scholarly journals Anthropogenic Effects on Forest Ecosystems at Various Spatio-Temporal Scales

2002 ◽  
Vol 2 ◽  
pp. 827-841 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Bredemeier

The focus in this review of long-term effects on forest ecosystems is on human impact. As a classification of this differentiated and complex matter, three domains of long-term effects with different scales in space and time are distinguished: 1- Exploitation and conversion history of forests in areas of extended human settlement 2- Long-range air pollution and acid deposition in industrialized regions 3- Current global loss of forests and soil degradation.There is an evident link between the first and the third point in the list. Cultivation of primary forestland — with its tremendous effects on land cover — took place in Europe many centuries ago and continued for centuries. Deforestation today is a phenomenon predominantly observed in the developing countries, yet it threatens biotic and soil resources on a global scale. Acidification of forest soils caused by long-range air pollution from anthropogenic emission sources is a regional to continental problem in industrialized parts of the world. As a result of emission reduction legislation, atmospheric acid deposition is currently on the retreat in the richer industrialized regions (e.g., Europe, U.S., Japan); however, because many other regions of the world are at present rapidly developing their polluting industries (e.g., China and India), “acid rain” will most probably remain a serious ecological problem on regional scales. It is believed to have caused considerable destabilization of forest ecosystems, adding to the strong structural and biogeochemical impacts resulting from exploitation history.Deforestation and soil degradation cause the most pressing ecological problems for the time being, at least on the global scale. In many of those regions where loss of forests and soils is now high, it may be extremely difficult or impossible to restore forest ecosystems and soil productivity. Moreover, the driving forces, which are predominantly of a demographic and socioeconomic nature, do not yet seem to be lessening in strength. It can only be hoped that a wise policy of international cooperation and shared aims can cope with this problem in the future.

Author(s):  
Bryan Christiansen

Globalization today is basically accepted as the process which dismisses geographical boundaries and enables the economic integration and interdependence of national economies into the international economy through trade, foreign direct investment (FDI), migration, and capital flows. Each year the World Economic Forum (WEF) ranks 144 countries in terms of a global competitiveness index (GCI) which captures the fundamentals of an economy on a scale that ranges from 1 to 7. The GCI uses statistical data such as government debt and life expectancy obtained from a variety of internationally recognized agencies such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank to rank nations in terms of ability to compete on a global scale. The most recent GCI ranking for the current 11 states of the CIS show a declining or only marginal improvement over previous years with the exceptions of Ajerbaijan and the Russian Federation. This chapter examines the long-term effects contemporary globalization currently has on the region and provides some recommendations for future use.


2021 ◽  
Vol 79 (1) ◽  
pp. 15-23
Author(s):  
Kelly C. Bishop ◽  
Sehba Husain-Krautter ◽  
Jonathan D. Ketcham ◽  
Nicolai V. Kuminoff ◽  
Corbett Schimming

We hypothesize that analyzing individual-level secondary data with instrumental variable (IV) methods can advance knowledge of the long-term effects of air pollution on dementia. We discuss issues in measurement using secondary data and how IV estimation can overcome biases due to measurement error and unmeasured variables. We link air-quality data from the Environmental Protection Agency’s monitors with Medicare claims data to illustrate the use of secondary data to document associations. Additionally, we describe results from a previous study that uses an IV for pollution and finds that PM2.5’s effects on dementia are larger than non-causal associations.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Victor Burgeon ◽  
Julien Fouché ◽  
Sarah Garré ◽  
Ramin Heidarian-Dehkordi ◽  
Gilles Colinet ◽  
...  

<p>The amendment of biochar to soils is often considered for its potential as a climate change mitigation and adaptation tool through agriculture. Its presence in tropical agroecosystems has been reported to positively impact soil productivity whilst successfully storing C on the short and long-term. In temperate systems, recent research showed limited to no effect on productivity following recent biochar addition to soils. Its long-term effects on productivity and nutrient cycling have, however, been overlooked yet are essential before the use of biochar can be generalized.</p><p>Our study was set up in a conventionally cropped field, containing relict charcoal kiln sites used as a model for century old biochar (CoBC, ~220 years old). These sites were compared to soils amended with recently pyrolyzed biochar (YBC) and biochar free soils (REF) to study nutrient dynamics in the soil-water-plant system. Our research focused on soil chemical properties, crop nutrient uptake and soil solution nutrient concentrations. Crop plant samples were collected over three consecutive land occupations (chicory, winter wheat and a cover crop) and soil solutions gathered through the use of suctions cups inserted in different horizons of the studied Luvisol throughout the field.</p><p>Our results showed that YBC mainly influenced the soil solution composition whereas CoBC mainly impacted the total and plant available soil nutrient content. In soils with YBC, our results showed lower nitrate and potassium concentrations in subsoil horizons, suggesting a decreased leaching, and higher phosphate concentrations in topsoil horizons. With time and the oxidation of biochar particles, our results reported higher total soil N, available K and Ca in the topsoil horizon when compared to REF, whereas available P was significantly smaller. Although significant changes occurred in terms of plant available nutrient contents and soil solution nutrient concentrations, this did not transcend in variations in crop productivity between soils for neither of the studied crops. Overall, our study highlights that young or aged biochar behave as two distinct products in terms of nutrient cycling in soils. As such the sustainability of these soils differ and their management must therefore evolve with time.</p>


Author(s):  
Khaled M. Hassan ◽  
Asala M. Wafa ◽  
Manea S. Alosaimi ◽  
Kawthar A. Bokari ◽  
Mosab A. Alsobhi ◽  
...  

Stroke is a major cerebrovascular disease causes high mortality and morbidity in people around the world. Stroke is the third leading cause of death and the leading cause of adult disability. The largest country in the middle East, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), has been occupying approximately four-fifths of the Arabian Peninsula supporting a population of more than 28 million. Stroke is getting to be a quickly expanding issue and is the leading cause of illness and deaths in Saudi Arabia. It is clear that researches and studies regarding the incidence, prevalence and their sociodemographic properties of stroke is still incomplete due to lack of present studies being conducted in these specified areas. This article aims to discuss the aspect of stroke in Saudi Arabia beside the effects of modifiable and the non-modifiable risk factors from the literature published. 


2018 ◽  
Vol 118 ◽  
pp. 17-25 ◽  
Author(s):  
Siqi Zhang ◽  
Kathrin Wolf ◽  
Susanne Breitner ◽  
Florian Kronenberg ◽  
Massimo Stafoggia ◽  
...  

Politics ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 40 (3) ◽  
pp. 377-393
Author(s):  
Richard Öhrvall ◽  
Sven Oskarsson

Student mock elections are conducted in schools around the world in an effort to increase political interest and efficacy among students. There is, however, a lack of research on whether mock elections in schools enhance voter turnout in real elections. In this article, we examine whether the propensity to vote in Swedish elections is higher among young people who have previously experienced a student mock election. The analysis is based on unique administrative population-wide data on turnout in the Swedish 2010 parliamentary election and the 2009 European Parliament election. Our results show that having experienced a mock election as a student does not increase the likelihood of voting in subsequent real elections. This result holds when we study both short- and long-term effects, and when we divide our sample into different parts depending on their socio-economic status and study each part separately.


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