Effects of geomorphology and soil conditions on vegetation structure in conserved desert wadis: A case study of Jal Al-Zor escarpment, Kuwait

2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (3) ◽  
pp. 588-601
Author(s):  
Raafat H. Abd El-Wahab ◽  
Mohammed A. Bihzad ◽  
Alham J. Al-Langawi
Land ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (7) ◽  
pp. 703
Author(s):  
Astrid Vannoppen ◽  
Jeroen Degerickx ◽  
Anne Gobin

Attractive landscapes are diverse and resilient landscapes that provide a multitude of essential ecosystem services. The development of landscape policy to protect and improve landscape attractiveness, thereby ensuring the provision of ecosystem services, is ideally adapted to region specific landscape characteristics. In addition, trends in landscape attractiveness may be linked to certain policies, or the absence of policies over time. A spatial and temporal evaluation of landscape attractiveness is thus desirable for landscape policy development. In this paper, landscape attractiveness was spatially evaluated for Flanders (Belgium) using landscape indicators derived from geospatial data as a case study. Large local differences in landscape quality in (i) rural versus urban areas and (ii) between the seven agricultural regions in Flanders were found. This observed spatial variability in landscape attractiveness demonstrated that a localized approach, considering the geophysical characteristics of each individual region, would be required in the development of landscape policy to improve landscape quality in Flanders. Some trends in landscape attractiveness were related to agriculture in Flanders, e.g., a slight decrease in total agricultural area, decrease in dominance of grassland, maize and cereals, a decrease in crop diversity, sharp increase in the adoption of agri-environmental agreements (AEA) and a decrease in bare soil conditions in winter. The observed trends and spatial variation in landscape attractiveness can be used as a tool to support policy analysis, assess the potential effects of future policy plans, identify policy gaps and evaluate past landscape policy.


10.5109/23956 ◽  
1991 ◽  
Vol 35 (3/4) ◽  
pp. 109-116
Author(s):  
Md. Ebrahim Akanda ◽  
Osamu Hirota ◽  
Katsumi Hanada ◽  
Shinichi Shiraishi
Keyword(s):  

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 3201-3210
Author(s):  
Tedi Yunanto ◽  
Farisatul Amanah ◽  
Nabila Putri Wisnu

There are two regulations for mine reclamation success in the forestry area in Indonesia, namely Minister of Forestry Regulation No. P.60/Menhut-II/2009 and Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Decree No. 1827.K/30/MEM/2018. Both regulations rule vegetation and soil success. This study aims to analyse criteria parameters from both regulations in the mine reclamation and compare them to the surrounding secondary natural forest (SNF). This study was conducted in 6 six types of mine reclamation stand structures: 1, 4, 6, 9, 11-year-old plantation and SNF using 1 hectare of the circular plot each (total 6 ha). Soil samples were collected from 40 cm depth to analyse physical, biological and chemical conditions. Mine reclamation areas had almost similar physical, biological and chemical soil conditions with SNF. Nevertheless, due to the potential acid-forming (PAF) material from overburden, the 1-year-old plantation had pH = 3.23-3.27. The highest diversity index and the number of species and families in all reclamation areas were H’ = 1.82 (11-year-old); 14 species (9-year-old); and 11 families (9-year-old), comparing with SNF were H’ = 3.48; 67 species, and 31 families. Conversely, vegetation structure parameters in mine reclamation areas were higher than SNF (diameter at height breast (DBH; 1.3 m) = 28.42 cm; tree density = 469/ha; basal area = 35.04 m2/ha; and total height = 16.85 m). Compared to the SNF, vegetation structure and soil conditions are mostly possible for mine reclamation success. Still, species composition needs to be considered further as a standard interval to meet the criteria.


Author(s):  
VI Dzhurik ◽  
T Dugarmaa ◽  
SP Serebrennikov ◽  
Ts Batsaikhan

The first approximation approach to seismic zoning of the areas adjacent to the Mongolia-Siberian region has been followed by the example of Erdenet town. The grounds have been given for problematic stages of working: study of some regular trends of seismic setting and current level of initial seismicity of the area; identification of seismic activity areas and assessment of their seismic potential; seismic modeling of sites with the most typical soil conditions; model theoretical calculating of basic parameters of seismic effects and model zoning of the investigated area. Technically, the stages of Erdenet town case study can serve as a basis for seismic zoning of the areas of interest that are adjacent to the Mongolia-Siberian region.The work has been done under financial support of RFBR project No. 07-05- 90111.DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5564/pmas.v0i4.38Proceedings of the Mongolian Academy of Sciences 2007 No 4 pp.17-35


Author(s):  
Priscila Carrara Fracassi ◽  
José Augusto Lollo

Urban sprawl in small cities has led to the occupation of unsuitable areas, resulting in peripheralization and in the occupation of fragile environments. In these occupations, the physical characteristics of the environment are often disrespected. In this context, the present article reports on a case study in the municipality of São Pedro, state of São Paulo, Brazil, which presents and discuss a set of natural factors (geological and geomorphological) conditioning the occurrence of erosion and gravitational mass movements, which are limiting factors for urban sprawl. The methodology employed in this study was based on field work, bibliographic research, and data collection, analysis and GIS-based systematization, which allowed for a spatial reading of the urban sprawl to indicate, from different perspectives, how the phenomenon is manifested. Thus, it was possible to draw up a chart highlighting the areas with the greatest potential for occupation and those with restrictions due to their greater susceptibility to erosion and mass movements. The main identified natural factors of restriction were steepness and soil conditions and law enforced restrictions (environmental protection areas).


1998 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 132 ◽  
Author(s):  
RJ Fensham ◽  
JE Holman

Fifteen references to vegetation structure from the historical land survey record for the eastern Darling Downs were calibrated with historical photographs to determine the use of the surveyors' structural terminology (Open: 'open', 'light': Dense: 'heavy', 'thick', 'dense'). Sites with less than 40% canopy cover were only described by terms included within the Open category, and sites with greater than 50% canopy cover were only described by terms included within the Dense category. These results provide calibrations of the surveyors' structural terminology indicating terms were unambiguously applied outside the 40-50% canopy cover range. The use of corner tree distances as an absolute measure of vegetation density is warned against because corner trees had to meet certain criteria and were not necessarily the nearest tree to any corner. However, the distance from allotment corners to "corner trees" provided a measure of the relative use of the surveyor's structural epithets and is consistent with standard application among their fraternity. Survey records dating from 1864-1910 were compared with the structure of existing remnants (projective crown cover measured from recent 1:25,000 aerial photography) to assess changes in vegetation structure. The analysis suggests that 88% of the 34 sites included in the analysis have not changed from the broad structural category that was assigned by the surveyors. Using the assumptions developed by this study, two sites were assessed as having thickened substantially. These results suggest that only minor vegetation thickening has occurred in the Darling Downs since the early land surveys. This conclusion is supported by direct comparison of the historical photographs with existing remnants. indicating that only one site out of 17 has thickened substantially.


Soil Research ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 57 (7) ◽  
pp. 755
Author(s):  
T. G. Orton ◽  
D. E. Allen ◽  
P. M. Bloesch

Using Australian sugarcane regions as a case study, we present an approach for prediction of in-field nitrogen (N) mineralisation over a crop season. The approach builds on the statistical modelling applied in Allen et al. 2019, which demonstrated good predictive ability on data from a laboratory incubation study (an external R2 of 0.84 in a cross-validation exercise), and adjusts those mineralisation rates according to soil moisture and temperature factors. The required field soil temperature and moisture conditions were simulated using a mechanistic model for the response of soil conditions to input climate data. We investigate drivers of variability in the predicted in-season mineralised N, and compare predictions with currently implemented N fertiliser discounts, which are based on a relationship with soil organic carbon content. The main purpose of this paper is to illustrate the potential use of the results in Allen et al. (2019) for calculating predictions of in-season mineralised N that could be applicable under field conditions in the Australian sugarcane regions. A thorough test to properly validate predictions has not yet been conducted, but collecting data to do so should be the focus of further work.


2005 ◽  
Vol 35 (12) ◽  
pp. 2860-2874 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nikos Nanos ◽  
Fernando Pardo ◽  
Jesus Alonso Nager ◽  
José Alberto Pardos ◽  
Luis Gil

Vegetation ordination is usually based on classical data reduction techniques such as principal components analysis, correspondence analysis, or multidimensional scaling. The usual methods do not account for multiscale correlations among species. In this paper, we use a geostatistical method, known as multivariate factorial kriging, for studying multiple-scale correlations. The case study was carried out in a mixed broadleaf forest of central Spain. Six tree species were included in the analysis. Data analysis included (i) experimental variogram calculation and modeling with the use of the linear model of coregionalization, (ii) principal components analysis, and (iii) cokriging. The results indicate that correlations among species are different depending on the spatial scale. We conclude that competition for light is the main factor controlling the spatial distribution of species at the plot-level scale of variation. At larger scales of variation, soil conditions and (or) human intervention are the key factors in determining the observed vegetation pattern. Based on the factor scores for the largest scale of variation, we conducted a cluster analysis to identify plots with similar characteristics. The resulting clusters have the remarkable property of being spatially continuous.


1995 ◽  
Vol 22 (5) ◽  
pp. 1021-1040 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohamed Elassaly ◽  
Amin Ghali ◽  
Mamdouh M. Elbadry

The results of a case study of the internal forces caused by earthquake in two examples of cable-stayed bridges are presented. A comparison is made between the behaviour of a model in which the structure is idealized without the foundation system and a model in which both the structure and the supporting foundation are idealized. The effects of varying the soil conditions on the seismic response are assessed. Also, the effects of out-of-phase support movements, caused by the lapse of time required for the seismic waves to travel from one support to the other, are considered. It is concluded that the effects of these parameters are significant and should not be ignored in the seismic analysis of cable-stayed bridges. Key words: bridges, cable-stayed, dynamic, earthquake, internal forces, seismic, soil–structure interaction.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document