The Sustainable Rivers Audit: assessing river ecosystem health in the Murray - Darling Basin, Australia

2010 ◽  
Vol 61 (7) ◽  
pp. 764 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. E. Davies ◽  
J. H. Harris ◽  
T. J. Hillman ◽  
K. F. Walker
Keyword(s):  
Ecosystem Health ◽  
The United States ◽  
Catchment Management ◽  
River Health ◽  
Systematic Assessment ◽  
Murray Darling Basin ◽  
Physical Form ◽  
Field Samples ◽  
Health Assessments ◽  
Condition Indicator

The Sustainable Rivers Audit (SRA) is a systematic assessment of the health of river ecosystems in the Murray–Darling Basin (MDB), Australia. It has similarities to the United States’ Environmental Monitoring and Assessment Program, the European Water Framework Directive and the South African River Health Program, but is designed expressly to represent functional and structural links between ecosystem components, biophysical condition and human interventions in the MDB. Environmental metrics derived from field samples and/or modelling are combined as indicators of condition in five themes (Hydrology, Fish, Macroinvertebrates, Vegetation and Physical Form). Condition indicator ratings are combined using expert-system rules to indicate ecosystem health, underpinned by conceptual models. Reference condition, an estimate of condition had there been no significant human intervention in the landscape, provides a benchmark for comparisons. To illustrate, a synopsis is included of health assessments in 2004–2007. This first audit completed assessments of condition and ecosystem health at the valley scale and in altitudinal zones, and future reports will include trend assessments. SRA river-health assessments are expected to play a key role in future water and catchment management through integration in a Basin Plan being developed by the Murray–Darling Basin Authority for implementation after 2011. For example, there could be links to facilitate monitoring against environmental targets.

scholarly journals Socioeconomic Risks and Their Impacts on Ecological River Health in South Korea: An Application of the Analytic Hierarchy Process

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (11) ◽  
pp. 6287
Author(s):  
Suyeon Kim ◽  
Sang-Woo Lee ◽  
Se-Rin Park ◽  
Yeeun Shin ◽  
Kyungjin An
Keyword(s):  
South Korea ◽  
Socioeconomic Factors ◽  
Ecosystem Health ◽  
Relative Importance ◽  
River Ecosystem ◽  
River Health ◽  
Analytic Hierarchy ◽  
Factors Affecting ◽  
Factors Influencing ◽  
Hierarchy Process

It is imperative to develop a methodology to identify river impairment sources, particularly the relative impact of socioeconomic sources, to enhance the efficiency of various river restoration schemes and policies and to have an internal diagnosis system in place. This study, therefore, aims to identify and analyze the relative importance of the socioeconomic factors affecting river ecosystem impairment in South Korea. To achieve this goal, we applied the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) to evaluate expert judgement of the relative importance of different socioeconomic factors influencing river ecosystem impairment. Based on a list of socioeconomic factors influencing stream health, an AHP questionnaire was prepared and administered to experts in aquatic ecology. Our analysis reveals that secondary industries form the most significant source of stream ecosystem impairment. Moreover, the most critical socioeconomic factors affecting stream impairment are direct inflow pollution, policy implementation, and industrial wastewater. The results also suggest that the AHP is a rapid and robust approach to assessing the relative importance of different socioeconomic factors that affect river ecosystem health. The results can be used to assist decision makers in focusing on actions to improve river ecosystem health.

Predicting Source Water Quality Following Wildfires Using Hydrologic Modeling

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katie Wampler ◽  
Kevin D. Bladon ◽  
Monireh Faramarzi
Keyword(s):  
Water Quality ◽  
Drinking Water ◽  
Organic Carbon ◽  
The United States ◽  
First Year ◽  
Model Parameters ◽  
Source Water ◽  
Forested Watersheds ◽  
Field Samples ◽  
The World

<p>Forested watersheds are critical sources of the majority of the world’s drinking water. Almost one-third of the world’s largest cities and two-thirds of cities in the United States (US) rely on forested watersheds for their water supply. These forested regions are vulnerable to the increasing incidence of large and severe wildfires due to increases in regional temperatures and greater accumulation of fuels. When wildfires occur, increases in suspended sediment and organic carbon can negatively affect aquatic ecosystem health and create many costly challenges to the drinking water treatment process. These effects are often largest in the first year following a wildfire. While past research has shown the likelihood of source water impacts from wildfire, the magnitude of effects remains uncertain in most regions. In our study, we will quantify the projected short-term effects of three large (>70,000 ha) wildfires on key water quality parameters (sediment and organic carbon) in two important forested source watersheds in the Cascade Range of Oregon, US. We calibrated and validated a modified Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) to simulate streamflow, sediment loads and transport, as well as in-stream organic carbon processes for a historical period prior to wildfire. The calibrated model parameters were then modified based on literature values and burn severity maps to represent post-fire conditions of the three large wildfires. The parameter adjustments for simulating wildfire will be validated with post-fire water quality field samples from the wildfires. We will present estimations of future water quality impacts in the burned watersheds under different precipitation conditions at a daily scale for the first year following the wildfires, which will provide testable hypotheses. Additionally, we will determine catchment characteristics most critical in determining the post-fire water quality response. This work will help predict the magnitude of effects from these historic wildfires, which can inform forest and drinking water management decision making.</p>

scholarly journals Comparison of Digital Copyright Protection on Over the Top (OTT) Streaming Content Media in Indonesia and the United States

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 183-212
Author(s):  
Agung Kurniawan Sihombing ◽  
Rika Ratna Permata ◽  
Tasya Safiranita Ramli
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Copyright Protection ◽  
Technological Development ◽  
Secondary Data ◽  
The United States ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Digital Copyright ◽  
Physical Form ◽  
Digital Copyright Protection ◽  
Over The Top

In the rapid technological development, physical boundaries have begun to disappear. The internet has created a ‘free culture’. In addition, the era is challenging the copyright concept along with the emergence of ‘digital copyright’. It has become the main commodity of Over-the-Top services providing means of communication and entertainment through the internet. Content streaming service like Netflix uses films, as well as other cinematographic works, as its main commodities. OTT Streaming media helps to protect copyright holders' rights that previously have been violated by illegal streaming sites on the internet. Unfortunately, it also raises a new question: how digital copyright-objects can be protected in this kind of service. Without physical form, copyright object can be distributed easily on the internet, and it may lead to right violations. To answer this problem, the authors aim to describe the digital copyright protection on OTT Streaming Content Media in Indonesia and compare them to the 1998 Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) of the United States of America using a descriptive-analytical approach. This study employed a normative juridical approach with secondary data. The results of this study indicate that digital copyright protection in Indonesia is still centered on conventional copyright objects, and a sui generis law is needed to provide better protection for digital copyright objects.

scholarly journals First Report of Soilborne Wheat Mosaic Virus in the United Kingdom

Plant Disease ◽  
1999 ◽  
Vol 83 (9) ◽  
pp. 880-880 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. R. G. Clover ◽  
D. M. Wright ◽  
C. M. Henry
Keyword(s):  
United Kingdom ◽  
Mosaic Virus ◽  
Barley Yellow Dwarf Virus ◽  
Protein A ◽  
The United States ◽  
Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent Assay ◽  
Barley Yellow Dwarf ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
Field Samples ◽  
Yellow Dwarf Virus

In April 1999, severe soilborne wheat mosaic virus (SBWMV) symptoms were observed in five fields of winter wheat (Triticum aestivum, cvs. Consort, Equinox, and Savannah) on one farm in Wiltshire, UK. Affected plants were markedly stunted and had a pale mosaic on their leaf sheaths that developed into bright yellow, parallel streaks on the leaves as they unfolded. Symptomatic plants were found in discrete, elliptical patches ranging in size from a few square meters to nearly a hectare. During May and June, symptoms became less marked as temperatures increased and were restricted to lower leaves. SBWMV was positively identified in all five fields (60 to 170 plants per field) by double (W. Huth, BBA-Braunschweig, Germany; Sanofi Phyto-Diagnostics, Paris) and triple (T. Wilson, SCRI, Dundee, UK) antibody sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and by reversetranscription polymerase chain reaction (2). Identification was confirmed by immunoelectron microscopy, including protein-A gold labeling, which revealed bipartite, rod-shaped particles typical of SBWMV. Neither wheat spindle streak mosaic virus nor barley yellow dwarf virus was detected in the field samples, nor was SBWMV detected in any other field subsequently sampled, despite a survey of the surrounding area. Wheat is the most important economic crop in the United Kingdom (≈1.9 million hectares are grown annually, yielding ≈16 million tonnes), but its position is threatened by the economic impact of SBWMV, which has decreased yields by up to 50% in the United States (1). References: (1) T. A. Kucharek and J. H. Walker. Plant Dis. Rep. 58:763, 1974. (2) R. E. Pennington et al. Plant Dis. 77:1202, 1993.

A systematic assessment of threats affecting the rare plants of the United States

2016 ◽  
Vol 203 ◽  
pp. 260-267 ◽  
Author(s):  
Haydée Hernández-Yáñez ◽  
Justin T. Kos ◽  
Matthew D. Bast ◽  
Janeisha L. Griggs ◽  
Paul A. Hage ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
The United States ◽  
Rare Plants ◽  
Systematic Assessment

Community Health Assessments: Past, Present, and Future

2015 ◽  
pp. 167-179 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kevin Barnett ◽  
Sara Rosenbaum
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Health Professionals ◽  
The United States ◽  
Federal Agencies ◽  
Community Members ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Public Health Professionals ◽  
Health Assessments ◽  
Primary Care Clinicians ◽  
The Right

Drawing on the experiences of hundreds of public health and primary care clinicians from across the United States, this book explains why population health is receiving so much attention from policy makers in states and federal agencies, the practical steps that clinicians and public health professionals can take to work together to meet the needs of their community, signs that you are on the right track (or not) and how to sustain successes to the benefit of patients, community members, and the health care and public health teams that care for them.

Making global river ecosystem health assessments objective, quantitative and comparable

2019 ◽  
Vol 667 ◽  
pp. 500-510 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. Zhao ◽  
T. Pan ◽  
T. Dou ◽  
J. Liu ◽  
C. Liu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Ecosystem Health ◽  
River Ecosystem ◽  
Health Assessments

scholarly journals Development of the Automated Primer Design Workflow Uniqprimer and Diagnostic Primers for the Broad-Host-Range Plant Pathogen Dickeya dianthicola

Plant Disease ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 103 (11) ◽  
pp. 2893-2902 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shaista Karim ◽  
R. Ryan McNally ◽  
Afnan S. Nasaruddin ◽  
Alexis DeReeper ◽  
Ramil P. Mauleon ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Host Range ◽  
Bacterial Pathogen ◽  
The United States ◽  
Broad Host Range ◽  
Software Pipeline ◽  
Widespread Occurrence ◽  
Field Samples ◽  
Primer Sets ◽  
Genome Analyses ◽  
User Friendly

Uniqprimer, a software pipeline developed in Python, was deployed as a user-friendly internet tool in Rice Galaxy for comparative genome analyses to design primer sets for PCRassays capable of detecting target bacterial taxa. The pipeline was trialed with Dickeya dianthicola, a destructive broad-host-range bacterial pathogen found in most potato-growing regions. Dickeya is a highly variable genus, and some primers available to detect this genus and species exhibit common diagnostic failures. Upon uploading a selection of target and nontarget genomes, six primer sets were rapidly identified with Uniqprimer, of which two were specific and sensitive when tested with D. dianthicola. The remaining four amplified a minority of the nontarget strains tested. The two promising candidate primer sets were trialed with DNA isolated from 116 field samples from across the United States that were previously submitted for testing. D. dianthicola was detected in 41 samples, demonstrating the applicability of our detection primers and suggesting widespread occurrence of D. dianthicola in North America.

scholarly journals Scavenging by threatened turtles regulates freshwater ecosystem health during fish kills

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Claudia Santori ◽  
Ricky-John Spencer ◽  
Michael B. Thompson ◽  
Camilla M. Whittington ◽  
Thomas H. Burd ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Water Quality ◽  
Ecosystem Health ◽  
Freshwater Ecosystems ◽  
Freshwater Ecosystem ◽  
Freshwater Species ◽  
Freshwater Turtles ◽  
Fish Kills ◽  
Murray Darling Basin ◽  
Ecological Implications ◽  
Mesocosm Experiments

Abstract Humans are increasing the frequency of fish kills by degrading freshwater ecosystems. Simultaneously, scavengers like freshwater turtles are declining globally, including in the Australian Murray–Darling Basin. Reduced scavenging may cause water quality problems impacting both ecosystems and humans. We used field and mesocosm experiments to test whether scavenging by turtles regulates water quality during simulated fish kills. In the field, we found that turtles were important scavengers of fish carrion. In mesocosms, turtles rapidly consumed carrion, and water quality in mesocosms with turtles returned to pre-fish kill levels faster than in turtle-free controls. Our experiments have important ecological implications, as they suggest that turtles are critical scavengers that regulate water quality in freshwater ecosystems. Recovery of turtle populations may be necessary to avoid the worsening of ecosystem health, particularly after fish kills, which would have devastating consequences for many freshwater species.

Murray-Darling Basin Commission: a case study in integrated catchment management

1995 ◽  
Vol 32 (5-6) ◽  
pp. 15-25 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. J. Blackmore
Keyword(s):  
Natural Resources ◽  
Community Action ◽  
Catchment Management ◽  
State Governments ◽  
Integrated Catchment Management ◽  
Murray Darling Basin ◽  
Murray River ◽  
Common Interests ◽  
Basin Water

This paper describes the Australian Murray-Darling basin experience in integrated catchment management, what has been achieved and what remains to be done. The basin water is shared by three states, but falls under the jurisdiction of four governments, that of the Commonwealth as well as the State governments. The critical development in recent years at the political and bureaucratic level was the establishment of a three-tier management structure that allows common interests to be developed, discussed, resolved and implemented. Two main problems had to be resolved before significant co-operative action could take place, namely the issues of water sharing between the states and the sharing of costs associated with Murray River salinity. A framework Salinity and Drainage Strategy was developed to address this, and is described. This paper also describes the Natural Resources Management Strategy, the cornerstone of efforts to sustain the natural resources of the basin. The strategy emphasises community participation and empowerment. The problems identified, strategic aims to address these problems and the role of community action are detailed.

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