A small mammal’s map: identifying and improving the large-scale and cross-border habitat connectivity for the hazel dormouse Muscardinus avellanarius in a fragmented agricultural landscape

The energy transition in Europe requires not only the implementation of technological innovations to reduce carbon emissions but also the decentralised extension of these innovations throughout the continent, as demonstrated by the ‘Clean Energy for All Europeans’ package. However, decentralised energy generation, and specifically electricity generation, as it gives rise to new players and interactions, also requires a review of the energy planning process. In this sense, governance becomes the key concept for understanding the implementation of the energy transition in a territory. This is particularly visible in a cross-border setting, especially considering cross-border cooperation in the development of renewable energy sources (RES) provides the necessary elements to determine the criteria of local regulation between the different levels of governance. In light of the current legal framework in France, this paper presents the institutional framework of the multi-level governance of the RES development planning process. It concludes that it is quite conceivable for the rationales of governance at the local level (decentralisation) and the large-scale operation of a large interconnected network (Europeanisation) to coexist.

Download Full-text

Methods of Landscape Valorization and Possibilities of Its Application in Hunting Area Categorisation

10.5772/intechopen.94048 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Szewczyk Grzegorz ◽

Krzysztof Lipka ◽

Piotr Wężyk ◽

Karolina Zięba-Kulawik ◽

Monika Winczek

Keyword(s):

Natural Environment ◽

Functional Role ◽

Large Scale ◽

Forest Cover ◽

Agricultural Landscape ◽

Environmental Changes ◽

Environmental Values ◽

Small Game ◽

Forest Habitats

As a result of environmental changes, assessment indexes for the agricultural landscape have been changing dramatically. Being at the interface of human activity and the natural environment, hunting is particularly sensitive to environmental changes, such as increasing deforestation or large-scale farming. The classical categorisation of hunting grounds takes into account the area, forest cover, number of forest complexes, fertility of forest habitats, lack of continuity of areas potentially favourable to wild animals. Landscape assessment methods used in architecture often better reflect the actual breeding and hunting value of a given area, especially in relation to fields and forests. The forest-field mosaic, large spatial fragmentation as well as interweaving of natural environment elements with buildings do not have to be the factors that limit the numbers of small game. Identification of the constituents of architectural-landscape interiors: content and significance assessment, determination of the functional role or assessment based on the general environmental values being represented take into account factors important for the existence of game, in particular small game.

Download Full-text

Gefährlich und nützlich zugleich: Strategien zum Management der invasiven Robinie

Schweizerische Zeitschrift fur Forstwesen ◽

10.3188/szf.2018.0077 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 169 (2) ◽

pp. 77-85 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Michaela Vítková ◽

Marco Conedera ◽

Jiří Sádlo ◽

Jan Pergl ◽

Petr Pyšek

Keyword(s):

Time Management ◽

Large Scale ◽

Agricultural Landscape ◽

Black Locust ◽

Robinia Pseudoacacia ◽

Management Strategies ◽

Habitat Type ◽

Agricultural Landscapes ◽

Wide Range ◽

Intensively Managed

Dangerous and useful at the same time: management strategies for the invasive black locust The North American black locust (Robinia pseudoacacia) is considered controversial as many other introduced tree species because of its both positive and negative properties. Based on a literature review and own data we analyze the occurrence of black locust in Czechia and Switzerland and present the management approaches in place. In both countries, black locust is on the blacklist of invasive introduced species. It can grow in a wide range of habitats from urban and agricultural landscape to dry grassland and forest. Meanwhile, the species became in many places part of the environment and human culture, so that neither unrestricted cultivation nor large-scale eradication is feasible. We suggest a context-dependent management which respects the different needs and takes into account the local environmental conditions, land-use, habitat type, risk of spread as well as economic, cultural and biodiversity aspects. To this purpose we propose three management strategies: 1) control respectively gradual suppression of black locust in forests where the species is not welcome, 2) its eradication in sensitive ecosystems as dry grasslands or clear and dry forests and 3) its tolerance in intensively managed agricultural landscapes and in urban environment.

Download Full-text

ENLIST! EU projects in libraries after the example of Artists’ Books on Tour and Partage Plus at the MAK in Vienna

Art Libraries Journal ◽

10.1017/s0307472200018150 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 39 (1) ◽

pp. 29-34

Author(s):

Kathrin Pokomy-Nagel

Keyword(s):

Side Effect ◽

Large Scale ◽

Grant Programs ◽

Cross Border ◽

Positive Side ◽

Arts And Culture ◽

The Many

For institutions operating in the field of arts and culture, taking part in subsidised programs is a favourable – not to say often the only – way to conduct large-scale projects. The many options of participating in various EU-funded grant programs provide cultural facilities with the opportunity not only to internally optimise their holdings but also to closely co-operate with partner institutions from the cultural, as well as from other industries, thus exchanging knowledge and experience, professionally networking on a cross-border level, and laying the corner stone for potential future projects. As a positive side effect, the interconnectedness and often public-oriented aims almost always imply potentially high publicity effects for all participants. Notwithstanding the undisputed benefits accompanied by EU-projects, it must be kept in mind that they also involve a great deal of administrative effort that must not be underestimated.

Download Full-text

Multi-Scale Evaluation of the TSEB Model over a Complex Agricultural Landscape in Morocco

Remote Sensing ◽

10.3390/rs12071181 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 12 (7) ◽

pp. 1181

Author(s):

Jamal Elfarkh ◽

Jamal Ezzahar ◽

Salah Er-Raki ◽

Vincent Simonneaux ◽

Bouchra Ait Hssaine ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Latent Heat ◽

Complex Terrain ◽

Large Scale ◽

Agricultural Landscape ◽

Local Scale ◽

Heat Fluxes ◽

Balance Model ◽

Modis Data ◽

Multi Scale ◽

Basin Scale

An accurate assessment of evapotranspiration (ET) is crucially needed at the basin scale for studying the hydrological processes and water balance especially from upstream to downstream. In the mountains, this term is poorly understood because of various challenges, including the vegetation complexity, plant diversity, lack of available data and because the in situ direct measurement of ET is difficult in complex terrain. The main objective of this work was to investigate the potential of a Two-Source-Energy-Balance model (TSEB) driven by the Landsat and MODIS data for estimating ET over a complex mountain region. The complexity is associated with the type of the vegetation canopy as well as the changes in topography. For validating purposes, a large-aperture scintillometer (LAS) was set up over a heterogeneous transect of about 1.4 km to measure sensible (H) and latent heat (LE) fluxes. Additionally, two towers of eddy covariance (EC) systems were installed along the LAS transect. First, the model was tested at the local scale against the EC measurements using multi-scale remote sensing (MODIS and Landsat) inputs at the satellite overpasses. The obtained averaged values of the root mean square error (RMSE) and correlation coefficient (R) were about 72.4 Wm−2 and 0.79 and 82.0 Wm−2 and 0.52 for Landsat and MODIS data, respectively. Secondly, the potential of the TSEB model for evaluating the latent heat fluxes at large scale was investigated by aggregating the derived parameters from both satellites based on the LAS footprint. As for the local scale, the comparison of the latent heat fluxes simulated by TSEB driven by Landsat data performed well against those measured by the LAS (R = 0.69, RMSE = 68.0 Wm−2), while slightly more scattering was observed when MODIS products were used (R = 0.38, RMSE = 99.8 Wm−2). Based on the obtained results, it can be concluded that (1) the TSEB model can be fairly used to estimate the evapotranspiration over the mountain regions; and (2) medium- to high-resolution inputs are a better option than coarse-resolution products for describing this kind of complex terrain.

Download Full-text

Triassic mudstones of the Central North Sea: cross-border characterization, correlation and their palaeoclimatic significance

Geological Society London Special Publications ◽

10.1144/sp494-2019-61 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. SP494-2019-61

Author(s):

Stuart G. Archer ◽

Tom McKie ◽

Steven D. Andrews ◽

Anne D. Wilkins ◽

Matt Hutchison ◽

...

Keyword(s):

North Sea ◽

Large Scale ◽

Regional Scale ◽

Climatic Conditions ◽

Fluvial Systems ◽

Correlation Lengths ◽

Cross Border ◽

The Uk ◽

Stratigraphic Nomenclature ◽

Central North Sea

AbstractThe Triassic of the Central North Sea is a continental succession that contains prolific hydrocarbon-bearing fluvial sandstone reservoirs stratigraphically partitioned by mudstones. Within the Skagerrak Formation of the UK sector, hydrocarbon accumulations in the Judy, Joanne and Josephine Sandstone members are top sealed by the Julius, Jonathan and Joshua Mudstone members, respectively. However, UK and Norwegian stratigraphic correlations have been problematical for decades, largely due to biostratigraphic challenges but also due to the non-uniqueness of the lithotypes and because the cross-border stratigraphic nomenclature differs and has yet to be rationalized. This study focuses on mudstones rather than sandstones to unify cross-border correlation efforts at a regional scale. The mudstone members have been characterized by integrating sedimentological, petrophysical and geophysical data. The facies are indicative of playa lakes that frequently desiccated and preserved minor anhydrite. These conditions alternated with periods of marshy, palustrine conditions favourable for the formation of dolostones. Regional correlations have detected lateral facies changes in the mudstones which are important for their seismically mappable extents, resulting palaeogeographies and, ultimately, their competency as intraformational top seals. Significant diachroneity is associated with the lithological transitions at sandstone–mudstone member boundaries and although lithostratigraphic surfaces can be used as timelines over short distances (e.g. within a field), they should not be assumed to represent timelines over longer correlation lengths. Palaeoclimatic trends are interpreted and compared to those of adjacent regions to test the extent and impact of climate change as a predictive allogenic forcing factor on sedimentation. Mudstone member deposition occurred as a result of the retreat of large-scale terminal fluvial systems during a return to more arid ‘background’ climatic conditions. The cause of the member-scale climatic cyclicity observed within the Skagerrak Formation may be related to volcanic activity in large igneous provinces which triggered the episodic progradation of fluvial systems.

Download Full-text

Security Improvements for Better and Safer Cross-Border ePrescription and Patient Summary Services

International Journal of Reliable and Quality E-Healthcare ◽

10.4018/ijrqeh.2017010102 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 6 (1) ◽

pp. 18-28 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

Dimitrios G. Katehakis ◽

George Pangalos ◽

Andriana Prentza

Keyword(s):

Large Scale ◽

Building Blocks ◽

Access To Health Services ◽

Electronic Prescription ◽

Cross Border ◽

European Healthcare ◽

Patient Health ◽

End Point Detection ◽

Technological Improvements ◽

Point Detection

Large-scale deployment of electronic Prescription and Patient Summary services (eP/ PS) is expected to enable seamless cross-border care and secure access to patient health information between European healthcare systems. Guaranteeing national readiness to support priorities, determined at the political level, is also considered a key prerequisite for the facilitation of access to health services across borders. This work focuses on required technological improvements to address reliability and quality challenges through the adoption of generic/ non-health specific building blocks (BBs) for basic cross-border public services in Europe. More specifically, what is presented is the introduction of generic components for non-repudiation, end point detection, and electronic identification, to effectively support the implementation of Directive 2011/ 24 on the application of patients' rights in cross-border healthcare. These interventions are considered to be necessary steps for the introduction of better quality, trustworthy, cross-border eP/ PS across Europe.

Download Full-text