Integrating Ecological Impacts: Perspectives on Drought in the Upper Missouri Headwaters, Montana, United States

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 363-376
Author(s):  
Amanda E. Cravens ◽  
Jamie McEvoy ◽  
Dionne Zoanni ◽  
Shelley Crausbay ◽  
Aaron Ramirez ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Adaptive Capacity ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Solution Space ◽  
Complex Problem ◽  
Ecological Impacts ◽  
Southwestern Montana ◽  
Semistructured Interviews ◽  
Points Of View ◽  
Drought Preparedness ◽  
Available Information

AbstractDrought is a complex challenge experienced in specific locations through diverse impacts, including ecological impacts. Different professionals involved in drought preparedness and response approach the problem from different points of view, which means they may or may not recognize ecological impacts. This study examines the extent to which interviewees perceive ecological drought in the Upper Missouri Headwaters basin in southwestern Montana. Through semistructured interviews, this research investigates individuals’ perceptions of drought by analyzing how they define drought, how they describe their roles related to drought, and the extent to which they emphasize ecological impacts of drought. Results suggest that while most interviewees have an integrated understanding of drought, they tend to emphasize either ecological or nonecological impacts of drought. This focus was termed their drought orientation. Next, the analysis considers how participants understand exposure to drought. Results indicate that participants view drought as a complex problem driven by both human and natural factors. Last, the paper explores understandings of the available solution space by examining interviewees’ views on adaptive capacity, particularly factors that facilitate or hinder the ability of the Upper Missouri Headwaters region to cope with drought. Participants emphasized that adaptive capacity is both helped and hindered by institutional, cultural, and economic factors, as well as by available information and past resource management practices. Understanding how interviewees perceive the challenges of drought can shape drought preparedness and response, allowing those designing programs to better align their efforts to the perceptions of their target audience.

Ecological Impacts of Revegetation and Management Practices of Ski Slopes in Northern Finland

2009 ◽  
Vol 44 (3) ◽  
pp. 408-419 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katja Kangas ◽  
Anne Tolvanen ◽  
Tarja Kälkäjä ◽  
Pirkko Siikamäki
Keyword(s):  
Management Practices ◽  
Ecological Impacts

scholarly journals Prediction of water erosion in a watershed located in southeastern Brazil

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Guilherme Henrique Expedito Lense ◽  
Fernanda Almeida Bócoli ◽  
Rodrigo Santos Moreira ◽  
Ronaldo Luiz Mincato
Keyword(s):  
Soil Loss ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Hydroelectric Plant ◽  
Water Erosion ◽  
Southeastern Brazil ◽  
Environmental Damage ◽  
Maize Cultivation ◽  
Severe Erosion ◽  
Erosion Mitigation ◽  
Available Information

Water erosion modeling is a fast and accurate way to estimate erosion potential in watersheds. Among the models, we have the Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE) which has a simple structure, low implementation cost and can be used with readily available information, contributing to the planning of soil conservation practices. In this context, the objective of the work was to apply RUSLE to estimate water erosion in the Córrego da Laje watershed affluent directly from the reservoir of the Furnas Hydroelectric Plant, located in the south of Minas Gerais, a region of southeastern Brazil. In this region, water erosion is a serious problem that has caused the silting up of the hydroelectric reservoir and the depreciation of water quality. Soil losses were calculated in Geographic Information System based on topographic, edaphoclimatic characteristics, soil cover, and management practices. The average soil loss of the watershed was 26.80 Mg ha-1 year-1 with the predominance of highintensity erosive rates (> 15 Mg ha-1 year-1). Considering the basin use classes, sediment generation was higher in pasture areas (35.87 Mg ha-1 year-1), and in areas under maize cultivation (32.05 Mg ha-1 year-1). As areas with severe erosion are distributed throughout the watershed, a comprehensive water erosion mitigation plan should be adopted to reduce the environmental damage of the process.

scholarly journals Historic Environmental Vulnerability Evaluation of Traditional Villages Under Geological Hazards and Influencing Factors of Adaptive Capacity: A District-Level Analysis of Lishui, China

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (6) ◽  
pp. 2223 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sheng Liu ◽  
Jian Ge ◽  
Wangming Li ◽  
Ming Bai
Keyword(s):  
Emergency Management ◽  
Adaptive Capacity ◽  
Influencing Factors ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
District Level ◽  
Assessment System ◽  
Human Environment ◽  
Local Conditions ◽  
Environmental Vulnerability ◽  
The Impact

The historic environmental vulnerability of traditional villages (HEVTVs) is distinctly differentiated; however, the priority of relevant emergency management practices still lacks appropriate evaluation. This study proposes a new assessment system to quantify HEVTVs at the district level and an extended analysis of the influencing factors of adaptive capacity. This provides a basis to classify the emergency management of villages under geological hazard risks. Based on the coupled human–environment system, this research designed the assessment with three criteria, six factors, and 13 indexes from the perspective of HEVTVs. Furthermore, a demonstration test was conducted of 148 traditional villages in Lishui, China. The results showed that 64.19% of HEVTVs in Lishui were moderate or above, and that villages with very high vulnerability were mainly distributed at mid-elevation of mountains with strongly sloping terrain. In contrast, low-vulnerability villages were generally on plains at low altitudes. Furthermore, three high-vulnerability clustering groups were identified as critical improvement targets for which special zoning strategies should be proposed. Five influencing factors were found to be strongly related to the adaptive capacity, indicating a spatial variation of the impact intensity. This could be applied to streamline vulnerability optimization strategies according to local conditions.

scholarly journals Determining Solution Space Characteristics for Real-Time Strategy Games and Characterizing Winning Strategies

2011 ◽  
Vol 2011 ◽  
pp. 1-17
Author(s):  
Kurt Weissgerber ◽  
Gary B. Lamont ◽  
Brett J. Borghetti ◽  
Gilbert L. Peterson
Keyword(s):  
Real Time ◽  
A Priori ◽  
Solution Space ◽  
Complex Problem ◽  
Classification Model ◽  
Landscape Characteristics ◽  
Specific Complex ◽  
Winning Strategies ◽  
Strategic Agents ◽  
Rts Game

The underlying goal of a competing agent in a discrete real-time strategy (RTS) game is to defeat an adversary. Strategic agents or participants must define an a priori plan to maneuver their resources in order to destroy the adversary and the adversary's resources as well as secure physical regions of the environment. This a priori plan can be generated by leveraging collected historical knowledge about the environment. This knowledge is then employed in the generation of a classification model for real-time decision-making in the RTS domain. The best way to generate a classification model for a complex problem domain depends on the characteristics of the solution space. An experimental method to determine solution space (search landscape) characteristics is through analysis of historical algorithm performance for solving the specific problem. We select a deterministic search technique and a stochastic search method for a priori classification model generation. These approaches are designed, implemented, and tested for a specific complex RTS game, Bos Wars. Their performance allows us to draw various conclusions about applying a competing agent in complex search landscapes associated with RTS games.

scholarly journals Perception of Climate Change and the Adaptation Strategies and Capacities of the Rice Farmers in Kedah, Malaysia

2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 99-115 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rulia Akhtar ◽  
Muhammad Mehedi Masud ◽  
Rafia Afroz
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Adaptive Capacity ◽  
Rice Production ◽  
Adaptation Strategies ◽  
Government Support ◽  
Extension Services ◽  
Rice Farmers ◽  
Changing Climate ◽  
Government Aid ◽  
Available Information

This article attempts to understand the perception of the rice-growing farmers on the issue of climate change (CC) and identify their adaptive capacity (AC). A survey was conducted through structured questionnaires to understand farmers’ perception and adaptation strategies in response to changing climate and variability. The findings indicate that farmers are moderately adaptive to CC in the study area. The result also revealed that the main barriers are lack of funds and government support available information to CC. Farmers with higher AC can produce greater amount of rice. Rice producers should be enabled through improved extension services, government aid, such as grants, training for better level of adaptability, to help them achieve higher rice production.

scholarly journals Endemics Versus Newcomers: The Ladybird Beetle (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae) Fauna of Gran Canaria

Insects ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (9) ◽  
pp. 641
Author(s):  
Jerzy Romanowski ◽  
Piotr Ceryngier ◽  
Jaroslav Vĕtrovec ◽  
Marta Piotrowska ◽  
Karol Szawaryn
Keyword(s):  
New Species ◽  
Species Composition ◽  
Canary Islands ◽  
Field Survey ◽  
Gran Canaria ◽  
Ladybird Beetle ◽  
Ladybird Beetles ◽  
Points Of View ◽  
Available Information ◽  
Canarian Archipelago

Research on the fauna of beetles (Coleoptera) of the Canary Islands has a long tradition, which enables tracking changes in their species composition and arrival of new species. In this paper, we provide new faunistic data on the ladybird beetles (Coccinellidae) recorded on Gran Canaria, one of the central islands of the archipelago, and then analyze available information on the Gran Canarian ladybird fauna from geographical and historical points of view. The field survey resulted in recording 1402 ladybird individuals belonging to 30 species. Ten of these species were new to Gran Canaria and three of them, Chilocorus bipustulatus (Linnaeus), Nephus bisignatus (Boheman), and Nephus ulbrichi Fürsch, had not previously been reported to be on any of the islands of the Canarian archipelago. Tetrabrachys tinerfensis (Hodgson) is synonymized with T. deserticola (Wollaston). Our survey and literature reports allowed us to recognize 42 species of Coccinellidae so far recorded on Gran Canaria. Seventeen of them (40%) belonged to the Canarian endemic and subendemic species, and 21 (50%) were newcomers and presumed newcomers. Colonization of Gran Canaria and other islands of the archipelago by ladybird species of various origins seems to be a frequent phenomenon that may pose a threat to the unique communities of the native Canarian species.

scholarly journals Automated Exploration of Design Solution Space Applying the Generative Design Approach

2019 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 1085-1094 ◽  
Author(s):  
Haibing Li ◽  
Roland Lachmayer
Keyword(s):  
Solution Space ◽  
Complex Problem ◽  
Design Approach ◽  
Design Solution ◽  
Generative Design ◽  
Design Elements ◽  
Design Requirements ◽  
Design Solutions ◽  
Feasible Solutions

AbstractDesign is a complex problem-solving activity that transforms design restrictions and requirements into a set of constraints and explores the feasible solutions to satisfy those constraints. However, design solutions generated by traditional modeling approaches are hardly to deal with such constraints, particularly for the exploration of the possible design solution space to enhance the quality of the design outputs and confront the evolving design requirements. In this regard, the Generative Design Approach (GDA) is considered as an efficient method to explore a large design solution space by transforming the design problem into a configuration problem. Fundamentally, GDA explores and stores all the necessary knowledge through a design skeleton and a set of design elements. Thus, design solution space is easily explored by configuring variable design elements via iterative design processes. Further, the output model is not only a design solution but also a design concept that designers could manipulate to explore unconsidered design configurations. Finally, a crank creation as a running example confirmed that GDA provides concrete aids to enhance the diversity of design solutions.

scholarly journals Factors affecting post-fire regeneration after coppicing of cork oak (Quercus suber) trees in northeastern Algeria

2020 ◽  
Vol 50 (4) ◽  
pp. 371-379
Author(s):  
Salah Eddine Roula ◽  
Rachid T. Bouhraoua ◽  
Filipe X. Catry
Keyword(s):  
Tree Mortality ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Negative Impact ◽  
Quercus Suber ◽  
Grazing Pressure ◽  
Cork Oak ◽  
Ecological Impacts ◽  
Factors Affecting ◽  
Growing Seasons ◽  
Oak Trees

Wildfires may have serious and long-lasting impacts in Mediterranean Basin oak forests. Although cork oak (Quercus suber L.) is usually considered a highly fire-resistant tree species, post-fire recovery is not guaranteed. We assessed the mortality and regeneration of 729 cork oak trees that burned and were cut in six sites with the objective of identifying the main factors affecting the short- to medium-term post-fire recovery. We used linear mixed models to investigate potential relationships among tree stump status at the end of the second and fifth growing seasons and several tree- and site-level variables. Overall tree mortality in the second year was 44% and was negatively affected by bark thickness and positively affected by root exposure, trunk injuries, and diameter, in decreasing order of importance. Between the second and fifth years, mortality increased to 53%, but this increase was only observed in sites with high grazing pressure. Grazing also had a strong negative impact on the growth of basal resprouts, thereby compromising tree recovery. The results give useful information on the need for application of adequate forest management practices (particularly avoiding debarking injuries, soil erosion, and grazing pressure) to increase the resilience of these ecosystems and reduce the negative economic and ecological impacts of wildfires.

scholarly journals Eye-Movements during Unit-Task Execution in a Complex Problem-Solving Situation

2000 ◽  
Vol 44 (11) ◽  
pp. 378-381 ◽  
Author(s):  
Myeong-Ho Sohn ◽  
Scott A. Douglass ◽  
Mon-Chu Chen ◽  
John R. Anderson
Keyword(s):  
Eye Movements ◽  
Problem Solving ◽  
Task Analysis ◽  
Cognitive Process ◽  
Complex Problem ◽  
Complex Problem Solving ◽  
Task Execution ◽  
Eye Fixations ◽  
Available Information ◽  
Selection Of

We have studied the performance of subjects as they acquired skill in the Georgia Tech Aegis Simulation Program (GT-ASP) with a particular focus on their eye movements. Our task analysis showed that the GT-ASP breaks down into the selection of unit tasks and the execution of these unit tasks. We focused on the Identification unit-task. Our results showed that most of the practice benefit in Identification came from increasing efficiency during cognitive process, in which people make inferences and decisions on the basis of the currently available information. We also analyzed eye fixations when people perform this unit-task. Participants showed different fixation patterns, depending on what portion of the unit-task was being executed. Fluency in a dynamic complex problem-solving seems to be achieved by efficiency in cognitive as well as perceptual processes.

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