Factors contributory to fire occurrences in two populated areas in the American southwest

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Susanna T.Y. Tong ◽  
Shitian Wan ◽  
Yuhe Gao
Keyword(s):  
Population Growth ◽  
Fire Regimes ◽  
American Southwest ◽  
Arid Areas ◽  
Vegetative Cover ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Clark County ◽  
Temporal Relationships ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Semi Arid

PurposeThis study aims to further understand the factors contributory to fire occurrences in two semi-arid regions in the American Southwest, Clark County in Nevada and Maricopa and Pinal Counties in Arizona.Design/methodology/approachStatistical and geographic information system analyses were employed to examine the spatial and temporal relationships of various natural and human-caused factors with fire incidences.FindingsAngström fire danger index, average amount of rainfall one month prior, extent of forests and grasslands, and proximities to secondary roads and population centers have significant relationships with fire events.Research limitations/implicationsThe importance of the factors contributory to fire occurrence is site-specific even in areas with similar climatic regimes and varies among different geographic regions; as such, researchers will need to conduct specific investigation of each study area.Practical implicationsThe findings of this study can be instrumental in facilitating fire managers to derive more informed strategies in fire prevention and management.Originality/valueWhile there are many studies on fire, most of them are conducted in wet regions with a lot of vegetative cover; not much work is done on arid areas. This paper considered and compared the spatial and temporal relationships of a wide range of natural and human-caused factors with fire events in two semi-arid areas. The intent was to assess the relative importance of these factors in areas even with similar climatic regimes. As our world is facing unprecedented changes in terms of climate and population growth, it is paramount to have an enhanced understanding of the impacts of these changes on fire regimes. The study areas are hot and dry, and they are located in the wildland–urban interfaces with rapid population growth and urbanization; as such, the research findings may contribute to existing literature.

scholarly journals Perceptions of ecosystem services provision performance in the face of climate change among communities in Bobirwa sub-district, Botswana

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 265-288 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ephias Mugari ◽  
Hillary Masundire ◽  
Maitseo Bolaane ◽  
Mark New
Keyword(s):  
Ecosystem Services ◽  
Ecosystem Service ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Decision Makers ◽  
Arid Areas ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Community Values ◽  
Local Initiatives ◽  
Local Ecosystem ◽  
Semi Arid

PurposeBetween 2006 and 2016, local communities in semi-arid Bobirwa sub-district in the Limpopo Basin part of Botswana had endured notable fluctuations in the delivery of critical ecosystem services. These changes have been coupled with adverse effects on local people’s livelihood options and well-being. However, a few such studies have focussed on the semi-arid to arid landscapes. This study therefore aims to provide recent knowledge and evidence of consequences of environmental change on semi-arid arid landscapes and communities.MethodologyTo examine these recent changes in key ecosystem services, the authors conducted six participatory mapping processes, eight key informant interviews and several rapid scoping appraisals in three study villages. The analyses were centred on changes in seasonal quantities, seasonality, condition of ecosystem service sites, distance to ecosystem service sites and total area providing these services. Drivers of change in the delivery of key ecosystem services and the associated adverse impacts on human well-being of these recent changes in bundles of ecosystem services delivered were also analyzed.FindingsResults show that adverse weather conditions, drought frequency, changes in land-use and/or land-cover together with unsustainable harvesting because of human influx on local resources have intensified in the past decade. There was circumstantial evidence that these drivers have resulted in adverse changes in quantities and seasonality of key ecosystem services such as edible Mopane caterpillars, natural pastures, wild fruits and cultivated crops. Similarly, distance to, condition and total area of sites providing some of the key ecosystem services such as firewood and natural pastures changed adversely. These adverse changes in the key ecosystem services were shown to increasingly threaten local livelihoods and human well-being.Research limitations/implicationsThis paper discusses the importance of engaging rural communities in semi-arid areas in a participatory manner and how such information can provide baseline information for further research. The paper also shows the utility of such processes and information toward integrating community values and knowledge into decisions regarding the management and utilization of local ecosystem services under a changing climate in data-poor regions such as the Bobirwa sub-district of Botswana. However, the extent to which this is possible depends on the decision makers’ willingness to support local initiatives through existing government structures and programmes.Originality/valueThis study shows the importance of engaging communities in a participatory manner to understand changes in local ecosystem services considering their unique connection with the natural environment. This is a critical step for decision makers toward integrating community values in the management and utilization of ecosystem services under a changing climate as well as informing more sustainable adaptive responses in semi-arid areas. However, the extent to which decision makers can integrate such findings to inform more sustainable responses to declining capacity of local ecosystems in semi-arid areas depends on how they value the bottom-up approach of gaining local knowledge as well as their willingness to support local initiatives through existing government structures and programmes.

Environmental control of germination and dormancy of seeds of two cytotypes of Lygeum spartum L., a perennial grass of semi-arid and arid areas in Algeria

2010 ◽  
Vol 36 (1) ◽  
pp. 89-98 ◽  
Author(s):  
Abderazak Djabeur ◽  
Meriem Kaid-Harche ◽  
Daniel Côme ◽  
Françoise Corbineau
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Control ◽  
Perennial Grass ◽  
Arid Areas ◽  
Semi Arid

Backpacking with the Saints

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Belden C. Lane
Keyword(s):  
American Southwest ◽  
Spiritual Practice ◽  
Spiritual Journey ◽  
Human Response ◽  
John Muir ◽  
Hildegard Of Bingen ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Thich Nhat Hanh ◽  
In The Wild ◽  
John Of The Cross

Carrying only basic camping equipment and a collection of the world's great spiritual writings, Belden C. Lane embarks on solitary spiritual treks through the Ozarks and across the American Southwest. For companions, he has only such teachers as Rumi, John of the Cross, Hildegard of Bingen, Dag Hammarskjöld, and Thomas Merton, and as he walks, he engages their writings with the natural wonders he encounters--Bell Mountain Wilderness with Søren Kierkegaard, Moonshine Hollow with Thich Nhat Hanh--demonstrating how being alone in the wild opens a rare view onto one's interior landscape, and how the saints' writings reveal the divine in nature. The discipline of backpacking, Lane shows, is a metaphor for a spiritual journey. Just as the wilderness offered revelations to the early Desert Christians, backpacking hones crucial spiritual skills: paying attention, traveling light, practicing silence, and exercising wonder. Lane engages the practice not only with a wide range of spiritual writings--Celtic, Catholic, Protestant, Buddhist, Hindu, and Sufi Muslim--but with the fascination of other lovers of the backcountry, from John Muir and Ed Abbey to Bill Plotkin and Cheryl Strayed. In this intimate and down-to-earth narrative, backpacking is shown to be a spiritual practice that allows the discovery of God amidst the beauty and unexpected terrors of nature. Adoration, Lane suggests, is the most appropriate human response to what we cannot explain, but have nonetheless learned to love. An enchanting narrative for Christians of all denominations, Backpacking with the Saints is an inspiring exploration of how solitude, simplicity, and mindfulness are illuminated and encouraged by the discipline of backcountry wandering, and of how the wilderness itself becomes a way of knowing-an ecology of the soul.

scholarly journals Transfer of Plasmid DNA to Clinical Coagulase-Negative Staphylococcal Pathogens by Using a Unique Bacteriophage

2015 ◽  
Vol 81 (7) ◽  
pp. 2481-2488 ◽  
Author(s):  
Volker Winstel ◽  
Petra Kühner ◽  
Bernhard Krismer ◽  
Andreas Peschel ◽  
Holger Rohde
Keyword(s):  
Plasmid Dna ◽  
Genetic Manipulation ◽  
Current Knowledge ◽  
Virulence Determinants ◽  
Coagulase Negative Staphylococci ◽  
Reliable Technique ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Research Activities ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Genetic Barriers

ABSTRACTGenetic manipulation of emerging bacterial pathogens, such as coagulase-negative staphylococci (CoNS), is a major hurdle in clinical and basic microbiological research. Strong genetic barriers, such as restriction modification systems or clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR), usually interfere with available techniques for DNA transformation and therefore complicate manipulation of CoNS or render it impossible. Thus, current knowledge of pathogenicity and virulence determinants of CoNS is very limited. Here, a rapid, efficient, and highly reliable technique is presented to transfer plasmid DNA essential for genetic engineering to important CoNS pathogens from a uniqueStaphylococcus aureusstrain via a specificS. aureusbacteriophage, Φ187. Even strains refractory to electroporation can be transduced by this technique once donor and recipient strains share similar Φ187 receptor properties. As a proof of principle, this technique was used to delete the alternative transcription factor sigma B (SigB) via allelic replacement in nasal and clinicalStaphylococcus epidermidisisolates at high efficiencies. The described approach will allow the genetic manipulation of a wide range of CoNS pathogens and might inspire research activities to manipulate other important pathogens in a similar fashion.

scholarly journals Use of Proteins Identified through a Functional Genomic Screen To Develop a Protein Subunit Vaccine That Provides Significant Protection against Virulent Streptococcus suis in Pigs

2017 ◽  
Vol 86 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Susan L. Brockmeier ◽  
Crystal L. Loving ◽  
Tracy L. Nicholson ◽  
Jinhong Wang ◽  
Sarah E. Peters ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Immune Response ◽  
Vaccine Trial ◽  
Streptococcus Suis ◽  
Protein Subunit ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Degree Of Protection ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Associated Proteins ◽  
Clinical Protection ◽  
Cellular Immune

ABSTRACT Streptococcus suis is a bacterium that is commonly carried in the respiratory tract and that is also one of the most important invasive pathogens of swine, commonly causing meningitis, arthritis, and septicemia. Due to the existence of many serotypes and a wide range of immune evasion capabilities, efficacious vaccines are not readily available. The selection of S. suis protein candidates for inclusion in a vaccine was accomplished by identifying fitness genes through a functional genomics screen and selecting conserved predicted surface-associated proteins. Five candidate proteins were selected for evaluation in a vaccine trial and administered both intranasally and intramuscularly with one of two different adjuvant formulations. Clinical protection was evaluated by subsequent intranasal challenge with virulent S. suis . While subunit vaccination with the S. suis proteins induced IgG antibodies to each individual protein and a cellular immune response to the pool of proteins and provided substantial protection from challenge with virulent S. suis , the immune response elicited and the degree of protection were dependent on the parenteral adjuvant given. Subunit vaccination induced IgG reactive against different S. suis serotypes, indicating a potential for cross protection.

Loosely coupled SaltMod for simulating groundwater and salt dynamics under well-canal conjunctive irrigation in semi-arid areas

2017 ◽  
Vol 192 ◽  
pp. 209-220 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wei Mao ◽  
Jinzhong Yang ◽  
Yan Zhu ◽  
Ming Ye ◽  
Jingwei Wu
Keyword(s):  
Arid Areas ◽  
Loosely Coupled ◽  
Semi Arid

The role of organizational culture in the knowledge management process

2015 ◽  
Vol 19 (3) ◽  
pp. 433-455 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christina Ling-hsing Chang ◽  
Tung-Ching Lin
Keyword(s):  
Organizational Culture ◽  
Knowledge Management ◽  
Customer Service ◽  
Survey Methodology ◽  
Cultural Dimensions ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Knowledge Resources ◽  
Positive Effects ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
The Individual

Purpose – The purpose of the study is to focus on the enhancement of knowledge management (KM) performance and the relationship between organizational culture and KM process intention of individuals because of the diversity of organizational cultures (which include results-oriented, tightly controlled, job-oriented, closed system and professional-oriented cultures). Knowledge is a primary resource in organizations. If firms are able to effectively manage their knowledge resources, then a wide range of benefits can be reaped such as improved corporate efficiency, effectiveness, innovation and customer service. Design/methodology/approach – The survey methodology, which has the ability to enhance generalization of results (Dooley, 2001), was used to collect the data utilized in the testing of the research hypotheses. Findings – Results- and job-oriented cultures have positive effects on employee intention in the KM process (creation, storage, transfer and application), whereas a tightly controlled culture has negative effects. Research limitations/implications – However, it would have been better to use a longitudinal study to collect useful long-term data to understand how the KM process would be influenced when organizational culture dimensions are changed through/by management. This is the first limitation of this study. According to Mason and Pauleen (2003), KM culture is a powerful predictor of individual knowledge-sharing behavior, which is not included in this study. Thus, this is the second limitation of this paper. Moreover, national culture could be an important issue in the KM process (Jacks et al., 2012), which is the third limitation of this paper for not comprising it. Practical implications – In researchers’ point of view, results- and job-oriented cultures have positive effects, whereas a tightly controlled culture has a negative effect on the KM process intention of the individual. These findings provide evidences that challenge the perspective of Kayworth and Leidner (2003) on this issue. As for practitioners, management has a direction to modify their organizational culture to improve the performance of KM process. Social implications – Both behavioral and value perspectives of the organizational cultural dimensions (results-oriented, tightly control, job-oriented, sociability, solidarity, need for achievement and democracy) should be examined to ascertain their effects firstly on KM culture and then on the KM process intention of the individual. It is hoped that the current study will spawn future investigations that lead to the development of an integrated model which includes organizational culture, KM culture and the KM process intention of the individual. Originality/value – The results-oriented, loosely controlled and job-oriented cultures will improve the effectiveness of the KM process and will also increase employees’ satisfaction and willingness to stay with the organization.

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