WorldWideScience

Sample records for sustainable rangeland management

  1. Reorienting land degradation towards sustainable land management: linking sustainable livelihoods with ecosystem services in rangeland systems.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Reed, M S; Stringer, L C; Dougill, A J; Perkins, J S; Atlhopheng, J R; Mulale, K; Favretto, N

    2015-03-15

    This paper identifies new ways of moving from land degradation towards sustainable land management through the development of economic mechanisms. It identifies new mechanisms to tackle land degradation based on retaining critical levels of natural capital whilst basing livelihoods on a wider range of ecosystem services. This is achieved through a case study analysis of the Kalahari rangelands in southwest Botswana. The paper first describes the socio-economic and ecological characteristics of the Kalahari rangelands and the types of land degradation taking place. It then focuses on bush encroachment as a way of exploring new economic instruments (e.g. Payments for Ecosystem Services) designed to enhance the flow of ecosystem services that support livelihoods in rangeland systems. It does this by evaluating the likely impacts of bush encroachment, one of the key forms of rangeland degradation, on a range of ecosystem services in three land tenure types (private fenced ranches, communal grazing areas and Wildlife Management Areas), before considering options for more sustainable land management in these systems. We argue that with adequate policy support, economic mechanisms could help reorient degraded rangelands towards more sustainable land management. Copyright © 2014 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

  2. Criterion IV: Social and economic indicators of rangeland sustainability (Chapter 5)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Daniel W. McCollum; Louis E. Swanson; John A. Tanaka; Mark W. Brunson; Aaron J. Harp; L. Allen Torell; H. Theodore Heintz

    2010-01-01

    Social and economic systems provide the context and rationale for rangeland management. Sustaining rangeland ecosystems requires attention to the social and economic conditions that accompany the functioning of those systems. We present and discuss economic and social indicators for rangeland sustainability. A brief conceptual basis for each indicator is offered,...

  3. Sustainable rangeland management, economic growth, and a cautious role for the SRM

    Science.gov (United States)

    Interest in the art and science of rangeland management increased dramatically during the 20th century and it was out of this interest that the profession of rangeland management was born. As public interest in rangeland management grew, so did the number, breadth, and depth of rangeland management ...

  4. Management of Collective Rangelands in Rhamna (Morocco ...

    International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Digital Library (Canada)

    Management of Collective Rangelands in Rhamna (Morocco) ... reduce the pressure on natural resources and promote sustainable management. ... Project status ... IDRC congratulates first cohort of Women in Climate Change Science Fellows ... and adaptive water management: Innovative solutions from the Global South”.

  5. Managing climate change risks in rangeland systems [Chapter 15

    Science.gov (United States)

    Linda A. Joyce; Nadine A. Marshall

    2017-01-01

    The management of rangelands has long involved adapting to climate variability to ensure that economic enterprises remain viable and ecosystems sustainable; climate change brings the potential for change that surpasses the experience of humans within rangeland systems. Adaptation will require an intentionality to address the effects of climate change. Knowledge of...

  6. Session B1 Management for sustainable use — Rangeland auditing ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Social, economic and cultural needs, values and expectations will be examined together with the biophysical technologies and approaches which underlie auditing in rangeland science. Adaptive frameworks which enhance sustainable strategic responses, and the state of art in scale dilemmas will be addressed. A hybrid ...

  7. Criterion III: Maintenance of rangeland productive capacity [Chapter 4

    Science.gov (United States)

    G. R. Evans; R. A. Washmgton-Allen; R. D. Child; J. E. Mitchell; B. R. Bobowskl; R. V. Loper; B. H. Allen-Diaz; D. W. Thompson; G. R. Welling; T. B. Reuwsaat

    2010-01-01

    Maintenance of rangeland productive capacity is one of five criteria established by the Sustainable Rangelands Roundtable (SRR) to monitor and assess rangeland sustainable management. Within this criterion, six indicators were developed through the Delphi Process and the expert opinions of academicians, rangeland scientists, rangeland management agency personnel, non-...

  8. Sustaining working rangelands: Insights from rancher decision making

    Science.gov (United States)

    Grazed rangeland ecosystems encompass diverse global land resources, and are complex social-ecological systems from which society demands both goods (e.g., livestock and forage production) and services (e.g., abundant and high quality water). In the dialogue on rangeland conservation and sustainable...

  9. Ecologic, Economic, and Social Considerations for Rangeland Sustainability: An Integrated Conceptual Framework

    Science.gov (United States)

    Daniel W. McCollum; H. Theodore Jr. Heintz; Aaron J. Harp; John A. Tanaka; Gary R. Evans; David Radloff; Louis E. Swanson; William E. III Fox; Michael G. Sherm Karl; John E. Mitchell

    2006-01-01

    Use and sustainability of rangelands are inherently linked to the health and sustainability of the land. They are also inherently linked to the social and economic infrastructures that complement and support those rangelands and rangeland uses. Ecological systems and processes provide the biological interactions underlying ecosystem health and viability. Social and...

  10. A systematic review of US rangeland social science

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rangeland science aims to create knowledge to sustain rangeland social-ecological systems over the long term. Range science has made substantial progress on understanding ecological dynamics of rangeland systems and the management practices that sustain them, and these findings have been systematica...

  11. A conceptual tool for improving rangeland management decision ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    ... the LLM concept should be seen as a continuous and evolving learning process that will be updated over the long term through decision support to include several other components essential to implement effective and sustainable rangeland management practices by local land users. Keywords: desertification; indicators ...

  12. New Tools to Estimate Runoff, Soil Erosion, and Sustainability of Rangeland Plant Communities

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rangelands are the largest land cover type in the world. Degradation from mismanagement, desertification, and drought impact more than 50% of rangelands across the globe. The USDA Agricultural Research Service has been evaluating sustainability of rangeland for over 40-years by conducted rangeland r...

  13. An Integrated Social, Economic, and Ecologic Conceptual (ISEEC) framework for considering rangeland sustainability

    Science.gov (United States)

    William E. Fox; Daniel W. McCollum; John E. Mitchell; Louis E. Swanson; Urs P. Kreuter; John A. Tanaka; Gary R. Evans; H. Theodore Heintz; Robert P. Breckenridge; Paul H. Geissler

    2009-01-01

    Currently, there is no standard method to assess the complex systems in rangeland ecosystems. Decision makers need baselines to create a common language of current rangeland conditions and standards for continued rangeland assessment. The Sustainable Rangeland Roundtable (SRR), a group of private and public organizations and agencies, has created a forum to discuss...

  14. Management applicability of the intermediate disturbance hypothesis across Mongolian rangeland ecosystems.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sasaki, Takehiro; Okubo, Satoru; Okayasu, Tomoo; Jamsran, Undarmaa; Ohkuro, Toshiya; Takeuchi, Kazuhiko

    2009-03-01

    The current growing body of evidence for diversity-disturbance relationships suggests that the peaked pattern predicted by the intermediate disturbance hypothesis (IDH) may not be the rule. Even if ecologists could quantify the diversity-disturbance relationship consistent with the IDH, the applicability of the IDH to land management has rarely been addressed. We examined two hypotheses related to the generality and management applicability of the IDH to Mongolian rangeland ecosystems: that the diversity-disturbance relationship varies as a function of landscape condition and that some intermediate scales of grazing can play an important role in terms of sustainable rangeland management through a grazing gradient approach. We quantified the landscape condition of each ecological site using an ordination technique and determined two types of landscape conditions: relatively benign and harsh environmental conditions. At the ecological sites characterized by relatively benign environmental conditions, diversity-disturbance relationships were generally consistent with the IDH, and maximum diversity was observed at some intermediate distance from the source of the grazing gradient. In contrast, the IDH was not supported at most (but not all) sites characterized by relatively harsh environmental conditions. The intermediate levels of grazing were generally located below the ecological threshold representing the points or zones at which disturbance should be limited to prevent drastic changes in ecological conditions, suggesting that there is little "conundrum" with regard to intermediate disturbance in the studied systems in terms of land management. We suggest that the landscape condition is one of the primary factors that cause inconsistencies in diversity-disturbance relationships. The ecological threshold can extend its utility in rangeland management because it also has the compatibility with the maintenance of species diversity. This study thus suggests that some

  15. 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.

  16. Rangeland and water resources

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Session B3 Management for sustainable use — Rangeland and water resources. ... The theme of optimsing integrated catchment management will be treated ... land system, catchment, basin), with a focus on law, policy and implementation.

  17. A Dynamic Model of California's Hardwood Rangelands

    Science.gov (United States)

    Richard B. Standiford; Richard E. Howitt

    1991-01-01

    Low profitability of hardwood rangeland management, and oak tree harvesting for firewood markets and forage enhancement has led to concern about the long-term sustainability of the oak resource on rangelands. New markets for recreational hunting may give value to oaks for the habitat they provide for game species, and broaden the economic base for managers. A ranch...

  18. RANGELAND DEGRADATION: EXTENT, IMPACTS, AND ALTERNATIVE RESTORATION TECHNIQUES IN THE RANGELANDS OF ETHIOPIA

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mohammed Mussa Abdulahi

    2016-12-01

    Full Text Available Rangeland degradation remains a serious impediment to improve pastoral livelihoods in the lowlands of Ethiopia. This review paper presents an overview of the extent of rangeland degradation, explores its drivers, discusses the potential impacts of rangeland degradation and also suggests alternative rangeland restoration techniques. It is intended to serve as an exploratory tool for ensuing more detailed quantitative analyses to support policy and investment programs to address rangeland degradation in Ethiopia. The extent of rangeland degradation increases with time, and the productivity of rangelands are losing if not given due attention. The major drivers leading to rangeland degradation includes climate change, overgrazing, bush encroachment, population pressure, drought, and government policy, encroachment of rain fed agriculture and decline of traditional resource management institution. Degradation of rangeland has resulted in substantial declines in rangeland condition, water potential, soil status, and animal performance, livestock holding at the household level and community become destitute. Another consequence of rangeland degradation is linked to food insecurity, poverty to the extent of food aid, expansion of aridity and the need for alternative livelihood and income diversification. Moreover, it has increasingly become a threat to the pastoral production systems, and has contributed towards increases in poverty and tribal conflicts over grazing land and water resources. In spite of these impacts, the adoption of alternative restoration techniques in the country is highly insufficient. To address rangeland degradation problems, there is a strong need to substantially increase the investments and strengthen the policy support for sustainable land management.

  19. PERSPECTIVES ON RANGELAND ECOLOGY AND MANAGEMENT

    OpenAIRE

    Heady, Harold F.

    2011-01-01

    This paper reviews changes in rangeland ecology and management in the U.S.A. over the last 65 years and speculates on future changes. Emphasis has shifted from livestock management to ecological and environmental concerns, hence "rangeland ecology." The term "range management" may have outlived its usefulness and may also be detrimental to our image. The vision that we have of ourselves is not the same as others have of us. Many members of the Society for Range Management (SRM) and most of ou...

  20. RANGELAND SEQUESTRATION POTENTIAL ASSESSMENT

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Lee Spangler; George F. Vance; Gerald E. Schuman; Justin D. Derner

    2012-03-31

    Rangelands occupy approximately half of the world's land area and store greater than 10% of the terrestrial biomass carbon and up to 30% of the global soil organic carbon. Although soil carbon sequestration rates are generally low on rangelands in comparison to croplands, increases in terrestrial carbon in rangelands resulting from management can account for significant carbon sequestration given the magnitude of this land resource. Despite the significance rangelands can play in carbon sequestration, our understanding remains limited. Researchers conducted a literature review to identify sustainably management practices that conserve existing rangeland carbon pools, as well as increase or restore carbon sequestration potentials for this type of ecosystem. The research team also reviewed the impact of grazing management on rangeland carbon dynamics, which are not well understood due to heterogeneity in grassland types. The literature review on the impact of grazing showed a wide variation of results, ranging from positive to negative to no response. On further review, the intensity of grazing appears to be a major factor in controlling rangeland soil organic carbon dynamics. In 2003, researchers conducted field sampling to assess the effect of several drought years during the period 1993-2002. Results suggested that drought can significantly impact rangeland soil organic carbon (SOC) levels, and therefore, carbon sequestration. Resampling was conducted in 2006; results again suggested that climatic conditions may have overridden management effects on SOC due to the ecological lag of the severe drought of 2002. Analysis of grazing practices during this research effort suggested that there are beneficial effects of light grazing compared to heavy grazing and non-grazing with respect to increased SOC and nitrogen contents. In general, carbon storage in rangelands also increases with increased precipitation, although researchers identified threshold levels of

  1. Bridging Drought – Resilience in Rangeland Management in Times of Climate Change

    OpenAIRE

    Isele, Judith

    2014-01-01

    Organic livestock farming in semiarid regions greatly depends on the sustainable management of the natural rangeland as the resource for livestock sustenance. High stock density in combination with short grazing and long recovery periods achieve effective rainfall utilisation and considerably higher fodder production resulting in a high degree of resilience in drought situations.

  2. Soil Properties and Plant Biomass Production in Natural Rangeland Management Systems

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Romeu de Souza Werner

    Full Text Available ABSTRACT Improper management of rangelands can cause land degradation and reduce the economic efficiency of livestock activity. The aim of this study was to evaluate soil properties and quantify plant biomass production in four natural rangeland management systems in the Santa Catarina Plateau (Planalto Catarinense of Brazil. The treatments, which included mowed natural rangeland (NR, burned natural rangeland (BR, natural rangeland improved through the introduction of plant species after harrowing (IH, and natural rangeland improved through the introduction of plant species after chisel plowing (IC, were evaluated in a Nitossolo Bruno (Nitisol. In the improved treatments, soil acidity was corrected, phosphate fertilizer was applied, and intercropped annual ryegrass (Lolium multiflorum, velvet grass (Holcus lanatus, and white clover (Trifolium repens were sown. Management systems with harrowed or chisel plowed soil showed improved soil physical properties; however, the effect decreased over time and values approached those of burned and mowed natural rangelands. Natural rangeland systems in the establishment phase had little influence on soil organic C. The mowed natural rangeland and improved natural rangeland exhibited greater production of grazing material, while burning the field decreased production and increased the proportion of weeds. Improvement of the natural rangelands increased leguminous biomass for pasture.

  3. Ranch business planning and resource monitoring for rangeland sustainability

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kristie A. Maczko; John A. Tanaka; Michael Smith; Cindy Garretson-Weibel; Stanley F. Hamilton; John E. Mitchell; Gene Fults; Charles Stanley; Dick Loper; Larry D. Bryant; J. K. (Rooter) Brite

    2012-01-01

    Aligning a rancher's business plan goals with the capability of the ranch's rangeland resources improves the viability and sustainability of family ranches. Strategically monitoring the condition of soil, water, vegetation, wildlife, livestock production, and economics helps inform business plan goals. Business planning and resource monitoring help keep...

  4. Managing the livestock– Wildlife interface on rangelands

    Science.gov (United States)

    du Toit, Johan T.; Cross, Paul C.; Valeix, Marion

    2017-01-01

    On rangelands the livestock–wildlife interface is mostly characterized by management actions aimed at controlling problems associated with competition, disease, and depredation. Wildlife communities (especially the large vertebrate species) are typically incompatible with agricultural development because the opportunity costs of wildlife conservation are unaffordable except in arid and semi-arid regions. Ecological factors including the provision of supplementary food and water for livestock, together with the persecution of large predators, result in livestock replacing wildlife at biomass densities far exceeding those of indigenous ungulates. Diseases are difficult to eradicate from free-ranging wildlife populations and so veterinary controls usually focus on separating commercial livestock herds from wildlife. Persecution of large carnivores due to their depredation of livestock has caused the virtual eradication of apex predators from most rangelands. However, recent research points to a broad range of solutions to reduce conflict at the livestock–wildlife interface. Conserving wildlife bolsters the adaptive capacity of a rangeland by providing stakeholders with options for dealing with environmental change. This is contingent upon local communities being empowered to benefit directly from their wildlife resources within a management framework that integrates land-use sectors at the landscape scale. As rangelands undergo irreversible changes caused by species invasions and climate forcings, the future perspective favors a proactive shift in attitude towards the livestock–wildlife interface, from problem control to asset management.

  5. Session B1 Management for sustainable use — Rangeland auditing ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    We need to monitor the capacity of healthy rangeland to support a broad suite of ecosystem services for a wide range of stakeholders — in a fair, objective and representative way. ... A hybrid session structure will be utilised: distilling wisdom from relevant posters; formal presentations; and stimulating structured debate.

  6. A nature-based approach for managing the invasive weed species Gutenbergia cordifolia for sustainable rangeland management.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ngondya, Issakwisa B; Munishi, Linus K; Treydte, Anna C; Ndakidemi, Patrick A

    2016-01-01

    The invasive weed species Gutenbergia cordifolia has been observed to suppress native plants and to dominate more than half of the entire crater floor (250 km 2 ) in the Ngorongoro Conservation Area (NCA). As this species has been found to be toxic to ruminants it might strongly impact animal populations in this ecologically diverse ecosystem. Hence, a nature-based approach is urgently needed to manage its spread. We tested two Desmodium spp extracts applied to G. cordifolia and assessed the latter's germination rate, height, fresh weight and leaf total chlorophyll content after 30 days in both laboratory and screen house experiments. Seedling germination rate was halved by Desmodium uncinatum leaf extract (DuL), particularly under higher concentrations (≥75 %) rather than lower concentrations (≤62.5 %). Likewise, in both laboratory and screen house experiments, germination rate under DuL treatments declined with increasing concentrations. Seedling height, fresh weight and leaf total chlorophyll content (Chl) were also most strongly affected by DuL treatments rather than D. uncinatum root extract, Desmodium intortum leaf extract or D. intortum root extract treatments. Generally, seedlings treated with higher DuL concentrations were half as tall, had one-third the weight and half the leaf Chl content compared to those treated with lower concentrations. Our study shows a novel technique that can be applied where G. cordifolia may be driving native flora and fauna to local extinction. Our data further suggest that this innovative approach is both ecologically safe and effective and that D. uncinatum can be sustainably used to manage invasive plants, and thus, to improve rangeland productivity.

  7. A comparison of the effects of different rangeland management ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    A comparison of the effects of different rangeland management systems on ... Three management systems exploit these areas: commercial livestock ranching, communal livestock ranching and game ranching. ... AJOL African Journals Online.

  8. Effect of management on rangeland phytomass, cover and condition ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    similarity of management effects on rangeland condition and forage provision across major dryland biomes. Taking a macro-ecological perspective, we analysed if management effects differed between South Africa's central grassland and ...

  9. Regional Standards for Rangeland Health and Guidelines for Livestock Grazing Management ... A Progress Report

    OpenAIRE

    1996-01-01

    In August 1995, new BLM regulations for rangeland administration went into effect. The new regulations require BLM to establish regional standards for rangeland health and guidelines for grazing management. This publication is a report on the alternatives being considered for the Montana/Dakotas Rangeland Health Standards and Guidelines process.

  10. Bush encroachment dynamics and rangeland management implications in the Horn of Africa

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rangelands in the Horn of Africa have been undergoing a rapid shift from herbaceous to woody plant dominance in the past decades, threatening subsistence livestock herding and pastoral food security. Despite of significant rangeland management implications, quantification of the spatial extent of en...

  11. Bayesian estimation of shrubs diversity in rangelands under two management systems in northern Syria

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Niane, A.A.; Singh, M.; Struik, P.C.

    2014-01-01

    The diversity of shrubs in rangelands of northern Syria is affected by the grazing management systems restricted by the increase in human and livestock populations. To describe and estimate diversity and compare the rangeland grazing management treatments, two popular indices for diversity, the

  12. Conserving biodiversity on native rangelands: Symposium proceedings

    Science.gov (United States)

    Daniel W. Uresk; Greg L. Schenbeck; James T. O' Rourke

    1997-01-01

    These proceedings are the result of a symposium, "Conserving biodiversity on native rangelands" held on August 17, 1995 in Fort Robinson State Park, NE. The purpose of this symposium was to provide a forum to discuss how elements of rangeland biodiversity are being conserved today. We asked, "How resilient and sustainable are rangeland systems to the...

  13. Climate change effects on rangelands and rangeland management: Affirming the need for monitoring

    Science.gov (United States)

    Daniel W. Mccollum; John A. Tanaka; Jack A. Morgan; John E. Mitchell; William E. Fox; Kristie A. Maczko; Lori Hidinger; Clifford S. Duke; Urs P. Kreuter

    2017-01-01

    Uncertainty as to the extent and magnitude of changes in conditions that might occur due to climate change poses a problem for land and resource managers as they seek to adapt to changes and mitigate effects of climate variability. We illustrate using scenarios of projected future conditions on rangelands in the Northern Great Plains and Desert Southwest of the United...

  14. Livestock systems and rangeland degradation in the new World Atlas of Desertification

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zucca, Claudio; Reynolds, James F.; Cherlet, Michael

    2015-04-01

    Livestock systems and rangeland degradation in the new World Atlas of Desertification Land degradation and desertification (LDD), which are widespread in global rangelands, are complex processes. They are caused by multiple (but limited) number of biophysical and socioeconomic drivers that lead to an unbalance in the capacity of the land to sustainably produce ecosystem services and economic value. Converging evidence indicates that the key biophysical and socioeconomic drivers include agricultural or pastoral land use and management practices, population growth, societal demands (e.g., urbanization), and climate change (e.g., increasing aridity and drought). The new World Atlas of Desertification (WAD) describes these global issues, documents their spatial change, and highlights the importance of these drivers in relation to land degradation processes. The impacts of LDD on the atmosphere, on water and on biodiversity are also covered. The WAD spatially illustrates relevant types of livestock and rangeland management systems, related (over-under) use of resources, various management activities, and some of the common features and transitions that contribute to LDD. For example, livestock grazing in marginal areas is increasing due to competition with agricultural encroachment and, hence, vulnerable lands are under threat. The integration of stratified global data layers facilitates identifying areas where stress on the land system can be linked to underlying causal issues. One of the objectives of the new WAD is to provide synthesis and tools for scientists and stakeholders to design sustainable solutions for efficient land use in global rangelands.

  15. Management of communal rangelands - the dialogue between science and indigenous knowledge: the case of the Eastern Cape

    CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

    Dube, S

    2010-07-01

    Full Text Available Communal area rangeland resource users are an important part of the rangeland ecosystem; rangeland management policies and practice should, therefore, accommodate their socio-cultural practices and knowledge. Indigenous knowledge (IK) is often...

  16. Robustness and management adaptability in tropical rangelands: a viability-based assessment under the non-equilibrium paradigm.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Accatino, F; Sabatier, R; De Michele, C; Ward, D; Wiegand, K; Meyer, K M

    2014-08-01

    Rangelands provide the main forage resource for livestock in many parts of the world, but maintaining long-term productivity and providing sufficient income for the rancher remains a challenge. One key issue is to maintain the rangeland in conditions where the rancher has the greatest possibility to adapt his/her management choices to a highly fluctuating and uncertain environment. In this study, we address management robustness and adaptability, which increase the resilience of a rangeland. After reviewing how the concept of resilience evolved in parallel to modelling views on rangelands, we present a dynamic model of rangelands to which we applied the mathematical framework of viability theory to quantify the management adaptability of the system in a stochastic environment. This quantification is based on an index that combines the robustness of the system to rainfall variability and the ability of the rancher to adjust his/her management through time. We evaluated the adaptability for four possible scenarios combining two rainfall regimes (high or low) with two herding strategies (grazers only or mixed herd). Results show that pure grazing is viable only for high-rainfall regimes, and that the use of mixed-feeder herds increases the adaptability of the management. The management is the most adaptive with mixed herds and in rangelands composed of an intermediate density of trees and grasses. In such situations, grass provides high quantities of biomass and woody plants ensure robustness to droughts. Beyond the implications for management, our results illustrate the relevance of viability theory for addressing the issue of robustness and adaptability in non-equilibrium environments.

  17. Application of the Rangeland Hydrology and Erosion Model to Ecological Site Descriptions and Management

    Science.gov (United States)

    The utility of Ecological Site Descriptions (ESDs) and State-and-Transition Models (STMs) concepts in guiding rangeland management hinges on their ability to accurately describe and predict community dynamics and the associated consequences. For many rangeland ecosystems, plant community dynamics ar...

  18. Problems in implementing improved range management on ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Keywords: Africa; Australia; Livestock development; Pastoral communities; Rangeland development; Rangeland systems; Sustainability; development; ecology; holism; pastoralism; range management; strategies; environment; water; health; crop production; rangelands; resource management; north africa; holistic approach ...

  19. Measuring ecological function on California's rangelands

    Science.gov (United States)

    Porzig, E.

    2016-12-01

    There is a need for a better understanding of ecosystem processes on rangelands and how management decisions influence these processes on scales that are both ecologically and socially relevant. Point Blue Conservation Science's Rangeland Monitoring Network is a coordinated effort to collect standardized data on birds, vegetation, and soils on rangelands throughout California. We work with partners, including private landowners, land trusts, state and federal agencies, and others, to measure bird and plant abundance and diversity and three soil dynamic properties (water infiltration, bulk density, and organic carbon). Here, we present data from our first two years of monitoring on over 50 ranches in 17 counties. By collecting data on the scope and scale of variation in ecological function across rangelands and the relationship with management practices, we aim to advance rangeland management, restoration, and conservation.

  20. Integrating the Indigenous Knowledge of Borana Pastoralists into Rangeland Management Strategies in Southern Ethiopia

    OpenAIRE

    World Bank

    2005-01-01

    Pastoralists' indigenous knowledge (IK) about ecology and social organization led to rangeland-management strategies appropriate to deal with the erratic rainfall in African drylands. Herd mobility was traditionally practiced as the key strategy to make use of the scattered rangeland resources on a large scale.

  1. Linking ecosystem services with state-and-transition models to evaluate rangeland management decisions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lohani, S.; Heilman, P.; deSteiguer, J. E.; Guertin, D. P.; Wissler, C.; McClaran, M. P.

    2014-12-01

    Quantifying ecosystem services is a crucial topic for land management decision making. However, market prices are usually not able to capture all the ecosystem services and disservices. Ecosystem services from rangelands, that cover 70% of the world's land area, are even less well-understood since knowledge of rangelands is limited. This study generated a management framework for rangelands that uses remote sensing to generate state and transition models (STMs) for a large area and a linear programming (LP) model that uses ecosystem services to evaluate natural and/or management induced transitions as described in the STM. The LP optimization model determines the best management plan for a plot of semi-arid land in the Empire Ranch in southeastern Arizona. The model allocated land among management activities (do nothing, grazing, fire, and brush removal) to optimize net benefits and determined the impact of monetizing environmental services and disservices on net benefits, acreage allocation and production output. The ecosystem services under study were forage production (AUM/ac/yr), sediment (lbs/ac/yr), water runoff (inches/yr), soil loss (lbs/ac/yr) and recreation (thousands of number of visitors/ac/yr). The optimization model was run for three different scenarios - private rancher, public rancher including environmental services and excluding disservices, and public rancher including both services and disservices. The net benefit was the highest for the public rancher excluding the disservices. A result from the study is a constrained optimization model that incorporates ecosystem services to analyze investments on conservation and management activities. Rangeland managers can use this model to understand and explain, not prescribe, the tradeoffs of management investments.

  2. Towards a remote sensing based indicator of rangeland ecosystem resistance and resilience

    Science.gov (United States)

    Understanding ecosystem resistance and resilience to disturbance and invasive species is critical to the sustainable management of rangeland systems. In this context, resistance refers to the inherent ability of an ecosystem to resist disturbance, while resilience refers to the capacity of an ecosys...

  3. Livestock-rangeland management practices and community perceptions towards rangeland degradation in South Omo zone of Southern Ethiopia

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Admasu, T.; Abule, E.; Tessema, Z.K.

    2010-01-01

    A survey was conducted in Hamer and Benna-Tsemay districts of the South Omo zone of Ethiopia, with the objectives of assessing the range-livestock management practices and perceptions of the different pastoral groups (Hamer, Benna, and Tsemay) towards rangeland degradation. This information is

  4. USDA internet tool to estimate runoff and soil loss on rangelands: rangelands hydrology and erosion model

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rangelands are the most dominant land cover type in the United States (770 million acres) with approximately 53% of the nation’s rangelands owned and managed by the private sector, while approximately 43% are managed by the federal government. Information on the type, extent, and spatial location of...

  5. The Role of Rural Communities in Conservation of Rangelands in Mahneshan Township

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kobra Karimi

    2016-05-01

    Full Text Available The aim of this study was to investigate the action of rangeland-depended livestock holders regarding rangeland conservation, including protection and rehabilitation activities and to analyse relevant influencing factors, using a mixed method of survey and case study. The data were collected through analysing existing documents, focus groups, semi-structured and structured interviews using questionnaires submitted to 204 rural livestock holders in the Mahneshan Township. The quantitative data were analysed using SPSS and AMOS software. According to the results farmers’ knowledge regarding the role, importance and factors affecting rangeland degradation was relatively high, however they had a low level of knowledge and action about mechanical conservation techniques. The action of livestock holders in terms of biological conservation activities and grazing management showed a positive and signifincat corrletaion with variables such as implementing of rangeland projects, their interaction with external institutions, participating in extension training courses, education level and irrigated and rainfed agricultural land size. Moreover, based on a path analysis, 37% of the variance of the farmers’ actions regarding the rangeland conservation was explained by the variables such as rangeland rehabilitation actions, farmers’ conservation knowledge, farmers’ interaction with natural resources experts, beekeeping, and participating in extension training courses. Promotional and extension activities and farmers’ interaction with experts have a positive effect in enhancing farmers’ knowledge and actions for sustainable rangeland use and conservation.

  6. Carbon fluxes on North American rangelands

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tony Svejcar; Raymond Angell; James A. Bradford; William Dugas; William Emmerich; Albert B. Frank; Tagir Gilmanov; Marshall Haferkamp; Douglas A. Johnson; Herman Mayeux; Pat Mielnick; Jack Morgan; Nicanor Z. Saliendra; Gerald E. Schuman; Phillip L. Sims; Kereith Snyder

    2008-01-01

    Rangelands account for almost half of the earth's land surface and may play an important role in the global carbon (C) cycle. We studied net ecosystem exchange (NEE) of C on eight North American rangeland sites over a 6-yr period. Management practices and disturbance regimes can influence NEE; for consistency, we compared ungrazed and undisturbed rangelands...

  7. 75 FR 8036 - Monitor-Hot Creek Rangeland Project

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-02-23

    ... DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE Forest Service Monitor-Hot Creek Rangeland Project AGENCY: Forest... Rangeland Project area. The analysis will determine if a change in management direction for livestock grazing is needed to move existing resource conditions within the Monitor-Hot Creek Rangeland Project area...

  8. Maintaining ecosystem services through continued livestock production on California rangelands

    Science.gov (United States)

    Barry, S.; Becchetti, T.

    2015-12-01

    Nearly 40% of California is rangeland comprising the largest land type in California and providing forage for livestock, primarily beef cattle. In addition to forage, rangelands provide a host of ecosystem systems services, including habitat for common and endangered species, fire fuels management, pollination services, clean water, viewsheds, and carbon sequestration. Published research has documented that most of these ecosystem services are positively impacted by managed livestock grazing and rancher stewardship. Ranchers typically do not receive any monetary reimbursement for their stewardship in providing these ecosystem services to the public. Markets have been difficult to establish with limited ability to adequately monitor and measure services provided. At the same time, rangelands have been experiencing rapid conversion to urbanization and more profitable and intensive forms of agriculture such as almond and walnut orchards. To prevent further conversion of rangelands and the loss of the services they provide, there needs to be a mechanism to identify and compensate landowners for the value of all products and services being received from rangelands. This paper considers two methods (opportunity cost and avoided cost) to determine the value of Payment for Ecosystem Services (PES) for rangelands. PES can raise the value of rangelands, making them more competitive financially. Real estate values and University of California Cooperative Extension Cost Studies, were used to demonstrate the difference in value (lost opportunity cost) between the primary products of rangelands (livestock production) and the products of the converted rangelands (almond and walnut orchards). Avoided costs for vegetation management and habitat creation and maintenance were used to establish the value of managed grazing. If conversion is to be slowed or stopped and managed grazing promoted to protect the ecosystem services rangelands provide, this value could be compensated through

  9. Adaptive management for complex communal rangelands in South ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Many of the intransigent problems facing the world arise in complex systems. In this paper, I propose that communal rangelands in South Africa be recognised as complex social–ecological systems and that one of the reasons that development initiatives have had little impact on improving livelihoods and rangeland ...

  10. State and transition models: Theory, applications, and challenges. In: Briske, D.D. Rangeland Systems: Processes, Management and Challenges

    Science.gov (United States)

    State and transition models (STMs) are used for communicating about ecosystem change in rangelands and other ecosystems, especially the implications for management. The fundamental premise that rangelands can exhibit multiple states is now widely accepted. The current application of STMs for managem...

  11. Water conservation for semi-arid rangelands

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Willis, W.O.

    1983-01-01

    Water deficiency is most often the cause for low forage production on rangelands in semi-arid and arid regions. Water conservation methods have been developed but additional research is needed to develop the best management practices for various climatic regions. Poor management is another major cause of low rangeland production. Better management, including the application of research findings, depends on attitudes, policies, adaptability of findings, resources for implementation and a good understanding of the governing biotic and abiotic factors. (author)

  12. Weather-centric rangeland revegetation planning

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hardegree, Stuart P.; Abatzoglou, John T.; Brunson, Mark W.; Germino, Matthew; Hegewisch, Katherine C.; Moffet, Corey A.; Pilliod, David S.; Roundy, Bruce A.; Boehm, Alex R.; Meredith, Gwendwr R.

    2018-01-01

    Invasive annual weeds negatively impact ecosystem services and pose a major conservation threat on semiarid rangelands throughout the western United States. Rehabilitation of these rangelands is challenging due to interannual climate and subseasonal weather variability that impacts seed germination, seedling survival and establishment, annual weed dynamics, wildfire frequency, and soil stability. Rehabilitation and restoration outcomes could be improved by adopting a weather-centric approach that uses the full spectrum of available site-specific weather information from historical observations, seasonal climate forecasts, and climate-change projections. Climate data can be used retrospectively to interpret success or failure of past seedings by describing seasonal and longer-term patterns of environmental variability subsequent to planting. A more detailed evaluation of weather impacts on site conditions may yield more flexible adaptive-management strategies for rangeland restoration and rehabilitation, as well as provide estimates of transition probabilities between desirable and undesirable vegetation states. Skillful seasonal climate forecasts could greatly improve the cost efficiency of management treatments by limiting revegetation activities to time periods where forecasts suggest higher probabilities of successful seedling establishment. Climate-change projections are key to the application of current environmental models for development of mitigation and adaptation strategies and for management practices that require a multidecadal planning horizon. Adoption of new weather technology will require collaboration between land managers and revegetation specialists and modifications to the way we currently plan and conduct rangeland rehabilitation and restoration in the Intermountain West.

  13. Multifaceted Impacts of Sustainable Land Management in Drylands: A Review

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Maria Jose Marques

    2016-02-01

    Full Text Available Biophysical restoration or rehabilitation measures of land have demonstrated to be effective in many scientific projects and small-scale environmental experiments. However circumstances such as poverty, weak policies, or inefficient scientific knowledge transmission can hinder the effective upscaling of land restoration and the long term maintenance of proven sustainable use of soil and water. This may be especially worrisome in lands with harsh environmental conditions. This review covers recent efforts in landscape restoration and rehabilitation with a functional perspective aiming to simultaneously achieve ecosystem sustainability, economic efficiency, and social wellbeing. Water management and rehabilitation of ecosystem services in croplands, rangelands, forests, and coastlands are reviewed. The joint analysis of such diverse ecosystems provides a wide perspective to determine: (i multifaceted impacts on biophysical and socio-economic factors; and (ii elements influencing effective upscaling of sustainable land management practices. One conclusion can be highlighted: voluntary adoption is based on different pillars, i.e. external material and economic support, and spread of success information at the local scale to demonstrate the multidimensional benefits of sustainable land management. For the successful upscaling of land management, more attention must be paid to the social system from the first involvement stage, up to the long term maintenance.

  14. Grazing management, resilience and the dynamics of a fire driven rangeland system

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Anderies, J.M.; Janssen, M.A.; Walker, B.H.

    2002-01-01

    We developed a stylized mathematical model to explore the effects of physical, ecological, and economic factors on the resilience of a managed fire-driven rangeland system. Depending on grazing pressure, the model exhibits one of three distinct configurations: a fire-dominated, grazing-dominated, or

  15. Stakeholder Theory and Rangeland Management: The Importance of Ranch Income Dependence

    Science.gov (United States)

    Elias, S.; Roche, L. M.; Elias, E.

    2016-12-01

    The California drought beginning in 2012 has been driven by reduced precipitation and record high temperatures. Hydrologic drought in the Southwest United States is projected to become the new climatology of the region. While ranchers are considered naturally adaptive, often adeptly altering management based upon conditions, the projected increased aridity may challenge rangeland management. Certain rancher characteristics are likely to impact how well ranchers adapt. Based on Stakeholder Theory (ST), we hypothesize that the extent to which ranchers are dependent on their ranches as a source of income would serve as a predictor of several key variables related to ranching adaptation and success. Data were obtained from 507 ranchers throughout the State of California via the Rangeland Decision-Making Survey implemented by University of California, Davis in 2010, just prior to the unprecedented California drought. Consistent with the ST urgency facet, results of linear regression analyses indicate the more dependent ranchers are on their ranches for their income, the more aware they are of USDA ranching initiatives (β = 0.19, p < .001) and state ranching initiatives (β = 0.10, p < .05). In addition, more dependent ranchers are more likely to use multiple and diverse sources of information about ranching (β = 0.18, p < .001), are more likely to realize the severity and extent of the most recent drought's impacts (β = 0.18, p < .001), and were more likely to have a drought management plan in place during the most recent drought (β = 0.18, p < .001). These findings are important in relation to both outreach/extension efforts and rangeland research. Outreach/extension efforts should take into account that people less dependent on their ranches are less aware of resources, as well as, less prepared to adapt to drought. Researchers should control for the extent to which ranchers are dependent on their ranches for income in order to ensure more accurate findings.

  16. Using remotely sensed imagery to monitor savanna rangeland deterioration through woody plant proliferation: a case study from communal and biodiversity conservation rangeland sites in Mokopane, South Africa

    CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

    Munyati, C

    2011-05-01

    Full Text Available rangeland, whereas the communal rangelands were getting more opened up by livestock trampling. Rangeland management practices of fire utilisation, stocking levels and stock concentration account for the differing trends. Lightly grazed and heavily grazed...

  17. The Role of Rangelands in Diversified Farming Systems: Innovations, Obstacles, and Opportunities in the USA

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nathan F. Sayre

    2012-12-01

    Full Text Available Discussions of diversified farming systems (DFS rarely mention rangelands: the grasslands, shrublands, and savannas that make up roughly one-third of Earth's ice-free terrestrial area, including some 312 million ha of the United States. Although ranching has been criticized by environmentalists for decades, it is probably the most ecologically sustainable segment of the U.S. meat industry, and it exemplifies many of the defining characteristics of DFS: it relies on the functional diversity of natural ecological processes of plant and animal (reproduction at multiple scales, based on ecosystem services generated and regenerated on site rather than imported, often nonrenewable, inputs. Rangelands also provide other ecosystem services, including watershed, wildlife habitat, recreation, and tourism. Even where non-native or invasive plants have encroached on or replaced native species, rangelands retain unusually high levels of plant diversity compared with croplands or plantation forests. Innovations in management, marketing, incentives, and easement programs that augment ranch income, creative land tenure arrangements, and collaborations among ranchers all support diversification. Some obstacles include rapid landownership turnover, lack of accessible U.S. Department of Agriculture certified processing facilities, tenure uncertainty, fragmentation of rangelands, and low and variable income, especially relative to land costs. Taking advantage of rancher knowledge and stewardship, and aligning incentives with production of diverse goods and services, will support the sustainability of ranching and its associated public benefits. The creation of positive feedbacks between economic and ecological diversity should be the ultimate goal.

  18. State-and-transition model archetypes: a global taxonomy of rangeland change

    Science.gov (United States)

    State and transition models (STMs) synthesize science-based and local knowledge to formally represent the dynamics of rangeland and other ecosystems. Mental models or concepts of ecosystem dynamics implicitly underlie all management decisions in rangelands and thus how people influence rangeland sus...

  19. Future scenarios of impacts to ecosystem services on California rangelands

    Science.gov (United States)

    Byrd, Kristin; Alvarez, Pelayo; Flint, Lorraine; Flint, Alan

    2014-01-01

    The 18 million acres of rangelands in the Central Valley of California provide multiple benefits or “ecosystem services” to people—including wildlife habitat, water supply, open space, recreation, and cultural resources. Most of this land is privately owned and managed for livestock production. These rangelands are vulnerable to land-use conversion and climate change. To help resource managers assess the impacts of land-use change and climate change, U.S. Geological Survey scientists and their cooperators developed scenarios to quantify and map changes to three main rangeland ecosystem services—wildlife habitat, water supply, and carbon sequestration. Project results will help prioritize strategies to conserve these rangelands and the ecosystem services that they provide.

  20. Keep Talking & Monitoring: the importance of longitudinal research & community-based monitoring to support sustainable land management in southern Africa

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dougill, Andrew; Stringer, Lindsay

    2015-04-01

    Projects come and go with researchers, development practioners and government staff initiating new forms of community engagement in environmental monitoring and land management practices. We analyse interventions from Botswana and Swaziland and highlight that for benefits to be long-lived and lead to sustainable land management, requires community engagement in project design, implementation and for project outputs to be used in developing community-led environmental monitoring tools that can then help to guide local decision-making systems. We stress the vital importance of continued participatory engagement of researchers with community leaders and key government staff beyond the timeframe of their initial research such that longitudinal research approaches can realise significant benefits to all concerned. In dynamic (non-equilibrium) dryland environments, it is vitally important that research approaches address temporal and spatial variability by mapping patterns of change, using a range of participatory tools to enhance understandings of the causes of land degradation and the opportunities for shifts towards more sustainable land management. Decision-support tools, such as rangeland assessment guides produced for various Kalahari rangeland settings in Botswana (via a UNEP project and affiliated research), provide opportunities to support more sustainable land management. However, at present benefits are not being fully realised as project and research staff move on after projects end. Similarly, findings from mixed farming systems in Swaziland (assessing a JICA-funded project) show problems in maintaining new institutional structures to manage rangeland degradation, whilst issues on arable areas associated with parasitic weeds (Striga asiatica) remain problematic. Findings from longitudinal research in Swaziland also show that community understandings of environmental problems have evolved over 10 years and identify new problems associated with intensified

  1. Emerging issues and challenges in conservation of biodiversity in the rangelands of Tanzania

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jafari Kideghesho

    2013-11-01

    Full Text Available Tanzania rangelands are a stronghold for biodiversity harbouring a variety of animal and plant species of economic, ecological and socio-cultural importance. Efforts to protect these resources against destruction and loss have involved, among other things, setting aside some tracks of land as protected areas in the form of national parks, nature reserves, game reserves, game controlled and wildlife management areas. However, these areas and adjacent lands have long been subjected to a number of emerging issues and challenges, which complicate their management, thus putting the resources at risk of over exploitation and extinction. These issues and challenges include, among other things, government policies, failure of conservation (as a form of land use to compete effectively with alternative land uses, habitat degradation and blockage of wildlife corridors, overexploitation and illegal resource extraction, wildfires, human population growth, poverty, HIV/AIDS pandemic and human-wildlife conflicts. In this paper, we review the emerging issues and challenges in biodiversity conservation by drawing experience from different parts of Tanzania. The paper is based on the premise that, understanding of the issues and challenges underpinning the rangelands is a crucial step towards setting up of plausible objectives, strategies and plans that will improve and lead to effective management of these areas. We conclude by recommending some proactive measures that may enhance the sustainability of the rangeland resources for the benefit of the current and future generations.

  2. Rangeland Brush Estimation Toolbox (RaBET): An Approach for Evaluating Brush Management Conservation Efforts in Western Grazing Lands

    Science.gov (United States)

    Holifield Collins, C.; Kautz, M. A.; Skirvin, S. M.; Metz, L. J.

    2016-12-01

    There are over 180 million hectares of rangelands and grazed forests in the central and western United States. Due to the loss of perennial grasses and subsequent increased runoff and erosion that can degrade the system, woody cover species cannot be allowed to proliferate unchecked. The USDA-Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) has allocated extensive resources to employ brush management (removal) as a conservation practice to control woody species encroachment. The Rangeland-Conservation Effects Assessment Project (CEAP) has been tasked with determining how effective the practice has been, however their land managers lack a cost-effective means to conduct these assessments at the necessary scale. An ArcGIS toolbox for generating large-scale, Landsat-based, spatial maps of woody cover on grazing lands in the western United States was developed through a collaboration with NRCS Rangeland-CEAP. The toolbox contains two main components of operation, image generation and temporal analysis, and utilizes simple interfaces requiring minimum user inputs. The image generation tool utilizes geographically specific algorithms developed from combining moderate-resolution (30-m) Landsat imagery and high-resolution (1-m) National Agricultural Imagery Program (NAIP) aerial photography to produce the woody cover scenes at the Major Land Resource (MLRA) scale. The temporal analysis tool can be used on these scenes to assess treatment effectiveness and monitor woody cover reemergence. RaBET provides rangeland managers an operational, inexpensive decision support tool to aid in the application of brush removal treatments and assessing their effectiveness.

  3. Agricultural, Runoff, Erosion and Salinity (ARES) Database to Better Evaluate Rangeland State and Sustainability

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rangelands comprise approximately 40% of the earth’s surface and are the largest land cover type in the world. Degradation from mismanagement, desertification, and drought impact more than 50% of rangelands across the globe. The USDA Agricultural Research Service (ARS) has been evaluating means of r...

  4. Rangelands: Where Anthromes Meet Their Limits

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nathan F. Sayre

    2017-05-01

    Full Text Available Defining rangelands as anthromes enabled Ellis and Ramankutty (2008 to conclude that more than three-quarters of Earth’s land is anthropogenic; without rangelands, this figure would have been less than half. They classified all lands grazed by domestic livestock as rangelands, provided that human population densities were low; similar areas without livestock were excluded and classified instead as ‘wildlands’. This paper examines the empirical basis and conceptual assumptions of defining and categorizing rangelands in this fashion. Empirically, we conclude that a large proportion of rangelands, although used to varying degrees by domesticated livestock, are not altered significantly by this use, especially in arid, highly variable environments and in settings with long evolutionary histories of herbivory by wild animals. Even where changes have occurred, the dynamics and components of many rangelands remain structurally and functionally equivalent to those that preceded domestic livestock grazing or would be found in its absence. In much of Africa and Asia, grazing is so longstanding as to be inextricable from ‘natural’ or reference conditions for those sites. Thus, the extent of anthropogenic biomes is significantly overstated. Conceptually, rangelands reveal the dependence of the anthromes thesis on outdated assumptions of ecological climax and equilibrium. Coming to terms with rangelands—how they can be classified, understood, and managed sustainably—thus offers important lessons for understanding anthromes and the Anthropocene as a whole. At the root of these lessons, we argue, is not the question of human impacts on ecosystems but property relations among humans.

  5. Introduced and invasive species in novel rangeland ecosystems: friends or foes?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Belnap, Jayne; Ludwig, John A.; Wilcox, Bradford P.; Betancourt, Julio L.; Dean, W. Richard J.; Hoffmann, Benjamin D.; Milton, Sue J.

    2012-01-01

    Globally, new combinations of introduced and native plant and animal species have changed rangelands into novel ecosystems. Whereas many rangeland stakeholders (people who use or have an interest in rangelands) view intentional species introductions to improve forage and control erosion as beneficial, others focus on unintended costs, such as increased fire risk, loss of rangeland biodiversity, and threats to conservation efforts, specifically in nature reserves and parks. These conflicting views challenge all rangeland stakeholders, especially those making decisions on how best to manage novel ecosystems. To formulate a conceptual framework for decision making, we examined a wide range of novel ecosystems, created by intentional and unintentional introductions of nonnative species and land-use–facilitated spread of native ones. This framework simply divides decision making into two types: 1) straightforward–certain, and 2) complex–uncertain. We argue that management decisions to retain novel ecosystems are certain when goods and services provided by the system far outweigh the costs of restoration, for example in the case of intensively managed Cenchrus pastures. Decisions to return novel ecosystems to natural systems are also certain when the value of the system is low and restoration is easy and inexpensive as in the case of biocontrol of Opuntia infestations. In contrast, decisions whether to retain or restore novel ecosystems become complex and uncertain in cases where benefits are low and costs of control are high as, for example, in the case of stopping the expansion of Prosopis and Juniperus into semiarid rangelands. Decisions to retain or restore novel ecosystems are also complex and uncertain when, for example, nonnative Eucalyptus trees expand along natural streams, negatively affecting biodiversity, but also providing timber and honey. When decision making is complex and uncertain, we suggest that rangeland managers utilize cost–benefit analyses

  6. Threats to Mediterranean rangelands: a case study based on the views of citizens in the Viotia prefecture, Greece.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kyriazopoulos, Apostolos P; Arabatzis, Garyfallos; Abraham, Eleni M; Parissi, Zoi M

    2013-11-15

    Rangelands in Greece constitute a very important natural resource as they occupy 40% of the total surface. Not only is their forage production essential for the development of extensive livestock farming, but also they play a key role in outdoor recreational activities, protection from erosion, provision of water supplies and biodiversity conservation. However, land use changes, inappropriate management and wildfires threaten their existence. The research was conducted among the citizens of Viotia prefecture, an area close to Athens, Greece, using personal interviews with a structured questionnaire in 2008. The aim was to record citizens' opinions regarding the threats to rangelands. The results suggest that the main threats as perceived by the respondents, are land use changes especially for urban development, and wildfires. The application of cluster analysis highlighted the differentiation among the respondents in ranking these threats. The more ecologically aware citizens recognised that mismanagement, abandonment and agriculture also threaten rangelands. These threats can have a considerable impact on the lives of the local people. Policy makers and managers should take the opinions of local citizens into consideration, and engage them in decision making so that sustainable management policies could be applied. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  7. Rangelands Vegetation under Different Management Systems and Growth Stages in North Darfur State, Sudan (Range Attributes

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mohamed AAMA Mohamed

    2014-09-01

    Full Text Available This study was conducted at Um Kaddada, North Darfur State, Sudan, at two sites (closed and open for two consecutive seasons 2008 and 2009 during flowering and seed setting stages to evaluate range attributes at the locality. A split plot design was used to study vegetation attributes. Factors studied were management systems (closed and open and growth stages (flowering and seed setting. Vegetation cover, plant density, carrying capacity, and biomass production were assessed. Chemical analyses were done for selected plants to determine their nutritive values. The results showed high significant differences in vegetation attributes (density, cover and biomass production between closed and open areas. Closed areas had higher carrying capacity compared to open rangelands. Crude protein (CP and ash contents of range vegetation were found to decrease while Crude fiber (CF and Dry matter yield (DM had increased with growth. The study concluded that closed rangelands are better than open rangelands because it fenced and protected. Erosion index and vegetation degradation rate were very high. Future research work is needed to assess rangelands characteristics and habitat condition across different ecological zones in North Darfur State, Sudan.DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3126/ije.v3i3.11093 International Journal of Environment Vol.3(3 2014: 332-343

  8. Impact of Rangeland Degradation on Soil Physical, Chemical

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    major threats to enhance a sustainable pastoral-livestock production in Ethiopia. ... overall negative impact on the soil physical and chemical characteristics, demanding ... chemical properties (Gemedo et al., 2006) as well as the rangeland .... parameters such as life forms (annuals and perennials), plant forms (woody plant,.

  9. The Integrated Rangeland Fire Management Strategy Actionable Science Plan: U.S. Department of the Interior, Washington D.C.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Integrated Rangeland Fire Management Strategy Actionable Science Plan Team

    2016-01-01

    The Integrated Rangeland Fire Management Strategy (hereafter Strategy, DOI 2015) outlined the need for coordinated, science-based adaptive management to achieve long-term protection, conservation, and restoration of the sagebrush (Artemisia spp.) ecosystem. A key component of this management approach is the identification of knowledge gaps that limit...

  10. Effects of different management regimes on soil erosion and surface runoff in semi-arid to sub-humid rangelands

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Oudenhoven, van A.P.E.; Veerkamp, C.J.; Alkemade, Rob; Leemans, Rik

    2015-01-01

    Over one billion people's livelihoods depend on dry rangelands through livestock grazing and agriculture. Livestock grazing and other management activities can cause soil erosion, increase surface runoff and reduce water availability. We studied the effects of different management regimes on soil

  11. Influence of forest and rangeland management on anadromous fish habitat in Western North America: economic considerations.

    Science.gov (United States)

    William R. tech. ed. Meehan

    1985-01-01

    Although many effects of forest and rangeland management on anadromous fisheries are difficult to measure, economic methods for the evaluation of costs and benefits can be helpful. Such methods can be used to address questions of equity as well as efficiency. Evaluations of equity can show who bears the costs and who captures the benefits of management actions, but...

  12. A fuzzy multi-objective linear programming approach for integrated sheep farming and wildlife in land management decisions: a case study in the Patagonian rangelands

    Science.gov (United States)

    Metternicht, Graciela; Blanco, Paula; del Valle, Hector; Laterra, Pedro; Hardtke, Leonardo; Bouza, Pablo

    2015-04-01

    Wildlife is part of the Patagonian rangelands sheep farming environment, with the potential of providing extra revenue to livestock owners. As sheep farming became less profitable, farmers and ranchers could focus on sustainable wildlife harvesting. It has been argued that sustainable wildlife harvesting is ecologically one of the most rational forms of land use because of its potential to provide multiple products of high value, while reducing pressure on ecosystems. The guanaco (Lama guanicoe) is the most conspicuous wild ungulate of Patagonia. Guanaco ?bre, meat, pelts and hides are economically valuable and have the potential to be used within the present Patagonian context of production systems. Guanaco populations in South America, including Patagonia, have experienced a sustained decline. Causes for this decline are related to habitat alteration, competition for forage with sheep, and lack of reasonable management plans to develop livelihoods for ranchers. In this study we propose an approach to explicitly determinate optimal stocking rates based on trade-offs between guanaco density and livestock grazing intensity on rangelands. The focus of our research is on finding optimal sheep stocking rates at paddock level, to ensure the highest production outputs while: a) meeting requirements of sustainable conservation of guanacos over their minimum viable population; b) maximizing soil carbon sequestration, and c) minimizing soil erosion. In this way, determination of optimal stocking rate in rangelands becomes a multi-objective optimization problem that can be addressed using a Fuzzy Multi-Objective Linear Programming (MOLP) approach. Basically, this approach converts multi-objective problems into single-objective optimizations, by introducing a set of objective weights. Objectives are represented using fuzzy set theory and fuzzy memberships, enabling each objective function to adopt a value between 0 and 1. Each objective function indicates the satisfaction of

  13. Revolutionary land use change in the 21st century: Is (rangeland) science relevant?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Herrick, J.E.; Brown, J.R.; Bestelmeyer, B.T.; Andrews, S.S.; Baldi, G.; Davies, J.; Duniway, M.; Havstad, K.M.; Karl, J.W.; Karlen, D.L.; Peters, Debra P.C.; Quinton, J.N.; Riginos, C.; Shaver, P.L.; Steinaker, D.; Twomlow, S.

    2012-01-01

    Rapidly increasing demand for food, fiber, and fuel together with new technologies and the mobility of global capital are driving revolutionary changes in land use throughout the world. Efforts to increase land productivity include conversion of millions of hectares of rangelands to crop production, including many marginal lands with low resistance and resilience to degradation. Sustaining the productivity of these lands requires careful land use planning and innovative management systems. Historically, this responsibility has been left to agronomists and others with expertise in crop production. In this article, we argue that the revolutionary land use changes necessary to support national and global food security potentially make rangeland science more relevant now than ever. Maintaining and increasing relevance will require a revolutionary change in range science from a discipline that focuses on a particular land use or land cover to one that addresses the challenge of managing all lands that, at one time, were considered to be marginal for crop production. We propose four strategies to increase the relevance of rangeland science to global land management: 1) expand our awareness and understanding of local to global economic, social, and technological trends in order to anticipate and identify drivers and patterns of conversion; 2) emphasize empirical studies and modeling that anticipate the biophysical (ecosystem services) and societal consequences of large-scale changes in land cover and use; 3) significantly increase communication and collaboration with the disciplines and sectors of society currently responsible for managing the new land uses; and 4) develop and adopt a dynamic and flexible resilience-based land classification system and data-supported conceptual models (e.g., state-and-transition models) that represent all lands, regardless of use and the consequences of land conversion to various uses instead of changes in state or condition that are

  14. Three-dimensional framework of vigor, organization, and resilience (VOR) for assessing rangeland health: a case study from the alpine meadow of the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau, China.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Yuan-yuan; Dong, Shi-kui; Wen, Lu; Wang, Xue-xia; Wu, Yu

    2013-12-01

    Rangeland health assessments play an important role in providing qualitative and quantitative data about ecosystem attributes and rangeland management. The objective of this study is to test the feasible of a modified model and visualize the health in a three-dimensional model. A modified Costanza model was employed, and eight indicators, including the biomass, biodiversity, and carrying capacity [associated with the vigor, organization, and resilience (VOR)] were applied. An entropy method was also developed to calculate the weight of each indicator, and a three-dimensional framework was applied to visualize the indicators and health index. The conceptual model was demonstrated using data from a case study on the alpine rangeland of the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau, one of the globally important grassland biomes being severely degraded by natural and human factors. The health indices of four grassland plots at different levels of degradation were calculated using a modified approach to measuring their VOR. The results indicated that the least disturbed plot was relatively healthy compared to the other plots. In addition, the health indices presented in the three-dimensional VOR framework decreased in a consistent manner across the four plots along the disturbance gradients. Such rangeland health assessments should be integrated with management efforts to insure their long-term sustainable use.

  15. The GEOGLAM Rangelands and Pasture Productivity Activity: Recent Progress and Future Directions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Guerschman, J. P.; Held, A. A.; Donohue, R. J.; Renzullo, L. J.; Sims, N.; Kerblat, F.; Grundy, M.

    2015-12-01

    Rangelands and pastures cover about a third of the world's land area and support livestock production which represents ~40% of global agricultural gross domestic product. The global consumption of animal protein shows a clear increasing trend, driven by both total population and per capita income increases, putting a growing pressure on the sustainability of grazing lands worldwide. Despite their relevance, rangelands have received less attention than croplands regarding global monitoring of the resource productivity and condition. The Rangelands and Pasture Productivity (RaPP) activity is a component within the Global Agricultural Monitoring initiative established under the Group on Earth Observations (GEOGLAM) in 2013. GEOGLAM RaPP is aimed at providing the global community with the means to monitor the world's rangelands and pastures on a routine basis, and the capacity to produce animal protein in real-time, at global, regional and national levels. Since its launch two years ago GEOGLAM RAPP has made progress in the four implementation elements. These include: 1- the establishment of community of practice; 2- the development of a global monitoring system for rangeland condition; 3- the establishment of pilot sites in main rangeland systems for satellite data products validation and model testing; and 4- integration with livestock production models. Three international workshops have been held building the community of practice. A prototype monitoring system that provides global visualisations and querying capability of vegetation cover data and anomalies has been established. Pilot sites, mostly in areas with long records of field measurements of rangeland condition and productivity have been proposed for nine countries. The link to global livestock models, including physical and economic components, have been established. Future challenges for GEOGLAM RaPP have also been identified and include: better representation of the areas occupied by rangelands

  16. Vegetation - Herbivory Dynamics in Rangeland Ecosystems: Geospatial Modeling for Savanna and Wildlife Conservation in California and Namibia

    OpenAIRE

    Tsalyuk, Miriam

    2014-01-01

    Rangelands cover about half of Earth's land surface, encompass considerable biodiversity, and provide pivotal ecosystem services. However, rangelands across the globe face degradation due to changes in climate, land use, and management. Moreover, since herbivory is fundamental to rangeland ecosystem dynamics, shifts in the distribution of herbivores lead to overgrazing and desertification. To better understand, predict, and prevent changes on rangelands it is important to monitor these landsc...

  17. Global view of remote sensing of rangelands: Evolution, applications, future pathways [Chapter 10

    Science.gov (United States)

    Matt Reeves; Robert A. Washington-Allen; Jay Angerer; E. Raymond Hunt; Ranjani Wasantha Kulawardhana; Lalit Kumar; Tatiana Loboda; Thomas Loveland; Graciela Metternicht; R. Douglas. Ramsey

    2015-01-01

    The term "rangeland" is rather nebulous, and there is no single definition of rangeland that is universally accepted by land managers, scientists, or international bodies (Lund, 2007; Reeves and Mitchell, 2011). Dozens and possibly hundreds (Lund, 2007) of definitions and ideologies exist because various stakeholders often have unique objectives...

  18. Heat dosage and oviposition depth influence egg mortality of two common rangeland grasshopper species

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rangeland fire is a common naturally occurring event and management tool, with the amount and structure of biomass controlling transfer of heat belowground. Temperatures grasshopper eggs are exposed to during rangeland fires are mediated by species specific oviposition traits. This experiment examin...

  19. The role of fire in managing for biological diversity on native rangelands of the Northern Great Plains

    Science.gov (United States)

    Carolyn Hull Sieg

    1997-01-01

    A strategy for using fire to manage for biological diversity on native rangelands in the Northern Great Plains incorporates an understanding of its past frequency, timing and intensity. Historically, lightning and humans were the major fire setters, and the role of fire varied both in space and time. A burning regime that includes fires at various intervals, seasons...

  20. Land degradation causes and sustainable land management practices in southern Jordan

    Science.gov (United States)

    Khresat, Saeb

    2014-05-01

    , farm owners, and farm workers - to support the inclusion of sustainable land management while sustaining ecosystem services and livelihoods. Also, we demonstrated and focused on practical understanding of how to identify and address land degradation and on using sustainable land use practices - including soil and water conservation measures, conservation agriculture, and rangeland management- through combination of expert and participatory research and participatory planning.

  1. Interpreting and Correcting Cross-scale Mismatches in Resilience Analysis: a Procedure and Examples from Australia's Rangelands

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    John A. Ludwig

    2005-12-01

    Full Text Available Many rangelands around the globe are degraded because of mismatches between the goals and actions of managers operating at different spatial scales. In this paper, we focus on identifying, interpreting, and correcting cross-scale mismatches in rangeland management by building on an existing four-step resilience analysis procedure. Resilience analysis is an evaluation of the capacity of a system to persist in the face of disturbances. We provide three examples of cross-scale resilience analysis using a rangeland system located in northern Australia. The system was summarized in a diagram showing key interactions between three attributes (water quality, regional biodiversity, and beef quality, which can be used to indicate the degree of resilience of the system, and other components that affect these attributes at different scales. The strengths of cross-scale interactions were rated as strong or weak, and the likely causes of mismatches in strength were interpreted. Possible actions to correct cross-scale mismatches were suggested and evaluated. We found this four-step, cross-scale resilience analysis procedure very helpful because it reduced a complex problem down to manageable parts without losing sight of the larger-scale whole. To build rangeland resilience, many such cross-scale mismatches in management will need to be corrected, especially as the global use of rangelands increases over the coming decades.

  2. Climate impacts on agriculture: Implications for forage and rangeland production

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Izaurralde, Roberto C.; Thomson, Allison M.; Morgan, Jack; Fay, Philip; Polley, Wayne; Hatfield, Jerry L.

    2011-04-19

    Projections of temperature and precipitation patterns across the United States during the next 50 years anticipate a 1.5 to 2°C warming and a slight increase in precipitation as a result of global climate change. There have been relatively few studies of climate change impacts on pasture and rangeland (grazingland) species compared to those on crop species, despite the economic and ecological importance of the former. Here we review the literature on pastureland and rangeland species to rising CO2 and climate change (temperature, and precipitation) and discuss plant and management factors likely to influence pastureland and rangeland responses to change (e.g., community composition, plant competition, perennial growth habit, seasonal productivity, and management methods). Overall, the response of pasture species to increased [CO2] is consistent with the general response of C3 and C4 type vegetation, although significant exceptions exist. Both pastureland and rangeland species should exhibit an acceleration of metabolism and development due to earlier onset of spring green-up and longer growing seasons. However, in the studies reviewed here, C3 pasture species increased their photosynthetic rates by up to 40% while C4 species exhibited no increase in photosynthesis. In general, it is expected that increases in [CO2] and precipitation would enhance rangeland net primary production (NPP) while increased air temperatures would either increase or decrease NPP. Much of this uncertainty in response is due to uncertain future projections of precipitation, both globally and regionally. For example, if annual precipitation changes little or declines, rangeland plant response to warming temperatures and rising [CO2] may be neutral or may decline due to increased water stress. This review reveals the need for comprehensive studies of climate change impacts on the pasture ecosystem including grazing regimes, mutualistic relationships (e.g., plant roots-nematodes; N

  3. EVALUATION AND MAPPING OF RANGELANDS DEGRADATION USING REMOTELY SENSED DATA

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Majid Ajorlo

    2005-05-01

    Full Text Available The empirical and scientifically documents prove that misuse of natural resource causes degradation in it. So natural resources conservation is important in approaching sustainable development aims. In current study, Landsat Thematic Mapper images and grazing gradient method have been used to map the extent and degree of rangeland degradation. In during ground-based data measuring, factors such as vegetation cover, litter, plant diversity, bare soil, and stone & gravels were estimated as biophysical indicators of degradation. The next stage, after geometric correction and doing some necessary pre-processing practices on the study area’s images; the best and suitable vegetation index has been selected to map rangeland degradation among the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI, Soil Adjusted Vegetation Index (SAVI, and Perpendicular Vegetation Index (PVI. Then using suitable vegetation index and distance parameter was produced the rangelands degradation map. The results of ground-based data analysis reveal that there is a significant relation between increasing distance from critical points and plant diversity and also percentage of litter. Also there is significant relation between vegetation cover percent and distance from village, i.e. the vegetation cover percent increases by increasing distance from villages, while it wasn’t the same around the stock watering points. The result of analysis about bare soil and distance from critical point was the same to vegetation cover changes manner. Also there wasn’t significant relation between stones & gravels index and distance from critical points. The results of image processing show that, NDVI appears to be sensitive to vegetation changes along the grazing gradient and it can be suitable vegetation index to map rangeland degradation. The degradation map shows that there is high degradation around the critical points. These areas need urgent attention for soil conservation. Generally, it

  4. Earth observation for rangeland monitoring

    CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

    Ramoelo, Abel

    2012-10-01

    Full Text Available .kashan.co.za] INTRODUCTION Grass nitrogen (N), as an indicator of rangeland quality, plays a crucial role in understanding the distribution, densities and feeding patterns of both wild herbivores and livestock. Zebras and livestock in the grazing and agricultural lands... ? How can grass nitrogen be mapped for assessing and monitoring of rangeland quality at wider or regional scales? ? Conventional point-based techniques for assessing rangeland quality proved to be expensive, laborious and time consuming...

  5. The challenge of integrated rangeland monitoring: synthesis address

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    The utility of monitoring and its guiding principles will only work effectively where good environmental governance is practiced by users and producers affecting rangeland ecosystems. Keywords: adaptive management, complex, environmental governance, human impacts, multi-scale, socio-ecological. African Journal of ...

  6. Land use and soil organic matter in South Africa 1: A review on spatial variability and the influence of rangeland stock production

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Pearson N.S. Mnkeni

    2011-05-01

    Full Text Available Degradation of soil as a consequence of land use poses a threat to sustainable agriculture in South Africa, resulting in the need for a soil protection strategy and policy. Development of such a strategy and policy require cognisance of the extent and impact of soil degradation processes. One of the identified processes is the decline of soil organic matter, which also plays a central role in soil health or quality. The spatial variability of organic matter and the impact of grazing and burning under rangeland stock production are addressed in this first part of the review. Data from uncoordinated studies showed that South African soils have low organic matter levels. About 58% of soils contain less than 0.5% organic carbon and only 4% contain more than 2% organic carbon. Furthermore, there are large differences in organic matter content within and between soil forms, depending on climatic conditions, vegetative cover, topographical position and soil texture. A countrywide baseline study to quantify organic matter contents within and between soil forms is suggested for future reference. Degradation of rangeland because of overgrazing has resulted in significant losses of soil organic matter, mainly as a result of lower biomass production. The use of fire in rangeland management decreases soil organic matter because litter is destroyed by burning. Maintaining or increasing organic matter levels in degraded rangeland soils by preventing overgrazing and restricting burning could contribute to the restoration of degraded rangelands. This restoration is of the utmost importance because stock farming uses the majority of land in South Africa.

  7. Multi-scale wind erosion monitoring and assessment for US rangelands

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wind erosion is a major resource concern for rangeland managers. Although wind erosion is a naturally occurring process in many drylands, land use activities, and land management in particular, can accelerate wind-driven soil loss – impacting ecosystem dynamics and agricultural production, air quali...

  8. Forage seeding in rangelands increases production and prevents weed invasion

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Josh Davy

    2017-07-01

    Full Text Available Increasing forage productivity in the Sierra foothill rangelands would help sustain the livestock industry as land availability shrinks and lease rates rise, but hardly any studies have been done on forage selections. From 2009 to 2014, in one of the first long-term and replicated studies of seeding Northern California's Mediterranean annual rangeland, we compared the cover of 22 diverse forages to determine their establishment and survivability over time. Among the annual herbs, forage brassica (Brassica napus L. and chicory (Cichorium intybus L. proved viable options. Among the annual grasses, soft brome (Bromus hordeaceus and annual ryegrass (Lolium multiflorum performed well. However, these species will likely require frequent reseeding to maintain dominance. Long-term goals of sustained dominant cover (> 3 years are best achieved with perennial grasses. Perennial grasses that persisted with greater than 50% cover were Berber orchardgrass (Dactylis glomerata, Flecha tall fescue (Lolium arundinaceum and several varieties of hardinggrass (Phalaris aquatica L., Perla koleagrass, Holdfast, Advanced AT. In 2014, these successful perennials produced over three times more dry matter (pounds per acre than the unseeded control and also suppressed annual grasses and yellow starthistle (Centaurea solstitialis L. cover.

  9. Book title: Rangelands systems: Processes, management and challenges - Chapter title: Invasive plant species and novel ecosystems

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rangelands represent the dominant land use systems in many countries of the world and provide sociological and cultural benefits to millions of people in both rural and urban areas. The undesirable impacts of rangeland weeds have been recognized for well over 100 years and infest between 41 and 51 ...

  10. Weather-centric rangeland revegetation planning

    Science.gov (United States)

    Semiarid rangelands in the western United States have been or are being invaded by introduced annual weeds that negatively impact ecosystem services and pose a major conservation threat. Rehabilitation and restoration of these rangelands are challenging due to inter-annual climate and sub-seasonal ...

  11. Scale effects on runoff and soil erosion in rangelands: observations and estimations with predictors of different availability

    Science.gov (United States)

    Runoff and erosion estimates are needed for rangeland management decisions and evaluation of ecosystem services derived from rangeland conservation practices. The information on the effect of scale on the runoff and erosion, and on the choice of runoff and erosion predictors, remains scarce. The obj...

  12. The Rangeland Hydrology and Erosion Model: A dynamic approach for predicting soil loss on rangelands

    Science.gov (United States)

    In this study we present the improved Rangeland Hydrology and Erosion Model (RHEM V2.3), a process-based erosion prediction tool specific for rangeland application. The article provides the mathematical formulation of the model and parameter estimation equations. Model performance is assessed agains...

  13. Exploring the invasion of rangelands by Acacia mearnsii (black ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Reducing A. mearnsii canopy could promote grass production while encouraging carbon sequestration. Given the high AGB and clearing costs, it may be prudent to adopt the 'novel ecosystems' approach in managing infested landscapes. Keywords: grassland, invasive plants, landscape ecology, rangeland condition ...

  14. Presidential address - 1999 Towards a national rangeland policy ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    There are some problems with the publication of the journal, but Council hopes to have our ... The first is that all agencies funded through DACST will be reviewed ... to improve our understanding of management issues in communal rangeland. ... All current programmes to rehabilitate degraded land contain budgets for the ...

  15. Assessing the Sustainability of Different Small-Scale Livestock Production Systems in the Afar Region, Ethiopia

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ngufor L. Atanga

    2013-12-01

    Full Text Available Livestock production is a key income source in eastern Africa, and 80% of the total agricultural land is used for livestock herding. Hence, ecological and socio-economically sustainable rangeland management is crucial. Our study aimed at selecting operational economic, environmental and social sustainability indicators for three main pastoral (P, agro-pastoral (AP, and landless intensive (LI small scale livestock production systems for use in sustainability assessment in Ethiopia. Quantitative and qualitative data were collected through grey literature and semi-structured interviews, assessing livestock and feed resources, production technology, land tenure, financial and gender issues. Our results suggested that feed shortages (FS are directly related to grazing pressure (G and inversely related to grass recovery rates (R. According to our indicators, AP was the most sustainable while P and LI were only conditionally sustainable production systems. 93% of 82 interviewees claimed that private land ownership was the best land tenure incentive for efficient rangeland management. Farmers perceived Prosopis juliflora expansion, sporadic rainfall, and disease infestation as the most significant causes for decreasing livestock productivity. Landless intensive farmers had the highest equality in income distribution (Gini Index: GI = 0.4, followed by P and AP (each with a GI = 0.5. Neither educational background nor income seemed to determine grazing species conservation efforts. We claimed that sustainability indicators are valuable tools to highlight shortcomings and strengths of the three main livestock production systems and help with future livestock management in Ethiopia. Selecting suitable indicators, however, is crucial as data requirements and availability can vary across livestock systems.

  16. Vulnerability of amphibians to climate change: implications for rangeland management

    Science.gov (United States)

    Karen E. Bagne; Deborah M. Finch; Megan M. Friggens

    2011-01-01

    Many amphibian populations have declined drastically in recent years due to a large number of factors including the emerging threat of climate change (Wake 2007). Rangelands provide important habitat for amphibians. In addition to natural wetlands, stock tanks and other artificial water catchments provide habitat for many amphibian species (Euliss et al. 2004).

  17. Multi-agency Oregon Pilot: Working towards a national inventory and assessment of rangelands using onsite data

    Science.gov (United States)

    Paul L. Patterson; James Alegria; Leonard Jolley; Doug Powell; J. Jeffery Goebel; Gregg M. Riegel; Kurt H. Riitters; Craig. Ducey

    2014-01-01

    Rangelands are lands dominated by grasses, forbs, and shrubs and are managed as a natural ecosystem. Although these lands comprise approximately 40 percent of the landmass of the continental United States, there is no coordinated effort designed to inventory, monitor, or assess rangeland conditions at the national scale. A pilot project in central Oregon with the U.S....

  18. Rangeland monitoring and assessment: a review

    CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

    Ramoelo, Abel

    2018-04-01

    Full Text Available Rangelands provide vast landscapes for grazing and foraging for livestock and wildlife. Services of rangelands are diverse and generally provide food for millions of the world’s population, especially the rural and sometimes poor communities...

  19. DEVELOPMENTS IN MONITORING RANGELANDS USING REMOTELY-SENSED CROSS-FENCE COMPARISONS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    A. D. Kilpatrick

    2012-07-01

    Full Text Available This paper presents a new method for the use of earth-observation images to assess relative land condition over broad regions, using a cross-fence comparison methodology. It controls for natural spatial and temporal variables (e.g. rainfall, temperature soils, ecosystem so that we can objectively monitor rangelands and other areas for the effects of management. The method has been tested with small and large scale theoretical models, as well as a case study in South Australian rangelands. This method can also be applied in other systems and experiments such as field trials of crop varieties as a robust spatial statistic.

  20. Ecological site-based assessments of wind and water erosion: informing accelerated soil erosion management in rangelands

    Science.gov (United States)

    Webb, Nicholas P.; Herrick, Jeffrey E.; Duniway, Michael C.

    2014-01-01

    Accelerated soil erosion occurs when anthropogenic processes modify soil, vegetation or climatic conditions causing erosion rates at a location to exceed their natural variability. Identifying where and when accelerated erosion occurs is a critical first step toward its effective management. Here we explore how erosion assessments structured in the context of ecological sites (a land classification based on soils, landscape setting and ecological potential) and their vegetation states (plant assemblages that may change due to management) can inform systems for reducing accelerated soil erosion in rangelands. We evaluated aeolian horizontal sediment flux and fluvial sediment erosion rates for five ecological sites in southern New Mexico, USA, using monitoring data and rangeland-specific wind and water erosion models. Across the ecological sites, plots in shrub-encroached and shrub-dominated vegetation states were consistently susceptible to aeolian sediment flux and fluvial sediment erosion. Both processes were found to be highly variable for grassland and grass-succulent states across the ecological sites at the plot scale (0.25 Ha). We identify vegetation thresholds that define cover levels below which rapid (exponential) increases in aeolian sediment flux and fluvial sediment erosion occur across the ecological sites and vegetation states. Aeolian sediment flux and fluvial erosion in the study area can be effectively controlled when bare ground cover is 100 cm in length is less than ~35%. Land use and management activities that alter cover levels such that they cross thresholds, and/or drive vegetation state changes, may increase the susceptibility of areas to erosion. Land use impacts that are constrained within the range of natural variability should not result in accelerated soil erosion. Evaluating land condition against the erosion thresholds identified here will enable identification of areas susceptible to accelerated soil erosion and the development of

  1. Ecological site‐based assessments of wind and water erosion: informing accelerated soil erosion management in rangelands.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Webb, Nicholas P; Herrick, Jeffrey E; Duniway, Michael C

    Accelerated soil erosion occurs when anthropogenic processes modify soil, vegetation, or climatic conditions causing erosion rates at a location to exceed their natural variability. Identifying where and when accelerated erosion occurs is a critical first step toward its effective management. Here we explored how erosion assessments structured in the context of ecological sites (a land classification based on soils, landscape setting, and ecological potential) and their vegetation states (plant assemblages that may change due to management) can inform systems for reducing accelerated soil erosion in rangelands. We evaluated aeolian horizontal sediment flux and fluvial sediment erosion rates for five ecological sites in southern New Mexico, USA, using monitoring data and rangeland-specific wind and water erosion models. Across the ecological sites, plots in shrub-encroached and shrub-dominated vegetation states were consistently susceptible to aeolian sediment flux and fluvial sediment erosion. Both processes were found to be highly variable for grassland and grass–succulent states across the ecological sites at the plot scale (0.25 ha). We identified vegetation thresholds that define cover levels below which rapid (exponential) increases in aeolian sediment flux and fluvial sediment erosion occur across the ecological sites and vegetation states. Aeolian sediment flux and fluvial erosion in the study area could be effectively controlled when bare ground cover was 100 cm in length was less than ∼35%. Land use and management activities that alter cover levels such that they cross thresholds, and/or drive vegetation state changes, may increase the susceptibility of areas to erosion. Land use impacts that are constrained within the range of natural variability should not result in accelerated soil erosion. Evaluating land condition against the erosion thresholds identified here will enable identification of areas susceptible to accelerated soil erosion and the

  2. A RANGELAND GRASSHOPPER INSURANCE PROGRAM

    OpenAIRE

    Skold, Melvin D.; Davis, Robert M.

    1995-01-01

    The incidence of benefits and costs from controlling rangeland grasshoppers on public grazing lands poses problems of economic efficiency and distributional equity. Public grasshopper control programs operate like public disaster assistance. However, grasshopper infestations are an insurable risk. This article proposes a rangeland grasshopper insurance program which reduces the economic inefficiencies and distributional inequities of the existing program.

  3. Effects of land use change and management on SOC and soil quality in Mediterranean rangelands areas

    Science.gov (United States)

    Parras-Alcántara, Luis; Lozano-García, Beatriz; Requejo, Ana; Zornoza, Raúl

    2017-04-01

    INTRODUCTION Rangelands in the Iberian Peninsula occupy more than 90,000 km2. These rangelands were created from the former Mediterranean oak forests, mainly composed of holm oak and cork oak (Quercus ilex rotundifolia and Quercus suber), by clear-cutting shrubs, removing selected trees and cultivating. These man-made landscapes are called 'dehesas' in Spain and 'montados' in Portugal. Between 1955 and 1981, more than 5,000 km2 of dehesas was converted from pastureland to cultivated land. This process has been accelerated since 1986 owing to subsidies from the European Common Agricultural Policy (Parras-Alcántara et al., 2015a). The role that natural rangelands play in the global carbon cycle is extremely important, accounting for 10-30% of the world's total soil organic carbon (SOC), in addition, SOC concentration is closely related to soil quality and vegetation productivity (Brevik, 2012). Therefore, to study the land use and management changes is important, particularly in Mediterranean soils, as they are characterized by low organic carbon content, furthermore, the continuous use of ploughing for grain production is the principal cause of soil degradation. Therefore, land use decisions and management systems can increase or decrease SOC content and stock (Corral-Fernández et al., 2013; Parras-Alcántara et al., 2014, 2015a and 2015b; Parras-Alcántara and Lozano-García, 2014) MATERIAL AND METHODS A field study was conducted to determine the land use change (Mediterranean evergreen oak woodland to olive grove and cereal, all of them managed under conventional tillage and under conservationist practices) effects on SOC stocks and the soil quality (Stratification Ratio) in Los Pedroches valley, southern Spain. RESULTS Results for the present study indicate that management practices had little effect on SOC storage in dehesas. The stratification ratio was >2 both under conventional tillage and under organic farming, so, soils under dehesa had high quality

  4. Developing an operational rangeland water requirement satisfaction index

    Science.gov (United States)

    Senay, Gabriel B.; Verdin, James P.; Rowland, James

    2011-01-01

    Developing an operational water requirement satisfaction index (WRSI) for rangeland monitoring is an important goal of the famine early warning systems network. An operational WRSI has been developed for crop monitoring, but until recently a comparable WRSI for rangeland was not successful because of the extremely poor performance of the index when based on published crop coefficients (K c) for rangelands. To improve the rangeland WRSI, we developed a simple calibration technique that adjusts the K c values for rangeland monitoring using long-term rainfall distribution and reference evapotranspiration data. The premise for adjusting the K c values is based on the assumption that a viable rangeland should exhibit above-average WRSI (values >80%) during a normal year. The normal year was represented by a median dekadal rainfall distribution (satellite rainfall estimate from 1996 to 2006). Similarly, a long-term average for potential evapotranspiration was used as input to the famine early warning systems network WRSI model in combination with soil-water-holding capacity data. A dekadal rangeland WRSI has been operational for east and west Africa since 2005. User feedback has been encouraging, especially with regard to the end-of-season WRSI anomaly products that compare the index's performance to ‘normal’ years. Currently, rangeland WRSI products are generated on a dekadal basis and posted for free distribution on the US Geological Survey early warning website at http://earlywarning.usgs.gov/adds/

  5. Rangeland Use Rights Privatisation Based on the Tragedy of the Commons: A Case Study from Tibet

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yonten Nyima Yundannima

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available Rangeland use rights privatisation based on a tragedy of the commons assumption has been the backbone of state policy on rangeland management and pastoralism in China. Through an empirical case study from Pelgon county, Tibet Autonomous Region in China, this paper provides an empirical analysis of rangeland use rights privatisation. It shows that the tragedy of the commons is not the correct model to apply to Tibetan pastoralism because pasture use in Tibet has never been an open-access institution. Thus, when the tragedy of the commons model is applied as a rationale for rangeland use rights privatisation, the result is not what is intended by the policy, but rather a misfit to features of pastoralism and thus disruption of the essence of pastoralism, i.e. mobility and flexibility. The paper further shows that a hybrid institution combining household rangeland tenure with community-based use with user fees is a restoration of the pastoralist institution. This demonstrates the capacity of pastoralists to create adaptive new institutions congruent with the interdependent and integrated nature of pastoralism consisting of three components: pastoralists, livestock, and rangeland.

  6. Determining RUSLE P-factors for stonebunds and trenches in rangeland and cropland, Northern Ethiopia

    Science.gov (United States)

    Taye, Gebeyehu; Poesen, Jean; Vanmaercke, Matthias; Van Wesemael, Bas; Tesfay, Samuel; Teka, Daniel; Nyssen, Jan; Deckers, Jozef; Haregeweyn, Nigussie

    2017-04-01

    The implementation of soil and water conservation (SWC) measures in the Ethiopian highlands is a top priority to reduce soil erosion rates and to enhance the sustainability of agroecosystem. Nonetheless, the effectiveness of many of these measures for different hillslope and land use conditions remains currently poorly understood. As a result, the overall effects of these measures at regional or catchment scale remain hard to quantify. This study addresses this knowledge gap by determining the cover-management (C) and support practice (P) factors of the Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE), for commonly used SWC measures in semi-arid environments (i.e. stone bunds, trenches and a combination of both). Calculations were based on soil loss data collected with runoff plots in Tigray, northern Ethiopia (i.e. 21 runoff plots of 600 to 1000 m2, monitored during 2010, 2011 and 2012). The runoff plots were installed in rangeland and cropland sites corresponding to a gentle (5%), medium (12%) and steep (16%) slope gradients. The C and P factors of the RUSLE were calculated following the recommended standard procedures. Results show that the C-factor for rangeland ranges from 0.31 to 0.98 and from 0.06 to 0.39 for cropland. For rangeland, this large variability is due to variations in vegetation cover caused by grazing. In cropland, C-factors vary with tillage practices and crop types. The calculated P-factors ranged from 0.32 to 0.74 for stone bunds, from 0.07 to 0.65 for trenches and from 0.03 to 0.22 for a combination of both stone bunds and trenches. This variability is partly due to variations in the density of the implemented measures in relation to land use (cropland vs rangeland) and slope angles. However, also annual variations in P factor values are highly significant. Especially trenches showed a very significant decline of effectiveness over time, which is attributable to their reduced static storage capacity as a result of sediment deposition (e.g. for

  7. Sustainable Facilities Management

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Nielsen, Susanne Balslev; Elle, Morten; Hoffmann, Birgitte

    2004-01-01

    The Danish public housing sector has more than 20 years of experience with sustainable facilities management based on user involvement. The paper outlines this development in a historical perspective and gives an analysis of different approaches to sustainable facilities management. The focus...... is on the housing departments and strateies for the management of the use of resources. The research methods used are case studies based on interviews in addition to literature studies. The paper explores lessons to be learned about sustainable facilities management in general, and points to a need for new...

  8. Sustainable flood risk management – What is sustainable?

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Sørup, Hjalte Jomo Danielsen; Brudler, Sarah; Lerer, Sara Maria

    2016-01-01

    Sustainable flood risk management has to be achieved since flood protection is a fundamental societal service that we must deliver. Based on the discourse within the fields of risk management and sustainable urban water management, we discuss the necessity of assessing the sustainability of flood...... risk management, and propose an evaluation framework for doing so. We argue that it is necessary to include quantitative sustainability measures in flood risk management in order to exclude unsustainable solutions. Furthermore, we use the concept of absolute sustainability to discuss the prospects...... of maintaining current service levels without compromising future generation’s entitlement of services. Discussions on the sustainability of different overall flood risk schemes must take place. Fundamental changes in the approaches will require fundamental changes in the mind-sets of practitioners as well...

  9. Meeting wild bees' needs on rangelands

    Science.gov (United States)

    Some arid rangeland regions, notably those with warm dry climates of the temperate zones, host great diversities of native bees, primarily non-social species among which are many floral specialists. Rangeland bee faunas are threatened indirectly by invasive exotic weeds wherever these displace nat...

  10. Rangeland livestock production: Developing the concept of sustainability on the Santa Rita Experimental Range

    Science.gov (United States)

    George B. Ruyle

    2003-01-01

    The Santa Rita Experimental Range (SRER) was established in 1903 at the behest of concerned stockmen and researchers as the first facility in the United States set aside to study range livestock production. At the time, severe overgrazing of the public domain had seriously reduced carrying capacities of Southwestern rangelands. Researchers on the SRER developed and...

  11. Current situation of rangelands in Mexico

    Science.gov (United States)

    Alicia Melgoza-Castillo

    2006-01-01

    Rangelands are natural areas with certain characteristics that make them unsuitable for agriculture. They include several types of vegetation such as deserts, grasslands, shrubs, forests, and riparian areas. Cattle ranching, along with the products and services it engenders, is a prime activity that rangelands have traditionally supported.

  12. Managing Sustainability in Management Education

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Lystbæk, Christian Tang

    2014-01-01

    Sustainability has until relatively recently been seen as irrelevant to business practice and, hence, has been largely missing from management education. But, environmental issues are increasingly becoming a key business concern at local, national, international and global levels. This conceptual...... paper addresses the question: How can sustainability be addresses within management education? It engages in a critical discussion of traditional models for teaching sustainability and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in order to develop an advanced framework that addresses the limitations...... concerning trade-offs and complexity. Thus, the paper proposes an approach to sustainability in management education which help to initiate such critical reflection and discussion by drawing attention to the complex network of relations in which a given business or industry is embedded....

  13. Science framework for conservation and restoration of the sagebrush biome: Linking the Department of the Interior’s Integrated Rangeland Fire Management Strategy to long-term strategic conservation actions

    Science.gov (United States)

    J.C. Chambers; J.L. Beck; J.B. Bradford; J. Bybee; S. Campbell; J. Carlson; T.J. Christiansen; K.J. Clause; G. Collins; M.R. Crist; J.B. Dinkins; K.E. Doherty; F. Edwards; S. Espinosa; K.A. Griffin; P. Griffin; J.R. Haas; S.E. Hanser; D.W. Havlina; K.F. Henke; J.D. Hennig; L.A. Joyce; F.M. Kilkenny; S.M. Kulpa; L.L. Kurth; J.D. Maestas; M. Manning; K.E. Mayer; B.A. Mealor; C. McCarthy; M. Pellant; M.A. Perea; K.L. Prentice; D.A. Pyke; L.A. Wiechman; A. Wuenschel

    2017-01-01

    The Science Framework is intended to link the Department of the Interior’s Integrated Rangeland Fire Management Strategy with long-term strategic conservation actions in the sagebrush biome. The Science Framework provides a multiscale approach for prioritizing areas for management and determining effective management strategies within the sagebrush biome. The emphasis...

  14. Assessing the impacts of livestock production on biodiversity in rangeland ecosystems

    Science.gov (United States)

    Alkemade, Rob; Reid, Robin S.; van den Berg, Maurits; de Leeuw, Jan; Jeuken, Michel

    2013-01-01

    Biodiversity in rangelands is decreasing, due to intense utilization for livestock production and conversion of rangeland into cropland; yet the outlook of rangeland biodiversity has not been considered in view of future global demand for food. Here we assess the impact of future livestock production on the global rangelands area and their biodiversity. First we formalized existing knowledge about livestock grazing impacts on biodiversity, expressed in mean species abundance (MSA) of the original rangeland native species assemblages, through metaanalysis of peer-reviewed literature. MSA values, ranging from 1 in natural rangelands to 0.3 in man-made grasslands, were entered in the IMAGE-GLOBIO model. This model was used to assess the impact of change in food demand and livestock production on future rangeland biodiversity. The model revealed remarkable regional variation in impact on rangeland area and MSA between two agricultural production scenarios. The area of used rangelands slightly increases globally between 2000 and 2050 in the baseline scenario and reduces under a scenario of enhanced uptake of resource-efficient production technologies increasing production [high levels of agricultural knowledge, science, and technology (high-AKST)], particularly in Africa. Both scenarios suggest a global decrease in MSA for rangelands until 2050. The contribution of livestock grazing to MSA loss is, however, expected to diminish after 2030, in particular in Africa under the high-AKST scenario. Policies fostering agricultural intensification can reduce the overall pressure on rangeland biodiversity, but additional measures, addressing factors such as climate change and infrastructural development, are necessary to totally halt biodiversity loss. PMID:22308313

  15. Phenomapping of rangelands in South Africa using time series of RapidEye data

    Science.gov (United States)

    Parplies, André; Dubovyk, Olena; Tewes, Andreas; Mund, Jan-Peter; Schellberg, Jürgen

    2016-12-01

    Phenomapping is an approach which allows the derivation of spatial patterns of vegetation phenology and rangeland productivity based on time series of vegetation indices. In our study, we propose a new spatial mapping approach which combines phenometrics derived from high resolution (HR) satellite time series with spatial logistic regression modeling to discriminate land management systems in rangelands. From the RapidEye time series for selected rangelands in South Africa, we calculated bi-weekly noise reduced Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) images. For the growing season of 2011⿿2012, we further derived principal phenology metrics such as start, end and length of growing season and related phenological variables such as amplitude, left derivative and small integral of the NDVI curve. We then mapped these phenometrics across two different tenure systems, communal and commercial, at the very detailed spatial resolution of 5 m. The result of a binary logistic regression (BLR) has shown that the amplitude and the left derivative of the NDVI curve were statistically significant. These indicators are useful to discriminate commercial from communal rangeland systems. We conclude that phenomapping combined with spatial modeling is a powerful tool that allows efficient aggregation of phenology and productivity metrics for spatially explicit analysis of the relationships of crop phenology with site conditions and management. This approach has particular potential for disaggregated and patchy environments such as in farming systems in semi-arid South Africa, where phenology varies considerably among and within years. Further, we see a strong perspective for phenomapping to support spatially explicit modelling of vegetation.

  16. PATHWAYS TO SUSTAINABLE BANKING MANAGEMENT

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Dragan (Santamarian Oana Raluca

    2012-12-01

    Full Text Available This paper describes one of the major challenges of the future: the sustainable development of the society. Sustainability is now increasingly recognized as central to the growth of emerging market economies. For the banking sector, this represents both a demand for greater social and environmental responsibility as well as a new landscape of business opportunity. Several years ago, the main part of the banks did not consider the social and environmental problems relevant for their operations. Recently, the banks began to realize the major impact of the sustainable development over the way of ulterior development of the society and, implicitly over the way of creating of the banking value in the future. In this context, the development of a banking management system, based on sustainable principles represents one of the provocations of these days.Starting from literature in the sustainable banking management field in this paper are presented several relevant issues related to risk management in the context of sustainable banking financing: the need to implement the sustainable management principles in financial and banking industry; the role of banks in sustainable development of society; social and environmental risk management policies, events that have shaped the role of the banking sector in sustainable development; international standards regarding sustainable banking management such us: Equator Principles for sustainable investment projects’ financing or GRI principles for sustainable reporting. Furthermore, we developed a practical case study related to the implementation of sustainable banking management at Bank of America.

  17. Remote sensing applications for monitoring rangeland vegetation ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Remote sensing techniques hold considerable promise for the inventory and monitoring of natural resources on rangelands. A significant lack of information concerning basic spectral characteristics of range vegetation and soils has resulted in a lack of rangeland applications. The parameters of interest for range condition ...

  18. Linking remote-sensing and ecosystem services modeling to support and assess management for regenerative grazing in the South Gobi, Mongolia

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chaplin-Kramer, R.; Kowal, V. A.; Sharp, R.

    2017-12-01

    Managing and monitoring supply chain sustainability is a major challenge and opportunity for business, especially in rangelands, heavily managed and often degraded natural systems that provide significant resources and raw materials for production. One of the largest and most threatened rangeland systems in the world is in Mongolia, which has seen a rapid rise in grazing pressure due to increasing global demand for cashmere along with privatization of a formerly government-run livestock industry. A new opportunity is emerging for remote-sensing to improve the management decisions of the producers and their incentive-setters, leading to a more sustainable rangeland system and better outcomes for biodiversity and people in this unique and imperiled landscape. Oyu Tolgoi (OT), the Mongolian subsidiary of the mining company Rio Tinto, in cooperation with Kering, an apparel conglomerate that sources cashmere from the region, are providing financial incentives to improve grazing patterns through a Sustainable Cashmere program, in order to restore the degraded rangeland ecosystem in the Gobi desert region. We present a framework and approach for predicting the effect of changing grazing practices on biodiversity and ecosystem services, which we are developing into decision-support tools for OT, Kering, and their local partner Wildlife Conservation Society to quantify the impacts of their programs and where these interventions will have greatest benefit. Our approach integrates remote-sensing and ecosystem modeling to scale up field monitoring data and forecast future impacts. Our rangeland production model, based on the soil-vegetation model CENTURY and the livestock model GRAZPLAN, predicts biomass production and plant species composition changes, and can feed into ecosystem services models such as soil retention and water regulation in the InVEST (Integrated Valuation of Ecosystem Services and Trade-offs) software suite. This presents a significant advance in ecosystem

  19. Conserving rangeland resources. | Mentis | African Journal of Range ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    ... goal-attainment, (5) try to correct departures, and (6) align individual and societal interests by manipulating market-forces. Keywords: altruism; conservation; Conservation implementation; Conservation properties; human activity; Human values; philosophy; Range resources; rangeland; Rangelands; Science philosophy

  20. Applying a dryland degradation framework for rangelands: the case of Mongolia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jamsranjav, C; Reid, R S; Fernández-Giménez, M E; Tsevlee, A; Yadamsuren, B; Heiner, M

    2018-04-01

    slightly (33-53%) or moderately (25-40%) degraded. We conclude that very severe livestock-induced rangeland degradation is overstated in Mongolia. However, targeted rangeland restoration coupled with monitoring, adaptive management and stronger rangeland governance are needed to prevent further degradation where heavy grazing could cause irreversible change. Given the broad applicability of our degradation framework for Mongolia, we suggest it be tested for application in other temperate grasslands throughout Central Asia and North America. © 2018 The Authors Ecological Applications published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of Ecological Society of America.

  1. Pastoral Decision-Making: An Empirical Investigation of Rangeland Use

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    MacPeak, J.

    1999-01-01

    Recent research in range ecology suggests that the process of resource degradation in African arid and semi-arid rangelands may be less reliant on how many animals are kept on the rangeland than on where these animals are kept. Analysis of pastoralist land use decisions indicated that rangeland condition influences livestock keeping. However, it was found that food and income production strategies, herd characteristics play critical roles in livestock keeping decisions

  2. Principles and practices of sustainable water management

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    Bixia Xu

    2010-01-01

    Literature related to sustainable water management is reviewed to illustrate the relationship among water management, sustainability (sustainable development), and sustainable water management. This review begins with the explanation on the definition of sustainable water management, followed by a discussion of sustainable water management principles and practices.

  3. Managing sustainability in management education policy

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Lystbæk, Christian Tang

    Sustainability with regards to environmental issues has until recently been seen as irrelevant to business and management practice and, consequently, has been largely missing from business and management education. But the last decades has seen increasingrecognition of environmental problems...... such as climate change and resource depletion. The main policy instruments used to promote sustainability have been regulation, market-based instruments and voluntary agreements, but in recent years, policies have started tofocus on education. Many different actors, such as business schools, businesses...... and governments, interact in shaping management education. These actors derive their conception of sustainability from a range of meanings, practices, and norms. Drawing on Connolly´s analytical framework regarding “essentially contested concepts” (1994), this paper interrogates management education policy...

  4. Sustainable Soil Management

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Green, Ole; Evgrafova, Alevtina; Kirkegaard Nielsen, Søren

    Linket til højre henviser til rapporten i trykt format til download. This report provides an overview on new technologies for integrate sustainable and resilient management practices in arable ecosystems for advanced farmers, consultants, NGOs and policy makers. By following sustainable soil...... and soil quality in short- and long-terms. This report also illustrates the importance to combine a system approach for plant production by assessing field readiness, managing in-field traffic management, implementing the sitespecific controlled as well as sensor-controlled seedbed preparation, seeding...

  5. The interconnectedness between landowner knowledge, value, belief, attitude, and willingness to act: policy implications for carbon sequestration on private rangelands.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cook, Seth L; Ma, Zhao

    2014-02-15

    Rangelands can be managed to increase soil carbon and help mitigate emissions of carbon dioxide. This study assessed Utah rangeland owner's environmental values, beliefs about climate change, and awareness of and attitudes towards carbon sequestration, as well as their perceptions of potential policy strategies for promoting carbon sequestration on private rangelands. Data were collected from semi-structured interviews and a statewide survey of Utah rangeland owners, and were analyzed using descriptive and bivariate statistics. Over two-thirds of respondents reported some level of awareness of carbon sequestration and a generally positive attitude towards it, contrasting to their lack of interest in participating in a relevant program in the future. Having a positive attitude was statistically significantly associated with having more "biocentric" environmental values, believing the climate had been changing over the past 30 years, and having a stronger belief of human activities influencing the climate. Respondents valued the potential ecological benefits of carbon sequestration more than the potential financial or climate change benefits. Additionally, respondents indicated a preference for educational approaches over financial incentives. They also preferred to work with a private agricultural entity over a non-profit or government entity on improving land management practices to sequester carbon. These results suggest potential challenges for developing technically sound and socially acceptable policies and programs for promoting carbon sequestration on private rangelands. Potential strategies for overcoming these challenges include emphasizing the ecological benefits associated with sequestering carbon to appeal to landowners with ecologically oriented management objectives, enhancing the cooperation between private agricultural organizations and government agencies, and funneling resources for promoting carbon sequestration into existing land management and

  6. Rangeland dynamics in South Omo Zone of Southern Ethiopia: Assessment of rangeland condition in relation to altitude and Grazing types

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Terefe, A.; Ebro, A.; Tessema, Z.K.

    2010-01-01

    A study was undertaken in Hamer and Benna-Tsemay districts of the Southern Ethiopia with the objective to determine the condition of the rangelands for grazing animals as influenced by altitude and grazing types. The rangelands in each of the study districts were stratified based on altitude and

  7. Principles of optimizing animal production from rangeland

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Stubbendieck, J.; Waller, S.S.

    1983-01-01

    Increasing world population is one of the dominant factors escalating demands for the world's natural resources. Range and forage resources, which are used primarily for food and fibre, could be more efficiently used if management techniques were improved. The principles of managing forage resources are directly associated with both the growth and development of plants and the actions and needs of the grazing animal. An understanding of the effects of environmental factors and herbage removal (frequency, intensity and season of defoliation) on growth and regrowth of plants is the first step towards optimizing animal productivity from rangelands. Most potential changes will fit into three categories: (1) increase the quantity of forage, (2) improve the quality of forage, and (3) improve use of forage. The principles of grazing management can be separated into four intricately related categories: (1) proper degree of grazing, (2) proper season of grazing, (3) proper kind of livestock, and (4) proper distribution of grazing. Grazing management is affected by the manner in which both improvements and manipulation of vegetation affect forage yield and quality. The adaptation and application of existing knowledge to individual locations will be one step towards optimizing animal production from rangeland. Some of the problems may be solved through better dissemination of present knowledge through existing educational programmes, while others will require expanded programmes of information dissemination. A third group of problems may also be solved with present technology, but the solutions are not currently economical. Some of the problems will be solved only through expanded research. These research efforts need to be directed towards grazing or browsing animals, plant resources and the interaction between plants and animals. Application of nuclear techniques will be an integral part of this research. (author)

  8. Transcending Landscapes: Working Across Scales and Levels in Pastoralist Rangeland Governance.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Robinson, Lance W; Ontiri, Enoch; Alemu, Tsegaye; Moiko, Stephen S

    2017-08-01

    Landscape approaches can be subjected to mistakenly targeting a single "best" level of governance, and paying too little attention to the role that cross-scale and cross-level interactions play in governance. In rangeland settings, resources, patterns of use of those resources, and the institutions for managing the resources exist at multiple levels and scales. While the scholarship on commons offers some guidance on how to conceptualize governance in rangeland landscapes, some elements of commons scholarship-notably the "design principles" for effective governance of commons-do not seem to apply neatly to governance in pastoralist rangeland settings. This paper examines three cases where attempts have been made to foster effective landscape governance in such settings to consider how the materiality of commons influences the nature of cross-scale and cross-level interactions, and how these interactions affect governance. In all three cases, although external actors seemed to work appropriately and effectively at community and landscape levels, landscape governance mechanisms have been facing great challenges arising from relationships beyond the landscape, both vertically to higher levels of decision-making and horizontally to communities normally residing in other landscapes. The cases demonstrate that fostering effective landscape-level governance cannot be accomplished only through action at the landscape level; it is a task that must be pursued at multiple levels and in relation to the connections across scales and levels. The paper suggests elements of a conceptual framework for understanding cross-level and cross-scale elements of landscape governance, and offers suggestions for governance design in pastoralist rangeland settings.

  9. Transcending Landscapes: Working Across Scales and Levels in Pastoralist Rangeland Governance

    Science.gov (United States)

    Robinson, Lance W.; Ontiri, Enoch; Alemu, Tsegaye; Moiko, Stephen S.

    2017-08-01

    Landscape approaches can be subjected to mistakenly targeting a single "best" level of governance, and paying too little attention to the role that cross-scale and cross-level interactions play in governance. In rangeland settings, resources, patterns of use of those resources, and the institutions for managing the resources exist at multiple levels and scales. While the scholarship on commons offers some guidance on how to conceptualize governance in rangeland landscapes, some elements of commons scholarship—notably the "design principles" for effective governance of commons—do not seem to apply neatly to governance in pastoralist rangeland settings. This paper examines three cases where attempts have been made to foster effective landscape governance in such settings to consider how the materiality of commons influences the nature of cross-scale and cross-level interactions, and how these interactions affect governance. In all three cases, although external actors seemed to work appropriately and effectively at community and landscape levels, landscape governance mechanisms have been facing great challenges arising from relationships beyond the landscape, both vertically to higher levels of decision-making and horizontally to communities normally residing in other landscapes. The cases demonstrate that fostering effective landscape-level governance cannot be accomplished only through action at the landscape level; it is a task that must be pursued at multiple levels and in relation to the connections across scales and levels. The paper suggests elements of a conceptual framework for understanding cross-level and cross-scale elements of landscape governance, and offers suggestions for governance design in pastoralist rangeland settings.

  10. Managing Sustainability in Fruit Production

    OpenAIRE

    Taragola, N.; Van Passel, S.; Zwiekhorst, W.

    2012-01-01

    As fruit growers are faced with a growing need for sustainable development, it is important to integrate sustainability into their management processes. This research applies and evaluates a self-analysis tool for entrepreneurs called the ‘sustainability scan’. The scan identifies 23 sustainability themes, divided according to the 3P-framework (People, Planet and Profit). In the scan, it is assumed that the management of these themes is at the core of sustainable entrepren...

  11. Analytical approaches to quality assurance and quality control in rangeland monitoring data

    Science.gov (United States)

    Producing quality data to support land management decisions is the goal of every rangeland monitoring program. However, the results of quality assurance (QA) and quality control (QC) efforts to improve data quality are rarely reported. The purpose of QA and QC is to prevent and describe non-sampling...

  12. Facility Management's Role in Organizational Sustainability

    Science.gov (United States)

    Adams, Gregory K.

    2013-01-01

    Facility managers have questions about sustainability. How do an organization's physical facilities--its built environment--and the management of them, influence the sustainability of the organization or institution as a whole? How important is Facility Management (FM) to the overall sustainability profile of an organization? Facility managers…

  13. Sustainable Soil Management

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Green, Ole; Evgrafova, Alevtina; Kirkegaard Nielsen, Søren

    management strategies, which consider the site- and field-specific parameters and agricultural machinery’s improvements, it is possible to maximize production and income, while reducing negative environmental impacts and human health issues induced by agricultural activities as well as improving food......Linket til højre henviser til rapporten i trykt format til download. This report provides an overview on new technologies for integrate sustainable and resilient management practices in arable ecosystems for advanced farmers, consultants, NGOs and policy makers. By following sustainable soil...... and soil quality in short- and long-terms. This report also illustrates the importance to combine a system approach for plant production by assessing field readiness, managing in-field traffic management, implementing the sitespecific controlled as well as sensor-controlled seedbed preparation, seeding...

  14. CLAIMS OF SUSTAINABLE FACILITIES MANAGEMENT

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Nielsen, Susanne Balslev

    Purpose: The purpose of the paper is to provide an overview of current practices within the emergent management discipline: Sustainable Facilities Management (SFM). Background: To develop a sustainable society, facilities managers must become change agents for sustainability in the built...... environment. Facilities Management (FM) is contributing to the environmental, social and economical problems, but can at the same time also be a part of the solution. However, to integrate sustainability in FM is still an emergent niche within FM, and the examples of SFM so far seems to come out of very......-creating of new socio-technical services and technologies These SFM understandings are concluded to be coexisting claims of SFM definitions. Practical Implications: Facilities managers will be able to identify the mindset behind different services and technologies that are promoted as SFM. But maybe just...

  15. Meeting wild bees' needs on Western US rangelands

    Science.gov (United States)

    James H. Cane

    2011-01-01

    Rangelands are areas that are too arid, or with soils too shallow, to support either forests or cultivated agriculture, but that nonetheless produce enough vegetation for livestock grazing. Some arid rangeland regions, notably those with warm, dry climates in temperate zones (e.g., the warm deserts of the United States and adjacent Mexico, parts of Australia, South...

  16. Modeling vegetation heights from high resolution stereo aerial photography: an application for broad-scale rangeland monitoring.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gillan, Jeffrey K; Karl, Jason W; Duniway, Michael; Elaksher, Ahmed

    2014-11-01

    Vertical vegetation structure in rangeland ecosystems can be a valuable indicator for assessing rangeland health and monitoring riparian areas, post-fire recovery, available forage for livestock, and wildlife habitat. Federal land management agencies are directed to monitor and manage rangelands at landscapes scales, but traditional field methods for measuring vegetation heights are often too costly and time consuming to apply at these broad scales. Most emerging remote sensing techniques capable of measuring surface and vegetation height (e.g., LiDAR or synthetic aperture radar) are often too expensive, and require specialized sensors. An alternative remote sensing approach that is potentially more practical for managers is to measure vegetation heights from digital stereo aerial photographs. As aerial photography is already commonly used for rangeland monitoring, acquiring it in stereo enables three-dimensional modeling and estimation of vegetation height. The purpose of this study was to test the feasibility and accuracy of estimating shrub heights from high-resolution (HR, 3-cm ground sampling distance) digital stereo-pair aerial images. Overlapping HR imagery was taken in March 2009 near Lake Mead, Nevada and 5-cm resolution digital surface models (DSMs) were created by photogrammetric methods (aerial triangulation, digital image matching) for twenty-six test plots. We compared the heights of individual shrubs and plot averages derived from the DSMs to field measurements. We found strong positive correlations between field and image measurements for several metrics. Individual shrub heights tended to be underestimated in the imagery, however, accuracy was higher for dense, compact shrubs compared with shrubs with thin branches. Plot averages of shrub height from DSMs were also strongly correlated to field measurements but consistently underestimated. Grasses and forbs were generally too small to be detected with the resolution of the DSMs. Estimates of

  17. Application of MODIS Land Products to Assessment of Land Degradation of Alpine Rangeland in Northern India with Limited Ground-Based Information

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Masahiro Tasumi

    2014-09-01

    Full Text Available Land degradation of alpine rangeland in Dachigam National Park, Northern India, was evaluated in this study using MODerate resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS land products. The park has been used by a variety of livestock holders. With increasing numbers of livestock, the managers and users of the park are apprehensive about degradation of the grazing land. However, owing to weak infrastructure for scientific and statistical data collection and sociopolitical restrictions in the region, a lack of quality ground-based weather, vegetation, and livestock statistical data had prevented scientific assessment. Under these circumstances, the present study aimed to assess the rangeland environment and its degradation using MODIS vegetation, snow, and evapotranspiration products as primary input data for assessment. The result of the analysis indicated that soil water content and the timing of snowmelt play an important role in grass production in the area. Additionally, the possibility of land degradation in heavily-grazed rangeland was indicated via a multiple regression analysis at a decadal timescale, whereas weather conditions, such as rainfall and snow cover, primarily explained year-by-year differences in grass production. Although statistical uncertainties remain in the results derived in this study, the satellite-based data and the analyses will promote understanding of the rangeland environment and suggest the potential for unsustainable land management based on statistical probability. This study provides an important initial evaluation of alpine rangeland, for which ground-based information is limited.

  18. Towards Sustainable Flow Management - Introduction

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Moss, Timothy; Elle, Morten

    2001-01-01

    Outlines the conditions for the three Local Agenda 21 case-studies in the Sustainable Flow Management project......Outlines the conditions for the three Local Agenda 21 case-studies in the Sustainable Flow Management project...

  19. Towards Sustainable Flow Management - Introduction

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Moss, Timothy; Elle, Morten

    1998-01-01

    Outlines the conditions for the three Local Agenda 21 case-studies in the Sustainable Flow Management Project......Outlines the conditions for the three Local Agenda 21 case-studies in the Sustainable Flow Management Project...

  20. Ecohydrologic impacts of rangeland fire on runoff and erosion: A literature synthesis

    Science.gov (United States)

    Frederick B. Pierson; C. Jason Williams

    2016-01-01

    Fire can dramatically influence rangeland hydrology and erosion by altering ecohydrologic relationships. This synthesis presents an ecohydrologic perspective on the effects of fire on rangeland runoff and erosion through a review of scientific literature spanning many decades. The objectives are: (1) to introduce rangeland hydrology and erosion concepts necessary for...

  1. A description of rangeland on commercial and communal land ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Analysis of a Landsat TM image from a rangeland near Peddie, Eastern Cape, revealed differences in two vegetation indices (normalised difference vegetation index, NDVI, and moving standard deviation index, MSDI) between communal and commercial rangeland. It was suggested that the difference in the MSDI reflected ...

  2. Sustainable Materials Management

    Science.gov (United States)

    To introduce businesses, NGOs, and government officials to the concept of Sustainable Materials Management (SMM). To provide tools to allow stakeholders to take a lifecycle approach managing their materials, & to encourage them to join a SMM challenge.

  3. Introducing cattle grazing to a noxious weed-dominated rangeland shifts plant communities

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Josh S. Davy

    2015-10-01

    Full Text Available Invasive weed species in California's rangelands can reduce herbaceous diversity, forage quality and wildlife habitat. Small-scale studies (5 acres or fewer have shown reductions of medusahead and yellow starthistle using prescribed grazing on rangelands, but little is published on the effects of pasture-scale (greater than 80 acres prescribed grazing on weed control and plant community responses. We report the results of a 6-year collaborative study of manager-applied prescribed grazing implemented on rangeland that had not been grazed for 4 years. Grazing reduced medusahead but did not alter yellow starthistle cover. Medusahead reductions were only seen in years that did not have significant late spring rainfall, suggesting that it is able to recover from heavy grazing if soil moisture is present. Later season grazing appears to have the potential to suppress medusahead in all years. In practice, however, such grazing is constrained by livestock drinking water availability and forage quality, which were limited even in years with late spring rainfall. Thus, we expect that grazing treatments under real-world constraints would reduce medusahead only in years with little late spring rainfall. After 10 years of grazing exclusion, the ungrazed plant communities began to shift, replacing medusahead with species that have little value, such as ripgut and red brome.

  4. The value of milk in rangelands in Mandera County, Kenya

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ngugi, Keziah; Ertsen, Maurits

    2015-04-01

    Lack of water over expansive regions in Greater Horn of Africa created the rangelands and rangelands created pastoralism. Pastoralism involve keeping of large livestock herds and movement in search of resources, mainly water, pasture, medicine and wild foods. Several studies have been done in the last century and findings pointed at pastoralism being primitive and unsustainable. It has been predicted it would die in the last century but in the rangelands, pastoralism lives on and it is resilient. This study is based in Mandera, a pastoralism county in Kenya that neighbors Ethiopia to the North and Somalia to the East. The study sought to investigate contribution of milk to pastoralism resilience. Interviews were conducted in the field among the pastoralists, women groups, transporters, traders, government officials and consumers of milk. These information was corroborated with actual field investigations in the expansive rangelands of Mandera County. Pastoralists rarely slaughter or sell their livestock even when the animals waste away during droughts. This is because they have been through such cycles before and observed livestock make tremendous recovery when the right conditions were restored. Rangelands lack infrastructure, there are no roads, schools, telephone or hospitals. Pastoralists diet is comprised of rice, wheat and milk. It was established milk was the main source of income among pastoralists in Mandera County. From milk, the pastoralists make income that is used to purchase the other foodstuffs. Milk is available on daily basis in large quantities owing to the large number of livestock. Unfortunately, every pastoralist household produce copious amounts of milk, thus no local demand and transport infrastructure is nonexistent, making sale of milk a near impossible task. The findings showed the pastoralists have established unique routes through which milk reach the markets in urban centers where demand is high. Urbanization sustain pastoralism. These

  5. Soil Moisture Variability and its Effects on Herbage Production in Semi-arid Rangelands of Kenya

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Too, D.K.; Trlica, M.J.; Swift, D.M.; Musembi, D.K.

    1999-01-01

    Results obtained from recent studies focused on rangelands potential as influenced by human activity and climatic factors in the semi-arid and arid pastoral ecosystems of Northern Kenya indicated great temporal and spatial forage production variability. The objective of the studies was to document primary production in relation to water stress (drought), herbivory and direct human activities. Efforts also focused on finding possibilities of increasing productivity while conserving the finite resources for sustainable use. Laboratory, field and numerical methods were employed over several seasons and years. Forb and grass production was more variable than that of the browse (dwarf shrub) layer. Compared to forbs and dwarf shrubs, the grass layer contributed less to the total production in all seasons, indicating that the region had less potential for grazers compared to browsers. Spatial-temporal variation in rangeland carrying capacity reflected the great spatial heterogeneity in vegetation types and production. Similarly, seasonal differences were very evident, with highest estimates in the long rainy and the lowest during the dry and short rainy seasons, respectively. Factors limiting rangeland production potential were identified to be moisture deficiency, resource-use conflicts, an increasing and partially sedentarised nomadic population, overgrazing, tree felling, and land degradation (desert encroachment). Measures that can improve rangeland production potential and provide a better way of life for the inhabitants of the region include: (a) identification of land degradation (e.g. by means of bio-indicators and Geographical Information Systems, GIS); (b) technical interventions (i.e. soil and water conservation, restoration of degraded areas, fodder production); (c) social-economic interventions (i.e. resolution of resource-use conflicts, alleviation of poverty, infrastructure development improvement of livestock marketing channels etc.) and (d) continued

  6. Managing sustainability in management education

    OpenAIRE

    Lystbæk, Christian Tang

    2014-01-01

    Environmental issues are increasingly becoming a key business concern at local, national, international and global levels. Consequently, environmental issues and sustainability have found their way into management education in terms of business ethics, corporate social or sustainability responsibilities (CSR), etc.. Dominant conceptions of CSR identify a series of different types of corporate responsibilities, fx. economic, legal, social, environmental, etc. (e.g. Crane & Matten, 2010). A...

  7. Global achievements in sustainable land management

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Peter Motavalli

    2013-06-01

    Full Text Available Identification and development of sustainable land management is urgently required because of widespread resource degradation from poor land use practices. In addition, the world will need to increase food production to meet the nutritional needs of a growing global population without major environmental degradation. Ongoing climate change and its impacts on the environment is an additional factor to consider in identifying and developing sustainable land use practices. The objectives of this paper are to: (1 provide a background to the need for sustainable land management, (2 identify some of its major components, and (3 discuss some examples of sustainable land management systems that are being practiced around the world. Some common components of this type of management are: (1 understanding the ecology of land management, (2 maintenance or enhancement of land productivity, (3 maintenance of soil quality, (4 increased diversity for higher stability and resilience, (5 provision of economic and ecosystem service benefits for communities, and (6 social acceptability. Several examples of sustainable land management systems are discussed to illustrate the wide range of systems that have been developed around the world including agroforestry, conservation agriculture, and precision agricultural systems. Improved technology, allowing for geater environmental measurement and for improved access and sharing of information, provides opportunities to identify and develop more sustainable land management practices and systems for the future.

  8. Valuation of rangeland ecosystem services

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gascoigne, W.R.

    2011-01-01

    Economic valuation lends itself well to the anthropocentric orientation of ecosystem services. An economic perspective on ecosystems portrays them as natural assets providing a flow of goods and services valuable to individuals and society collectively. A few examples include the purification of drinking water, reduced risk from flooding and other extreme events, pollination of agricultural crops, climate regulation, and recreation opportunities from plant and animal habitat maintenance, among many others. Once these goods and services are identified and quantified, they can be monetized to complete the valuation process. The monetization of ecosystem goods and services (in the form of dollars) provides a common metric that allows for cross-comparison of attributes and evaluation of differing ecological scenarios. Complicating the monetization process is the fact that most of these goods and services are public and non-market in nature; meaning they are non-rival and non-exclusive and are typically not sold in a traditional market setting where monetary values are revealed. Instead, one must employ non-market valuation techniques, with primary valuation methods typically being very time and resource consuming, intimidating to non-economists, and often impractical. For these reasons, benefit transfer methods have gained popularity. This methodology harnesses the primary collection results of existing studies to make inferences about the economic values of non-market goods and services at an alternative policy site (in place and/or in time). For instance, if a primary valuation study on oak reestablishment on rangelands in southern California yielded a value of $30 per-acre associated with water regulation, this result can be transferred, with some adjustments, to say something about the value of an acre of oaks on rangelands in northern portions of the state. The economic valuation of rangeland ecosystem services has many roles. Economic values may be used as input

  9. Ecological evaluation of rangeland quality in dry subtropics of Azerbaijan

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gasanova, A. F.

    2014-12-01

    The results of ecological evaluation of soil-landscape complexes of winter rangelands of Gobustan with the use of energy criteria are discussed. The diagnostic characteristics of soil fertility and correction coefficients for the thickness of texture of soil horizons, soil salinization, soil erosion, and microelemental composition of soils have been used to separate the soils of winter rangelands into several quality groups. A larger part of the soils belongs to the medium quality group with the mean weighted quality factor (bonitet) of 52. Special assessment scales have been suggested for the differential ecological assessment and monitoring of the rangelands. In the past 40 years, the area of steppe landscapes has decreased from 22.7 to 12%, whereas the area of semideserts has increased up to 64%. The area of best-quality soils within the studied rangelands had decreased by three times, and their average quality factor has decreased from 92 to 86.

  10. Improving dynamic global vegetation model (DGVM) simulation of western U.S. rangelands vegetation seasonal phenology and productivity

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kerns, B. K.; Kim, J. B.; Day, M. A.; Pitts, B.; Drapek, R. J.

    2017-12-01

    Ecosystem process models are increasingly being used in regional assessments to explore potential changes in future vegetation and NPP due to climate change. We use the dynamic global vegetation model MAPSS-Century 2 (MC2) as one line of evidence for regional climate change vulnerability assessments for the US Forest Service, focusing our fine tuning model calibration from observational sources related to forest vegetation. However, there is much interest in understanding projected changes for arid rangelands in the western US such as grasslands, shrublands, and woodlands. Rangelands provide many ecosystem service benefits and local rural human community sustainability, habitat for threatened and endangered species, and are threatened by annual grass invasion. Past work suggested MC2 performance related to arid rangeland plant functional types (PFT's) was poor, and the model has difficulty distinguishing annual versus perennial grasslands. Our objectives are to increase the model performance for rangeland simulations and explore the potential for splitting the grass plant functional type into annual and perennial. We used the tri-state Blue Mountain Ecoregion as our study area and maps of potential vegetation from interpolated ground data, the National Land Cover Data Database, and ancillary NPP data derived from the MODIS satellite. MC2 historical simulations for the area overestimated woodland occurrence and underestimated shrubland and grassland PFT's. The spatial location of the rangeland PFT's also often did not align well with observational data. While some disagreement may be due to differences in the respective classification rules, the errors are largely linked to MC2's tree and grass biogeography and physiology algorithms. Presently, only grass and forest productivity measures and carbon stocks are used to distinguish PFT's. MC2 grass and tree productivity simulation is problematic, in particular grass seasonal phenology in relation to seasonal patterns

  11. A pathway to a more sustainable water sector: sustainability-based asset management.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Marlow, D R; Beale, D J; Burn, S

    2010-01-01

    The water sectors of many countries are faced with the need to address simultaneously two overarching challenges; the need to undertake effective asset management coupled with the broader need to evolve business processes so as to embrace sustainability principles. Research has thus been undertaken into the role sustainability principles play in asset management. As part of this research, a series of 25 in-depth interviews were undertaken with water sector professionals from around Australia. Drawing on the results of these interviews, this paper outlines the conceptual relationship between asset management and sustainability along with a synthesis of the relevant opinions voiced in the interviews. The interviews indicated that the participating water authorities have made a strong commitment to sustainability, but there is a need to facilitate change processes to embed sustainability principles into business as usual practices. Interviewees also noted that asset management and sustainability are interlinked from a number of perspectives, especially in the way decision making is undertaken with respect to assets and service provision. The interviews also provided insights into the research needed to develop a holistic sustainability-based asset management framework.

  12. Management of Business Transformation to Sustainable Business

    OpenAIRE

    Grunda, Rokas

    2011-01-01

    Having examined the concepts of sustainable business and advantages and disadvantages of business sustainability management models, the objective of the dissertation is to formulate a management model of business transformation to sustainable business and to verify it in present business conditions in Lithuania. In the dissertation, the essence of the concepts of sustainable development and sustainability is characterized, the criteria of sustainable society are distinguished and the concept ...

  13. Comparative Assessment of Goods and Services Provided by Grazing Regulation and Reforestation in Degraded Mediterranean Rangelands

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Papanastasis, Vasilios P.; Bautista, Susana; Chouvardas, Dimitrios; Mantzanas, Konstantinos; Papadimitriou, Maria; Garcia Mayor, Angeles; Koukioumi, Polina; Papaioannou, Athanasios; Vallejo, Ramon V.

    2017-01-01

    Several management actions are applied to restore ecosystem services in degraded Mediterranean rangelands, which range from adjusting the grazing pressure to the removal of grazers and pine plantations. Four such actions were assessed in Quercus coccifera L. shrublands in northern Greece: (i)

  14. Corporate Sustainability Management and Environmental Ethics

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Schuler, Douglas; Rasche, Andreas; Etzion, Dror

    2017-01-01

    This article reviews four key orientations in environmental ethics that range from an instrumental understanding of sustainability to one that acknowledges the intrinsic value of sustainable behavior (i.e., sustainable resource use, conservation and preservation, rights-based perspectives, and deep...... ecology). It then shows that the current scholarly discourse around corporate sustainability management—as reflected in environment management (EM), corporate social responsibility (CSR), and corporate political activity (CPA)—mostly favors an instrumental perspective on sustainability. Sustainable...... business practices are viewed as anthropocentric and are conceptualized as a means to achieve competitive advantage. Based on these observations, we speculate about what corporate sustainability management might look like if it applied ethical orientations that emphasize the intrinsic value of nature...

  15. Study on Rangeland production Potential and its Limitations in the Semi-Arid lands of Northern Kenya

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Keya, G.A.; Hornetz, B.

    1999-01-01

    Results obtained from recent studies focused on rangeland potential as influenced by human activity and climatic factors in the semi-arid and pastoral ecosystems of Northern Kenya indicated great temporal and spatial forage production variability. The objective of the studies was to document the primary production potential in relation to water stress (drought), herbivory and direct human activities. Efforts also focused on finding possibilities of increasing productivity while conserving the finite resources for sustainable use. Laboratory field and numeric methods were employed over several seasons and years. Forb and grass production was more viable than that of the brows (dwarf shrub) layer. Compared to forbs and dwarf shrubs, The grass layer contributed less to the total of production in all seasons, indicating that the region had less potential for grazers compared to browsers. Spatial-temporal variations in rangeland carrying capacity reflected the great spatial heterogeneity in vegetation types and production. Similarly, seasonal difference were very evident, with highest estimates in the long rainy and lowest during the dry and short rainy seasons, respectively. Factors limiting rangeland production potential and were identified to be moisture deficiency, resource-use conflicts, an increasing and partial sedentarised nomadic population, overgrazing, tree felling, and land degradation (desert encroachment). Measures that can increase rangelands production potential and provide a better way of life for the inhabitants of the region include: (a) identification of land degradation (e.g. by means of bio-indicators and Geographical Information systems, GIS); (b) technical interventions (i.e. soil and water conservation,restoration of degraded ares, fodder production); (c)socio-economic interventions (i.e. resolution of resource-use conflicts, alleviation of poverty, infrastructure development, improvement of livestock marketing channels, etc) and (d) continued

  16. Design and management of sustainable built environments

    CERN Document Server

    2013-01-01

    Climate change is believed to be a great challenge to built environment professionals in design and management. An integrated approach in delivering a sustainable built environment is desired by the built environment professional institutions. The aim of this book is to provide an advanced understanding of the key subjects required for the design and management of modern built environments to meet carbon emission reduction targets. In Design and Management of Sustainable Built Environments, an international group of experts provide comprehensive and the most up-to-date knowledge, covering sustainable urban and building design, management and assessment. The best practice case studies of the implementation of sustainable technology and management from the BRE Innovation Park are included. Design and Management of Sustainable Built Environments will be of interest to urban and building designers, environmental engineers, and building performance assessors.  It will be particularly useful as a reference book ...

  17. Very High Resolution Panoramic Photography to Improve Conventional Rangeland Monitoring 1994

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rangeland monitoring often includes repeat photographs as a basis for documentation and although photographic equipment and electronics have been evolving rapidly, basic rangeland photo monitoring methods have changed little over time. Ground based digital photography is underutilized, especially s...

  18. Estimating Rangeland Forage Production Using Remote Sensing Data from a Small Unmanned Aerial System (sUAS)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, H.; Jin, Y.; Devine, S.; Dahlgren, R. A.; Covello, S.; Larsen, R.; O'Geen, A. T.

    2017-12-01

    California rangelands cover 23 million hectares and support a $3.4 billion annual cattle industry. Rangeland forage production varies appreciably from year-to-year and across short distances on the landscape. Spatially explicit and near real-time information on forage production at a high resolution is critical for effective rangeland management, especially during an era of climatic extremes. We here integrated a multispectral MicaSense RedEdge camera with a 3DR solo quad-copter and acquired time-series images during the 2017 growing season over a topographically complex 10-hectare rangeland in San Luis Obispo County, CA. Soil moisture and temperature sensors were installed at 16 landscape positions, and vegetation clippings were collected at 36 plots to quantify forage dry biomass. We built four centimeter-level models for forage production mapping using time series of sUAS images and ground measurements of forage biomass and soil temperature and moisture. The biophysical model based on Monteith's eco-physiological plant growth theory estimated forage production reasonably well with a coefficient of determination (R2) of 0.86 and a root-mean-square error (RMSE) of 424 kg/ha when the soil parameters were included, and a R2 of 0.79 and a RMSE of 510 kg/ha when only remote sensing and topographical variables were included. We built two empirical models of forage production using a stepwise variable selection technique, one with soil variables. Results showed that cumulative absorbed photosynthetically active radiation (APAR) and elevation were the most important variables in both models, explaining more than 40% of the spatio-temporal variance in forage production. Soil moisture accounted for an additional 29% of the variance. Illumination condition was selected as a proxy for soil moisture in the model without soil variables, and accounted for 18% of the variance. We applied the remote sensing-based models to map daily forage production at 30-cm resolution for the

  19. Managing Transportation Infrastructure for Sustainable Development

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Akinyemi, Edward O.; Zuidgeest, M.H.P.

    Major requirements for operationalization of the concept of sustainable development in urban transportation infrastructure operations management are presented. In addition, it is shown that the current approach to management is incompatible with the requirements for sustainable urban development.

  20. Earth stewardship on rangelands: Coping with ecological, economic, and political marginality

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rangelands encompass 30-40 percent of Earth's land surface and support 1-2 billion people. Their predominant use is extensive livestock production by pastoralists and ranchers. But rangelands are characterized by ecological, economic, and political marginality, and higher-value, more intensive land ...

  1. Sustainability in Project Management: Reality Bites

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Gilbert Gilbert Silvius; Ron Schipper; Snezana Nedeski

    2012-01-01

    The relationship between project management and sustainable development is rapidly gaining interest from both practitioners and academics. Studies on the integration of the concepts of sustainability into project management, approach this topic mostly from a conceptual, logical or moral point of

  2. Discussion of submitted posters for Section 2.3 (Rangeland Germplasm Resources)

    Science.gov (United States)

    As part of the IX International Rangeland Congress held in Rosario, Argentina, a total of 70 posters from 17 countries were submitted to Section 2.3 (Rangeland Germplasm Resources). These posters documented research conducted in five major regions of the world: South America, North America, Africa...

  3. Evaluating Structural and Functional Characteristics of Various Ecological Patches in Different Range Conditions (Case Study: Semi -Steppe Rangeland of Aghche-Isfahan

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    F. Jafari

    2015-03-01

    Full Text Available Rangeland condition assessment plays an important role in determining range health and applying appropriate management programs. This study aimed to evaluate the structure and function of a semi-steppe rangeland using Landscape Function Analysis technique (LFA in different land conditions in western Isfahan province, Iran. For this purpose, 4, 3 and 7 sites in different rangeland condition classes including very poor, poor, and moderate were selected respectively. In each site, a 30-meter transect was established and all kinds of patches and inter patches were identified and their lengths and widths were recorded. Also, in each ecological patch, 11 indicators of soil surface characteristics with three replications were measured, and their status was scored according to LFA method. The functionality indices of all the sites including soil stability, infiltration and nutrient cycling were measured. According to the statistical analysis results, most of the structural characteristics (number of patches, patch length, patch area index, landscape organization index and functional indices (infiltration, stability and nutrient cycling status varied significantly (α= 5% between rangeland sites with moderate and very poor condition. The changes of these structural and functional characteristics were not significant between range sites with moderate and poor, and also poor and very poor range conditions. According to the findings of this study, patch types' functionalities did not vary significantly in both rangeland sites with moderate and very poor conditions. The nutrient cycling index in patches formed by ‘forb, shrub and grass’ with poor range condition was significantly more than ‘forb’ and ‘grass’ patches. The study of range site functionality can assist managers in identifying possible ecological thresholds and prioritizing the sub-catchments and vegetation types for implementing range improvement practices.

  4. Sustainability partnerships and viticulture management in California.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hillis, Vicken; Lubell, Mark; Hoffman, Matthew

    2018-07-01

    Agricultural regions in the United States are experimenting with sustainability partnerships that, among other goals, seek to improve growers' ability to manage their vineyards sustainably. In this paper, we analyze the association between winegrape grower participation in sustainability partnership activities and practice adoption in three winegrowing regions of California. Using data gathered from a survey of 822 winegrape growers, we find a positive association between participation and adoption of sustainable practices, which holds most strongly for practices in which the perceived private benefits outweigh the costs, and for growers with relatively dense social networks. We highlight the mechanisms by which partnerships may catalyze sustainable farm management, and discuss the implications of these findings for improving sustainability partnerships. Taken together, we provide one of the most comprehensive quantitative analyses to date regarding the effectiveness of agricultural sustainability partnerships for improving farm management. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  5. Asymmetric ecological and economic responses for rangeland restoration: A case study of tree thickening in Queensland, Australia

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ecological and economic thresholds are important considerations when making decisions about safeguarding or restoring degraded rangelands. When degradation levels have passed a threshold, most managers figure it is either time to take action or too late to take action depending on the particular c...

  6. Towards a sustainable livestock production in developing countries and the importance of animal health strategy therein.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kaasschieter, G A; de Jong, R; Schiere, J B; Zwart, D

    1992-04-01

    Livestock and animal health development projects have not always led to substantial increases in animal productivity or in farmers' welfare. Some have even resulted in unsustainable systems, when they were not based on an understanding of (livestock) production systems. The multipurpose functions of livestock and complex relationships between the biological, technical and social components require a systems approach, whereby nutrition, animal health, breeding, biotechnology knowhow, inputs and technologies are used to optimise resource use. The challenge for developed and developing countries is to reverse the current degradation of the environment, and arrive at sustainable increases in crop and livestock production to secure present and future food supplies. For rural development, governments should show long term commitment and political will to support the rural population in development programmes, because smallholders (including women and landless livestock keepers) represent a large labour force in developing countries. Different systems need different approaches. Pastoral systems must focus on effective management of grazing pressure of the rangelands. Communal rangelands management involves not only the development and application of technologies (e.g. feedlots, vaccination campaigns), but also land tenure policies, institutional development, economic return and a reduction in the number of people depending upon livestock. Smallholder mixed farms must aim at intensification of the total production system, in which external inputs are indispensable, but with the emphasis on optimum input-output relationships by reducing resource losses due to poor management. Resource-poor farming systems must aim at the improved management of the various livestock species in backyards and very small farms, and proper packages for cattle, buffaloes, sheep, goats, rabbits and poultry should be developed. Specialised commercial livestock farming systems (poultry, pigs, dairy

  7. Sustainable operations management: A typological approach

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lawrence Michael Corbett

    2009-07-01

    Full Text Available This paper discusses the nature of sustainability and sustainable development as they relate to operations management. It proposes a typology for sustainable operations management that is based on the life cycle stages of a product and the three dimensions of corporate social responsibility. The aim is to show how this typology development could provide a useful approach to integrating the diverse strands of sustainability in operations, using industrial ecology and carbon neutrality as examples. It does this by providing a focused subset of environmental concerns for an industrial ecology approach, and some research propositions for the issue of carbon neutrality.

  8. 75 FR 33239 - Rangeland Allotment Management Planning on the Fall River West and Oglala Geographic Areas, Fall...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-06-11

    ...The USDA, Forest Service, will prepare an environmental impact statement (EIS) analyzing the management of rangeland vegetation resources, which includes livestock grazing, on the National Forest System (NFS) lands within the Oglala Geographic Area (OGA) of the Oglala National Grassland on the Pine Ridge Ranger District and the West Geographic Area (WGA) of the Buffalo Gap National Grassland on the Fall River Ranger District of the Nebraska National Forest (Analysis Area) areas as mapped by the 2001 Nebraska National Forest Revised Land and Resource Management Plan (Forest Plan). A Notice of Intent (NOI) for this project was published February 22, 2008 (73 No. 36 FR 9760- 9762). More than six months have elapsed since the projected draft environmental impact statement (DEIS) date in that original NOI. This revised NOI is being issued to update the project schedule. There will be a record of decision (ROD) for each geographic area. Proposed management actions would be implemented beginning in the year 2012. The agency gives notice of the full environmental analysis and decision-making process that will occur on the proposal so interested and affected people may become aware of how they may participate in the process and contribute to the final decision.

  9. 25 CFR 163.11 - Forest management planning and sustained yield management.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-04-01

    ... principles of sustained yield management and will not be authorized until practical methods of harvest based on sound economic and silvicultural and other forest management principles have been prescribed... period in the future. Forest management plans shall be based on the principle of sustained yield...

  10. Comparing Sustainable Forest Management Certifications Standards: A Meta-analysis

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Michael Rawson. Clark

    2011-03-01

    Full Text Available To solve problems caused by conventional forest management, forest certification has emerged as a driver of sustainable forest management. Several sustainable forest management certification systems exist, including the Forest Stewardship Council and those endorsed by the Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification, such as the Canadian Standards Association - Sustainable Forestry Management Standard CAN/CSA - Z809 and Sustainable Forestry Initiative. For consumers to use certified products to meet their own sustainability goals, they must have an understanding of the effectiveness of different certification systems. To understand the relative performance of three systems, we determined: (1 the criteria used to compare the Forest Stewardship Council, Canadian Standards Association - Sustainable Forestry Management, and Sustainable Forestry Initiative, (2 if consensus exists regarding their ability to achieve sustainability goals, and (3 what research gaps must be filled to improve our understanding of how forest certification systems affect sustainable forest management. We conducted a qualitative meta-analysis of 26 grey literature references (books, industry and nongovernmental organization publications and 9 primary literature references (articles in peer-reviewed academic journals that compared at least two of the aforementioned certification systems. The Forest Stewardship Council was the highest performer for ecological health and social sustainable forest management criteria. The Canadian Standards Association - Sustainable Forestry Management and Sustainable Forestry Initiative performed best under sustainable forest management criteria of forest productivity and economic longevity of a firm. Sixty-two percent of analyses were comparisons of the wording of certification system principles or criteria; 34% were surveys of foresters or consumers. An important caveat to these results is that only one comparison was based on

  11. Contradictions Between Risk Management and Sustainable Development

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Olsen, Odd Einar; Langhelle, Oluf; Engen, Ole A.

    2006-01-01

    The aim of this paper is to discuss how risk management as a methodology and mindset influence on priorities and decisions concerning sustainable development. Management of risks and hazards often rely on partial analysis with a limited time frame. This may lead to a paradoxical situation where risk management and extended use of risk analysis could hamper long term sustainable development. The question is: Does the use of risk and vulnerability analysis (RaV-analysis) hamper or contribute to sustainable development? Because risk management and assessment has a more narrow scope and a limited time perspective based on well established methodologies, the tangible impacts of risk reducing measures in a project is easier to calculate than long-term and intangible impacts on global development. Empirical evidence is still scarce, but our preliminary conclusion is that mainstream risk management and assessments is counterproductive to sustainable development

  12. Contradictions Between Risk Management and Sustainable Development

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Olsen, Odd Einar; Langhelle, Oluf; Engen, Ole A. [Univ. of Stavanger (Norway). Dept. of Media, Culture and Social Science

    2006-09-15

    The aim of this paper is to discuss how risk management as a methodology and mindset influence on priorities and decisions concerning sustainable development. Management of risks and hazards often rely on partial analysis with a limited time frame. This may lead to a paradoxical situation where risk management and extended use of risk analysis could hamper long term sustainable development. The question is: Does the use of risk and vulnerability analysis (RaV-analysis) hamper or contribute to sustainable development? Because risk management and assessment has a more narrow scope and a limited time perspective based on well established methodologies, the tangible impacts of risk reducing measures in a project is easier to calculate than long-term and intangible impacts on global development. Empirical evidence is still scarce, but our preliminary conclusion is that mainstream risk management and assessments is counterproductive to sustainable development.

  13. Improving Field-Based Experimental Research to Compliment Contemporary Management

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rangeland management has long been described as both a science and an art (Stoddart et al. 1975). Certainly, the management of rangeland resources, especially during the last half of the 20th century, can be characterized as practices commonly informed by science. There are a number of management...

  14. Grazing exclusion, substrate type, and drought frequency affect plant community structure in rangelands of the arid unpredictable Arabian Deserts

    Science.gov (United States)

    El-Keblawy, Ali; El-Sheikh, Mohamed

    2017-04-01

    Grazing and drought can adversely affect the ecology and management of rangeland ecosystems. Several management actions have been applied to restore species diversity and community structure in degraded rangelands of the unpredictable arid environment. Protection from grazing is considered as a proper approach for restoration of degraded rangelands, but this depends on substrate type and sometime is hindered with water deficiency (drought). In this study, the effect of protection from grazing animals on species diversity and plant community structure was assessed after a dry and wet periods in both sandy and gravelly substrates in the Dubai Desert Conservation reserve (DDCR), United Arab Emirates. Two sites were selected during November 2012 on the two substrate types (fixed sandy flat and gravel plain) in the arid DDCR. An enclosure was established in each site. Plant community attributes (plant cover, density, frequency, species composition, and diversity indices) were assessed in a number of permanent plots laid inside and outside each enclosure during November 2012, April 2014 and April 2016. The results showed that protection improved clay content, but decreased the organic matters. Interestingly, the protection reduced the concentrations of most estimated nutrients, which could be attributed to the high turnover rate of nutrients associated grazing and low decomposition of accumulated dry plants of non-protected sites. Protection significantly increased all plant community attributes, but the only significant effect was for plant density. Plant density was almost twice greater inside than outside the enclosures. During the dry period, protection resulted in significantly greater deterioration in cover, density and all diversity indices in gravel, compared to sandy sites. Most of the grasses and shrubby plants had died in the gravel plains. However, plant community of the gravel plains was significantly restored after receiving considerable rainfalls. The

  15. OPTIMAL CONTROL THEORY FOR SUSTAINABLE ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT

    Science.gov (United States)

    With growing world population, diminishing resources, and realization of the harmful effects of various pollutants, research focus in environmental management has shifted towards sustainability. The goal of a sustainable management strategy is to promote the structure and operati...

  16. Assessment of water resource potential for common use of cow and goat by GIS (Case study: Boroujerd Rangeland, Sarab Sefid, Iran)

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ariapour, A; Karami, K; Sadr, A

    2014-01-01

    One of the most important factors to sustainability utilization of natural potential by rangeland grazing suitability is water resources suitability. This study is a model for quantitative, qualitative and spatial distance assessment of water resource's propriety for goat and cow grazing based on geographic information systems (GIS) in Boroujerd Sarab Sefid rangeland, Lorestan province, Iran 2013. In this research from combining three factors such as quantity, quality and water resource's distances; the final model of degree of propriety of water resources for goat and cow grazing is characterized. Results showed that slope factor was the reason of limitation, and it is considered as a limiting factor in propriety of water resources, so in terms of access to water resources for goat grazing, 4856.4 ha (100%) located in S1 classes and for cow grazing, 4023.14 ha (68.6%) located in S1(suitability) classes, 1,187 ha (20.24%) in S2 classes and 654.8 ha (11.16%) located in S3 classes, respectively for both. So according to the results the rangelands in this region are most suitable for goat because of terrain and weather but this, in combination with, cow hasbandry will allow diversity of economic production and stability of incomes

  17. Fodder Biomass Monitoring in Sahelian Rangelands Using Phenological Metrics from FAPAR Time Series

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Abdoul Aziz Diouf

    2015-07-01

    Full Text Available Timely monitoring of plant biomass is critical for the management of forage resources in Sahelian rangelands. The estimation of annual biomass production in the Sahel is based on a simple relationship between satellite annual Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI and in situ biomass data. This study proposes a new methodology using multi-linear models between phenological metrics from the SPOT-VEGETATION time series of Fraction of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (FAPAR and in situ biomass. A model with three variables—large seasonal integral (LINTG, length of growing season, and end of season decreasing rate—performed best (MAE = 605 kg·DM/ha; R2 = 0.68 across Sahelian ecosystems in Senegal (data for the period 1999–2013. A model with annual maximum (PEAK and start date of season showed similar performances (MAE = 625 kg·DM/ha; R2 = 0.64, allowing a timely estimation of forage availability. The subdivision of the study area in ecoregions increased overall accuracy (MAE = 489.21 kg·DM/ha; R2 = 0.77, indicating that a relation between metrics and ecosystem properties exists. LINTG was the main explanatory variable for woody rangelands with high leaf biomass, whereas for areas dominated by herbaceous vegetation, it was the PEAK metric. The proposed approach outperformed the established biomass NDVI-based product (MAE = 818 kg·DM/ha and R2 = 0.51 and should improve the operational monitoring of forage resources in Sahelian rangelands.

  18. Delivering Sustainable Facilities Management in Danish Housing Estates

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Nielsen, Susanne Balslev; Jensen, Jesper Ole; Jensen, Per Anker

    2009-01-01

    Housing plays a central role in sustainable development due to large resource consumption and as transition agent towards sustainable lifestyles. The aim is to evaluate current practice of housing administration in Denmark in order to evaluate if and how sustainable facilities management is suppo......Housing plays a central role in sustainable development due to large resource consumption and as transition agent towards sustainable lifestyles. The aim is to evaluate current practice of housing administration in Denmark in order to evaluate if and how sustainable facilities management...... is supporting social, economical and environmental sustainable development. Sustainable facility management (SFM) is as an 'umbrella' for various ways of reducing flows of energy, water and waste in the daily operation of the buildings, for instance by regular monitoring the consumption, by using 'green......-setting including the ownership of the building, the organisation of daily operation, the roles and relation between stakeholders are equally important in order to utilise the monitoring as a mean for transformation towards sustainable buildings and lifestyles....

  19. Managing for Sustainable Development Impact

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Kusters, C.S.L.; Batjes, Karen; Wigboldus, S.A.; Brouwers, J.H.A.M.; Dickson Baguma, Sylvester

    2017-01-01

    This guide is about managing development initiatives and organizations towardssustainable development impact. It builds on the work of Guijt and Woodhill inthe 2002 IFAD publication Managing for Impact in Rural Development: A Guide for Project M&E. Since then, the managing for sustainable

  20. Plant/life form considerations in the rangeland hydrology and erosion model (RHEM)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Resilience of rangeland to erosion has largely been attributed to adequate plant cover; however, plant life/growth form, and individual species presence can have a dramatic effect on hydrologic and erosion dynamics on rangelands. Plant life/growth form refers to genetic tendency of a plant to grow i...

  1. Stakeholder Thinking in Sustainability Management

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Gjerdrum Pedersen, Esben Rahbek; Hove Henriksen, Morten; Frier, Claus

    2013-01-01

    Purpose – The objective of the paper is to describe and discuss how the biotech company Novozymes integrates stakeholder thinking into everyday sustainability practices. Design/methodology/approach – The paper is based on first-hand experiences as well as secondary information from Novozymes' sta...... to make sense of stakeholder thinking. Originality/value – The contribution of this paper is to provide a detailed analysis of how various stakeholder relations management methods can be used in practice to integrate sustainability in an organisation.......' stakeholder-oriented sustainability activities. Findings – The paper illustrates how a company is striving to transform the general stakeholder principles into concrete, manageable actions. Moreover, the paper describes some of the needs, challenges, and paradoxes experienced by an organisation that is trying...

  2. Study on National Sustainable Development Strategy Management Based on Stakeholders Management Theory

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    Chen Huarong; Wang Xiaoming

    2012-01-01

    Based on the stakeholders management theory, this pa- per provides a new strategic management method for the National Sustainable Development Strategy. By taking China's National Sustainable Development Strategy Management as an example, this paper identifies all the stakeholders involved and then as- sesses stakeholders from two dimensions, namely "Importance" and "Attitude", by which all of the stakeholders are divided into six categories. On this basis, further analysis is made to work out strategic management programme by scheduling the strate- gic emphases, steps and management countermeasures for dif- ferent types of stakeholders so as to provide theortical evidence for the practice of National Sustainable Developnent Strategy management.

  3. Climate change and North American rangelands: Assessment of mitigation and adaptation strategies

    Science.gov (United States)

    Linda A. Joyce; David D. Briske; Joel R. Brown; H. Wayne Polley; Bruce A. McCarl; Derek W. Bailey

    2013-01-01

    Recent climatic trends and climate model projections indicate that climate change will modify rangeland ecosystem functions and the services and livelihoods that they provision. Recent history has demonstrated that climatic variability has a strong influence on both ecological and social components of rangeland systems and that these systems possess substantial...

  4. The sustainable project management: A review and future possibilities

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    V.K. Chawla

    2018-06-01

    Full Text Available Sustainability in project operations such as financial, social and environmental sustainability is one of the most prominent issues of the present times to address. The increased focus on sus-tainable business operations has changed the viewpoint of researchers and corporate community towards the project management. Today sustainability in business operations along with sustain-ability of natural and environmental resources are of paramount significance which has further caused a huge impact on conception, planning, scheduling and execution of the project manage-ment activities. In this paper, a literature review between 1987 and 2018 on different issues af-fecting the sustainability in project management is carried out. The present study also identifies and discusses the future possibilities to apply computational procedures in order to estimate and optimize the sustainability issues in the management of projects, for example the computational evolutionary algorithms can be applied to formulate the multi-objective decision-making problem after considering critical factors of sustainability in the projects and then yielding optimized solu-tions for the formulated problem to achieve sustainability in the projects. A new integrated framework with the inclusion of feedback function for assessment of each decision and actions taken towards the sustainability of the projects is also identified and presented.

  5. Managing Natural Resources for Sustainable Livelihoods: Uniting ...

    International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Digital Library (Canada)

    2003-07-31

    Jul 31, 2003 ... Management of local resources has a greater chance of a ... Managing Natural Resources for Sustainable Livelihoods: Uniting Science and Participation ... innovative approaches for establishing and sustaining participation and ... A new IDRC-supported project will help improve water conservation and ...

  6. Incorporating biodiversity into rangeland health: Plant species richness and diversity in great plains grasslands

    Science.gov (United States)

    Symstad, Amy J.; Jonas, Jayne L.

    2011-01-01

    Indicators of rangeland health generally do not include a measure of biodiversity. Increasing attention to maintaining biodiversity in rangelands suggests that this omission should be reconsidered, and plant species richness and diversity are two metrics that may be useful and appropriate. Ideally, their response to a variety of anthropogenic and natural drivers in the ecosystem of interest would be clearly understood, thereby providing a means to diagnose the cause of decline in an ecosystem. Conceptual ecological models based on ecological principles and hypotheses provide a framework for this understanding, but these models must be supported by empirical evidence if they are to be used for decision making. To that end, we synthesize results from published studies regarding the responses of plant species richness and diversity to drivers that are of management concern in Great Plains grasslands, one of North America's most imperiled ecosystems. In the published literature, moderate grazing generally has a positive effect on these metrics in tallgrass prairie and a neutral to negative effect in shortgrass prairie. The largest published effects on richness and diversity were caused by moderate grazing in tallgrass prairies and nitrogen fertilization in shortgrass prairies. Although weather is often cited as the reason for considerable annual fluctuations in richness and diversity, little information about the responses of these metrics to weather is available. Responses of the two metrics often diverged, reflecting differences in their sensitivity to different types of changes in the plant community. Although sufficient information has not yet been published for these metrics to meet all the criteria of a good indicator in Great Plains Grasslands, augmenting current methods of evaluating rangeland health with a measure of plant species richness would reduce these shortcomings and provide information critical to managing for biodiversity.

  7. Sustainability Management in Agribusiness: Challenges, Concepts, Responsibilities and Performance

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nina Friedrich

    2012-12-01

    Full Text Available The idea of sustainable management has recently gained growing attention in the agribusiness sector. This is mainly due to a widespread discontent with the industrialization of agricultural production and food processing and growing public pressure on agribusiness firms to implement more sustainable management practices. In this paper we present the results of an explorative empirical study of sustainability management in German agribusiness firms. The study shows that agribusiness firms have developed a broad understanding of sustainability management and perceive a multi-facetted spectrum of societal demands they have to meet. The most important arguments for implementing more sustainable management practices are that companies have to make sure that they are trusted by society in the long run and that the perception of a company by external stakeholders has become more and more important. The companies surveyed know quite a number of sustainability programmes and standards, but the number of companies that actually participate in these initiatives is much smaller. Nonetheless, the majority of the respondents feels that their company is more successful with regard to sustainability management than industry average.

  8. Sustainable Management of Food

    Science.gov (United States)

    To provide information to organizations to help them implement sustainable food management, including joining the Food Recovery Challenge. To provide education and information to communities and concerned citizens.

  9. Sustaining self-management in diabetes mellitus.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mitchell-Brown, Fay

    2014-01-01

    Successful management of diabetes depends on the individual's ability to manage and control symptoms. Self-management of diabetes is believed to play a significant role in achieving positive outcomes for patients. Adherence to self-management behaviors supports high-quality care, which reduces and delays disease complications, resulting in improved quality of life. Because self-management is so important to diabetes management and involves a lifelong commitment for all patients, health care providers should actively promote ways to maintain and sustain behavior change that support adherence to self-management. A social ecological model of behavior change (McLeroy, Bibeau, Steckler, & Glanz, 1988) helps practitioners provide evidence-based care and optimizes patients' clinical outcomes. This model supports self-management behaviors through multiple interacting interventions that can help sustain behavior change. Diabetes is a complex chronic disease; successful management must use multiple-level interventions.

  10. Managing Natural Resources for Sustainable Livelihoods: Uniting ...

    International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Digital Library (Canada)

    31 juil. 2003 ... Management of local resources has a greater chance of a sustainable outcome when there is partnership between local people and external agencies, and agendas relevant to their aspirations and circumstances. Managing Natural Resources for Sustainable Livelihoods analyses and extends this premise ...

  11. Determining grazing capacity in Namibia with the aid of remote ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    The Namibian rangelands consist of a mixture of herbaceous and woody components. The main source of income is from farming systems with grass production the predominant source of forage. For rangeland managers to utilise this source sustainably, the accurate determination of grazing capacity is vital since it allows ...

  12. Towards Sustainable Flow Management: Local Agenda 21 - Conclusions

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Moss, Timothy; Elle, Morten

    1998-01-01

    Concluding on the casestudies of Local Agenda 21 as an instrument of sustainable flow management......Concluding on the casestudies of Local Agenda 21 as an instrument of sustainable flow management...

  13. Sustainable Flow Management in a Danish Perspective

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Elle, Morten

    1998-01-01

    The paper discusses the basic results of the Sustainable Flow Management project in relation to future planning of energy and resource flows in municipalities......The paper discusses the basic results of the Sustainable Flow Management project in relation to future planning of energy and resource flows in municipalities...

  14. Toward A Science of Sustainable Water Management

    Science.gov (United States)

    Brown, C.

    2016-12-01

    Societal need for improved water management and concerns for the long-term sustainability of water resources systems are prominent around the world. The continued susceptibility of society to the harmful effects of hydrologic variability, pervasive concerns related to climate change and the emergent awareness of devastating effects of current practice on aquatic ecosystems all illustrate our limited understanding of how water ought to be managed in a dynamic world. The related challenges of resolving the competition for freshwater among competing uses (so called "nexus" issues) and adapting water resources systems to climate change are prominent examples of the of sustainable water management challenges. In addition, largely untested concepts such as "integrated water resources management" have surfaced as Sustainable Development Goals. In this presentation, we argue that for research to improve water management, and for practice to inspire better research, a new focus is required, one that bridges disciplinary barriers between the water resources research focus on infrastructure planning and management, and the role of human actors, and geophysical sciences community focus on physical processes in the absence of dynamical human response. Examples drawn from climate change adaptation for water resource systems and groundwater management policy provide evidence of initial progress towards a science of sustainable water management that links improved physical understanding of the hydrological cycle with the socioeconomic and ecological understanding of water and societal interactions.

  15. Sustainable energy management - a prerequisite for the realization Kyoto Protocol

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mirjana Golušin

    2012-07-01

    Full Text Available Energy management can be defined as the process of planning, directing, implementing and controlling the process of generation, transmission and energy consumption. Energy management is a kind of synthesis of phenomena and concepts of modern energy management (management, or the use of modern settings management in the energy sector. Furthermore, when outlining the basic settings for power management Modern management is based on the assumptions of sustainability and conservation of energy stability for present and future generations. Therefore, modern energy management can be seen as a kind of synthesis of three actuarial sciences: energy, sustainable development and management. Sustainable Energy Management is a unique new concept, idea and approach that require many changes in the traditional way of understanding and interpretation of energy management at all levels. Sustainable energy management concept can not therefore be construed as an adopted and defined the concept, but must be constantly modified and adjusted in accordance with changes in the three areas that define it, and in accordance with the specific country or region where applicable. Accordingly, sustainable energy management can be defined as the process of energy management that is based on fundamental principles of sustainable development.

  16. Modeling Factors with Influence on Sustainable University Management

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Oana Dumitrascu

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available The main objective of this paper is to present the factors with influence on the sustainable university management and the relationships between them. In the scientific approach we begin from a graphical model, according to which the extracurricular activities together with internal environmental factors influence students’ involvement in such activities, the university attractiveness, their academic performance and their integration into the socially-economic and natural environment (components related with sustainable development. The model emphasizes that individual performances, related to students’ participation in extracurricular activities, have a positive influence on the sustainability of university management. The results of the study have shown that the university sustainability may be influenced by a number of factors, such as students’ performance, students’ involvement in extracurricular activities or university’s attractiveness and can in turn influence implicitly also the sustainability of university management. The originality of the paper consists in the relationships study using the modeling method in general and informatics tools of modeling in particular, as well as through graphical visualization of some influences, on the sustainability university management.

  17. Current stage of the restoration of Chernozems in rangeland ecosystems of the steppe zone

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rusanov, A. M.

    2015-06-01

    The results of two rounds of soil and geobotanic surveys of rangeland ecosystems in the steppe zone are presented. The same sites with southern chernozems (Calcic Chernozems) under steppe plant communities at different stages of pasture degradation were investigated at the end of the 1980s, when they suffered maximum anthropogenic loads, and in 2011-2013, after a long period of relative rest. In the 1980s, degradation of soil physical properties in rangeland ecosystems under the impact of long-term unsustainable management was noted. At the same time, it was found that the major qualitative and quantitative properties of humus in the chernozems were preserved independently from the level of pasture degradation. The following period of moderate grazing pressure had a favorable effect on the soil properties. Owing to the good characteristics of the soil humus, the restoration of the physical properties of chernozems-including their structural state, water permeability, and bulk density-took place in a relatively short period. It is argued that the soil bulk density is a natural regulator of the species composition of steppe vegetation, because true grasses (Poaceae)-typical representatives of the steppe flora-have a fibrous root system requiring the soils with low density values. The improvement of the properties of chernozems is related to the development of secondary ecosystems with a higher portion of grasses in place of damaged rangelands and to the increase in the area of nominal virgin phytocenoses.

  18. Management innovation driving sustainable supply management

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Koster, Mieneke; Vos, Bart; Schroeder, Roger

    2017-01-01

    Although research in the area of sustainable supply management (SSM) has evolved over the past few decades, knowledge about the processes of emergence and innovation of SSM practices within organizations is surprisingly limited. These innovation processes are, however, important because of the

  19. Sustainability assessment in forest management based on individual preferences.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Martín-Fernández, Susana; Martinez-Falero, Eugenio

    2018-01-15

    This paper presents a methodology to elicit the preferences of any individual in the assessment of sustainable forest management at the stand level. The elicitation procedure was based on the comparison of the sustainability of pairs of forest locations. A sustainability map of the whole territory was obtained according to the individual's preferences. Three forest sustainability indicators were pre-calculated for each point in a study area in a Scots pine forest in the National Park of Sierra de Guadarrama in the Madrid Region in Spain to obtain the best management plan with the sustainability map. We followed a participatory process involving fifty people to assess the sustainability of the forest management and the methodology. The results highlighted the demand for conservative forest management, the usefulness of the methodology for managers, and the importance and necessity of incorporating stakeholders into forestry decision-making processes. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  20. Restoring Degraded Rangelands in Jordan: Optimizing Mechanized Micro-Water Harvesting Technique Using Rangeland Hydrology and Erosion Model (RHEM)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Continuous population growth, recent refugee movement and migration as well as boundary restrictions and their implications on the nomadic lifestyle are additive pressure on rangelands throughout the Middle East. In particular, overgrazing through increased livestock herds threatens the Jordanian ra...

  1. Important features of Sustainable Aggregate Resource Management

    Science.gov (United States)

    Solar, Slavko V.; Shields, Deborah J.; Langer, William H.

    2004-01-01

    Every society, whether developed, developing or in a phase of renewal following governmental change, requires stable, adequate and secure supplies of natural resources. In the latter case, there could be significant need for construction materials for rebuilding infrastructure, industrial capacity, and housing. It is essential that these large-volume materials be provided in a rational manner that maximizes their societal contribution and minimizes environmental impacts. We describe an approach to resource management based on the principles of sustainable developed. Sustainable Aggregate Resource Management offers a way of addressing the conflicting needs and interests of environmental, economic, and social systems. Sustainability is an ethics based concept that utilizes science and democratic processes to reach acceptable agreements and tradeoffs among interests, while acknowledging the fundamental importance of the environment and social goods. We discuss the features of sustainable aggregate resource management.

  2. Important Features of Sustainable Aggregate Resource Management

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Slavko V. Šolar

    2004-06-01

    Full Text Available Every society, whether developed, developing or in a phase of renewal following governmental change, requires stable, adequate and secure supplies of natural resources. In the latter case, there could be significant need for construction materials for rebuilding infrastructure, industrial capacity, and housing. It is essential that these large-volume materials be provided in a rational manner that maximizes their societal contribution and minimizes environmental impacts. We describe an approach to resource management based on the principles of sustainable development. Sustainable Aggregate Resource Management offers a way of addressing the conflicting needs and interests of environmental, economic, and social systems. Sustainability is an ethics based concept that utilizes science and democratic processes to reach acceptable agreements and tradeoffs among interests, while acknowledging the fundamental importance of the environment and social goods. We discuss the features of sustainable aggregate resource management.

  3. Sustainable forest management in Serbia: State and potentials

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Medarević Milan

    2008-01-01

    Full Text Available Starting from the internationally adopted definition of sustainable forest management, this paper points to the demands of sustainable forest management that can be satisfied by meeting the definite assumptions. The first part presents the objectives of forest and woodland management planning and utilisation, hunting management, and protection of protected areas, as well as the all-inclusive compatible goals of forest policy in Serbia. The second part presents the analysis of the present state of forests in Serbia, in relation to the Pan-European criteria for the assessment of sustainability, and the potentials of our forests to meet all the demands.

  4. Resource analysis of the Chinese society 1980-2002 based on exergy-Part 4: Fishery and rangeland

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chen, B.; Chen, G.Q.

    2007-01-01

    This fourth part is the continuation of the third part on agricultural products. The major fishery and rangeland products entering the Chinese society from 1980 to 2002 are calculated and analyzed in detail in this paper. The aquatic production, mainly relying on freshwater and seawater breeding, Enhancement policy of fishery resources, including closed fishing season system, construction of artificial fish reefs and ecological fish breeding, etc., is discussed in detail. The degradation of the major rangeland areas, hay yields and intake rangeland resources by the livestock, are also described associated with the strategic adjustment and comprehensive program to protect rangeland resources during the study period

  5. Sustainability and the facilities management in Malaysia

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Asbollah Asra Zaliza

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available Facilities Management (FM in the industry of environment involves numerous expertise, especially from the management side. Other than that, technology and finance are the other factors involved as well. One essential aspect of FM, other than the emphasis on technical operation, is its performance. In parallel, the performance does impact occupant behaviour and, at the same time, this performance does affect the environment. In short, this indicates that FM is in a key position to participate in delivering a sustainable environment for the industry of built environment. Sustainable facilities Management (SFM is crucial because buildings consume more resources which will, in consequence, negatively impact the environment and generate large amounts of waste. This justifies the importance of sustainability under the umbrella of facilities management. However, FM is quite new in Malaysia’s environment. Government agencies, such as JKR, have adopted and are practicing FM at the moment. Fortunately, there has been an increasing trend and awareness of SFM adoption. Therefore, this paper aims to understand and identify the contribution and practices of Sustainable Facilities Management (SFM in Malaysia; focusing on the development taken in regards to SFM.

  6. Sustainability in Supply Chain Management: Aggregate Planning from Sustainability Perspective.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Türkay, Metin; Saraçoğlu, Öztürk; Arslan, Mehmet Can

    2016-01-01

    Supply chain management that considers the flow of raw materials, products and information has become a focal issue in modern manufacturing and service systems. Supply chain management requires effective use of assets and information that has far reaching implications beyond satisfaction of customer demand, flow of goods, services or capital. Aggregate planning, a fundamental decision model in supply chain management, refers to the determination of production, inventory, capacity and labor usage levels in the medium term. Traditionally standard mathematical programming formulation is used to devise the aggregate plan so as to minimize the total cost of operations. However, this formulation is purely an economic model that does not include sustainability considerations. In this study, we revise the standard aggregate planning formulation to account for additional environmental and social criteria to incorporate triple bottom line consideration of sustainability. We show how these additional criteria can be appended to traditional cost accounting in order to address sustainability in aggregate planning. We analyze the revised models and interpret the results on a case study from real life that would be insightful for decision makers.

  7. Sustainability in Supply Chain Management: Aggregate Planning from Sustainability Perspective

    Science.gov (United States)

    Türkay, Metin; Saraçoğlu, Öztürk; Arslan, Mehmet Can

    2016-01-01

    Supply chain management that considers the flow of raw materials, products and information has become a focal issue in modern manufacturing and service systems. Supply chain management requires effective use of assets and information that has far reaching implications beyond satisfaction of customer demand, flow of goods, services or capital. Aggregate planning, a fundamental decision model in supply chain management, refers to the determination of production, inventory, capacity and labor usage levels in the medium term. Traditionally standard mathematical programming formulation is used to devise the aggregate plan so as to minimize the total cost of operations. However, this formulation is purely an economic model that does not include sustainability considerations. In this study, we revise the standard aggregate planning formulation to account for additional environmental and social criteria to incorporate triple bottom line consideration of sustainability. We show how these additional criteria can be appended to traditional cost accounting in order to address sustainability in aggregate planning. We analyze the revised models and interpret the results on a case study from real life that would be insightful for decision makers. PMID:26807848

  8. Sustainable Capture: Concepts for Managing Stream-Aquifer Systems.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Davids, Jeffrey C; Mehl, Steffen W

    2015-01-01

    Most surface water bodies (i.e., streams, lakes, etc.) are connected to the groundwater system to some degree so that changes to surface water bodies (either diversions or importations) can change flows in aquifer systems, and pumping from an aquifer can reduce discharge to, or induce additional recharge from streams, springs, and lakes. The timescales of these interactions are often very long (decades), making sustainable management of these systems difficult if relying only on observations of system responses. Instead, management scenarios are often analyzed based on numerical modeling. In this paper we propose a framework and metrics that can be used to relate the Theis concepts of capture to sustainable measures of stream-aquifer systems. We introduce four concepts: Sustainable Capture Fractions, Sustainable Capture Thresholds, Capture Efficiency, and Sustainable Groundwater Storage that can be used as the basis for developing metrics for sustainable management of stream-aquifer systems. We demonstrate their utility on a hypothetical stream-aquifer system where pumping captures both streamflow and discharge to phreatophytes at different amounts based on pumping location. In particular, Capture Efficiency (CE) can be easily understood by both scientists and non-scientist alike, and readily identifies vulnerabilities to sustainable stream-aquifer management when its value exceeds 100%. © 2014, National Ground Water Association.

  9. Incorporating permaculture and strategic management for sustainable ecological resource management.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Akhtar, Faiza; Lodhi, Suleman A; Khan, Safdar Shah; Sarwar, Farhana

    2016-09-01

    Utilization of natural assets to the best efficient level without changing natural balance has become a critical issue for researchers as awareness on climate change takes central position in global debate. Conventional sustainable resource management systems are based on neoclassical economic approach that ignores the nature's pattern and therefore are not actually capable of sustainable management of resources. Environmentalists are lately advocating incorporation of Permaculture as holistic approach based on ethics, equitable interaction with eco-systems to obtain sustainability. The paper integrates philosophy of permaculture with strategic management frameworks to develop a pragmatic tool for policy development. The policy design tool augments management tasks by integrating recording of natural assets, monitoring of key performance indicators and integration of sectorial policies in real time, bringing out policy as a truly live document. The tool enhances the edifice process, balancing short term viewpoints and long term development to secure renewability of natural resources. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  10. Sustainable mining management

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tejera Oliver, J. L.

    2009-01-01

    Mining activities are carried out by the older man and have provided resources, since ancient times, for their development and progress. With the discovery of fire will show the first metals that have marked the civilizations of copper, bronze and iron, and is the prehistory of the Stone Age tools that man has made from the exploitation of quarries first. The industrial revolution of the nineteenth century is linked to coal and steel, and could not conceiver of todays society without oil and gas, without silicon and coltan. But the mines are often aggressive and, despite their need and what they contribute to the development are answered by the societies where are made. during recent years there has been growing international efforts to try to make the minimum requirements of sustainable exploitation (European Directives, GMI, GRI, etc.) In AENOR, and within the Technical Committee of Standardization 22 Mining and Explosives, chaired by AITEMIN, was established the subcommittee 3, chaired by IGME, where, with the participation of all stake holders, have developed some standards on sustainable mining management sustainable mining that will be a tool available to mining companies to demonstrate their sustainable use to Society. (Author)

  11. Sustainable Forest Management in Cameroon Needs More than Approved Forest Management Plans

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Paolo Omar. Cerutti

    2008-12-01

    Full Text Available One of the main objectives of the 1994 Cameroonian forestry law is to improve the management of production forests by including minimum safeguards for sustainability into compulsory forest management plans. As of 2007, about 3.5 million hectares (60% of the productive forests are harvested following the prescriptions of 49 approved management plans. The development and implementation of these forest management plans has been interpreted by several international organizations as long awaited evidence that sustainable management is applied to production forests in Cameroon. Recent reviews of some plans have concluded, however, that their quality was inadequate. This paper aims at taking these few analyses further by assessing the actual impacts that approved management plans have had on sustainability and harvesting of commercial species. We carry out an assessment of the legal framework, highlighting a fundamental flaw, and a thorough comparison between data from approved management plans and timber production data. Contrary to the principles adhered to by the 1994 law, we find that the government has not yet succeeded in implementing effective minimum sustainability safeguards and that, in 2006, 68% of the timber production was still carried out as though no improved management rules were in place. The existence of a number of approved management plans cannot be used a proxy for proof of improved forest management.

  12. Invasive Plants on Rangelands: a Global Threat

    Science.gov (United States)

    Invasive plant species are spreading and invading rangelands at an unprecedented rate costing ranchers billions of dollars to control invasive plants each year. In its simplest form, the invasion process has four primary stages, including introduction, establishment, spread and colonization. Th...

  13. An Application of BLM's Riparian Inventory Procedure to Rangeland Riparian Resources in the Kern and Kaweah River Watersheds

    Science.gov (United States)

    Patricia Gradek; Lawrence Saslaw; Steven Nelson

    1989-01-01

    The Bakersfield District of the Bureau of Land Management conducted an inventory of rangeland riparian systems using a new method developed by a Bureau-wide task force to inventory, monitor and classify riparian areas. Data on vegetation composition were collected for 65 miles of streams and entered into a hierarchical vegetation classification system. Ratings of...

  14. Is environmental management an economically sustainable business?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gotschol, Antje; De Giovanni, Pietro; Esposito Vinzi, Vincenzo

    2014-11-01

    This paper investigates whether environmental management is an economically sustainable business. While firms invest in green production and green supply chain activities with the primary purpose of reducing their environmental impact, the reciprocal relationships with economic performance need to be clarified. Would firms and suppliers adjust their environmental strategies if the higher economic value that environmental management generates is reinvested in greening actions? We found out that environmental management positively influences economic performance as second order (long term) target, to be reached conditioned by higher environmental performance; in addition, firms can increase their performance if they reinvest the higher economic value gained through environmental management in green practices: While investing in environmental management programs is a short term strategy, economic rewards can be obtained only with some delays. Consequently, environmental management is an economically sustainable business only for patient firms. In the evaluation of these reciprocal relationships, we discovered that green supply chain initiatives are more effective and more economically sustainable than internal actions. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  15. Nordic Management and Sustainable Business

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Preuss, Bjørn

    2017-01-01

    of the Nordics and from that wants to answer if this management approach fosters a sustainable business culture. For defining the management and cultural approach applied in Nordic companies, the method of text mining in relation with machine learning will be used. Among European companies, the Nordic companies...

  16. Sustainability issues for resource managers.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Daniel L. Bottom; Gordon H. Reeves; Martha H. Brookes

    1996-01-01

    Throughout their history, conservation science and sustainable-yield management have failed to maintain the productivity of living resources. Repeated overexploitation of economic species, loss of biological diversity, and degradation of regional environments now call into question the economic ideas and values that have formed the foundation of scientific management...

  17. Evaluating Water Management Practice for Sustainable Mining

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Xiangfeng Zhang

    2014-02-01

    Full Text Available To move towards sustainable development, the mining industry needs to identify better mine water management practices for reducing raw water use, increasing water use efficiency, and eliminating environmental impacts in a precondition of securing mining production. However, the selection of optimal mine water management practices is technically challenging due to the lack of scientific tools to comprehensively evaluate management options against a set of conflicting criteria. This work has provided a solution to aid the identification of more sustainable mine water management practices. The solution includes a conceptual framework for forming a decision hierarchy; an evaluation method for assessing mine water management practices; and a sensitivity analysis in view of different preferences of stakeholders or managers. The solution is applied to a case study of the evaluation of sustainable water management practices in 16 mines located in the Bowen Basin in Queensland, Australia. The evaluation results illustrate the usefulness of the proposed solution. A sensitivity analysis is performed according to preference weights of stakeholders or managers. Some measures are provided for assessing sensitivity of strategy ranking outcomes if the weight of an indicator changes. Finally, some advice is given to improve the mine water management in some mines.

  18. Practical Implementation of Sustainable Urban Management Tools

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Nielsen, Susanne Balslev; Jensen, Jesper Ole; Hoffmann, Birgitte

    2006-01-01

    The paper discusses how to promote the use of decision support tools for urban sustainable development. The interest in decision support tools based on indicators is increasing among practitioners and researchers. The research has so far focused on indicator types and systems of indicators...... and goals for urban sustainability whereas less focus has been on the context of implementation and even less on what we can learn from practical experiences about the usefulness of urban sustainable indicator tools. This paper explores the practical implementation of urban sustainable management tools....... It is generally agreed that in order to make indicators and other sustainability management tools work it is necessary that they are integrated in the relevant urban organisational levels, in a way that creates commitment to the subsequent goals. This includes involvement of organisations, individuals and other...

  19. Botanical Criteria of Baharkish Rangeland in Quchan, Khorasan ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    ADOWIE PERE

    University of Mashhad International Campus, Mashhad, I.R of IRAN ... ABSTRACT: Rangelands are natural ecosystems containing a range of resources of genetic ..... Ecology of world vegetation. .... Science Journal of Islamic Azad University,.

  20. Sustainability in Supply Chain Management: Aggregate Planning from Sustainability Perspective.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Metin Türkay

    Full Text Available Supply chain management that considers the flow of raw materials, products and information has become a focal issue in modern manufacturing and service systems. Supply chain management requires effective use of assets and information that has far reaching implications beyond satisfaction of customer demand, flow of goods, services or capital. Aggregate planning, a fundamental decision model in supply chain management, refers to the determination of production, inventory, capacity and labor usage levels in the medium term. Traditionally standard mathematical programming formulation is used to devise the aggregate plan so as to minimize the total cost of operations. However, this formulation is purely an economic model that does not include sustainability considerations. In this study, we revise the standard aggregate planning formulation to account for additional environmental and social criteria to incorporate triple bottom line consideration of sustainability. We show how these additional criteria can be appended to traditional cost accounting in order to address sustainability in aggregate planning. We analyze the revised models and interpret the results on a case study from real life that would be insightful for decision makers.

  1. A Patent Analysis for Sustainable Technology Management

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Junhyeog Choi

    2016-07-01

    Full Text Available Technology analysis (TA is an important issue in the management of technology. Most R&D (Research & Development policies have depended on diverse TA results. Traditional TA results have been obtained through qualitative approaches such as the Delphi expert survey, scenario analysis, or technology road mapping. Although they are representative methods for TA, they are not stable because their results are dependent on the experts’ knowledge and subjective experience. To solve this problem, recently many studies on TA have been focused on quantitative approaches, such as patent analysis. A patent document has diverse information of developed technologies, and thus, patent is one form of objective data for TA. In addition, sustainable technology has been a big issue in the TA fields, because most companies have their technological competitiveness through the sustainable technology. Sustainable technology is a technology keeping the technological superiority of a company. So a country as well as a company should consider sustainable technology for technological competition and continuous economic growth. Also it is important to manage sustainable technology in a given technology domain. In this paper, we propose a new patent analysis approach based on statistical analysis for the management of sustainable technology (MOST. Our proposed methodology for the MOST is to extract a technological structure and relationship for knowing the sustainable technology. To do this, we develop a hierarchical diagram of technology for finding the causal relationships among technological keywords of a given domain. The aim of the paper is to select the sustainable technology and to create the hierarchical technology paths to sustainable technology for the MOST. This contributes to planning R&D strategy for the sustainability of a company. To show how the methodology can be applied to real problem, we perform a case study using retrieved patent documents related to

  2. Community-based management: under what conditions do Sami pastoralists manage pastures sustainably?

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Vera H Hausner

    Full Text Available Community-based management (CBM has been implemented in socio-ecological systems (SES worldwide. CBM has also been the prevailing policy in Sámi pastoral SES in Norway, but the outcomes tend to vary extensively among resource groups ("siidas". We asked why do some siidas self-organize to manage common pool resources sustainably and others do not? To answer this question we used a mixed methods approach. First, in the statistical analyses we analyzed the relationship between sustainability indicators and structural variables. We found that small winter pastures that are shared by few siidas were managed more sustainably than larger pastures. Seasonal siida stability, i.e., a low turnover of pastoralists working together throughout the year, and equality among herders, also contributed to more sustainable outcomes. Second, interviews were conducted in the five largest pastures to explain the relationships between the structural variables and sustainability. The pastoralists expressed a high level of agreement with respect to sustainable policies, but reported a low level of trust and cooperation among the siidas. The pastoralists requested siida tenures or clear rules and sanctioning mechanisms by an impartial authority rather than flexible organization or more autonomy for the siidas. The lack of nestedness in self-organization for managing pastures on larger scales, combined with the past economic policies, could explain why CBM is less sustainable on the largest winter pastures. We conclude that the scale mis-match between self-organization and the formal governance is a key condition for sustainability.

  3. How Does Implementation of Environmental Management System Contribute to Corporate Sustainability Management

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lucie Vnoučková

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available Corporate sustainability management (CSM appears to be an important issue for current management. The aim of the paper is to identify what determinants of sustainability management are examined in the literature and discuss the contribution of environmental management system (EMS to CSM based on experiences of selected Czech organizations with implemented EMS according to ISO 14001. The data for the survey was gathered from 222 organizations (N = 1265 who have already implemented EMS. The results show there is a basic knowledge of sustainability concept in the surveyed Czech organizations. Perceived improvements of EMS implementation in Czech organizations are mainly in the area of environmental performance, economic performance, relationship with involved parties and social issues. Based on the implementation of EMS, the organizations take care about corporate sustainability (about the areas of environmental aspects and impacts of the organization. Improved environmental performance has been linked with process and product cost improvements and lower risk factors.

  4. Public Facilities Management and Action Research for Sustainability

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Galamba, Kirsten Ramskov

    Current work is the main product of a PhD study with the initial working title ‘Sustainable Facilities Management’ at Centre for Facilities Management – Realdania Research, DTU Management 1. December 2008 – 30. November 2011. Here the notion of Public Sustainable Facilities Management (FM......) is analysed in the light of a change process in a Danish Municipal Department of Public Property. Three years of Action Research has given a unique insight in the reality in a Municipal Department of Public Property, and as to how a facilitated change process can lead to a more holistic and sustainable...

  5. Rangeland resource trends in the United States: A technical document supporting the 2000 USDA Forest Service RPA Assessment

    Science.gov (United States)

    John E. Mitchell

    2000-01-01

    This report documents trends in America's rangelands as required by the Renewable Resources Planning Act of 1974. The Forest Service has conducted assessments of the rangeland situation for 30 years. Over this period, rangeland values and uses have gradually shifted from concentrating upon forage production and meeting increasing demand for red meat to a more...

  6. Navigating Sustainability Embeddedness in Management Decision-Making

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Catherine Le Roux

    2016-05-01

    Full Text Available Sustainability is an essential theme for business. In order to compete, strategies need to be improvised and efficient and effective decisions need to be made for improved sustainability performance. Despite management’s apparent knowledge of this, it appears that challenges persist with sustainability’s embeddedness in decision-making and its implementation in practice. In this study we propose a metaphor applying an integrative view of sustainability as support for management. We offer six antecedents of sustainability embeddedness in decision-making that contribute to building and confirming theory, and also provide a better understanding of current practice around sustainability embeddedness so that strategies can be developed for improved sustainability performance. Employees on all management levels in a stock exchange listed company provided rich empirical data for the study. Through the analysis of data in a case study, antecedents were inductively identified, conceptualized, and presented as using descriptive labels, namely: A True North Destination—a vision of sustainability embeddedness; Mountains—three obstacles; Fog—confusion and complexity; Myopia—shortsightedness; Navigation Necessities—requirements for the journey; and finally, the Chosen Team—selected stakeholders. Sustainability embeddedness was found to be dependent on leadership, the strategy message and structures, performance measures, and policies that support a unified culture for sustainability embeddedness.

  7. Rehabilitation of community-owned, mixed-use rangelands: Lessons from the Ewaso ecosystem in Kenya

    Science.gov (United States)

    Globally, 10-20% of arid and semi-arid rangelands have been classified as severely degraded (UNCCD 1994; MEA 2005), and in sub-Saharan Africa specifically, 70% of rangelands are considered moderately to severely degraded (Dregne 1992; UNCCD 1994). Given that these drylands make up 43% of Africa’s la...

  8. A review of sustainable facilities management knowledge and practice

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Baaki Timothy Kurannen

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available Sustainability is seen as a far-reaching issue now, and one which the facilities management [FM] profession cannot overlook. This paper explores current sustainable facilities management [SFM] knowledge and practice with specific focus on performance as part of a research focus toward proposing a sustainable FM performance management framework for sustainable healthcare waste management in Malaysia. This paper utilized a review of extant literature on the subject of SFM, FM performance and FM development in Malaysia as source of information. Findings reflect the increasing recognition of the need for the strategic FM function, and how facilities managers are best positioned to drive organizations’ sustainability agendas. In Malaysian context, this recognition is barely evident as findings show FM practice is still immature and predominantly operational. Unlike developed FM markets, FM relevance in Malaysia is being driven by the public sector. Also findings show a disharmony between organizations’ sustainability priority areas and the responsibilities for facilities managers to execute them where the sustainability policy of organizations prioritize one FM service and the facilities managers’ responsibilities prioritize another. As most of SFM implementation is driven by legislation this seems to strengthen the position that, organizations continue to view support services as non-value-adding, as unavoidable liabilities. The implication of this is the pressure on the FM function to continually express its strategic relevance to organizations by tangible value-adding performance output. This creates a new perspective to measuring and managing facilities performance. This paper therefore elevates the importance of FM performance management in SFM context taking into account the peculiar position of the facilities manager. This is seen as a way forward for FM to better express its value to the organization

  9. Ecosystem services in sustainable groundwater management.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tuinstra, Jaap; van Wensem, Joke

    2014-07-01

    The ecosystem services concept seems to get foothold in environmental policy and management in Europe and, for instance, The Netherlands. With respect to groundwater management there is a challenge to incorporate this concept in such a way that it contributes to the sustainability of decisions. Groundwater is of vital importance to societies, which is reflected in the presented overview of groundwater related ecosystem services. Classifications of these services vary depending on the purpose of the listing (valuation, protection, mapping et cetera). Though the scientific basis is developing, the knowledge-availability still can be a critical factor in decision making based upon ecosystem services. The examples in this article illustrate that awareness of the value of groundwater can result in balanced decisions with respect to the use of ecosystem services. The ecosystem services concept contributes to this awareness and enhances the visibility of the groundwater functions in the decision making process. The success of the ecosystem services concept and its contribution to sustainable groundwater management will, however, largely depend on other aspects than the concept itself. Local and actual circumstances, policy ambitions and knowledge availability will play an important role. Solutions can be considered more sustainable when more of the key elements for sustainable groundwater management, as defined in this article, are fully used and the presented guidelines for long term use of ecosystem services are respected. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  10. Environmental Sustainability Change Management in SMEs: Learning from Sustainability Champions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chadee, Doren; Wiesner, Retha; Roxas, Banjo

    2011-01-01

    This study identifies the change management processes involved in undertaking environmental sustainability (ES) initiatives within Small and Medium Size Enterprises (SMEs) and relate these to the main attributes of learning organisations. Using case study techniques, the study draws from the change management experiences of a sample of 12 ES…

  11. Recovery of rangelands : the functioning of soil seed banks in a semi-arid African savanna

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Tessema, Z.K.

    2011-01-01

    Rangelands in Africa provide important forage resources for herbivores; particularly perennial grasses provide grazing for domestic and wild herbivores. However, semi-arid African rangelands experience severe vegetation and soil degradation due to heavy grazing, causing negative impacts

  12. Opportunities and obstacles for rangeland conservation in San Diego County, California, USA

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kathleen A. Farley

    2017-03-01

    Full Text Available Working landscapes such as rangelands are increasingly recognized as having high conservation value, providing a variety of ecosystem services, including food, fiber, habitat, recreation, open space, carbon storage, and water, in addition to a broad range of social benefits. However, conversion of rangelands to other land uses has been prevalent throughout the western United States, leading to greater attention in the conservation community to the importance of collaborating with private landowners. The level of interest in collaborative conservation among private landowners and the types of conservation programs they choose to participate in depend on the social, economic, and environmental context. We used GIS analysis and interviews with ranchers to evaluate rangeland conversion and participation in conservation programs among ranchers in San Diego County, California, USA, which is part of a biodiversity hotspot with high plant species richness and a large number of endemic and rare species. We found that > 25% of rangelands were converted to other uses, primarily urbanization, over the past 25 years while the area of public rangeland increased by 9%. Interviews revealed that ranchers in San Diego County have had limited involvement with most conservation programs, and a critical factor for nonparticipation was providing programs access to private land, along with other issues related to trust and social values. Among ranchers who had participated in conservation programs, the payment level and the agency or organization administering the program were key factors. Our results provide insight into factors influencing whether and when ranchers are likely to participate in conservation initiatives and illustrate that private and public land conservation are strongly linked and would be more effective if the two strategies were better integrated.

  13. The implementation of sustainability principles in project management

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Gilbert Gilbert Silvius; Debby Goedknegt

    2012-01-01

    It is becoming clear that the project management practice must embrace sustainability in order to develop into a 'true profession' (Silvius et al., 2012). In project management, sustainability can be gained in both the product of the project and in the process of delivering the product. (Gareis et

  14. The Rangeland Vegetation Simulator: A user-driven system for quantifying production, succession, disturbance and fuels in non-forest environments

    Science.gov (United States)

    Matt Reeves; Leonardo Frid

    2016-01-01

    Rangeland landscapes occupy roughly 662 million acres in the coterminous U.S. (Reeves and Mitchell 2011) and their vegetation responds quickly to climate and management, with high relative growth rates and inter-annual variability. Current national decision support systems in the U.S. such as the Interagency Fuels Treatment Decision Support System (IFT-DSS) require...

  15. Enabling sustainable pastoralism: policies and investments that optimise livestock production and rangeland stewardship.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ouedraogo, R; Davies, J

    2016-11-01

    Pastoralism is a system of dynamically managing livestock and land for economic, social and environmental benefit. To a large extent, pastoralism is an adaptation to ecological and climatic variability and is not simply a livestock production system but provides significant environmental services to humanity. Evidence from a range of national contexts shows that sustainable pastoralist development requires an understanding of the dual environmental and economic roles of pastoralism and an adaptation of policies and investments to support both. The current paper examines three cornerstones that have proven to be crucial for sustainable pastoralist development and for maximising the links between livestock production and environmental stewardship: strengthening pastoral capabilities and institutions, securing land tenure and natural resource governance, and ensuring equitable markets for pastoral diversity. To effectively support the dual economic-environmental roles of pastoralism requires not only optimisation of the production of ecosystem services through extensive livestock production, but also a major overhaul of the way we approach pastoralist development, and major investment in the people who are central to the system. As long as pastoralists remain marginalised, with weak rights and little access to services, their future will remain uncertain.

  16. Sustainable Materials Management Challenge Data

    Data.gov (United States)

    U.S. Environmental Protection Agency — Sustainable Materials Management (SMM) is a systemic approach to using and reusing materials more productively over their entire lifecycles. It represents a change...

  17. Monitoring Forage Production of California Rangeland Using Remote Sensing Observations

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, H.; Jin, Y.; Dahlgren, R. A.; O'Geen, A. T.; Roche, L. M.; Smith, A. M.; Flavell, D.

    2016-12-01

    Pastures and rangeland cover more than 10 million hectares in California's coastal and inland foothill regions, providing feeds to livestock and important ecosystem services. Forage production in California has a large year-to-year variation due to large inter-annual and seasonal variabilities in precipitation and temperature. It also varies spatially due to the variability in climate and soils. Our goal is to develop a robust and cost-effective tool to map the near-real-time and historical forage productivity in California using remote sensing observations from Landsat and MODIS satellites. We used a Monteith's eco-physiological plant growth theory: the aboveground net primary production (ANPP) is determined by (i) the absorbed photosynthetically active radiation (APAR) and the (ii) light use efficiency (LUE): ANPP = APAR * LUEmax * f(T) * f(SM), where LUEmax is the maximum LUE, and f(T) and f(SM) are the temperature and soil moisture constrains on LUE. APAR was estimated with Landsat and MODIS vegetation index (VI), and LUE was calibrated with a statewide point dataset of peak forage production measurements at 75 annual rangeland sites. A non-linear optimization was performed to derive maximum LUE and the parameters for temperature and soil moisture regulation on LUE by minimizing the differences between the estimated and measured ANPP. Our results showed the satellite-derived annual forage production estimates correlated well withcontemporaneous in-situ forage measurements and captured both the spatial and temporal productivity patterns of forage productivity well. This remote sensing algorithm can be further improved as new field measurements become available. This tool will have a great importance in maintaining a sustainable range industry by providing key knowledge for ranchers and the stakeholders to make managerial decisions.

  18. Forest tenure and sustainable forest management

    Science.gov (United States)

    J.P. Siry; K. McGinley; F.W. Cubbage; P. Bettinger

    2015-01-01

    We reviewed the principles and key literature related to forest tenure and sustainable forest management, and then examined the status of sustainable forestry and land ownership at the aggregate national level for major forested countries. The institutional design principles suggested by Ostrom are well accepted for applications to public, communal, and private lands....

  19. Sustainable Soil Water Management Systems

    OpenAIRE

    Basch, G.; Kassam, A.; Friedrich, T.; Santos, F.L.; Gubiani, P.I.; Calegari, A.; Reichert, J.M.; dos Santos, D.R.

    2012-01-01

    Soil quality and its management must be considered as key elements for an effective management of water resources, given that the hydrological cycle and land management are intimately linked (Bossio et al. 2007). Soil degradation has been described by Bossio et al. (2010) as the starting point of a negative cycle of soil-water relationships, creating a positive, self-accelerating feedback loop with important negative impacts on water cycling and water productivity. Therefore, sustainable soil...

  20. Sustainable Waste Management for Green Highway Initiatives

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Husin Nur Illiana

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available Green highway initiative is the transportation corridors based on sustainable concept of roadway. It incorporates both transportation functionality and ecological requirements. Green highway also provides more sustainable construction technique that maximizes the lifespan of highway. Waste management is one of the sustainable criterias in the elements of green highway. Construction of highway consumes enormous amounts of waste in term of materials and energy. These wastes need to be reduce to sustain the environment. This paper aims to identify the types of waste produced from highway construction. Additionally, this study also determine the waste minimization strategy and waste management practiced.. This study main focus are construction and demolition waste only. The methodology process begin with data collection by using questionnaire survey. 22 concession companies listed under Lembaga Lebuhraya Malaysia acted as a respondent. The questionnaires were distributed to all technical department staffs. The data received was analyzed using IBM SPSS. The results shows the most production of waste is wood, soil, tree root and concrete. The least production of waste is metal. For waste minimization, the best waste minimization is reuse for all type of waste except for tree root and stump. Whereas, the best waste management is providing strategic plan. The least practice for waste management is recording the quantity of waste.

  1. Comparison of LANDSAT-2 and field spectrometer reflectance signatures of south Texas rangeland plant communities

    Science.gov (United States)

    Richardson, A. J.; Escobar, D. E.; Gausman, H. W.; Everitt, J. H. (Principal Investigator)

    1982-01-01

    The accuracy was assessed for an atmospheric correction method that depends on clear water bodies to infer solar and atmospheric parameters for radiative transfer equations by measuring the reflectance signature of four prominent south Texas rangeland plants with the LANDSAT satellite multispectral scanner (MSS) and a ground based spectroradiometer. The rangeland plant reflectances produced by the two sensors were correlated with no significant deviation of the slope from unity or of the intercept from zero. These results indicated that the atmospheric correction produced LANDSAT MSS estimates of rangeland plant reflectances that are as accurate as the ground based spectroradiometer.

  2. Vegetation restoration on degraded rangelands through the use of microcatchment and brush packs in the communal areas of the Eastern Cape

    CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

    Lesoli, MS

    2010-07-01

    Full Text Available Rangeland degradation results in declining functional capacity, increased poverty, and food insecurity. Major changes in rangeland surface morphology and soil characteristics have a drastic effect on the primary productivity of the rangeland...

  3. Effects of climate change on rangeland vegetation in the Northern Rockies Region [Chapter 7

    Science.gov (United States)

    Matt C. Reeves; Mary E. Manning; Jeff P. DiBenedetto; Kyle A. Palmquist; William K. Lauenroth; John B. Bradford; Daniel R. Schlaepfer

    2018-01-01

    Rangelands are dominated by grass, forb, or shrub species, but are usually not modified by using agronomic improvements such as fertilization or irrigation (Lund 2007; Reeves and Mitchell 2011) as these lands would normally be considered pastures. Rangeland includes grassland, shrubland, and desert ecosystems, alpine areas, and some woodlands (box 7.1). This chapter...

  4. Contrasting watershed-scale trends in runoff and sediment yield complicate rangeland water resources planning

    Science.gov (United States)

    Berg, Matthew D.; Marcantonio, Franco; Allison, Mead A.; McAlister, Jason; Wilcox, Bradford P.; Fox, William E.

    2016-06-01

    Rangelands cover a large portion of the earth's land surface and are undergoing dramatic landscape changes. At the same time, these ecosystems face increasing expectations to meet growing water supply needs. To address major gaps in our understanding of rangeland hydrologic function, we investigated historical watershed-scale runoff and sediment yield in a dynamic landscape in central Texas, USA. We quantified the relationship between precipitation and runoff and analyzed reservoir sediment cores dated using cesium-137 and lead-210 radioisotopes. Local rainfall and streamflow showed no directional trend over a period of 85 years, resulting in a rainfall-runoff ratio that has been resilient to watershed changes. Reservoir sedimentation rates generally were higher before 1963, but have been much lower and very stable since that time. Our findings suggest that (1) rangeland water yields may be stable over long periods despite dramatic landscape changes while (2) these same landscape changes influence sediment yields that impact downstream reservoir storage. Relying on rangelands to meet water needs demands an understanding of how these dynamic landscapes function and a quantification of the physical processes at work.

  5. Management of Sustainable Innovation in an Internationalized Company

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Uiara Gonçalves De Menezes

    2013-04-01

    Full Text Available The main objective of this study was to identify the main forms of management of sustainable technological innovation and examine the relation of these practices with the increased competitiveness of the Brazilian chemical industry in the international market. To conduct this research, we examined the management practices of a chemical industry located in southern Brazil through the descriptive and qualitative case study, using semi-structured interviews with those responsible for the company’s innovation management and analyzing secondary data. The analyses of the survey results with respect to the relation between the sustainable technological innovation management and the increased international competitiveness of the chemical industry were not conclusive. The data only show that the management practices of sustainable innovation may represent motivations for seeking international partnerships and innovations that can be converted into business opportunities in the domestic and international market.

  6. Abandoned seasonal livestock migration reflected by plant functional traits: A case study in Kyrgyz rangelands

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hoppe, Franziska; Zhusui Kyzy, Taalaigul; Usupbaev, Adilet; Schickoff, Udo

    2017-04-01

    At least 30% of Kyrgyz pasture areas are considered to be subject to vegetation and soil degradation. Since animal husbandry is the economic basis to sustain people's livelihoods, rangeland degradation presents a threat for the majority of the population. Recently, the usage of plant functional traits as a powerful tool for the characterization of vegetation dynamics in response to anthropogenic and natural disturbances has been put forward. Grazing is one of the most severe disturbances on vegetation, which concerns equally the loss of area and biomass. Because grazing is both depending on and affecting plant functional traits, important insights can be generated, based on this codependency. We hypothesized that the contrasting grazing intensity of summer and winter pastures is reflected by the chosen traits. We used traits such as plant height, flowering start, growth form as well as SLA (Specific Leaf Area) and LMA (Leaf Mass per Area). Based on former phytosociological classification of the main pasture types (summer and winter pastures), community structure and the traits of dominant plant species were analyzed. Our results showed that on winter pastures grazing decreased plant height and SLA and favored plants with an earlier flowering start as well as rosette plants and ascending plants. We conclude that the study of trait composition in relation to anthropogenic disturbances can provide important insights into the mechanism of plant response to grazing in high-altitude rangelands.

  7. Hydrologic ramifications of an increased role of wildland fire across the rangeland-dry forest continuum

    Science.gov (United States)

    The increased role of wildland fire across the rangeland-dry forest continuum in the western United States (US) presents landscape-scale consequences relative runoff and erosion. Much of the Intermountain West now exists in a state in which rangeland and woodland wildfires stimulated by invasive che...

  8. Sustainable Materials Management Web Academy

    Science.gov (United States)

    The Sustainable Materials Management (SMM) Web Academy series is a free resource for SMM challenge participants, stakeholders, and anyone else interested in learning more about SMM principles from experts in the field.

  9. Bio solids Effects in Chihuahuan Desert Rangelands: A Ten-Year Study

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wester, D.B; Sosebee, R.E; Fish, E.B; Villalobos, J.C; Zartman, R.E; Gonzalez, R.M; Jurado, P.; Moffet, C.A

    2011-01-01

    Arid and semiarid rangelands are suitable for responsible bio solids application. Topical application is critical to avoid soil and vegetation disturbance. Surface-applied bio solids have long-lasting effects in these ecosystems. We conducted a 10-year research program investigating effects of bio solids applied at rates from 0 to 90 dry Mg ha -1 on soil water infiltration; runoff and leachate water quality; soil erosion; forage production and quality; seedling establishment; plant physiological responses; nitrogen dynamics; bio solids decomposition; and grazing animal behavior and management. Bio solids increased soil water infiltration and reduced erosion. Effects on soil water quality were observed only at the highest application rates. Bio solids increased soil nitrate-nitrogen. Bio solids increased forage production and improved forage quality. Bio solids increased leaf area of grasses; photosynthetic rates were not necessarily increased by bio solids. Bio solids effects on plant establishment are expected only under moderately favorable conditions. Over an 82-mo exposure period, total organic carbon, nitrogen, and total and available phosphorus decreased and inorganic matter increased. Grazing animals spent more time grazing, ruminating, and resting in bio solids-treated areas; positive effects on average daily gain were observed during periods of higher rainfall. Our results suggest that annual bio solids application rates of up to 18 Mg ha -1 are appropriate for desert rangelands.

  10. Sustainable exploitation and management of aquatic resources

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Neuenfeldt, Stefan; Köster, Fritz

    2014-01-01

    DTU Aqua conducts research, provides advice,educates at university level and contributes toinnovation in sustainable exploitation andmanagement of aquatic resources. The vision of DTUAqua is to enable ecologically and economicallysustainable exploitation of aquatic resourcesapplying an integrated...... management. Marineecosystems aims at understanding the mechanisms that govern the interaction between individuals,species and populations in an ecosystem enabling us to determine the stability and flexibility of theecosystem.Marine living resources looks at the sustainable utilization of fish and shellfish...... stocks.Ecosystem effects expands from the ecosystem approach to fisheries management to an integratedapproach where other human activities are taken into consideration. Fisheries management developsmethods, models and tools for predicting and evaluating the effects of management measures andregulations...

  11. Seasonal food habits of swift fox (Vulpes velox) in cropland and rangeland landscapes in western Kansas

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sovada, M.A.; Roy, C.C.; Telesco, D.J.

    2001-01-01

    Food habits of swift foxes (Vulpes velox) occupying two distinct landscapes (dominated by cropland versus rangeland) in western Kansas were determined by analysis of scats collected in 1993 and 1996. Frequencies of occurrence of prey items in scats were compared between cropland and rangeland areas by season. Overall, the most frequently occurring foods of swift foxes were mammals (92% of all scats) and arthropods (87%), followed by birds (24%), carrion (23%), plants (15%) and reptiles (4%). No differences were detected between landscapes for occurrence of mammals, arthropods or carrion in any season (P ≥ 0.100). Plants, specifically commercial sunflower seeds, were consumed more frequently in cropland than in rangeland in spring (P = 0.004) and fall (P = 0.001). Birds were more common in the swift fox diet in cropland than in rangeland during the fall (P = 0.008), whereas reptiles occurred more frequently in the diet in rangeland than in cropland during spring (P = 0.042). Variation in the diet of the swift fox between areas was most likely due to its opportunistic foraging behavior, resulting in a diet that closely links prey use with availability.

  12. Sustainable Environmental Management Indicators in South African Primary Schools

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Luiza O. de Sousa

    2017-05-01

    Full Text Available This research explores sustainable environmental management indicators in South African primary schools. Of key interest is the comparison of a township, farm and urban primary school that identify indicators that promote education for sustainable development in schools that implement an environmental management system. Data are drawn from one-on-one interviews, focus group interviews, observations and document analysis from 35 participants in three schools. A comparison of the three schools was done by content and thematic analysis of a within-case analysis. Data from the township school revealed that socioeconomic factors and organisational structure promote education for sustainable development. The farm school data revealed that health promotion can be managed within an environmental management system within a hierarchical school structure. The urban school data revealed that an economic inducement brings a school to realise that it can reduce its carbon footprint, gain financially and utilize its resources with innovation. A case is made that the four pillars of sustainable development (environment, society, economy, and governance endorse education for sustainable development. Furthermore, the objectives of environmental education ought to remain nested in an environmental management system to ensure that the global goal of quality education is achieved.

  13. Monitoring of livestock grazing effects on Bureau of Land Management land

    Science.gov (United States)

    Veblen, Kari E.; Pyke, David A.; Aldridge, Cameron L.; Casazza, Michael L.; Assal, Timothy J.; Farinha, Melissa A.

    2013-01-01

    Public land management agencies, such as the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), are charged with managing rangelands throughout the western United States for multiple uses, such as livestock grazing and conservation of sensitive species and their habitats. Monitoring of condition and trends of these rangelands, particularly with respect to effects of livestock grazing, provides critical information for effective management of these multiuse landscapes. We therefore investigated the availability of livestock grazing-related quantitative monitoring data and qualitative region-specific Land Health Standards (LHS) data across BLM grazing allotments in the western United States. We then queried university and federal rangeland science experts about how best to prioritize rangeland monitoring activities. We found that the most commonly available monitoring data were permittee-reported livestock numbers and season-of-use data (71% of allotments) followed by repeat photo points (58%), estimates of forage utilization (52%), and, finally, quantitative vegetation measurements (37%). Of the 57% of allotments in which LHS had been evaluated as of 2007, the BLM indicated 15% had failed to meet LHS due to livestock grazing. A full complement of all types of monitoring data, however, existed for only 27% of those 15%. Our data inspections, as well as conversations with rangeland experts, indicated a need for greater emphasis on collection of grazing-related monitoring data, particularly ground cover. Prioritization of where monitoring activities should be focused, along with creation of regional monitoring teams, may help improve monitoring. Overall, increased emphasis on monitoring of BLM rangelands will require commitment at multiple institutional levels.

  14. ACTION LEVERS FOR A SUSTAINABLE FARMLAND MANAGEMENT IN NIGER

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mahamadou Roufahi Tankari

    2015-10-01

    Full Text Available This study aims to contribute to the understanding of factors influencing the sustainable farmland management in Niger. Specifically, it examines the determinants of adoption of sustainable land management practices including measures to combat erosion, and the use of manure, residues and fertilizer with a view to support the formulation of efficient land use policies based on evidences given fact that the impact of factors influencing farmland management appears to be specific to each context. The study is based on data from the National Survey of Household Living Conditions and Agriculture of 2011 (ECVMA-2011 analyzed within the framework of multivariate Probit model. The results show that there are unobservable interdependences between the decisions on farmland management practices. Furthermore, several types of factors related to access to physical, human, financial and biophysical capitals as well as infrastructure and services seem to play an important role. In addition, it appears that more security is needed in land tenure for a sustainable farmland management while farmland defragmentation can act negatively on sustainable farmland management.

  15. Assessing Rangeland Attributes On Semi-Arid Zone Of North Darfur State Sudan

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mohamed Almontasir A. M. Mohamed

    2015-08-01

    Full Text Available Abstract The study was conducted over a two years period of 2012 and 2013 at three sites of Alfashir locality Ummarahik 25km north of Alfashir Fashar in eastern part of Alfashir about 5km and Berka 30km west of Alfashir Western Sudan in semi-arid zone. The aim of this study was to assess rangeland attributes. Measurements of plant density vegetation cover range production and carrying capacity were assessed. Results showed that total forage production was low and inadequate to satisfy requirements of livestock for inhabiting the area average range production all over the area was found to be 50.68 kgha and 59.21 kgha for the seasons 2012 and 2013 respectively. The average ground cover was about 34.71 and 42.41 for two seasons. The average plant density for the first season was 27.1 plantm2 while the average plant density for the second season was 29.4 plantm2. The study concluded that unwise utilization and exploitation of the rangelands particularly by man causes range deterioration and serious reduction in range production in both quantity and quality so the study suggested that improvement and rehabilitation such lands rangelands should be done. Further research work is needed to assess rangeland attributes across different ecological zones in North Darfur State.

  16. Sustainable agricultural water management across climates

    Science.gov (United States)

    DeVincentis, A.

    2016-12-01

    Fresh water scarcity is a global problem with local solutions. Agriculture is one of many human systems threatened by water deficits, and faces unique supply, demand, quality, and management challenges as the global climate changes and population grows. Sustainable agricultural water management is paramount to protecting global economies and ecosystems, but requires different approaches based on environmental conditions, social structures, and resource availability. This research compares water used by conservation agriculture in temperate and tropical agroecosystems through data collected from operations growing strawberries, grapes, tomatoes, and pistachios in California and corn and soybeans in Colombia. The highly manipulated hydrologic regime in California has depleted water resources and incited various adaptive management strategies, varying based on crop type and location throughout the state. Operations have to use less water more efficiently, and sometimes that means fallowing land in select groundwater basins. At the opposite end of the spectrum, the largely untouched landscape in the eastern plains of Colombia are rapidly being converted into commercial agricultural operations, with a unique opportunity to manage and plan for agricultural development with sustainability in mind. Although influenced by entirely different climates and economies, there are some similarities in agricultural water management strategies that could be applicable worldwide. Cover crops are a successful management strategy for both agricultural regimes, and moving forward it appears that farmers who work in coordination with their neighbors to plan for optimal production will be most successful in both locations. This research points to the required coordination of agricultural extension services as a critical component to sustainable water use, successful economies, and protected environments.

  17. Evaluation of Sustainable Practices within Project Management Methods

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Shah Satya

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available The purpose of this research study is to investigate some of the sustainable practices within projects with a focus on social projects. The different research methodologies applied through this research consisted both primary and secondary research, including literature review and through case study. The stakeholder’s behavioural needs towards acting and implementing sustainable practices led to the adoption of sustainable practices within projects which are managed across profit and non-profit organisations. Nevertheless, lack of sustainable behaviour was outlined, and henceforth the integration of sustainable development within social projects is crucially important as such projects were identified as the drivers toward educating the society in order to help to produce generations of people who would be more sustainably aware. Currently, sustainable development is very often taken into account when it comes to managing projects. Nevertheless, if the adoption of sustainable practices is well established in some sectors such as construction, literature tends to demonstrate a lack of information regarding other sectors, especially within social projects. This research aims to investigate the adoption of sustainable practices within social projects and therefore to satisfy a literature gap.

  18. China's Rangelands under Stress : A comparative study of pasture commons in the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Ho, P.P.S.

    2000-01-01

    China's economic reforms have exacerbated the problems of over-grazing and desertification in the country's pastoral areas. In order to deal with rangeland degradation, the Chinese government has resorted to nationalization, or semi-privatization. Since the implementation of rangeland policy has

  19. Forests, rangelands and climate change in Southern Africa

    CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

    Naidoo, Sasha

    2013-09-01

    Full Text Available This paper provides an analysis of the implications of climate change for forests and rangelands in southern Africa. The extent of the resources and their economic and social functions and drivers of change is outlined. The vulnerability...

  20. Rapid and sustained cost management

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hanson, D.

    2009-01-01

    Accenture helps clients develop comprehensive, process-driven strategies for rapid and sustained cost management that leverage deep insights and analytics. This approach enables companies to gain operating cost advantages by rationalizing, simplifying and automating current operating capabilities. It drives structural cost advantages by optimizing business mix, capital structure, organizational structure and geographic presence. This paper discussed how successful companies achieve high performance during times of economic turmoil. It also discussed the value of the winner's strategy in terms of rapid and sustained cost management (RSCM). It discussed how Accenture operates and its leveraged capabilities, improved efficiency, margins and cash flow while maintaining customer service levels. Building structural advantage and the Accenture difference were also discussed. It was concluded that RSCM is one vital way that Accenture can help companies achieve success. 4 figs

  1. Efficiency of management of sustainable development – challenges, problems, barriers

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Zięba K.

    2016-06-01

    Full Text Available This paper discusses such issues as the importance of efficiency management of sustainable development. In the authors’ opinion, this matter is currently topical subject due to, among others, on the still high costs of irrational management in the field. Dynamically changing environment forces to search for new solutions for efficiency management of sustainable development, and unfortunately, in many countries it is still a significant problem. For some countries, the efficiency management of sustainable development is difficult. It should be noted that the problem with the inaction of relevant activities of the countries in the field of development of efficiency management of sustainability development will grow, because globalization makes it necessary to generate new solutions emerging to date problems. Facing each country there are so many challenges in the field. However, some countries are aware of the seriousness of the problem and therefore take a number of measures in this regard, often regardless of the amount of costs. This has an impact on their competitiveness. Apparent is also increasing incorporation of new original solutions in the field of sustainable development management.

  2. STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT OF SUSTAINABILITY AND INNOVATION

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Vanessa Cuzziol Pinsky

    2013-09-01

    Full Text Available The sustainable development, global competitiveness and rapid technological change increasingly challenge companies to innovate with a focus on sustainability. The objectives of this study were to identify the critical success factors in business management and identify the challenges to implement sustainable products. This is an exploratory, descriptive and qualitative research, using the case study method. Data were collected through semi-structured and in-depth interviews with executives from the marketing and innovation departments, complemented by secondary sources, including sustainability reports, websites and other company documents. The content analysis revealed the critical success factors to implement sustainable products, highlighting the involvement of senior leadership, setting goals and long term vision, the involvement of the value chain in the search for sustainable solutions and have a area of innovation with sustainability goals. The key challenges identified are related to the involvement of the supply chain, using the principles of the life cycle assessment, marketing communication and measurement of results and environmental benefits.

  3. Proceedings of the 1999 Sustainable Forest Management Network conference: science and practice : sustaining the boreal forest

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Veeman, S.; Smith, D.W.; Purdy, B.G.; Salkie, F.J.; Larkin, G.A. [eds.

    1999-05-01

    The wide range and complex nature of research in sustainable forest management, supported cooperatively by the forest products industry, governments, the universities, First Nations and other groups, is reflected in the 128 papers presented at this conference. The range of topics discussed include historical perspectives of forest disturbances, including fires and harvesting, biological diversity, gaseous, liquid and solid wastes, community sustainability, public involvement, land aquatic interfaces, forest management planning tools, contaminant transfer, First Nations issues, certification, monitoring and resource trade-offs. The theme of the conference {sup S}cience and practice: sustaining the boreal forest` was selected to identify the key efforts of the Sustainable Forest Management (SFM) Network on boreal forest research. The objective of the conference was to exchange knowledge and integrate participants into a better working network for the improvement of forest management. refs., tabs., figs.

  4. Sustainable nanotechnology decision support system: bridging risk management, sustainable innovation and risk governance

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Subramanian, Vrishali; Semenzin, Elena; Hristozov, Danail; Zabeo, Alex; Malsch, Ineke; McAlea, Eamonn; Murphy, Finbarr; Mullins, Martin; Harmelen, Toon van; Ligthart, Tom; Linkov, Igor; Marcomini, Antonio

    2016-01-01

    The significant uncertainties associated with the (eco)toxicological risks of engineered nanomaterials pose challenges to the development of nano-enabled products toward greatest possible societal benefit. This paper argues for the use of risk governance approaches to manage nanotechnology risks and sustainability, and considers the links between these concepts. Further, seven risk assessment and management criteria relevant to risk governance are defined: (a) life cycle thinking, (b) triple bottom line, (c) inclusion of stakeholders, (d) risk management, (e) benefit–risk assessment, (f) consideration of uncertainty, and (g) adaptive response. These criteria are used to compare five well-developed nanotechnology frameworks: International Risk Governance Council framework, Comprehensive Environmental Assessment, Streaming Life Cycle Risk Assessment, Certifiable Nanospecific Risk Management and Monitoring System and LICARA NanoSCAN. A Sustainable Nanotechnology Decision Support System (SUNDS) is proposed to better address current nanotechnology risk assessment and management needs, and makes. Stakeholder needs were solicited for further SUNDS enhancement through a stakeholder workshop that included representatives from regulatory, industry and insurance sectors. Workshop participants expressed the need for the wider adoption of sustainability assessment methods and tools for designing greener nanomaterials.

  5. Sustainable nanotechnology decision support system: bridging risk management, sustainable innovation and risk governance

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Subramanian, Vrishali, E-mail: vrishali.subramanian@unive.it; Semenzin, Elena; Hristozov, Danail; Zabeo, Alex [University Ca’ Foscari of Venice, Department of Environmental Sciences, Informatics and Statistics (Italy); Malsch, Ineke [Malsch TechnoValuation (Netherlands); McAlea, Eamonn; Murphy, Finbarr; Mullins, Martin [University of Limerick, Kemmy Business School (Ireland); Harmelen, Toon van; Ligthart, Tom [TNO (Netherlands); Linkov, Igor; Marcomini, Antonio, E-mail: marcom@unive.it [University Ca’ Foscari of Venice, Department of Environmental Sciences, Informatics and Statistics (Italy)

    2016-04-15

    The significant uncertainties associated with the (eco)toxicological risks of engineered nanomaterials pose challenges to the development of nano-enabled products toward greatest possible societal benefit. This paper argues for the use of risk governance approaches to manage nanotechnology risks and sustainability, and considers the links between these concepts. Further, seven risk assessment and management criteria relevant to risk governance are defined: (a) life cycle thinking, (b) triple bottom line, (c) inclusion of stakeholders, (d) risk management, (e) benefit–risk assessment, (f) consideration of uncertainty, and (g) adaptive response. These criteria are used to compare five well-developed nanotechnology frameworks: International Risk Governance Council framework, Comprehensive Environmental Assessment, Streaming Life Cycle Risk Assessment, Certifiable Nanospecific Risk Management and Monitoring System and LICARA NanoSCAN. A Sustainable Nanotechnology Decision Support System (SUNDS) is proposed to better address current nanotechnology risk assessment and management needs, and makes. Stakeholder needs were solicited for further SUNDS enhancement through a stakeholder workshop that included representatives from regulatory, industry and insurance sectors. Workshop participants expressed the need for the wider adoption of sustainability assessment methods and tools for designing greener nanomaterials.

  6. Organising Sustainability Competencies through Quality Management: Integration or Specialisation

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Vanajah Siva

    2018-04-01

    Full Text Available A significant step in integrating environmental sustainability into daily operations is through product development. One way to achieve such integration of environmental considerations into product development is by relating sustainability competencies to practices of Quality Management. However, practices seem to vary for how competencies within environmental sustainability are organised in order to make sustainability more actionable. This study explores two ways of organising sustainability competencies in product development: integration and specialisation. The organisation of sustainability competency is illustrated through two cases; one case in which sustainability is integrated with the quality management competency, and the other in which a new competency focusing on sustainability has been added as a separate function in product development. It is suggested that the organisation of sustainability competency influences the extent of environmental impact. Further, trade-offs, such as material source versus weight may not be exploited when sustainability is integrated as one area of responsibility for another specialty competency, suggesting a lack of sufficient competency within environmental sustainability to recognise potential trade-offs between—for example—quality and environmental impact.

  7. Achieving sustainable plant disease management through evolutionary principles.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhan, Jiasui; Thrall, Peter H; Burdon, Jeremy J

    2014-09-01

    Plants and their pathogens are engaged in continuous evolutionary battles and sustainable disease management requires novel systems to create environments conducive for short-term and long-term disease control. In this opinion article, we argue that knowledge of the fundamental factors that drive host-pathogen coevolution in wild systems can provide new insights into disease development in agriculture. Such evolutionary principles can be used to guide the formulation of sustainable disease management strategies which can minimize disease epidemics while simultaneously reducing pressure on pathogens to evolve increased infectivity and aggressiveness. To ensure agricultural sustainability, disease management programs that reflect the dynamism of pathogen population structure are essential and evolutionary biologists should play an increasing role in their design. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  8. Runoff and soil erosion from two rangeland sites

    Science.gov (United States)

    Historically over 50 years of rainfall/runoff research using rainfall simulators has been conducted at various rangeland sites in the West, however these sites rarely have consecutive yearly measurements. This limits the understanding of dynamic annual conditions and the interactions of grazing, pla...

  9. Grasshopper (Orthoptera: Acrididae) community composition in the rangeland of the northern slopes of The Qilian Mountains in northwestern China.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sun, T; Liu, Z Y; Qin, L P; Long, R J

    2015-01-01

    In order to describe grasshopper (Orthoptera: Acrididae) species composition, diversity, abundance, and density of four rangelands types, we compared the grasshopper community composition and dynamics in the rangeland of the northern slopes of the Qilian Mountains. In total, 55 grasshopper species were collected from 2007 to 2009, representing three families and six subfamilies. The subfamily Oedipodinae was dominant, followed by Gomphocerinae and Catantopinae. Species abundance varied among rangeland types (RTs). The greatest abundance of grasshoppers was found in mountain rangeland, while the lowest abundance of grasshoppers was caught in alpine shrublands. Three species (Chorthippus cf. brunneus (Thunberg) (Acrididae), Chorthippus Dubius (Zubovski), and Gomphocerus licenti (Chang) were broadly distributed in the four RTs and constituted 7.5% of all grasshoppers collected. Ch. dubius was very abundant in desert rangeland and alpine shrubland. Bryodema dolichoptera Yin et Feng Eremippus qilianshanensis Lian and Zheng, and Filchnerella qilianshanensis Xi and Zheng (Pamphagidae) were endemic to the region of the Qilian Mountains. Species similarity between RTs ranged from 17.8 to 51.6 based on the Renkonen index. Similarly, the Sörensen index indicated a wide separation in species composition among RTs. The abundance of the eight most common species showed obvious differences among RTs and years. On average, mountain rangeland had the highest density values in 2007 and 2008, and alpine shrubland supported the smallest density. The densities in desert and mountain rangeland in 2007 were significantly higher than in 2008, while alpine rangeland and shrublands did not present obvious differences among years. © The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Entomological Society of America.

  10. The impact of sustainability on project management

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Adri Köhler; Gilbert Gilbert Silvius; Jasper van den Brink

    2011-01-01

    Chapter 11 in The Project as a Social System: Asia-Pacific Perspectives on Project Management. Sustainability is one of the most important challenges of our time. How can we develop prosperity without compromising the life of future generations? Companies are integrating ideas of sustainability in

  11. Managing for Multifunctionality in Urban Open Spaces: Approaches for Sustainable Development

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Wenzheng Shi

    Full Text Available ABSTRACT: Landscape management plays a key role in improving the quality of urban environments and enhancing the multifunctionality of green infrastructure. It works to guide the efficient and effective management of green spaces for sustainability and the well-being of users. However, while most researchers have emphasised spatial planning as a basis for developing green infrastructure to promote new strategic connections in urban green space, they have simultaneously ignored the impact of management. Against this background, this paper argues that if our towns and cities seek to maintain the well-being of citizens while also achieving sustainable environments, they must engage in effective landscape management to improve their green infrastructure. It is not enough to simply design or maintain parks and green spaces so as to keep up their physical condition; rather, green infrastructure work should be adapted to the understanding and implementation of managers, users and stakeholders in an integrated management process in order to provide more services for sustainable development. A selected study in Sheffield investigated the management planning required for sustainable development. It is beneficial to learn the experiences of management planning in Sheffield, a city which has rich management practices for green and open spaces. This study will analyse how management planning helps local authorities and managers to improve multifunctional green and open spaces in the context of sustainable development. As a result, the study also explores the framework of management planning with regard to the transferability of the existing practices in Sheffield. It also attempts to provide a primer for sustainability impact assessments in other cities with a considered knowledge exchange. KEYWORDS: Management planning, green infrastructure, multifunctionality, sustainability, knowledge exchange

  12. INTEGRATED SUSTAINABLE MANGROVE FOREST MANAGEMENT

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Cecep Kusmana

    2015-07-01

    Full Text Available Mangrove forest as a renewable resource must be managed based on sustainable basis in which the benefits of ecological, economic and social from the forest have to equity concern in achieving the optimum forest products and services in fulfill the needs of recent generation without destruction of future generation needs and that does not undesirable effects on the physical and social environment. This Sustainable Forest Management (SFM practices needs the supporting of sustainability in the development of social, economic and environment (ecological sounds simultaneously, it should be run by the proper institutional and regulations. In operational scale, SFM need integration in terms of knowledge, technical, consultative of stakeholders, coordination among sectors and other stakeholders, and considerations of ecological inter-relationship in which mangroves as an integral part of both a coastal ecosystem and a watershed (catchment area. Some tools have been developed to measure the performent of SFM, such as initiated by ITTO at 1992 and followed by Ministry of Forestry of Indonesia (1993, CIFOR (1995, LEI (1999, FSC (1999, etc., however, the true nuance of SFM’s performance is not easy to be measured. 

  13. Sustainable energy development as an integral part of hydroelectric business management

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lee, W.; Yu, M.; Young, C.

    1996-01-01

    Elements of Ontario Hydro's strategy for sustainable energy development were discussed, highlighting key developments in the business management practices in Ontario Hydro's Hydroelectric Business Unit. Sustainable development considerations are now integral part of any business case analysis; management of the environment also has been integrated into the Utilities' business management process. Several environmental management practices intended to enhance sustainability have been introduced, including a full-fledged environmental management system based on ISO 14001 standards. Energy efficiency opportunities are aggressively pursued, including turbine upgrades, and energy efficient lighting. Experience to date indicates that business performance and progress towards sustainable energy development need not be mutually exclusive

  14. Sustainable supply chain management: Review and research opportunities

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sudheer Gupta

    2011-12-01

    Full Text Available Anthropogenic emissions likely pose serious threat to the stability of our environment; immediate actions are required to change the way the earth’s resources are consumed. Among the many approaches to mitigation of environmental deterioration being considered, the processes for designing, sourcing, producing and distributing products in global markets play a central role. Considerable research effort is being devoted to understanding how organisational initiatives and government policies can be structured to facilitate incorporation of sustainability into design and management of entire supply chain. In this paper, we review the current state of academic research in sustainable supply chain management, and provide a discussion of future direction and research opportunities in this field. We develop an integrative framework summarising the existing literature under four broad categories: (i strategic considerations; (ii decisions at functional interfaces; (iii regulation and government policies; and (iv integrative models and decision support tools. We aim to provide managers and industry practitioners with a nuanced understanding of issues and trade-offs involved in making decisions related to sustainable supply chain management. We conclude the paper by discussing environmental initiatives in India and the relevance of sustainability discussions in the context of the Indian economy.

  15. Resilience and sustainability: Similarities and differences in environmental management applications.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Marchese, Dayton; Reynolds, Erin; Bates, Matthew E; Morgan, Heather; Clark, Susan Spierre; Linkov, Igor

    2018-02-01

    In recent years there have been many disparate uses of the terms sustainability and resilience, with some framing sustainability and resilience as the same concept, and others claiming them to be entirely different and unrelated. To investigate similarities, differences, and current management frameworks for increasing sustainability and resilience, a literature review was undertaken that focused on integrated use of sustainability and resilience in an environmental management context. Sustainability was defined through the triple bottom line of environmental, social and economic system considerations. Resilience was viewed as the ability of a system to prepare for threats, absorb impacts, recover and adapt following persistent stress or a disruptive event. Three generalized management frameworks for organizing sustainability and resilience were found to dominate the literature: (1) resilience as a component of sustainability, (2) sustainability as a component of resilience, and (3) resilience and sustainability as separate objectives. Implementations of these frameworks were found to have common goals of providing benefits to people and the environment under normal and extreme operating conditions, with the best examples building on similarities and minimizing conflicts between resilience and sustainability. Published by Elsevier B.V.

  16. BIM: enabling sustainability and asset management through knowledge management.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kivits, Robbert Anton; Furneaux, Craig

    2013-11-10

    Building Information Modeling (BIM) is the use of virtual building information models to develop building design solutions and design documentation and to analyse construction processes. Recent advances in IT have enabled advanced knowledge management, which in turn facilitates sustainability and improves asset management in the civil construction industry. There are several important qualifiers and some disadvantages of the current suite of technologies. This paper outlines the benefits, enablers, and barriers associated with BIM and makes suggestions about how these issues may be addressed. The paper highlights the advantages of BIM, particularly the increased utility and speed, enhanced fault finding in all construction phases, and enhanced collaborations and visualisation of data. The paper additionally identifies a range of issues concerning the implementation of BIM as follows: IP, liability, risks, and contracts and the authenticity of users. Implementing BIM requires investment in new technology, skills training, and development of new ways of collaboration and Trade Practices concerns. However, when these challenges are overcome, BIM as a new information technology promises a new level of collaborative engineering knowledge management, designed to facilitate sustainability and asset management issues in design, construction, asset management practices, and eventually decommissioning for the civil engineering industry.

  17. Multiscale sagebrush rangeland habitat modeling in southwest Wyoming

    Science.gov (United States)

    Homer, Collin G.; Aldridge, Cameron L.; Meyer, Debra K.; Coan, Michael J.; Bowen, Zachary H.

    2009-01-01

    Sagebrush-steppe ecosystems in North America have experienced dramatic elimination and degradation since European settlement. As a result, sagebrush-steppe dependent species have experienced drastic range contractions and population declines. Coordinated ecosystem-wide research, integrated with monitoring and management activities, would improve the ability to maintain existing sagebrush habitats. However, current data only identify resource availability locally, with rigorous spatial tools and models that accurately model and map sagebrush habitats over large areas still unavailable. Here we report on an effort to produce a rigorous large-area sagebrush-habitat classification and inventory with statistically validated products and estimates of precision in the State of Wyoming. This research employs a combination of significant new tools, including (1) modeling sagebrush rangeland as a series of independent continuous field components that can be combined and customized by any user at multiple spatial scales; (2) collecting ground-measured plot data on 2.4-meter imagery in the same season the satellite imagery is acquired; (3) effective modeling of ground-measured data on 2.4-meter imagery to maximize subsequent extrapolation; (4) acquiring multiple seasons (spring, summer, and fall) of an additional two spatial scales of imagery (30 meter and 56 meter) for optimal large-area modeling; (5) using regression tree classification technology that optimizes data mining of multiple image dates, ratios, and bands with ancillary data to extrapolate ground training data to coarser resolution sensors; and (6) employing rigorous accuracy assessment of model predictions to enable users to understand the inherent uncertainties. First-phase results modeled eight rangeland components (four primary targets and four secondary targets) as continuous field predictions. The primary targets included percent bare ground, percent herbaceousness, percent shrub, and percent litter. The

  18. Rangeland Ecosystem Services: Nature's Supply and Humans' Demand

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ecosystem services are the benefits that society receives from nature and they include the regulation of climate, the pollination of crops, the provisioning of intellectual inspiration and recreational environment, as well as many essential goods such as food, fiber, and wood. Rangeland ecosystem se...

  19. Does Sustainability Reporting have Sustenance? A Marketing Ploy or Management Tool

    OpenAIRE

    Halil D. Kaya; Julia S. Kwok; Elizabeth C. Rabe

    2015-01-01

    Sustainability efforts encompass economic, social and environmental management. After decades of promoting such causes, sustainability finally has moved up to the boardroom agenda per PricewaterhouseCooper 2012 report. As companies incorporate sustainability into business strategy, it is crucial for accountants and financial managers to capture the financial implications of those sustainable practices. This case provides an in-depth review of current reporting and measurement of sustainable p...

  20. Soils as a Solution: The Potential of Rangelands to Contribute to Climate Change Mitigation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Silver, W. L.; Ryals, R.; DeLonge, M. S.; Owen, J. J.

    2015-12-01

    The majority of soil-related climate change research has focused on describing the problem - estimating rates of carbon (C) losses and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from natural and managed ecosystems. More research is needed to explore potential solutions to climate change through mitigation and adaptation. Here we report on an integrated set of studies aimed at critically evaluating the biogeochemical potential of rangeland soils to help mitigate climate change, while improving the sustainability and productivity of food production systems. We explored direct effects through enhanced net primary production (NPP) and soil C sequestration, and indirect effects through diversion of high emitting sources to lower emitting organic matter dynamics. We used a combination of long- and short-term field experiments, modeling, laboratory assays, life cycle assessment (LCA), and meta-analyses in consultation with a diverse group of stakeholders from both the private and public sectors. We found that organic matter amendments held particularly strong potential. Compost amendments increased soil C storage by 0.5-1.0 Mg C ha-1 y-1 in surface soils over 5 y, and increased NPP and water holding capacity. We measured 1.0 Mg of new C ha-1 y-1 over 3 y. Long-term amendment of cattle manure increased surface soil C by 19.0±7.3 Mg C ha-1 relative to unmanured fields. However, field and modeling experiments suggested that manure amendments lead to large nitrous oxide emissions that eventually eliminated CO2e benefits, whereas compost amendments continued to benefit climate for decades longer. An LCA identified a broader range of climate impacts. When scaled to an area of 25% of California's rangelands, new C sequestered following compost amendments (21 million Mg CO2e) exceeded emissions from cattle (15 million Mg CO2e); diverting organics from waste streams to amendments led to additional GHG savings. In collaboration with our partners, our research contributed to the development of

  1. Sustainable cost reduction by lean management in metallurgical processes

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    A. V. Todorut

    2016-10-01

    Full Text Available This paper focuses on the need for sustainable cost reduction in the metallurgical industry by applying Lean Management (LM tools and concepts in metallurgical production processes leading to increased competitiveness of corporations in a global market. The paper highlights that Lean Management is a novel way of thinking, adapting to change, reducing waste and continuous improvement, leading to sustainable development of companies in the metallurgical industry. The authors outline the main Lean Management instruments based on recent scientific research and include a comparative analysis of other tools, such as Sort, Straighten, Shine, Standardize, Sustain (5S, Visual Management (VM, Kaizen, Total Productive Maintenance (TPM, Single-Minute Exchange of Dies (SMED, leading to a critical appraisal of their application in the metallurgical industry.

  2. Sustainable Materials Management (SMM) WasteWise Data

    Science.gov (United States)

    EPA??s WasteWise encourages organizations and businesses to achieve sustainability in their practices and reduce select industrial wastes. WasteWise is part of EPA??s sustainable materials management efforts, which promote the use and reuse of materials more productively over their entire lifecycles. All U.S. businesses, governments and nonprofit organizations can join WasteWise as a partner, endorser or both. Current participants range from small local governments and nonprofit organizations to large multinational corporations. Partners demonstrate how they reduce waste, practice environmental stewardship and incorporate sustainable materials management into their waste-handling processes. Endorsers promote enrollment in WasteWise as part of a comprehensive approach to help their stakeholders realize the economic benefits to reducing waste. WasteWise helps organizations reduce their impact on global climate change through waste reduction. Every stage of a product's life cycle??extraction, manufacturing, distribution, use and disposal??indirectly or directly contributes to the concentration of greenhouse gases (GHGs) in the atmosphere and affects the global climate. WasteWise is part of EPA's larger SMM program (https://www.epa.gov/smm). Sustainable Materials Management (SMM) is a systemic approach to using and reusing materials more productively over their entire lifecycles. It represents a change in how our society thinks about the use of natural resources

  3. Managing Knowledge And Information In The Sustainable Organization

    Science.gov (United States)

    Grecu, Valentin

    2015-09-01

    Knowledge and information management are essential for the success of organizations and bring significant competitive advantages. There has been significant investments in setting up technological platforms that support business processes and increase the efficiency of operational structure in many organizations through an efficient management of knowledge and information. This research highlights the importance of using knowledge and information management in order to increase the competitiveness of organizations and to foster the transition towards the sustainable organization, as nowadays an organization that wants to be competitive needs to be sustainable.

  4. Impact of animal density on cattle nutrition in dry Mediterranean rangelands: a faecal near-IR spectroscopy-aided study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Landau, S Y; Dvash, L; Yehuda, Y; Muklada, H; Peleg, G; Henkin, Z; Voet, H; Ungar, E D

    2018-02-01

    In the context of determining the sustainable carrying capacity of dry-Mediterranean herbaceous rangelands, we examined the effect of animal density on cattle nutrition, which is fundamental to animal performance and welfare. The effects on dietary components of low (0.56 cows/ha; L) and high (1.11 cows/ha; H) animal densities were monitored for three consecutive years in grazing beef cows. In the dry season (summer and early autumn), cows had free access to N-rich poultry litter (PL) given as a dietary supplement. In each season, near-IR spectroscopy (NIRS) was used to predict the chemical composition of herbage samples (ash, NDF, CP, in vitro dry matter digestibility (IVDMD) and metabolizable energy (ME) content from IVDMD). Near-IR spectroscopy was applied also to faecal samples to determine the chemical composition of the diet selected by the animal, as well as the contents of ash, NDF and CP in the faeces themselves. A faecal-NIRS equation was applied to estimate the dietary proportion of PL. Seasonal categories were green, dry without PL supplementation and dry with it. We found no effects of animal density on nutrition during the green season but effects were apparent when cows consumed dry pasture. Ash content predicted by faecal NIRS was higher in the diet than in plant samples clipped from pasture, which infers that cows ingested soil. Dietary and faecal ash contents were higher (Panimals. During the dry period, dietary contents of ME were higher in L than in H (Panimal health, the above results cast doubts on the long-term sustainability of the higher of the animal densities tested. Although it may be sustainable vis-à-vis the vegetation, treatment H may have exceeded the boundaries of what is acceptable for cow health. Chemical information revealed with NIRS can be used to evaluate whether animal densities are compatible with animal health and welfare standards and can play a role in determining the carrying capacity of Mediterranean rangelands.

  5. Sustainable management for the eastern Mediterranean coast of Turkey.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Berberoglu, Süha

    2003-03-01

    The objective of this article is to propose a program for the integrated coastal zone management that is required to stimulate and guide sustainable development of the Mediterranean coastal zone of Turkey. Improved data collection, quality control, analysis, and data management will provide a firm basis for future scientific understanding of the East Mediterranean coast of Turkey and will support long-term management. Various innovative procedures were proposed for a promising ecosystem-based approach to manage coastal wetlands in the Mediterranean: remote data acquisition with new technologies; environmental quality monitoring program that will provide a baseline for monitoring; linking a Geographic Information System (GIS) with natural resource management decision routines in the context of operational wetlands, fisheries, tourism management system; environmental sensitivity analysis to ensure that permitted developments are environmentally sustainable; and use of natural species to restore the wetlands and coastal dunes and sustain the system processes. The proposed management scheme will benefit the scientific community in the Mediterranean and the management/planning community in Eastern Turkey.

  6. The Practice of Sustainable Facilities Management: Design Sentiments and the Knowledge Chasm

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Abbas Elmualim

    2009-12-01

    Full Text Available The construction industry with its nature of project delivery is very fragmented in terms of the various processes that encompass design, construction, facilities and assets management. Facilities managers are in the forefront of delivering sustainable assets management and hence further the venture for mitigation and adaptation to climate change. A questionnaire survey was conducted to establish perceptions, level of commitment and knowledge chasm in practising sustainable facilities management (FM. This has significant implications for sustainable design management, especially in a fragmented industry. The majority of questionnaire respondents indicated the importance of sustainability for their organization. Many of them stated that they reported on sustainability as part of their organization annual reporting with energy efficiency, recycling and waste reduction as the main concern for them. The overwhelming barrier for implementing sound, sustainable FM is the lack of consensual understanding and focus of individuals and organizations about sustainability. There is a knowledge chasm regarding practical information on delivering sustainable FM. Sustainability information asymmetry in design, construction and FM processes render any sustainable design as a sentiment and mere design aspiration. Skills and training provision, traditionally offered separately to designers and facilities managers, needs to be re-evaluated. Sustainability education and training should be developed to provide effective structures and processes to apply sustainability throughout the construction and FM industries coherently and as common practice. Published in the Journal AEDM - Volume 5, Numbers 1-2, 2009 , pp. 91-102(12

  7. Sustainability in Supply chain management is not enough

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Haas, Henning de

    2009-01-01

    To be or not to be - sustainable, that is the question. To be sustainable or green, seems to be the new mantra in supply chain management. Nearly every conference and SCS magazine has the topic on the agenda. The topic of sustainability is not new in a supply chain context. For some years Corporate...

  8. Individual competencies for managers engaged in corporate sustainable management practices

    OpenAIRE

    Wesselink, R.; Blok, V.; Leur, van, S.; Lans, T.; Dentoni, D.

    2015-01-01

    Corporations increasingly acknowledge the importance of sustainable practices. Corporate social responsibility is therefore gaining significance in the business world. Since solving corporate social responsibility issues is not a routine job, every challenge in corporate social responsibility requires its own approach; and management competencies are crucial for designing appropriate approaches towards the realization of sustainable solutions. On the basis of seven corporate social responsibi...

  9. Sustainable Ecotourism Management in Kenya | Okech | Ethiopian ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    The study of ecotourism impacts and their management offers many opportunities to reflect on the importance of sustainability and the possibilities of implementing approaches which move us in a new direction. Sustainability, then, is about the struggle for diversity in all its dimensions. The concern for biodiversity, in its ...

  10. A preliminary framework for corporate real estate sustainable management

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Fauzi Nurul Sahida

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available The global warming issue has motivated corporations to go green in their business operations including transforming from conventional real estate to green features real estate. However green CRE is more complex to manage due to a building’s significant impact on environmental, social and economic aspects. Thus the need to have a best practice guide or framework as reference is crucial. Unfortunately, no best practice guidelines on CRE management have been found to be sufficient as much uncertainty still exists on the sustainable performance measurement components. This research aims to explore and then summarize the present sustainable CREM practices and components relating to sustainable performance measurement integrating a sustainable theory that balances environmental, economic and social impacts. These act as indicators to measure the outcomes of the practice in the form of a generic model on sustainability preliminary framework for CRESM. The objectives of this research include identifying corporate real estate sustainable management (CRESM practice and components of sustainable performance measurement. The research uses content analysis method to analyse data gathered from literature and previous studies. The findings will be demonstrated in the form of a framework model on CRESM that will include14 CREM strategies and 15 components derived from analysis.

  11. Sediment budgets and source determinations using fallout Cesium-137 in a semiarid rangeland watershed, Arizona, USA

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ritchie, Jerry C.; Nearing, Mark A.; Rhoton, Fred E.

    2009-01-01

    Analysis of soil redistribution and sediment sources in semiarid and arid watersheds provides information for implementing management practices to improve rangeland conditions and reduce sediment loads to streams. The purpose of this research was to develop sediment budgets and identify potential sediment sources using 137 Cs and other soil properties in a series of small semiarid subwatersheds on the USDA ARS Walnut Gulch Experimental Watershed near Tombstone, Arizona, USA. Soils were sampled in a grid pattern on two small subwatersheds and along transects associated with soils and geomorphology on six larger subwatersheds. Soil samples were analyzed for 137 Cs and selected physical and chemical properties (i.e., bulk density, rocks, particle size, soil organic carbon). Suspended sediment samples collected at measuring flume sites on the Walnut Gulch Experimental Watershed were also analyzed for these properties. Soil redistribution measured using 137 Cs inventories for a small shrub-dominated subwatershed and a small grass-dominated subwatershed found eroding areas in these subwatersheds were losing -5.6 and -3.2 t ha -1 yr -1 , respectively; however, a sediment budget for each of these subwatersheds, including depositional areas, found net soil loss to be -4.3 t ha -1 yr -1 from the shrub-dominated subwatershed and -0.1 t ha -1 yr -1 from the grass-dominated subwatershed. Generally, the suspended sediment collected at the flumes of the six other subwatersheds was enriched in silt and clay. Using a mixing model to determine sediment source indicated that shrub-dominated subwatersheds were contributing most of the suspended sediment that was measured at the outlet flume of the Walnut Gulch Experimental Watershed. The two methodologies (sediment budgets and sediment source analyses) indicate that shrub-dominated systems provide more suspended sediment to the stream systems. The sediment budget studies also suggest that sediment yields measured at the outlet of a

  12. Shaping a sustainable energy future for India: Management challenges

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bhattacharyya, Subhes C.

    2010-01-01

    Most of the studies on the Indian energy sector focus on the possible future scenarios of Indian energy system development without considering the management dimension to the problem-how to ensure a smooth transition to reach the desired future state. The purpose of this paper is to highlight some sector management concerns to a sustainable energy future in the country. The paper follows a deductive approach and reviews the present status and possible future energy outlooks from the existing literature. This is followed by a strategy outline to achieve long-term energy sustainability. Management challenges on the way to such a sustainable future are finally presented. The paper finds that the aspiration of becoming an economic powerhouse and the need to eradicate poverty will necessarily mean an increase in energy consumption unless a decoupling of energy and GDP growth is achieved. Consequently, the energy future of the country is eminently unsustainable. A strategy focussing on demand reduction, enhanced access, use of local resources and better management practices is proposed here. However, a sustainable path faces a number of challenges from the management and policy perspectives.

  13. Sustainable Transportation - Indicators, Frameworks, and Performance Management

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Gudmundsson, Henrik; Hall, Ralph P.; Marsden, Greg

    This textbook provides an introduction to the concept of sustainability in the context of transportation planning, management, and decision-making. The book is divided into two parts. In the first part, indicators and frameworks for measuring sustainable development in the transportation sector...... are developed. In the second, the authors analyze actual planning and decision-making in transportation agencies in a variety of governance settings. This analysis of real-world case studies demonstrates the benefits and limitations of current approaches to sustainable development in transportation. The book...... concludes with a discussion on how to make sustainability count in transportation decision-making and practice....

  14. Rangelands management in Spanish Natura 2000 sites.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hernando Gallego, A.; Tejera Gimeno, R.; Velázquez Saornil, J.; Núñez Martí, V.; Grande Vega, M.

    2009-04-01

    features such as vital functions, restoration, floral richness and structure. Finally, the implemented management plan proposes a sustainable solution to restore the habitat and maintain the livestock. Conversion by thinning on coppice forest to high forest is a popular recommendation by expert managers. It is proposed in high polewood (with B: inconvenient conservation status), sapling (A) and coppice tall shrubs (C) during the first fifteen years. Low-intensity thinning on sprouts, less than 35% of the basal area. Besides, the cattle will be led to these areas to control the sprouts. Low polewood (C) is left to grow with livestock and only the best trees will survive. Oak shrubland will be tested. The main purpose is avoiding the whole forest to become a coppice forest (C) without acorn regeneration. Therefore oak shrubland will be fenced and different measures tested (brush out, bulldozer scalping, intensive and medium thinning and no treatment) in order to choose the most suitable one for future management. In conclusion, the proposed selvicultural measures use the livestock as a part of the solution to ensure biodiversity.

  15. BIM: Enabling Sustainability and Asset Management through Knowledge Management

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Robbert Anton Kivits

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available Building Information Modeling (BIM is the use of virtual building information models to develop building design solutions and design documentation and to analyse construction processes. Recent advances in IT have enabled advanced knowledge management, which in turn facilitates sustainability and improves asset management in the civil construction industry. There are several important qualifiers and some disadvantages of the current suite of technologies. This paper outlines the benefits, enablers, and barriers associated with BIM and makes suggestions about how these issues may be addressed. The paper highlights the advantages of BIM, particularly the increased utility and speed, enhanced fault finding in all construction phases, and enhanced collaborations and visualisation of data. The paper additionally identifies a range of issues concerning the implementation of BIM as follows: IP, liability, risks, and contracts and the authenticity of users. Implementing BIM requires investment in new technology, skills training, and development of new ways of collaboration and Trade Practices concerns. However, when these challenges are overcome, BIM as a new information technology promises a new level of collaborative engineering knowledge management, designed to facilitate sustainability and asset management issues in design, construction, asset management practices, and eventually decommissioning for the civil engineering industry.

  16. BIM: Enabling Sustainability and Asset Management through Knowledge Management

    Science.gov (United States)

    2013-01-01

    Building Information Modeling (BIM) is the use of virtual building information models to develop building design solutions and design documentation and to analyse construction processes. Recent advances in IT have enabled advanced knowledge management, which in turn facilitates sustainability and improves asset management in the civil construction industry. There are several important qualifiers and some disadvantages of the current suite of technologies. This paper outlines the benefits, enablers, and barriers associated with BIM and makes suggestions about how these issues may be addressed. The paper highlights the advantages of BIM, particularly the increased utility and speed, enhanced fault finding in all construction phases, and enhanced collaborations and visualisation of data. The paper additionally identifies a range of issues concerning the implementation of BIM as follows: IP, liability, risks, and contracts and the authenticity of users. Implementing BIM requires investment in new technology, skills training, and development of new ways of collaboration and Trade Practices concerns. However, when these challenges are overcome, BIM as a new information technology promises a new level of collaborative engineering knowledge management, designed to facilitate sustainability and asset management issues in design, construction, asset management practices, and eventually decommissioning for the civil engineering industry. PMID:24324392

  17. Sustainability Management Program for Industries- A Case Study

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Long Su Weng Alwin

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available This research studied the effectiveness of Sustainability Management Program in improving production efficiency of the manufacturing site with verified result using the regression analysis. For this study, a dairy manufacturing industry located in Malaysia was selected and major energy consuming equipment in the industryplant were identified. Sustainability Management Program (SMP was carried out for three years and energy consumption and product has improved regression coefficients of 0.625 in 2013, 0.826 in 2014, and 0.878 in 2015 as the manufacturing site becomes more energy efficient. This suggests that the energy management should be carried out in a continuous manner with energy management team responsible for energy saving practices.

  18. Yield Response of Mediterranean Rangelands under a Changing Climate

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Daliakopoulos, Ioannis N.; Panagea, Ioanna S.; Tsanis, Ioannis K.; Grillakis, Manolis G.; Koutroulis, Aristeidis G.; Hessel, Rudi; Mayor, Angeles G.; Ritsema, Coen J.

    2017-01-01

    Understanding the Mediterranean rangelands degradation trends is a key element of mitigating their vulnerability and enhancing their resilience. Climate change and its inherent effects on mean temperature and the precipitation variability can regulate the magnitude, frequency and duration of

  19. Supply Chain Management and Sustainability : Procrastinating Integration in Mainstream Research

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    De Brito, M.P.; Van der Laan, E.A.

    2010-01-01

    Research has pointed out opportunities and research agendas to integrate sustainability issues with supply chain and operations management. However, we find that it is still not mainstream practice to systematically take a sustainability approach in tackling supply chain and operations management

  20. Remote sensing data in Rangeland assessment and monitoring

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hamid, Amna Ahmed; Ali, Mohamed M.

    1999-01-01

    The main objective of the paper is to illustrate the potential of remote sensing data in the study and monitoring of environmental changes in western Sudan where considerable part of the area is under rangeland use. Data from NOAA satellite AVHRR sensor as well as thematic mapper Tm was used to assess the environment of the area during 1982-1997. The AVHRR data was processed into vegetation index (NDVI) images. Image analysis and classification was done using image display and analysis (IDA) GIS method to study vegetation condition in time series. The obtained information from field observations. The result showed high correlation between the information the work concluded the followings: NDVI images and thematic mapper data proved to be efficient in environment change analysis. NOAA AVHRR satellite data can provide an early-warning indicator of an approaching disaster. Remote sensing integrated into a GIS can contribute effectively to improve land management through better understanding of environment variability.(Author)

  1. Design for Sustainability and Project Management Literature – A Review

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Ali, Faheem; Boks, Casper; Bey, Niki

    2016-01-01

    management literature has hardly been considered in design for sustainability research, this article attempts to review the points of intersection between these two fields, and explores the potential that knowledge from project management literature has in improving efficiency and effectiveness...... of development and implementation of design for sustainability tools.......The growing pressure on natural resources and increasing global trade have made sustainability issues a prime area of concern for all businesses alike. The increased focus on sustainability has impacted the way projects are conceived, planned, executed and evaluated in industries. Since project...

  2. Sustainable Pest Management : Achievements and Challenges

    OpenAIRE

    World Bank

    2005-01-01

    The objective of this paper is to: (a) review World Bank's pest management activities during 1999-2004; (b) assess those in view of the changes in the external and internal contexts; (c) identify appropriate opportunities of engagement on pest and pesticide issues; and (d) suggest means to further promote sound pest management in the World Bank operations. The importance of sound pest management for sustainable agricultural production is being recognized by many developing countries. Many cou...

  3. Managed Aquifer Recharge (MAR in Sustainable Urban Water Management

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Declan Page

    2018-02-01

    Full Text Available To meet increasing urban water requirements in a sustainable way, there is a need to diversify future sources of supply and storage. However, to date, there has been a lag in the uptake of managed aquifer recharge (MAR for diversifying water sources in urban areas. This study draws on examples of the use of MAR as an approach to support sustainable urban water management. Recharged water may be sourced from a variety of sources and in urban centers, MAR provides a means to recycle underutilized urban storm water and treated wastewater to maximize their water resource potential and to minimize any detrimental effects associated with their disposal. The number, diversity and scale of urban MAR projects is growing internationally due to water shortages, fewer available dam sites, high evaporative losses from surface storages, and lower costs compared with alternatives where the conditions are favorable, including water treatment. Water quality improvements during aquifer storage are increasingly being documented at demonstration sites and more recently, full-scale operational urban schemes. This growing body of knowledge allows more confidence in understanding the potential role of aquifers in water treatment for regulators. In urban areas, confined aquifers provide better protection for waters recharged via wells to supplement potable water supplies. However, unconfined aquifers may generally be used for nonpotable purposes to substitute for municipal water supplies and, in some cases, provide adequate protection for recovery as potable water. The barriers to MAR adoption as part of sustainable urban water management include lack of awareness of recent developments and a lack of transparency in costs, but most importantly the often fragmented nature of urban water resources and environmental management.

  4. Does participatory forest management promote sustainable forest utilisation in Tanzania?

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Treue, Thorsten; Ngaga, Y.M.; Meilby, Henrik

    2014-01-01

    Over the past 20 years, Participatory Forest Management (PFM) has become a dominant forest management strategy in Tanzania, covering more than 4.1 million hectares. Sustainable forest use and supply of wood products to local people are major aims of PFM. This paper assesses the sustainability...... of forest utilisation under PFM, using estimates of forest condition and extraction rates based on forest inventories and 480 household surveys from 12 forests; seven under Community Based Forest Management (CBFM), three under Joint Forest Management (JFM) and two under government management (non......-PFM). Extraction of products is intense in forests close to Dar es Salaam, regardless of management regime. Further from Dar es Salaam, harvesting levels in forests under PFM are, with one prominent exception, broadly sustainable. Using GIS data from 116 wards, it is shown that half of the PFM forests in Tanzania...

  5. Conference Summary Report from ENS`95. Sustainable Resource Management

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Holdgate, M [ed.

    1996-12-31

    This publication gives a survey of the ENS`95 conference held in Stavanger (Norway). The publication presents a conference summary and lists of papers for each of the main themes covering sustainable energy production and consumption (challenges and opportunities), international trade and sustainable development, sustainable resource management and economic development in the northern circumpolar region together with sustainable forestry and food production

  6. Conference Summary Report from ENS`95. Sustainable Resource Management

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Holdgate, M. [ed.

    1995-12-31

    This publication gives a survey of the ENS`95 conference held in Stavanger (Norway). The publication presents a conference summary and lists of papers for each of the main themes covering sustainable energy production and consumption (challenges and opportunities), international trade and sustainable development, sustainable resource management and economic development in the northern circumpolar region together with sustainable forestry and food production

  7. Rangeland restoration for Hirola, the world's most endangered antelope

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rangeland restoration can improve habitat for threatened species such as the hirola antelope (Beatragus hunteri) that inhabit savannas of eastern Kenya. However, restoration success likely varies across soil types and target restoration species, as well as according to restoration approach. We teste...

  8. Sustainable supply chain management: current debate and future directions

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Bruno Silvestre

    Full Text Available Abstract This paper is a research brief on sustainable supply chain management and covers some of the key elements of literature’s past debate and trends for future directions. It highlights the growth of this research area and reinforces the importance of a full consideration of all three key dimensions of sustainability when managing sustainable supply chains, i.e., the financial, environmental and social dimensions. Therefore, supply chain decision makers need to unequivocally assess the impact of their decisions on the financial, environmental and social performances of their supply chains. This paper also argues that risks and opportunities are the key drivers for supply chain decision makers to adopt sustainability within their operations, and that barriers to sustainability adoption exist. This research highlights that, depending on the focus adopted, supply chains can evolve and shift from more traditional to more sustainable approaches over time. The paper concludes with some promising avenues for future investigation.

  9. Grazing animal husbandry based on sustainable nutrient management

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Hermans, C.; Vereijken, P.H.

    1995-01-01

    Sustainable husbandry systems for grazing animals (cattle and sheep) can be achieved by sustainable nutrient management (SNM). This implies the tuning of inputs to outputs of nutrients, to achieve and maintain optimum ranges of agronomically wanted and ecologically acceptable reserves of single

  10. Laws, Institutions and Transboundary Pasture Management in the High Pamir and Pamir-Alai Mountain Ecosystem of Central Asia

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Michelle Lim

    2012-06-01

    Full Text Available Enhanced rangeland governance is a priority for the governments of the post-Soviet Central Asian states of the Kyrgyz Republic and Tajikistan. Major transitional challenges confront the newly independent states of Central Asia. These challenges include the withdrawal of subsidies previously provided by the centralised Soviet government; moves towards privatisation and the conversion of administrative boundaries to international boundaries. In this context transboundary approaches to rangeland management are essential. This paper highlights the challenges for effective pasture management in the Pamir, Pamir-Alai ecosystem; the inadequacies of pasture-related legal instruments and the absence of institutions for the implementation of these instruments. Transboundary management is hampered by the lack of agreements between the two countries and the differences between national level laws and institutions. Meaningful transboundary agreements and the harmonization of national level laws would be a significant step towards achieving sustainable transboundary pasture management. However, on their own these legal tools are insufficient. Long-term effective pasture management in the Pamir, Pamir-Alai ecosystem necessitates that the causes of degradation are addressed. Mountain communities would also need to be convinced of economic and other benefits before current resource-use practices could be expected to change. Institutional and capacity building and adequate funding are also fundamental to ensuring the effectiveness of any legal instruments that are developed and any strategies that are employed.

  11. Innovation Management for Sustainable Development Practices in the Internalization Context

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Clandia Maffini Gomes

    2011-06-01

    Full Text Available To provide new inferences on the relation between the management of technology information, sustainable development and the innovative performance of firms, a survey was carried out among Brazilian industrial enterprises with innovative characteristics. The study sought to understand how technological innovation management practices that take social and environmental responsibility into account influence firms’ internationalization process. The independent and dependent variables suggest that there is a connection between managing technology for sustainable development and innovative performance. We tried to identify the main technological management practices that reflect commitment to sustainable development. The results suggest that firms’ international success and high degree of competitiveness are based on offering innovative technology solutions that show commitment to the environment. The study identifies important elements of an emerging area of knowledge in the field of management sciences.

  12. Perceptions of Sustainable Marketing Management by Export Companies in Serbia

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Zoran I Čajka

    2013-07-01

    Full Text Available The present research paper deals with perceptions of sustainable marketing management in the strategies of export companies in Serbia. The objectives in this paper are manifold. They are to emphasize the importance of green marketing management in export activities of domestic companies which pursue their green management plan; to evaluate the company’s share in specific marketing segments, and to highlight the significance of successful green marketing management in modern business. Domestic green-oriented companies, which export their products to many different countries, look into the possibility of increasing their sales volumes. The findings in the paper support the hypotheses that domestic companies are perceptive of sustainable marketing issues in their business activities, and sustainable marketing management is becoming an important factor in business activities of modern companies.

  13. Decision support modeling for sustainable food logistics management

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Soysal, M.

    2015-01-01

    Summary

    For the last two decades, food logistics systems have seen the transition from traditional Logistics Management (LM) to Food Logistics Management (FLM), and successively, to Sustainable Food Logistics Management (SFLM). Accordingly, food industry has been subject to the recent

  14. Business Sustainability and Undergraduate Management Education: An Australian Study

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fisher, Josie; Bonn, Ingrid

    2011-01-01

    The academic literature arguing that there is an urgent requirement for businesses to become more sustainable is rapidly expanding. There is also a demonstrated need for managers to develop a better understanding of sustainability and the appropriate strategies required to improve business sustainability. In addition, there have been international…

  15. Sustainable construction building performance simulation and asset and maintenance management

    CERN Document Server

    2016-01-01

    This book presents a collection of recent research works that highlight best practice solutions, case studies and practical advice on the implementation of sustainable construction techniques. It includes a set of new developments in the field of building performance simulation, building sustainability assessment, sustainable management, asset and maintenance management and service-life prediction. Accordingly, the book will appeal to a broad readership of professionals, scientists, students, practitioners, lecturers and other interested parties.

  16. Barriers and commitment of facilities management profession to the sustainability agenda

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Elmualim, Abbas; Shockley, Daniel [ICRC, The School of Construction Management and Engineering University of Reading, Whiteknights, PO BOX 219 (United Kingdom); Valle, Roberto [ICRC, The School of Construction Management and Engineering University of Reading, Whiteknights, PO BOX 219 (United Kingdom); British Institute of Facilities Management (BIFM) (United Kingdom); Ludlow, Gordon [British Institute of Facilities Management (BIFM) (United Kingdom); Shah, Sunil [Jacobs, Reading (United Kingdom)

    2010-01-15

    The practice of sustainable facilities management (FM) is rapidly evolving with the increasing interest in the discourse of sustainable development. This paper examines a recent survey of the experiences of facilities managers in the rapidly growing and evolving industry in regard to the barriers and their commitment to the sustainability agenda. The survey results show that time constraints, lack of knowledge and lack of senior management commitment are the main barriers for the implementation of consistent and comprehensive sustainable FM policy and practice. The paper concludes that the diversity of the FM role and the traditional undervaluation of the contribution it makes to the success of organisations are partially responsible for lack of success in achieving sustainable facilities. The overwhelming barrier for sustainable FM practice is the lack of understanding, focus and commitment of senior executives in appreciating the opportunities, threats and need for strategic leadership and direction in driving essential change, and hence further the sustainability agenda. (author)

  17. Sustainable waste management via incineration system: an Islamic ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Sustainable waste management via incineration system: an Islamic outlook for conservation of the environment. ... Journal of Fundamental and Applied Sciences ... Abstract. This paper would firstly examine solid waste management currently ...

  18. Rangeland degradation in two watersheds of Lebanon

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Darwish, T; Faour, G.

    2008-01-01

    A complex and rugged nature characterizes the Lebanese mountains.The climatic pattern prevailing in the country, deforestation and man made erosion caused increased rangeland degradation. The purpose of this study was to monitor two contrasting watersheds, representing the Lebanese agro-ecological zones, to analyze the vegetation dynamics and trace the state of rangeland degradation. The Kfarselouane (205 km2) and Aarsal (316.7 km2) watersheds are located in the Lebanon and Anti-Lebanon mountain chain and characterized by sub humid and semi-arid climate respectively.Using multitemporal spot vegetation images between 1999 and 2005 to analyze the normalized differential vegetation index (NDVI) revealed some improvement of the vegetation cover over recent years in Kfaselouane with a steady state in Aarsal. The NDVI trend curve inclines in spring and declines in summer and fall. Judging by the time scale amplitude change and highest magnitude between the peak and lower NDVI level in Aarsal, an increased vulnerability to drought is observed in the dry Lebanese areas. Comparing land cover/use in Aarsal area between 1962 and 2000 using aerial photos and large resolution Indian satellite images (IRS) showed wood fragmentation and slight increase of the degenerated forest cover from 1108 ha to 1168 ha. Landuse change was accompanied by a simultaneous increase of cultivated lands (mostly fruit trees) from 932 ha to 4878 ha with absence of soil conservation and water harvesting practices. On the contrary, grasslands decreased from 29581 ha to 25000 ha. In Kfarselouane, the area of grassland was invaded by forestland where rangeland decreased from 8073 ha to 3568 ha and woodland increased from 5766 ha to 11800 ha. Forest expansion occurred even at the account of unproductive land which decreased from 2668 ha to 248 ha, while cultivated lands did not reveal any substantial change. Based on animals' seasonal feeding pattern, a mismatch between land carrying capacity and grazing

  19. A guideline for interpersonal capabilities enhancement to support sustainable facility management practice

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sarpin, Norliana; Kasim, Narimah; Zainal, Rozlin; Noh, Hamidun Mohd

    2018-04-01

    Facility management is the key phase in the development cycle of an assets and spans over a considerable length of time. Therefore, facility managers are in a commanding position to maximise the potential of sustainability through the development phases from construction, operation, maintenance and upgrade leading to decommission and deconstruction. Sustainability endeavours in facility management practices will contribute to reducing energy consumption, waste and running costs. Furthermore, it can also help in improving organisational productivity, financial return and community standing of the organisation. Facility manager should be empowered with the necessary knowledge and capabilities at the forefront facing sustainability challenge. However, literature studies show a gap between the level of awareness, specific knowledge and the necessary skills required to pursue sustainability in the facility management professional. People capability is considered as the key enabler in managing the sustainability agenda as well as being central to the improvement of competency and innovation in an organisation. This paper aims to develop a guidelines for interpersonal capabilities to support sustainability in facility management practice. Starting with a total of 7 critical interpersonal capabilities factors identified from previous questionnaire survey, the authors conducted an interview with 3 experts in facility management to assess the perceived importance of these factors. The findings reveal a set of guidelines for the enhancement of interpersonal capabilities among facility managers by providing what can be done to acquire these factors and how it can support the application of sustainability in their practice. The findings of this paper are expected to form the basis of a mechanism framework developed to equip facility managers with the right knowledge, to continue education and training and to develop new mind-sets to enhance the implementation of sustainability

  20. Sustainable Supply Chain Management in Small and Medium Enterprises

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sebastian Kot

    2018-04-01

    Full Text Available The sector of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs plays a key role in the economies of all of the countries in the world. These entities constitute the basis for the development of the national and global economies. In a contemporary complex and competitive business environment, the adaptation of appropriate strategies is a particularly important effort to furthering the development of companies from the SMEs sector. In this context, the application of the concept of sustainable supply chain management (SCM in the operation strategy of SMEs seems to be a very important function. This supply chain also covers all three aspects of sustainable development: business, environmental, and social. The purpose of this article is to present the current state of the research in sustainable development in relation to managing the supply chain of SMEs, as well as the empirical findings in this area. The results found that all of the sustainability areas were very important in the supply chain management practices of the studied SMEs, despite the imbalance described in the literature. The study also presents the most important elements in the particular sustainability areas of SCM and SMEs.

  1. Ecology and Conservation of Acacia senegal in the Rangelands ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Ecology and Conservation of Acacia senegal in the Rangelands ofLuwero and Nakasongola Districts. Jacob Godfrey Agea, Joseph Obua, Sara Namirembe, Mukadasi Buyinza, Daniel Waiswa. Abstract. No Abstract. Full Text: EMAIL FREE FULL TEXT EMAIL FREE FULL TEXT · DOWNLOAD FULL TEXT DOWNLOAD FULL ...

  2. Advances in modeling soil erosion after disturbance on rangelands

    Science.gov (United States)

    Research has been undertaken to develop process based models that predict soil erosion rate after disturbance on rangelands. In these models soil detachment is predicted as a combination of multiple erosion processes, rain splash and thin sheet flow (splash and sheet) detachment and concentrated flo...

  3. Evolution of sustainability in supply chain management

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Rajeev, A.; Pati, Rupesh K.; Padhi, Sidhartha S.

    2017-01-01

    have urged several researchers and industry experts to work on Sustainable Production and Consumption issues within the context of Sustainable Supply Chain Management (SSCM). This paper comprehensively covers the exponential growth of the topic through an evolutionary lens. This article attempts...... to understand the evolution of sustainability issues by analysing trends across industries, economies, and through the use of various methodologies. A comprehensive thematic analysis was performed on 1068 filtered articles from 2000 to 2015, highlighting the development and importance of the body of knowledge....... The study proposes a conceptual framework to classify various factors along the triple bottom line pillars of sustainability issues in the context of supply chains. An in-depth study is conducted on 190 articles covering all pillars of sustainability (as per the proposed conceptual framework) on SSCM. We...

  4. Integrating Science and Land Management for the Conservation Effects Assessment Project (CEAP) in Southwestern Rangelands

    Science.gov (United States)

    Goodrich, D. C.; Heilman, P.; Nearing, M.; Speath, K.; Hernandez, M.; Wei, H.; Holifield-Collins, C.; Kautz, M.; Nichols, M.; Barlow, J.; Guertin, P.; Burns, S.; Stone, J. J.; Weltz, M.; Metz, L.; Norfleet, L.; Duriancik, L.; Johnson, M.

    2013-12-01

    Farm Bill legislation enacted by Congress in 2002 directed the U.S. Department of Agriculture to assess of the benefits and efficacy of conservation practices provided by a variety of USDA programs. Benefits include improved agricultural production, reduction of erosion and associated nutrient losses, improved water quality, improved soil resilience, and improved habitat among others. To conduct the assessment, the USDA initiated CEAP or the Conservation Effects Assessment Project in 2003, which included a national assessment complemented by small watershed studies. The national assessment started in eastern and midwestern cultivated croplands and has now progressed to western rangelands. This presentation will discuss the challenges of assessing the effects of rangeland conservation practices in a period of unusually hot and dry climatic conditions in the Cienega Creek Watershed (CCW) located southeast of Tucson, Arizona. As is common in the western U.S., the CCW consists of a patchwork of private and public lands in the west with much of the public lands leased for grazing cattle. The watershed also has high recreational value and provides many ecosystem services, including wildlife habitat qualities and flood protection to Tucson. A combination of monitoring, modeling, and remote sensing was utilized in the assessment. Conservation spending in the watershed ramped up in 1997. However, the 16-year period from 1997-2012 contains almost half of the 23 driest seasons (lowest 20 percentile) from the 117-year observed precipitation record. Initial results indicate that Landsat remotely sensed images can be effectively used to estimate both green and senescent canopy cover. This enabled detection of the impacts of drought and changes in canopy cover from practices such as prescribed fire and mechanical brush removal. Cienega Creek Watershed - Land Ownership

  5. Soil mapping and processes modelling for sustainable land management: a review

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pereira, Paulo; Brevik, Eric; Muñoz-Rojas, Miriam; Miller, Bradley; Smetanova, Anna; Depellegrin, Daniel; Misiune, Ieva; Novara, Agata; Cerda, Artemi

    2017-04-01

    Soil maps and models are fundamental for a correct and sustainable land management (Pereira et al., 2017). They are an important in the assessment of the territory and implementation of sustainable measures in urban areas, agriculture, forests, ecosystem services, among others. Soil maps represent an important basis for the evaluation and restoration of degraded areas, an important issue for our society, as consequence of climate change and the increasing pressure of humans on the ecosystems (Brevik et al. 2016; Depellegrin et al., 2016). The understanding of soil spatial variability and the phenomena that influence this dynamic is crucial to the implementation of sustainable practices that prevent degradation, and decrease the economic costs of soil restoration. In this context, soil maps and models are important to identify areas affected by degradation and optimize the resources available to restore them. Overall, soil data alone or integrated with data from other sciences, is an important part of sustainable land management. This information is extremely important land managers and decision maker's implements sustainable land management policies. The objective of this work is to present a review about the advantages of soil mapping and process modeling for sustainable land management. References Brevik, E., Calzolari, C., Miller, B., Pereira, P., Kabala, C., Baumgarten, A., Jordán, A. (2016) Historical perspectives and future needs in soil mapping, classification and pedological modelling, Geoderma, 264, Part B, 256-274. Depellegrin, D.A., Pereira, P., Misiune, I., Egarter-Vigl, L. (2016) Mapping Ecosystem Services in Lithuania. International Journal of Sustainable Development and World Ecology, 23, 441-455. Pereira, P., Brevik, E., Munoz-Rojas, M., Miller, B., Smetanova, A., Depellegrin, D., Misiune, I., Novara, A., Cerda, A. (2017) Soil mapping and process modelling for sustainable land management. In: Pereira, P., Brevik, E., Munoz-Rojas, M., Miller, B

  6. Sustainable Nutrient Management in Chinese Agriculture:Challenges and Perspective

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    2006-01-01

    China has to raise agricultural productivity in its limited and shrinking farmland to guarantee food security for its huge and ever-growing population. Sustainable soil nutrient management is of paramount importance to the world's most populous country. Critical challenges the country is facing in sustaining soil fertility and in alleviating the hazardous impact of intensive fertilizer use are discussed in this paper. It is emphatically pointed out that national strategies as well as area-specific action plans with respect to scientific nutrient management are urgently needed to balance productivity and sustainability in the future. Relevant proposals for addressing those challenges are also presented.

  7. Sustainable apple breedings needs sustainable marketing and management

    OpenAIRE

    Weber, M.

    2008-01-01

    Apple breeding programmes are currently in the middle of transition in terms of ownership and management. Until now most of them were funded by the public. Breeding took place by traditional methods since decades in a very sustainable way to develop better apple varieties. Today, increasing loss of national boundaries and globalisation, less interest by national bodies and institutions and rising cost levels for high tech breeding methods entire programmes are nowadays urged to...

  8. Perspective: The challenge of ecologically sustainable water management

    CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

    Bernhardt, E

    2006-10-01

    Full Text Available Sustainable water resource management is constrained by three pervasive myths; that societal and environmental water demands always compete with one another; that technological solutions can solve all water resource management problems...

  9. Supply Chain Management and Sustainability: Procrastinating Integration in Mainstream Research

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Marisa P. de Brito

    2010-03-01

    Full Text Available Research has pointed out opportunities and research agendas to integrate sustainability issues with supply chain and operations management. However, we find that it is still not mainstream practice to systematically take a sustainability approach in tackling supply chain and operations management issues. In this paper, we make use of behavioral theory to explain the current lack of integration. We conclude through abductive reasoning that the reasons for procrastinating integration of sustainability in supply chain and operations management research are the conflicting nature of the task and the inherent context, which is the focus on operations rather than environmental or social issues.

  10. Soil management practices for sustainable crop production

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Abalos, E.B.

    2005-01-01

    In a sustainable system, the soil is viewed as a fragile and living medium that must be protected and nurtured to ensure its long-term productivity and stability. However, due to high demand for food brought about by high population as well as the decline in agricultural lands, the soil is being exploited beyond its limit thus, leading to poor or sick soils. Sound soil management practices in the Philippines is being reviewed. The technologies, including the advantages and disadvantages are hereby presented. This includes proper cropping systems, fertilizer program, soil erosion control and correcting soil acidity. Sound soil management practices which conserve organic matter for long-term sustainability includes addition of compost, maintaining soil cover, increasing aggregates stability, soil tilt and diversity of soil microbial life. A healthy soil is a key component to sustainability as a health soil produce healthy crop plants and have optimum vigor or less susceptible to pests. (author)

  11. Sustainable Human Resource Management in Religiously Diverse Regions: The Podlasie Case

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Barbara Mazur

    2015-08-01

    Full Text Available The concept of sustainability seems fundamental for companies operating worldwide. Human resources are acknowledged to be among the most valuable assets for them. Even though literature shows that Sustainable Human Resource Management is an upcoming topic there is still limited research on the concept due to its initial state. Prior literature reveals a lack in the consideration of systematic links between sustainability and HRM. The purpose of the study is to present the sociological approach to Sustainable Human Resource Management. The paper contributes to the literature linking sustainability to the issues researched in HRM literature. In the introduction it discusses how the notion of sustainability has emerged and developed. Then the sociological approach to Sustainable Human Resource Management is briefly depicted. Next, Diversity Management is presented as the manifestation of the social approach to Sustainable Human Resource Management. To illustrate this approach, the empirical research is presented. It has been conducted among 32 companies operating in Podlasie region (northeastern part of Poland. The research tried to uncover the companies’ knowledge and consciousness of cultural (religious diversity. It also aimed at finding out whether this diversity was seen as an advantage and taken opportunity of or rather neglected in the companies. The results show the reception of diversity among larger and smaller enterprises in the Podlasie region. In general, smaller companies tend to know the religion of the worker more often, and therefore are able to take advantage of it. The larger companies tend to treat faith as a personal matter.

  12. Session B4 Management for sustainable use — Global climate ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    The IPCC Third Assessment Report confirms that the evidence for global climate change is now stronger than ever. While efforts to minimise climate change are vital, some degree of change is already inevitable. The key questions for rangelands are no longer whether climate change will occur, but how to adapt to it, and if ...

  13. THE ROLE OF SUPPLY CHAIN COLLABORATION ON SUSTAINABLE SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT PERFORMANCE

    OpenAIRE

    Ince, Huseyin; Ince, Andac Sahinbey

    2015-01-01

    Sustainable supply chain management and collaboration have taken big attention from academicians and practitioners. The extensive literature review is conducted to analyse the relationship between Sustainable Supply Chain Management and collaboration and its effects on performance of SSCM dimensions. Then, a framework is proposed to explain the relationship between sustainable supply chain management and collaboration. For further studies the proposed framework should be tested empirically.

  14. Building Theory at the Intersection of Ecological Sustainability and Strategic Management

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Borland, Helen; Ambrosini, Véronique; Lindgreen, Adam

    2016-01-01

    This article builds theory at the intersection of ecological sustainability and strategic management literature—specifically, in relation to dynamic capabilities literature. By combining industrial organization economics–based, resource-based, and dynamic capability–based views, it is possible...... to develop a better understanding of the strategies that businesses may follow, depending on their managers’ assumptions about ecological sustainability. To develop innovative strategies for ecological sustainability, the dynamic capabilities framework needs to be extended. In particular, the sensing...... sustainability. Finally, this approach offers opportunities for managers and academics to identify, categorize, and exploit business strategies for ecological sustainability....

  15. Conceptualising and managing trade-offs in sustainability assessment

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Morrison-Saunders, Angus; Pope, Jenny

    2013-01-01

    One of the defining characteristics of sustainability assessment as a form of impact assessment is that it provides a forum for the explicit consideration of the trade-offs that are inherent in complex decision-making processes. Few sustainability assessments have achieved this goal though, and none has considered trade-offs in a holistic fashion throughout the process. Recent contributions such as the Gibson trade-off rules have significantly progressed thinking in this area by suggesting appropriate acceptability criteria for evaluating substantive trade-offs arising from proposed development, as well as process rules for how evaluations of acceptability should occur. However, there has been negligible uptake of these rules in practice. Overall, we argue that there is inadequate consideration of trade-offs, both process and substantive, throughout the sustainability assessment process, and insufficient considerations of how process decisions and compromises influence substantive outcomes. This paper presents a framework for understanding and managing both process and substantive trade-offs within each step of a typical sustainability assessment process. The framework draws together previously published literature and offers case studies that illustrate aspects of the practical application of the framework. The framing and design of sustainability assessment are vitally important, as process compromises or trade-offs can have substantive consequences in terms of sustainability outcomes delivered, with the choice of alternatives considered being a particularly significant determinant of substantive outcomes. The demarcation of acceptable from unacceptable impacts is a key aspect of managing trade-offs. Offsets can be considered as a form of trade-off within a category of sustainability that are utilised to enhance preferred alternatives once conditions of impact acceptability have been met. In this way they may enable net gains to be delivered; another imperative

  16. Conceptualising and managing trade-offs in sustainability assessment

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Morrison-Saunders, Angus, E-mail: A.Morrison-Saunders@murdoch.edu.au [School of Geo and Spatial Sciences, North West University (South Africa); School of Environmental Science, Murdoch University (Australia); Pope, Jenny [School of Geo and Spatial Sciences, North West University (South Africa); Integral Sustainability (Australia); Curtin University (Australia)

    2013-01-15

    One of the defining characteristics of sustainability assessment as a form of impact assessment is that it provides a forum for the explicit consideration of the trade-offs that are inherent in complex decision-making processes. Few sustainability assessments have achieved this goal though, and none has considered trade-offs in a holistic fashion throughout the process. Recent contributions such as the Gibson trade-off rules have significantly progressed thinking in this area by suggesting appropriate acceptability criteria for evaluating substantive trade-offs arising from proposed development, as well as process rules for how evaluations of acceptability should occur. However, there has been negligible uptake of these rules in practice. Overall, we argue that there is inadequate consideration of trade-offs, both process and substantive, throughout the sustainability assessment process, and insufficient considerations of how process decisions and compromises influence substantive outcomes. This paper presents a framework for understanding and managing both process and substantive trade-offs within each step of a typical sustainability assessment process. The framework draws together previously published literature and offers case studies that illustrate aspects of the practical application of the framework. The framing and design of sustainability assessment are vitally important, as process compromises or trade-offs can have substantive consequences in terms of sustainability outcomes delivered, with the choice of alternatives considered being a particularly significant determinant of substantive outcomes. The demarcation of acceptable from unacceptable impacts is a key aspect of managing trade-offs. Offsets can be considered as a form of trade-off within a category of sustainability that are utilised to enhance preferred alternatives once conditions of impact acceptability have been met. In this way they may enable net gains to be delivered; another imperative

  17. Towards sustainable water management in Algeria

    KAUST Repository

    Drouiche, Nadjib; Ghaffour, NorEddine; Naceur, Mohamed Wahib; Lounici, Hakim; Drouiche, Madani

    2012-01-01

    Algeria aspires to protect its water resources and to provide a sustainable answer to water supply and management issues by carrying out a national water plan. This program is in line with all projects the Algerian Government is implementing

  18. Ecology and utilization of desert shrub rangelands in Iraq

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Thalen, Derk Catharinus Peter

    1979-01-01

    When grazing is the accepted land use, vegetation is the key resource. The present study deals with the desert shrub rangelands of lraq, which contain the major characteristics of such an area, having been under grazing for many centuries. Emphasis is given to the ecology and utilization of the

  19. Natural Resources Management for Sustainable Food Security in ...

    International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Digital Library (Canada)

    Natural Resources Management for Sustainable Food Security in the Sahel ... as well as strategies for managing the resource base with a view to improving food security. ... InnoVet-AMR grants to support development of innovative veterinary ...

  20. Waste management in a sustainable society

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ascari, Sergio; Milan, Univ. ''Bocconi''

    1997-01-01

    This paper summarises the environmental economics debate about sustainable management of solid wastes. Sustainable levels of solid waste generation, recycling and disposal cannot be set by general criteria, but priorities are better defined locally. Preferable solutions are mostly determined by market forces once economic instruments are introduced in order to compel agents to incorporate environmental costs and benefits into their decisions. Greater care should be devoted to dangerous wastes, where schemes may be devised to subsidize not only recovery and recycling but environmentally safe disposal as well; these may be financed by raw materials levies

  1. Lean Management as an Instrument of Sustainable Development of Enterprises

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sikora, Marcin; Kwiatkowski, Maciej; Prosół, Hanna; Nowicka, Daria; Lorenc, Karolina; Pham, Laurena

    2016-03-01

    The aim of the paper is to present the philosophy of Lean Management as an instrument of improving sustainable management of enterprises. The article presents the origins, characteristics of the broadly understood concept of Lean Management and describes the idea of Sustainable Development (SD). At the same time implications for the application and development of the instruments which operationalize the assumptions of SD at the level of enterprises are discussed. The paper specifies those areas of functioning of contemporary companies in which Lean Management can be implemented and compares them with the features of traditional management in particular subjects.

  2. Sustainability of Evidence-Based Acute Pain Management Practices for Hospitalized Older Adults.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shuman, Clayton J; Xie, Xian-Jin; Herr, Keela A; Titler, Marita G

    2017-11-01

    Little is known regarding sustainability of evidence-based practices (EBPs) following implementation. This article reports sustainability of evidence-based acute pain management practices in hospitalized older adults following testing of a multifaceted Translating Research Into Practice (TRIP) implementation intervention. A cluster randomized trial with follow-up period was conducted in 12 Midwest U.S. hospitals (six experimental, six comparison). Use of evidence-based acute pain management practices and mean pain intensity were analyzed using generalized estimating equations across two time points (following implementation and 18 months later) to determine sustainability of TRIP intervention effects. Summative Index scores and six of seven practices were sustained. Experimental and comparison group differences for mean pain intensity over 72 hours following admission were sustained. Results revealed most evidence-based acute pain management practices were sustained for 18 months following implementation. Further work is needed to identify factors affecting sustainability of EBPs to guide development and testing of sustainability strategies.

  3. Spatially explicit rangeland erosion monitoring using high-resolution digital aerial imagery

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gillan, Jeffrey K.; Karl, Jason W.; Barger, Nichole N.; Elaksher, Ahmed; Duniway, Michael C.

    2016-01-01

    Nearly all of the ecosystem services supported by rangelands, including production of livestock forage, carbon sequestration, and provisioning of clean water, are negatively impacted by soil erosion. Accordingly, monitoring the severity, spatial extent, and rate of soil erosion is essential for long-term sustainable management. Traditional field-based methods of monitoring erosion (sediment traps, erosion pins, and bridges) can be labor intensive and therefore are generally limited in spatial intensity and/or extent. There is a growing effort to monitor natural resources at broad scales, which is driving the need for new soil erosion monitoring tools. One remote-sensing technique that can be used to monitor soil movement is a time series of digital elevation models (DEMs) created using aerial photogrammetry methods. By geographically coregistering the DEMs and subtracting one surface from the other, an estimate of soil elevation change can be created. Such analysis enables spatially explicit quantification and visualization of net soil movement including erosion, deposition, and redistribution. We constructed DEMs (12-cm ground sampling distance) on the basis of aerial photography immediately before and 1 year after a vegetation removal treatment on a 31-ha Piñon-Juniper woodland in southeastern Utah to evaluate the use of aerial photography in detecting soil surface change. On average, we were able to detect surface elevation change of ± 8−9cm and greater, which was sufficient for the large amount of soil movement exhibited on the study area. Detecting more subtle soil erosion could be achieved using the same technique with higher-resolution imagery from lower-flying aircraft such as unmanned aerial vehicles. DEM differencing and process-focused field methods provided complementary information and a more complete assessment of soil loss and movement than any single technique alone. Photogrammetric DEM differencing could be used as a technique to

  4. Evaluating Water Management Practice for Sustainable Mining

    OpenAIRE

    Xiangfeng Zhang; Lei Gao; Damian Barrett; Yun Chen

    2014-01-01

    To move towards sustainable development, the mining industry needs to identify better mine water management practices for reducing raw water use, increasing water use efficiency, and eliminating environmental impacts in a precondition of securing mining production. However, the selection of optimal mine water management practices is technically challenging due to the lack of scientific tools to comprehensively evaluate management options against a set of conflicting criteria. This work has pr...

  5. Impact of supply chain management practices on sustainability

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Govindan, Kannan; Azevedo, Susana G.; Carvalho, Helena

    2014-01-01

    elimination," "supply chain risk management" and "cleaner production." The following lean, resilient and green supply chain management practices do not have a significant impact on supply chain sustainability: "flexible transportation," "flexible sourcing," "ISO 14001 certification," and "reverse logistics...

  6. An overview of the sustainability of solid waste management at military installations

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Borglin, S.; Shore, J.; Worden, H.; Jain, R.

    2009-08-15

    Sustainable municipal solid waste management at military solutions necessitates a combined approach that includes waste reduction, alternative disposal techniques, and increased recycling. Military installations are unique because they often represent large employers in the region in which they are located, thereby making any practices they employ impact overall waste management strategies of the region. Solutions for waste sustainability will be dependent on operational directives and base location, availability of resources such as water and energy, and size of population. Presented in this paper are descriptions of available waste strategies that can be used to support sustainable waste management. Results presented indicate source reduction and recycling to be the most sustainable solutions. However, new waste-to-energy plants and composting have potential to improve on these well proven techniques and allow military installations to achieve sustainable waste management.

  7. Life Cycle Thinking, Measurement and Management for Food System Sustainability.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pelletier, Nathan

    2015-07-07

    Food systems critically contribute to our collective sustainability outcomes. Improving food system sustainability requires life cycle thinking, measurement and management strategies. This article reviews the status quo and future prospects for bringing life cycle approaches to food system sustainability to the fore.

  8. Integrating Sustainability into Management Education: A Dean's Perspective

    Science.gov (United States)

    Walck, Christa

    2009-01-01

    The integration of sustainability and environmental ethics into management education has improved in the past decade. This is partly a response to external pressure, as societal concerns about sustainability grow and businesses have made greater efforts to green their processes and products. But it is also a response to internal pressure from…

  9. Effects of Soil Management Practices on Water Erosion under Natural Rainfall Conditions on a Humic Dystrudept

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Vinicius Ferreira Chaves de Souza

    Full Text Available ABSTRACT Water erosion is the main cause of soil degradation and is influenced by rainfall, soil, topography, land use, soil cover and management, and conservation practices. The objective of this study was to quantify water erosion in a Humic Dystrudept in two experiments. In experiment I, treatments consisted of different rates of fertilizer applied to the soil surface under no-tillage conditions. In experiment II, treatments consisted of a no-tillage in natural rangeland, burned natural rangeland and natural rangeland. Forage turnip, black beans, common vetch, and corn were used in rotation in the treatments with crops in the no-tillage during study period. The treatments with crops and the burned rangeland and natural rangeland were compared to a bare soil control, without cultivation and without fertilization. Increasing fertilization rates increased organic carbon content, soil resistance to disintegration, and the macropore volume of the soil, due to the increase in the dry mass of the crops, resulting in an important reduction in water erosion. The exponential model of the ŷ = ae-bx type satisfactorily described the reduction in water and soil losses in accordance with the increase in fertilization rate and also described the decrease in soil losses in accordance with the increase in dry mass of the crops. Water erosion occurred in the following increasing intensity: in natural rangeland, in cultivated natural rangeland, and in burned natural rangeland. Water erosion had less effect on water losses than on soil losses, regardless of the soil management practices.

  10. Sustainability reporting in public sector organisations: Exploring the relation between the reporting process and organisational change management for sustainability.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Domingues, Ana Rita; Lozano, Rodrigo; Ceulemans, Kim; Ramos, Tomás B

    2017-05-01

    Sustainability Reporting has become a key element in different organisations. Although there have been a number of academic publications discussing the adoption of sustainability reports in the public sector, their numbers have been quite low when compared to those focussing on corporate reports. Additionally, there has been little research on the link between sustainability reporting in Public Sector Organisations (PSOs) and Organisational Change Management for Sustainability (OCMS). This paper focuses on the contribution of sustainability reporting to OCMS. A survey was sent to all PSOs that have published at least one sustainability report based on the GRI guidelines. The study provides a critical analysis of the relation between sustainability reporting and OCMS in PSOs, including the drivers for reporting, the impacts on organisation change management, and the role of stakeholders in the process. Despite still lagging in sustainability reporting journey, PSOs are starting to use sustainability reporting as a communication tool, and this could drive organisational changes for sustainability. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  11. A potential to monitor nutrients as an indicator of rangeland quality using space borne remote sensing

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ramoelo, A; Madonsela, S; Mathieu, R; Van der Korchove, R; Kaszta, Z; Wolf, E; Cho, M A

    2014-01-01

    Global change consisting of land use and climate change could have huge impacts on food security and the health of various ecosystems. Leaf nitrogen (N) is one of the key factors limiting agricultural production and ecosystem functioning. Leaf N can be used as an indicator of rangeland quality which could provide information for the farmers, decision makers, land planners and managers. Leaf N plays a crucial role in understanding the feeding patterns and distribution of wildlife and livestock. Assessment of this vegetation parameter using conventional methods at landscape scale level is time consuming and tedious. Remote sensing provides a synoptic view of the landscape, which engenders an opportunity to assess leaf N over wider rangeland areas from protected to communal areas. Estimation of leaf N has been successful during peak productivity or high biomass and limited studies estimated leaf N in dry season. The objective of this study is to monitor leaf N as an indicator of rangeland quality using WorldView 2 satellite images in the north-eastern part of South Africa. Series of field work to collect samples for leaf N were undertaken in the beginning of May (end of wet season) and July (dry season). Several conventional and red edge based vegetation indices were computed. Simple regression was used to develop prediction model for leaf N. Using bootstrapping, indicator of precision and accuracy were analyzed to select a best model for the combined data sets (May and July). The may model for red edge based simple ratio explained over 90% of leaf N variations. The model developed from the combined data sets with normalized difference vegetation index explained 62% of leaf N variation, and this is a model used to estimate and map leaf N for two seasons. The study demonstrated that leaf N could be monitored using high spatial resolution with the red edge band capability

  12. The Concept Of A Sustainable Approach To Corporate Real Estate Management

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ziemba Ewa

    2015-12-01

    Full Text Available This paper is conceptual in nature and presents the assumptions of a holistic approach to corporate real estate management. The approach is based on the imperative of sustainability, which has become a determinant of the proposed Sustainable Corporate Real Estate Management (SCREM model. Moreover, the authors indicate that in addition to the presence of the sustainability imperative, corporate real estate management requires the integration and formalization of knowledge about the concepts of corporate real estate management (CREM with those of corporate social responsibility (CSR. This approach is intended to enable the identification and improvement of real estate management processes and, as a result, contribute to more efficient and effective corporate real estate management and continuous and flexible development of enterprises, as well as boosting economic growth and building prosperity for present and future generations.

  13. A synoptic review of U.S. rangelands: a technical document supporting the Forest Service 2010 RPA Assessment

    Science.gov (United States)

    Matthew Clark Reeves; John E. Mitchell

    2012-01-01

    The Renewable Resources Planning Act of 1974 requires the USDA Forest Service to conduct assessments of resource conditions. This report fulfills that need and focuses on quantifying extent, productivity, and health of U.S. rangelands. Since 1982, the area of U.S. rangelands has decreased at an average rate of 350,000 acres per year owed mostly to conversion to...

  14. A Special Issue of the Journal of Forestry—Tribal Forest Management: Innovations for Sustainable Forest Management

    Science.gov (United States)

    Michael J. Dockry; Serra J. Hoagland

    2017-01-01

    Native American forests and tribal forest management practices have sustained indigenous communities, economies, and resources for millennia. These systems provide a wealth of knowledge and successful applications of long-term environmental stewardship and integrated, sustainable forest management. Tribal forestry has received an increasing amount of attention from...

  15. Ecosystem water availability in juniper versus sagebrush snow-dominated rangelands

    Science.gov (United States)

    Western Juniper (J. occidentalis Hook.) now dominates over 3.6 million ha of rangeland in the Intermountain Western US. Critical ecological relationships among snow distribution, water budgets, plant community transitions, and habitat requirements for wildlife, such as sage grouse, remain poorly und...

  16. Parameterization of erodibility in the Rangeland Hydrology and Erosion Model

    Science.gov (United States)

    The magnitude of erosion from a hillslope is governed by the availability of sediment and connectivity of runoff and erosion processes. For undisturbed rangelands, sediment is primarily detached and transported by rainsplash and sheetflow (splash-sheet) processes in isolated bare batches, but sedime...

  17. Optimising the management of complex dynamic ecosystems. An ecological-economic modelling approach

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Hein, L.G.

    2005-01-01

    Keywords: ecological-economic modelling; ecosystem services; resource use; efficient; sustainability; wetlands, rangelands.

  18. Environmental Education and Sustainability: Reflections in a Management Context

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Leandro Petarnella

    2017-05-01

    Full Text Available This study aims to reflect and discuss on Environmental Education (EE and Sustainability Education in Management, particularly stricto sensu Postgraduate Programmes. For this, it studies the history and the subject longevity in its transience, therefore it is a review article. This study was conducted through an exploratory approach, with a qualitative method of inductive reasoning, based on literature and document review for conceptual appropriation. Its relevance addresses two inter, multi and transdisciplinary issues, which reveal and complement each other in a broader social understanding. The reflections here discussed under the administration context, point to the challenge of the respective area. This should devise and disseminate scientific knowledge from and related to management that can operate under changes in the current social paradigm in which this science is linked to the others paradigm that is expected in the future: management contextualized and articulated with the sustainability paradigm. The study’s conclusion is that the challenge of incorporating sustainability into the teaching of stricto sensu Postgraduation in Management should be addressed through environmental education.

  19. Business Management in Sustainable Buildings: Ankara-Turkey Case

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kutay Karaca, Neşet; Burcu Gültekin, Arzuhan

    2017-10-01

    The concept of the sustainability is described as efficiently and effectively consuming of exhaustible and recyclable sources of the world. A sustainable building implements sustainability criteria in its life cycle, and business management is the process by which an organization uses its resources in the most efficient way to reach its goal. From the beginning, sustainable building proves their differences from the conventional buildings. Sustainable buildings are resource-efficient and environmentally responsible structures in terms of energy consumption, construction principles, siting, renovation and maintenance throughout its life cycle while conventional buildings are more traditional in these matters. The differences are observable especially in costs and expenditures. It is possible and feasible to compare and contrast the design, construction and management costs of both types of structures. Thence, contributions of sustainable buildings are priced favourably in terms of ecological and sociological aspects. In this context, a prospective projection can be made considering the extra costs of sustainable structures, as well as the consumption profits due to the use of less energy than conventional construction. Considering this, it is possible to project consumption savings in long term. By calculating a forward-looking net cash flow projection, it can be forecasted how much time it will take to cover the extra cost. When making decisions, investors always contemplate maximum profitability. Within the scope of this study, costs of sustainable and conventional buildings will be compared and contrasted through precedence of a sustainable building certificated and non-certificated building. It will be analysed in which time period the initial cost difference between them will be compensated totally and partially. Furthermore, an efficiency analyses will be done in the scope of the necessities and expenses of these businesses.

  20. 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 ...

  1. Managing cumulative impacts: A key to sustainability?

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Hunsaker, C.T.

    1994-12-31

    This paper addresses how science can be more effectively used in creating policy to manage cumulative effects on ecosystems. The paper focuses on the scientific techniques that we have to identify and to assess cumulative impacts on ecosystems. The term ``sustainable development`` was brought into common use by the World Commission on Environment and Development (The Brundtland Commission) in 1987. The Brundtland Commission report highlighted the need to simultaneously address developmental and environmental imperatives simultaneously by calling for development that ``meets the needs of the present generation without compromising the needs of future generations.`` We cannot claim to be working toward sustainable development until we can quantitatively assess cumulative impacts on the environment: The two concepts are inextricibally linked in that the elusiveness of cumulative effects likely has the greatest potential of keeping us from achieving sustainability. In this paper, assessment and management frameworks relevant to cumulative impacts are discussed along with recent literature on how to improve such assessments. When possible, examples are given for marine ecosystems.

  2. Use of biosolids to enhance rangeland forage quality.

    Science.gov (United States)

    McFarland, Michael J; Vasquez, Issaak Romero; Vutran, MaiAnh; Schmitz, Mark; Brobst, Robert B

    2010-05-01

    Biosolids land application was demonstrated to be a potentially cost-effective means for restoring forage productivity and enhancing soil-moisture-holding capacity on disturbed rangelands. By land-applying aerobically digested, anaerobically digested, composted, and lime-stabilized biosolids on rangeland test plots at rates of up to 20 times (20X) the estimated nitrogen-based agronomic rate, forage yields were found to increase from 132.8 kg/ha (118.2 lb/ac) (control plots) to 1182.3 kg/ha (1052.8 lb/ac). Despite the environmental benefits associated with increased forage yield (e.g., reduced soil erosion, improved drainage, and enhanced terrestrial carbon sequestration), the type of forage generated both before and after biosolids land application was found to be dominated by invasive weeds, all of which were characterized as having fair to poor nutritional value. Opportunistic and shallow rooting invasive weeds not only have marginal nutritional value, they also limit the establishment of native perennial grasses and thus biodiversity. Many of the identified invasive species (e.g., Cheatgrass) mature early, a characteristic that significantly increases the fuel loads that support the increased frequency and extent of western wildfires.

  3. Entrepreneurship And Business Management - Exploring Linkages For Sustainable Development

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Dr Serah K Mbetwa

    2015-08-01

    Full Text Available Entrepreneurs have emerged as market leaders in todays business world amidst the numerous economic turmoil constantly affecting economies on a global scale. This research paper is on entrepreneurship and business management and its linkages to other business stakeholders. The research paper therefore discusses entrepreneurship and business management exploring the linkages to available financing and potential institutions for startup capital by linking entrepreneurs to the government financiers and the public clientele. It is believed that this can bring about achievement of sustainable development goals translating into sustainable development and hence economic growth. The idea of funding is echoed by Robert Rice 2016 An entrepreneur without funding is like a musician with no instruments. Sustainability and entrepreneurship sustainopreneurship is made possible with availability of information on linkages between entrepreneurs and financial lending institutions as well as government policy. It is hoped that the research will add to the existing knowledge and help entrepreneurs with funding options for their business ideas to come to life. Findings show that the government financial lending institutions and the public are the major linkages between entrepreneurship and business management and are critical for attaining sustainable development goals and achieving economic growth.

  4. The workers role in knowledge management and sustainability policies.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bolis, Ivan; Brunoro, Claudio; Sznelwar, Laerte Idal

    2012-01-01

    Based on the concepts of sustainability and knowledge management, this article seeks to identify points of contact between the two themes through an exploratory study of existing literature. The first objective is to find, in international literature, the largest number of papers jointly related to the theme of knowledge management and sustainability. In these documents, the authors looked at the kind of relationship existing between the two themes and what the benefits introduced in organizations are. Based on an ergonomic point of view, the second objective of this article is to analyze the role of the worker (whether at the strategic or operational level) and his importance in this context. The results demonstrate that there is very little literature that addresses the two themes together. The few papers found, however, can be said to show the many advantages of introducing sustainability policies supported by adequate knowledge management. Very little has been studied with regards to the role of workers, which could be interpreted as meaning that little importance is given to the proactive role they may play. On the other hand, there is a high potential for future research in these areas, based on the high level of consideration of workers in knowledge management and sustainability literature, as well as in literature in the areas of ergonomics and sociology.

  5. An Overview of Management Education for Sustainability in Asia

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wu, Yen-Chun Jim; Shen, Ju-Peng; Kuo, Tsuang

    2015-01-01

    Purpose: This paper aims to explore the holistic picture of sustainability curricula in Asian higher education. Design/methodology/approach: Content analysis was conducted based on Asian management education for sustainability in higher education. Online courses arrangement, teaching methods, instructors' educational background and…

  6. Agroforestry potential of Acacia senegal in the rangelands of luwero ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Agroforestry potential of Acacia senegal in the rangelands of luwero and Nakasongola districts. Jacob Godfrey Agea, Joseph Obua, Sara Namirembe, Mukadasi Buyinza, Daniel Waiswa. Abstract. No Abstract. Full Text: EMAIL FREE FULL TEXT EMAIL FREE FULL TEXT · DOWNLOAD FULL TEXT DOWNLOAD FULL TEXT.

  7. Session A6 Rangelands as dynamic systems — Fragmentation of ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Biological complexity in rangelands arises from spatially-linked ecological states and processes. Herbivores, humans and other agents integrate distinct spatial units into complex systems by moving among and exploiting these units. Spatial heterogeneity plays a central role in the structure and function of grazed ...

  8. Structural capital management creates sustainable competitiveness and prolonged first-mover advantage

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    C. R. Van Zyl

    2005-12-01

    Full Text Available Structural (SC capital is part of the intellectual capital that is owned by an organisation and its efficient and dedicated management is essential for the creation of shareholder value, sustainable competitive advantage, and prolonged first-mover advantage. SC consists of three types of capital, namely: innovation, organisational and process capital. Organisational capital consists of organisational culture, management philosophies etc. and has received a large amount of management attention. However, organisational capital is not as valuable towards the creation of sustainable competitiveness and first-mover advantage as innovation and process capital are. It is the purpose of this article to demonstrate how a thorough understanding and the efficient management of innovation and process capital enables organisations to achieve the afore-mentioned benefits. Innovation capital management consists primarily of patent and brand management, which are particularly important as patent management forms a high-margin justification for the implementation of organisation-wide intellectual property management, and the management of high-equity brands secures a loyal customer base and associative sustainable competitiveness and first-mover advantage benefits. Although not as obviously valuable as innovation capital, the article also explores the value that the efficient management of unique organisational processes and methodologies contribute towards the achievement of prolonged first-mover advantage and the provision of protection against competitor actions. This exploration involved an examination of contemporary literature, theories and business cases and subsequently revealed that SCM is a vital discipline/philosophy that must be implemented by any organisation wishing to achieve greater sustainable competitiveness. Innovation and process capital are of particular importance as these assets can be made tangible, leveraged and integrated into existing

  9. Human resource management for sustainable microfinance ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Microfinancing in Nigeria has developed from the traditional informal groups through direct government intervention to domination by private sector owned and managed institutions. Despite its long history, the sector has not witnessed the existence of sustainable institutions. This prompted the Obasanjo regime to adopt a ...

  10. Exploring an innovative watershed management approach: From feasibility to sustainability

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Said, A.; Sehlke, G.; Stevens, D.K.; Sorensen, D.; Walker, W.; Hardy, T.; Glover, T.

    2006-01-01

    Watershed management is dedicated to solving watershed problems on a sustainable basis. Managing watershed development on a sustainable basis usually entails a balance between the needs of humans and nature, both in the present and in the future. From a watershed or water resources development basis, these problems can be classified into five general categories: lack of water quantity, deterioration in water quality, ecological impacts, weak public participation, and weak economic value. The first three categories can be combined to make up physical sustainability while the last two categories can be defined as social and economic sustainability. Therefore, integrated watershed management should be designed to achieve physical sustainability utilizing, to the greatest extent possible, public participation in an economically viable manner. This study demonstrates an innovative approach using scientific, social, and motivational feasibilities that can be used to improve watershed management. Scientific feasibility is tied to the nature of environmental problems and the scientific means to solve them. Social feasibility is associated with public participation. Motivational feasibility is related to economic stimulation for the stakeholders to take actions. The ecological impacts, lack of water quantity and deterioration in water quality are problems that need scientific means in order to improve watershed health. However, the implementation of these means is typically not achievable without the right public participation. In addition, public participation is typically accelerated by economic motivation for the stakeholders to use the resources in a manner that improves watershed health. The Big Lost River in south-central Idaho has been used as an illustration for implementing scientific, social and motivational feasibilities and in a manner that can achieve sustainability relative to water resources management. However, the same approach can be used elsewhere after

  11. Exploring an innovative watershed management approach: From feasibility to sustainability

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Said, A. [Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL 33620 (United States); Sehlke, G. [Idaho National Laboratory, Idaho Falls, ID 83415 (United States); Stevens, D.K.; Sorensen, D.; Walker, W.; Hardy, T. [Civil and Environmental Department, Utah State University, Logan, UT 84321 (United States); Glover, T. [Economics Department, Utah State University, Logan, UT 84321 (United States)

    2006-10-15

    Watershed management is dedicated to solving watershed problems on a sustainable basis. Managing watershed development on a sustainable basis usually entails a balance between the needs of humans and nature, both in the present and in the future. From a watershed or water resources development basis, these problems can be classified into five general categories: lack of water quantity, deterioration in water quality, ecological impacts, weak public participation, and weak economic value. The first three categories can be combined to make up physical sustainability while the last two categories can be defined as social and economic sustainability. Therefore, integrated watershed management should be designed to achieve physical sustainability utilizing, to the greatest extent possible, public participation in an economically viable manner. This study demonstrates an innovative approach using scientific, social, and motivational feasibilities that can be used to improve watershed management. Scientific feasibility is tied to the nature of environmental problems and the scientific means to solve them. Social feasibility is associated with public participation. Motivational feasibility is related to economic stimulation for the stakeholders to take actions. The ecological impacts, lack of water quantity and deterioration in water quality are problems that need scientific means in order to improve watershed health. However, the implementation of these means is typically not achievable without the right public participation. In addition, public participation is typically accelerated by economic motivation for the stakeholders to use the resources in a manner that improves watershed health. The Big Lost River in south-central Idaho has been used as an illustration for implementing scientific, social and motivational feasibilities and in a manner that can achieve sustainability relative to water resources management. However, the same approach can be used elsewhere after

  12. A Framework of Sustainable Service Supply Chain Management: A Literature Review and Research Agenda

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Weihua Liu

    2017-03-01

    Full Text Available In recent years, the interdisciplinary research of supply chains and sustainability has received extensive, yet gradual, attention; when compared to the rapid economic growth of the service industry, however, sustainable supply chain management has not been systematically explored yet. It has not only great theoretical significance, but also positive practical significance to provide a framework for the operation of a sustainable service supply chain from a sustainable development point of view. Based on the triple bottom line (TBL, we have analyzed related sustainable supply chain management research between 2006 and 2015, reviewed papers involving two or three bottom lines as well, and then introduced some classical frameworks for manufacturing supply chain management and service supply chain management. Afterward, by analyzing the differences between the manufacturing and service industries, we propose a framework of sustainable service supply chain management (SSSCM. Based on the impacts of sustainable development TBL on service supply chain participants, we have finally made a framework for sustainable operation facing triads service supply chain and proposed a future research agenda.

  13. Sustainable Management of Construction and Demolition Materials

    Science.gov (United States)

    This web page discusses how to sustainably manage construction and demolition materials, Information covers, what they are, and how builders, construction crews, demolition teams,and deign practitioners can divert C&D from landfills.

  14. Greening Operations Management: An Online Sustainable Procurement Course for Practitioners

    Science.gov (United States)

    Walker, Helen L.; Gough, Stephen; Bakker, Elmer F.; Knight, Louise A.; McBain, Darian

    2009-01-01

    In the Operations Management field, sustainable procurement has emerged as a way to green the purchasing and supply process. This paper explores issues in sustainable procurement training. The authors formed an interdisciplinary team to design, deliver and evaluate a training programme to promote and develop sustainable procurement in the United…

  15. Making Forest Values Work: Enhancing Multi-Dimensional Perspectives towards Sustainable Forest Management

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Doni Blagojević

    2016-06-01

    Full Text Available Background and Purpose: Sustainability, sustainable development and sustainable forest management are terms that are commonly, and interchangeably used in the forest industry, however their meaning take on different connotations, relative to varying subject matter. The aim of this paper is to look at these terms in a more comprehensive way, relative to the current ideology of sustainability in forestry. Materials and Methods: This paper applies a literature review of the concepts of: i sustainable development; ii sustainable forest management; and iii economic and non-economic valuation. The concepts are viewed through a historical dimension of shifting paradigms, originating from production- to service-based forestry. Values are discussed through a review of general value theory and spatial, cultural and temporal differences in valuation. Along the evolution of these concepts, we discuss their applicability as frameworks to develop operational guidelines for forest management, relative to the multi-functionality of forests. Results and Conclusions: Potential discrepancies between the conceptual origins of sustainable development and sustainable forest management are highlighted, relative to how they have been interpreted and diffused as new perceptions on forest value for the human society. We infer the current paradigm may not reflect the various dimensions adequately as its implementation is likely to be more related to the distribution of power between stakeholders, rather than the value stakeholders’ place on the various forest attributes.

  16. Sustainable Innovation, Management Accounting and Control Systems, and International Performance

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ernesto Lopez-Valeiras

    2015-03-01

    Full Text Available This study analyzes how Management Accounting and Control Systems (MACS facilitate the appropriation of the benefits of sustainable innovations in organizations. In particular, this paper examines the moderating role of different types of MACS in the relationships between sustainable innovation and international performance at an organizational level. We collected survey data from 123 Spanish and Portuguese organizations. Partial Least Square was used to analyze the data. Results show that the effect of sustainable innovations on international performance is enhanced by contemporary rather than traditional types of MACS. Overall our findings show that MACS can help managers to develop and monitor organizational activities (e.g., costumer services and distribution activities, which support the appropriation of the potential benefits from sustainable innovation. This paper responds to recent calls for in-depth studies about the organizational mechanism that may enhance the success of sustainable innovation.

  17. A Study of Sustainable Material Management Approach in Taiwan

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Su Mingchien; Chou Chenpei; Chen Yizih

    2009-01-01

    Sustainable material management (SMM) has been initiated by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) in 2005. SMM is an approach to promote resource conservation, reducing negative environmental impacts and preserving the natural capital of material and the balance of economic efficiency and social equity. Life cycle assessment and material flow analysis have been widely used to estimate the environmental impacts for resource consumption, but economic development has not been taken into account. Before 1984, improper garbage disposal was not an important issue in Taiwan. But over the past three decades, the Taiwan Government has accomplished not only waste disposal but also resource recycling, which are conducive to the essence of SMM. This study is the first research project to develop a SMM conceptual model for policy and strategy in Taiwan. SMM is the suitable waste management concept for the next era. This study reviewed the policy and strategy that has been applied in Taiwan's waste management, and compares the efficiency of waste management policy in Taiwan with the concept of SMM. A case study of the waste flow will be used to prove that the sustainable material policy can be a suitable management system to achieve sustainable development. This study will open a new chapter of research on global SMM for Taiwan.

  18. Addressing Organisational Pressures as Drivers towards Sustainability in Manufacturing Projects and Project Management Methodologies

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Fotios Misopoulos

    2018-06-01

    Full Text Available The concept of sustainability continues to rapidly grow in interest from disparate academic and industrial fields. This research aims to elucidate further the implications of the sustainability drivers upon project management methodological approaches specifically in the manufacturing industry. This paper studies the three prevalent dialogues in the field of sustainability, relevant to the environmental and social aspects of the Triple Bottom Line, and utilises Institutional Theory to propose organisational pressures as affecting sustainability efforts in industrial manufacturing project management. Furthermore, the literature bodies of Lean and Life Cycle Analysis in manufacturing project management guided our reflection that the various drivers of sustainability put forward that do not consider the distinctive organisational pressures fail to address institutional and systemic project management issues holistically. The authors further conduct and draw on a systematic literature review on the constructs of sustainability in the manufacturing industry and their adopted methodologies, evaluating academic articles published from the year 2001 to 2017. The findings indicate that normative pressures prevail over coercive and mimetic pressures and are seen as the main drivers of sustainability in the manufacturing industry. In an incremental reductionist approach, project management knowledge areas are analysed, and the study posits that Stakeholder and Communications Management are two of the knowledge areas that need to integrate the above pressures to achieve cohesive sustainable industrial results. The principle contribution is to offer a new conceptual perspective on integrating project management knowledge areas with Institutional Theory pressures for more sustainable project management methodologies.

  19. Geospatial Data as a Service: The GEOGLAM Rangelands and Pasture Productivity Map Experience

    Science.gov (United States)

    Evans, B. J. K.; Antony, J.; Guerschman, J. P.; Larraondo, P. R.; Richards, C. J.

    2017-12-01

    Empowering end-users like pastoralists, land management specialists and land policy makers in the use of earth observation data for both day-to-day and seasonal planning needs both interactive delivery of multiple geospatial datasets and the capability of supporting on-the-fly dynamic queries while simultaneously fostering a community around the effort. The use of and wide adoption of large data archives, like those produced by earth observation missions, are often limited by compute and storage capabilities of the remote user. We demonstrate that wide-scale use of large data archives can be facilitated by end-users dynamically requesting value-added products using open standards (WCS, WMS, WPS), with compute running in the cloud or dedicated data-centres and visualizing outputs on web-front ends. As an example, we will demonstrate how a tool called GSKY can empower a remote end-user by providing the data delivery and analytics capabilities for the GEOGLAM Rangelands and Pasture Productivity (RAPP) Map tool. The GEOGLAM RAPP initiative from the Group on Earth Observations (GEO) and its Agricultural Monitoring subgroup aims at providing practical tools to end-users focusing on the important role of rangelands and pasture systems in providing food production security from both agricultural crops and animal protein. Figure 1, is a screen capture from the RAPP Map interface for an important pasture area in the Namibian rangelands. The RAPP Map has been in production for six months and has garnered significant interest from groups and users all over the world. GSKY, being formulated around the theme of Open Geospatial Data-as-a-Service capabilities uses distributed computing and storage to facilitate this. It works behind the scenes, accepting OGC standard requests in WCS, WMS and WPS. Results from these requests are rendered on a web-front end. In this way, the complexities of data locality and compute execution are masked from an end user. On-the-fly computation of

  20. A review of climate change effects on terrestrial rangeland birds

    Science.gov (United States)

    D. M. Finch; K. E. Bagne; M. M. Friggens; D. M. Smith; K. M. Brodhead

    2011-01-01

    We evaluated existing literature on predicted and known climate change effects on terrestrial rangeland birds. We asked the following questions: 1) How does climate change affect birds? 2) How will birds respond to climate change? 3) Are species already responding? 4) How will habitats be impacted?

  1. Priorities for sustainable turfgrass management

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Strandberg, M.; Blombäck, K.; Jensen, Anne Mette Dahl

    2012-01-01

    government demands for greater environmental regulation, the increasing pressure on natural resources (notably water, energy and land), the emerging role of turf management in supporting ecosystem services and enhancing biodiversity, the continued need to promote integrated pest management, and the looming...... and opportunities available for promoting and achieving more sustainable turfgrass management within the sports, landscape and amenity sectors. The analysis confirms that there are a number of key areas where a concerted research and industrial effort is required. These include responding to the pressures from...... challenges posed by a changing climate, and urgent need to adapt. Whilst many of these externalities appear to be risks to the sports turf industry, there will also be significant opportunities, for those where the labour, energy and agronomic costs are minimized and where the drive to adopt...

  2. Urban stormwater - greywater management system for sustainable urban water management at sub-watershed level

    Science.gov (United States)

    Singh Arora, Amarpreet

    2017-11-01

    Urban water management involves urban water supply (import, treatment and distribution of water), urban wastewater management (collection, treatment and disposal of urban sewage) and urban storm water management. Declining groundwater tables, polluted and declining sources of water, water scarcity in urban areas, unsatisfactory urban water supply and sanitation situation, pollution of receiving water bodies (including the ground water), and urban floods have become the concerns and issues of sustainable urban water management. This paper proposes a model for urban stormwater and sewage management which addresses these concerns and issues of sustainable urban water management. This model proposes segregation of the sewage into black water and greywater, and urban sub-watershed level stormwater-greywater management systems. During dry weather this system will be handling only the greywater and making the latter available as reclaimed water for reuse in place of the fresh water supply. During wet weather, the system will be taking care of (collection and treatment) both the storm water and the greywater, and the excess of the treated water will be disposed off through groundwater recharging. Application of this model in the Patiala city, Punjab, INDIA for selected urban sub-watersheds has been tried. Information and background data required for the conceptualization and design of the sub-watershed level urban stormwater-greywater management system was collected and the system has been designed for one of the sub-watersheds in the Patiala city. In this paper, the model for sustainable urban water management and the design of the Sub-watershed level Urban Stormwater-Greywater Management System are described.

  3. Towards sustainable use of Wildlife Management Areas (WMAs) in ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Sustainable use of Wildlife Management Areas (WMAs) has become equated with wise exploitation of wildlife resources therein and ownership devolution of WMAs to the local people by the Government. Demand for sustainability is often driven by the severity of overexploitation of wildlife resources and perceived conflict ...

  4. Sustainable Land Management in Mining Areas in Serbia and Romania

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Vesna Popović

    2015-08-01

    Full Text Available The paper analyzes the impacts of mining activities on sustainable land management in mining areas in the Republic of Serbia and Romania and discusses the main challenges related to the management of these issues in legislation and practice. Particular attention is paid to land disturbance, mine waste management and land reclamation, as well as access to land for mining purposes, the transfer of mining royalties and the partnerships of the mining industry, governments, communities and civil society for sustainable mining. Both governments are willing to provide the adequate role to mining in strengthening the national economies, but they face numerous constraints in this matter. Sustainable mining practices and consistent implementation of the mining for the closure planning approach, within an improved legislative framework and in cooperation with stakeholders at all levels, create conditions for the development of creative, profitable, environmentally-sound and socially-responsible management and reuse of mine lands.

  5. Management ethics and strategies towards sustainable tourism ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Management ethics and strategies towards sustainable tourism development in ... embark on tourism because of the huge economic benefits, which it accrues on ... The park was gazzetted in 1972 for the purposes of conservation, education ...

  6. Mathematical Methods of Managing Economic Sustainability of the Construction Company

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kostuchenko, Vasiliy; Zdanov, Andrej; Rodionov, Anatolij

    2017-10-01

    This article presents a long-term research in developing innovative mathematical techniques of managing the contractor’s economic sustainability proven by some experimental studies. The article aims at presenting some practical results of applying these techniques to the scientific community. This research presents a description of some applied mathematical models, views, and some results of their practical application in the applied field for the purposes of evaluating operational sustainability and minimizing losses in the process of managing the company. The authors have put the technology they have developed to practical use, and the article presents the results of such application. The authors have put the developed technology to practical use. Company management also means the management of power consumption, which is highly vital both for the construction and maintenance of buildings and structures. The articles also dwell on some possible improvements of managing energy consumption within the framework of the general management of company’s economic sustainability, because these phenomena have a tight organic interdependence. The authors continue researching this direction in order to improve the production efficiency of the proposed technologies as well as to eliminate some drawbacks they have spotted.

  7. Determining termite diversity in arid Namibian rangelands – a ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Three methods of sampling termite diversity in arid rangelands were tested in Namibia during the wet (March) and dry (October) seasons of 1998. Six sites were chosen: one pair on each of three farms representing a gradient of land use intensity. At each site, two adjacent plots of 1 ha each were sampled: one plot by a ...

  8. Sustainability management for operating organizations of research reactors

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kibrit, Eduardo; Aquino, Afonso Rodrigues de, E-mail: ekibrit@ipen.br, E-mail: araquino@ipen.br [Instituto de Pesquisas Energeticas e Nucleares (IPEN/CNE-SP), Sao Paulo, SP (Brazil)

    2017-07-01

    Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. In a country like Brazil, where nuclear activity is geared towards peaceful purposes, any operating organization of research reactor should emphasize its commitment to social, environmental, economic and institutional aspects. Social aspects include research and development, production and supply of radiopharmaceuticals, radiation safety and special training for the nuclear sector. Environmental aspects include control of the surroundings and knowledge directed towards environment preservation. Economic aspects include import substitution and diversification of production. Institutional aspects include technology, innovation and knowledge. These aspects, if considered in the management system of an operating organization of research reactor, will help with its long-term maintenance and success in an increasingly competitive market scenario. About this, we propose a sustainability management system approach for operating organizations of research reactors. A bibliographical review on the theme is made. A methodology for identifying indicators for measuring sustainability in nuclear research reactors processes is also described. Finally, we propose a methodology for sustainability perception assessment to be applied at operating organizations of research reactors. (author)

  9. Sustainability management for operating organizations of research reactors

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kibrit, Eduardo; Aquino, Afonso Rodrigues de

    2017-01-01

    Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. In a country like Brazil, where nuclear activity is geared towards peaceful purposes, any operating organization of research reactor should emphasize its commitment to social, environmental, economic and institutional aspects. Social aspects include research and development, production and supply of radiopharmaceuticals, radiation safety and special training for the nuclear sector. Environmental aspects include control of the surroundings and knowledge directed towards environment preservation. Economic aspects include import substitution and diversification of production. Institutional aspects include technology, innovation and knowledge. These aspects, if considered in the management system of an operating organization of research reactor, will help with its long-term maintenance and success in an increasingly competitive market scenario. About this, we propose a sustainability management system approach for operating organizations of research reactors. A bibliographical review on the theme is made. A methodology for identifying indicators for measuring sustainability in nuclear research reactors processes is also described. Finally, we propose a methodology for sustainability perception assessment to be applied at operating organizations of research reactors. (author)

  10. Sustainable-energy managment practices in an energy economy

    Science.gov (United States)

    Darkwa, K.

    2001-10-01

    The economic survival of any nation depends upon its ability to produce and manage sufficient supplies of low-cost safe energy. The world's consumption of fossil fuel resources currently increasing at 3% per annum is found to be unsustainable. Projections of this trend show that mankind will exhaust all known reserves in the second half of the coming century. Governments, industrialists, commercial organizations, public sector departments and the general public have now become aware of the urgent requirements for the efficient management of resources and energy-consuming activities. Most organizations in the materials, manufacturing and retail sectors and in the service industries have also created energy management departments, or have employed consultants, to monitor energy consumption and to reduce wastage. Conversely, any sustained attempt to reduce rates of energy consumption even by as little as 0.1% per annum ensures relatively an eternal future supply as well as reduction on environmental and ecological effect. Thus, there is no long- term solution to energy flow problem other than systematic and effective energy management and the continuous application of the techniques of energy management. Essential energy management strategies in support of a sustainable energy- economy are discussed.

  11. Positives and pathologies of natural resource management on private land-conservation areas.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Clements, Hayley S; Cumming, Graeme S

    2017-06-01

    In managed natural resource systems, such as fisheries and rangelands, there is a recognized trade-off between managing for short-term benefits and managing for longer term resilience. Management actions that stabilize ecological attributes or processes can improve productivity in the supply of ecosystem goods and services in the short term but erode system resilience at longer time scales. For example, fire suppression in rangelands can increase grass biomass initially but ultimately result in an undesirable, shrub-dominated system. Analyses of this phenomenon have focused largely on how management actions influence slow-changing biophysical system attributes (such as vegetation composition). Data on the frequency of management actions that reduce natural ecological variation on 66 private land-conservation areas (PLCAs) in South Africa were used to investigate how management actions are influenced by manager decision-making approaches, a largely ignored part of the problem. The pathology of natural resource management was evident on some PLCAs: increased focus on revenue-generation in decision making resulted in an increased frequency of actions to stabilize short-term variation in large mammal populations, which led to increased revenues from ecotourism or hunting. On many PLCAs, these management actions corresponded with a reduced focus on ecological monitoring and an increase in overstocking of game (i.e., ungulate species) and stocking of extralimitals (i.e., game species outside their historical range). Positives in natural resource management also existed. Some managers monitored slower changing ecological attributes, which resulted in less-intensive management, fewer extralimital species, and lower stocking rates. Our unique, empirical investigation of monitoring-management relationships illustrates that management decisions informed by revenue monitoring versus ecological monitoring can have opposing consequences for natural resource productivity and

  12. Asset management strategies and sustainability in Dutch social housing

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Nieboer, N.E.T.

    2004-01-01

    With 35% of the total housing stock in the Netherlands (Ministry of VROM, 2004), the social rented sector plays an important role in Dutch housing, and its management can be of great importance to the success or failure of sustainability programs. Although sustainable building has been high on the

  13. Using soil quality indicators for monitoring sustainable forest management

    Science.gov (United States)

    James A. Burger; Garland Gray; D. Andrew Scott

    2010-01-01

    Most private and public forest land owners and managers are compelled to manage their forests sustainably, which means management that is economically viable,environmentally sound, and socially acceptable. To meet this mandate, the USDA Forest Service protects the productivity of our nation’s forest soils by monitoring and evaluating management activities to ensure...

  14. Urban sustainable development from public participation in urban management

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    L. Karimifard

    2016-04-01

    Full Text Available Urban management in any context has a different economic, social and political structure, which is in harmony with the existing models of organization. In spite of these differences, in order to reach a sustainable urban development, several different conferences should be referred to. In the “Brundtland Commission 1987” about urban sustainable development these definitions have been given: “preservation and promotion of the quality level of city life. This consists of ecology, culture, politics, economies, and social participation. However, this development should in no case weigh on and create any problems for the future generations”. In all the definitions of urban management and urban sustainable development and in any political context citizens’ participation in decision making and insistence on social justice are mentioned. The aim of this article is a descriptive, analytic, and comparative study of different models of popular participation in different developed countries. Each of these countries has different social and political structure. However they all have the same aim which is the citizens’ empowerment. To reach the ideal urban management model it is necessary to have a clear image of the place and participation of citizens in order to create a socially, economically and politically sustainable developed society.

  15. The Reputation Crisis: Risk Management Based Logical Framework to the Corporate Sustainability

    OpenAIRE

    Yilmaz, Ayse Kucuk; Kucuk, Ferziye

    2010-01-01

    Risk is a constituent part of both the business and the society in which we survive. Reputation is valuable assest for corporates in sustainable way. Integrating risk management with strategy-setting, such as an enterprise risk management (ERM) approach, helps an organization manage its risks to protect and enhance enterprise value in three ways. First, it helps to establish sustainable competitive advantage. Second, it optimizes the cost of managing risk. Third, it helps management improve b...

  16. Can we manage ecosystems in a sustainable way?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rice, Jake

    Fisheries have often become unsustainable, despite efforts of policy, management, and science. FAO has reviewed this undesirable pattern and identified six major factors contributing to unsustainability: inappropriate incentives, high demand for limited resources, poverty and lack of alternatives, complexity and lack of knowledge, lack of effective governance, and interactions of fisheries sector with other sectors and the environment. It also identified eight classes of actions that provide pathways to addressing the factors causing unsustainability of fisheries: allocation of rights; transparent, participatory management; support for science, enforcement and planning; equitable distribution of benefits; integrated policy development; application of precaution; building capacity and public understanding; and market incentives and economic instruments. The review highlighted that "sustainability" is a multi-dimensional concept (economic, social, ecological, and institutional), and measures implemented to address problems on one dimension of sustainability will move the fishery in a negative direction in at least one other dimension. In this paper I apply the FAO framework to the whole ecosystem. For each factor of unsustainability, I consider whether redefining the sustainability problem to the greater ecosystem makes the factor more or less serious as a threat to sustainability. For each pathway to improvement I consider whether the redefinition of the problem makes the pathway more or less effective as a management response to the threat. Few of the factors of unsustainability becomes easier to address at the ecosystem scale, and several of them become much more difficult. Of the combinations of pathways of responses and factors of unsustainability, more than two thirds of them become more difficult to apply, and/or have even greater negative impacts on other dimensions of sustainability. Importantly, the most promising pathways for addressing unsustainability of

  17. Management of sustainable tourism destination through stakeholder cooperation

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Božena Krce Miočić

    2016-12-01

    Full Text Available Destination presents a set of different organizations and individuals who can work towards realising the same objectives or their objectives can be diametrically opposed. Harmonisation of such objectives in a unique strategic development of the entire destination is usually taken over by destination management organization (DMO established to accomplish the mentioned objective. The opposed interests in such a system as complex as tourism result in the degradation of space and society in which tourism takes place. Therefore sustainable development in tourism represents a primary concept of development today. Tourism is a fast growing phenomenon and its sustainable development represents a necessity. Besides the positive economic outputs of tourism, we should also mention its negative impact on the particular destination, the environmental degradation to some extent, as well as socio-economic elements of local community. Accordingly, multi-stakeholder concept in destination management should include all interest and influential groups in tourism development planning. Such integrated destination management connects all stakeholders independent from influence or interest powers to participate directly or indirectly in creating and implementing the quality tourism development. This concept’s basic function is connecting and coordinating stakeholders with different interests within a tourism destination, in order to create quality product and a recognizable destination image, and to achieve a long-term sustainable competitiveness on the market. However, based on the stakeholder approach, the most emphasized issue in sustainable tourism development concept is the government that holds a key role in socio-economic development. In this paper, we analysed current involvement of stakeholders in Zadar County tourism development and examined their interest in future involvement in sustainable destination development. Based on the analysis of focus group

  18. Exploring Reasons for the Resistance to Sustainable Management within Non-Profit Organizations

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Claus-Heinrich Daub

    2014-05-01

    Full Text Available The numerous empirical and conceptual studies that have been conducted over recent years concerning the social responsibility of enterprises and their contributions towards sustainable development have given very little consideration to non-profit organizations (NPOs. This is surprising, because NPOs are confronted with very similar challenges to profit-orientated enterprises regarding their evolution into sustainable organizations. This paper is a preliminary conceptual study and explores the question of why the corporate social responsibility, or corporate sustainability, of NPOs has to date been both neglected by research establishments and also extensively ignored by the NPOs during their day-to-day practical management. The example of church and pastoral institutions in Germany is used to demonstrate the extent to which they take account of ecological and social aspects in their management systems and processes and, thus, implement sustainable management within their day-to-day practice. The paper concludes with some proposals for further empirical and conceptual research projects, which are designed to analyze developments within NPOs with relation to the integration of sustainability into their management systems and processes.

  19. Evolution of Sustainability in American Forest Resource Management Planning in the Context of the American Forest Management Textbook

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Thomas J. Straka

    2009-10-01

    Full Text Available American forest resource management and planning goes back to the European roots of American Forestry. Timber management plans, documents based on forest regulation for timber production, were the foundation of American forestry. These types of management plans predominated until World War II. Multiple use forestry developed after World War II and issues like recreation, wildlife, water quality, and wilderness became more important. In the 1970’s harvest scheduling became part of the planning process, allowing for optimization of multiple goals. By 2001 social, environmental, and economic goals were integrated into the timber production process. American forestry experienced distinct historical periods of resource planning, ranging from classic sustained yield timber production, to multiple use-sustained yield, to sustainable human-forest systems. This article traces the historical changes in forest management planning philosophy using the forest management textbooks of the time. These textbooks provide insight into the thought process of the forestry profession as changes in the concept of sustainability occurred.

  20. Power and limitation of soil properties as predictors of rangeland health and ecosystem functioning in a Northern mixed-grass prairie[Abstract

    Science.gov (United States)

    Soil properties are thought to affect rangeland ecosystem functioning (e.g. primary productivity, hydrology), and thus soil variables that are consistently correlated with key ecosystem functions may be general indicators of rangeland health. We summarize results from several studies in mixed-grass...

  1. Commitment to and preparedness for sustainable supply chain management in the oil and gas industry.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wan Ahmad, Wan Nurul K; Rezaei, Jafar; Tavasszy, Lóránt A; de Brito, Marisa P

    2016-09-15

    Our current dependency on the oil and gas (O&G) industry for economic development and social activities necessitates research into the sustainability of the industry's supply chains. At present, studies on sustainable supply chain management (SSCM) practices in the industry do not include firm-internal factors that affect the sustainability strategies employed by different functional areas of its supply chains. Our study aims to address this gap by identifying the relevant internal factors and exploring their relationship with SSCM strategies. Specifically, we discuss the commitment to and preparedness for sustainable practices of companies that operate in upstream and downstream O&G supply chain. We study the impact of these factors on their sustainability strategies of four key supply chain functions: supplier management, production management, product stewardship and logistics management. The analyses of data collected through a survey among 81 companies show that management preparedness may enhance sustainable supply chain strategies in the O&G industry more than commitment does. Among the preparedness measures, management of supply chain operational risks is found to be vital to the sustainability of all supply chain functions except for production management practices. The findings also highlight the central importance of supplier and logistics management to the achievement of sustainable O&G supply chains. Companies must also develop an organizational culture that encourages, for example, team collaboration and proactive behaviour to finding innovative sustainability solutions in order to translate commitment to sustainable practices into actions that can produce actual difference to their SSCM practices. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  2. Performance and effects of land cover type on synthetic surface reflectance data and NDVI estimates for assessment and monitoring of semi-arid rangeland

    Science.gov (United States)

    Olexa, Edward M.; Lawrence, Rick L

    2014-01-01

    Federal land management agencies provide stewardship over much of the rangelands in the arid andsemi-arid western United States, but they often lack data of the proper spatiotemporal resolution andextent needed to assess range conditions and monitor trends. Recent advances in the blending of com-plementary, remotely sensed data could provide public lands managers with the needed information.We applied the Spatial and Temporal Adaptive Reflectance Fusion Model (STARFM) to five Landsat TMand concurrent Terra MODIS scenes, and used pixel-based regression and difference image analyses toevaluate the quality of synthetic reflectance and NDVI products associated with semi-arid rangeland. Pre-dicted red reflectance data consistently demonstrated higher accuracy, less bias, and stronger correlationwith observed data than did analogous near-infrared (NIR) data. The accuracy of both bands tended todecline as the lag between base and prediction dates increased; however, mean absolute errors (MAE)were typically ≤10%. The quality of area-wide NDVI estimates was less consistent than either spectra lband, although the MAE of estimates predicted using early season base pairs were ≤10% throughout the growing season. Correlation between known and predicted NDVI values and agreement with the 1:1regression line tended to decline as the prediction lag increased. Further analyses of NDVI predictions,based on a 22 June base pair and stratified by land cover/land use (LCLU), revealed accurate estimates through the growing season; however, inter-class performance varied. This work demonstrates the successful application of the STARFM algorithm to semi-arid rangeland; however, we encourage evaluation of STARFM’s performance on a per product basis, stratified by LCLU, with attention given to the influence of base pair selection and the impact of the time lag.

  3. Intergovermental Cooperation Initiative on Sustainable Transportation Management in Jabodetabek

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hidayat Chusnul Chotimah

    2016-05-01

    Full Text Available The main issues in Jabodetabek concerning the management of transportation are related to the increased use of private vehicles and the decreased use of public transportation, overcrowding daily traffic in Jabodetabek, the high congestion followed by insecurity in traffic, environmental pollution, uncontrolled growth of and underdeveloped infrastructure, and irregularities in land use. To overcome these problems, sustainable transportation management becomes very important in which the government should be able to cope with environmental, economic and social factors under the decision making related to transportation in Jabodetabek. Therefore, through interactive planning, this study will examine intergovernmental cooperation initiatives on sustainable transportation management in Jabodetabek. This study uses qualitative and descriptive method through literature study and existing statistics as the resources to apply the interactive planning approach. The result shows that there are found a number of problems and gaps in the management of transportation in Jabodetabek that needs to be reduced because it has the same scope of other gaps. From these problems can be made further action programs and policies in accordance with the resources owned, and then, the design of implementation made and controlled whether in accordance with the purpose or not. Thus, sustainable transportation management in the Jabodetabek needs to be done jointly in an institutional or policyframework involving governments Jabodetabekpunjur, BKSP Jabodetabekpunjur, and the private sector.

  4. Barriers to sustainable water resources management : Case study in Omnogovi province, Mongolia

    OpenAIRE

    Enkhtsetseg, Mandukhai

    2017-01-01

    This study examines the barriers to sustainable water resources management in water vulnerable, yet a mining booming area. The case study is conducted in Omnogovi province of Mongolia in Nov-Dec 2016. This study presents how the Omnogovi province manages its water with increased mining and examines what hinders the province from practicing sustainable water resources management and examines the involvement of residents in the water resources management of Omnogovi province. Qualitative approa...

  5. Session A5 Rangelands as dynamic systems Role of wildlife in ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Rangelands in southern Africa are increasingly being used for conservation, ecotourism, game farming and hunting. This impacts people's livelihoods and the state of natural resources. Complimentarity and competition between wildlife and domestic livestock can be explored. Theme: This session focuses on ecosystem ...

  6. Temperament affects rangeland use patterns and reproductive performance of beef cows

    Science.gov (United States)

    • The American beef industry is paying more attention to cattle temperament, but studies examining relationships between temperaments and grazing behavior or animal performance on rangelands are limited. • We studied range beef cow temperaments using the behavioral syndromes framework. Cows classifi...

  7. Sustainable mining management; Gestion minera sostenible

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Tejera Oliver, J. L.

    2009-07-01

    Mining activities are carried out by the older man and have provided resources, since ancient times, for their development and progress. With the discovery of fire will show the first metals that have marked the civilizations of copper, bronze and iron, and is the prehistory of the Stone Age tools that man has made from the exploitation of quarries first. The industrial revolution of the nineteenth century is linked to coal and steel, and could not conceiver of todays society without oil and gas, without silicon and coltan. But the mines are often aggressive and, despite their need and what they contribute to the development are answered by the societies where are made. during recent years there has been growing international efforts to try to make the minimum requirements of sustainable exploitation (European Directives, GMI, GRI, etc.) In AENOR, and within the Technical Committee of Standardization 22 Mining and Explosives, chaired by AITEMIN, was established the subcommittee 3, chaired by IGME, where, with the participation of all stake holders, have developed some standards on sustainable mining management sustainable mining that will be a tool available to mining companies to demonstrate their sustainable use to Society. (Author)

  8. Water management for sustainable and clean energy in Turkey

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ibrahim Yuksel

    2015-11-01

    Full Text Available Water management has recently become a major concern for many countries. During the last century consumption of water and energy has been increased in the world. This trend is anticipated to continue in the decades to come. One of the greatest reasons is the unplanned industrial activities deteriorating environment in the name of rising standard of life. What is needed is the avoidance of environmental pollution and maintenance of natural balance, in the context of sustainable development. However, Turkey’s geographical location has several advantages for extensive use of most of the renewable energy resources. There is a large variation in annual precipitation, evaporation and surface run-off parameters, in Turkey. Precipitation is not evenly distributed in time and space throughout the country. There are 25 hydrological basins in Turkey. But the rivers often have irregular regimes. In this situation the main aim is to manage and use the water resources for renewable, sustainable and clean energy. This paper deals with water management for renewable, sustainable and clean energy in Turkey.

  9. Human resource management in the construction industry – Sustainability competencies

    OpenAIRE

    Renard Yung Jhien Siew

    2014-01-01

    While environmental sustainability has been the subject of much debate in the last decade, it was not until recently that attention started to shift towards human resource management as an enabler for sustainability.  Yet, this is still a relatively under researched area.  Much is still unknown about the role of an individual worker in contributing towards sustainable development.  This paper addresses the gap by proposing a framework to measure sustainability competencies of employees within...

  10. Sustainability Learning in Natural Resource Use and Management

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    J. David Tàbara

    2007-12-01

    Full Text Available We contribute to the normative discussion on sustainability learning and provide a theoretical integrative framework intended to underlie the main components and interrelations of what learning is required for social learning to become sustainability learning. We demonstrate how this framework has been operationalized in a participatory modeling interface to support processes of natural resource integrated assessment and management. The key modeling components of our view are: structure (S, energy and resources (E, information and knowledge (I, social-ecological change (C, and the size, thresholds, and connections of different social-ecological systems. Our approach attempts to overcome many of the cultural dualisms that exist in the way social and ecological systems are perceived and affect many of the most common definitions of sustainability. Our approach also emphasizes the issue of limits within a total social-ecological system and takes a multiscale, agent-based perspective. Sustainability learning is different from social learning insofar as not all of the outcomes of social learning processes necessarily improve what we consider as essential for the long-term sustainability of social-ecological systems, namely, the co-adaptive systemic capacity of agents to anticipate and deal with the unintended, undesired, and irreversible negative effects of development. Hence, the main difference of sustainability learning from social learning is the content of what is learned and the criteria used to assess such content; these are necessarily related to increasing the capacity of agents to manage, in an integrative and organic way, the total social-ecological system of which they form a part. The concept of sustainability learning and the SEIC social-ecological framework can be useful to assess and communicate the effectiveness of multiple agents to halt or reverse the destructive trends affecting the life-support systems upon which all humans

  11. Transition Management: new mode of governance for sustainable development

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    D.A. Loorbach (Derk)

    2007-01-01

    textabstractThis book introduces transition management as a new mode of governance for sustainable development. Transition management combines a conceptual approach on social complexity, governance and long-term structural societal change with an operational governance model to actually work

  12. Product Lifecycle Management and Sustainable Space Exploration

    Science.gov (United States)

    Caruso, Pamela W.; Dumbacher, Daniel L.; Grieves, Michael

    2011-01-01

    This slide presentation reviews the use of product lifecycle management (PLM) in the general aerospace industry, its use and development at NASA and at Marshall Space Flight Center, and how the use of PLM can lead to sustainable space exploration.

  13. Barriers in Sustainable Knowledge Management Model in Education

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Gratiela Dana BOCA

    2016-12-01

    Full Text Available The paper present a comprehensive model in education using the data base collected from 101 students from Turkey. The target group was students involved in academic life system. Results are used to design a model where education transfer of knowledge it is investigated in function of possible barriers as internal, external and knowledge management factors of influence in education selection and students vision for education development. As a conclusion, the evaluation of the barriers in sustainable knowledge management in education present a cross-educational model which seems to indicate its highly effective resource for environmental education focused on sustainability, and favours the development of knowledge, attitudes and future intentions of inspiring educational environment. The model can be useful on passing of knowledge from one generation to the next generation, managing succession and distributing the competencies and responsibilities to a repetitive change.

  14. Towards sustainable groundwater use: Setting long-term goals, backcasting, and managing adaptively

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gleeson, T.; Alley, W.M.; Allen, D.M.; Sophocleous, M.A.; Zhou, Y.; Taniguchi, M.; Vandersteen, J.

    2012-01-01

    The sustainability of crucial earth resources, such as groundwater, is a critical issue. We consider groundwater sustainability a value-driven process of intra- and intergenerational equity that balances the environment, society, and economy. Synthesizing hydrogeological science and current sustainability concepts, we emphasize three sustainability approaches: setting multigenerational sustainability goals, backcasting, and managing adaptively. As most aquifer problems are long-term problems, we propose that multigenerational goals (50 to 100 years) for water quantity and quality that acknowledge the connections between groundwater, surface water, and ecosystems be set for many aquifers. The goals should be set by a watershed- or aquifer-based community in an inclusive and participatory manner. Policies for shorter time horizons should be developed by backcasting, and measures implemented through adaptive management to achieve the long-term goals. Two case histories illustrate the importance and complexity of a multigenerational perspective and adaptive management. These approaches could transform aquifer depletion and contamination to more sustainable groundwater use, providing groundwater for current and future generations while protecting ecological integrity and resilience. ?? 2011, The Author(s). Ground Water ?? 2011, National Ground Water Association.

  15. Supply Chain Management and Business Sustainability Synergy: A Theoretical and Integrated Perspective

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Zabihollah Rezaee

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available Global business organizations face the challenges of adapting proper sustainability strategies and practices to effectively respond to social, ethical, environmental, and governance issues while improving financial performance in creating value for their shareholders. Business sustainability enables the integration of financial economic sustainability performance and non-financial environmental, social, ethical, and governance sustainability performance dimensions into the corporate culture, supply chain management and business models in creating shared value for all stakeholders. Business literature has provided mixed evidence of the tension, and possible link, between financial and non-financial sustainability performance dimensions and sustainability theories have yet to sufficiently address this tension. This paper attempts to fill this void by shedding light on the link between various dimensions of sustainability performance, their integrated effect on creating shared value for all stakeholders and their implications for supply chain sustainability. This paper examines the synergy between business sustainability and supply chain management by presenting a framework consisting of sustainability theories, sustainability performance dimensions, sustainability shared value concept, and sustainability best practices. Companies can use the suggested framework in integrating both financial and non-financial sustainability initiatives into their supply chain sustainability from production design, purchasing and inbound logistics, and manufacturing process to distribution and outbound logistics.

  16. Researching of green finance management to promote sustainable development in group

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ning Jing

    2014-01-01

    The scientific development of society is the basic idea of a national development in the new period, but also on the management of the enterprise, and the new requirement sproposed by financial management. Financial management should meet the development needs of the times, pay attention to the theory and practice of innovation. In the background of the national sustainable development and environmental protection, setting up the green concept of financial management, the construction of green financial management system, will promote the enterprise development comprehensively, coordinatly, sustainably, and strive to build the core competitiveness of the future to adapt to social development of enterprise. (author)

  17. Supply Chain Management and Sustainability: Procrastinating Integration in Mainstream Research

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    M.P. de Brito (Marisa); E.A. van der Laan (Erwin)

    2010-01-01

    textabstractResearch has pointed out opportunities and research agendas to integrate sustainability issues with supply chain and operations management. However, we find that it is still not mainstream practice to systematically take a sustainability approach in tackling supply chain and operations

  18. A Review on Quantitative Models for Sustainable Food Logistics Management

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    M. Soysal

    2012-12-01

    Full Text Available The last two decades food logistics systems have seen the transition from a focus on traditional supply chain management to food supply chain management, and successively, to sustainable food supply chain management. The main aim of this study is to identify key logistical aims in these three phases and analyse currently available quantitative models to point out modelling challenges in sustainable food logistics management (SFLM. A literature review on quantitative studies is conducted and also qualitative studies are consulted to understand the key logistical aims more clearly and to identify relevant system scope issues. Results show that research on SFLM has been progressively developing according to the needs of the food industry. However, the intrinsic characteristics of food products and processes have not yet been handled properly in the identified studies. The majority of the works reviewed have not contemplated on sustainability problems, apart from a few recent studies. Therefore, the study concludes that new and advanced quantitative models are needed that take specific SFLM requirements from practice into consideration to support business decisions and capture food supply chain dynamics.

  19. Transition scenarios towards sustained Pu-management in China - 5504

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Evans, C.; Drevon, C.; Favet, D.; Avrin, A.P.; Carlier, B.

    2015-01-01

    The Chinese nuclear reactor park is growing rapidly with already some 250 GWe projected to be operational by mid-century and with even larger nuclear reactor parks during the second half of this century to match the energy demand in a sustainable way. Such a large and fast growing nuclear reactor park goes with anticipated challenges with regard to the fuel cycle with essentially a focus on the rapidly growing inventory of used nuclear fuel. China is considering various options towards a more sustainable nuclear energy park with the recycling of fissile materials in various types of reactors being the backbone towards such sustainable nuclear future. This paper briefs on an analysis of the transition towards a continued responsible and flexible management of plutonium and uranium in this Chinese nuclear reactor park highlighting the results of nuclear energy systems scenario technical-economic analysis for LWR-MOX and LWR-SFR scenarios. Preliminary analysis show that the 2 described options lead to a sustainable closed cycle system while implementing early a responsible management of fast growing generated used fuel inventory

  20. A SUSTAINABLE HEALTH CARE SYSTEM REQUIRES MANAGEMENT TRANSFORMATION

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kanellopoulos Dimitros

    2011-12-01

    Full Text Available In order to be the health care system sustainable , management transformations must be based on very precise diagnostic analysis that includes complete and current information. It is necessary to implement an information system that collects information in real time, that watches the parameters that significantly influence the sustainability of the system. Such an information system should point out a radiography(a scan of the system at some time under following aspects:: 1. An overview of system; 2 An overview of the economic situation; 3 A technical presentation ;4. A legal overview; 5. A social overview ; 6. A management overview .Based on these Xrays of the health system, it outlines a series of conclusions and recommendations together with a SWOT analysis that highlights the potential internal (strengths and weaknesses and external potential (opportunities and threats. Based on this analysis and recommendations, the management is going to redesign the system in order to be adapted to the changing environmental requirements. Management transformation is recommended to be by following steps. :1. The development of a new management system that would make a positive change in the health care system 2. Implementation of the new management system 3. Assessment of the changes

  1. How to manage sustainable supply chain? The issue of maturity

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Agata Rudnicka

    2016-12-01

    Full Text Available Background: The issue of managing sustainability in supply chain seems to be more and more complex. There are many aspects that need to be taken into consideration when planning, implementing and monitoring environmental and social conditions of supply chains. Despite many works, already published, on the concept of sustainable development (SD is seems that the issue of assessment and especially the issue of maturity in the light of the SD concept is still not developed enough. Methods: The general aim of the paper is the analysis of the maturity issue in the context of sustainability. The main objective is to conceptualize the idea of maturity in sustainable supply chain. Beside the literature research the own proposition of theoretical model was described. Results: The article describes the issue of maturity as an element of managing sustainable development in the supply chain. The author presented a theoretical model of the maturity. Moreover the author gave some recommendations how to manage the sustainability issues in supply chain in more mature approach and introduced some useful tools among which are: certification, code of conduct and code of ethics, audits, projects etc. Conclusions: The issue of maturity seems to be very useful for proper understanding the idea of sustainable development in supply chain. The developed model can be used as self-assessment method to check at which level of implementation the idea of SD is analyzed in supply chain. Furthermore, the next phase of the planned research in form of practical verification of the model was advised as well as a research of identification of new factors and tools in analyzed area.

  2. IMPACT OF WOODY PLANTS SPECIES ON SOIL PHYSIO-CHEMICAL PROPERTIES ALONG GRAZING GRADIENTS IN RANGELANDS OF EASTERN ETHIOPIA

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mohammed Mussa Abdulahi

    2016-12-01

    Full Text Available In the lowlands of arid and semiarid rangelands woody plants plays an important role in soil fertility maintenance, providing food, medicine, cosmetics, fodder, fuel wood and pesticides. A better understanding of the interaction of woody plants on their immediate environment is needed to guide optimum management of native vegetation in the production landscapes. However, the impact of woody plant species on soil properties remains poorly understood. This study evaluates the impact of two dominant woody plant species (A. senegal and B. aegyptica on soil physico-chemical properties along grazing gradients in rangelands of eastern Ethiopia. Six trees of each species were selected from light, moderate and heavy grazing sites.  Soil sample data at two depths (0-15 and 16-30 cm were collected from under and open areas of A. senegal and B. aegyptica from each grazing sites, and analysed for nutrient contents. The nutrient status of soil under both woody species was significantly higher especially with regard to soil organic matter (4.37%, total nitrogen (0.313%, and available phosphorus (11.62 than the open grassland with soil organic matter (3.82%, total nitrogen (0.246%, and available phosphorus (10.94 mg/Kg soil for A. Senegal. The soil organic matter (3.93%, total nitrogen (0.285%, available phosphorus (11.66 mg/Kg soil were significantly higher than open grassland with soil organic matter (3.52%, total nitrogen (0.218%, available phosphorus (10.73 mg/Kg soil for B. aegyptica. This was more pronounced in the top 15 cm of soil under A. senegal woody plant species and on the light and moderate grazing site. Therefore, this tree has a significant effect on soil fertility improvement in resource poor rangelands and as a result, it is important to retain scattered A. senegal and B. aegyptica plants in the lowlands of eastern Ethiopia.

  3. Analysis reveals potential rangeland impacts if Williamson Act eliminated

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    William C. Wetzel

    2012-10-01

    Full Text Available California budget cuts have resulted in dramatic reductions in state funding for the Williamson Act, a land protection program that reduces property taxes for the owners of 15 million acres of California farms and rangeland. With state reimbursements to counties eliminated, the decision to continue Williamson Act contracts lies with individual counties. We investigated the consequences of eliminating the Williamson Act, using a geospatial analysis and a mail questionnaire asking ranchers for plans under a hypothetical elimination scenario. The geospatial analysis revealed that 72% of rangeland parcels enrolled in Williamson Act contracts contained habitat important for statewide conservation goals. Presented with the elimination scenario, survey respondents reported an intention to sell 20% of their total 496,889 acres. The tendency of survey participants to respond that they would sell land was highest among full-time ranchers with low household incomes and without off-ranch employment. A majority (76% of the ranchers who reported that they would sell land predicted that the buyers would develop it for nonagricultural uses, suggesting substantial changes to California's landscape in a future without the Williamson Act.

  4. AGRONOMIC MANAGEMENT PRACTICES FOR SUSTAINABILITY: CHARACTERISTICS AND MEASUREMENT IN Agave tequilana Weber IN THE SIERRA DE AMULA REGION, JALISCO

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Arturo Moreno Hernández

    2010-10-01

    Full Text Available This article qualitative evaluation of the sustainable management in blue agave (Agave tequilana Weber agroecosystems, in Sierra Amula region of the Jalisco state, Mexico. Sixteen sites were evaluated in an altitudinal gradient ranging from 777 to 1345 masl. Six principles considered by Altieri (1999 as the basic elements of a sustainable management of the agroecosystem, were used to construct an Index of Agroecosystem Sustainable Management (IMSA. Four levels of this index were identified: values lower than 50 % were considered unsustainable management, 51 to 66.6 % scarcely sustainable management, 66.7 to 83.2 % mediumly sustainable management and 83.3 to 100 % highly sustainable management. Of the 16 sites evaluated, two were classified as unsustainable management, six was scarcely sustainable management, five as medially sustainable management and three as highly sustainable management.

  5. Modelling tree dynamics to assess the implementation of EU policies related to afforestation in SW Spain rangelands

    Science.gov (United States)

    Herguido, Estela; Pulido, Manuel; Francisco Lavado Contador, Joaquín; Schnabel, Susanne

    2017-04-01

    In Iberian dehesas and montados, the lack of tree recruitment compromises its long-term sustainability. However, in marginal areas of dehesas shrub encroachment facilitates tree recruitment while altering the distinctive physiognomic and cultural characteristics of the system. These are ongoing processes that should be considered when designing afforestation measures and policies. Based on spatial variables, we modeled the proneness of a piece of land to undergo tree recruitment and the results were related with the afforestation measures carried out under the UE First Afforestation Agricultural Land Program between 1992 and 2008. We analyzed the temporal tree population dynamics in 800 randomly selected plots of 100 m radius (2,510 ha in total) in dehesas and treeless pasturelands of Extremadura (hereafter rangelands). Tree changes were revealed by comparing aerial images taken in 1956 with orthophotographs and infrared ones from 2012. Spatial models that predict the areas prone either to lack tree recruitment or with recruitment were developed and based on three data mining algorithms: MARS (Multivariate Adaptive Regression Splines), Random Forest (RF) and Stochastic Gradient Boosting (Tree-Net, TN). Recruited-tree locations (1) vs. locations of places with no recruitment (0) (randomly selected from the study areas) were used as the binary dependent variable. A 5% of the data were used as test data set. As candidate explanatory variables we used 51 different topographic, climatic, bioclimatic, land cover-related and edaphic ones. The statistical models developed were extrapolated to the spatial context of the afforested areas in the region and also to the whole Extremenian rangelands, and the percentage of area modelled as prone to tree recruitment was calculated for each case. A total of 46,674.63 ha were afforested with holm oak (Quercus ilex) or cork oak (Quercus suber) in the studied rangelands under the UE First Afforestation Agricultural Land Program. In

  6. Assessing Sustainability in Environmental Management: A Case Study in Malaysia Industry

    Science.gov (United States)

    Turan, Faiz Mohd; Johan, Kartina; Lanang, Wan Nurul Syahirah Wan; Asmanizam, Asmadianatasha

    2017-08-01

    The scarcity in measuring the sustainability accomplishment has been restrained most of the companies in Malaysian industry. Currently, there are variety types of the measurement tools of the sustainability assessment that have been implemented. However, there are still not achieving the inclusive elements required by the worldwide claim. In fact, the contribution to the sustainability performance are only highlighted on the nature, financial along with society components. In addition, some of the companies are conducting their sustainability implementation individually. By means, this process approaching type is needed to be integrated into a systematic system approach. This paper is focussing on investigating the present sustainability tools in the environmental management system for Malaysian industry prior to the quantification of the sustainability parameters. Hence, the parameters of the sustainability have been evaluated then in order to accomplish this project. By reviewing on the methodology of this research it comprises of three phases where it starts with the analyzation of the parameters in environmental management system according to the Malaysian context of industry. Moving on to the next step is the quantification of the criterion and finally the normalisation process will be done to determine the results of this research either it is succeeded or vice versa. As a result, this research has come to the conclusion where the level of the sustainability compliance does not achieve the standard level of the targeted objectives though it has already surpassed the average level of the sustainability performance. In future, the understanding towards the sustainability assessment is acquired to be aligned unitedly in order to integrated the process approach into the systematic approach. Apart, this research will be able to help to provide a measurable framework yet finally bestowing the Malaysian industry with a continuous improvement roadmap in achieving

  7. Resource management as a key factor for sustainable urban planning

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Agudelo Vera, C.M.; Mels, A.R.; Keesman, K.J.; Rijnaarts, H.H.M.

    2011-01-01

    Due to fast urbanization and increasing living standards, the environmental sustainability of our global society becomes more and more questionable. In this historical review we investigate the role of resources management (RM) and urban planning (UP) and propose ways for integration in sustainable

  8. Environmental management as a pillar for sustainable development.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mikulčić, Hrvoje; Duić, Neven; Dewil, Raf

    2017-12-01

    There is a growing concern about how to minimize the impact of human activities on the environment. Already nowadays, in some places adaptation efforts are needed in order to avoid the irreversibility of negative human activities. Due to climate changes, and corresponding environmental and social changes, there is a great need for a more sustainable development of mankind. Over the years, research studies that analyzed the sustainable development of different communities with a multi-disciplinary approach, stressed the necessity of preserving the environment for next generations. Therefore, responsible and conscientious management of the environment is a pillar of the sustainable development concept. This review introduction article provides an overview of the recent top scientific publications related to sustainable development that mostly originated from previous SDEWES conferences. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  9. FUNCTIONING OF SUSTAINABLE EDUCATIONAL ECONOMIC MANAGEMENT IN THE ENTERPRISE

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ileana (BADULESCU ANASTASE

    2014-06-01

    Full Text Available The paper addresses issues related to education management operation that determines the principles and requires an interdisciplinary approach, studying events that occur in the decision to organize a determined pedagogical activity and the management of educational programs. Managerial leadership involves emphasis on ideas, on a systematic approach, on change, innovation strategy, proposing a method of analyzing the functioning of sustainable educational management and positive effects. In this context, the article provides the principles, functions, methods and rules that a school must comply in order to ensure a sustainable future.The teaching staff represents an inexhaustible managerial resource valued at its social ladder of the system and education program.In the content of the paper are highlighted prominent school organization management functions as steps preceding decision making of their training where are presented applied studies on financial issues facing directors of schools who seek solutions to them.

  10. Integrated weed management for sustainable rice production: concepts, perspectives and options

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Amartalingam Rajan

    2002-01-01

    Weed management has always been in some way integrated with cultural and biological methods, probably occurring more fortuitously than purposefully. Experience has shown that repeated use of any weed control technique especially in monocultures production systems results in rapid emergence of weeds more adapted to the new practice. In intensive high input farming systems, heavy selection pressure for herbicide tolerant weeds and the environmental impacts of these inputs are important tissues that require a good understanding of agroecosystem for successful integration of available options. Rice culture, in particular flooded rice culture has always employed integration through an evolution of management practices over the generations. However, a vast majority office farmers in Asia have yet to achieve the high returns realised by farmers elsewhere, where a near optimum combination of high inputs are being effectively integrated for maximum productivity. In addition to technological and management limitations, farmers in developing countries are faced with social, economic and policy constraints. On the other hand, farmers who had achieved considerable increases in productivity through labour replacing technologies, in particular direct seeding with the aid of herbicides, are now faced with issues related to environmental concerns due to high levels of these inputs. The issues facing weed scientists and farmers alike in managing weeds effectively and in a manner to ensure sustainability have become more challenging than ever before. In the last two decades, no issue has been discussed so. intensively as Sustainable Farming, Sustainable Agriculture or Alternative Agriculture within the broader global concept of Sustainable Development. To address these challenges a clear perspective of sustainable farming is essential. This paper addresses these concepts, perspectives and options for choices in weed management for sustainable rice production. (Author)

  11. 25 CFR 166.307 - Will the grazing capacity be increased if I graze adjacent trust or non-trust rangelands not...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-04-01

    ... § 166.307 Will the grazing capacity be increased if I graze adjacent trust or non-trust rangelands not... trust or non-trust rangeland in common with the permitted land. Grazing capacity will be established... 25 Indians 1 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Will the grazing capacity be increased if I graze...

  12. Sustainable intensification of cultivated pastures using multiple ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    rangeland and wildlife parks) for guidelines to implementing this approach in cultivated pasture. In rangeland or natural grassland ... Keywords: animal production, biodiversity, cultivated pastures, foraging ecology, plant–herbivore interactions ...

  13. Global climate change mitigation and sustainable forest management--The challenge of monitoring and verification

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Makundi, Willy R.

    1997-12-31

    In this paper, sustainable forest management is discussed within the historical and theoretical framework of the sustainable development debate. The various criteria and indicators for sustainable forest management put forth by different institutions are critically explored. Specific types of climate change mitigation policies/projects in the forest sector are identified and examined in the light of the general criteria for sustainable forest management. Areas of compatibility and contradiction between the climate mitigation objectives and the minimum criteria for sustainable forest management are identified and discussed. Emphasis is put on the problems of monitoring and verifying carbon benefits associated with such projects given their impacts on pre-existing policy objectives on sustainable forest management. The implications of such policy interactions on assignment of carbon credits from forest projects under Joint Implementation/Activities Implemented Jointly initiatives are discussed. The paper concludes that a comprehensive monitoring and verification regime must include an impact assessment on the criteria covered under other agreements such as the Biodiversity and/or Desertification Conventions. The actual carbon credit assigned to a specific project should at least take into account the negative impacts on the criteria for sustainable forest management. The value of the impacts and/or the procedure to evaluate them need to be established by interested parties such as the Councils of the respective Conventions.

  14. Reality of rangeland degradation mapping with remote sensing: the South African experience

    CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

    Wessels, Konrad J

    2008-09-01

    Full Text Available Globally there is an urgent need for standardized, quantitative measures rangeland degradation. Over the past 10 years in South Africa (SA), significant research efforts have been directed at this challenge, using diverse methods and data...

  15. Beyond greed and fear: sustainable financial management

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Boersma-de Jong, Margreet F.

    2013-01-01

    A research programme into ethical, socially responsible thought as a precondition for our financial actions.

    Speech of Dr. Margreet Boersma of Hanze University of Applied Sciences at her installation as a professor of Sustainable Financial Management.
    There is little room for what's

  16. Livestock grazing, wildlife habitat, and rangeland values

    Science.gov (United States)

    Paul R. Krausman; David E. Naugle; Michael R. Frisina; Rick Northrup; Vernon C. Bleich; William M. Block; Mark C. Wallace; Jeffrey D. Wright

    2009-01-01

    Livestock managers make and implement grazing management decisions to achieve a variety of objectives including livestock production, sustainable grazing, and wildlife habitat enhancement. Assessed values of grazing lands and ranches are often based on aesthetics and wildlife habitat or recreational values, which can exceed agricultural values, thus providing...

  17. Sustainable management indicators and implications of public policies for forestry

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Peyron, Jean-Luc; Bonheme, Ingrid

    2012-01-01

    Since 1995, in the framework of the Pan-European process of Ministerial Conferences on the Protection of Forests in Europe, every five years France establishes sustainable management indicators for forests in metropolitan France. The four successive publications now available provide information, according to the six criteria for sustainable forest management formulated in Helsinki in 1993, on developments over time in the state of French forests and the activities they generate. They also give rise to questions about the extent to which this follow-up meet the needs of forests in the area of public policies, including the fight against the greenhouse effect and adaptation to climate change. In addition, they suggest improvements for the short, medium and long term aimed at enhancing the switch from a statistical description to a strategic vision, as well as harmonisation and coherence of information, and extending the legal, political, institutional and geographic scope of sustainable forest management indicators. (authors)

  18. Transition management as a model for managing processes of co-evolution towards sustainable development

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    R. Kemp (René); D.A. Loorbach (Derk); J. Rotmans (Jan)

    2007-01-01

    textabstractSustainable development requires changes in socio-technical systems and wider societal change - in beliefs, values and governance that co-evolve with technology changes. In this article we present a practical model for managing processes of co-evolution: transition management. Transition

  19. Urban water sustainability: an integrative framework for regional water management

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gonzales, P.; Ajami, N. K.

    2015-11-01

    Traditional urban water supply portfolios have proven to be unsustainable under the uncertainties associated with growth and long-term climate variability. Introducing alternative water supplies such as recycled water, captured runoff, desalination, as well as demand management strategies such as conservation and efficiency measures, has been widely proposed to address the long-term sustainability of urban water resources. Collaborative efforts have the potential to achieve this goal through more efficient use of common pool resources and access to funding opportunities for supply diversification projects. However, this requires a paradigm shift towards holistic solutions that address the complexity of hydrologic, socio-economic and governance dynamics surrounding water management issues. The objective of this work is to develop a regional integrative framework for the assessment of water resource sustainability under current management practices, as well as to identify opportunities for sustainability improvement in coupled socio-hydrologic systems. We define the sustainability of a water utility as the ability to access reliable supplies to consistently satisfy current needs, make responsible use of supplies, and have the capacity to adapt to future scenarios. To compute a quantitative measure of sustainability, we develop a numerical index comprised of supply, demand, and adaptive capacity indicators, including an innovative way to account for the importance of having diverse supply sources. We demonstrate the application of this framework to the Hetch Hetchy Regional Water System in the San Francisco Bay Area of California. Our analyses demonstrate that water agencies that share common water supplies are in a good position to establish integrative regional management partnerships in order to achieve individual and collective short-term and long-term benefits.

  20. Evaluating strategies for sustainable intensification of US agriculture through the Long-Term Agroecosystem Research network

    Science.gov (United States)

    Spiegal, S.; Bestelmeyer, B. T.; Archer, D. W.; Augustine, D. J.; Boughton, E. H.; Boughton, R. K.; Cavigelli, M. A.; Clark, P. E.; Derner, J. D.; Duncan, E. W.; Hapeman, C. J.; Harmel, R. D.; Heilman, P.; Holly, M. A.; Huggins, D. R.; King, K.; Kleinman, P. J. A.; Liebig, M. A.; Locke, M. A.; McCarty, G. W.; Millar, N.; Mirsky, S. B.; Moorman, T. B.; Pierson, F. B.; Rigby, J. R.; Robertson, G. P.; Steiner, J. L.; Strickland, T. C.; Swain, H. M.; Wienhold, B. J.; Wulfhorst, J. D.; Yost, M. A.; Walthall, C. L.

    2018-03-01

    Sustainable intensification is an emerging model for agriculture designed to reconcile accelerating global demand for agricultural products with long-term environmental stewardship. Defined here as increasing agricultural production while maintaining or improving environmental quality, sustainable intensification hinges upon decision-making by agricultural producers, consumers, and policy-makers. The Long-Term Agroecosystem Research (LTAR) network was established to inform these decisions. Here we introduce the LTAR Common Experiment, through which scientists and partnering producers in US croplands, rangelands, and pasturelands are conducting 21 independent but coordinated experiments. Each local effort compares the outcomes of a predominant, conventional production system in the region (‘business as usual’) with a system hypothesized to advance sustainable intensification (‘aspirational’). Following the logic of a conceptual model of interactions between agriculture, economics, society, and the environment, we identified commonalities among the 21 experiments in terms of (a) concerns about business-as-usual production, (b) ‘aspirational outcomes’ motivating research into alternatives, (c) strategies for achieving the outcomes, (d) practices that support the strategies, and (e) relationships between practice outreach and adoption. Network-wide, concerns about business as usual include the costs of inputs, opportunities lost to uniform management approaches, and vulnerability to accelerating environmental changes. Motivated by environmental, economic, and societal outcomes, scientists and partnering producers are investigating 15 practices in aspirational treatments to sustainably intensify agriculture, from crop diversification to ecological restoration. Collectively, the aspirational treatments reveal four general strategies for sustainable intensification: (1) reducing reliance on inputs through ecological intensification, (2) diversifying management

  1. Sustainability indices as a tool for urban managers, evidence from four medium-sized Chinese cities

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Dijk, Meine Pieter van; Zhang Mingshun

    2005-01-01

    This research in four medium-sized Chinese cities aims at measuring urban sustainability in China and focuses on three issues. First, the situation in these four cities with regard to urban sustainability is evaluated. Secondly, a number of relations between different aspects of urban sustainability is explored. Finally, it is indicated how urban managers can improve with sustainability indices as tools currently ineffective urban management practices. Although all four cities are moving towards sustainable development, the current situation shows still weak sustainability in three, and even non-sustainability in one city. The social and, in particular, the economic dimensions of urban sustainability make significant positive contributions to overall urban sustainability. However, the decline of natural resources and environmental degradation are influencing it negatively. It is therefore suggested that more priority should be assigned to urban environmental protection and management in China. The fundamental reason for environmental degradation is believed to be inefficient urban management. To implement effective urban management in China, there is an urgent need to redefine the role of local government, reform local organizational structure, enhance local participatory institutional capacity, properly distribute the urban welfare, and thus integrate economic, social and environmental objectives local strategic and action plans

  2. Land Resource Management as the Ground for Mining Area Sustainable Development

    Science.gov (United States)

    Solovitskiy, Aleksander; Brel, Olga; Nikulin, Nikolai; Nastavko, Ekaterina; Meser, Tatayna

    2017-11-01

    It is established that the problem of sustainable development of Kuzbass cities is their being tied to a single production and income from other sources is not considered. Therefore, their economy is underdeveloped, depends entirely on one city-forming enterprise (singleindustry city), which causes response to the slightest changes in the economic situation. In Kuzbass, all cities, except Kemerovo, are monodependent, including Kiselevsk, which economy mainly consists of coal mining enterprises. In the circumstances, there is a need to develop a set of measures for management the urban land, primarily aimed at ensuring the sustainable development of Kiselevsk city. The development of principles and management mechanism of the urban territory land fund determines its effectiveness. Establishing the dependence of rational use of land resources and sustainable development characterizes a new level of information interaction between sciences (land management and economy). Practical use of this theory is to overcome the mono-urban development of mining cities, taking into account effective subsoil management.

  3. Sustainable Dry Land Management Model on Corn Agribusiness System

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yulia Pujiharti

    2008-01-01

    Full Text Available The study aimed at building model of dry land management. Dynamic System Analysis was used to build model and Powersim 2.51 version for simulating. The parameter used in model were fertilizer (urea, SP-36, ACL, productivity (corn, cassava, mungbean, soil nutrient (N, P, K, crop nutrient requirements (corn, cassava, mungbean, mucuna, price (corn, cassava, mungbeans corn flour, feed, urea, SP-36, KCl, food security credit, area planted of (maize, cassava, mungbean, area harvested of (maize, cassava, mungbean, (corn, cassava, mungbean production, wages and farmer income. Sustainable indicator for ecology aspect was soil fertility level, economic aspects were productivity and farmer income, and social aspects were job possibility and traditions. The simulation result indicated that sustainable dry land management can improve soil fertility and increase farmer revenue, became sustainable farming system and farmer society. On the other hand, conventional dry land management decreased soil fertility and yield, caused farmer earnings to decrease and a farm activity could not be continued. Fertilizer distribution did not fulfill farmer requirement, which caused fertilizer scarcity. Food security credit increased fertilizer application. Corn was processed to corn flour or feed to give value added.

  4. DEVELOPING SUSTAINABILITY INDICATORS FOR WATER RESOURCES MANAGEMENT IN TIETÊ-JACARÉ BASIN, BRAZIL

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Michele de Almeida Corrêa

    2013-06-01

    Full Text Available This paper describes a tool to assist in developing water resources management, focusing on the sustainability concept, by a Basin Committee. This tool consists of a Set of Sustainability Indicators for Water Resources Management denominated CISGRH, which was identified by a conceptual and empirical review to meet the specific needs of the study herein - the Basin Committee of Tietê-Jacaré Rivers (CBH-TJ. The framework of CISGRH came about through consecutive consultation processes. In the first consultation the priority problems were identified for the study objectives, listing some possible management sustainability indicators. These preliminary indicators were also submitted to academic specialists and technicians working in CBH-TJ for a new consultation process. After these consultation stages, the CISGRH analysis and structuring were introduced. To verify the indicators’ adaptation and to compose a group as proposed by the study, these were classified according to specific sustainability principles for water resources management. The objective of the CISGRH implementation is to diagnose current conditions of water resources and its management, as well as to evaluate future conditions evidenced by tendencies and interventions undertaken by the committee.

  5. DEVELOPING SUSTAINABILITY INDICATORS FOR WATER RESOURCES MANAGEMENT IN TIETÊ-JACARÉ BASIN, BRAZIL

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Michele de Almeida Corrêa

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available This paper describes a tool to assist in developing water resources management, focusing on the sustainability concept, by a Basin Committee. This tool consists of a set of sustainability indicators for water resources management denominated CISGRH, which was identified by a conceptual and empirical review to meet the specific needs of the study herein - the basin committee of Tietê-J acaré Rivers (CBH-TJ. The framework of CISGRH came about through consecutive consultation processes. In the first consultation, the priority problems were identified for the study objectives, listing some possible management sustainability indicators. These preliminary indicators were also submitted to academic specialists and technicians working in CBH-TJ for a new consultation process. After these consultation stages, the CISGRH analysis and structuring were introduced. To verify the indicators’ adaptation and to compose a group as proposed by the study, these were classified according to specific sustainability principles for water resources management. The objective of the CISGRH implementation is to diagnose current conditions of water resources and its management, as well as to evaluate future conditions evidenced by tendencies and interventions undertaken by the committee.

  6. Green knowledge management to support environmental sustainability

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Dornhoefer, Mareike-Jessica

    2017-01-01

    Sustainability, environmental management and green initiatives are topics which gradually developed into trends since the late 1980s, not only in research institutions, but also in public and private organizations. While the usage of energy and other resources are increasing, these organizations search for new possibilities to reduce the economic, ecologic and social burdens and consequences of office and production environments for employees and nature. While certified environmental management systems were established already in the 1990s, green approaches and technologies are only about 10 years old and steadily developing. Decisions about a fitting strategy and the support of suitable measures inside an organization always require knowledge provided for the decision makers. Furthermore it is of importance to record the environmental consequences of the operational business and to not only record data and information, but to create a context and deduce the knowledge for future activities. Based on this situation, the work addresses the main research question of how �classical'' knowledge management might be further developed or transformed into Green Knowledge Management and how it addresses the goals of sustainability, especially ecological sustainability, environmental management and green approaches alike? The definition of Green Knowledge Management consists of five factors, which are discussed systematically, explored conceptually and documented with the help of practical examples. Different knowledge management models and their respective building blocks are analyzed to deduce how knowledge processes might interact with environmental ones as well as green aspects. Also different types of knowledge management systems are analysed for their application possibilities. A planning and decision making tool in form of a three dimensional cube, the ''Green Knowledge Management Cube'' is introduced on a conceptual level and documented

  7. Transformation towards more sustainable soil management on Dutch arable farms

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Claus, Sebastien; Egdom, van Ilona; Suter, Bruno; Sarpong, Clara; Pappa, Aikaterini; Miah, Imtiaz; Luppa, Caterina; Potters, J.I.

    2017-01-01

    Currently a debate is ongoing in the Netherlands on how to increase soil sustainable management in general and specifically in short term lease. Sustainable practices may not be adopted by farmers because of an interplay between EU, national and provincial legislation, short-term land lease system,

  8. The impact of sustainability on project management

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Adri Köhler; Jasper van den Brink; Gilbert Gilbert Silvius

    2012-01-01

    Full text via link Chapter 11 in The Project as a Social System: Asia-Pacific Perspectives on Project Management Sustainability is one of the most important challenges of our time. How can we develop prosperity without compromising the life of future generations? Companies are integrating ideas of

  9. Salinity mobilization and transport from rangelands: assessment, recommendations, and knowledge gaps

    Science.gov (United States)

    The purpose of the salinity project is to improve the understanding of sources and transport mechanisms in rangeland catchments that deliver dissolved solids (salts) to streams within the Upper Colorado River Basin (UCRB) through a review of relevant literature on what is known about the impact of r...

  10. Prescribed Fire Effects on Runoff, Erosion, and Soil Water Repellency on Steeply-Sloped Sagebrush Rangeland over a Five Year Period

    Science.gov (United States)

    Williams, C. J.; Pierson, F. B.; Al-Hamdan, O. Z.

    2014-12-01

    Fire is an inherent component of sagebrush steppe rangelands in western North America and can dramatically affect runoff and erosion processes. Post-fire flooding and erosion events pose substantial threats to proximal resources, property, and human life. Yet, prescribed fire can serve as a tool to manage vegetation and fuels on sagebrush rangelands and to reduce the potential for large catastrophic fires and mass erosion events. The impact of burning on event hydrologic and erosion responses is strongly related to the degree to which burning alters vegetation, ground cover, and surface soils and the intensity and duration of precipitation. Fire impacts on hydrologic and erosion response may be intensified or reduced by inherent site characteristics such as topography and soil properties. Parameterization of these diverse conditions in predictive tools is often limited by a lack of data and/or understanding for the domain of interest. Furthermore, hydrologic and erosion functioning change as vegetation and ground cover recover in the years following burning and few studies track these changes over time. In this study, we evaluated the impacts of prescribed fire on vegetation, ground cover, soil water repellency, and hydrologic and erosion responses 1, 2, and 5 yr following burning of a mountain big sagebrush community on steep hillslopes with fine-textured soils. The study site is within the Reynolds Creek Experimental Watershed, southwestern Idaho, USA. Vegetation, ground cover, and soil properties were measured over plot scales of 0.5 m2 to 9 m2. Rainfall simulations (0.5 m2) were used to assess the impacts of fire on soil water repellency, infiltration, runoff generation, and splash-sheet erosion. Overland flow experiments (9 m2) were used to assess the effects of fire-reduced ground cover on concentrated-flow runoff and erosion processes. The study results provide insight regarding fire impacts on runoff, erosion, and soil water repellency in the immediate and

  11. Fire impact on soil-water repellency and functioning of semi-arid croplands and rangelands: Implications for prescribed burnings and wildfires

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stavi, Ilan; Barkai, Daniel; Knoll, Yaakov M.; Glion, Hiam Abu; Katra, Itzhak; Brook, Anna; Zaady, Eli

    2017-03-01

    An unintended fire outbreak during summer 2015 in the semi-arid Israeli Negev resulted in the burning of extensive croplands and rangelands. The rangelands have been managed over the long term for occasional grazing, while the croplands have been utilized for rainfed wheat cropping. Yet, during the studied year, the croplands were left fallow, allowing the growth of herbaceous vegetation, which was harvested and baled for hay before the fire outbreak. The study objectives were to investigate the impacts of fire, land-use, and soil depth on water-repellency and on the status and dynamics of some of the most important organic and mineral soil resources. Additionally, we aimed to assess the severity of this fire outbreak. The soil-water repellency was studied by measuring the soil's water drop penetration time (WDPT) and critical surface tension (CST). A significant effect of fire on soil hydrophobicity was recorded, with a slight increase in mean WDPT and a slight decrease in mean CST in the burnt sites than in the non-burnt sites. Yet, soil hydrophobicity in the burnt lands was rather moderate and remained within the water repellency's lowest class. A significant effect of land-use on the means of WDPT and CST was also recorded, being eleven-fold greater and 7% smaller, respectively, in the rangelands than in the croplands. This is consistent with the almost eightfold greater mean above-ground biomass recorded in the non-burnt rangelands than in the non-burnt post-harvest croplands, revealing the positive relations between available fuel load and soil-water repellency. The effect of soil depth was significant for CST but not for WDPT. Overall, the gathered data suggest that fire severity was low to moderate. Fire was also found to significantly affect the fire severity only slightly increased the soil water repellency, and at the same time, increased on-site availability of some important soil resources. Nevertheless, it is acknowledged that such fires could impose

  12. Indigenous Practices of Water Management for Sustainable Services

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Beshah M. Behailu

    2016-12-01

    Full Text Available This article explores the possibility of incorporating traditional water management experiences into modern water management. After the literature review, two case studies are presented from Borana and Konso communities in southern Ethiopia. The study was conducted through interviews, discussions, and observations. The two cases were selected due to their long existence. Both communities have their own water source types, depending on local hydrogeological conditions. Borana is known for the so-called Ella (wells and Konso for Harta (ponds, which have been managed for more than five centuries. All government and development partners strive to achieve sustainable services in water supply and sanitation. Therefore, they design various management packages to engage the communities and keep the systems sustainable. However, the management components are often designed with little attention to local customs and traditions. The cases in the two communities show that traditional knowledge is largely ignored when replaced by modern one. However, the concepts of cost recovery, ownership experience, equity, enforcement, integrity, and unity, which are highly pronounced in modern systems, can also be found in the traditional water managements of Borana and Konso. Naturally, one shoe never fits all. Borana and Konso experiences are working for their own community. This research implies that when we plan a project or a program for a particular community, the starting point should be the indigenous practices and thoughts on life.

  13. Challenges in managing and sustaining urban slum health ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Challenges in managing and sustaining urban slum health programmes in Kenya. ... These were hardly implemented in the projects, according to the data gathered. ... Conclusion: Land and income were big issues according to the responses.

  14. Sustainable Agriculture and Natural Resource Management Collaborative Research Support Program(SANREM CRSP)

    OpenAIRE

    Moore, Keith M.

    2007-01-01

    This presentation describes the history and current program of the Sustainable Agriculture and Natural Resource Management Collaborative Research Support Program (SANREM CRSP). SANREM Objectives include increasing stakeholder income generation capacity, empowering stakeholders, particularly women, enhancing decentralized resource management, strengthening local institutions, improving market access for smallholders and communities, and promoting sustainable and environmentally sound developme...

  15. Sustainability.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chang, Chein-Chi; DiGiovanni, Kimberly; Mei, Ying; Wei, Li

    2016-10-01

    This review on Sustainability covers selected 2015 publications on the focus of Sustainability. It is divided into the following sections : • Sustainable water and wastewater utilities • Sustainable water resources management • Stormwater and green infrastructure • Sustainability in wastewater treatment • Life cycle assessment (LCA) applications • Sustainability and energy in wastewater industry, • Sustainability and asset management.

  16. A framework for sustainable invasive species management: environmental, social and economic objectives

    Science.gov (United States)

    Larson, Diane L.; Phillips-Mao, Laura; Quiram, Gina; Sharpe, Leah; Stark, Rebecca; Sugita, Shinya; Weiler, Annie

    2011-01-01

    Applying the concept of sustainability to invasive species management (ISM) is challenging but necessary, given the increasing rates of invasion and the high costs of invasion impacts and control. To be sustainable, ISM must address environmental, social, and economic factors (or *pillars*) that influence the causes, impacts, and control of invasive species across multiple spatial and temporal scales. Although these pillars are generally acknowledged, their implementation is often limited by insufficient control options and significant economic and political constraints. In this paper, we outline specific objectives in each of these three *pillars* that, if incorporated into a management plan, will improve the plan's likelihood of sustainability. We then examine three case studies that illustrate how these objectives can be effectively implemented. Each pillar reinforces the others, such that the inclusion of even a few of the outlined objectives will lead to more effective management that achieves ecological goals, while generating social support and long-term funding to maintain projects to completion. We encourage agency directors and policy-makers to consider sustainability principles when developing funding schemes, management agendas, and policy.

  17. SUSTAINABLE SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT: A LITERATURE REVIEW AND RESEARCH AGENDA

    OpenAIRE

    Tascioglu, Mertcan

    2015-01-01

    Sustainability has become a subject of increasing concern to academics and practitioners in recent years. Increasing demand for environmentally and socially responsible products and services encouraged supply chains to put increasing emphasis on sustainability. The purpose of this paper is to review research in Sustainable Supply Chain Management (SSCM) and to identify gaps in the current body of knowledge. Future research directions are also provided which may help to stimulate more intensiv...

  18. Market Demand for Sustainability in Management Education

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gitsham, Matthew; Clark, Timothy S.

    2014-01-01

    Purpose: This paper aims to contribute to the ongoing debate about the relevance of sustainability in management education through exploration of the needs and expectations of a key group of business schools' stakeholders--senior executives of leading corporations. Design/methodology/approach: The paper presents findings from a survey regarding…

  19. Advancing Sustainable Materials Management: Facts and Figures Report

    Science.gov (United States)

    Each year EPA releases the Advancing Sustainable Materials Management: Facts and Figures report, formerly called Municipal Solid Waste in the United States: Facts and Figures. It includes information on Municipal Solid Waste generation, recycling, an

  20. Understanding Innovation for Sustainable Business Management Capabilities and Competencies under Uncertainty

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kuo-Jui Wu

    2015-10-01

    Full Text Available In recent years, many firms have come to understand that innovation is an important issue in sustainable business management, as it helps improve firm capabilities and competencies. Because of the fiercely competitive environment in the hotel industry, innovation has become a critical factor in the process of hotel differentiation, leading to sustainable business success. However, the literature has not thoroughly examined the role of innovation or the hierarchical structure of the capabilities and competencies in sustainable business management. This study adopts interval-valued triangular fuzzy numbers and grey relational analysis to provide a competitive priority ranking for the aspects and criteria that assist firms in decision-making. The study results indicate that innovation in technology capabilities and networking and social capabilities—in addition to competencies in systemic thinking—are the most important aspects of sustainable business management. In particular, this study indicates that to succeed in building a sustainable business in the hotel industry, firms should upgrade and integrate their business technologies, collaborate with actors inside and outside the firm, build trust as well as a shared vision that includes common agreement, and develop competencies in inventive thinking to support innovation and foster changes in strategy, structure, administrative procedures, and systems when necessary.

  1. A Review on Quantitative Models for Sustainable Food Logistics Management

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Soysal, M.; Bloemhof, J.M.; Meuwissen, M.P.M.; Vorst, van der J.G.A.J.

    2012-01-01

    The last two decades food logistics systems have seen the transition from a focus on traditional supply chain management to food supply chain management, and successively, to sustainable food supply chain management. The main aim of this study is to identify key logistical aims in these three phases

  2. Sustainable supply chain management practices in Indian automotive industry

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Mathivathanan, Deepak; Kannan, Devika; Haq, A. Noorul

    2018-01-01

    As one of the largest manufacturing sectors, the automotive industry has a deep impact on the society and environment. Automotive products provide mobility to millions and create jobs, but also threaten the environment. Consumer pressure, government regulations, and stakeholder demands for a comp......As one of the largest manufacturing sectors, the automotive industry has a deep impact on the society and environment. Automotive products provide mobility to millions and create jobs, but also threaten the environment. Consumer pressure, government regulations, and stakeholder demands...... into the traditional supply chain and that help an industry shift towards a sustainable supply chain are called SSCM practices. Firms have difficulty identifying the most useful practices and learning how these practices impact each other. Unfortunately, no existing research has studied the interrelated influences...... stakeholder perspectives are identified. The results reveal that management commitment towards sustainability and incorporating the triple bottom line approach in strategic decision making are the most influential practices for implementing the sustainable supply chain management. This study provides...

  3. Understanding Economic and Management Sciences Teachers' Conceptions of Sustainable Development

    Science.gov (United States)

    America, Carina

    2014-01-01

    Sustainable development has become a key part of the global educational discourse. Education for sustainable development (ESD) specifically is pronounced as an imperative for different curricula and regarded as being critical for teacher education. This article is based on research that was conducted on economic and management sciences (EMS)…

  4. OFFSHORING FOR SUSTAINABLE VALUE MANAGEMENT

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Thaddeus Oforegbunam Ebiringa

    2014-05-01

    Full Text Available This paper evaluates offshoring as a strategic value management initiative using Cadbury Nigeria Plc as a case study. Through offshoring risks associated with inventory holding are hedged. A comparative analysis of in-house and offshored cost profiles as well as critical risk factors that affect firm value are evaluated. The result shows that offshoring led to immediate costs saving, freeing of funds previously held in inventory for other working capital investments as well as profitability for vendors. However, aside financial benefits to partners, it leads to increased stakeholders awareness, shared values, partnerships, teamwork and risk mitigation. It therefore follows that for sustainability of financial benefits of offshoring, concerted effort must be made by partners to ensure that critical drivers of value management are not compromised.

  5. Evaluating herbivore management outcomes and associated vegetation impacts

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Rina C.C. Grant

    2011-05-01

    Conservation implications: In rangeland, optimising herbivore numbers to achieve the management objectives without causing unacceptable or irreversible change in the vegetation is challenging. This manuscript explores different avenues to evaluate herbivore impact and the outcomes of management approaches that may affect vegetation.

  6. Patent Keyword Extraction for Sustainable Technology Management

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jongchan Kim

    2018-04-01

    Full Text Available Recently, sustainable growth and development has become an important issue for governments and corporations. However, maintaining sustainable development is very difficult. These difficulties can be attributed to sociocultural and political backgrounds that change over time [1]. Because of these changes, the technologies for sustainability also change, so governments and companies attempt to predict and manage technology using patent analyses, but it is very difficult to predict the rapidly changing technology markets. The best way to achieve insight into technology management in this rapidly changing market is to build a technology management direction and strategy that is flexible and adaptable to the volatile market environment through continuous monitoring and analysis. Quantitative patent analysis using text mining is an effective method for sustainable technology management. There have been many studies that have used text mining and word-based patent analyses to extract keywords and remove noise words. Because the extracted keywords are considered to have a significant effect on the further analysis, researchers need to carefully check out whether they are valid or not. However, most prior studies assume that the extracted keywords are appropriate, without evaluating their validity. Therefore, the criteria used to extract keywords needs to change. Until now, these criteria have focused on how well a patent can be classified according to its technical characteristics in the collected patent data set, typically using term frequency–inverse document frequency weights that are calculated by comparing the words in patents. However, this is not suitable when analyzing a single patent. Therefore, we need keyword selection criteria and an extraction method capable of representing the technical characteristics of a single patent without comparing them with other patents. In this study, we proposed a methodology to extract valid keywords from

  7. Evaluating new SMAP soil moisture for drought monitoring in the rangelands of the US High Plains

    Science.gov (United States)

    Velpuri, Naga Manohar; Senay, Gabriel B.; Morisette, Jeffrey T.

    2016-01-01

    Level 3 soil moisture datasets from the recently launched Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) satellite are evaluated for drought monitoring in rangelands.Validation of SMAP soil moisture (SSM) with in situ and modeled estimates showed high level of agreement.SSM showed the highest correlation with surface soil moisture (0-5 cm) and a strong correlation to depths up to 20 cm.SSM showed a reliable and expected response of capturing seasonal dynamics in relation to precipitation, land surface temperature, and evapotranspiration.Further evaluation using multi-year SMAP datasets is necessary to quantify the full benefits and limitations for drought monitoring in rangelands.

  8. Knowledge Management for Sustainable Development: The Case ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    This paper seeks to demonstrate that knowledge management (KM) is a function of sustainable development (SD). The authors define the two concepts and discuss both the factors that make for successful SD process and the challenges that characterize KM. The conclusion reached is hat KM is emerging as a powerful ...

  9. MANAGING SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT OF MEAT PROCESSING PLANTS AS PART OF THE MECHANISM OF STRATEGIC PLANNING

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    I. S. Gusev

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available Studies have proven that, at present one of the priority research areas as part of the Development Strategy of the Food Processing Industry of the Russian Federation until 2020 is to develop effective mechanisms for sustainable socio-economic development of industrial enterprises. This article investigated the logic of strategic planning within the framework of sustainable economic growth, analyzed the structure of strategic planning, study the subject of strategic planning in the management of sustainable development of enterprises, justified the basic principles of strategic planning for the effective management of sustainable development of industrial enterprises, as well as the complex of organizational tactical activities of operational management strategy for sustainable development of the enterprise. The observation revealed that currently there was a high need for the framework of the branch, departmental and state programs implemented in industrial management of scientific and methodological approaches of strategic planning. Studies have shown that these approaches in its conceptual entity should be based on the growth potential of the sustainable development of meat processing plants in space and time in order to achieve high competitive advantages. Conducted a systematic analysis of industry conditions proved that the problem of sustainable operation and development of meat processing enterprises as a problem of management and control is relatively new, unexplored and highly relevant. On the contrary, it is the basis of modern management strategy and management is a concept and methodology of the so-called adaptive enterprise development under the action of various external and internal factors, risks that may threaten its economic stability and sustainability.

  10. Coupling and quantifying resilience and sustainability in facilities management

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Cox, Rimante Andrasiunaite; Nielsen, Susanne Balslev; Rode, Carsten

    2015-01-01

    Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to consider how to couple and quantify resilience and sustainability, where sustainability refers to not only environmental impact, but also economic and social impacts. The way a particular function of a building is provisioned may have significant repercus......Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to consider how to couple and quantify resilience and sustainability, where sustainability refers to not only environmental impact, but also economic and social impacts. The way a particular function of a building is provisioned may have significant...... repercussions beyond just resilience. The goal is to develop a decision support tool for facilities managers. Design/methodology/approach – A risk framework is used to quantify both resilience and sustainability in monetary terms. The risk framework allows to couple resilience and sustainability, so...... that the provisioning of a particular building can be investigated with consideration of functional, environmental, economic and, possibly, social dimensions. Findings – The method of coupling and quantifying resilience and sustainability (CQRS) is illustrated with a simple example that highlights how very different...

  11. Endemic shrubs in temperate arid and semiarid regions of northern China and their potentials for rangeland restoration.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chu, Jianmin; Yang, Hongxiao; Lu, Qi; Zhang, Xiaoyan

    2015-06-03

    Some endemic shrubs in arid and semiarid ecosystems are in danger of extinction, and yet they can play useful roles in maintaining or restoring these ecosystems, thus practical efforts are needed to conserve them. The shrubs Amygdalus pedunculata Pall., Amygdalus mongolica (Maxim.) Ricker and Ammopiptanthus mongolicus (Maxim. ex Kom.) Cheng f. are endemic species in arid and semiarid regions of northern China, where rangeland desertification is pronounced due to chronic overgrazing. In this study, we tested the hypothesis that these endemic shrubs have developed adaptations to arid and semiarid environments and could play critical roles as nurse species to initiate the process of rangeland recovery. Based on careful vegetation surveys, we analysed the niches of these species in relation to precipitation, temperature and habitats. All sampling plots were categorized by these endemics and sorted by the non-metric multidimensional scaling method. Species ratios of each life form and species co-occurrence rates with the endemics were also evaluated. Annual average temperature and annual precipitation were found to be the key factors determining vegetation diversity and distributions. Amygdalus pedunculata prefers low hills and sandy land in temperate semiarid regions. Amygdalus mongolica prefers gravel deserts of temperate semiarid regions. Ammopiptanthus mongolicus prefers sandy land of temperate arid regions. Communities of A. pedunculata have the highest diversity and the largest ratios of long-lived grass species, whereas those of A. mongolicus have the lowest diversity but the largest ratios of shrub species. Communities of A. mongolica are a transition between the first two community types. These findings demonstrate that our focal endemic shrubs have evolved adaptations to arid and semiarid conditions, thus they can be nurse plants to stabilize sand ground for vegetation restoration. We suggest that land managers begin using these shrub species to restore

  12. Water Hyacinth in China: A Sustainability Science-Based Management Framework

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lu, Jianbo; Wu, Jianguo; Fu, Zhihui; Zhu, Lei

    2007-12-01

    The invasion of water hyacinth ( Eichhornia crassipes) has resulted in enormous ecological and economic consequences worldwide. Although the spread of this weed in Africa, Australia, and North America has been well documented, its invasion in China is yet to be fully documented. Here we report that since its introduction about seven decades ago, water hyacinth has infested many water bodies across almost half of China’s territory, causing a decline of native biodiversity, alteration of ecosystem services, deterioration of aquatic environments, and spread of diseases affecting human health. Water hyacinth infestations have also led to enormous economic losses in China by impeding water flows, paralyzing navigation, and damaging irrigation and hydroelectricity facilities. To effectively control the rampage of water hyacinth in China, we propose a sustainability science-based management framework that explicitly incorporates principles from landscape ecology and Integrated Pest Management. This framework emphasizes multiple-scale long-term monitoring and research, integration among different control techniques, combination of control with utilization, and landscape-level adaptive management. Sustainability science represents a new, transdisciplinary paradigm that integrates scientific research, technological innovation, and socioeconomic development of particular regions. Our proposed management framework is aimed to broaden the currently dominant biological control-centered view in China and to illustrate how sustainability science can be used to guide the research and management of water hyacinth.

  13. Watershed management and sustainable development: Lessons learned and future directions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Karlyn Eckman; Hans M. Gregerson; Allen L. Lundgren

    2000-01-01

    Fundamental belief underlying the direction and content of this paper is that the paradigms of land and water management evolving into the 21st century increasingly favor a watershed focused approach. Underlying that approach is an appreciation of the processes of sustainable development and resource use. The increasing recognition that sustainable development and...

  14. The Sustainable Management of a Tourism Destination in Ireland: A Focus on County Clare

    OpenAIRE

    CONAGHAN, Aíne; HANRAHAN, James; McLOUGHLIN, Emmet

    2015-01-01

    Tourism destination management has significant importance in controlling many impacts of tourism, thus insuring its sustainability. Destination management requires the integration of different planning tools, approaches and concepts that help shape the management and daily operation of tourism related activities. This study examines the sustainable management of a tourism destination, focusing on County Clare, Ireland. Qualitative interviews were conducted with tourism stake...

  15. Implementing Environmental Practices for Accomplishing Sustainable Green Supply Chain Management

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Minkyun Kim

    2017-07-01

    Full Text Available With the emergence of environmental protection as a global issue, implementing environmental practices for sustaining green supply chain management (GSCM has received a lot of attention. This study investigates the impact of integration with suppliers and supply disruption risk on environmental practices. It also examines the role of supplier integration and supply disruption risk on performance. Finally, it investigates the relationship between environmental practices and performance in order to sustain green supply chains. Based on 272 survey responses from supply and purchase managers, our research results support the positive impact of integration with suppliers and the negative impact of supply disruption risk on the adoption of environmental practices. Furthermore, they provide empirical evidence that environmental practices and integration with suppliers are positively associated with performance, while supply disruption risk is negatively associated with performance. This study identifies antecedents and establishes a research framework of GSCM. More importantly, it provides meaningful insights to managers regarding the implementation of environmental practices related to other supply chain practices for sustaining green supply chains.

  16. Integrated farm sustainability assessment for the environmental management of rural activities

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Stachetii Rodrigues, Geraldo; Aparecida Rodrigues, Izilda; Almeida Buschinelli, Claudio Cesar de; Barros, Inacio de

    2010-01-01

    Farmers have been increasingly called upon to respond to an ongoing redefinition in consumers' demands, having as a converging theme the search for sustainable production practices. In order to satisfy this objective, instruments for the environmental management of agricultural activities have been sought out. Environmental impact assessment methods are appropriate tools to address the choice of technologies and management practices to minimize negative effects of agricultural development, while maximizing productive efficiency, sound usage of natural resources, conservation of ecological assets and equitable access to wealth generation means. The 'system for weighted environmental impact assessment of rural activities' (APOIA-NovoRural) presented in this paper is organized to provide integrated farm sustainability assessment according to quantitative environmental standards and defined socio-economic benchmarks. The system integrates sixty-two objective indicators in five sustainability dimensions - (i) Landscape ecology, (ii) Environmental quality (atmosphere, water and soil), (iii) Sociocultural values, (iv) Economic values, and (v) Management and administration. Impact indices are expressed in three integration levels: (i) specific indicators, that offer a diagnostic and managerial tool for farmers and rural administrators, by pointing out particular attributes of the rural activities that may be failing to comply with defined environmental performance objectives; (ii) integrated sustainability dimensions, that show decision-makers the major contributions of the rural activities toward local sustainable development, facilitating the definition of control actions and promotion measures; and (iii) aggregated sustainability index, that can be considered a yardstick for eco-certification purposes. Nine fully documented case studies carried out with the APOIA-NovoRural system, focusing on different scales, diverse rural activities/farming systems, and contrasting

  17. Vulnerability of cattle production to climate change on U.S. rangelands

    Science.gov (United States)

    Matt C. Reeves; Karen E. Bagne

    2016-01-01

    We examined multiple climate change effects on cattle production for U.S. rangelands to estimate relative change and identify sources of vulnerability among seven regions. Climate change effects to 2100 were projected from published models for four elements: forage quantity, vegetation type trajectory, heat stress, and forage variability. Departure of projections from...

  18. Choosing a sustainable demolition waste management strategy using multicriteria decision analysis

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Roussat, Nicolas; Dujet, Christiane; Mehu, Jacques

    2009-01-01

    This paper presents an application of the ELECTRE III decision-aid method in the context of choosing a sustainable demolition waste management strategy for a case study in the city of Lyon, France. This choice of waste management strategy takes into consideration the sustainable development objectives, i.e. economic aspects, environmental consequences, and social issues. Nine alternatives for demolition waste management were compared with the aid of eight criteria, taking into account energy consumption, depletion of abiotic resources, global warming, dispersion of dangerous substances in the environment, economic activity, employment, and quality of life of the local population. The case study concerned the demolition of 25 buildings of an old military camp. Each alternative was illustrated with different waste treatments, such as material recovery, recycling, landfilling, and energy recovery. The recommended solution for sustainable demolition waste management for the case study is a selective deconstruction of each building with local material recovery in road engineering of inert wastes, local energy recovery of wood wastes, and specific treatments for hazardous wastes

  19. Integrating Sustainable Development into Operations Management Courses

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fredriksson, Peter; Persson, Magnus

    2011-01-01

    Purpose: It is widely acknowledged that aspects of sustainable development (SD) should be integrated into higher level operations management (OM) education. The aim of the paper is to outline the experiences gained at Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden from integrating aspects of SD into OM courses. Design/methodology/approach: The paper…

  20. Sustainable Water Management in Urban, Agricultural, and Natural Systems

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tess Russo

    2014-12-01

    Full Text Available Sustainable water management (SWM requires allocating between competing water sector demands, and balancing the financial and social resources required to support necessary water systems. The objective of this review is to assess SWM in three sectors: urban, agricultural, and natural systems. This review explores the following questions: (1 How is SWM defined and evaluated? (2 What are the challenges associated with sustainable development in each sector? (3 What are the areas of greatest potential improvement in urban and agricultural water management systems? And (4 What role does country development status have in SWM practices? The methods for evaluating water management practices range from relatively simple indicator methods to integration of multiple models, depending on the complexity of the problem and resources of the investigators. The two key findings and recommendations for meeting SWM objectives are: (1 all forms of water must be considered usable, and reusable, water resources; and (2 increasing agricultural crop water production represents the largest opportunity for reducing total water consumption, and will be required to meet global food security needs. The level of regional development should not dictate sustainability objectives, however local infrastructure conditions and financial capabilities should inform the details of water system design and evaluation.

  1. Cost benefit analysis, sustainability and long-lived radioactive waste management

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Berkhout, F.

    1994-01-01

    The objective of this paper is to examine how far the sustainability concept and the technique of cost-benefit analysis (CBA) can be applied to the problem of radioactive waste management. The paper begins with a slightly altered definition of the problem to the one carried in the Nea's background document (Nea 1994). A preliminary attempt is then be made to ascribe burdens to the various phases of long-lived radioactive waste management. The appropriateness of CBA and the sustainability concept for making decisions about long-term waste management policy is then discussed. The author ends with some conclusions about the appropriateness of systematic assessment approaches in the political process of constructing social consent for technological decisions. (O.L.). 12 refs., 1 tab

  2. Managing Sustainability with the Support of Business Intelligence Methods and Tools

    Science.gov (United States)

    Petrini, Maira; Pozzebon, Marlei

    In this paper we explore the role of business intelligence (BI) in helping to support the management of sustainability in contemporary firms. The concepts of sustainability and corporate social responsibility (CSR) are among the most important themes to have emerged in the last decade at the global level. We suggest that BI methods and tools have an important but not yet well studied role to play in helping organizations implement and monitor sustainable and socially responsible business practices. Using grounded theory, the main contribution of our study is to propose a conceptual model that seeks to support the process of definition and monitoring of socio-environmental indicators and the relationship between their management and business strategy.

  3. Sustainable Materials Management (SMM) Federal Green Challenge (FGC) Data

    Data.gov (United States)

    U.S. Environmental Protection Agency — The Federal Green Challenge (FGC) is a national effort under EPA's Sustainable Materials Management (SMM) Program, challenging EPA and other federal agencies...

  4. How could herd mobility be used to manage resources and livestock ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    We consider these scenarios as starting points for discussions on future management options that pastoralists in Namaqualand may wish to consider as the managers of rangeland commons. Keywords: grazing management, herd mobility, Namaqualand, semi-arid. African Journal of Range & Forage Science 2013, ...

  5. Greening academia: Developing sustainable waste management at Higher Education Institutions

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zhang, N.; Williams, I.D.; Kemp, S.; Smith, N.F.

    2011-01-01

    Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) are often the size of small municipalities. Worldwide, the higher education (HE) sector has expanded phenomenally; for example, since the 1960s, the United Kingdom (UK) HE system has expanded sixfold to >2.4 million students. As a consequence, the overall production of waste at HEIs throughout the world is very large and presents significant challenges as the associated legislative, economic and environmental pressures can be difficult to control and manage. This paper critically reviews why sustainable waste management has become a key issue for the worldwide HE sector to address and describes some of the benefits, barriers, practical and logistical problems. As a practical illustration of some of the issues and problems, the four-phase waste management strategy developed over 15 years by one of the largest universities in Southern England - the University of Southampton (UoS) - is outlined as a case study. The UoS is committed to protecting the environment by developing practices that are safe, sustainable and environmentally friendly and has developed a practical, staged approach to manage waste in an increasingly sustainable fashion. At each stage, the approach taken to the development of infrastructure (I), service provision (S) and behavior change (B) is explained, taking into account the Political, Economic, Social, Technological, Legal and Environmental (PESTLE) factors. Signposts to lessons learned, good practice and useful resources that other institutions - both nationally and internationally - can access are provided. As a result of the strategy developed at the UoS, from 2004 to 2008 waste costs fell by around Pounds 125k and a recycling rate of 72% was achieved. The holistic approach taken - recognizing the PESTLE factors and the importance of a concerted ISB approach - provides a realistic, successful and practical example for other institutions wishing to effectively and sustainably manage their waste.

  6. Climate Change Impact Assessment for Sustainable Water Quality Management

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ching-Pin Tung

    2012-01-01

    Full Text Available The goal of sustainable water quality management is to keep total pollutant discharges from exceeding the assimilation capacity of a water body. Climate change may influence streamflows, and further alter assimilation capacity and degrade river sustainability. The purposes of this study are to evaluate the effect of climate change on sustainable water quality management and design an early warning indicator to issue warnings on river sustainability. A systematic assessment procedure is proposed here, including a weather generation model, the streamflow component of GWLF, QUAL2E, and an optimization model. The Touchen creek in Taiwan is selected as the study area. Future climate scenarios derived from projections of four global climate models (GCMs and two pollutant discharge scenarios, as usual and proportional to population, are considered in this study. The results indicate that streamflows may very likely increase in humid seasons and decrease in arid seasons, respectively. The reduction of streamflow in arid seasons may further degrade water quality and assimilation capacity. In order to provide warnings to trigger necessary adaptation strategies, an early warning indicator is designed and its 30-year moving average is calculated. Finally, environmental monitoring systems and methods to prioritize adaptation strategies are discussed for further studies in the future.

  7. Technology management for environmentally sound and sustainable development

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zaidi, S.M.J.

    1992-01-01

    With the evolutionary change in the production activities of human societies, the concept of development has also been changing. In the recent years the emphasis has been on the environmentally sound and sustainable development. The environmentally sound and sustainable development can be obtained through judicious use of technology. Technology as a resource transformer has emerged as the most important factor which can constitute to economic growth. But technology is not an independent and autonomous force, it is only an instrument which needs to be used carefully, properly and appropriately which necessitates technology management. (author)

  8. Dairy cattle on Norwegian alpine rangelands – grazing preferences and milk quality

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Sickel, H; Abrahamsen, R K; Eldegard, K; Lunnan, T; Norderhaug, A; Petersen, M.A.; Sickel, M.; Steenhuisen, F.; Ohlson, M.

    2014-01-01

    The results from the study ‘Effects of vegetation and grazing preferences on the quality of alpine dairy products’ will be presented. The main objective of the project was to investigate the connections bet - ween alpine rangeland vegetation, landscape use and grazing preferences of free ranging

  9. Innovation, Management and Sustainability - change processes in the food service sector

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Kristensen, Niels Heine; Dahl, Astrid; Mikkelsen, Bent Egberg

    2005-01-01

    Kristensen NH, Thorsen AV, Dahl A, Engelund EH, Mikkelsen BE (2005): Innovation, Management and Sustainability - change processes in the food service sector. Chapter in "Culinary Arts and Sciences V - Global and National Perspectives". Bournemouth University. ISBN 1-85899-179-X......Kristensen NH, Thorsen AV, Dahl A, Engelund EH, Mikkelsen BE (2005): Innovation, Management and Sustainability - change processes in the food service sector. Chapter in "Culinary Arts and Sciences V - Global and National Perspectives". Bournemouth University. ISBN 1-85899-179-X...

  10. Ecology, mobility and labour: dynamic pastoral herd management in an uncertain world.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Butt, B

    2016-11-01

    In this review, the author discusses how pastoralism, and its many constituent components, is increasingly being recognised as in tune with the changing political and ecological nature of rangelands. He describes ways in which the literature reflects this changing attitude, outlines how rangelands respond to changes in climate and explores the evolving use of livestock resources. In addition, he describes the growing recognition of factors other than livestock density that affect rangeland vegetation (i.e. density-independent relationships). The author explains how terms such as 'carrying capacity', 'overgrazing' and 'desertification' are often taken out of their social and political context when describing rangeland pastoralism. Next, he describes the growing recognition by the development community of the importance of the mobility model, particularly in relation to changing ecologies and politics. Finally, he outlines how labour, a central focus of pastoral herd management, is a fluid component of pastoral systems in response to changing political and ecological circumstances.

  11. Managing uncertainty for sustainability of complex projects

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Brink, Tove

    2017-01-01

    Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to reveal how management of uncertainty can enable sustainability of complex projects. Design/methodology/approach – The research was conducted from June 2014 to May 2015 using a qualitative deductive approach among operation and maintenance actors in offshore...... wind farms. The research contains a focus group interview with 11 companies, 20 individual interviews and a seminar presenting preliminary findings with 60 participants. Findings – The findings reveal the need for management of uncertainty through two different paths. First, project management needs...... to join efforts. Research limitations/implications – Further research is needed to reveal the generalisability of the findings in other complex project contexts containing “unknown unknowns”. Practical implications – The research leads to the development of a tool for uncertainty management...

  12. Developing Sustainable Spacecraft Water Management Systems

    Science.gov (United States)

    Thomas, Evan A.; Klaus, David M.

    2009-01-01

    It is well recognized that water handling systems used in a spacecraft are prone to failure caused by biofouling and mineral scaling, which can clog mechanical systems and degrade the performance of capillary-based technologies. Long duration spaceflight applications, such as extended stays at a Lunar Outpost or during a Mars transit mission, will increasingly benefit from hardware that is generally more robust and operationally sustainable overtime. This paper presents potential design and testing considerations for improving the reliability of water handling technologies for exploration spacecraft. Our application of interest is to devise a spacecraft wastewater management system wherein fouling can be accommodated by design attributes of the management hardware, rather than implementing some means of preventing its occurrence.

  13. Sustainable System for Residual Hazards Management

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kevin M. Kostelnik; James H. Clarke; Jerry L. Harbour

    2004-01-01

    Hazardous, radioactive and other toxic substances have routinely been generated and subsequently disposed of in the shallow subsurface throughout the world. Many of today's waste management techniques do not eliminate the problem, but rather only concentrate or contain the hazardous contaminants. Residual hazards result from the presence of hazardous and/or contaminated material that remains on-site following active operations or the completion of remedial actions. Residual hazards pose continued risk to humans and the environment and represent a significant and chronic problem that require continuous long-term management (i.e. >1000 years). To protect human health and safeguard the natural environment, a sustainable system is required for the proper management of residual hazards. A sustainable system for the management of residual hazards will require the integration of engineered, institutional and land-use controls to isolate residual contaminants and thus minimize the associated hazards. Engineered controls are physical modifications to the natural setting and ecosystem, including the site, facility, and/or the residual materials themselves, in order to reduce or eliminate the potential for exposure to contaminants of concern (COCs). Institutional controls are processes, instruments, and mechanisms designed to influence human behavior and activity. System failure can involve hazardous material escaping from the confinement because of system degradation (i.e., chronic or acute degradation) or by external intrusion of the biosphere into the contaminated material because of the loss of institutional control. An ongoing analysis of contemporary and historic sites suggests that the significance of the loss of institutional controls is a critical pathway because decisions made during the operations/remedial action phase, as well as decisions made throughout the residual hazards management period, are key to the long-term success of the prescribed system. In fact

  14. Sustainable water management under future uncertainty with eco-engineering decision scaling

    Science.gov (United States)

    Poff, N. Leroy; Brown, Casey M.; Grantham, Theodore E.; Matthews, John H.; Palmer, Margaret A.; Spence, Caitlin M.; Wilby, Robert L.; Haasnoot, Marjolijn; Mendoza, Guillermo F.; Dominique, Kathleen C.; Baeza, Andres

    2016-01-01

    Managing freshwater resources sustainably under future climatic and hydrological uncertainty poses novel challenges. Rehabilitation of ageing infrastructure and construction of new dams are widely viewed as solutions to diminish climate risk, but attaining the broad goal of freshwater sustainability will require expansion of the prevailing water resources management paradigm beyond narrow economic criteria to include socially valued ecosystem functions and services. We introduce a new decision framework, eco-engineering decision scaling (EEDS), that explicitly and quantitatively explores trade-offs in stakeholder-defined engineering and ecological performance metrics across a range of possible management actions under unknown future hydrological and climate states. We illustrate its potential application through a hypothetical case study of the Iowa River, USA. EEDS holds promise as a powerful framework for operationalizing freshwater sustainability under future hydrological uncertainty by fostering collaboration across historically conflicting perspectives of water resource engineering and river conservation ecology to design and operate water infrastructure for social and environmental benefits.

  15. Sustainable operations management and benchmarking in brewing: A factor weighting approach

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Daniel P. Bumblauskas

    2017-06-01

    Full Text Available The brewing industry has been moving towards more efficient use of energy, water reuse and stewardship, and the tracking of greenhouse gas (GHG emissions to better manage environmental and social responsibility. Commercial breweries use a great deal of water and energy to convert one gallon (liter of water into one gallon (liter of beer. An analysis was conducted on sustainable operations and supply chain management at various United States and international breweries, specifically Europe, to benchmark brewery performance and establish common metrics for sustainability in the beer supply chain. The primary research questions explored in this article are whether water reclamation and GHG emissions can be properly monitored and measured and if processes can be created to help control waste (lean and emissions. Additional questions include how we can use operations management strategies and techniques such as the Factor-Weighted Method (FWM in industries such as brewing to develop sustainability scorecards.

  16. Sustainable water management under future uncertainty with eco-engineering decision scaling

    Science.gov (United States)

    Poff, N LeRoy; Brown, Casey M; Grantham, Theodore E.; Matthews, John H; Palmer, Margaret A.; Spence, Caitlin M; Wilby, Robert L.; Haasnoot, Marjolijn; Mendoza, Guillermo F; Dominique, Kathleen C; Baeza, Andres

    2015-01-01

    Managing freshwater resources sustainably under future climatic and hydrological uncertainty poses novel challenges. Rehabilitation of ageing infrastructure and construction of new dams are widely viewed as solutions to diminish climate risk, but attaining the broad goal of freshwater sustainability will require expansion of the prevailing water resources management paradigm beyond narrow economic criteria to include socially valued ecosystem functions and services. We introduce a new decision framework, eco-engineering decision scaling (EEDS), that explicitly and quantitatively explores trade-offs in stakeholder-defined engineering and ecological performance metrics across a range of possible management actions under unknown future hydrological and climate states. We illustrate its potential application through a hypothetical case study of the Iowa River, USA. EEDS holds promise as a powerful framework for operationalizing freshwater sustainability under future hydrological uncertainty by fostering collaboration across historically conflicting perspectives of water resource engineering and river conservation ecology to design and operate water infrastructure for social and environmental benefits.

  17. Managing product returns to achieve supply chain sustainability

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Shaharudin, Mohd Rizaimy; Govindan, Kannan; Zailani, Suhaiza

    2015-01-01

    returns management as part of a comprehensive sustainability effort. The study is exploratory in nature based on five case studies of participating manufacturers in the automotive, and electrical and electronics industry in Malaysia. The interview results reveal that the five participating companies...

  18. Integrated waste management and the tool of life cycle inventory : a route to sustainable waste management

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    McDougall, F.R.; White, P.R. [Procter and Gamble Newcastle Technical Centre, Newcastle (United Kingdom). Corporate Sustainable Development

    2000-07-01

    An overall approach to municipal waste management which integrates sustainable development principles was discussed. The three elements of sustainability which have to be balanced are environmental effectiveness, economic affordability and social acceptability. An integrated waste management (IWM) system considers different treatment options and deals with the entire waste stream. A life cycle inventory (LCI) and life cycle assessment (LCA) is used to determine the environmental burdens associated with IWM systems. LCIs for waste management are currently available for use in Europe, the United States, Canada and elsewhere. LCI is being used by waste management companies to assess the environmental attributes of future contract tenders. The models are used as benchmarking tools to assess the current environmental profile of a waste management system. They are also a comparative planning and communication tool. The authors are currently looking into publishing, at a future date, the experience of users of this LCI environmental management tool. 12 refs., 3 figs.

  19. The economic impact of global climate change on Mediterranean rangeland ecosystems. A Space-for-Time approach

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Fleischer, Aliza; Sternberg, Marcelo

    2006-01-01

    Global Climate Change (GCC) can bring about changes in ecosystems and consequently in their services value. Here we show that the urban population in Israel values the green landscape of rangelands in the mesic Mediterranean climate region and is willing to pay for preserving it in light of the expected increasing aridity conditions in this region. Their valuation of the landscape is higher than that of the grazing services these rangelands provide for livestock growers. These results stem from a Time-for-Space approach with which we were able to measure changes in biomass production and rainfall at four experimental sites along an aridity gradient. (author)

  20. Modelling management process of key drivers for economic sustainability in the modern conditions of economic development

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Pishchulina E.S.

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available The text is about issues concerning the management of driver for manufacturing enterprise economic sustainability and manufacturing enterprise sustainability assessment as the key aspect of the management of enterprise economic sustainability. The given issues become topical as new requirements for the methods of manufacturing enterprise management in the modern conditions of market economy occur. An economic sustainability model that is considered in the article is an integration of enterprise economic growth, economic balance of external and internal environment and economic sustainability. The method of assessment of economic sustainability of a manufacturing enterprise proposed in the study allows to reveal some weaknesses in the enterprise performance, and untapped reserves, which can be further used to improve the economic sustainability and efficiency of the enterprise. The management of manufacturing enterprise economic sustainability is one of the most important factors of business functioning and development in modern market economy. The relevance of this trend is increasing in accordance with the objective requirements of the growing volumes of production and sale, the increasing complexity of economic relations, changing external environment of an enterprise.