scholarly journals How effective is the MERCOSUR's network of protected areas in representing South America's ecoregions?

Oryx ◽  
2005 ◽  
Vol 40 (1) ◽  
pp. 112-116 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alvaro Soutullo ◽  
Eduardo Gudynas
Keyword(s):  
Protected Areas ◽  
National Level ◽  
Conservation Priorities ◽  
Regional Approach ◽  
Iucn Categories ◽  
Efficient Protection ◽  
Cost Efficient ◽  
The Cost

We evaluate the effectiveness of the MERCOSUR's network of protected areas in representing South America's ecoregions. The region contains 1,219 non-overlapping protected areas covering nearly 2,000,000 km2. Fifty percent of the reserves are <100 km2 and 75% <1,000 km2. Less than a half of the 75 ecoregions in the MERCOSUR have at least 10% of their area within protected areas, and only 13 when just reserves in IUCN categories I–IV are considered. In general, forests are better represented than other biomes. At the national level the network of protected areas in Uruguay is the least developed in the region, with those of Bolivia and Chile the most developed. For 10% of each ecoregion to be protected at least another 500,000 km2 would have to be incorporated into the network. Such expansion would be more efficient if conservation priorities are identified using a regional approach. This is of particular relevance for the cost-efficient protection of the 20 ecoregions that are shared by two or more countries. While only c. 20% of the ecoregions found in Brazil are shared with other countries, >75% of the ecoregions in Bolivia, c. 70% in Argentina, >60% in Chile, and all the ecoregions in Paraguay and Uruguay are shared with other countries. Overall, although it currently covers 14% of the region, the network of protected areas of the MERCOSUR still performs poorly in protecting its ecoregions.

scholarly journals Comparison of LPWAN Technologies: Cost Structure and Scalability

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohammad Istiak Hossain ◽  
Jan I. Markendahl
Keyword(s):  
Communication Technology ◽  
Service Providers ◽  
Communication Technologies ◽  
Cost Structure ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Area Network ◽  
Wide Area Network ◽  
Generic Framework ◽  
Cost Efficient ◽  
The Cost

AbstractSmall-scale commercial rollouts of Cellular-IoT (C-IoT) networks have started globally since last year. However, among the plethora of low power wide area network (LPWAN) technologies, the cost-effectiveness of C-IoT is not certain for IoT service providers, small and greenfield operators. Today, there is no known public framework for the feasibility analysis of IoT communication technologies. Hence, this paper first presents a generic framework to assess the cost structure of cellular and non-cellular LPWAN technologies. Then, we applied the framework in eight deployment scenarios to analyze the prospect of LPWAN technologies like Sigfox, LoRaWAN, NB-IoT, LTE-M, and EC-GSM. We consider the inter-technology interference impact on LoRaWAN and Sigfox scalability. Our results validate that a large rollout with a single technology is not cost-efficient. Also, our analysis suggests the rollout possibility of an IoT communication Technology may not be linear to cost-efficiency.

scholarly journals Cost Analysis of a Novel Method for Ecological Compensation—A Study of the Translocation of Dead Wood

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (11) ◽  
pp. 6075
Author(s):  
Ola Lindroos ◽  
Malin Söderlind ◽  
Joel Jensen ◽  
Joakim Hjältén
Keyword(s):  
Cost Efficiency ◽  
Dead Wood ◽  
Road Transportation ◽  
Ecological Value ◽  
Ecological Compensation ◽  
Work Time ◽  
Delivery Times ◽  
Novel Method ◽  
Cost Efficient ◽  
The Cost

Translocation of dead wood is a novel method for ecological compensation and restoration that could, potentially, provide a new important tool for biodiversity conservation. With this method, substrates that normally have long delivery times are instantly created in a compensation area, and ideally many of the associated dead wood dwelling organisms are translocated together with the substrates. However, to a large extent, there is a lack of knowledge about the cost efficiency of different methods of ecological compensation. Therefore, the costs for different parts of a translocation process and its dependency on some influencing factors were studied. The observed cost was 465 SEK per translocated log for the actual compensation measure, with an additional 349 SEK/log for work to enable evaluation of the translocation’s ecological results. Based on time studies, models were developed to predict required work time and costs for different transportation distances and load sizes. Those models indicated that short extraction and insertion distances for logs should be prioritized over road transportation distances to minimize costs. They also highlighted a trade-off between costs and time until a given ecological value is reached in the compensation area. The methodology used can contribute to more cost-efficient operations and, by doing so, increase the use of ecological compensation and the benefits from a given input.

scholarly journals National Economic Burden Associated with Management of Periodontitis in Malaysia

2016 ◽  
Vol 2016 ◽  
pp. 1-6 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tuti Ningseh Mohd Dom ◽  
Rasidah Ayob ◽  
Khairiyah Abd Muttalib ◽  
Syed Mohamed Aljunid
Keyword(s):  
Societal Perspective ◽  
Economic Burden ◽  
Census Data ◽  
Adult Population ◽  
National Level ◽  
Indirect Costs ◽  
Treatment Costs ◽  
High Prevalence ◽  
National Economic ◽  
The Cost

Objectives. The aim of this study is to estimate the economic burden associated with the management of periodontitis in Malaysia from the societal perspective.Methods. We estimated the economic burden of periodontitis by combining the disease prevalence with its treatment costs. We estimated treatment costs (with 2012 value of Malaysian Ringgit) using the cost-of-illness approach and included both direct and indirect costs. We used the National Oral Health Survey for Adults (2010) data to estimate the prevalence of periodontitis and 2010 national census data to estimate the adult population at risk for periodontitis.Results. The economic burden of managing all cases of periodontitis at the national level from the societal perspective was approximately MYR 32.5 billion, accounting for 3.83% of the 2012 Gross Domestic Product of the country. It would cost the nation MYR 18.3 billion to treat patients with moderate periodontitis and MYR 13.7 billion to treat patients with severe periodontitis.Conclusion. The economic burden of periodontitis in Malaysia is substantial and comparable with that of other chronic diseases in the country. This is attributable to its high prevalence and high cost of treatment. Judicious application of promotive, preventive, and curative approaches to periodontitis management is decidedly warranted.

scholarly journals Visual multiple cross displacement amplification for the rapid identification of S. agalactiae immediately from vaginal and rectal swabs

AMB Express ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Xueqin Cheng ◽  
Zhiqian Dou ◽  
Jing Yang ◽  
Dexi Liu ◽  
Yulong Gu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Pathogen Detection ◽  
Clinical Specimen ◽  
Rapid Identification ◽  
Sample Collection ◽  
Special Equipment ◽  
Multiple Cross ◽  
Rectal Swabs ◽  
Cost Efficient ◽  
The Cost ◽  
Positive Results

AbstractStreptococcus agalactiae (S. agalactiae) is an important pathogen that can lead to neonatus and mother infection. The current existing techniques for the identification of S. agalactiae are limited by accuracy, speed and high-cost. Therefore, a new multiple cross displacement amplification (MCDA) assay was developed for test of the target pathogen immediately from vaginal and rectal swabs. MCDA primers screening were conducted targeting S. agalactiae pcsB gene, and one set of MCDA primers with better rapidity and efficiency was selected for establishing the S. agalactiae-MCDA assay. As a result, the MCDA method could be completed at a constant temperature of 61 °C, without the requirement of special equipment. The detection limit is 250 fg (31.5 copies) per reaction, all S. agalactiae strains displayed positive results, but not for non-S. agalactiae strains. The visual MCDA assay detected 16 positive samples from 200 clinical specimen, which were also detected positive by enrichment/qPCR. While the CHROMagar culture detected 6 positive samples. Thus, the MCDA assay is prefer to enrichment/qPCR and culture for detecting S. agalactiae from clinical specimen. Particularly, the whole test of MCDA takes about 63.1 min, including sample collection (3 min), DNA preparation (15 min), MCDA reaction (45 min) and result reporting (6 s). In addition, the cost was very economic, with only US$ 4.9. These results indicated that our S. agalaciae-MCDA assay is a rapid, sensitive and cost-efficient technique for target pathogen detection, and is more suitable than conventional assays for an urgent detection, especially for 'on-site' laboratories and resource-constrained settings.

The role of forest deadwood in rockfall protection

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adrian Ringenbach ◽  
Peter Bebi ◽  
Perry Bartelt ◽  
Andrin Caviezel
Keyword(s):  
Basal Area ◽  
Spruce Forest ◽  
Runout Distance ◽  
In Situ Sensors ◽  
Efficient Protection ◽  
Cost Efficient ◽  
Study Sites ◽  
Rockfall Protection

&lt;p&gt;Forests with a high density and basal area of living trees are known for their function as natural and cost-efficient protection against rockfall. The role of deadwood, however, is less understood. We address this knowledge gap in this contribution as we present the results of repeated real-scale experiments in a) a montane beech-spruce forest with and without deadwood and b) in a subalpine scrub mountain pine-spruce forest with deadwood. We used artificial rocks with either an equant or platy shape, masses between 45 kg and 800 kg (&amp;#8776; 0.3 m3), and equipped with in-situ sensors to gain insights into rotational velocities and impact-accelerations. Clusters of deadwood and erected root plates reduced the mean runout distance at both study sites. For site a), we found that more rocks were stopped behind lying than living trees and that the stopping effect of deadwood was greater for equant compared to platy rock shapes. Site b) revealed a braking effect of scrub mountain pines for relatively small (45 kg), but also a visible reduction in rotational velocities for the 800 kg rocks sensor stream. We conclude that deadwood must be taken into account in rockfall modeling and the management of rockfall protection forests.&lt;/p&gt;

scholarly journals Conservation priorities for terrestrial mammals in Dobrogea Region, Romania

ZooKeys ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 792 ◽  
pp. 133-158 ◽  
Author(s):  
Iulia V. Miu ◽  
Chisamera Gabriel B. ◽  
Viorel D. Popescu ◽  
Ruben Iosif ◽  
Andreea Nita ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Protected Areas ◽  
Environmental Changes ◽  
Natura 2000 ◽  
Habitats Directive ◽  
Conservation Priorities ◽  
Terrestrial Mammals ◽  
Core Areas ◽  
Mammal Distribution ◽  
Intensive Sampling ◽  
Mammal Diversity

Based on species occurrence records of museum collections, published literature, and unpublished records shared by mammalian experts, we compiled a distribution database for 59 terrestrial mammals populating the extensively protected Dobrogea Region of Romania. The spatial patterns of mammal distribution and diversity was evaluated and systematic conservation planning applied to identify priority areas for their conservation. The spatial analyses revealed that intensive sampling was not directly correlated to mammal diversity but rather to accessibility for inventory. The spatial prioritisation analysis indicated a relatively aggregated pattern of areas with a high or low conservation value with virtually no connecting corridors between them. The significant overlap between Natura 2000 sites and national protected areas induced an over-optimistic vision of the effectiveness and representativeness of existing Natura 2000 network for species found in Annexes II and IV of the Habitats Directive. These results represent a key step in identifying core areas for the protection of mammal diversity and dispersal corridors for improved connectivity, and to guide future conservation efforts in increasing the effectiveness of the existing protected areas in the context of environmental changes.

scholarly journals Conservation in Countries with Multiple Crisis Factors: The Case of Los Katios National Natural Park, a World Humanity Heritage in Danger

2011 ◽  
Vol 6 (11) ◽  
pp. 28-40
Author(s):  
Johanna Fernández B ◽  
Kirstie Robertson
Keyword(s):  
Protected Areas ◽  
National Parks ◽  
Conservation Biology ◽  
Social Issues ◽  
World Heritage ◽  
Conservation Priorities ◽  
Natural Park ◽  
Management Plans ◽  
Colombian Government ◽  
Illegal Activities

Conservation biology aims to stop habitat loss and extinction of species. To achieve these goals there are several methods such as the establishment of natural reserves and national parks that in synthesis work as protected areas. However, the management of areas with high conservation priorities can be a challenge to conservation biology and all of the professionals involved in this process.The Colombian National Natural Park, Los Katios, hosts more than the 20% of Colombian biodiversity and is located in a region which is characterised as being one of the most biodiverse and endemic points on the planet. The park was declared a World Humanity Heritage Area in 1994 by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and on the 8th of July 2009, the Colombian government solicited to the UNESCO World Heritage Committee the inclusion of the park on the list of World Heritage in Danger due to the pressures from illegal activities and inefficient surveillance in the area.Through the case of study of Los Katios National Natural Park, this review looks explores the extent to which the socio-economic situation and the internal crises of a country can influence the effectiveness of the conservation programs in protected areas. It also explains the relevance of National Natural Parks and the effects that some factors, such as violence; illegal crops; poverty; and environmental budget, can have on the performance of the conservation biology.This review concludes that the conservation of protected areas in countries with deep internal crises, such as in the case of Los Katios in Colombia, cannot be based solely on the fundamental conservation goals and that it is necessary to include government priorities and some strategies to counteract social issues as violence, poverty and insufficient funds when creating management plans.

scholarly journals Productivity of harvesting and clearing of brushwood alongside forest roads

Silva Fennica ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 54 (5) ◽  
Author(s):  
Juha Laitila ◽  
Kari Väätäinen
Keyword(s):  
Management Practices ◽  
Average Diameter ◽  
Strong Impact ◽  
Average Volume ◽  
Time Consumption ◽  
Roadside Vegetation ◽  
Study Results ◽  
Cost Efficient ◽  
The Cost ◽  
Stump Diameter

Expertise in the cost-efficient utilization and treatment of brushwood on forest roadside sites is limited. In the present study, the productivity of brushwood clearing and harvesting on forest roadside sites was defined by creating time-consumption models or parameters for the aforementioned working methods. Compiled time consumption models and parameters for the brushwood clearing and harvesting can be used as a basis for evaluating alternative management practices and to determine when brushwood biomass should be harvested and when it should be left to decay. The harvesting of brushwood was based on the harwarder system and the clearing of brushwood was done with a spiral cutter, which is a novel accessory for cutting roadside vegetation. Based on the study results, the average volume of harvested brushwood and forwarding distance are the key elements that have an effect on harvesting productivity with harwarders. Correspondingly, stump diameter has a strong impact on the clearing productivity of brushwood. The plot-wise productivity of the spiral cutter in brushwood clearings varied in the range of 0.19–0.61 ha per PMh. An increase in stump diameter slowed down the clearing productivity of the spiral cutter and there was a clear step downward in clearing productivity as the average diameter increased from 30 mm to 40 mm. The machinery under study operated well and there were no interruptions due to machine breakdowns.

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