Exploring the hydromorphological response to human pressure in Tagus River (1946–2014) by complementary diagnosis

CATENA ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 198 ◽  
pp. 105052
Author(s):  
Khosro Fazelpoor ◽  
Vanesa Martínez-Fernández ◽  
Diego García de Jalón
Keyword(s):  
Human Pressure ◽  
Tagus River

Evoluzione della copertura vegetale in aree alpestri del Canton Ticino nel periodo 1971–2001 | Evolution of Vegetation Cover in the Alpine Regions of Canton Tessin: 1971–2001

2004 ◽  
Vol 155 (7) ◽  
pp. 284-289 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pietro Stanga ◽  
Niklaus Zbinden
Keyword(s):  
Initial Conditions ◽  
Ground Cover ◽  
Climatic Conditions ◽  
Human Pressure ◽  
Aerial Photos ◽  
Alpine Regions ◽  
Subsequent Decrease ◽  
Site Fertility ◽  
Strong Expansion ◽  
Evolution Of Vegetation

The retrospective study based on aerial photos (1971–2001) of the Canton Tessin made it possible to measure and analyze the evolution of the vegetation of eleven Alpine zones. The analysis shows a strong expansion of the arborescent vegetation and, at the same time, a decrease in other forms of ground cover (bush, shrub, meadow and unproductive spaces). Analysis of the data gives rise to the conjecture that the strong evolutionary dynamism evidenced by the areas under investigation is a result of the vast clearings carried out in past centuries to create pastures. Following the subsequent decrease in human pressure, nature today is attempting to rebalance the level of the biomass. These processes manifest themselves in different ways and with various intensity, depending on the interaction of numerous factors (e.g. climatic conditions, site fertility, initial conditions, evolution of anthropological pressure, etc.).

scholarly journals The Impact of Human Pressure and Climate Change on the Habitat Availability and Protection of Cypripedium (Orchidaceae) in Northeast China

Plants ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 84
Author(s):  
Huanchu Liu ◽  
Hans Jacquemyn ◽  
Xingyuan He ◽  
Wei Chen ◽  
Yanqing Huang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Northeast China ◽  
Habitat Destruction ◽  
Changbai Mountains ◽  
Suitable Habitat ◽  
Human Pressure ◽  
Terrestrial Orchids ◽  
The Future ◽  
Suitable Habitats ◽  
The Impact

Human pressure on the environment and climate change are two important factors contributing to species decline and overall loss of biodiversity. Orchids may be particularly vulnerable to human-induced losses of habitat and the pervasive impact of global climate change. In this study, we simulated the extent of the suitable habitat of three species of the terrestrial orchid genus Cypripedium in northeast China and assessed the impact of human pressure and climate change on the future distribution of these species. Cypripedium represents a genus of long-lived terrestrial orchids that contains several species with great ornamental value. Severe habitat destruction and overcollection have led to major population declines in recent decades. Our results showed that at present the most suitable habitats of the three species can be found in Da Xing’an Ling, Xiao Xing’an Ling and in the Changbai Mountains. Human activity was predicted to have the largest impact on species distributions in the Changbai Mountains. In addition, climate change was predicted to lead to a shift in distribution towards higher elevations and to an increased fragmentation of suitable habitats of the three investigated Cypripedium species in the study area. These results will be valuable for decision makers to identify areas that are likely to maintain viable Cypripedium populations in the future and to develop conservation strategies to protect the remaining populations of these enigmatic orchid species.

scholarly journals Coastal Scenic Beauty and Sensitivity at the Balearic Islands, Spain: Implication of Natural and Human Factors

Land ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (5) ◽  
pp. 456
Author(s):  
Alexis Mooser ◽  
Giorgio Anfuso ◽  
Lluís Gómez-Pujol ◽  
Angela Rizzo ◽  
Allan T. Williams ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Economic Benefits ◽  
User Preferences ◽  
Balearic Islands ◽  
Future Climate Change ◽  
Sensitivity Index ◽  
Main Concern ◽  
Human Pressure ◽  
Continuous Increase ◽  
Scenic Beauty

Coastal areas globally are facing a significant range of environmental stresses, enhanced by climate change-related processes and a continuous increase of human activities. The economic benefits of tourism are well-known for coastal regions, but, very often, conflicts arise between short-term benefits and long-term conservation goals. Among beach user preferences, five parameters of greater importance stand out from the rest, i.e., safety, facilities, water quality, litter and scenery; the latter is the main concern of this study. A coastal scenic evaluation was carried out in the Balearic Islands and focused on two major issues: coastal scenic beauty together with sensitivity to natural processes and human pressure. The archipelago is renowned as a top international coastal tourist destination that receives more than 13.5 million visitors (2019). Impressive landscape diversity makes the Balearics Islands an ideal field for this research. In total, 52 sites, respectively located in Ibiza (11), Formentera (5), Mallorca (18) and Menorca (18), were field-tested. In a first step, coastal scenic beauty was quantified using the coastal scenic evaluation system (CSES) method, based on the evaluation of 26 physical and human parameters, and using weighting matrices parameters and fuzzy logic mathematics. An evaluation index (“D”) was obtained for each site, allowing one to classify them in one of the five scenic classes established by the method. Twenty-nine sites were included in class I, corresponding to extremely attractive sites (CSES), which were mainly observed in Menorca. Several sound measures were proposed to maintain and/or enhance sites’ scenic value. In a second step, scenic sensitivity was evaluated using a novel methodological approach that makes possible the assessment of three different coastal scenic sensitivity indexes (CSSI), i.e., the natural sensitivity index NSI, the human sensitivity index HSI and the total sensitivity index TSI. Future climate change trends and projection of tourism development, studied at municipality scale, were considered as correction factors. All the islands showed places highly sensitive to environmental processes, while sensitivity to human pressure was essentially observed at Ibiza and Mallorca. Thereafter, sites were categorized into one of three sensitive groups established by the methodology. Results obtained are useful in pointing out very sensitive sceneries as well as limiting, preventing and/or anticipating future scenic degradation linked to natural and human issues.

scholarly journals Moray eels are more common on coral reefs subject to higher human pressure in the greater Caribbean

iScience ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 24 (3) ◽  
pp. 102097
Author(s):  
Gina M. Clementi ◽  
Judith Bakker ◽  
Kathryn I. Flowers ◽  
Bautisse D. Postaire ◽  
Elizabeth A. Babcock ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Coral Reefs ◽  
Human Pressure

scholarly journals Mapping and Evaluating Human Pressure Changes in the Qilian Mountains

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (12) ◽  
pp. 2400
Author(s):  
Quntao Duan ◽  
Lihui Luo ◽  
Wenzhi Zhao ◽  
Yanli Zhuang ◽  
Fang Liu
Keyword(s):  
Human Activities ◽  
Qilian Mountains ◽  
Western China ◽  
Eastern Region ◽  
Human Pressure ◽  
Activity Intensity ◽  
Human Footprint ◽  
Illegal Activities ◽  
The Qilian Mountains ◽  
The Impact

Human activities have dramatically changed ecosystems. As an irreplaceable ecological barrier in western China, the Qilian Mountains (QLM) provide various ecosystem services for humans. To evaluate the changes in the intensity of human activities in the QLM and their impact on the ecosystem, the human footprint (HF) method was used to conduct a spatial dataset of human activity intensity. In our study, the NDVI was used to characterize the growth of vegetation, and six categories of human pressures were employed to create the HF map in the QLM for 2000–2015 at a 1-km scale. The results showed that the mean NDVI during the growing season showed a significant increasing trend over the entire QLM in the period 2000–2015, while the NDVI showed a significant declining trend of more than 70% concentrated in Qinghai. Human pressure throughout the QLM occurred at a low level during 2000–2015, being greater in the eastern region than the western region, while the Qinghai area had greater human pressure than the Gansu area. Due to the improvement in traffic facilities, tourism, overgrazing, and other illegal activities, grasslands, shrublands, forests, wetlands, and bare land were the vegetation types most affected by human activities (in decreasing order). As the core area of the QLM, the Qilian Mountains National Nature Reserve (NR) has effectively reduced the impact of human activities. However, due to the existence of many ecological historical debts caused by unreasonable management in the past, the national park established in 2017 is facing great challenges to achieve its goals. These data and results will provide reference and guidance for future protection and restoration of the QLM ecosystem.

scholarly journals The mandrill in Gabon's rain forest—ecology, distribution and status

Oryx ◽  
1988 ◽  
Vol 22 (4) ◽  
pp. 218-228 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael J. S. Harrison
Keyword(s):  
Rain Forest ◽  
Forest Ecology ◽  
Human Pressure ◽  
Forest Habitat ◽  
Hunting Pressure ◽  
Mandrillus Sphinx ◽  
Conservation Measures ◽  
Equatorial Africa ◽  
In The Wild

Little is known about the mandrill Mandrillus sphinx in the wild. It is an elusive primate and thus difficult to study in its rain-forest habitat in equatorial Africa. As human pressure on its habitat grows it has become increasingly urgent to discover more about the species so that appropriate conservation measures can be planned. The author made a 15-month study of the mandrill in Gabon and discovered that it was not as widely distributed as had been believed. Although it is threatened by hunting pressure and habitat disruption, populations still remain and five reserves protect some of these.

AFLP and PBA polymorphisms in an endangered medicinal plant, Rhazya stricta, in Pakistan

2013 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 199-206 ◽  
Author(s):  
Syed Abdullah Gilani ◽  
Ryoko Hirano ◽  
Yoshiharu Fujii ◽  
Kazuo N. Watanabe
Keyword(s):  
Habitat Fragmentation ◽  
Genetic Differentiation ◽  
Medicinal Plant ◽  
Genetic Erosion ◽  
Human Pressure ◽  
Rhazya Stricta ◽  
Endangered Medicinal Plant ◽  
Genomic Markers ◽  
High Gene ◽  
Commercial Harvesting

Rhazya stricta is an endangered medicinal plant that is under severe human pressure as a result of commercial harvesting. As a model of habitat fragmentation, we selected the Kohat Plateau in the Pakistani Himalaya, where populations are fragmented, with less than 100 individuals per population. We hypothesized that the populations may be threatened by rapid habitat fragmentation and by unsustainable utilization of the plant. We analysed P450-based analogue functional genomic markers and amplified fragment length polymorphism markers from six populations of R. stricta on the Kohat Plateau, and examined their variations both within and among the populations. Both the marker groups revealed lower genetic differentiation among the populations and higher genetic differentiation within the populations as a result of high gene flow. The results confirmed that habitat fragmentation is being caused by severe human pressure, and although signs of genetic erosion are not yet visible, they seem likely to become visible in the future. Therefore, the conservation of R. stricta populations is necessary.

A review of biological research in the Vistula Lagoon

2012 ◽  
Vol 41 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ewa Paturej ◽  
Agnieszka Gutkowska ◽  
Joanna Mierzejewska
Keyword(s):  
Water Body ◽  
Brackish Water ◽  
Aquatic Ecosystem ◽  
Aquatic Organisms ◽  
Living Conditions ◽  
Biological Research ◽  
Vistula Lagoon ◽  
Human Pressure ◽  
Interesting Object ◽  
The Vistula Lagoon

AbstractThe Vistula Lagoon, a brackish water body that offers unique living conditions to aquatic organisms, is an interesting object of hydrobiological investigations. This paper presents a review of biological research conducted on the Vistula Lagoon, from simple floristic and faunistic analyses to satellite-based comprehensive environmental analyses. Changes that occurred in the studied aquatic ecosystem due to human pressure over the last century are discussed. Innovative research technologies determined what measures should be taken to preserve the unique biocenoses in the Vistula Lagoon.

scholarly journals The Use of Biological Indices for the Assessment of the River Quality (Ruda River, Poland)

2017 ◽  
Vol 24 (2) ◽  
pp. 285-298 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aneta Spyra ◽  
Justyna Kubicka ◽  
Małgorzata Strzelec
Keyword(s):  
Water Quality ◽  
Benthic Invertebrates ◽  
Ecological Status ◽  
Field Studies ◽  
Human Pressure ◽  
Dam Reservoir ◽  
River Quality ◽  
Water Field ◽  
Study Sites

AbstractRecognition of the deteriorating conditions of rivers worldwide has called for increased efforts to improve the ecological quality of impacted river systems. This is particularly important in areas that have suffered from a significant impact of human pressure on the ecological status of water. Field studies were conducted in the Ruda River in an area that had undergone anthropogenic disturbances. The objectives of our survey were to test the biological metrics based on benthic macroinvertebrates at four study sites. Spring and autumn surveys of benthic invertebrates indicated that based on the BMWP and BMWP(PL) indices, water quality was higher in comparison with the value of Multimetric index at all of the sites that were studied. Our results revealed that the water quality was higher at the study sites that are located above the dam reservoir based on both the chemical and biological parameters. This study also indicated that both spring and autumn constitute appropriate periods for carrying out monitoring studies. The values of multimeric index indicated the same water quality (except for site 1) in both sampling periods. Anthropogenic transformations of a riverbed influence the flora and fauna and affect the ecological status of rivers.

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