scholarly journals Damsels in distress – seasons, habitat structure and water pollution changes damselfly diversity and assemblage in urban wetlands

2016 ◽  
Vol 66 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 305-319 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pankaj Koparde

Odonates are considered to be good ecological indicators, hence, they are used in biological assessment of habitat quality. However, species responses may vary spatiotemporally and therefore, it is useful to establish species-habitat relationships at a regional level. To test if tropical urban odonates respond to seasons, and to explore species-habitat relationships with an emphasis on water pollution, I studied six wetlands in the city of Pune for a year. I also investigated whether combining data on dragonflies and damselflies, as is often done in many studies, skews the results. I recorded seasons, water pollution and habitat attributes as predictors of the odonate diversity and assemblage. I analyzed the data on dragonflies, damselflies and odonates (dragonfly-damselfly combined) separately for seasonal variation, and species-habitat relationships. I used multiple regression and canonical correspondence analyses. Forty-four species were recorded during the study. No seasonal variation was detected, except for damselflies, which showed an increase in the diversity and species number post-monsoon. Multiple regression analysis showed that damselfly and dragonfly diversity varied as a function of season and water pollution, and monsoon respectively. In pre-monsoon, damselfly diversity marginally increased with pollution. Both the analyses suggest that combining data on dragonflies and damselflies may skew the end results. Therefore, I recommend further intensive and long-term research using accurately sampled habitat and pollution attributes, as well as habitat restoration through conserving urban green spaces and promoting gardens with streams and ponds.

2021 ◽  
Vol 25 (2) ◽  
pp. 73-80
Author(s):  
A.Yu. Sapelin ◽  

The article presents the results of long-term surveys of urban green spaces (Moscow) with the allocation of rare tree species. We consider rare tree species to be those that can be placed as points on the city map and can be counted individually depending on the number of specimens presented. This study did not take into account rare specimens available in arboretums, Botanical gardens, and other scientific collections in the city, but only those that are available in public places. Private gardens were also not considered, but only those that have free access to public spaces were considered. After identifying rare species, their sanitary and aesthetic condition was determined and conclusions were made about the prospects for their use in other landscaping objects.


2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (2) ◽  
pp. 66-73
Author(s):  
R. D. Oktyabrskiy

The article is devoted to the justification of the need to reduce the population density in the residential development of cities. The analysis of vulnerability of the urban population from threats of emergency situations of peace and war time, and also an assessment of provision of the city by a road network is given. Proposals have been formulated to reduce the vulnerability of the urban population in the long term and to eliminate traffic congestion and congestion — jams.


2015 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-12
Author(s):  
Sarah Hackett

Drawing upon a collection of oral history interviews, this paper offers an insight into entrepreneurial and residential patterns and behaviour amongst Turkish Muslims in the German city of Bremen. The academic literature has traditionally argued that Turkish migrants in Germany have been pushed into self-employment, low-quality housing and segregated neighbourhoods as a result of discrimination, and poor employment and housing opportunities. Yet the interviews reveal the extent to which Bremen’s Turkish Muslims’ performances and experiences have overwhelmingly been the consequences of personal choices and ambitions. For many of the city’s Turkish Muslim entrepreneurs, self-employment had been a long-term objective, and they have succeeded in establishing and running their businesses in the manner they choose with regards to location and clientele, for example. Similarly, interviewees stressed the way in which they were able to shape their housing experiences by opting which districts of the city to live in and by purchasing property. On the whole, they perceive their entrepreneurial and residential practices as both consequences and mediums of success, integration and a loyalty to the city of Bremen. The findings are contextualised within the wider debate regarding the long-term legacy of Germany’s post-war guest-worker system and its position as a “country of immigration”.


1984 ◽  
Vol 16 (5-7) ◽  
pp. 359-373 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anne R Henderson

The sublittoral macrobenthic invertebrate populations of the Upper Clyde Estuary are described. The estuary has a long history of organic pollution. The long term changes in species composition, faunal density and dominance patterns between 1974 and 1980 are presented. The fauna is dominated by brackish, pollution tolerant oligochaetes and polychaetes. Fluctuations in populations can be related to both seasonal variation in environmental conditions and long term improvements in water quality through a reduction in pollution loading to the estuary.


Author(s):  
Karen Ahlquist

This chapter charts how canonic repertories evolved in very different forms in New York City during the nineteenth century. The unstable succession of entrepreneurial touring troupes that visited the city adapted both repertory and individual pieces to the audience’s taste, from which there emerged a major theater, the Metropolitan Opera, offering a mix of German, Italian, and French works. The stable repertory in place there by 1910 resembles to a considerable extent that performed in the same theater today. Indeed, all of the twenty-five operas most often performed between 1883 and 2015 at the Metropolitan Opera were written before World War I. The repertory may seem haphazard in its diversity, but that very condition proved to be its strength in the long term. This chapter is paired with Benjamin Walton’s “Canons of real and imagined opera: Buenos Aires and Montevideo, 1810–1860.”


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (5) ◽  
pp. 949
Author(s):  
Salman Qureshi ◽  
Saman Nadizadeh Shorabeh ◽  
Najmeh Neysani Samany ◽  
Foad Minaei ◽  
Mehdi Homaee ◽  
...  

Due to irregular and uncontrolled expansion of cities in developing countries, currently operational landfill sites cannot be used in the long-term, as people will be living in proximity to these sites and be exposed to unhygienic circumstances. Hence, this study aims at proposing an integrated approach for determining suitable locations for landfills while considering their physical expansion. The proposed approach utilizes the fuzzy analytical hierarchy process (FAHP) to weigh the sets of identified landfill location criteria. Furthermore, the weighted linear combination (WLC) approach was applied for the elicitation of the proper primary locations. Finally, the support vector machine (SVM) and cellular automation-based Markov chain method were used to predict urban growth. To demonstrate the applicability of the developed approach, it was applied to a case study, namely the city of Mashhad in Iran, where suitable sites for landfills were identified considering the urban growth in different geographical directions for this city by 2048. The proposed approach could be of use for policymakers, urban planners, and other decision-makers to minimize uncertainty arising from long-term resource allocation.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (14) ◽  
pp. 7533
Author(s):  
Jakub Bil ◽  
Bartłomiej Buława ◽  
Jakub Świerzawski

The article describes the risks for the mental health and wellbeing of urban-dwellers in relation to changes in the spatial structure of a city that could be caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. A year of lockdown has changed the way of life in the city and negated its principal function as a place of various meetings and social interactions. The danger of long-term isolation and being cut-off from an urban lifestyle is not only a challenge facing individuals, but it also creates threats on various collective levels. Hindered interpersonal relations, stress, and the fear of another person lower the quality of life and may contribute to the development of mental diseases. Out of fear against coronavirus, part of the society has sought safety by moving out of the densely populated city centres. The dangerous results of these phenomena are shown by research based on the newest literature regarding the influence of COVID-19 and the lockdown on mental health, urban planning, and the long-term spatial effects of the pandemic such as the urban sprawl. The breakdown of the spatial structure, the loosening of the urban tissue, and urban sprawl are going to increase anthropopressure, inhibit access to mental health treatment, and will even further contribute to the isolation of part of the society. In addition, research has shown that urban structure loosening as a kind of distancing is not an effective method in the fight against the SARS-COV pandemic. Creating dense and effective cities through the appropriate management of development during and after the pandemic may be a key element that will facilitate the prevention of mental health deterioration and wellbeing. It is also the only possibility to achieve the selected Sustainable Development Goals, which as of today are under threat.


Forests ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 17 ◽  
Author(s):  
Justyna Jaworek-Jakubska ◽  
Maciej Filipiak ◽  
Adam Michalski ◽  
Anna Napierała-Filipiak

Knowledge about urban forests in Poland is still limited, as it is primarily based on aggregate, formal data relating to the general area, ignoring the spatial dimension and informal green areas. This article describes and analyses spatio-temporal changes in the actual urban forest resources in Wrocław in 1944–2017, which covers the first period of the city’s rebuilding after its destruction during World War II and its development during the nationalised, centrally-planned socialist economy, as well as the second period of intensive and only partly controlled growth under conditions of market economy. The study is based on current and historical orthophotomaps, which were confronted with cartographic data, as well as planning documents. We found that between 1944 and 2017, the percentage contribution of informal woodlands increased tenfold (from 0.5 to 4.9% of the present total area of the city). The area occupied by such forests has grown particularly during the most recent years of the city’s intensive development. However, the forests have been increasingly fragmented. During the first period, new forest areas were also created in the immediate vicinity of the city centre, while during the second one, only in its peripheral sections. The post-war plans regarding the urban green spaces (UGS), including the current plan, are very conservative in nature. On the one hand, this means no interference with the oldest, biggest, and most valuable forest complexes, but on the other hand, insufficient consideration of the intensive built-up area expansion on former agriculture areas. Only to a limited extent did the above-mentioned plans take into account the informal woodlands, which provide an opportunity for strengthening the functional connectivity of landscape.


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