 1600 nm would help constrain the high resolution spectral albedo in the near infrared region.

On track. Spontaneous privatization of public urban land in Bandung, Indonesia

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nurman, Ari; Lund, Christian

2016-01-01

The history of land control in Indonesia is overwhelmingly one of colonial conquest, government enclosure and expropriation of traditional property rights. However, beneath these great transformations, counter-currents also flow. Encroachment on state land and its gradual privatization by ordinary...

Ecological biogeography of southern ocean islands: species-area relationships, human impacts, and conservation

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Chown, S.L.; Gremmen, N.J.M.; Gaston, K.J.

1998-01-01

Previous studies have concluded that southern ocean islands are anomalous because past glacial extent and current temperature apparently explain most variance in their species richness. Here, the relationships between physical variables and species richness of vascular plants, insects, land and

Surface water iron supplies in the Southern Ocean sustained by deep winter mixing

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Tagliabue, A

2014-04-01

Full Text Available Low levels of iron limit primary productivity across much of the Southern Ocean. At the basin scale, most dissolved iron is supplied to surfacewaters from subsurface reservoirs, because land inputs are spatially limited. Deep mixing in winter...

A socioeconomic profile of vulnerable land to desertification in Italy.

Science.gov (United States)

Salvati, Luca

2014-01-01

Climate changes, soil vulnerability, loss in biodiversity, and growing human pressure are threatening Mediterranean-type ecosystems which are increasingly considered as a desertification hotspot. In this region, land vulnerability to desertification strongly depends on the interplay between natural and anthropogenic factors. The present study proposes a multivariate exploratory analysis of the relationship between the spatial distribution of land vulnerability to desertification and the socioeconomic contexts found in three geographical divisions of Italy (north, center and south) based on statistical indicators. A total of 111 indicators describing different themes (demography, human settlements, labor market and human capital, rural development, income and wealth) were used to discriminate vulnerable from non-vulnerable areas. The resulting socioeconomic profile of vulnerable areas in northern and southern Italy diverged significantly, the importance of demographic and economic indicators being higher in southern Italy than in northern Italy. On the contrary, human settlement indicators were found more important to discriminate vulnerable and non-vulnerable areas in northern Italy, suggesting a role for peri-urbanization in shaping the future vulnerable areas. An in-depth knowledge of the socioeconomic characteristics of vulnerable land may contribute to scenarios' modeling and the development of more effective policies to combat desertification. © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

A network model framework for prioritizing wetland conservation in the Great Plains

Science.gov (United States)

Albanese, Gene; Haukos, David A.

2017-01-01

ContextPlaya wetlands are the primary habitat for numerous wetland-dependent species in the Southern Great Plains of North America. Plant and wildlife populations that inhabit these wetlands are reciprocally linked through the dispersal of individuals, propagules and ultimately genes among local populations.ObjectiveTo develop and implement a framework using network models for conceptualizing, representing and analyzing potential biological flows among 48,981 spatially discrete playa wetlands in the Southern Great Plains.MethodsWe examined changes in connectivity patterns and assessed the relative importance of wetlands to maintaining these patterns by targeting wetlands for removal based on network centrality metrics weighted by estimates of habitat quality and probability of inundation.ResultsWe identified several distinct, broad-scale sub networks and phase transitions among playa wetlands in the Southern Plains. In particular, for organisms that can disperse >2 km a dense and expansive wetland sub network emerges in the Southern High Plains. This network was characterized by localized, densely connected wetland clusters at link distances (h) >2 km but <5 km and was most sensitive to changes in wetland availability (p) and configuration when h = 4 km, and p = 0.2–0.4. It transitioned to a single, large connected wetland system at broader spatial scales even when the proportion of inundated wetland was relatively low (p = 0.2).ConclusionsOur findings suggest that redundancy in the potential for broad and fine-scale movements insulates this system from damage and facilitates system-wide connectivity among populations with different dispersal capacities.

An Overview of SASSCAL Activities Supporting Interdisciplinary Water Research in Southern Africa

Science.gov (United States)

Helmschrot, J.; Jürgens, N.

2013-12-01

Climate change will affect current water resources in sub-Saharan Africa. Considering projected climate scenarios, the overall challenge in the southern African region is to secure water at sufficient quality and quantity for both, the stability of ecosystems with their functions and services as well as for human well-being (potable water, irrigation water, and water for industrial use). Thus, improved understanding of the linkages between hydrological (including hydro-geological) components of ecosystems and society is needed as a precondition to develop sustainable management strategies for integrated water resources management in this data scarce region. Funded by the German Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), 87 research projects of the SASSCAL Initiative (Southern African Science Service Centre for Climate Change and Adaptive Land Management) focus on providing information and services allowing for a better understanding and assessment of the impact of climate and land management changes in five thematic areas, namely climate, water, agriculture, forestry and biodiversity. Water-related research activities in SASSCAL aim to improve our knowledge on the complex interactions and feedbacks between surface and groundwater dynamics and resources as well as land surface processes in selected regions of the participating countries (Angola, Botswana, Namibia, South Africa and Zambia). The main objective of this joint and integrated research effort is to develop reliable hydrological and hydro-geological baseline data along with a set of analytical methods to strengthen the research capacity of the water sector of the Southern African region. Thereby, SASSCAL contributes to the implemention of integrated water resources management strategies for improved trans-boundary river management and resources usage in the perspective of global climate and land management changes. Here, we present an overview and first results of ongoing studies conducted by various

Interseismic strain accumulation and the earthquake potential on the southern San Andreas fault system.

Science.gov (United States)

Fialko, Yuri

2006-06-22

The San Andreas fault in California is a mature continental transform fault that accommodates a significant fraction of motion between the North American and Pacific plates. The two most recent great earthquakes on this fault ruptured its northern and central sections in 1906 and 1857, respectively. The southern section of the fault, however, has not produced a great earthquake in historic times (for at least 250 years). Assuming the average slip rate of a few centimetres per year, typical of the rest of the San Andreas fault, the minimum amount of slip deficit accrued on the southern section is of the order of 7-10 metres, comparable to the maximum co-seismic offset ever documented on the fault. Here I present high-resolution measurements of interseismic deformation across the southern San Andreas fault system using a well-populated catalogue of space-borne synthetic aperture radar data. The data reveal a nearly equal partitioning of deformation between the southern San Andreas and San Jacinto faults, with a pronounced asymmetry in strain accumulation with respect to the geologically mapped fault traces. The observed strain rates confirm that the southern section of the San Andreas fault may be approaching the end of the interseismic phase of the earthquake cycle.

SAFARI 2000 Land Cover from AVHRR, 8-km, 1984 (DeFries et al.)

Data.gov (United States)

National Aeronautics and Space Administration — This data set consists of a southern African subset of the University of Maryland (UMD) 8-km Global Land Cover product in ASCII GRID and binary image files formats.

SAFARI 2000 Land Cover from AVHRR, 8-km, 1984 (DeFries et al.)

Data.gov (United States)

National Aeronautics and Space Administration — ABSTRACT: This data set consists of a southern African subset of the University of Maryland (UMD) 8-km Global Land Cover product in ASCII GRID and binary image files...

The centrifugal and centripetal force influence on spatial competition of agricultural land in Bandung Metropolitan Region

Science.gov (United States)

Sadewo, E.

2017-06-01

Agricultural activity has suffered a massive land functional shift caused by market mechanism in Bandung metropolitan region (BMR). We argue that the existence of agricultural land in urban spatial structure is the result of interaction between centrifugal and centripetal force on spatial competition. This research aims to explore how several recognized centrifugal and centripetal force influence to the existence of agricultural land in BMR land development. The analysis using multivariate regression indicates that there exists spatial competition between population density and degree of urbanization with agricultural land areas. Its extended spatial regression model suggested that neighboring situation plays an important role to preserve agricultural land areas existences in BMR. Meanwhile, the influence of distance between the location of the city center and employment opportunities is found to be insignificant in the spatial competition. It is opposed to the theory of von Thünen and monocentric model in general. One of the possible explanation of such condition is that the assumption of centrality does not met. In addition, the agricultural land density decay in the southern parts of the area was related to its geographical conditions as protected areas or unfavorable for farming activity. It is suggested that BMR was in the early phase of polycentric development. Hence, better policies that lead redirected development to the southern part of the region is needed as well as population control and regulation of land use.

Land use change and ecosystem service provision in Pampas and Campos grasslands of southern South America

Science.gov (United States)

Modernel, P.; Rossing, W. A. H.; Corbeels, M.; Dogliotti, S.; Picasso, V.; Tittonell, P.

2016-11-01

New livestock production models need to simultaneously meet the increasing global demand for meat and preserve biodiversity and ecosystem services. Since the 16th century beef cattle has been produced on the Pampas and Campos native grasslands in southern South America, with only small amounts of external inputs. We synthesised 242 references from peer-reviewed and grey literature published between 1945 and mid-2015 and analysed secondary data to examine the evidence on the ecosystem services provided by this grassland biodiversity hotspot and the way they are affected by land use changes and their drivers. The analysis followed the requirements of systematic review from the PRISMA statement (Moher et al 2009 Acad. Clin. Ann. Intern. Med. 151 264-9). The Pampas and Campos provide feed for 43 million heads of cattle and 14 million sheep. The biome is habitat of 4000 native plant species, 300 species of birds, 29 species of mammals, 49 species of reptiles and 35 species of amphibians. The soils of the region stock 5% of the soil organic carbon of Latin America on 3% of its area. Driven by high prices of soybean, the soybean area increased by 210% between 2000 and 2010, at the expense of 2 million ha (5%) of native grassland, mostly in the Pampas. Intensification of livestock production was apparent in two spatially distinct forms. In subregions where cropping increased, intensification of livestock production was reflected in an increased use of grains for feed as part of feedlots. In subregions dominated by native grasslands, stocking rates increased. The review showed that land use change and grazing regimes with low forage allowances were predominantly associated with negative effects on ecosystem service provision by reducing soil organic carbon stocks and the diversity of plants, birds and mammals, and by increasing soil erosion. We found little quantitative information on changes in the ecosystem services water provision, nutrient cycling and erosion control

Human influences on forest ecosystems: the southern wildland-urban interface assessment

Science.gov (United States)

Edward A. Macie; L. Annie Hermansen; [Editors

2002-01-01

This publication provides a review of critical wildland-urban interface issues, challenges, and needs for the Southern United States. Chapter topics include population and demographic trends; economic and tax issues; land use planning and policy; urban effects on forest ecosystems; challenges for forest resource management and conservation; social consequences of...

Examining land-use/land-cover change in the Lake Dianchi watershed of the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau of Southwest China with remote sensing and GIS techniques: 1974–2008.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhao, Yaolong; Zhang, Ke; Fu, Yingchun; Zhang, Hong

2012-10-24

Monitoring land-use/land-cover change (LULCC) and exploring its mechanisms are important processes in the environmental management of a lake watershed. The purpose of this study was to examine the spatiotemporal pattern of LULCC by using multi landscape metrics in the Lake Dianchi watershed, which is located in the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau of Southwest China. Landsat images from the years 1974, 1988, 1998, and 2008 were analyzed using geographical information system (GIS) techniques. The results reveal that land-use/land-cover has changed greatly in the watershed since 1974. This change in land use structure was embodied in the rapid increase of developed areas with a relative change rate of up to 324.4%. The increase in developed areas mainly occurred in agricultural land, especially near the shores of Lake Dianchi. The spatial pattern and structure of the change was influenced by the urban sprawl of the city of Kunming. The urban sprawl took on the typical expansion mode of cyclic structures and a jigsaw pattern and expanded to the shore of Lake Dianchi. Agricultural land changed little with respect to the structure but changed greatly in the spatial pattern. The landscape in the watershed showed a trend of fragmentation with a complex boundary. The dynamics of land-use/land-cover in the watershed correlate with land-use policies and economic development in China.

The Last Hundred Years of Land Use History in the Southern Part of Valdai Hills (European Russia: Reconstruction by Pollen and Historical Data

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Novenko Elena

2017-12-01

Full Text Available The last one hundred years of land use history in the southern part of Valdai Hills (European Russia were reconstructed on the base of high resolution pollen data from the peat monolith taken from the Central Forest State Reserve supplementing with historical records derived from maps of the General Land Survey of the 18th and 19th centuries and satellite images. According to the created age model provided by dating using radio-nuclides 210Pb and 137Cs, pollen data of the peat monolith allow us to reconstruct vegetation dynamics during the last one hundred years with high time resolution. The obtained data showed that, despite the location of the studied peatland in the center of the forest area and rather far away from possible croplands and hayfields, the pollen values of plants – anthropogenic indicators (Secale sereale, Centaurea cyanus, Plantago, Rumex, etc. and micro-charcoal concentration are relatively high in the period since the beginning of the 20th century to the 1970s, especially in the peat horizon formed in the 1950s. In the late 1970s – the early 1980s when the pollen values of cereals gradually diminished in assemblages, the quantity of pollen of other anthropogenic indicators were also significantly reduced, which reflects the overall processes of the agriculture decline in the forest zone of the former USSR.

Will oil palm's homecoming spell doom for Africa's great apes?

Science.gov (United States)

Wich, Serge A; Garcia-Ulloa, John; Kühl, Hjalmar S; Humle, Tatanya; Lee, Janice S H; Koh, Lian Pin

2014-07-21

Expansion of oil palm plantations has led to extensive wildlife habitat conversion in Southeast Asia [1]. This expansion is driven by a global demand for palm oil for products ranging from foods to detergents [2], and more recently for biofuels [3]. The negative impacts of oil palm development on biodiversity [1, 4, 5], and on orangutans (Pongo spp.) in particular, have been well documented [6, 7] and publicized [8, 9]. Although the oil palm is of African origin, Africa's production historically lags behind that of Southeast Asia. Recently, significant investments have been made that will likely drive the expansion of Africa's oil palm industry [10]. There is concern that this will lead to biodiversity losses similar to those in Southeast Asia. Here, we analyze the potential impact of oil palm development on Africa's great apes. Current great ape distribution in Africa substantially overlaps with current oil palm concessions (by 58.7%) and areas suitable for oil palm production (by 42.3%). More importantly, 39.9% of the distribution of great ape species on unprotected lands overlaps with suitable oil palm areas. There is an urgent need to develop guidelines for the expansion of oil palm in Africa to minimize the negative effects on apes and other wildlife. There is also a need for research to support land use decisions to reconcile economic development, great ape conservation, and avoiding carbon emissions. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Oceans around Southern Africa and regional effects of global change

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Lutjeharms, JRE

2001-03-01

Full Text Available In the last few decades, a great deal of work has been carried out on the nature of the oceanic circulation around southern Africa. Attempts have been made to determine regional ocean-atmosphere interactions and the effect of changing sea...

Aspects of Land Take in the Metropolitan Area of Naples

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Giuseppe Mazzeo

2016-03-01

Full Text Available Land take is a phenomenon of great concern nowadays because of the large number of its negative impacts regarding biological, economic and social balance. In Italy, the development of urban and other artificial land has been irreversibly transforming a non-renewable resource such as soil, regardless the almost constant population rate, with different speed depending of the region considered. The aim of this paper is to analyze the phenomenon in the metropolitan area of Naples, which is an area highly affected by territorial aggression of human matrix. The data used are both by the Institute for Environmental Protection and Research (ISPRA Report 2015 on the usage of the land and by ISTAT relating to the resident population up to the 1st of January 2015 and the extension of land for agricultural use (Census 2010. The mathematical combination of this data creates a new indicator that can be referred to as “residual land”; this residual area is of great extension with many different characteristics and it could represent the area where the phenomenon of land take most occurs. The identification, measurement and analysis of “residual land” provide new insights on the evolution of land take and this new indicator can represent a critical element to work on to prevent future land transformation and protect natural and agricultural areas within the Italian context.

An integrated approach to historical population assessment of the great whales: case of the New Zealand southern right whale.

Science.gov (United States)

Jackson, Jennifer A; Carroll, Emma L; Smith, Tim D; Zerbini, Alexandre N; Patenaude, Nathalie J; Baker, C Scott

2016-03-01

Accurate estimation of historical abundance provides an essential baseline for judging the recovery of the great whales. This is particularly challenging for whales hunted prior to twentieth century modern whaling, as population-level catch records are often incomplete. Assessments of whale recovery using pre-modern exploitation indices are therefore rare, despite the intensive, global nature of nineteenth century whaling. Right whales (Eubalaena spp.) were particularly exploited: slow swimmers with strong fidelity to sheltered calving bays, the species made predictable and easy targets. Here, we present the first integrated population-level assessment of the whaling impact and pre-exploitation abundance of a right whale, the New Zealand southern right whale (E. australis). In this assessment, we use a Bayesian population dynamics model integrating multiple data sources: nineteenth century catches, genetic constraints on bottleneck size and individual sightings histories informing abundance and trend. Different catch allocation scenarios are explored to account for uncertainty in the population's offshore distribution. From a pre-exploitation abundance of 28 800-47 100 whales, nineteenth century hunting reduced the population to approximately 30-40 mature females between 1914 and 1926. Today, it stands at less than 12% of pre-exploitation abundance. Despite the challenges of reconstructing historical catches and population boundaries, conservation efforts of historically exploited species benefit from targets for ecological restoration.

The decline of cisco Coregonus artedi at its southern range extent: Stock biology and management implications

OpenAIRE

Honsey, Andrew E.

2014-01-01

The cisco Coregonus artedi is distributed throughout northern North America and is relegated to coldwater, oligotrophic systems. Populations of cisco located at the species' southern range extent, including northern Indiana and southern Michigan, have drastically declined over the past century, seemingly due to a combination of climate warming and exacerbation of hypolimnetic hypoxic conditions via intensive land-use and resulting increases in nutrient loading. Apart from their decline, infor...

MANAGING AND RESTORING UPLAND RIPARIAN MEADOWS IN THE CENTRAL GREAT BASIN

Science.gov (United States)

Riparian meadow ecosystems in upland watersheds are of local and regional importance in the Great Basin. Covering only 1-3% of the total land area, these ecosystems contain a disproportionally large percentage of the region's biodiversity. Stream incision, due to natural and anth...

Atmospheric teleconnection influence on North American land surface phenology

Science.gov (United States)

Dannenberg, Matthew P.; Wise, Erika K.; Janko, Mark; Hwang, Taehee; Kolby Smith, W.

2018-03-01

Short-term forecasts of vegetation activity are currently not well constrained due largely to our lack of understanding of coupled climate-vegetation dynamics mediated by complex interactions between atmospheric teleconnection patterns. Using ecoregion-scale estimates of North American vegetation activity inferred from remote sensing (1982-2015), we examined seasonal and spatial relationships between land surface phenology and the atmospheric components of five teleconnection patterns over the tropical Pacific, north Pacific, and north Atlantic. Using a set of regression experiments, we also tested for interactions among these teleconnection patterns and assessed predictability of vegetation activity solely based on knowledge of atmospheric teleconnection indices. Autumn-to-winter composites of the Southern Oscillation Index (SOI) were strongly correlated with start of growing season timing, especially in the Pacific Northwest. The two leading modes of north Pacific variability (the Pacific-North American, PNA, and West Pacific patterns) were significantly correlated with start of growing season timing across much of southern Canada and the upper Great Lakes. Regression models based on these Pacific teleconnections were skillful predictors of spring phenology across an east-west swath of temperate and boreal North America, between 40°N-60°N. While the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) was not strongly correlated with start of growing season timing on its own, we found compelling evidence of widespread NAO-SOI and NAO-PNA interaction effects. These results suggest that knowledge of atmospheric conditions over the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans increases the predictability of North American spring phenology. A more robust consideration of the complexity of the atmospheric circulation system, including interactions across multiple ocean basins, is an important step towards accurate forecasts of vegetation activity.

Scenarios of land cover in China

Science.gov (United States)

Yue, Tian Xiang; Fan, Ze Meng; Liu, Ji Yuan

2007-02-01

A method for surface modeling of land cover change (SMLC) is developed on the basis of establishing transition probability matrixes between land cover types and HLZ types. SMLC is used to simulate land cover scenarios of China for the years 2039, 2069 and 2099, for which HLZ scenarios are first simulated in terms of HadCM3 climatic scenarios that are downscaled in zonal model of spatial climate change in China. This paper also analyzes spatial distribution of land cover types, area change and mean center shift of each land cover type, ecotope diversity, and patch connectivity under the land cover scenarios. The results show that cultivated land would decrease and woodland would expand greatly with climatic change, which coincides with consequences expected by implementation of Grain-for-Green policy. Nival area would shrink, and desertification area would expand at a comparatively slow rate in future 100 years. Climate change would generally cause less ecotope diversity and more patch connectivity. Ecosystems in China would have a pattern of beneficial cycle after efficient ecological conservation and restoration. However, if human activities would exceed regulation capacity of ecosystems themselves, the ecosystems in China might deteriorate more seriously.

Climate, water use, and land surface transformation in an irrigation intensive watershed - streamflow responses from 1950 through 2010

Science.gov (United States)

Dale, Joseph; Zou, Chris B.; Andrews, William J.; Long, James M.; Liang, Ye; Qiao, Lei

2015-01-01

Climatic variability and land surface change have a wide range of effects on streamflow and are often difficult to separate. We analyzed long-term records of climate, land use and land cover, and re-constructed the water budget based on precipitation, groundwater levels, and water use from 1950 through 2010 in the Cimarron–Skeleton watershed and a portion of the Cimarron–Eagle Chief watershed in Oklahoma, an irrigation-intensive agricultural watershed in the Southern Great Plains, USA. Our results show that intensive irrigation through alluvial aquifer withdrawal modifies climatic feedback and alters streamflow response to precipitation. Increase in consumptive water use was associated with decreases in annual streamflow, while returning croplands to non-irrigated grasslands was associated with increases in streamflow. Along with groundwater withdrawal, anthropogenic-induced factors and activities contributed nearly half to the observed variability of annual streamflow. Streamflow was more responsive to precipitation during the period of intensive irrigation between 1965 and 1984 than the period of relatively lower water use between 1985 and 2010. The Cimarron River is transitioning from a historically flashy river to one that is more stable with a lower frequency of both high and low flow pulses, a higher baseflow, and an increased median flow due in part to the return of cropland to grassland. These results demonstrated the interrelationship among climate, land use, groundwater withdrawal and streamflow regime and the potential to design agricultural production systems and adjust irrigation to mitigate impact of increasing climate variability on streamflow in irrigation intensive agricultural watershed.

Influence of timing and spatial extent of savanna fires in southern Africa on atmospheric emissions

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Korontzi, S

2003-06-01

Full Text Available Biomass burning is an important ecosystem process in southern Africa, with significant implications for regional and. global atmospheric chemistry and biogeochemical cycles. In this paper, representative Land sat path-row scene locations...

The trade-off between bioenergy and emissions with land constraints

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kauffman, Nathan S.; Hayes, Dermot J.

2013-01-01

Agricultural biofuels require the use of scarce land, and this land has opportunity cost. We explore the objective function of a social planner who includes a land constraint in the optimization decision to minimize environmental cost. The inclusion of this land constraint in our optimization model motivates the measurement of emissions on a per-hectare basis. Switchgrass and corn are modeled as competing alternatives to show how the inclusion of a land constraint can influence life cycle rankings and alter policy conclusions. With land use unconstrained, ethanol produced from switchgrass is always an optimal feedstock relative to ethanol produced from corn. With land use constrained, however, our results show that it is unlikely that switchgrass would be optimal in the midwestern United States, but may be optimal in southern states if carbon is priced relatively high. Whether biofuel policy advocates for one feedstock over another should consider these contrasting results. - Highlights: ► Biofuel pathway rankings differ depending on the functional unit of measure. ► Conventional life cycle analysis overlooks the opportunity cost of land. ► Including a land constraint, a model is developed to determine pathway optimality. ► The optimization model suggests emissions be measured per hectare. ► Switchgrass and corn are modeled as competing alternatives for biofuel production

Remote sensing of land use/cover changes and its effect on wind erosion potential in southern Iran

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Rezaei, Mahrooz; Sameni, Abdolmajid; Fallah Shamsi, Seyed Rashid; Bartholomeus, Harm

2016-01-01

Wind erosion is a complex process influenced by different factors. Most of these factors are stable over time, but land use/cover and land management practices are changing gradually. Therefore, this research investigates the impact of changing land use/cover and land management on wind erosion

Long-term marine litter monitoring in the remote Great Australian Bight, South Australia.

Science.gov (United States)

Edyvane, K S; Dalgetty, A; Hone, P W; Higham, J S; Wace, N M

2004-06-01

The Anxious Bay beach litter clearance is the longest running annual survey of ocean-based litter in Australia. It's remoteness from centres of human population and location (with respect to prevailing winds and currents) make it an ideal place for monitoring ocean or ship-based litter in Australia's southern oceans and particularly, the Great Australian Bight. Over the 1991-1999 period, a large but gradual decline in the amount of beach washed litter was recorded (with minor peaks recorded during the 1992 and 1994 surveys). Beach washed litter decreased by approximately 86%, from 344 kg recorded in 1991 (13.2 kg/km) to 49 kg in 1999 (i.e. 1.9 kg/km), reaching a maximum of 390 kg in 1992 (or 15 kg/km of beach). However, a sharp increase in litter was recorded in 2000 (i.e. 252 kg or 9.7 kg/km). This increase in litter yield in 2000 is probably due to stronger than average onshore surface flow (or Ekman Transport) in the western Eyre Peninsula and Bight region. Prior to the survey in 2000, the results appeared to indicate that ocean litter on Anxious Bay beach was beginning to level out at around 50-70 kg/year (i.e. 2-3 kg/km). As the beach surveys involve the assumption that the beach is completely cleared of litter, this may represent a baseline level for ocean-based litter in the region. The yields and type of litter collected from the annual survey indicates that the majority of litter washed ashore originates from commercial fishing activities within the Great Australian Bight. Most of the fishing-related litter was directly sourced to the Southern Rock Lobster Fishery (i.e. bait buckets, baskets, pots), the Great Australian Bight Trawl Fishery (i.e. codends, trawl nets) and the Southern Shark Fishery (i.e. monofilament gillnets and longlines). Between 1994 and 1999, large reductions were observed in the amount of bait straps (77% reduction), lobster bait baskets/buckets (86% reduction), nets/ropes (62% reduction) and floats/buoys (83% reduction). Significantly

Assessing the effect of agricultural land abandonment on bird communities in southern-eastern Europe.

Science.gov (United States)

Zakkak, Sylvia; Radovic, Andreja; Nikolov, Stoyan C; Shumka, Spase; Kakalis, Lefteris; Kati, Vassiliki

2015-12-01

Agricultural land abandonment is recognized as a major environmental threat in Europe, being particularly pronounced in south-eastern Europe, where knowledge on its effects is limited. Taking the Balkan Peninsula as a case study, we investigated agricultural abandonment impact on passerine communities at regional level. We set up a standard methodology for site selection (70 sites) and data collection, along a well-defined forest-encroachment gradient that reflects land abandonment in four countries: Albania, Bulgaria, Croatia and Greece. Regardless the different socio-economic and political histories in the Balkans that led to diverse land abandonment patterns in space and time, rural abandonment had a consistent negative effect on bird communities, while regional-level analysis revealed patterns that were hidden at local level. The general trends were an increase of forest-dwelling bird species at the expense of farmland birds, the decline of overall bird species richness, as well as the decline of Species of European Conservation Concern (SPECs) richness and abundance. Many farmland bird species declined with land abandonment, whereas few forest species benefited from the process. In conclusion, our results support CAP towards hampering rural land abandonment and preserving semi-open rural mosaics in remote upland areas, using a suite of management measures carefully tailored to local needs. The maintenance of traditional rural landscapes should be prioritized in the Balkans, through the timely identification of HNV farmland that is most prone to abandonment. We also suggest that coordinated transnational research is needed, for a better assessment of conservation options in remote rural landscapes at European scale, including the enhancement of wild grazers' populations as an alternative in areas where traditional land management is rather unlikely to be re-established. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

THE TRANSFORMATION OF LAND RESOURCES AND THE SUPPORT OF THE BALANCED LAND USE

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

V. V. Balashenko

2018-03-01

Full Text Available The relevance of the study. The degradation, which is a depletion of natural resources, including land resources, actualizes the problem of forecasting the consequences of human activities and assessing the possible economic damage. The purpose of the study is to identify the main processes and phenomena that adversely affect land resources. The substantiation of the procedure for assessing the economic damage in management decisions in terms of balanced land use is another part of the purpose of the present research. Results. This article clarifies the concept of “land” and gives proof of the need for land monitoring. The latter is a system of observations of the state of the supply of land for the timely detection of changes. Their assessment, prevention and elimination of the consequences of negative impacts are also of great significance. The main factors of transformation of lands, their importance for different zones of the country, and the formation of consequences are revealed in the present study. The cost estimate of consequences requires an economic assessment of land resources. From these positions, the methodological approaches used are considered and the feasibility of using the income method is justified. The evolution of the methodological tools for assessing economic damage, and its transformation in modern conditions are analyzed in detail. Based on the assessment of land degradation under the influence of the anthropogenic factor in the mining industry, the indicators of economic damage are associated with the activities of ferrous, non-ferrous metallurgy and mining enterprises are projected. In order to ensure balance, the issue of land reclamation with identification of the reasons for non-fulfillment of reclamation works is raised. Application of the results. Methodological provisions recommended by the authors can be used in the process of state regulation of land use in order to ensure the conditions of its balance.

Elevated land runoff after European settlement perturbs persistent foraminiferal assemblages on the Great Barrier Reef.

Science.gov (United States)

Uthicke, S; Patel, F; Ditchburn, R

2012-01-01

Coral reefs are under pressure from a variety of human-induced disturbances, but demonstration of ecosystem changes and identification of stressors are often difficult. We tested whether global change or increased agricultural runoff after European settlement of Northeast Australia (ca. 1860) has affected inshore reefs of the Great Barrier Reef. Eleven sediment cores were retrieved from inner reefs, intermediate reefs, and outer-island reefs, and benthic foraminiferal assemblages were analyzed in dated (14C, 210Pb, 137Cs) core sections (N = 82 samples). Data were grouped into six age bands ( 1500 yr). Principal component analysis and two-factor (Zone and Age) permutational analysis of variance (PERMANOVA) suggested that assemblages from the three zones were significantly different from each other over several millennia, with symbiont-bearing (mixotrophic) species dominating the outer reefs. A significant interaction term indicated that within-zone patterns varied. Assemblages in outer reefs unaffected from increased land runoff were persistent until present times. In both other zones, assemblages were also persistent until 150 yr ago, suggesting that benthic foraminiferal assemblages are naturally highly persistent over long (> 2000 yr) timescales. Assemblages in core sections PERMANOVA. With some exceptions, changes on the inner and intermediate reefs were consistent with a model predicting that increased nutrients and higher turbidity enhance relative abundance of heterotrophic species. Given that assemblages did not change in outer-island reefs (not impacted by runoff) we argue that changes in assemblages due to global change can be rejected as an explanation. Thus, the findings are more consistent with the hypothesis that agricultural runoff since European settlement altered foraminiferal assemblages than with the hypothesis that global forcing caused changes.

Great Lakes

Science.gov (United States)

Edsall, Thomas A.; Mac, Michael J.; Opler, Paul A.; Puckett Haecker, Catherine E.; Doran, Peter D.

1998-01-01

The Great Lakes region, as defined here, includes the Great Lakes and their drainage basins in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and New York. The region also includes the portions of Minnesota, Wisconsin, and the 21 northernmost counties of Illinois that lie in the Mississippi River drainage basin, outside the floodplain of the river. The region spans about 9º of latitude and 20º of longitude and lies roughly halfway between the equator and the North Pole in a lowland corridor that extends from the Gulf of Mexico to the Arctic Ocean.The Great Lakes are the most prominent natural feature of the region (Fig. 1). They have a combined surface area of about 245,000 square kilometers and are among the largest, deepest lakes in the world. They are the largest single aggregation of fresh water on the planet (excluding the polar ice caps) and are the only glacial feature on Earth visible from the surface of the moon (The Nature Conservancy 1994a).The Great Lakes moderate the region’s climate, which presently ranges from subarctic in the north to humid continental warm in the south (Fig. 2), reflecting the movement of major weather masses from the north and south (U.S. Department of the Interior 1970; Eichenlaub 1979). The lakes act as heat sinks in summer and heat sources in winter and are major reservoirs that help humidify much of the region. They also create local precipitation belts in areas where air masses are pushed across the lakes by prevailing winds, pick up moisture from the lake surface, and then drop that moisture over land on the other side of the lake. The mean annual frost-free period—a general measure of the growing-season length for plants and some cold-blooded animals—varies from 60 days at higher elevations in the north to 160 days in lakeshore areas in the south. The climate influences the general distribution of wild plants and animals in the region and also influences the activities and distribution of the human

Fire history, effects and management in southern Nevada [Chapter 5

Science.gov (United States)

Mathew L. Brooks; Jeanne C. Chambers; Randy A. McKinley

2013-01-01

Fire can be both an ecosystem stressor (Chapter 2) and a critical ecosystem process, depending on when, where, and under what conditions it occurs on the southern Nevada landscape. Fire can also pose hazards to human life and property, particularly in the wildland/urban interface (WUI). The challenge faced by land managers is to prevent fires from occurring where they...

Integrating ecosystem services trade-offs with paddy land-to-dry land decisions: A scenario approach in Erhai Lake Basin, southwest China.

Science.gov (United States)

Hu, Yi'na; Peng, Jian; Liu, Yanxu; Tian, Lu

2018-06-01

Ecosystem services are the benefits people obtain from ecosystems, and ecosystem services trade-offs have been widely applied to the development of land-use policy. Although previous studies have focused on trade-offs of ecosystem services, a scenario approach has been seldom used. The scenario approach can reveal the changes of ecosystem services for different land-use patterns in the future, and is of great significance for land-use decisions and ecosystem management. Based on the actual situation of deteriorating water quality and dwindling water supply in the Erhai Lake Basin of southwest China, this study put forward to convert paddy land to dry land (PLDL) in the basin, and simulated its potential impact on ecosystem services. Taking environmental pollution, social impact, economic benefit and residential participation into consideration, four scenarios of PLDL were designed. Then, four ecosystem services (water purification, water yield, soil conservation and rice production) were calculated for each scenario. The optimal scenario of PLDL in the Erhai Lake Basin was identified by trade-offs of the four ecosystem services. The results showed that the total nitrogen export could be reduced by 42.07% and water yield can be increased by 5.61% after converting 100% of paddy lands to dry land, thereby greatly improving the water quality and increasing the water yield of Erhai Lake. However, PLDL involving 100% of paddy lands also increased the sediment export by 17.22%, and eliminated rice production in the region. By comparing the four PLDL scenarios for converting just 50% of paddy lands, the residential participation scenario was identified to be the best choice for PLDL implementation because it achieved the best level of water purification and had the smallest negative effect on other ecosystem services. The optimal scenario for each township showed spatial differentiation, and there were conflicts between the optimal scenarios at basin scale and township

Land-ocean fluxes in the Paranaguá Bay estuarine system, southern Brazil

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Eduardo Marone

2005-12-01

Full Text Available A worldwide modeling effort has been proposed by the LOICZ (Land-Ocean Interactions in the Coastal Zone Program to foster the acquisition of intercomparable data on land-ocean fluxes in estuaries and continental shelf ecosystems from all continental margins. As part of the South American component of this initiative, we present flux estimates of water, salt, dissolved inorganic phosphorus (DIP, dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN and plankton for the estuarine system of Paranaguá Bay, southern Brazil, based on the LOICZ modeling approach and local data obtained during the 1990's. This system is strongly influenced by a seasonal meteorological cycle, represented by the rainy/summer and dry/winter periods. Semi-diurnal tides of up to the 2.7-m range are responsible for the short time-scale dynamics. The model indicated a potential water export to the adjacent coast of up to 7 x 10(6 m³ d-1 in the dry season, and 28 x 10(6 m³ d-1 during the rainy season. The system exhibits seasonal and spatial variations in DIP and DIN fluxes. "DIP amounted to +2.3 x 10(6 mol P yr-1 and "DIN to -2.7 x 10(6 mol N yr-1, suggesting that net production of phosphate and consumption of inorganic nitrogen predominate throughout in the system. Fluxes and therefore export of DIN and eespecially of DIP are higher in the rainy season. Stoichiometric estimates based on the C:N:P ratios of the reacting particulate organic matter (mangrove and plankton detritus suggest that net denitrification predominates all over the bay, with values between -24.3 and -10.6 x 10(6 mol N year-1. Estimated seaward outflows had little effect upon the fate of the phyto- and zooplankton biomass in different sectors of the bay. This is exemplified by the low net export of algal production from the upper to the middle sectors of the estuary.Um esforço global de modelagem foi proposto pelo Programa LOICZ (Land-Ocean Interactions in the Coastal Zone para promover a aquisição de dados compar

Some Late-Holocene pollen diagrams from the Peel raised bogs (Southern Netherlands)

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Janssen, C.R.; Hove, ten H.A.

1971-01-01

Three pollen diagrams from the Peel peatlands, a raised bog area in the southern part of The Netherlands reveal the post-Boreal vegetation history of that region. There are two or three land-occupation phases in the Neolithic and Bronze ages, that show but low values of terrestrial herbs. They are

75 FR 26786 - Notice of Public Meeting: Sierra Front-Northwestern Great Basin Resource Advisory Council, NV

Science.gov (United States)

2010-05-12

... 261A; 10-08807; MO 4500012081; TAS: 14X1109] Notice of Public Meeting: Sierra Front-Northwestern Great..., Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Sierra Front-Northwestern Great Basin Resource Advisory Council (RAC... discussion will include, but are not limited to: District Manager's reports on current program of work, Draft...

Flooding of property by runoff from agricultural land in northwestern Europe

Science.gov (United States)

Boardman, John; Ligneau, Laurence; de Roo, Ad; Vandaele, Karel

1994-08-01

In the last twenty years there has been an increase in the incidence of flooding of property by runoff from agricultural land in many areas of northwestern Europe. These events take the form of inundations by soil-laden water associated with erision and the formation of ephemeral or talweg gullies developed in normally dry valley bottoms. Costs of such events may be considerable e.g. almost US$2M at Rottingdean, southern England, in 1987. These costs are largely borne by individual house occupants, insurance companies and local councils. The distribution of flooding is widespread but areas of high risk can be identified: the hilly area of central Belgium, parts of northern France, the South Downs in southern England and South-Limburg (the Netherlands). All these areas have silty, more or less loessial soils. Two types of flooding may be distinguished: winter flooding associated with wet soils and the cultivation of winter cereals, and summer flooding due to thunderstorm activity and runoff particularly from sugar beet, maize and potato crops. The distribution of these types of erosion varies in relation to the interaction between physical characteristics (soils and topography), climatic conditions and land use across the region. The reason for the recent increase in flooding events appears to be changes in land use, in the area of arable cropping, and the continued intensification of farming such as the use of chemical fertilizers, the decline in aggregate stability, the increase in the size of fields and compaction by farm vehicles. In some regions the risk of flooding has also increased because of expansion of urban areas in valley bottom locations. Communities have responded to the flooding hazard with emergency or protective measures usually involving engineered structures rather than land use change. The policy response to the increased risk of flooding has been very limited especially at the national and provincial level, the exception being plans developed

Spatial Variation of Temperature and Precipitation in Bhutan and Links to Vegetation and Land Cover

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ugyen Dorji

2016-02-01

Full Text Available Bhutan, located in the Himalayas in the South Asian monsoon region, has extremely high variation in elevation, climatic conditions, and land cover despite its small geographical area, as well as great biodiversity. This paper provides the first comprehensive description of climatic conditions in Bhutan. It assesses the spatial variation of temperature and precipitation across the country and evaluates the causes for this variation based on daily data from 70 meteorological stations that have been recording data for time spans ranging from 3 to 21 years. Temperature and precipitation show contrasting spatial variation, with temperature primarily affected by elevation and precipitation by latitude. Models were developed using mixed linear regression models to predict seasonal and annual mean temperature and precipitation based on geographical location. Using linear regression we found that temperatures changed by about 0.5°C for every 100 m of change in elevation, with lapse rates being highest in February, March, and November and lowest from June to August. The lapse rate was highest for minimum temperatures and lowest for maximum temperatures, with the greatest difference during winter. The spatial distribution of precipitation was mainly controlled by latitude, having a quadratic relationship, with the highest rates in the southern foothills of the Himalayan range and the lowest at midlatitudes. The land cover is affected by topography and local climate, with variations in temperature being a main deciding factor for vegetation types; most human settlements and associated land uses are concentrated at lower elevations.

Effects of land-use changes on soil properties : volcano watershed in Quito, Ecuador

OpenAIRE

Podwojewski, Pascal; Poulenard, J.; Janeau, Jean-Louis

2015-01-01

In the highlands of southern Colombia and northern Ecuador, soils developed on volcanic ash deposits have specific properties: high water retention, high hydraulic conductivity and high carbon (C) contents. The main role of the soils is to regulate the water available for the dense population living in the valleys. Soil properties and land use depend on their altitudes. Any important modification of land-use change has a serious effect on soil properties and consequently the ecosystem propert...

Evaluation of herbacceous biomass crops in the northern Great Plains. Final report

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Meyer, D.W.; Norby, W.E.; Erickson, D.O.; Johnson, R.G. [North Dakota State Univ., Fargo, ND (United States)

1994-08-01

Herbaceous lignocellulose crops are a potential renewable feedstock for biochemical conversion systems second in size to wood products. Several herbaceous crops are utilized as forage crops in the northern Great Plains, but forage quality considerations usually dictates a early harvest. Biomass cropping does not have this constraint; therefore, little information was available on herbaceous crops utilized as energy crops prior to this project. Our primary objectives were to evaluate the biomass yield and select chemical components of several herbaceous crops for energy crops in the northern Great Plains, compare the economic feasibility of energy crops with common competing crops, and evaluate biomass cropping on summer fallow lands. Three good, two marginal, and one irrigated sites were used during 1988 to 1992 for the first component. At least six perennial and four annual biomass species were included at all sites. Three to four nitrogen (N) levels and a crop-recrop comparison (annuals only) were management intensities included. Biomass cropping on idled lands was performed on dryland at Carrington and evaluated the effects of removing leguminous biomass on fallowed lands. This report summarizes results from the 5-year project.

Holistic Interactions of Shallow Clouds, Aerosols, and Land-Ecosystems (HI-SCALE) Field Campaign Report

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Fast, J. D. [Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States); Berg, L. K. [Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States); Burleyson, C. [Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States); Fan, J. [Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States); Feng, Z. [Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States); Hagos, S. [Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States); Huang, M. [Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States); Guenther, A. [Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States); Laskin, A. [Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States); Ovchinnikov, M. [Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States); Shilling, J. [Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States); Shrivastava, M. [Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States); Xiao, H. [Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States); Zaveri, R. [Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States); Zelenyuk-Imre, A. [Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States); Kuang, C. [Brookhaven National Lab. (BNL), Upton, NY (United States); Wang, J. [Brookhaven National Lab. (BNL), Upton, NY (United States); Smith, J. [University of California-Irvine; Turner, D. [National Severe Storms Laboratory; Gentine, P. [Columbia Univ., New York, NY (United States)

2017-05-01

Cumulus convection is an important component in the atmospheric radiation budget and hydrologic cycle over the southern Great Plains and over many regions of the world, particularly during the summertime growing season when intense turbulence induced by surface radiation couples the land surface to clouds. Current convective cloud parameterizations contain uncertainties resulting in part from insufficient coincident data that couples cloud macrophysical and microphysical properties to inhomogeneities in land surface, boundary layer, and aerosol properties. The Holistic Interactions of Shallow Clouds, Aerosols, and Land-Ecosystems (HI-SCALE) campaign was designed to provide a detailed set of measurements that are needed to obtain a more complete understanding of the lifecycle of shallow clouds by coupling cloud macrophysical and microphysical properties to land surface properties, ecosystems, and aerosols. Some of the land-atmosphere-cloud interactions that can be studied using HI-SCALE data are shown in Figure 1. HI-SCALE consisted of two 4-week intensive operation periods (IOPs), one in the spring (April 24-May 21) and the other in the late summer (August 28-September 24) of 2016, to take advantage of different stages of the plant lifecycle, the distribution of “greenness” for various types of vegetation in the vicinity of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Climate Research Facility Southern Great Plains (SGP) site, and aerosol properties that vary during the growing season. As expected, satellite measurements indicated that the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) was much “greener” in the vicinity of the SGP site during the spring IOP than the late summer IOP as a result of winter wheat maturing in the spring and being harvested in the early summer. As shown in Figure 2, temperatures were cooler than average and soil moisture was high during the spring IOP, while temperatures were warmer than average and

Does Climate Care about Land?

Science.gov (United States)

Dawson, E.; Lague, M. M.; Swann, A. L. S.

2017-12-01

Everyone knows that plants are influenced by the climate they live in. However, the reverse is also true: plants can influence climate both locally and globally by changing atmospheric circulation. Uncovering the role that plants play in climate has been challenging—the interactions are complex and vary greatly in different regions of the world. We lack a systematic understanding of the role of vegetation in the climate system. Using a new simplified land model coupled to a modern Earth System Model (ESM), we are able to separate the individual influences of the land system in the context of modern ESMs. For example, with our model we are able to test how the capacity of the land to hold water influences the atmosphere. If less water is able to evaporate, this could lead to substantial warming, and could even influence clouds. Understanding specifically where and how the atmosphere is influenced by the land surface improves our understanding of how future changes in the land surface will in turn feedback on climate, and how that will impact people. This improved understanding also advances our knowledge of the key role biology plays in driving the global climate system.

Environmentalism and land use planning

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Alonso, P A.G.

1986-01-01

This dissertation considers the research question: Can land-use planning attain the goals of environmentalism. The research question instigates the development of models for environmentalism and land use planning, test of their congruence, analysis of institutional means to joint them, case study of the specific method of lifestyle zoning for Nature conservation, international comparisons, and suggestions for the implementation of the ideology of environmentalism by the techniques of land-use planning. Comparison among the industrially advanced anglophone countries of Australia, Canada, Great Britain and the United States of America enable cross-cultural insight into environmentalism, land-use planning, and measures for the protection of dedicated areas. The evaluation of the fit between environmentalism and land-use planning considers their origins, values, operating principles, programs and problems. The ideological outline of contemporary environmental planning provides a framework for detailed analysis of the case study of an Environmental Living Zone on the fringe of urban Melbourne, Australia. Historical research, interpretation of planning schemes, maps and aerial photographs, interviews, and observation provided insight into the social and environmental factors in residential conservation. From the empirical and theoretical analyses, the work suggests implications for practitioners and directions for further research.

Growth pf Chinese tallow in a bottomland forest in Southern Mississippi

Science.gov (United States)

Nana Tian; Zhaofei Fan

2015-01-01

Chinese tallow tree [Triadica sebifera (L.) Small, formerly Sapium sebiferum (L.) Roxb.] is a monoecious and deciduous tree, native to central and southern China. As a nonnative invasive tree species, it has aggressively invaded forestlands in southeastern United States, particularly the low- and bottom-land forests along the coastal region of the Gulf of Mexico. This...

Population growth and the decline of natural Southern yellow pine forests

Science.gov (United States)

David B. South; Edward R. Buckner

2004-01-01

Population growth has created social and economic pressures that affect the sustainability of naturally regenerated southern yellow pine forests. Major causes of this decline include (1) a shift in public attitudes regarding woods burning (from one favoring it to one that favors fire suppression) and (2) an increase in land values (especially near urban centers). The...

Land Use Impacts on Water Quality of Rivers draining from Mulanje ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Land Use Impacts on Water Quality of Rivers draining from Mulanje Mountain: A Case of Ruo River in the Southern Malawi. ... The research recommends an integrated water resources management approach where all users and relevant stakeholders should take an active role in the conservation of Ruo River catchment in ...

A warm-season comparison of WRF coupled to the CLM4.0, Noah-MP, and Bucket hydrology land surface schemes over the central USA

Science.gov (United States)

Van Den Broeke, Matthew S.; Kalin, Andrew; Alavez, Jose Abraham Torres; Oglesby, Robert; Hu, Qi

2017-11-01

In climate modeling studies, there is a need to choose a suitable land surface model (LSM) while adhering to available resources. In this study, the viability of three LSM options (Community Land Model version 4.0 [CLM4.0], Noah-MP, and the five-layer thermal diffusion [Bucket] scheme) in the Weather Research and Forecasting model version 3.6 (WRF3.6) was examined for the warm season in a domain centered on the central USA. Model output was compared to Parameter-elevation Relationships on Independent Slopes Model (PRISM) data, a gridded observational dataset including mean monthly temperature and total monthly precipitation. Model output temperature, precipitation, latent heat (LH) flux, sensible heat (SH) flux, and soil water content (SWC) were compared to observations from sites in the Central and Southern Great Plains region. An overall warm bias was found in CLM4.0 and Noah-MP, with a cool bias of larger magnitude in the Bucket model. These three LSMs produced similar patterns of wet and dry biases. Model output of SWC and LH/SH fluxes were compared to observations, and did not show a consistent bias. Both sophisticated LSMs appear to be viable options for simulating the effects of land use change in the central USA.

South Bay Salt Pond Restoration Project: Planning Phase at Southern Eden Landing

Science.gov (United States)

This project will complete the design and permits to restore 1,300 acres of tidal wetlands, provide 3.5 miles shoreline protection, and accelerate wetlands restoration at the Eden Landing Ecological Reserve.

Diagnosing the Sensitivity of Local Land-Atmosphere Coupling via the Soil Moisture-Boundary Layer Interaction

Science.gov (United States)

Santanello, Joseph A., Jr.; Peters-Lidard, Christa D.; Kumar, Sujay V.

2011-01-01

The inherent coupled nature of earth s energy and water cycles places significant importance on the proper representation and diagnosis of land atmosphere (LA) interactions in hydrometeorological prediction models. However, the precise nature of the soil moisture precipitation relationship at the local scale is largely determined by a series of nonlinear processes and feedbacks that are difficult to quantify. To quantify the strength of the local LA coupling (LoCo), this process chain must be considered both in full and as individual components through their relationships and sensitivities. To address this, recent modeling and diagnostic studies have been extended to 1) quantify the processes governing LoCo utilizing the thermodynamic properties of mixing diagrams, and 2) diagnose the sensitivity of coupled systems, including clouds and moist processes, to perturbations in soil moisture. This work employs NASA s Land Information System (LIS) coupled to the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) mesoscale model and simulations performed over the U.S. Southern Great Plains. The behavior of different planetary boundary layers (PBL) and land surface scheme couplings in LIS WRF are examined in the context of the evolution of thermodynamic quantities that link the surface soil moisture condition to the PBL regime, clouds, and precipitation. Specifically, the tendency toward saturation in the PBL is quantified by the lifting condensation level (LCL) deficit and addressed as a function of time and space. The sensitivity of the LCL deficit to the soil moisture condition is indicative of the strength of LoCo, where both positive and negative feedbacks can be identified. Overall, this methodology can be applied to any model or observations and is a crucial step toward improved evaluation and quantification of LoCo within models, particularly given the advent of next-generation satellite measurements of PBL and land surface properties along with advances in data assimilation

CAUSES: Attribution of Surface Radiation Biases in NWP and Climate Models near the U.S. Southern Great Plains

Science.gov (United States)

Van Weverberg, K.; Morcrette, C. J.; Petch, J.; Klein, S. A.; Ma, H.-Y.; Zhang, C.; Xie, S.; Tang, Q.; Gustafson, W. I.; Qian, Y.; Berg, L. K.; Liu, Y.; Huang, M.; Ahlgrimm, M.; Forbes, R.; Bazile, E.; Roehrig, R.; Cole, J.; Merryfield, W.; Lee, W.-S.; Cheruy, F.; Mellul, L.; Wang, Y.-C.; Johnson, K.; Thieman, M. M.

2018-04-01

Many Numerical Weather Prediction (NWP) and climate models exhibit too warm lower tropospheres near the midlatitude continents. The warm bias has been shown to coincide with important surface radiation biases that likely play a critical role in the inception or the growth of the warm bias. This paper presents an attribution study on the net radiation biases in nine model simulations, performed in the framework of the CAUSES project (Clouds Above the United States and Errors at the Surface). Contributions from deficiencies in the surface properties, clouds, water vapor, and aerosols are quantified, using an array of radiation measurement stations near the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement Southern Great Plains site. Furthermore, an in-depth analysis is shown to attribute the radiation errors to specific cloud regimes. The net surface shortwave radiation is overestimated in all models throughout most of the simulation period. Cloud errors are shown to contribute most to this overestimation, although nonnegligible contributions from the surface albedo exist in most models. Missing deep cloud events and/or simulating deep clouds with too weak cloud radiative effects dominate in the cloud-related radiation errors. Some models have compensating errors between excessive occurrence of deep cloud but largely underestimating their radiative effect, while other models miss deep cloud events altogether. Surprisingly, even the latter models tend to produce too much and too frequent afternoon surface precipitation. This suggests that rather than issues with the triggering of deep convection, cloud radiative deficiencies are related to too weak convective cloud detrainment and too large precipitation efficiencies.

The Southern Ocean biogeochemical divide.

Science.gov (United States)

Marinov, I; Gnanadesikan, A; Toggweiler, J R; Sarmiento, J L

2006-06-22

Modelling studies have demonstrated that the nutrient and carbon cycles in the Southern Ocean play a central role in setting the air-sea balance of CO(2) and global biological production. Box model studies first pointed out that an increase in nutrient utilization in the high latitudes results in a strong decrease in the atmospheric carbon dioxide partial pressure (pCO2). This early research led to two important ideas: high latitude regions are more important in determining atmospheric pCO2 than low latitudes, despite their much smaller area, and nutrient utilization and atmospheric pCO2 are tightly linked. Subsequent general circulation model simulations show that the Southern Ocean is the most important high latitude region in controlling pre-industrial atmospheric CO(2) because it serves as a lid to a larger volume of the deep ocean. Other studies point out the crucial role of the Southern Ocean in the uptake and storage of anthropogenic carbon dioxide and in controlling global biological production. Here we probe the system to determine whether certain regions of the Southern Ocean are more critical than others for air-sea CO(2) balance and the biological export production, by increasing surface nutrient drawdown in an ocean general circulation model. We demonstrate that atmospheric CO(2) and global biological export production are controlled by different regions of the Southern Ocean. The air-sea balance of carbon dioxide is controlled mainly by the biological pump and circulation in the Antarctic deep-water formation region, whereas global export production is controlled mainly by the biological pump and circulation in the Subantarctic intermediate and mode water formation region. The existence of this biogeochemical divide separating the Antarctic from the Subantarctic suggests that it may be possible for climate change or human intervention to modify one of these without greatly altering the other.

Using hyperdocuments for knowledge management: an encyclopedia of southern appalachian forest ecosystems

Science.gov (United States)

Deborah K. Kennard; H. Michael Rauscher; Daniel L. Schmoldt; Patricia A. Flebbe; J.B. Jordin; W.G. Hubbard; M.C. Covington; N. Rushton

2001-01-01

Land managers increasingly need improved access to research knowledge that is thoroughly organized, condensed, and presented in a form that is useful for problem solving. In this paper, we describe the application of hyperdocuments for knowledge management, using an example of a newly developed hypertext encyclopedia on the southern Appalachians. The Encyclopedia of...

A novel understanding of land use characteristics caused by mining activities

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Zhang, Jianjun; Rao, Yongheng; Geng, Yuhuan

2017-01-01

An idea that which zones are the main disturbed areas in mining cities and what are the exact impacts in space concerns re-use and optimal allocation of land. Current research mostly concludes that mining activities impact land use greatly, but there is no definite spatial range of disturbance. T...

The Role of Fire in Changing Land Use and Livelihoods in Riau-Sumatra

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

S. Suyanto

2004-06-01

Full Text Available Results from remote sensing analysis, participatory mapping, socio-economic interviews, and hotspot information that were analyzed in a geographic information system (GIS show how fire has changed the landscape through its use in land preparation for oil palm and timber plantations and in the development of transmigration settlements. These timber and oil palm plantations have greatly altered the livelihood options of the communities, and have created conflict between communities and companies over land-use allocation and tenure. In many cases, conflict over tenure has been the motive for forest and land fires during the annual dry season. The study suggests that, where partnerships between communities and companies were established to develop oil palm and timber plantations that included a greater sharing of benefits and use of land, the incidence of fires designed to damage the planted resource was greatly reduced.

Invasive species in southern Nevada [Chapter 4] (Executive Summary)

Science.gov (United States)

Matthew L. Brooks; Steven M. Ostoja; Jeanne C.. Chambers

2013-01-01

Southern Nevada contains a wide range of topographies, elevations, and climatic zones that are emblematic of its position at the ecotone between the Mojave Desert, Great Basin, and Colorado Plateau ecoregions. These varied environmental conditions support a high degree of biological diversity, but they also provide opportunities for a wide range of invasive species. In...

Staple Food Self-Sufficiency of Farmers Household Level in The Great Solo

Science.gov (United States)

Darsono

2017-04-01

Analysis of food security level of household is a novelty of measurement standards which usually includes regional and national levels. With household approach is expected to provide the basis of sharp food policy formulation. The purpose of this study are to identify the condition of self-sufficiency in staple foods, and to find the main factors affecting the dynamics of self-sufficiency in staple foods on farm household level in Great Solo. Using primary data from 50 farmers in the sample and secondary data in Great Solo (Surakarta city, Boyolali, Sukoharjo, Karanganyar, Wonogiri, Sragen and Klaten). Compiled panel data were analyzed with linear probability regression models to produce a good model. The results showed that farm households in Great Solo has a surplus of staple food (rice) with an average consumption rate of 96.8 kg/capita/year. This number is lower than the national rate of 136.7 kg/capita/year. The main factors affecting the level of food self-sufficiency in the farmer household level are: rice production, rice consumption, land tenure, and number of family members. Key recommendations from this study are; improvement scale of the land cultivation for rice farming and non-rice diversification consumption.

Diversity and community structure of dung beetles (Coleoptera: Scarabaeinae associated with semi-urban fragmented agricultural land in the Malabar coast in southern India

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

K.S. Venugopal

2012-07-01

Full Text Available An evaluation of the diversity and community structure of dung beetles associated with semiurban agricultural land in the Malabar coast of southern India revealed that urbanization has led to decreased diversity compared to regional forests, and has affected the community status of dung beetles. However, contrary to expectations, species richness was observed to be equivalent to rural agricultural fields in the region. Low abundance of prominent agricultural habitat species indicates that the study area has changed as a result of habitat modification/urbanization, and the prevailing conditions are not ideal for the establishment of the most common species in agriculture belts. Prominence of two less common species, Tiniocellus spinipes and Caccobius vulcanus, indicates these generalist urban adaptable (synanthropic species have become increasingly widespread and locally abundant. The low abundance of tunnelers and rollers is attributed to fragmentation of the urban agricultural belt, low mammalian diversity and dung availability, and the hard nature of the laterite soil in the Malabar coast region.

Potential Range Expansion of Japanese Honeysuckle (Lonicera japonica Thunb. in Southern U.S. Forestlands

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William E. Rogers

2012-07-01

Full Text Available Japanese honeysuckle is one of the most aggressive invasive vines in forestlands of the southern United States. We analyzed field data collected by the U.S. Forest Service to identify potential determinants of invasion and to predict likelihood of further invasion under a variety of possible management strategies. Results of logistic regression, which classified 74% of the field plots correctly with regard to species presence and absence, indicated probability of invasion is correlated positively with adjacency to water bodies, temperature, site productivity, species diversity, and private land ownership, and is correlated negatively with slope, stand age, artificial regeneration, distance to the nearest road, and fire disturbance. Habitats most at risk to further invasion under current conditions occur throughout Mississippi, stretching northward across western Tennessee and western Kentucky, westward across southern Arkansas, eastward across north-central Alabama, and also occur in several counties scattered within Virginia. Invasion likelihoods could be increased by global climate change and reduced most by conversion to public land ownership, followed by artificial regeneration, and fire disturbance. While conversion of land ownership may not be feasible, this result suggests the opportunity for decreasing the likelihood of invasions on private lands via using selected management practices.

Results from an onshore/offshore seismic transect of southern Taiwan

Science.gov (United States)

McIntosh, K. D.; van Avendonk, H. J.; Wu, F. T.; Okaya, D. A.; Wang, C.

2010-12-01

The TAIGER project is a large research program focused on the processes and dynamics of arc-continent collision. As part of the project we recorded marine and onshore-offshore seismic data in summer 2009 using the R/V Langseth, ocean bottom seismometers (OBS) from the U.S. OBS instrument pool and from National Taiwan Ocean University, and land instruments from PASSCAL and Taiwan. Because the region from north of Luzon to northern Taiwan encompasses a multiphase transition from oceanic subduction to arc-continent collision, the TAIGER data sets along with state of the art geodynamic modeling are starting to provide fundamental insights into this complex process. This presentation focuses on initial results of an onshore/offshore seismic transect across southern Taiwan. One of the keys to success in studying the arc-continent collision in Taiwan is to document the crustal structure in the developing collision zone of southern Taiwan. This is where we hope to be able to view the transition from what looks like subduction to the south, to the more complex collision zone to the north. In this area we acquired an ~east-west seismic transect using 4 OBSs west of Taiwan, 40 portable land seismometers crossing the island from near Kaohsiung (W) to near Taitung (E) , and 14 OBSs east of Taiwan. As expected, data quality is extremely variable due to local geology at each station and, for land instruments, the level of cultural noise near each station. In fact, some of the land stations show no usable signals from seismic source pulses either east or west of Taiwan. However, other more fortuitously located instrument show clear arrivals at offsets of up to 280 km. As expected, all the best stations are located in mountainous areas where there is a minimum of unconsolidated material and less cultural noise. The land station data include primarily Pg and Pn arrivals, while the OBS data include a full range of reflected and refracted arrivals. The marine wide-angle data will also

Potential to expand sustainable bioenergy from sugarcane in southern Africa

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Watson, Helen K.

2011-01-01

The Cane Resources Network for Southern Africa evaluated how bioenergy from sugarcane can support sustainable development and improve global competitiveness in the region. The assessment of six countries with good contemporary potential for expanding sugarcane cultivation described in this paper was part of their analysis. Its principal objective was to identify land where such production will not have detrimental environmental and/or socio-economic impacts. Geographic Information Systems (GIS) was used to interrogate 1 km 2 resolution protected area, land cover, climate, elevation and soil data sets. To avoid detrimental impacts on biodiversity, all categories of protected areas, closed canopy forests and wetlands were excluded. To safeguard food security, all areas under food and/or cash crop production were excluded. Areas unsuitable because of climate, terrain and soil constraints were also excluded. The assessment found that almost 6 million hectares of suitable land is available in these countries, clearly suggesting that 'land' is unlikely to be a limiting factor in harnessing sugarcane's bioenergy potential in the region. However, land identified as such in this study needs to be verified using better resolution, preferably ground, information.

Mechanisms of northeastern Brazil rainfall anomalies due to Southern Tropical Atlantic variability

Science.gov (United States)

Neelin, J.; Su, H.

2004-05-01

Observational studies have shown that the rainfall anomalies in eastern equatorial South America, including Nordeste Brazil, have a positive correlation with tropical southern Atlantic sea surface temperature (SST) anomalies. Such relationships are reproduced in model simulations with the quasi-equilibrium tropical circulation model (QTCM), which includes a simple land model. A suite of model ensemble experiments is analysed using observed SST over the tropical oceans, the tropical Atlantic and the tropical southern Atlantic (30S-0), respectively (with climatological SST in the remainder of the oceans). Warm tropical south Atlantic SST anomalies yield positive precipitation anomalies over the Nordeste and the southern edge of the Atlantic marine intertropical convergence zone (ITCZ). Mechanisms associated with moisture variations are responsible for the land precipitation changes. Increases in moisture over the Atlantic cause positive anomalies in moisture advection, spreading increased moisture downwind. Where the basic state is far from the convective stability threshold, moisture changes have little effect, but the margins of the climatological convection zone are affected. The increased moisture supply due to advection is enhanced by increases in low-level convergence required by moist static energy balances. The moisture convergence term is several times larger, but experiments altering the moisture advection confirm that the feedback is initiated by wind acting on moisture gradient. This mechanism has several features in common with the recently published "upped-ante" mechanism for El Nino impacts on this region. In that case, the moisture gradient is initiated by warm free tropospheric temperature anomalies increasing the typical value of low-level moisture required to sustain convection in the convection zones. Both mechanisms suggest the usefulness of coordinating ocean and land in situ observations of boundary layer moisture.

Inter- and transdisciplinary scenario construction to explore future land-use options in southern Amazonia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Regine Schönenberg

2017-09-01

Full Text Available Our aim with this paper is to present a novel approach for developing story lines and scenarios by combining qualitative knowledge and quantitative data from different disciplines and discussing the results with relevant decision makers. This research strategy offers a solid foundation for perspectives into the future. The "laboratory" is the Brazilian Amazon, one of the hotspots of land-use change where local and global interests both collide and converge: local livelihoods are affected by regional and global climate change and by the loss of biodiversity caused by local and global economic interests in agro-industrial land use; such use contributes, in turn, to climate change. After decades of diverse policy interventions the question arises: What can we learn from past trajectories for a more sustainable development in the future? To answer this question, we combined qualitative story lines for the region, reviewed by local experts, with quantitative land-use scenarios, to study their regional and local manifestations in space. These results were then discussed again with local and national experts. Our findings suggest that in-depth knowledge of the diverging perspectives at a very local level is a fundamental prerequisite for downscaling global scenarios and upscaling local approaches to sustainable land-use management and thus, to producing communicable and applicable results.

An assessment of landscape changes in Mediterranean region. A case study of Algarve, southern Portugal.

Science.gov (United States)

Fernandez, Helena; Martins, Fernando; Valín, Maria Isabel; Moreno, Ângela; Pedras, Celestina

2014-05-01

Currently, the application of remote sensing techniques is a key factor for the planning and land management to ensure a sustainable development of the regions. Algarve, the most southern region of Portugal is characterized by its Mediterranean climate. This climate is described by irregular precipitation throughout the year with drought during summer months. The regional climate has a profound influence on its particular vegetation and wildlife turning it in a unique habitat for many species. Since the 1970s, increases in tourism have greatly affected the coastal region. This has led to great landscape pressure and urban growth, resulting in population increases due to local economic prosperity. Across Algarve, in recent decades, lawns areas have grown dramatically. Landscape water use has increased mainly because homeowners seldom pay the 'true' cost of water. Continued expansion of water supply is not, therefore, a viable management option in the future, particularly given the anticipated increase in the frequency and severity of droughts in Portugal. There's a need to change the perception of landscape relative to water consumption. Algarve needs a sustainable, 'demand-led' approach to water resource management, focusing on conserving water and using it more efficiently. The water resources available in the Algarve are limited, and decisions regarding sustainability must consider the environment. The aim of this study is to apply the remote sensing techniques to analyse the landscape changes in three municipalities of Algarve (Portugal): Albufeira, Loulé and Faro. The three Landsat images, from April 9th 1973 (Landsat1), March 23th 1989 (Landsat5) and April 26th 2013 (Landsat8) were used. The images were classified based on the radiometric information and the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI). These range of dates of the Landsat images used allowed for the differentiation between classes of the landscape. Land use and water resources are closely

A Preliminary Study of the Carbon Emissions Reduction Effects of Land Use Control.

Science.gov (United States)

Chuai, Xiaowei; Huang, Xianjin; Qi, Xinxian; Li, Jiasheng; Zuo, Tianhui; Lu, Qinli; Li, Jianbao; Wu, Changyan; Zhao, Rongqin

2016-11-15

Land use change not only directly influences carbon storage in terrestrial ecosystems but can also cause energy-related carbon emissions. This study examined spatiotemporal land use change across Jiangsu Province, China; calculated vegetation carbon storage loss caused by land use change and energy-related carbon emissions; analysed the relationship among land use change, carbon emissions and social-economic development; and optimized land use structure to maximize carbon storage. Our study found that 13.61% of the province's land area underwent a change in type of land use between 1995 and 2010, mainly presented as built-up land expansion and cropland shrinkage, especially in southern Jiangsu. Land use change caused a 353.99 × 10 4 t loss of vegetation carbon storage loss. Energy-related carbon emissions increased 2.5 times from 1995 to 2013; the energy consumption structure has been improved to some extent while still relying on coal. The selected social-economic driving forces have strong relationships with carbon emissions and land use changes, while there are also other determinants driving land use change, such as land use policy. The optimized land use structure will slow the rate of decline in vegetation carbon storage compared with the period between 1995 and 2010 and will also reduce energy-related carbon emissions by 12%.

The economic and geographic impact of national forest land on counties in southern Illinois.

Science.gov (United States)

David Spencer; Ronald I. Beazley

1979-01-01

Analyzes the impact of the Shawnee National Forest on the socioeconomic structure of 11 counties in southern Illinois. Includes a factor analysis model as well as an assessment of tax losses to local government as a result of the National Forest.

[Study on the land use optimization based on PPI].

Science.gov (United States)

Wu, Xiao-Feng; Li, Ting

2012-03-01

Land use type and managing method which is greatly influenced by human activities, is one of the most important factors of non-point pollution. Based on the collection and analysis of non-point pollution control methods and the concept of the three ecological fronts, 9 land use optimized scenarios were designed according to rationality analysis of the current land use situation in the 3 typed small watersheds in Miyun reservoir basin. Take Caojialu watershed for example to analyze and compare the influence to environment of different scenarios based on potential pollution index (PPI) and river section potential pollution index (R-PPI) and the best combination scenario was found. Land use scenario designing and comparison on basis of PPI and R-PPI could help to find the best combination scenario of land use type and managing method, to optimize space distribution and managing methods of land use in basin, to reduce soil erosion and to provide powerful support to formulation of land use planning and pollution control project.

Thermodynamic and Turbulence Characteristics of the Southern Great Plains Nocturnal Boundary Layer Under Differing Turbulent Regimes

Science.gov (United States)

Bonin, Timothy A.; Blumberg, William G.; Klein, Petra M.; Chilson, Phillip B.

2015-12-01

The nocturnal stable boundary layer (SBL) can generally be classified into the weakly stable boundary layer (wSBL) and very stable boundary layer (vSBL). Within the wSBL, turbulence is relatively continuous, whereas in the vSBL, turbulence is intermittent and not well characterized. Differentiating characteristics of each type of SBL are still unknown. Herein, thermodynamic and kinematic data collected by a suite of instruments in north central Oklahoma in autumn 2012 are analyzed to better understand both SBL regimes and their differentiating characteristics. Many low-level jets were observed during the experiment, as it took place near a climatological maximum. A threshold wind speed, above which bulk shear-generated turbulence develops, is found to exist up to 300 m. The threshold wind speed must also be exceeded at lower heights (down to the surface) in order for strong turbulence to develop. Composite profiles, which are normalized using low-level jet scaling, of potential temperature, wind speed, vertical velocity variance, and the third-order moment of vertical velocity (overline{w'^3}) are produced for weak and moderate/strong turbulence regimes, which exhibit features of the vSBL and wSBL, respectively. Within the wSBL, turbulence is generated at the surface and transported upward. In the vSBL, values of vertical velocity variance are small throughout the entire boundary layer, likely due to the fact that a strong surface inversion typically forms after sunset. The temperature profile tends to be approximately isothermal in the lowest portions of the wSBL, and it did not substantially change over the night. Within both types of SBL, stability in the residual layer tends to increase as the night progresses. It is thought that this stability increase is due to differential warm air advection, which frequently occurs in the southern Great Plains when southerly low-level jets and a typical north-south temperature gradient are present. Differential radiative

First evidence of microplastics in the African Great Lakes

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Biginagwa, Fares John; Mayoma, Bahati Sosthenes; Shashoua, Yvonne

2016-01-01

-FTIR) spectroscopy. A variety of polymer types were identified with likely sources being urban waste and consumer use. Although further research is required to fully assess the impact of plastic pollution in this region, our study is the first to report the presence of microplastics in Africa's Great Lakes...... on the southern shore of Lake Victoria. The gastrointestinal tracts of locally fished Nile perch (Lates niloticus) and Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) were examined for plastics. Plastics were confirmed in 20% of fish from each species by Attenuated Total Reflectance Fourier Transform Infrared (ATR...

New insights on Lepidoptera of Southern Italy with description of the male of Coenotephria antonii Hausmann 2011 (Lepidoptera

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M. Infusino

2017-09-01

Full Text Available Southern Italy is of particular biogeographic interest due to the location at the center of the Mediterranean Basin and its great environmental heterogeneity. Despite the faunistic interest of this territory, many insect taxa are still little investigated. Among insects, Lepidoptera have a relatively well known fauna, significantly increased in recent years, but there are still some gaps of knowledge in several habitats. The aim of this work was to contribute to the knowledge of the Macrolepidoptera of Southern Italy, focusing our study in Calabria, and to offer some thoughts on the role played by the Mediterranean mountain forests for the biodiversity conservation. Samplings were carried out in three mountainous areas of Calabria (Pollino Massif, Sila Massif and Serre Mountains in May-November 2015 and in April-November 2016, using UV-LED light traps. We found ten species of high faunistic interest. Three species, Nebula senectaria, Perizoma lugdunaria and Acasis appensata, were for the first time recorded from Southern Italy, while seven were for the first time recorded from Calabria: Coenotephria antonii, Thera obeliscata, Triphosa dubitata, Trichopteryx carpinata, Asteroscopus sphinx, Lithophane semibrunnea and Sideridis reticulata. Of great interest was the discovery of the first male certainly attributable to Coenotephria antonii, endemic of Southern Italy, here described for the first time. The results exposed confirm that the fauna of Southern Italy is of great conservation value, hosting endemisms and several relict populations of European and Asiatic species with differentiated genetic lineages highly vulnerable to the climate change expected for the coming decades.

The great canoes in the sky starlore and astronomy of the South Pacific

CERN Document Server

Chadwick, Stephen Robert

2017-01-01

Presenting spectacular photographs of astronomical objects of the southern sky, all taken by author Stephen Chadwick, this book explores what peoples of the South Pacific see when they look up at the heavens and what they have done with this knowledge. From wives killing brothers to emus rising out of the desert and great canoes in the sky, this book offers the perfect blend of science, tradition and mythology to bring to life the most famous sights in the heavens above the southern hemisphere. The authors place this starlore in the context of contemporary understandings of astronomy. The night sky of southern societies is as rich in culture as it is in stars. Stories, myths and legends based on constellations, heavenly bodies and other night sky phenomena have played a fundamental role in shaping the culture of pre-modern civilizations throughout the world. Such starlore continues to influence societies throughout the Pacific to this day, with cultures throughout the region – from Australia and New Zealand...

The effects of greenbelt cancellation on land value - The case of Wirye New town, South Korea

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, S. G.; Yoon, H.

2017-12-01

In 1971, South Korean government began designating urban growth boundary around the major cities (total 4,294 in 7 metropolitan areas, and total 809 in 7 small and medium sized urban areas) to control the urban sprawl, spurred by the rapid industrialization and urbanization from the 1960s. However, due to the heated development pressure within the cities, and the recognition of its inefficiency for the original purpose, the growth limit, so-called greenbelt, has been gradually canceled since the late 1990s. In response to this change, real estate market around the greenbelt has been also changed. Extant researches suggest that designating greenbelt causes land scarcity and adds amenity value, driving up land and property price within and approaching to the boundary. On the other hand, cancellation of greenbelt consequently increases developable land and eases the land scarcity, thus can be expected to decrease land value. However, when the canceled greenbelt is to be developed, the price again increases within the boundary, while generating externalities outward. Wirye New Town is one of the government-driven housing developments on repealed greenbelt, to meet the great housing demand of the southern part of Seoul. The site area is 6.8km2 , containing 42,947 housing units, and supplementary infrastructures such as new subway lines and transit malls. Its plan was announced in 2005, and the expected completion is 2017. In 2013, after partial completion, 2,949 apartments began to be occupied. 20,810 housing units have been supplied as of 2015, and 22,137 additional units are going to be provided by 2019. This change has increased average land and housing price of the vicinity by the real demand as well as the real estate speculation. While this alteration of greenbelt has affected adjacent real estate market substantially, study has not been conducted to quantify the impact. In this backdrop, this study aims to analyze the changing externalities effect of greenbelt on

Granitoids of the Dry Valleys area, southern Victoria Land : geochemistry and evolution along the early Paleozoic Antarctic Craton margin

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Allibone, A.H.; Cox, S.C.; Smillie, R.W.

1993-01-01

Field relationships and geochemistry indicate granitoid plutons of the Dry Valleys area comprise at least three petrogenetically distinct suites. The older Dry Valleys 1a (DV1a) suite, comprising the Bonney, Catspaw, Denton, Cavendish, and Wheeler Plutons and hornblende-biotite orthogneisses, and Dry Valleys 1b (DV1b) suite, comprising the Hedley, Valhalla, St Johns, Dun, Calkin, and Suess Plutons, biotite granitoid dikes and biotite orthogneisses, were emplaced before prominent swarms of Vanda mafic and felsic dikes. Both the DV1a and DV1b suites are time transgressive, with older intrusions in each suite being emplaced during the later stages of deformation of the Koettlitz Group. Younger granitoids that postdate the majority of the Vanda dikes include: the Dry Valleys 2 (DV2) suite, comprising the Pearse and Nibelungen Plutons plus several smaller, unnamed plugs; and the Harker, Swinford, Orestes, and Brownworth Plutons with identical field relationships and enclaves but distinct chemistries. Chemical characteristics and limited Rb-Sr isotopic dating indicate plutonism before c. 500 Ma was dominated by the Cordilleran I-type DV1a suite, inferred to have developed during melting above a west-dipping subduction zone along the Antarctic Craton margin. The chemical characteristics of the DV1b suite indicate large-scale melting of a quartzo-feldspathic protolith lacking residual plagioclase, but containing refractory garnet. Potential DV1b suite source rocks include metamorphosed immature sediments, possibly underplated along the subduction zone associated with DV1a magmatism, or older granitoid orthogneisses. Major DV1b plutonism at 490 Ma marks the end of subduction-related plutonism in southern Victoria Land. Younger DV2 alkali-calcic, Caledonian I-type plutonism is inferred to have formed in response to uplift and extension between 480 and 455 Ma. Lack of DV2 suite correlatives and Vanda mafic and felsic dikes in northern Victoria Land suggests significantly

A land-use and land-cover modeling strategy to support a national assessment of carbon stocks and fluxes

Science.gov (United States)

Sohl, Terry L.; Sleeter, Benjamin M.; Zhu, Zhi-Liang; Sayler, Kristi L.; Bennett, Stacie; Bouchard, Michelle; Reker, Ryan R.; Hawbaker, Todd; Wein, Anne; Liu, Shu-Guang; Kanengieter, Ronald; Acevedo, William

2012-01-01

Changes in land use, land cover, disturbance regimes, and land management have considerable influence on carbon and greenhouse gas (GHG) fluxes within ecosystems. Through targeted land-use and land-management activities, ecosystems can be managed to enhance carbon sequestration and mitigate fluxes of other GHGs. National-scale, comprehensive analyses of carbon sequestration potential by ecosystem are needed, with a consistent, nationally applicable land-use and land-cover (LULC) modeling framework a key component of such analyses. The U.S. Geological Survey has initiated a project to analyze current and projected future GHG fluxes by ecosystem and quantify potential mitigation strategies. We have developed a unique LULC modeling framework to support this work. Downscaled scenarios consistent with IPCC Special Report on Emissions Scenarios (SRES) were constructed for U.S. ecoregions, and the FORE-SCE model was used to spatially map the scenarios. Results for a prototype demonstrate our ability to model LULC change and inform a biogeochemical modeling framework for analysis of subsequent GHG fluxes. The methodology was then successfully used to model LULC change for four IPCC SRES scenarios for an ecoregion in the Great Plains. The scenario-based LULC projections are now being used to analyze potential GHG impacts of LULC change across the U.S.

Accountable Accounting: Carbon-Based Management on Marginal Lands

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tara L. DiRocco

2014-04-01

Full Text Available Substantial discussion exists concerning the best land use options for mitigating greenhouse gas (GHG emissions on marginal land. Emissions-mitigating land use options include displacement of fossil fuels via biofuel production and afforestation. Comparing C recovery dynamics under these different options is crucial to assessing the efficacy of offset programs. In this paper, we focus on forest recovery on marginal land, and show that there is substantial inaccuracy and discrepancy in the literature concerning carbon accumulation. We find that uncertainty in carbon accumulation occurs in estimations of carbon stocks and models of carbon dynamics over time. We suggest that analyses to date have been largely unsuccessful at determining reliable trends in site recovery due to broad land use categories, a failure to consider the effect of current and post-restoration management, and problems with meta-analysis. Understanding of C recovery could be greatly improved with increased data collection on pre-restoration site quality, prior land use history, and management practices as well as increased methodological standardization. Finally, given the current and likely future uncertainty in C dynamics, we recommend carbon mitigation potential should not be the only environmental service driving land use decisions on marginal lands.

IDESSA: An Integrative Decision Support System for Sustainable Rangeland Management in Southern African Savannas

Science.gov (United States)

Meyer, Hanna; Authmann, Christian; Dreber, Niels; Hess, Bastian; Kellner, Klaus; Morgenthal, Theunis; Nauss, Thomas; Seeger, Bernhard; Tsvuura, Zivanai; Wiegand, Kerstin

2017-04-01

Bush encroachment is a syndrome of land degradation that occurs in many savannas including those of southern Africa. The increase in density, cover or biomass of woody vegetation often has negative effects on a range of ecosystem functions and services, which are hardly reversible. However, despite its importance, neither the causes of bush encroachment, nor the consequences of different resource management strategies to combat or mitigate related shifts in savanna states are fully understood. The project "IDESSA" (An Integrative Decision Support System for Sustainable Rangeland Management in Southern African Savannas) aims to improve the understanding of the complex interplays between land use, climate patterns and vegetation dynamics and to implement an integrative monitoring and decision-support system for the sustainable management of different savanna types. For this purpose, IDESSA follows an innovative approach that integrates local knowledge, botanical surveys, remote-sensing and machine-learning based time-series of atmospheric and land-cover dynamics, spatially explicit simulation modeling and analytical database management. The integration of the heterogeneous data will be implemented in a user oriented database infrastructure and scientific workflow system. Accessible via web-based interfaces, this database and analysis system will allow scientists to manage and analyze monitoring data and scenario computations, as well as allow stakeholders (e. g. land users, policy makers) to retrieve current ecosystem information and seasonal outlooks. We present the concept of the project and show preliminary results of the realization steps towards the integrative savanna management and decision-support system.

Tsuga canadensis (L.) Carr, mortality will impact hydrologic processes in southern Appalachian forest ecosystems

Science.gov (United States)

Chelcy R. Ford; James M. Vose

2007-01-01

Eastern hemlock (Tsuga canadensis (L.) Carr.) is one of the principal riparian and cove canopy species in the southern Appalachian Mountains. Throughout its range, eastern hemlock is facing potential widespread mortality from the hemlock woolly adelgid (HWA). If HWA-induced eastern hemlock mortality alters hydrologic function, land managers...

Potential strong contribution of future anthropogenic land-use and land-cover change to the terrestrial carbon cycle

Science.gov (United States)

Quesada, Benjamin; Arneth, Almut; Robertson, Eddy; de Noblet-Ducoudré, Nathalie

2018-06-01

Anthropogenic land-use and land cover changes (LULCC) affect global climate and global terrestrial carbon (C) cycle. However, relatively few studies have quantified the impacts of future LULCC on terrestrial carbon cycle. Here, using Earth system model simulations performed with and without future LULCC, under the RCP8.5 scenario, we find that in response to future LULCC, the carbon cycle is substantially weakened: browning, lower ecosystem C stocks, higher C loss by disturbances and higher C turnover rates are simulated. Projected global greening and land C storage are dampened, in all models, by 22% and 24% on average and projected C loss by disturbances enhanced by ~49% when LULCC are taken into account. By contrast, global net primary productivity is found to be only slightly affected by LULCC (robust +4% relative enhancement compared to all forcings, on average). LULCC is projected to be a predominant driver of future C changes in regions like South America and the southern part of Africa. LULCC even cause some regional reversals of projected increased C sinks and greening, particularly at the edges of the Amazon and African rainforests. Finally, in most carbon cycle responses, direct removal of C dominates over the indirect CO2 fertilization due to LULCC. In consequence, projections of land C sequestration potential and Earth’s greening could be substantially overestimated just because of not fully accounting for LULCC.

Precipitation Dynamical Downscaling Over the Great Plains

Science.gov (United States)

Hu, Xiao-Ming; Xue, Ming; McPherson, Renee A.; Martin, Elinor; Rosendahl, Derek H.; Qiao, Lei

2018-02-01

Detailed, regional climate projections, particularly for precipitation, are critical for many applications. Accurate precipitation downscaling in the United States Great Plains remains a great challenge for most Regional Climate Models, particularly for warm months. Most previous dynamic downscaling simulations significantly underestimate warm-season precipitation in the region. This study aims to achieve a better precipitation downscaling in the Great Plains with the Weather Research and Forecast (WRF) model. To this end, WRF simulations with different physics schemes and nudging strategies are first conducted for a representative warm season. Results show that different cumulus schemes lead to more pronounced difference in simulated precipitation than other tested physics schemes. Simply choosing different physics schemes is not enough to alleviate the dry bias over the southern Great Plains, which is related to an anticyclonic circulation anomaly over the central and western parts of continental U.S. in the simulations. Spectral nudging emerges as an effective solution for alleviating the precipitation bias. Spectral nudging ensures that large and synoptic-scale circulations are faithfully reproduced while still allowing WRF to develop small-scale dynamics, thus effectively suppressing the large-scale circulation anomaly in the downscaling. As a result, a better precipitation downscaling is achieved. With the carefully validated configurations, WRF downscaling is conducted for 1980-2015. The downscaling captures well the spatial distribution of monthly climatology precipitation and the monthly/yearly variability, showing improvement over at least two previously published precipitation downscaling studies. With the improved precipitation downscaling, a better hydrological simulation over the trans-state Oologah watershed is also achieved.

The importance of historical land use in the maintenance of early successional habitat for a threatened rattlesnake

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Eric M. McCluskey

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Understanding how historic habitat changes have impacted species and searching the past for clues to better understand the current plight of threatened species can help inform and improve future conservation efforts. We coupled species distribution modeling with historical imagery analysis to assess how changes in land use/land cover have influenced the distribution of eastern massasauga rattlesnake (Sistrurus catenatus, a federally threatened species, and its habitat in northeastern Ohio over the past ∼75 years. We also examined land use/land cover changes throughout southern Michigan for a broader perspective on the influence of historical processes on contemporary habitat. There was a pronounced shift in northeastern Ohio land cover from 1938 to 2011 with forest cover becoming the predominant land cover type as agricultural fields were abandoned and succession occurred. Most known eastern massasauga locations in the area were at some point used for agriculture and higher habitat suitability values were associated with agricultural fields that were eventually abandoned. We observed more stable habitat conditions across southern Michigan populations indicating agricultural abandonment was not as necessary for habitat creation in this part of their range. We present a new approach for linking historical landscapes to present day habitat suitability models; permitting inferences on how prior land use/land cover states have influenced the current distribution of species and their habitats. We demonstrate how agricultural abandonment was an important source of early successional habitat for a species that requires an open canopy, a finding applicable to a broad array of species with similar habitat requirements. Keywords: Eastern massasauga, Agriculture, Aerial photography, Maxent

On the Allotment of Nogai Biys from the Usergen, Kipchak, Burjan and Tamyan Clans with the People, Land, Forests and Waters

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M.I. Akhmetzyanov

2017-03-01

Full Text Available The published charter is written in the Tatar language and was granted by the Russian administration to the Nogai Tatars who entered the service of the Moscow Tsar and received for that lands in the Southern Urals. The charter refers to four Nogai biys from the Usergen, Kipchak, Burjan and Tamyan clans. The charter is preserved in a copy of 1838. The document lists the lands in the Southern Urals that were granted to these four clans. The charter says that “some” of these biys (princes received lands and people, but “some” of them received the status of Tarkhan. According to the authors, the charter was compiled at the turn of the 16th–17th centuries. The charter reflects the beginning of the process of infusion of four Nogai clans into the ethnic state of “Bashkort”.

Integrating Forage, Wildlife, Water, and Fish Projections with Timber Projections at the Regional Level: A Case Study in Southern United States

Science.gov (United States)

Linda A. Joyce; Curtis H. Flather; Patricia A. Flebbe; Thomas W. Hoekstra; Stan J. Ursic

1990-01-01

The impact of timber management and land-use change on forage production, turkey and deer abundance, red-cockaded woodpecker colonies, water yield, and trout abundance was projected as part of a policy study focusing on the southern United States. The multiresource modeling framework used in this study linked extant timber management and land-area policy models with...

Classification and Accuracy Assessment for Coarse Resolution Mapping within the Great Lakes Basin, USA

Science.gov (United States)

This study applied a phenology-based land-cover classification approach across the Laurentian Great Lakes Basin (GLB) using time-series data consisting of 23 Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) composite images (250 ...

Evaluating the role of ecosystem serivces in participatory land use planning: proposing a balanced score card

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Fürst, C.; Opdam, P.; Inostroza, L.; Luque, S.

2014-01-01

The application of the ecosystem services (ES) concept in land use planning has great potential to enhance the awareness of planning actors on their interactions. At the same time it can contribute to improve the linkage between the role of land use patterns and the understanding of land system

Species of conservation concern and environmental stressors: local regional and global effects: Chapter 6 in The Southern Nevada Agency Partnership science and research synthesis: science to support land management in southern Nevada

Science.gov (United States)

Ostoja, Steven M.; Brooks, Matthew L.; Chambers, Jeanne C.; Pendleton, Burton

2013-01-01

Species conservation has traditionally been based on individual species within the context of their requisite habitat, which is generally defined as the communities and ecosystems deemed necessary for their presence. Conservation decisions are hampered by the fact that environmental stressors that poetically threaten the persistence of species can operate at organizational levels larger than the habitat or home range of a focal species. Resource managers must therefore simultaneously consider local, regional, and/or global scale stressors for effective conservation and management of species of concern. The wide ranging effects associated with global stressors such as climate change may exceed or exacerbate the effects of local or regional stressors, they still need to understand the direct and interactive effects of global stressors and ultimately how they affect the lands they manage. Conservation of species in southern Nevada is further complication by the fact that the region includes one of the largest and fastest growing urban centers in North America. To accomplish the goal of species conservation, resource managers must identify actionable management options that mitigate the effects of local and regional stressor in the context of the effects of global stressors that are beyond their control. Species conservation is typically focused on a subset often referred to as species of conservation concern that have either demonstrated considerable decline or are naturally rare or have limited distributions. Stressors can directly and indirectly impact species in a variety of ways and through a diversity of mechanisms. Some stressors have been more intense in the past (e.g., livestock grazing) whereas other are now only emerging as new stressors (e.g., solar energy development, climate change). The primary stressors affecting southern Nevada ecosystems are listed in table 2.1 and reviewed in detail in Chapter 2. This chapter addresses Dub-goal 1.4 in the SNAP

The upper and lower Thvera sedimentary geomagnetic reversal records from southern Sicily

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Hoof, A.A.M. van; Langereis, C.G.

1992-01-01

Detailed paleomagnetic records of the upper and lower Thvera polarity transitions have been determined from Pliocenc marine marls in southern Sicily. The dominant magnetic mineral is fine grained magnetite. The two transitions have VGP paths following a great circle passing South America and the

The relative abundance of dimethylsulfoniopropionate (DMSP) among other zwitterions in branching coral at Heron Island, southern Great Barrier Reef.

Science.gov (United States)

Swan, Hilton B; Deschaseaux, Elisabeth S M; Jones, Graham B; Eyre, Bradley D

2017-07-01

Dimethylsulfoniopropionate (DMSP) and eleven other target zwitterions were quantified in the branch tips of six Acropora species and Stylophora pistillata hard coral growing on the reef flat surrounding Heron Island in the southern Great Barrier Reef (GBR), Australia. Hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography mass spectrometry (HILIC-MS) was used for sample analysis with isotope dilution MS applied to quantify DMSP. The concentration of DMSP was ten times greater in A. aspera than A. valida, with this difference being maintained throughout the spring, summer and winter seasons. In contrast, glycine betaine was present in significantly higher concentrations in these species during the summer than the winter. Exposure of branch tips of A. aspera to air and hypo-saline seawater for up to 1 h did not alter the concentrations of DMSP present in the coral when compared with control samples. DMSP was the most abundant target zwitterion in the six Acropora species examined, ranging from 44-78% of all target zwitterions in A. millepora and A. aspera, respectively. In contrast, DMSP only accounted for 7% in S. pistillata, with glycine betaine and stachydrine collectively accounting for 88% of all target zwitterions in this species. The abundance of DMSP in the six Acropora species examined points to Acropora coral being an important source for the biogeochemical cycling of sulfur throughout the GBR, since this reef-building branching coral dominates the coral cover of the GBR. Graphical Abstract HILIC-MS extracted ion chromatogram showing zwitterionic metabolites from the branching coral Acropora isopora.

The atmospheric boundary layer over land and sea: Focus on the off-shore Southern Baltic and Southern North Sea region

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Larsen, Søren Ejling

Lecture notes for a short course on the ideal atmospheric boundary layer and its characteristics for different types of real boundary layers, aiming at a discussion of the coastal conditions at the Southern Baltic and North Sea region. The notes are aimed at young scientists (e.g. PhD students......) that study the physics of the atmospheric boundary layer with the purpose of applying this knowledge for remote sensing techniques within offshore wind energy....

Land Use and Land Cover (LULC) Change Detection in Islamabad and its Comparison with Capital Development Authority (CDA) 2006 Master Plan

Science.gov (United States)

Hasaan, Zahra

2016-07-01

Remote sensing is very useful for the production of land use and land cover statistics which can be beneficial to determine the distribution of land uses. Using remote sensing techniques to develop land use classification mapping is a convenient and detailed way to improve the selection of areas designed to agricultural, urban and/or industrial areas of a region. In Islamabad city and surrounding the land use has been changing, every day new developments (urban, industrial, commercial and agricultural) are emerging leading to decrease in vegetation cover. The purpose of this work was to develop the land use of Islamabad and its surrounding area that is an important natural resource. For this work the eCognition Developer 64 computer software was used to develop a land use classification using SPOT 5 image of year 2012. For image processing object-based classification technique was used and important land use features i.e. Vegetation cover, barren land, impervious surface, built up area and water bodies were extracted on the basis of object variation and compared the results with the CDA Master Plan. The great increase was found in built-up area and impervious surface area. On the other hand vegetation cover and barren area followed a declining trend. Accuracy assessment of classification yielded 92% accuracies of the final land cover land use maps. In addition these improved land cover/land use maps which are produced by remote sensing technique of class definition, meet the growing need of legend standardization.

Evidence for early hunters beneath the Great Lakes

OpenAIRE

O'Shea, John M.; Meadows, Guy A.

2009-01-01

Scholars have hypothesized that the poorly understood and rarely encountered archaeological sites from the terminal Paleoindian and Archaic periods associated with the Lake Stanley low water stage (10,000–7,500 BP) are lost beneath the modern Great Lakes. Acoustic and video survey on the Alpena-Amberley ridge, a feature that would have been a dry land corridor crossing the Lake Huron basin during this time period, reveals the presence of a series of stone features that match, in form and loca...

Land-sea coupling of early Pleistocene glacial cycles in the southern North Sea exhibit dominant Northern Hemisphere forcing

Science.gov (United States)

Donders, Timme H.; van Helmond, Niels A. G. M.; Verreussel, Roel; Munsterman, Dirk; ten Veen, Johan; Speijer, Robert P.; Weijers, Johan W. H.; Sangiorgi, Francesca; Peterse, Francien; Reichart, Gert-Jan; Sinninghe Damsté, Jaap S.; Lourens, Lucas; Kuhlmann, Gesa; Brinkhuis, Henk

2018-03-01

We assess the disputed phase relations between forcing and climatic response in the early Pleistocene with a spliced Gelasian (˜ 2.6-1.8 Ma) multi-proxy record from the southern North Sea basin. The cored sections couple climate evolution on both land and sea during the intensification of Northern Hemisphere glaciation (NHG) in NW Europe, providing the first well-constrained stratigraphic sequence of the classic terrestrial Praetiglian stage. Terrestrial signals were derived from the Eridanos paleoriver, a major fluvial system that contributed a large amount of freshwater to the northeast Atlantic. Due to its latitudinal position, the Eridanos catchment was likely affected by early Pleistocene NHG, leading to intermittent shutdown and reactivation of river flow and sediment transport. Here we apply organic geochemistry, palynology, carbonate isotope geochemistry, and seismostratigraphy to document both vegetation changes in the Eridanos catchment and regional surface water conditions and relate them to early Pleistocene glacial-interglacial cycles and relative sea level changes. Paleomagnetic and palynological data provide a solid integrated timeframe that ties the obliquity cycles, expressed in the borehole geophysical logs, to Marine Isotope Stages (MIS) 103 to 92, independently confirmed by a local benthic oxygen isotope record. Marine and terrestrial palynological and organic geochemical records provide high-resolution reconstructions of relative terrestrial and sea surface temperature (TT and SST), vegetation, relative sea level, and coastal influence.During the prominent cold stages MIS 98 and 96, as well as 94, the record indicates increased non-arboreal vegetation, low SST and TT, and low relative sea level. During the warm stages MIS 99, 97, and 95 we infer increased stratification of the water column together with a higher percentage of arboreal vegetation, high SST, and relative sea level maxima. The early Pleistocene distinct warm-cold alterations are

Influence of climate and land use changes on recent trend of soil erosion within the Russian Plain

Science.gov (United States)

Golosov, Valentin; Yermolaev, Oleg; Rysin, Ivan; Litvin, Leonid; Kiryukhina, Zoya; Safina, Guzel

2016-04-01

The Russian Plain is one of the largest plains with an area of 460 × 106 ha. Soil erosion during snow-melting and rainstorms occurs mostly on arable lands at the Russian Plain. The relative contribution of different types of soil erosion changes from the central part of the Russian Plain to the south. Sheet and rill soil erosion during snow-melting and rainfall are practically equal in the forest zone, while rainfall erosion prevails in the forest-steppe zone and the northern part of the steppe zone. Mostly rainfall erosion is observed in the southern part of the steppe zone. Mean annual soil losses from cultivated lands change in the range from 1 to 3 t ha-1 within lowlands to 6 to 8 t ha-1 at uplands with the maximum (10 t ha-1) observed near the Caucasus Mountains in the Stavropolskiy Krai. The intensity of gully erosion is relatively low during the last two decades. The collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 caused a serious crisis in the agriculture because of financial problems and structural reorganization. As a result, the area of arable lands decreased in the southern half of the Russian Plain in 1991 - 2003. To a greater extent it was observed in the south of the forest zone because of the low productivity of its soils compared with chernozem. More than one third of the arable lands were abandoned in the dry steppe - semi-desert zones because these lands were irrigated during the Soviet period. The reduction of the arable land occurred in the forest-steppe and steppe zones mostly because of funding limitations during the 1990s. Recently the area of arable lands in the steppe zone was practically restored to its pre-1991 size. Simultaneously the last 25 years are characterized by unusual warm winters - in particular, in the southern half of the Russian Plain because of the global warming. As a result, the coefficient of surface snow-melting runoff considerably decreased for both cultivated fields and compacted fields after harvesting. Accordingly, spring

Cost of Conflicts in the Common Market for Eastern and Southern ...

International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Digital Library (Canada)

The Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) aims to promote social and economic development in the region. Conflicts, particularly in the area of the Great Lakes, are adversely affecting the regional integration agenda, although their actual costs have yet to be assessed. This grant will support the ...

Fire history, effects, and management in southern Nevada [Chapter 5] (Executive Summary)

Science.gov (United States)

Matthew L. Brooks; Jeanne C. Chambers; Randy A. McKinley

2013-01-01

Fire can be both an ecosystem stressor and a critical ecosystem process, depending on when, where, and under what conditions it occurs on the southern Nevada landscape. Fire can also pose hazards to human life and property, particularly in the wildland/ urban interface (WUI). The challenge faced by land managers is to prevent fires from occurring where they are likely...

Spatial distribution and enteroparasite contamination in peridomiciliar soil and water in the Apucaraninha Indigenous Land, southern Brazil.

Science.gov (United States)

da Silva, Joseane Balan; Piva, Camila; Falavigna-Guilherme, Ana Lúcia; Rossoni, Diogo Francisco; de Ornelas Toledo, Max Jean

2016-04-01

The prevalence and distribution of soil and water samples contaminated with enteroparasites of humans and animals with zoonotic potential (EHAZP) in Apucaraninha Indigenous Land (AIL), southern Brazil, was evaluated. An environmental survey was conducted to evaluate the presence of parasitic forms in peridomiciliary soil and associated variables. Soil samples were collected from 40/293 domiciles (10 domiciles per season), from November 2010 to June 2011, and evaluated by modified methods of Faust et al. and Lutz. Analyses of water from seven consumption sites were also performed. The overall prevalence of soil samples contaminated by EHAZP was 23.8 %. The most prevalent parasitic forms were cyst of Entamoeba spp. and eggs of Ascaris spp. The highest prevalence of contaminated soil samples was observed in winter (31 %). The probability map obtained with geostatistical analyses showed an average of 47 % soil contamination at a distance of approximately 140 m. The parasitological analysis of water did not detect Giardia spp. or Cryptosporidium spp. and showed that all collection points were within the standards of the Brazilian law. However, the microbiological analysis showed the presence of Escherichia coli in 6/7 sampled points. Despite the low level of contamination by EHAZP in peridomiciliar soil and the absence of pathogenic protozoa in water, the AIL soil and water (due to the presence of fecal coliforms) are potential sources of infection for the population, indicating the need for improvements in sanitation and water treatment, in addition periodic treatment of the population with antiparasitic.

Constraining the JULES land-surface model for different land-use types using citizen-science generated hydrological data

Science.gov (United States)

Chou, H. K.; Ochoa-Tocachi, B. F.; Buytaert, W.

2017-12-01

Community land surface models such as JULES are increasingly used for hydrological assessment because of their state-of-the-art representation of land-surface processes. However, a major weakness of JULES and other land surface models is the limited number of land surface parameterizations that is available. Therefore, this study explores the use of data from a network of catchments under homogeneous land-use to generate parameter "libraries" to extent the land surface parameterizations of JULES. The network (called iMHEA) is part of a grassroots initiative to characterise the hydrological response of different Andean ecosystems, and collects data on streamflow, precipitation, and several weather variables at a high temporal resolution. The tropical Andes are a useful case study because of the complexity of meteorological and geographical conditions combined with extremely heterogeneous land-use that result in a wide range of hydrological responses. We then calibrated JULES for each land-use represented in the iMHEA dataset. For the individual land-use types, the results show improved simulations of streamflow when using the calibrated parameters with respect to default values. In particular, the partitioning between surface and subsurface flows can be improved. But also, on a regional scale, hydrological modelling was greatly benefitted from constraining parameters using such distributed citizen-science generated streamflow data. This study demonstrates the modelling and prediction on regional hydrology by integrating citizen science and land surface model. In the context of hydrological study, the limitation of data scarcity could be solved indeed by using this framework. Improved predictions of such impacts could be leveraged by catchment managers to guide watershed interventions, to evaluate their effectiveness, and to minimize risks.

A long-term study of aerosol–cloud interactions and their radiative effect at the Southern Great Plains using ground-based measurements

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

E. T. Sena

2016-09-01

Full Text Available Empirical estimates of the microphysical response of cloud droplet size distribution to aerosol perturbations are commonly used to constrain aerosol–cloud interactions in climate models. Instead of empirical microphysical estimates, here macroscopic variables are analyzed to address the influence of aerosol particles and meteorological descriptors on instantaneous cloud albedo and the radiative effect of shallow liquid water clouds. Long-term ground-based measurements from the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM program over the Southern Great Plains are used. A broad statistical analysis was performed on 14 years of coincident measurements of low clouds, aerosol, and meteorological properties. Two cases representing conflicting results regarding the relationship between the aerosol and the cloud radiative effect were selected and studied in greater detail. Microphysical estimates are shown to be very uncertain and to depend strongly on the methodology, retrieval technique and averaging scale. For this continental site, the results indicate that the influence of the aerosol on the shallow cloud radiative effect and albedo is weak and that macroscopic cloud properties and dynamics play a much larger role in determining the instantaneous cloud radiative effect compared to microphysical effects. On a daily basis, aerosol shows no correlation with cloud radiative properties (correlation = −0.01 ± 0.03, whereas the liquid water path shows a clear signal (correlation = 0.56 ± 0.02.

Assessing Ecological Impacts According to Land Use Change

Science.gov (United States)

Jeong, S.; Lee, D. K.; Jeong, W.; Jeong, S. G.; Jin, Y.

2015-12-01

Land use patterns have changed by human activities, and it has affected the structure and dynamics of ecosystems. In particular, the conversion of forests into other land use has caused environmental degradation and loss of biodiversity. The evaluation of species and their habitat can be preferentially considered to prevent or minimize the adverse effects of land use change. The objective of study is identifying the impacts of environmental conditions on forest ecosystems by comparing ecological changes with time series spatial data. Species distribution models were developed for diverse species with presence data and time-series environmental variables, which allowed comparison of the habitat suitability and connectivity. Habitat suitability and connectivity were used to estimate impacts of forest ecosystems due to land use change. Our result suggested that the size and degree of ecological impacts are were different depending on the properties of land use change. The elements and species were greatly affected by the land use change according to the results. This study suggested that a methodology for measuring the interference of land use change in species habitat and connectivity. Furthermore, it will help to conserve and manage forest by identifying priority conservation areas with influence factor and scale.

Climate-induced changes in vulnerability to biological threats in the southern United States

Science.gov (United States)

Rabiu Olatinwo; Qinfeng Guo; Songlin Fei; William Otrosina; Kier Klepzig; Douglas Streett

2014-01-01

Forest land managers face the challenges of preparing their forests for the impacts of climate change. However, climate change adds a new dimension to the task of developing and testing science-based management options to deal with the effects of stressors on forest ecosystems in the southern United States. The large spatial scale and complex interactions make...

Determining Topographic and Some Physical Characteristics of the Land in Artvin City and Investigating Relationship between These Characteristics with Land Cover

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ayşe Yavuz Özalp

2013-11-01

Full Text Available In this study, the aim was to determine topographic (elevation, slope, and aspect and some physical (Great Soil Groups (GSG and Land Use Capability Classes (LUCC characteristics of the land in Artvin and to reveal relations between these characteristics and land cover of the city that lies along the northeast border of Turkey and due to its natural resources, consists of several protected areas as well as many development projects -both planned and ongoing. Within this scope, areal and percentile distributions in respect to slope, aspect, elevation, GSG, LUCC and land cover were determined for eight towns of Artvin using digitized 1/25000 topographic and soil maps along with CORINE 2006 land cover map with the help of Geographical Information System (GIS. Then, distributions of chosen land use types (forest, agriculture, grassland/meadow were investigated according to the determined-ranges for the parameters of slope, aspect, elevation, GSG, and LUCC. The results showed that about 48.22% of Artvin’s whole land is between an elevation ranges of 1000 – 2000 m while 31.07% of the land lies above 2000 m. Moreover, average elevation of all the towns, except for Hopa, is over the country’s mean elevation of 1132 m and 81.25% of the city’s land consists of more than 30% slope, meaning that topography of the land in Artvin

Effects of rainfall patterns and land cover on the subsurface flow generation of sloping Ferralsols in southern China.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jian Duan

Full Text Available Rainfall patterns and land cover are two important factors that affect the runoff generation process. To determine the surface and subsurface flows associated with different rainfall patterns on sloping Ferralsols under different land cover types, observational data related to surface and subsurface flows from 5 m × 15 m plots were collected from 2010 to 2012. The experiment was conducted to assess three land cover types (grass, litter cover and bare land in the Jiangxi Provincial Soil and Water Conservation Ecological Park. During the study period, 114 natural rainfall events produced subsurface flow and were divided into four groups using k-means clustering according to rainfall duration, rainfall depth and maximum 30-min rainfall intensity. The results showed that the total runoff and surface flow values were highest for bare land under all four rainfall patterns and lowest for the covered plots. However, covered plots generated higher subsurface flow values than bare land. Moreover, the surface and subsurface flows associated with the three land cover types differed significantly under different rainfall patterns. Rainfall patterns with low intensities and long durations created more subsurface flow in the grass and litter cover types, whereas rainfall patterns with high intensities and short durations resulted in greater surface flow over bare land. Rainfall pattern I had the highest surface and subsurface flow values for the grass cover and litter cover types. The highest surface flow value and lowest subsurface flow value for bare land occurred under rainfall pattern IV. Rainfall pattern II generated the highest subsurface flow value for bare land. Therefore, grass or litter cover are able to convert more surface flow into subsurface flow under different rainfall patterns. The rainfall patterns studied had greater effects on subsurface flow than on total runoff and surface flow for covered surfaces, as well as a greater effect on surface

The future of olive plantation systems on sloping and mountainous land; scenarios for production and natural resource conservation, First Annual Report. EU project Olivero:

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Fleskens, L.; Stroosnijder, L.; Graaff, de J.

2004-01-01

The project will devote itself to the future of olive plantation systems on sloping and mountainous land in southern Europe. These systems have been affected by emigration of local populations and fierce competition from low land plantations and from non-EU countries, and are currently neither

The dynamics of cork oak systems in Portugal: the role of ecological and land use factors

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Acácio, V.C.

2009-01-01

Vegetation degradation and desertification occur in many semiarid ecosystems worldwide, particularly in the Western Mediterranean Basin. A peculiar semiarid Mediterranean land use system dominates the landscape of southern Portugal where cork oak (Quercus suber) is the main tree species. This system

The Great Recession, unemployment and suicide.

Science.gov (United States)

Norström, Thor; Grönqvist, Hans

2015-02-01

How have suicide rates responded to the marked increase in unemployment spurred by the Great Recession? Our paper puts this issue into a wider perspective by assessing (1) whether the unemployment-suicide link is modified by the degree of unemployment protection, and (2) whether the effect on suicide of the present crisis differs from the effects of previous economic downturns. We analysed the unemployment-suicide link using time-series data for 30 countries spanning the period 1960-2012. Separate fixed-effects models were estimated for each of five welfare state regimes with different levels of unemployment protection (Eastern, Southern, Anglo-Saxon, Bismarckian and Scandinavian). We included an interaction term to capture the possible excess effect of unemployment during the Great Recession. The largest unemployment increases occurred in the welfare state regimes with the least generous unemployment protection. The unemployment effect on male suicides was statistically significant in all welfare regimes, except the Scandinavian one. The effect on female suicides was significant only in the eastern European country group. There was a significant gradient in the effects, being stronger the less generous the unemployment protection. The interaction term capturing the possible excess effect of unemployment during the financial crisis was not significant. Our findings suggest that the more generous the unemployment protection the weaker the detrimental impact on suicide of the increasing unemployment during the Great Recession. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://group.bmj.com/group/rights-licensing/permissions.

Complex Adaptive Systems, soil degradation and land sensitivity to desertification: A multivariate assessment of Italian agro-forest landscape.

Science.gov (United States)

Salvati, Luca; Mavrakis, Anastasios; Colantoni, Andrea; Mancino, Giuseppe; Ferrara, Agostino

2015-07-15

Degradation of soils and sensitivity of land to desertification are intensified in last decades in the Mediterranean region producing heterogeneous spatial patterns determined by the interplay of factors such as climate, land-use changes, and human pressure. The present study hypothesizes that rising levels of soil degradation and land sensitivity to desertification are reflected into increasingly complex (and non-linear) relationships between environmental and socioeconomic variables. To verify this hypothesis, the Complex Adaptive Systems (CAS) framework was used to explore the spatiotemporal dynamics of eleven indicators derived from a standard assessment of soil degradation and land sensitivity to desertification in Italy. Indicators were made available on a detailed spatial scale (773 agricultural districts) for various years (1960, 1990, 2000 and 2010) and analyzed through a multi-dimensional exploratory data analysis. Our results indicate that the number of significant pair-wise correlations observed between indicators increased with the level of soil and land degradation, although with marked differences between northern and southern Italy. 'Fast' and 'slow' factors underlying soil and land degradation, and 'rapidly-evolving' or 'locked' agricultural districts were identified according to the rapidity of change estimated for each of the indicators studied. In southern Italy, 'rapidly-evolving' districts show a high level of soil degradation and land sensitivity to desertification during the whole period of investigation. On the contrary, those districts in northern Italy are those experiencing a moderate soil degradation and land sensitivity to desertification with the highest increase in the level of sensitivity over time. The study framework contributes to the assessment of complex local systems' dynamics in affluent but divided countries. Results may inform thematic strategies for the mitigation of land and soil degradation in the framework of action

Growth rate of Heterobasidion annosum in Picea abies established on forest land and arable land

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bendz-Hellgren, M.; Johansson, Martin; Swedjemark, G.; Stenlid, J. [Swedish Univ. of Agricultural Sciences, Uppsala (Sweden). Dept. of Forest Mycology and Pathology; Brandtberg, P.O. [Swedish Univ. of Agricultural Sciences, Uppsala (Sweden). Dept. of Ecology and Environmental Research

1999-07-01

The growth rates of Heterobasidion annosum in Norway spruce were investigated in southern Sweden. In one study, stump and tree roots in stands established on previous forest or arable land were inoculated with H. annosum-infested sawdust. After 1-3 yrs, the linear extent of colonization by the fungus was measured, based on detection of its conidiophores on incubated samples. The average growth rate was 25 cm yr{sup -1} in stump roots and 9 cm yr{sup -1} in tree roots, neither of which differed significantly between forest and arable land. The feeling of a decayed tree could enhance the spread of H. annosum within root systems. In the second study, the height of discoloration and extent of colonization by H. annosum, measured as above, were assessed in naturally infected trees. On average, discoloration moved through the roots and stem at a rate of 36 cm yr{sup -1}. Heterobasidion annosum was found 60 cm in advance of the discoloration, corresponding to a growth rate of 52 cm yr{sup -1}.

Impact of land use change on soil erodibility

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

F. Taleshian Jeloudar

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Vulnerability of soil separates to detachment by water is described as soil erodibility by Universal Soil Loss Equation which can be affected by land use change. In this study it was attempted to quantify the changes of Universal Soil Loss Equation K-factor and its soil driving factors in three land uses including rangeland, rainfed farming, and orchards in Babolrood watershed, northern Iran. Soil composite samples were obtained from two layers in three land uses, and the related soil physico-chemical properties were measured. The rainfed farming land use showed the highest clay contents, but the highest amounts of soil organic matter and sand particles were found in orchard land use. The high intensity of tillage led to the significant decrease of soil aggregate stability and permeability in the rainfed farming land use. The Universal Soil Loss Equation K-factor was negatively correlated with soil permeability (r=-0.77**. In rangeland, the K-factor (0.045 Mg h/MJ/mm was significantly higher and the particle size distribution had a great impact on the K-factor. The orchard land use, converted from the rangeland, did not show any increase of soils erodibility and can potentially be introduced as a good alternative land use in sloping areas. However, more detailed studies on environmental, social and economic aspects of this land use are needed.

Initial land reclamation procedures related to possible Pu-cleanup activities at the Tonopah Test Range

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wallace, A.; Romney, E.M.

1976-02-01

If areas of the Tonopah Test Range (TTR) are to be used for experimental tests of procedures for clean-up of 239 Pu contamination, there are experiences in the Great Basin Desert portions of the Nevada Test Site (NTS) which can serve as guides to reclamation and revegetation of such arid lands. Procedures which will encourage development of the grasses Hilaria jamesii and Oryzopsis hymenoides, as well as the perennial shrubs Eurotia lanata and Atriplex canescens would greatly improve the area as range land

Spatial distribution of Salpa thompsoni in the high Antarctic area off Adélie Land, East Antarctica during the austral summer 2008

Science.gov (United States)

Ono, Atsushi; Moteki, Masato

2017-06-01

The salp Salpa thompsoni has the potential to alter the Southern Ocean ecosystem through competition with krill Euphausia superba. Information on the reproductive status of S. thompsoni in the high Southern Ocean is thus essential to understanding salp population growth and predicting changes in the Southern Ocean ecosystem. We carried out stratified and quantitative sampling from the surface to a depth of 2000 m during the austral summer of 2008 to determine the spatial distribution and population structure of S. thompsoni in the Southern Ocean off Adélie Land. We found two salp species, S. thompsoni and Ihlea racovitzai, with the former being dominant. S. thompsoni was distributed north of the continental slope area, while I. racovitzai was observed in the neritic zone. Mature aggregates and solitary specimens of S. thompsoni were found south of the Southern Boundary of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current, suggesting that S. thompsoni is able to complete its life cycle in high Antarctic waters during the austral summer. However, S. thompsoni was sparsely distributed in the continental slope area, and absent south of the Antarctic Slope Front, suggesting that it is less competitive with krill for food in the slope area off Adélie Land, where krill is densely distributed during the austral summer.

GLOBAL CATEGORIZATION OF THE WORLD'S INDIGENOUS LAND AND RESOURCES RIGHTS

OpenAIRE

Dubertret , Fabrice

2014-01-01

This document is a draft. It aims at providing a basis for discussion between the different organizations and indigenous land and resources rights experts involved in the wider project of building a world atlas of indigenous territories.; This working paper describes the process of establishing a global categorization of indigenous land and resources rights. From the analysis of a great variability of legislations regarding indigenous territories, common considered topics are identified, such...

Annual Progress Report, 1975. Southern Rural Development Center, Mississippi State University. SRDC Series Publication No. 10.

Science.gov (United States)

Southern Rural Development Center, State College, MS.

Included in this second annual report on the Southern Rural Development Center's (SRDC) 1974-75 plan of work are data re: orientation visits; regional workshops; technical consultants; liaison with regional agencies and organizations; information dissemination; annual evaluation; functional networks in the areas of land use issues, citizen…

The impact of land use and spatial changes on desertification risk in degraded areas in Thailand

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Saowanee Wijitkosum

2016-03-01

Full Text Available Land use, which relates to land cover, is one of the influential factors associated with desertification risk. A study was conducted on the impact of land use and spatial changes on desertification risk in Huay Sai Royal Development Study Centre in southern Thailand. The study used spatial analysis and the MEDALUS model to investigate the extent of land degradation, land use changes and desertification risk in the study area from 1990 to 2010. The Study examined three groups of factors: soils, climate and human activity to classify the severity of desertification risk. The study findings indicate that most areas (74.4% in the Huay Sai area were at high risk of desertification, and the risk remained high (77.2% in 2010. However, the areas classified as at severe risk of desertification decreased at 4.2% per annum. The study finds that land use changes influenced desertification risk.

Rubber and Land-Cover Land-Use Change in Mainland Southeast Asia

Science.gov (United States)

Fox, J. M.; Hurni, K.

2017-12-01

Over the past half century, the five countries of Mainland Southeast Asia (MSEA) - Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam - have witnessed major shifts from predominantly subsistence agrarian economies to increasingly commercialized agriculture. Major drivers of change include policy initiatives that fostered regional economic integration and promoted among other changes rapid expansion of boom-crop plantations. Among the many types of commercial boom crops promoted and grown in MSEA are numerous tree-based products such as rubber, coffee, tree species for pulp and paper (particularly eucalyptus and acacia), cashews, and fruits such as oranges, lychees, and longans. The project proposal hypothesized that most (but not all) tree crops replaced swidden cultivation fields and hence are not necessarily accompanied by deforestation. We used MODIS EVI and SWIR time-series from 2001-2014 to classify changes in tree cover across MSEA; a total of 6849 sample points were used to train the classifier (75%) and verification (25%). The classification consists of 24 classes and 17 classes represent tree crops. Project results suggest that 4.4 m ha of rubber have been planted since 2003; 50% of rubber is planted on former evergreen forest land, 18% on deciduous forest land, and 32% on low vegetation area (former crop lands, bushes, scrub). Tree crops occupy about 8% of the landscape (half of that is rubber). Due to the differences in their political and economic histories these countries display different LCLUCs. In northern Laos, smallholder rubber plantations dominate and shifting cultivation is common in the upland. In southern Laos, large-scale plantations of rubber, coffee, eucalyptus, and sugarcane are widespread. In Thailand, vast areas are covered by annual agriculture; fruit trees and rubber are the prevailing tree crops and are mostly planted by smallholders. In Cambodia, large-scale rubber plantations have expanded in recent years on forest lands; smallholder

IN PURSUIT OF THE MILLENNIUM: JUDEANS AND THEIR LAND*

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Liezel

Baumgarten speaks specifically of millennial expectations, in that they “are a sub- group of ... give him the land and he will become a great nation (Gen. 12:1-3 .... The wealthy urban citizens would have benefited, while Hellenization had.

The upper lithostratigraphic unit of ANDRILL AND-2A core (Southern McMurdo Sound, Antarctica): local Pleistocene volcanic sources, paleoenvironmental implications and subsidence in the southern Victoria Land Basin

Science.gov (United States)

Del Carlo, P.; Panter, K. S.; Bassett, K. N.; Bracciali, L.; di Vincenzo, G.; Rocchi, S.

2009-12-01

We report results from the study of the uppermost 37 meters of the Southern McMurdo Sound (SMS) AND-2A drillcore, corresponding to the lithostratigraphic unit 1 (LSU 1), the most volcanogenic unit within the core. Nearly all of LSU 1 consists of volcanic breccia and sandstone that is a mixture of near primary volcanic material dominated by lava and vitric clasts with minor exotic material derived from distal basement sources. Lava clasts and glass are mafic and range from strongly alkaline (basanite, tephrite) to moderately alkaline (alkali basalt, hawaiite) compositions that are similar to nearby land deposits. 40Ar-39Ar laser step-heating analyses on groundmass separated from lava clasts yield Pleistocene ages (692±38 and 793±63, ±2σ internal errors). Volcanoes of the Dailey Island group, located ~13 km SW of the drillsite, are a possible source for the volcanic materials based on their close proximity, similar composition and age. A basanite lava flow on Juergens Island yields a comparable Pleistocene age of 775±22 ka. Yet there is evidence to suggest that the volcanic source is much closer to the drillsite and that the sediments were deposited in much shallower water relative to the present-day water depth of 384 mbsl. Evidence for local volcanic activity is based in part on the common occurrence of delicate vitriclasts (e.g. glass shards and Pele’s hair) and a minimally reworked ~2 meter thick monomict breccia that is interpreted to have formed by autobrecciating lava. In addition, conical-shaped seamounts and high frequency magnetic anomalies encompass the drillsite and extend south including the volcanoes of the Dailey Islands. Sedimentary features and structures indicate shallow water sedimentation for the whole of LSU 1. Rippled asymmetric cross-laminated sands and hummocky cross-stratification occur intermittently throughout LSU 1 and indicate water depths shallower than 100 meters. The occurrence of ooliths and layers containing siderite and Fe

Modelling land use/cover changes with markov-cellular automata in Komering Watershed, South Sumatera

Science.gov (United States)

Kusratmoko, E.; Albertus, S. D. Y.; Supriatna

2017-01-01

This research has a purpose to study and develop a model that can representing and simulating spatial distribution pattern of land use change in Komering watershed. The Komering watershed is one of nine sub Musi river basin and is located in the southern part of Sumatra island that has an area of 8060,62 km2. Land use change simulations, achieved through Markov-cellular automata (CA) methodologies. Slope, elevation, distance from road, distance from river, distance from capital sub-district, distance from settlement area area were driving factors that used in this research. Land use prediction result in 2030 also shows decrease of forest acreage up to -3.37%, agricultural land decreased up to -2.13%, and open land decreased up to -0.13%. On the other hand settlement area increased up to 0.07%, and plantation land increased up to 5.56%. Based on the predictive result, land use unconformity percentage to RTRW in Komering watershed is 18.62 % and land use conformity is 58.27%. Based on the results of the scenario, where forest in protected areas and agriculture land are maintained, shows increase the land use conformity amounted to 60.41 % and reduce unconformity that occur in Komering watershed to 17.23 %.

Land degradation mapping for modelling of ecosystem benefit flows in the Inkomati catchment using remote sensing.

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Ramoelo, Abel

2007-09-01

Full Text Available Land degradation is of great concern in South Africa particularly in the Inkomati catchment. Here a mosaic of different land use types such as plantation agriculture, subsistence farming, irrigated commercial farming, rural and urban settlements...

Perspectives on Trends, Effectiveness, and Impediments to Prescribed Burning in the Southern U.S.

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Leda N. Kobziar

2015-02-01

Full Text Available The southern region of the U.S. uses prescribed fire as a management tool on more of its burnable land than anywhere in the U.S., with ecosystem restoration, wildlife habitat enhancement, and reduction of hazardous fuel loads as typical goals. Although the region performs more than 50,000 prescribed fire treatments each year, evaluation of their effects on wildfire suppression resources or behavior/effects is limited. To better understand trends in the use and effectiveness of prescribed fire, we conducted a region-wide survey of 523 fire use practitioners, working on both public and private lands. A 1–2 year prescribed fire interval was consistently viewed as effective in decreasing wildfire ignitions, behavior, and severity, as well as reducing suppression resources needed where wildfire occurred. Yet fewer than 15% of practitioners viewed burn intervals of 3–4 years as effective in reducing ignitions, underscoring the importance of high-frequency burning in vegetation communities where fuel recovery is rapid. Public lands managers identified limited budget and staffing as major institutional impediments to prescribed fire, in contrast to private individuals, more of whom chose liability as a key challenge. Differences in responses across ownership type, state, and vegetation type call for a broader perspective on how fire managers in the southern U.S. view prescribed fire.

CAUSES: Diagnosis of the Summertime Warm Bias in CMIP5 Climate Models at the ARM Southern Great Plains Site

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Chengzhu; Xie, Shaocheng; Klein, Stephen A.; Ma, Hsi-yen; Tang, Shuaiqi; Van Weverberg, Kwinten; Morcrette, Cyril J.; Petch, Jon

2018-03-01

All the weather and climate models participating in the Clouds Above the United States and Errors at the Surface project show a summertime surface air temperature (T2 m) warm bias in the region of the central United States. To understand the warm bias in long-term climate simulations, we assess the Atmospheric Model Intercomparison Project simulations from the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 5, with long-term observations mainly from the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement program Southern Great Plains site. Quantities related to the surface energy and water budget, and large-scale circulation are analyzed to identify possible factors and plausible links involved in the warm bias. The systematic warm season bias is characterized by an overestimation of T2 m and underestimation of surface humidity, precipitation, and precipitable water. Accompanying the warm bias is an overestimation of absorbed solar radiation at the surface, which is due to a combination of insufficient cloud reflection and clear-sky shortwave absorption by water vapor and an underestimation in surface albedo. The bias in cloud is shown to contribute most to the radiation bias. The surface layer soil moisture impacts T2 m through its control on evaporative fraction. The error in evaporative fraction is another important contributor to T2 m. Similar sources of error are found in hindcast from other Clouds Above the United States and Errors at the Surface studies. In Atmospheric Model Intercomparison Project simulations, biases in meridional wind velocity associated with the low-level jet and the 500 hPa vertical velocity may also relate to T2 m bias through their control on the surface energy and water budget.

A critical analysis of the long-term impact (1936-2015) of grazing management on Land Degradation in a marginal, rural community of Southern Italy

Science.gov (United States)

Quaranta, Giovanni; Salvia, Rosanna; De Paola, Velia; Coluzzi, Rosa; Imbrenda, Vito; Simoniello, Tiziana

2017-04-01

Unsustainable grazing, one of the most diffused problem in land management at the global scale, is considered as a serious pressure on natural landscapes. Particularly in the Mediterranean agroforestry landscapes, unsustainable grazing is regarded as a key factor of degradation processes, mostly determined and exacerbated by evolving socioeconomic and environmental conditions at the local scale, revised agricultural policies and changing international market scenario. The Common Agricultural Policy set at the European level plays a powerful and twofold role in shaping the dynamics at local level. Measures adopted for Less Favoured Areas, for example, have stimulated grazing intensification based on financial supports whose effectiveness is shaped by the socioeconomic local context. At the same time, pasture-based livestock farming systems are considered priority habitats preserving traditional and high natural value farmlands in Mediterranean Europe. A sustainable management of pastures may also contribute to limit soil erosion and to mitigate land degradation. This paper critically analyses the drivers of change and the challenges facing a Mediterranean upland pastoralist systems in Southern Italy along a period of almost 80 years (1936-2015). The detailed case study highlights the linkages between the evolution of landscape, grazing management, locally adapted animal breeds and social capital. Historical forest maps, aerial imagery and satellite data at different spatial resolutions have been used to trace land use trajectories occurred during the investigated period within the study area. The integration in a GIS environment of the obtained results with diachronic detailed farm management surveys and semi-structured interviews, shows a strong link between land use changes and economic performances mainly connected to policy orientation. Along the time period considered, different adaptation strategies adopted by local actors are analysed leading to the present

Monitoring cropland evapotranspiration using MODIS products in Southern Brazil

Science.gov (United States)

Ruhoff, Anderson; Aparecida Moreira, Adriana; de Arruda Souza, Vanessa; Roberti, Debora Regina

2017-04-01

Evapotranspiration (ET), including water loss from plant transpiration and land evaporation, is of vital importance for understanding hydrological processes and climate dynamics. In this context, remote sensing is considered as the most important tool for estimate ET over large areas. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) offers an interesting opportunity to evaluate ET with spatial resolution of 1 km. The MODIS global evapotranspiration algorithm (MOD16) considers both surface energy fluxes and climatic constraints on ET (water or temperature stress) to estimate plant transpiration and soil evaporation based on Penman-Monteith equation. The algorithm is driven by remotely sensed and reanalysis meteorological data. In this study, MOD16 algorithm was applied to the State of Rio Grande do Sul (in Southern Brazil) to analyse cropland and natural vegetation evapotranspiration and its impacts during drought events. We validated MOD16 estimations using eddy correlation measurements and water balance closure at monthly and annual time scales. We used observed discharge data from three large rivers in Southern Brazil (Jacuí, Taquari and Ibicuí), precipitation data from TRMM Multi-satellite Precipitation Analysis (3B43 version 7) and terrestrial water storage estimations from the Gravity Recovery and climate Experiment (GRACE). MOD16 algorithm detected evapotranspiration in different land use and land cover conditions. In cropland areas, the average evapotranspiration was 705 mm/y, while in pasture/grassland was 750 mm/y and in forest areas was 1099 mm/y. Compared to the annual water balance, evapotranspiration was underestimated, with mean relative errors between 8 and 30% and coefficients of correlation between 0.42 to 0.53. The water storage change (dS/dt) computed from the water balance closure at monthly time scales showed a significant correlation with the terrestrial water storage obtained from GRACE data, with a coefficient of correlation of 0

Farmer's perception of the effects of eartworms on soil fertility and crop performance in southern Cameroon

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Madong à Birang,; Hauser, S.; Amougou, D.L.

2003-01-01

The knowledge and perception of the effects of earthworms on soil fertility and crop growth was surveyed in a humid forest zone of southern Cameroon. A total of 215 farmers were interviewed in seven villages: two villages were near the capital Yaounde, severely deforested with a high land-use

Partial pressure (or fugacity) of carbon dioxide, salinity and other variables collected from underway - surface observations using Carbon dioxide (CO2) gas analyzer, Shower head chamber equilibrator for autonomous carbon dioxide (CO2) measurement and other instruments from the SOUTHERN SURVEYOR in the Coral Sea, Great Australian Bight and others from 2011-04-06 to 2011-11-26 (NODC Accession 0115708)

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — NODC Accession 0115708 includes chemical, meteorological, physical and underway - surface data collected from SOUTHERN SURVEYOR in the Coral Sea, Great Australian...

Performance Evaluation of Industrial Land Policy in China

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Xinqi Zheng

2014-07-01

Full Text Available Rapid industrialization, as one of the main driving forces promoting sustainable economic growth, has increased the area of industrial land use significantly. Industrial land use manifests that the competition between it and other kinds of land use is growing. During the last decade in China, many targeted industrial land use policies have been enacted to stimulate appropriate industrial land use and to promote healthy economic development. However, it is difficult for scholars and governments of rapidly developing countries to judge and evaluate the performance of such policies. Based on statistical data gathered over almost 10 years and an idea called “industrial land equivalent” (ILE, this paper analyzes the contribution made by the implementation of industrial land use policy to economic development, using a Cobb-Douglas production function by which to quantify the influence of land institutions and land regulation systems. The result of the study shows that factors, such as industrial land, labor and capital, all play an important role in GDP growth. Additionally, it is found that industrial land institutions and regulation systems have a strongly positive influence on economic development. It was also found that the influence of policy in eastern China is greater than that in the west and that repeated, short-term land regulation has a negative effect on the economy. Therefore, it is profoundly important for the Chinese economy that a stable and durable industrial land use policy be maintained as the industrial center migrates to the Midwest. The research philosophy and method offered by this paper have great significance for the quantitative evaluation of policy performance.

The economic impacts of a submarine HVDC interconnection between Norway and Great Britain

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Doorman, Gerard L.; Frøystad, Dag Martin

2013-01-01

In the present paper we analyze the profitability of different HVDC interconnection alternatives between Norway and Great Britain for present and future scenarios. The analysis is done from a merchant and a social welfare perspective. The analyses include interconnections between Norway and Scotland and Southern Great Britain, respectively, as well as an alternative link to a future offshore wind farm. From a social welfare perspective the northern interconnection alternative is profitable under all sets of assumptions. The southern alternative is profitable under present conditions, but less than the northern alternative. The alternative link to the offshore wind park is not profitable, but this result is highly dependent on market conditions. From a merchant perspective none of the alternatives is profitable, clearly illustrating that leaving investments to commercial parties does not realize all projects that increase social welfare. - Highlights: • Profitability of interconnection between Norway and GB is analyzed using simulation. • The Northern alternative increases social welfare under all assumptions. • None of the alternatives is profitable from a merchant perspective. • A link to a prospective wind farm 200 km from the GB coast is not profitable. • Social welfare increasing infrastructure may not be built on commercial conditions

LUMIS: A Land Use Management Information System for urban planning

Science.gov (United States)

Paul, C. K.

1975-01-01

The Land Use Management Information System (LUMIS) consists of a methodology of compiling land use maps by means of air photo interpretation techniques, digitizing these and other maps into machine-readable form, and numerically overlaying these various maps in two computer software routines to provide land use and natural resource data files referenced to the individual census block. The two computer routines are the Polygon Intersection Overlay System (PIOS) and an interactive graphics APL program. A block referenced file of land use, natural resources, geology, elevation, slope, and fault-line items has been created and supplied to the Los Angeles Department of City Planning for the City's portion of the Santa Monica Mountains. In addition, the interactive system contains one hundred and seventy-three socio-economic data items created by merging the Third Count U.S. Census Bureau tapes and the Los Angeles County Secured Assessor File. This data can be graphically displayed for each and every block, block group, or tract for six test tracts in Woodland Hills, California. Other benefits of LUMIS are the knowledge of air photo availability, flight pattern coverage and frequencies, and private photogrammetry companies flying Southern California, as well as a formal Delphi study of relevant land use informational needs in the Santa Monicas.

Ranching Elites, Social Networks and Everyday Disobedience in Southern Veracruz at the End of the 18th Century

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Álvaro Alcántara López

2007-01-01

Full Text Available This text centers on the interaction between kinship networks and the subaltern attitudes of everyday disobedience expressed in a pluriethnic fabric of dissidence. Based on the disputes between the Indians of Acayucan and a large rancher and landholder, Don Joseph Quintero, this text reveals the history of a family of great importance in southern Veracruz: the Franyutti family. Making his fortune through marriage alliances, Juan Francisco Franyutti maintained control over such administrative and judicial posts as mayor, tithe collector, tax collector, militia captain and notary. In his time, he established an ironclad system of control over the region’s agricultural and livestock production, monopolizing land and control over trade and credit. Resistance to the power of the Franyutti family included strategies employed by Indians, pardos and mulattoes that ranged from tax fraud to smuggling, from legal defenses to gossiping and rioting, as well as through ritualized forms of dissidence, such as fandangos and saraos. These conflicting networks not only expressed different modes of sociability, but also strategies of social cohesion and friction.

Estimating fine-scale land use change dynamics using an expedient photointerpretation-based method

Science.gov (United States)

Tonya Lister; Andrew Lister; Eunice Alexander

2009-01-01

Population growth and urban expansion have resulted in the loss of forest land. With growing concerns about this loss and its implications for global processes and carbon budgets, there is a great need for detailed and reliable land use change data. Currently, the Northern Research Station uses an Annual Inventory design whereby all plots are revisited every 5 years...

76 FR 45606 - Desert Renewable Energy Conservation Plan, Habitat Conservation Plan and Possible Land Use Plan...

Science.gov (United States)

2011-07-29

...-N131; 80221-1112-80221-F2] Desert Renewable Energy Conservation Plan, Habitat Conservation Plan and Possible Land Use Plan Amendment, Southern California: Environmental Impact Statement AGENCY: Fish and..., as amended, for the proposed Desert Renewable Energy Conservation Plan (DRECP). The EIS will be a...

Evidence of Incipient Forest Transition in Southern Mexico

Science.gov (United States)

Vaca, Raúl Abel; Golicher, Duncan John; Cayuela, Luis; Hewson, Jenny; Steininger, Marc

2012-01-01

Case studies of land use change have suggested that deforestation across Southern Mexico is accelerating. However, forest transition theory predicts that trajectories of change can be modified by economic factors, leading to spatial and temporal heterogeneity in rates of change that may take the form of the Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC). This study aimed to assess the evidence regarding potential forest transition in Southern Mexico by classifying regional forest cover change using Landsat imagery from 1990 through to 2006. Patterns of forest cover change were found to be complex and non-linear. When rates of forest loss were averaged over 342 municipalities using mixed-effects modelling the results showed a significant (p<0.001) overall reduction of the mean rate of forest loss from 0.85% per year in the 1990–2000 period to 0.67% in the 2000–2006 period. The overall regional annual rate of deforestation has fallen from 0.33% to 0.28% from the 1990s to 2000s. A high proportion of the spatial variability in forest cover change cannot be explained statistically. However analysis using spline based general additive models detected underlying relationships between forest cover and income or population density of a form consistent with the EKC. The incipient forest transition has not, as yet, resulted in widespread reforestation. Forest recovery remains below 0.20% per year. Reforestation is mostly the result of passive processes associated with reductions in the intensity of land use. Deforestation continues to occur at high rates in some focal areas. A transition could be accelerated if there were a broader recognition among policy makers that the regional rate of forest loss has now begun to fall. The changing trajectory provides an opportunity to actively restore forest cover through stimulating afforestation and stimulating more sustainable land use practices. The results have clear implications for policy aimed at carbon sequestration through reducing

Evidence of incipient forest transition in Southern Mexico.

Science.gov (United States)

Vaca, Raúl Abel; Golicher, Duncan John; Cayuela, Luis; Hewson, Jenny; Steininger, Marc

2012-01-01

Case studies of land use change have suggested that deforestation across Southern Mexico is accelerating. However, forest transition theory predicts that trajectories of change can be modified by economic factors, leading to spatial and temporal heterogeneity in rates of change that may take the form of the Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC). This study aimed to assess the evidence regarding potential forest transition in Southern Mexico by classifying regional forest cover change using Landsat imagery from 1990 through to 2006. Patterns of forest cover change were found to be complex and non-linear. When rates of forest loss were averaged over 342 municipalities using mixed-effects modelling the results showed a significant (p<0.001) overall reduction of the mean rate of forest loss from 0.85% per year in the 1990-2000 period to 0.67% in the 2000-2006 period. The overall regional annual rate of deforestation has fallen from 0.33% to 0.28% from the 1990s to 2000s. A high proportion of the spatial variability in forest cover change cannot be explained statistically. However analysis using spline based general additive models detected underlying relationships between forest cover and income or population density of a form consistent with the EKC. The incipient forest transition has not, as yet, resulted in widespread reforestation. Forest recovery remains below 0.20% per year. Reforestation is mostly the result of passive processes associated with reductions in the intensity of land use. Deforestation continues to occur at high rates in some focal areas. A transition could be accelerated if there were a broader recognition among policy makers that the regional rate of forest loss has now begun to fall. The changing trajectory provides an opportunity to actively restore forest cover through stimulating afforestation and stimulating more sustainable land use practices. The results have clear implications for policy aimed at carbon sequestration through reducing

Evidence of incipient forest transition in Southern Mexico.

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Raúl Abel Vaca

Full Text Available Case studies of land use change have suggested that deforestation across Southern Mexico is accelerating. However, forest transition theory predicts that trajectories of change can be modified by economic factors, leading to spatial and temporal heterogeneity in rates of change that may take the form of the Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC. This study aimed to assess the evidence regarding potential forest transition in Southern Mexico by classifying regional forest cover change using Landsat imagery from 1990 through to 2006. Patterns of forest cover change were found to be complex and non-linear. When rates of forest loss were averaged over 342 municipalities using mixed-effects modelling the results showed a significant (p<0.001 overall reduction of the mean rate of forest loss from 0.85% per year in the 1990-2000 period to 0.67% in the 2000-2006 period. The overall regional annual rate of deforestation has fallen from 0.33% to 0.28% from the 1990s to 2000s. A high proportion of the spatial variability in forest cover change cannot be explained statistically. However analysis using spline based general additive models detected underlying relationships between forest cover and income or population density of a form consistent with the EKC. The incipient forest transition has not, as yet, resulted in widespread reforestation. Forest recovery remains below 0.20% per year. Reforestation is mostly the result of passive processes associated with reductions in the intensity of land use. Deforestation continues to occur at high rates in some focal areas. A transition could be accelerated if there were a broader recognition among policy makers that the regional rate of forest loss has now begun to fall. The changing trajectory provides an opportunity to actively restore forest cover through stimulating afforestation and stimulating more sustainable land use practices. The results have clear implications for policy aimed at carbon sequestration through

Impacts of – and farmers’ adaptation to – land allocation policies in the north central uplands of Vietnam

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Folving Ginzburg, Rikke; Thulstrup, Andreas Waaben; Nielsen, Thomas Theis

2017-01-01

with their impact in a variety of ways. The paper argues that land allocation policies have: (1) decreased the amount of land available, (2) not improved land tenure security and (3) had a limited impact on farming practices. The differences between the five villages are great, demonstrating the very different...

Assessing the impacts of combined climate and land use changes for water availability and demands in a Mediterranean watershed.

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Jacinto, Rita; Nunes, João Pedro; Santos, Juliana

2014-05-01

Mediterranean basins experience water scarcity issues due to the dry climate associated with the need for agricultural irrigation and recurrent severe drought episodes. Recent land use changes have increased the pressure over water resources due to an expansion of irrigation. Global climate change is expected to bring forth a drier climate, which may simultaneously lead to higher irrigation demands and less water to sustain them, which would be a great management challenge. The issues surrounding climate and associated land use changes were addressed for the Xarrama basin in southern Portugal. This is a region where there is already a large amount of irrigation, mostly consisting of corn and rice fields, but recent trends point to an increase of drip-irrigation in olives and vineyards. The water management strategies for this region assume water transfers from the larger Alqueva reservoir, without taking into account the impacts of these future changes which might introduce additional evapotranspiration losses while decreasing the amount of available water both in Xarrama and Alqueva. Future climate and land-use scenarios were downscaled to the basin level, the latter taking into account local land-use change trends in recent decades. Downscaling based on local tendencies allowed detailed land use changes for agriculture and forest (the main land uses for this region), i.e. the most likely types of crops and trees to be introduced or replaced. The results of local tendencies scenarios reflect the SRES tendencies for Europe, namely agricultural abandonment and increased biofuel production, with species adapted to this climatic region. These scenarios are the first for this region with highly detailed information about land use change scenarios under climate change. The SWAT eco-hydrological model is being applied to quantify the individual impact of climate and land-use change scenarios on both water availability and demands, and the synergies between both. This

Multiregional input-output model for China's farm land and water use.

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Guo, Shan; Shen, Geoffrey Qiping

2015-01-06

Land and water are the two main drivers of agricultural production. Pressure on farm land and water resources is increasing in China due to rising food demand. Domestic trade affects China's regional farm land and water use by distributing resources associated with the production of goods and services. This study constructs a multiregional input-output model to simultaneously analyze China's farm land and water uses embodied in consumption and interregional trade. Results show a great similarity for both China's farm land and water endowments. Shandong, Henan, Guangdong, and Yunnan are the most important drivers of farm land and water consumption in China, even though they have relatively few land and water resource endowments. Significant net transfers of embodied farm land and water flows are identified from the central and western areas to the eastern area via interregional trade. Heilongjiang is the largest farm land and water supplier, in contrast to Shanghai as the largest receiver. The results help policy makers to comprehensively understand embodied farm land and water flows in a complex economy network. Improving resource utilization efficiency and reshaping the embodied resource trade nexus should be addressed by considering the transfer of regional responsibilities.

Bequest of the Norseman—The Potential for Agricultural Intensification and Expansion in Southern Greenland under Climate Change

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Chatrina Caviezel

2017-12-01

Full Text Available The increase of summer temperatures and a prolonged growing season increase the potential for agricultural land use for subarctic agriculture. Nevertheless, land use at borderline ecotones is influenced by more factors than temperature and the length of the growing season, for example soil quality, as the increasing lengths of dry periods during vegetation season can diminish land use potential. Hence, this study focuses on the quality of the soil resource as possible limiting factor for land use intensification in southern Greenland. Physical and chemical soil properties of cultivated grasslands, reference sites and semi-natural birch and grassland sites were examined to develop a soil quality index and to identify the suitability of soils for a sustainable intensification and expansion of the agriculture. The study revealed that soils in the study area are generally characterized by a low effective cation exchange capacity (CECeff (3.7 ± 5.0 meq 100 g−1, low pH CaCl2 (4.6 ± 0.4 and low clay and silt content (3.0 ± 1.0% and 38.2 ± 4.7%, respectively. Due to the high amount of coarse fraction (59.1 ± 5.8% and the low amount of soil nutrients, an increasing threat of dry spells for soils and yield could be identified. Further, future land use intensification and expansion bears a high risk for concomitant effects, namely further soil acidification, nutrient leaching and soil degradation processes. However, results of the soil quality index also indicate that sites which were already used by the Norseman (980s–1450 show the best suitability for agricultural use. Thus, these areas offer a possibility to expand agricultural land use in southern Greenland.

Climate change and water quality in the Great Lakes Basin

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

2003-08-01

The Great Lakes Basin is subjected to several stresses, such as land use changes, chemical contamination, nutrient over-enrichment, alien invasive species, and acid precipitation. Climate change is now added to this list. The Water Quality Board was asked to provide advice concerning the impacts of climate change on the water quality of the Great Lakes and on how to address the issue. A White Paper was commissioned by the Board to address four key questions: (1) what are the Great Lakes water quality issues associated with climate change, (2) what are potential impacts of climate change on beneficial uses, (3) how might impacts vary across the Great Lakes region, and (4) what are the implications for decision making. The conclusions and findings of the White Paper were then discussed at a workshop held in May 2003. Part 1 of the document provides an executive summary. The advice of the Water Quality Board was based on the findings of the White Paper and presented in Part 2. Part 3 presented the White Paper, while a summary of the workshop was provided in Part 4. A presentation on cross border tools and strategies was also presented by a workshop participant.

Smallholders' land access in Sub-Saharan Africa: A new landscape?

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Deininger, Klaus; Savastano, Sara; Xia, Fang

2017-02-01

While scholars long recognized the importance of land markets as a key driver of rural non-farm development and transformation in rural areas, evidence on the extent of their operation and the nature of participants remains limited. We use household data from 6 countries to show that there is great potential for such markets to increase productivity and equalize factor ratios. While rental markets transfer land to land-poor and labor-rich producers, their operation and thus impact may be constrained by policy restrictions. Their functioning may also be constrained by ill-defined or insecure rights that may arise from failure to fully compensate existing rights in cases of expropriation, a failure to implement more broadly land policies or to do so in a gender sensitive manner. Methodological and substantive conclusions are derived.

Land Ecological Security Evaluation of Guangzhou, China

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Linyu Xu

2014-10-01

Full Text Available As the land ecosystem provides the necessary basic material resources for human development, land ecological security (LES plays an increasingly important role in sustainable development. Given the degradation of land ecological security under rapid urbanization and the urgent LES requirements of urban populations, a comprehensive evaluation method, named Double Land Ecological Security (DLES, has been introduced with the city of Guangzhou, China, as a case study, which evaluates the LES in regional and unit scales for reasonable and specific urban planning. In the evaluation process with this method, we have combined the material security with the spiritual security that is inevitably associated with LES. Some new coefficients of land-security supply/demand distribution and technology contribution for LES evaluation have also been introduced for different spatial scales, including the regional and the unit scales. The results for Guangzhou indicated that, temporally, the LES supply indices were 0.77, 0.84 and 0.77 in 2000, 2006 and 2009 respectively, while LES demand indices for the city increased in 2000, 2006 and 2009 from 0.57 to 0.95, which made the LES level decreased slowly in this period. Spatially, at the regional scale, the urban land ecological security (ULES level decreased from 0.2 (marginal security to −0.18 (marginal insecurity as a whole; in unit scale, areas in the north and in parts of the east were relatively secure and the security area was shrinking with time, but the central and southern areas turned to be marginal insecurity, especially in 2006 and 2009. This study proposes that DLES evaluation should be conducted for targeted and efficient urban planning and management, which can reflect the LES level of study area in general and in detail.

Land ecological security evaluation of Guangzhou, China.

Science.gov (United States)

Xu, Linyu; Yin, Hao; Li, Zhaoxue; Li, Shun

2014-10-15

As the land ecosystem provides the necessary basic material resources for human development, land ecological security (LES) plays an increasingly important role in sustainable development. Given the degradation of land ecological security under rapid urbanization and the urgent LES requirements of urban populations, a comprehensive evaluation method, named Double Land Ecological Security (DLES), has been introduced with the city of Guangzhou, China, as a case study, which evaluates the LES in regional and unit scales for reasonable and specific urban planning. In the evaluation process with this method, we have combined the material security with the spiritual security that is inevitably associated with LES. Some new coefficients of land-security supply/demand distribution and technology contribution for LES evaluation have also been introduced for different spatial scales, including the regional and the unit scales. The results for Guangzhou indicated that, temporally, the LES supply indices were 0.77, 0.84 and 0.77 in 2000, 2006 and 2009 respectively, while LES demand indices for the city increased in 2000, 2006 and 2009 from 0.57 to 0.95, which made the LES level decreased slowly in this period. Spatially, at the regional scale, the urban land ecological security (ULES) level decreased from 0.2 (marginal security) to -0.18 (marginal insecurity) as a whole; in unit scale, areas in the north and in parts of the east were relatively secure and the security area was shrinking with time, but the central and southern areas turned to be marginal insecurity, especially in 2006 and 2009. This study proposes that DLES evaluation should be conducted for targeted and efficient urban planning and management, which can reflect the LES level of study area in general and in detail.

Land of California?: The ambiguities of sweet home Chicago.

Science.gov (United States)

Kimsey, John

2005-01-01

This essay examines some historical questions and cultural constructions surrounding the song Sweet Home Chicago and its composer Robert Johnson. Noting that while the song has enjoyed long life, Johnson's lyric (describing Chicago as a land of California) has not, the essay critiques primitivist readings of Johnson while posing an African American cultural myth-Chicago as promised land of the Great Migration-as the subtext of his puzzling line. Finally, it considers whether mundane-sounding revisions of Johnson's lyric indicate a reduction in Chicago's mythic status, from safe haven to same old place.

Albedo enhancement over land to counteract global warming: impacts on hydrological cycle

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bala, Govindasamy; Nag, Bappaditya [Indian Institute of Science, Divecha Center for Climate Change and Center for Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences, Bangalore (India)

2012-09-15

A recent modelling study has shown that precipitation and runoff over land would increase when the reflectivity of marine clouds is increased to counter global warming. This implies that large scale albedo enhancement over land could lead to a decrease in runoff over land. In this study, we perform simulations using NCAR CAM3.1 that have implications for Solar Radiation Management geoengineering schemes that increase the albedo over land. We find that an increase in reflectivity over land that mitigates the global mean warming from a doubling of CO{sub 2} leads to a large residual warming in the southern hemisphere and cooling in the northern hemisphere since most of the land is located in northern hemisphere. Precipitation and runoff over land decrease by 13.4 and 22.3%, respectively, because of a large residual sinking motion over land triggered by albedo enhancement over land. Soil water content also declines when albedo over land is enhanced. The simulated magnitude of hydrological changes over land are much larger when compared to changes over oceans in the recent marine cloud albedo enhancement study since the radiative forcing over land needed (-8.2 W m{sup -2}) to counter global mean radiative forcing from a doubling of CO{sub 2} (3.3 W m{sup -2}) is approximately twice the forcing needed over the oceans (-4.2 W m{sup -2}). Our results imply that albedo enhancement over oceans produce climates closer to the unperturbed climate state than do albedo changes on land when the consequences on land hydrology are considered. Our study also has important implications for any intentional or unintentional large scale changes in land surface albedo such as deforestation/afforestation/reforestation, air pollution, and desert and urban albedo modification. (orig.)

Land suitability for final waste disposal with emphasis on septic systems installation in southern Minas Gerais, Brazil

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Jeani Moreira de Oliveira

2016-02-01

Full Text Available ABSTRACT Environmental pollution is a problem that has been noted due to changes in the environment, affecting natural resources. Regarding the soil, it may offer great potential for waste disposal. Thus, this study aims to propose criteria for evaluating local suitability for waste disposal, according to soil and terrain attributes for southern Minas Gerais State, and to apply those criteria to define the most appropriate locations for installation of septic systems in a pilot watershed. Literature and the authors' experience were used to propose the more important criteria regarding the suitability of sites for waste disposal. The set of attributes taken into account was grouped into four suitability classes: Adequate, Regular, Restricted and Inadequate. The defined criteria and considered limiting were: soil depth, texture, textural gradient, structure, natural drainage, water infiltration, type of surface horizon, water table depth, depth of perched water table, distance from water bodies, relief, stoniness, rockiness and risk of flooding. From these, soil depth, natural drainage, water table depth, relief and distance from water bodies were adopted for the installation of septic systems. From the total area of the watershed, 5.29% fit in the Adequate suitability class. The Regular, Restricted, and Inadequate sites accounted for, respectively, 19.72%, 41.99% and 33% of the wathershed. Factors such as soil and terrain attributes provide a basis for defining more appropriate places for waste disposal. Future work should involve the refinement of these propositions, since there are rare studies in this research line in Brazil.

Impact of the invasive species Elaeagnus Angustifolia L. on vegetation in Pontic desert steppe zone (Southern Ukraine)

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Sudnik-Wojcikowska, B.; Moysiyenko, I.; Slim, P.A.; Moraczewski, I.R.

2009-01-01

The Irano-Turanian species – Russian olive (Elaeagnus angustifolia L.) – is one of most commonly planted tree in the shelterbelts in southern Ukraine. The consequences of introduction of the species from windbreaks, into areas of different land use in west and central Pontic desert steppe zone are

Mapping large-area landscape suitability for honey bees to assess the influence of land-use change on sustainability of national pollination services

Science.gov (United States)

Gallant, Alisa L.; Euliss, Ned H.; Browning, Zac

2014-01-01

Pollination is a critical ecosystem service affected by various drivers of land-use change, such as policies and programs aimed at land resources, market values for crop commodities, local land-management decisions, and shifts in climate. The United States is the world's most active market for pollination services by honey bees, and the Northern Great Plains provide the majority of bee colonies used to meet the Nation's annual pollination needs. Legislation requiring increased production of biofuel crops, increasing commodity prices for crops of little nutritional value for bees in the Northern Great Plains, and reductions in government programs aimed at promoting land conservation are converging to alter the regional landscape in ways that challenge beekeepers to provide adequate numbers of hives for national pollination services. We developed a spatially explicit model that identifies sites with the potential to support large apiaries based on local-scale land-cover requirements for honey bees. We produced maps of potential apiary locations for North Dakota, a leading producer of honey, based on land-cover maps representing (1) an annual time series compiled from existing operational products and (2) a realistic scenario of land change. We found that existing land-cover products lack sufficient local accuracy to monitor actual changes in landscape suitability for honey bees, but our model proved informative for evaluating effects on suitability under scenarios of land change. The scenario we implemented was aligned with current drivers of land-use change in the Northern Great Plains and highlighted the importance of conservation lands in landscapes intensively and extensively managed for crops.

Enhancing the representation of subgrid land surface characteristics in land surface models

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Y. Ke

2013-09-01

Full Text Available Land surface heterogeneity has long been recognized as important to represent in the land surface models. In most existing land surface models, the spatial variability of surface cover is represented as subgrid composition of multiple surface cover types, although subgrid topography also has major controls on surface processes. In this study, we developed a new subgrid classification method (SGC that accounts for variability of both topography and vegetation cover. Each model grid cell was represented with a variable number of elevation classes and each elevation class was further described by a variable number of vegetation types optimized for each model grid given a predetermined total number of land response units (LRUs. The subgrid structure of the Community Land Model (CLM was used to illustrate the newly developed method in this study. Although the new method increases the computational burden in the model simulation compared to the CLM subgrid vegetation representation, it greatly reduced the variations of elevation within each subgrid class and is able to explain at least 80% of the total subgrid plant functional types (PFTs. The new method was also evaluated against two other subgrid methods (SGC1 and SGC2 that assigned fixed numbers of elevation and vegetation classes for each model grid (SGC1: M elevation bands–N PFTs method; SGC2: N PFTs–M elevation bands method. Implemented at five model resolutions (0.1°, 0.25°, 0.5°, 1.0°and 2.0° with three maximum-allowed total number of LRUs (i.e., NLRU of 24, 18 and 12 over North America (NA, the new method yielded more computationally efficient subgrid representation compared to SGC1 and SGC2, particularly at coarser model resolutions and moderate computational intensity (NLRU = 18. It also explained the most PFTs and elevation variability that is more homogeneously distributed spatially. The SGC method will be implemented in CLM over the NA continent to assess its impacts on

Biomass yielding potential of naturally regenerated Prosopis juliflora tree stands at three varied ecosystems in southern districts of Tamil Nadu, India.

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