Factors affecting the mortality of Lumholtz's tree-kangaroo (Dendrolagus lumholtzi) by vehicle strike

Context Vehicle strike is a major issue where wildlife habitat is intersected by busy roads. Near Threatened Lumholtz’s tree-kangaroo (Dendrolagus lumholtzi) is a large (5–10 kg) semi-arboreal mammal found in populated rural and forested areas of north-eastern Australia. Warning signs, rope bridges and underpasses have not prevented ~20 animals being killed on the road each year. Aims To identify factors influencing Lumholtz’s tree-kangaroo vehicle strike to help inform mitigation options. Methods Citizen sightings (1998–2000) and 90 road-kills collected over 4.5 years on the Atherton Tablelands, Australia, were examined to determine the causes of vehicle strike in Lumholtz’s tree-kangaroo. The spatial distributions of sightings and road-kills were characterised using nearest-neighbour analysis, and the relationship between them was determined using a Bayesian approach that accounted for spatial autocorrelation. Gender, age, weight, season, rainfall, road and verge characteristics, traffic volumes, speed limits and mitigation measures were recorded to assess their influence on road-kill risk. Adequacy of speed limits to prevent collisions along road sections with more than four road-kills per 8 km (hazard zones) was assessed from visibility and stopping distances. Key results Vehicle strikes mainly affected male tree-kangaroos (2–5 years, 5.5–8 kg), occurred where live animals were most frequently sighted and were most likely on roads with narrow verges, low visibility and medium traffic volumes. Speed limits at hazard zones were inadequate to prevent collisions. Few warning signs corresponded with these zones, and road mortalities persisted where they did. Conclusions Unpredictable dispersal of young males and vehicle speeds unsuited to road conditions drive road mortalities in Lumholtz’s tree-kangaroo. Because tree-kangaroos do not appear to respond to existing mitigation measures, reducing traffic speeds, and increasing visibility, appear to be the most effective mitigation strategies for reducing tree-kangaroo road mortality. Implications Our findings suggest that tree-kangaroo road-kill can be reduced by reducing speed limits in line with government recommendations and increasing visibility by clearing road verges along sections of road with the highest tree-kangaroo mortality. Warning signage should be re-evaluated to determine whether its effectiveness can be improved.

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Spatio-Temporal Patterns and Consequences of Road Kills: A Review

Animals ◽

10.3390/ani11030799 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (3) ◽

pp. 799

Author(s):

Ayrton Gino Humberto Emilio Oddone Aquino ◽

S’phumelele Lucky Nkomo

Keyword(s):

Review Paper ◽

Life Forms ◽

Social Consequences ◽

Mitigation Strategies ◽

Spatiotemporal Patterns ◽

Mitigation Measures ◽

Road Mortality ◽

Road Kill ◽

Spatial Coverage ◽

Geospatial Tools

The development and expansion of road networks have profoundly impacted the natural landscape and various life forms. Animals are affected by these roads in a myriad of ways, none as devastating as road mortalities. This article reviews the literature on the magnitude, spatiotemporal patterns, factors, and consequences of Animal-Vehicle Collisions (AVCs) and the subsequent road kills. Furthermore, the review paper briefly outlines the relationship between roads and animals in the surrounding landscape and later examines the nature and impacts of AVCs. This article evaluates the statistics on the number of road kills and a critical analysis of the spatiotemporal patterns of these mortalities is also evaluated. Subsequently, the review paper examines current mitigation measures and the challenges impeding their success. The paper then concludes with an evaluation of geospatial tools (GIS) and other technologies used in road kill studies. The relevant findings of this paper are that, (1) factors influencing road kill patterns interact with one another; (2) AVCs have serious environmental, economic and social consequences; (3) road kill mitigation strategies suffer several challenges hindering their success; and (4) specific geospatial tools and other technologies have been utilised in assessing AVC road kill patterns. The review, therefore, recommends including overall road kill clusters of all animals in mortality surveys, increasing the spatial coverage of road kill observations, consistent surveying, sufficient research on nighttime driving distances and speed, utilising citizen science in all road mortality studies and incorporating GIS into all apps used for recording road kills. An increased sufficiency in road kill data coupled with improved technologies can enable more effective mitigation strategies to prevent AVCs.

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Modeling Epidemic Spread among a Commuting Population Using Transport Schemes

Mathematics ◽

10.3390/math9161861 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 9 (16) ◽

pp. 1861

Author(s):

Daniela Calvetti ◽

Alexander P. Hoover ◽

Johnie Rose ◽

Erkki Somersalo

Keyword(s):

Network Model ◽

Transport Theory ◽

Optimal Transport ◽

State Level ◽

Compartment Model ◽

Census Bureau ◽

Mitigation Strategies ◽

Mitigation Measures ◽

Metapopulation Model ◽

Infection Dynamics

Understanding the dynamics of the spread of COVID-19 between connected communities is fundamental in planning appropriate mitigation measures. To that end, we propose and analyze a novel metapopulation network model, particularly suitable for modeling commuter traffic patterns, that takes into account the connectivity between a heterogeneous set of communities, each with its own infection dynamics. In the novel metapopulation model that we propose here, transport schemes developed in optimal transport theory provide an efficient and easily implementable way of describing the temporary population redistribution due to traffic, such as the daily commuter traffic between work and residence. Locally, infection dynamics in individual communities are described in terms of a susceptible-exposed-infected-recovered (SEIR) compartment model, modified to account for the specific features of COVID-19, most notably its spread by asymptomatic and presymptomatic infected individuals. The mathematical foundation of our metapopulation network model is akin to a transport scheme between two population distributions, namely the residential distribution and the workplace distribution, whose interface can be inferred from commuter mobility data made available by the US Census Bureau. We use the proposed metapopulation model to test the dynamics of the spread of COVID-19 on two networks, a smaller one comprising 7 counties in the Greater Cleveland area in Ohio, and a larger one consisting of 74 counties in the Pittsburgh–Cleveland–Detroit corridor following the Lake Erie’s American coastline. The model simulations indicate that densely populated regions effectively act as amplifiers of the infection for the surrounding, less densely populated areas, in agreement with the pattern of infections observed in the course of the COVID-19 pandemic. Computed examples show that the model can be used also to test different mitigation strategies, including one based on state-level travel restrictions, another on county level triggered social distancing, as well as a combination of the two.

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Design of COVID-19 staged alert systems to ensure healthcare capacity with minimal closures

Nature Communications ◽

10.1038/s41467-021-23989-x ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 12 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Haoxiang Yang ◽

Özge Sürer ◽

Daniel Duque ◽

David P. Morton ◽

Bismark Singh ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Hospital Admissions ◽

Optimal Strategies ◽

Mitigation Strategies ◽

Mitigation Measures ◽

Public Confidence ◽

Proof Of Concept ◽

Alert System ◽

System Safety ◽

Reducing Costs ◽

Restrictive Measures

AbstractCommunity mitigation strategies to combat COVID-19, ranging from healthy hygiene to shelter-in-place orders, exact substantial socioeconomic costs. Judicious implementation and relaxation of restrictions amplify their public health benefits while reducing costs. We derive optimal strategies for toggling between mitigation stages using daily COVID-19 hospital admissions. With public compliance, the policy triggers ensure adequate intensive care unit capacity with high probability while minimizing the duration of strict mitigation measures. In comparison, we show that other sensible COVID-19 staging policies, including France’s ICU-based thresholds and a widely adopted indicator for reopening schools and businesses, require overly restrictive measures or trigger strict stages too late to avert catastrophic surges. As proof-of-concept, we describe the optimization and maintenance of the staged alert system that has guided COVID-19 policy in a large US city (Austin, Texas) since May 2020. As cities worldwide face future pandemic waves, our findings provide a robust strategy for tracking COVID-19 hospital admissions as an early indicator of hospital surges and enacting staged measures to ensure integrity of the health system, safety of the health workforce, and public confidence.

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Assessing Soil Loss by Water Erosion in a Typical Mediterranean Ecosystem of Northern Greece under Current and Future Rainfall Erosivity

Water ◽

10.3390/w13152002 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (15) ◽

pp. 2002

Author(s):

Stefanos Stefanidis ◽

Vasileios Alexandridis ◽

Chrysoula Chatzichristaki ◽

Panagiotis Stefanidis

Keyword(s):

Open Source ◽

Soil Loss ◽

Renewable Resource ◽

Mitigation Strategies ◽

Mitigation Measures ◽

Mediterranean Ecosystem ◽

Rainfall Erosivity ◽

Negative Consequences ◽

Northern Greece ◽

Erosion Risk

Soil is a non-renewable resource essential for life existence. During the last decades it has been threatened by accelerating erosion with negative consequences for the environment and the economy. The aim of the current study was to assess soil loss changes in a typical Mediterranean ecosystem of Northern Greece, under climate change. To this end, freely available geospatial data was collected and processed using open-source software package. The widespread RUSLE empirical erosion model was applied to estimate soil loss. Current and future rainfall erosivity were derived from a national scale study considering average weather conditions and RCMs outputs for the medium Representative Concentration Pathway scenario (RCP4.5). Results showed that average rainfall erosivity (R-Factor) was 508.85 MJ mm ha h−1 y−1 while the K-factor ranged from 0.0008 to 0.05 t ha h ha−1 MJ−1 mm−1 and LS-factor reached 60.51. Respectively, C-factor ranged from 0.01 to 0.91 and P-factor ranged from 0.42 to 1. The estimated potential soil loss rates will remain stable for the near future period (2021–2050), while an increase of approximately 9% is expected by the end of the 21th century (2071–2100). The results suggest that appropriate erosion mitigation strategies should be applied to reduce erosion risk. Subsequently, appropriate mitigation measures per Land Use/Land Cover (LULC) categories are proposed. It is worth noting that the proposed methodology has a high degree of transferability as it is based on open-source data.

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Early stress detection in grapevine – can remotely-sensed sun-induced chlorophyll fluorescence do the job?

10.5194/egusphere-egu21-5171 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Georg Wohlfahrt ◽

Albin Hammerle ◽

Barbara Rainer ◽

Florian Haas

Keyword(s):

Chlorophyll Fluorescence ◽

Vegetation Index ◽

Near Infrared ◽

Census Data ◽

Meteorological Data ◽

Vegetation Indices ◽

Wavelength Region ◽

Remote Sensing Data ◽

Warning Signs ◽

Mitigation Measures

Ongoing changes in climate (both in the means and the extremes) are increasingly challenging grapevine production in the province of South Tyrol (Italy). Here we ask the question whether sun-induced chlorophyll fluorescence (SIF) observed remotely from space can detect early warning signs of stress in grapevine and thus help guide mitigation measures.Chlorophyll fluorescence refers to light absorbed by chlorophyll molecules that is re-emitted in the red to far-red wavelength region. Previous research at leaf and canopy scale indicated that SIF correlates with the plant photosynthetic uptake of carbon dioxide as it competes for the same energy pool.To address this question, we use time series of two down-scaled SIF products (GOME-2 and OCO-2, 2007/14-2018) as well as the original OCO-2 data (2014-2019). As a benchmark, we use several vegetation indices related to canopy greenness, as well as a novel near-infrared radiation-based vegetation index (2000-2019). Meteorological data fields are used to explore possible weather-related causes for observed deviations in remote sensing data. Regional DOC grapevine census data (2000-2019) are used as a reference for the analyses.

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Emerging mitigation measures and strategies are needed for riverine ecology to ensure sustainable hydropeaking production in Norway

10.5194/egusphere-egu21-16429 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Jo Halvard Halleraker ◽

Mahmoud S. R. Kenawi ◽

Jan Henning L’Abée - Lund ◽

Anders G. Finstad ◽

Knut Alfredsen

Keyword(s):

Biological Indicators ◽

Ecological Impacts ◽

Mitigation Strategies ◽

Mitigation Measures ◽

National Database ◽

Political Agenda ◽

Regulated Rivers ◽

Hydropower Production ◽

Multiple Pressures ◽

Environmental Requirements

Riverine biodiversity is threatened with severe degradation from multiple pressures worldwide. One of the key pressures in European rivers are hydromorphological alterations. Rehabilitation of river habitats is accordingly high on the political agenda at the start of UN decade of ecological restoration (2021-2030).Water storage for hydropower production (HP) has severe impacts on aquatic ecology in Norway, with more than 3000 water bodies designated as heavily modified due to hydropower. Norway is the largest hydropower producer in Europe with a huge amount of high head storage schemes. Ca 86 TWh of this is&#160;storage hydropower, which constitutes more than 50% of the total in Europe. This makes Norway a potentially significant supplier of hydropeaking services. Flexible hydropower operations are crucial for EUs Green Deal in balancing electricity from renewable intermittent power generation such as wind and solar.&#160;Many Norwegian HP licenses were issued before modern environmental requirements evolved. Few are re-licensed with emerging strategies to mitigate hydropeaking. Still, there seems to be a common understanding of relevant mitigation strategies emerging between many large hydropower producers. For example, flow ramping from hydropower tailrace water with direct outlet into fjords or other lake reservoirs may be less environmentally harmful than outlet into riverine habitat.In this study, we have assessed the Norwegian hydropower portfolio of more than 1600 HP facilities constructing a national database focusing on the knowledge base for assessing potential downstream hydropower ecological impacts. The ecological severity of such flow ramping and the restoration/mitigation potential, may depend on;&#160;About 51 % of the HPs (ca 80TWh) have tailrace into shorter rivers (<1 km) or directly into fjords or lake/reservoirs. Many of the largest HPs are in this category (e.g 50 HP> 500 MW). Close to 800 HP might have downstream impacts on rivers (> 0.5 km; about 49 % of all HP, in total of ca 56 TWh). Probably > 3 000 km of regulated rivers in Norway therefor might need more ecosystem-based mode of HP operation.&#160;Flow ramping analysis: &#160;Ecosystem-based HP operational rules are established in a selection of sustainably managed Norwegian rivers, still with significant baseload production (0.35-0.76 - TWh annual prod). However, eco-friendly mode of operation seems to be rare as our analysis indicate that flow ramping with potential ecological degradation seems widespread in many rivers. Surprisingly, even in many with operational ramping restriction as required mitigation.Our database may be further improved and updated (with e.g. more flow ramping data and biological indicators) and serve as a basis for a national hydropeaking strategy, and hence make more of the Norwegian hydropower portfolio in line with the EUs sustainability taxonomy.

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Mitigation of Debris Flows—Research and Practice in Hong Kong

Environmental and Engineering Geoscience ◽

10.2113/eeg-d-20-00009 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 27 (2) ◽

pp. 231-243

Author(s):

Ken K. S. Ho ◽

Raymond C. H. Koo ◽

Julian S. H. Kwan

Keyword(s):

Hong Kong ◽

Debris Flow ◽

Debris Flows ◽

Geotechnical Engineering ◽

Mitigation Strategies ◽

Mitigation Measures ◽

Landslide Risk ◽

Engineering Practice ◽

Design Methodologies ◽

Technical Framework

ABSTRACT Dense urban development on a hilly terrain coupled with intense seasonal rainfall and heterogeneous weathering profiles give rise to acute debris-flow problems in Hong Kong. The Geotechnical Engineering Office (GEO) of the Hong Kong SAR Government has launched a holistic research and development (R&D) programme and collaborated with various tertiary institutes and professional bodies to support the development of a comprehensive technical framework for managing landslide risk and designing debris-flow mitigation measures. The scope of the technical development work includes compilation of landslide inventories, field studies of debris flows, development and calibration of tools for landslide run-out modelling, back analysis of notable debris flows, physical and numerical modelling of the interaction between debris flows and mitigation measures, formulation of a technical framework for evaluating debris-flow hazards, and development of pragmatic mitigation strategies and design methodologies for debris-flow countermeasures. The work has advanced the technical understanding of debris-flow hazards and transformed the natural terrain landslide risk management practice in Hong Kong. New analytical tools and improved design methodologies are being applied in routine geotechnical engineering practice.

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Effects of Ultraviolet-B Radiation on Woundfin Embryos and Larvae with Application to Conservation Propagation

Journal of Fish and Wildlife Management ◽

10.3996/042013-jfwm-030 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 5 (1) ◽

pp. 87-98 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Luke M. Holmquist ◽

Andrew M. Ray ◽

Betsy A. Bancroft ◽

Nick Pinkham ◽

Molly A. H. Webb

Keyword(s):

Larval Mortality ◽

Ultraviolet B ◽

Mitigation Strategies ◽

Mitigation Measures ◽

Parental Effects ◽

Endangered Fish ◽

Ultraviolet B Radiation ◽

Shade Cloth ◽

Low Levels ◽

Age At Exposure

Abstract Endangered woundfin Plagopterus argentissimus embryos and larvae were exposed to artificial ultraviolet-B (UV-B) radiation to directly examine the effects on mortality. The experiment was part of a project assisting the Virgin River Resource Management and Recovery Program's efforts to increase hatchery production of this endangered fish. The UV-B radiation used in this experiment was administered in treatments of 0.060, 0.030, and 0.015 mW/cm2 to simulate 100, 50, and 25% of the ambient irradiance levels documented in outdoor tanks and living streams at Bubbling Ponds State Fish Hatchery, in Arizona. Embryos and larvae were exposed for 14.5 h followed by 9.5 h of darkness, in correspondence with the daylight hours at Bubbling Ponds. No embryos survived UV-B treatments; mortality among control (UV-B–free) treatments varied (5–100%) among females, indicating that there may be important parental effects that influence embryo mortality. Larval mortality was also 100% for individuals exposed to any of the three UV-B treatments. In contrast to embryo trials, larval mortality in UV-B–free treatments approached 20% for 2-d-old larvae. These experiments provide evidence that woundfin embryos and larvae are sensitive to even low levels of UV-B when exposed for 14.5 h. Susceptibility of larvae to UV-B also appears to be a function of age at exposure, with older larvae exhibiting significantly lower levels of mortality during the initial days of exposure. Experiments with UV-B mitigation strategies indicated that shade cloth, Aquashade®, and elevated dissolved organic carbon can aid in the attenuation of UV-B, and these strategies may assist hatchery managers in implementing UV-B mitigation measures during periods when woundfin are most susceptible.

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Failure Mechanism and Mitigation Measures of the G1002 Electricity Pylon Landslide at the Jinping I Hydropower Station

Advances in Civil Engineering ◽

10.1155/2020/8820315 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 2020 ◽

pp. 1-15

Author(s):

Gang Luo ◽

Yutian Zhong ◽

Yuanxiang Yang

Keyword(s):

Failure Mechanism ◽

Power Transmission ◽

Heavy Precipitation ◽

Mitigation Strategies ◽

Mitigation Measures ◽

Hydropower Station ◽

Residual Soil ◽

Valley Slope ◽

Jinping I Hydropower Station ◽

The Stability

On August 29 and 30, 2012, local extreme rainfalls struck the construction area of the Jinping I Hydropower Station, Xichang, China, and triggered many geohazards. The upper region of the left valley slope 200 m downstream of the dam failed and slid, exposing the D-pile of the G1002 electricity pylon and threatening the entire power transmission line. Therefore, guaranteeing the stability of the residual soil masses in the rear area of the main scarp and the safety of the G1002 electricity pylon became a primary emergency task. Geological field surveys, topographical mapping, study of the failure mechanisms, and stability evaluations were carried out from October 12, 2012, to November 7, 2013. It is revealed that the failure mechanism of the G1002 electricity pylon landslide is flood-induced tractive sliding along the interlayer between the colluvium and the bedrock, significantly influenced by heavy precipitation and frequent blasting activities during the dam construction. The residual soil masses around the G1002 electricity pylon foundation are unstable under rainfall conditions. In order to ensure the stability of the residual soil masses and pylon foundation, a mitigation measure of the anchor cables combined with lattice frame beams was proposed and applied in practice. This paper provides insights into the problems associated with the selection of the locations of electricity pylons in ravine regions as well as mitigation strategies for similar landslides.

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Climate benefits of proposed carbon dioxide mitigation strategies for international shipping and aviation

Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics ◽

10.5194/acp-19-14949-2019 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 19 (23) ◽

pp. 14949-14965 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Catherine C. Ivanovich ◽

Ilissa B. Ocko ◽

Pedro Piris-Cabezas ◽

Annie Petsonk

Keyword(s):

Carbon Dioxide ◽

Co2 Emissions ◽

Mitigation Strategies ◽

Mitigation Measures ◽

Civil Aviation ◽

Economic Sectors ◽

International Shipping ◽

Nationally Determined Contributions ◽

Reduce Carbon Dioxide ◽

Carbon Dioxide Co2

Abstract. While individual countries work to achieve and strengthen their nationally determined contributions (NDCs) to the Paris Agreement, the growing emissions from two economic sectors remain largely outside most countries' NDCs: international shipping and international aviation. Reducing emissions from these sectors is particularly challenging because the adoption of any policies and targets requires the agreement of a large number of countries. However, the International Maritime Organization (IMO) and the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) have recently announced strategies to reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from their respective sectors. Here we provide information on the climate benefits of these proposed measures, along with related potential measures. Given that the global average temperature has already risen 1 ∘C above preindustrial levels, there is only 1.0 or 0.5 ∘C of additional “allowable warming” left to stabilize below the 2 or 1.5 ∘C thresholds, respectively. We find that if no actions are taken, CO2 emissions from international shipping and aviation may contribute roughly equally to an additional combined 0.12 ∘C to global temperature rise by end of century – which is 12 % and 24 % of the allowable warming we have left to stay below the 2 or 1.5 ∘C thresholds (1.0 and 0.5 ∘C), respectively. However, stringent mitigation measures may avoid over 85 % of this projected future warming from the CO2 emissions from each sector. Quantifying the climate benefits of proposed mitigation pathways is critical as international organizations work to develop and meet long-term targets.

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