scholarly journals Population dynamics and types of habitats at breeding sites of raptors (Falconiformes) of the Donetsk Ridge along a gradient of anthropogenic disturbance

2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 464-469 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. O. Vysochyn
Keyword(s):  
Birds Of Prey ◽  
Simultaneous Increase ◽  
Forest Steppe ◽  
Home Ranges ◽  
Positive Trend ◽  
Natural Ecosystems ◽  
Anthropogenic Transformation ◽  
General Decline ◽  
The Impact

Studies of diurnal birds of prey may be quite indicative of the state of natural ecosystems and of the level of impact of human-induced factors on their functions. The aim of this work was to analyse the long-term dynamics of the raptor populations within the Donetsk Ridge, to identify which habitat or habitat mosaics are preferred in nesting territories and home ranges depending on the level of anthropogenic transformation of the environment. The studies were conducted in 1999–2019. The total length of the walking routes was 2,864 km while a distance of 1,548 km was covered by car routes. 306 nests of the birds of prey or those potentially belonging to the members of this group were found and re-examined. The long-term dynamics of the population of Falconiformes was characterized by a general decline in the numbers of most species. There was a loss of representatives of the boreal and desert-steppe faunistic complexes and simultaneous increase in the participation of representatives of the nemoral and forest steppe faunistic complexes associated with the floodplain forests of the Siversky Donets River valley and the bayrak oak forests of the central part of the Donetsk Ridge. The impact of the anthropogenic factor on the dynamics of the population of the birds of prey is ambiguous. For the species which are sensitive to changes in the environment, such as the European Honey Buzzard, the Northern Goshawk, the Merlin and the Red-footed Falcon, a general negative dynamics of the populations is observed. The positive trend in the numbers of the Long-legged Buzzard and the Saker Falcon is linked to the expansion of the both species into the territory of the Donetsk Ridge. The habitat structure of the nesting territories is quite diverse in different species of diurnal birds of prey. This is especially noticeable in the ratio of forest and grassland habitats. Based on the selectivity index, we found that the vast majority of the raptors of the Donetsk Ridge prefer temperate broad-leaved forests when choosing nesting territories. The structure of the home ranges of all forest species of diurnal birds of prey not only depends on the optimal ratio of open and forested areas but on the presence of ecotones of considerable length which originated in the complex mosaics of habitat complexes. The stable number of dendrophiles and the disappearance (decrease in number) of sclerophiles and campophiles indicates the least anthropogenic transformation of forest habitats and a radical transformation of open spaces – meadows and steppes. The most successful were eurytopic birds of prey and species with pronounced anthropotolerance.

Impacts of national parks on tourism: a case study from a prominent alpine national park

2009 ◽  
pp. 103-120
Author(s):  
Michael Getzner
Keyword(s):  
Development Strategy ◽  
National Parks ◽  
National Park ◽  
Tourism Development ◽  
Positive Trend ◽  
The Difference ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Overnight Stays

-National parks and other categories of protected areas are often assumed to enhance regional economic development due to park tourism. The current study attempts to estimate the impact of the Hohe Tauern national park (Austria) on tourism by exploring whether and to what extent the national park may have had an influence on tourism development. For most national park communities, the results suggest that the establishment of the national park had some impact by enforcing an already positive trend or by weakening or reversing a negative trend of tourism. However, breakpoint tests exhibit turning points up to several years after the establishment of the park, indicating that taking a national park as the basis for tourism development is a medium to long term development strategy. In the short term, the impact of a national park on tourism is not measurable. Tourism increased by 1 to 3% annually after the breakpoint, indicating that the establishment of a national park has to be incorporated into the tourism and development strategy of a region right from the start. The causal relationship between the establishment of the national park and tourism development may be weak, in particular in communities where the difference between the actual and the forecast numbers of overnight stays is small. Marketing national park tourism and building up a brand or distinctive label may therefore contribute to regional development particularly in the long term.Key words: Tourism, national park, protected area, time series, stationarity, breakpoint test, ARIMA.JEL classifications: R110, L830, C220.Parole chiave: Turismo, parco nazionale, area protetta, serie temporale, stazionarietŕ, test di breakpoint, ARIMA.

scholarly journals Long-Term Changes in Hydrological Regime of the Lakes Usma, Burtnieks and Rāzna

2012 ◽  
Vol 66 (6) ◽  
pp. 261-270
Author(s):  
Elga Apsīte ◽  
Mārtiņš Kriķītis ◽  
Inese Latkovska ◽  
Andrejs Zubaničs
Keyword(s):  
Water Level ◽  
Global Climate ◽  
Hydrological Regime ◽  
Positive Trend ◽  
Global Climate Warming ◽  
Regional Features ◽  
Natural Factors ◽  
Ice Regime ◽  
The Impact

Changes in the hydrological regime of the lakes of Latvia have been caused by several natural and human factors. This publication summarises the results of research on the long-term and seasonal changes in the water level, and thermal and ice regimes of the three biggest lakes of Latvia (Usma, Burtnieks, and Râzna) and their regional features in the period from 1926 to 2002. The levels of the lakes Usma and Râzna have been controlled, but it can be considered that changes of the water level in Lake Burtnieks have been due to the impact of natural factors during the period from 1947 to 2002. Global climate warming has caused considerable changes in the hydrological regime of the lakes during the last decades, as the water level and temperature have increased and the number of days with ice cover and the thickness of ice have decreased. A positive trend in the freezing data and statistically reliable negative trend for the ice break-up date were observed for all the lakes. Lake Usma is located in the western part of Latvia, therefore, its hydrological regime, in particular, the thermal and ice regime, differs from those of lakes Burtnieks and Râzna which are located in the northern and eastern part of Latvia, respectively.

scholarly journals Rare spider species (Araneae) of protected steppe areas of the Kharkiv Region (Ukraine)

2019 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Steppe Zone ◽  
Forest Steppe ◽  
Natural Ecosystems ◽  
Habitat Specificity ◽  
Southern Boundary ◽  
Anthropogenic Transformation ◽  
Geographic Ranges ◽  
Spider Species ◽  
Sparse Vegetation ◽  
Nature Park

A total of 426 spider species is known in the fauna of the Kharkiv Region. Of these, 32 species may be considered rare and/or vulnarable. The largest steppe areas in the Kharkiv Region are protected in the National Nature Park “Dvorichanskyi” and the Regional Landscape Park “Velykoburlutskyi Steppe”. The former hosts 11 rare spider species, the latter 13 species, and eight species occur in both Parks. For the species Lathys heterophthalma, Trachyzelotes lyonneti, Russocampus polchaninovaе, and Euryopis laeta it is the only valid record from Ukraine; for Pardosa maisa, Dipoena coracina, and Talavera aperta, maximun two or three localities are known. Titanoeca veteranica and Altella hungarica are the new records to the Kharkiv Region. Two species are extremely rare, Altella hungarica has been found in only seven localities in Europe, and Russocampus polchaninovae in four localities. Northern boundaries of the geographic ranges of Civizelotes pygmaeus, Gnaphosa dolosa, Xysticus marmoratus, X. mongolicus, and the southern boundary of Gnaphosa lugubris run through the Kharkiv Region. On the edges of their areas, these species become habitat specialists and occur only in steppes and/or dry meadows. Xyticus mongolicus inhabits sandy and chalky steppes with sparse vegetation. Gnaphosa taurica has high ecological plasticity in the steppe zone, while in the forest-steppe, it is limited with chalk and limestone outcrops. Some species like Gnaphosa lugubris, G. licenti, G. taurica, Zora pardalis and Eresus kollari, were abundant in our samplings while 19 species were found as singletons. G. taurica, and E. kollari preferred chalky slopes, G. licenti both chalky slopes and top of a southern ungrazed slope, G. lugubris dominated on all slopes in the Velykoburlutskyi Steppe, while Z. pardalis was the most abundant in ungrazed gully bottoms in both Parks. Being not numerous, Altella hungarica, Euryopis laeta, Civizelotes pygmaeus and Drassyllus vinealis occurred annually in the same habitats that may indicate stability of their populations. Given their habitat specificity, even numerous species became vulnerable under the threat of anthropogenic transformation of natural ecosystems. The only way to protect them is to preserve their habitats.

scholarly journals Long-term variability of solar irradiance and its implications for photovoltaic power in West Africa

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ina Neher ◽  
Susanne Crewell ◽  
Stefanie Meilinger ◽  
Uwe Pfeifroth ◽  
Jörg Trentmann
Keyword(s):  
West Africa ◽  
Solar Irradiance ◽  
Dry Season ◽  
Negative Trend ◽  
Annual Data ◽  
Positive Trend ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Data Record ◽  
The Impact

<p><span><span>West Africa is one of the least developed regions in the world regarding the energy availability and energy security. Located close to the equator West Africa receives high amounts of global horizontal irradiance (GHI). Thus, solar power and especially photovoltaic (PV) systems seem to be a promising solution to provide electricity with low environmental impact. To plan and to dimension a PV power system climatological data for global horizontal irradiance (GHI) and its variability need to be taken into account. However, ground based measurements of irradiances are not available continuously and cover only a few discrete locations.</span></span></p><p><span><span>Data records of surface irradiance based on satellite measurements have the advantage of covering wide spatial regions and being available over long time periods. The European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (EUMETSAT) Satellite Application Facility on Climate Monitoring (CM SAF) provides the Surface Solar Radiation Data Set-Heliosat, Edition 2.1 (SARAH-2.1), a 35 year long climate data record in an half hourly resolution, covering the whole of Africa and Europe.<br></span></span></p><p><span><span>In this study, the SARAH-2.1 data record (1983-2017) is used to analyze the impact of 35 years atmospheric variability and trend on GHI and PV yields over West Africa (defined as the region from 3°N to 20°N and 20°W to 16°E). The trend and the variability of solar irradiance is analyzed separately for the wet and dry season as well as for annual data. Furthermore, a simplified model provides high-resolution potential PV yields. </span></span></p><p><span><span>According to the SARAH-2.1 data record, solar irradiance is largest (with up to 300 W/m 2 daily average) in the Sahara and the Sahel zone with a positive trend (up to 5 W/m</span></span><sup><span><span>2</span></span></sup><span><span>/decade). Whereas, the solar irradiance is lower in southern West Africa with a negative trend (up to -5 W/m</span></span><sup><span><span>2</span></span></sup><span><span>/decade). The positive trend is mostly connected to the dry season, while the negative trend occurs during the wet season. PV yields show a strong meridional gradient with lowest values around 4 kWh/kWp in southern West Africa and reach more than 5 kWh/kWp in the Sahara and Sahel zone.</span></span></p><p><span><span>T</span></span><span><span>his poster will discuss the long-term trend and variability analysis of solar irradiance and highlight the implications for photovoltaic-based power systems in West Africa.</span></span></p>

scholarly journals EVALUATION OF THE MACROECONOMIC CONSEQUENCES OF NATURAL DISASTERS AND SUBSEQUENT DISCLOSURES IN THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS ON THE EXAMPLE OF A CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC

2020 ◽  
pp. 6-13
Author(s):  
R. Kuzina
Keyword(s):  
Economic Growth ◽  
Risk Management ◽  
Natural Disasters ◽  
Growth And Development ◽  
Financial Statements ◽  
Financial Resources ◽  
Economic Growth And Development ◽  
General Decline ◽  
The Impact

The article reviews the macroeconomic consequences of natural disasters based on the ECLAC methodology, which separates direct physical damage from indirect damage and additional or secondary effects. A study of the impact of natural disasters on long-term economic growth and development has shown that the scarcity of financial resources after a natural disaster reduces future growth and requires the disclosure of risks associated with dangerous natural phenomena for three reasons. Firstly, there are large opportunity costs associated with diverting scarce financial resources into relief and disaster recovery efforts. Secondly, natural disasters can damage an already complex budgeting process. Thirdly, natural disasters place high demands on international aid resources, diverting resources from development. Natural disasters have a negative impact on both the short and long term. These developments refute the somewhat simplistic notion of a general decline in vulnerability to natural disasters as the economy grows. Instead, a more sophisticated perspective needs to be adopted and applied when conducting detailed macroeconomic risk assessments. Based on the results of such assessments, the risks associated with natural hazards should be included in general development policies and plans. Risk management strategies should also reflect the fact that disasters occur in different hazard categories (climatic, geophysical or epidemic) and entail different risk reduction options. It is also necessary to assess the experience gained from specific events and, if necessary, take appropriate action. Disasters can cause policy and institutional innovation changes that ultimately benefit, in some cases, not only in reducing vulnerability but also in supporting economic growth and development: deregulating agricultural investment, applying climate forecasting to reduce the impact of climate variability, financial risk management mechanisms. In order to manage risks and mitigate the effects of natural disasters by informing users of financial statements about possible side effects of the pandemic, the issue of disclosure and recalculation of financial statements was considered to reflect the effects of coronavirus on companies and assess financial risks.

scholarly journals 14C Dating to Study the Development of Soils in the Forest-Steppe of the Central Russian Upland as a Result of Bioclimatic Changes and Long-Term Cultivation

Radiocarbon ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 60 (4) ◽  
pp. 1185-1198 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yury Chendev ◽  
Aleksandr Aleksandrovskiy ◽  
Olga Khokhlova ◽  
Vadim Skripkin
Keyword(s):  
Organic Carbon ◽  
Total Organic Carbon ◽  
Late Holocene ◽  
Climate Changes ◽  
Forest Steppe ◽  
Native Forest ◽  
Arable Soils ◽  
Central Russian Upland ◽  
The Impact

ABSTRACTTemporal changes in soils of forest landscapes of the forest-steppe zone—Haplic Luvisols and Greyzemic Phaeozems—under the impact of Holocene climate changes (natural factor) and long-term cultivation (anthropogenic factor) were studied on level interfluves of the Central Russian Upland. These soils were developed from covering loesslike loam of varying thickness. To study soil evolution under the impact of climate changes, soil chronosequences of archaeological sites—paleosols buried under ramparts of ancient settlements and background surface soils of adjacent areas—were analyzed. The time of the soil burying was determined via the 14C dating of charcoal from thin twigs sampled in the material of ramparts immediately above the surface of buried soils. According to 14C dates, the paleosols were buried in the interval from 2450±40 to 1150±110 BP. Before the Subatlantic period, these paleosols developed under grassland (steppe), which is proved by their properties typical of steppe soils and by the presence of paleokrotovinas—the features created by the burrowing activity of steppe animals (mole rats)—in the studied profiles. The 14C dates of the total organic carbon of humus in the dark gray filling of a paleokrotovina from a Phaeozem buried at the depth of 140–150 cm under the rampart of 1150±110 BP in age ranged from 6080±150 to 2810±60 BP. The evolution of steppe Chernozems into forest Phaeozems and Luvisols took place in the Late Holocene. The anthropogenic evolution of forest Luvisols and Phaeozems under the impact of long-term (more than 150–230 years) plowing was analyzed in the soil agrochronosequences that included background soils under native forest vegetation and their arable analogs with different durations of cultivation. It was concluded that this evolution is directed towards Chernozemic pedogenesis, i.e., it proceeds in the direction opposite to the natural trend of pedogenesis in the Late Holocene. This process takes place despite the traditional practice of limited application of organic fertilizers in arable farming in the studied region. A decrease in the mean residence time (MRT) of total organic carbon (TOC) in the old-arable soils is considered a consequence of the formation and accumulation of fresh humus material in the profiles of cultivated soils—one of the major processes in the transformation of arable forest soils into Chernozems. The accumulation of carbonates and an increase in their 14C age take place in the arable soils in comparison with their forest analogs. In the agrochronosequence from the Polyana site, the 14C age of carbonates at the depth of 170–180 cm reaches 8000±100, 8270±150, and 9150±100 BP under the forest, 100-year-old plowland, and 150-year-old plowland, respectively. This can be explained by the ascending migration of ancient carbonates from the parent material in suspensions. In the analogous Samarino agrochronosequence, the 14C age of carbonates from the depth of 90–100 cm comprised 6500±90, 7150±100, and 12,360±230 BP, respectively. Thus, the studied forest-steppe soils have a polygenetic nature specified by a complicated history of pedogenesis under the impact of both natural (climate-driven forest invasion into steppe) and anthropogenic (deforestation and land plowing) factors.

scholarly journals Reanalysis of tropospheric sulphate aerosol and ozone for the period 1980–2005 using the aerosol-chemistry-climate model ECHAM5-HAMMOZ

2011 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 10191-10263 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. Pozzoli ◽  
G. Janssens-Maenhout ◽  
T. Diehl ◽  
I. Bey ◽  
M. G. Schultz ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
North America ◽  
South Asia ◽  
Climate Model ◽  
Anthropogenic Emissions ◽  
Positive Trend ◽  
Aerosol Chemistry ◽  
Global Average ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Surface O3

Abstract. Understanding historical trends of trace gas and aerosol distributions in the troposphere is essential to evaluate the efficiency of the existing strategies to reduce air pollution and to design more efficient future air quality and climate policies. We performed coupled photochemistry and aerosol microphysics simulations for the period 1980–2005 using the aerosol-chemistry-climate model ECHAM5-HAMMOZ, to assess our understanding of long term changes and inter-annual variability of the chemical composition of the troposphere, and in particular of O3 and sulphate concentrations, for which long-term surface observations are available. In order to separate the impact of the anthropogenic emissions and meteorology on atmospheric chemistry, we compare two model experiments, driven by the same ECMWF re-analysis data, but with varying and constant anthropogenic emissions, respectively. Our model analysis indicates an average increase of 1 ppbv (corresponding to 0.04 ppbv yr−1) in global average surface O3 concentrations due to anthropogenic emissions, but this trend is largely masked by natural variability (0.63 ppbv), corresponding to 75% of the total variability (0.83 ppbv). Regionally, annual mean surface O3 concentrations increased by 1.3 and 1.6 ppbv over Europe and North America, respectively, despite the large anthropogenic emission reductions between 1980 and 2005. A comparison of winter and summer O3 trends with measurements shows a qualitative agreement, except in North America, where our model erroneously computed a positive trend. O3 increases of more than 4 ppbv in East Asia and 5 ppbv in South Asia can not be corroborated with long-term observations. Global average sulphate surface concentrations are largely controlled by anthropogenic emissions. Globally natural emissions are an important driver determining AOD variations, regionally AOD decreased by 28% over Europe, while it increased by 19% and 26% in East and South Asia. The global radiative perturbation calculated in our model for the period 1980–2005 was rather small (0.05 W m−2 for O3 and 0.02 W m−2 for total aerosol direct effect), but larger perturbations ranging from −0.54 to 1.26 W m−2 are estimated in those regions where anthropogenic emissions largely varied.

The impact of an invasive predator (Orconectes rusticus) on freshwater snail communities: insights on habitat-specific effects from a multilake long-term study

2012 ◽  
Vol 69 (7) ◽  
pp. 1164-1173 ◽  
Author(s):  
Timothy A. Kreps ◽  
Ashley K. Baldridge ◽  
David M. Lodge
Keyword(s):  
Freshwater Snail ◽  
Snail Species ◽  
Consistent Difference ◽  
Orconectes Rusticus ◽  
Natural Ecosystems ◽  
Specific Effects ◽  
Long Term Study ◽  
The Difference ◽  
The Impact

Most studies of the impacts of invasive species are done at small spatial and short temporal scales, greatly limiting generalizations to natural ecosystems. In contrast, we examined the long-term, whole-lake impacts of predation by the introduced rusty crayfish ( Orconectes rusticus ) on snail communities in 10 lakes in northern Wisconsin, USA. In 1987 and 2002, crayfish and snails were surveyed in lakes that initially differed in O. rusticus abundance; during the 15 years between surveys, crayfish abundance changed substantially in four lakes. In the two lakes where O. rusticus populations increased from low to high densities, large reductions occurred in snail abundance. As predicted, snails declined much more in habitats preferred by O. rusticus (sand and cobble) than in habitats that are avoided by the crayfish (muck). In the two lakes where O. rusticus abundance decreased dramatically after 1987, no significant increase occurred in snail densities, illustrating the difference in response time of snail populations to release from predation relative to increasing predation. Contrary to prediction, no consistent difference in snail species composition existed between high and low crayfish density lakes.

Impact of soil hydraulic properties on water-soil-plant relations

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mathieu Javaux ◽  
Andrea Carminati
Keyword(s):  
Linear Part ◽  
Agricultural Practices ◽  
Natural Ecosystems ◽  
Plant Hydraulics ◽  
Soil Hydraulics ◽  
Non Linear ◽  
Below Ground ◽  
The Difference ◽  
The Impact

<p>Modeling stomatal response to soil drying is of crucial importance for estimating transpiration fluxes. There is a critical need for a better quantification of the impact of soil water limitation on vegetation in order to predict more accurately the impact of climate change on natural ecosystems and adapt agricultural practices.</p><p>Recently, we proposed a simple conceptual model, which predicts how soil and plant hydraulics affect transpiration.  This model reconciles soil- and root-based perspectives on drought stress and defines a 3D surface, which represents the maximum possible transpiration rate that can be sustained by a soil-plant system. The shape of this surface shows two distinct zones: a linear zone where the increase of transpiration is proportional to the difference of potential between soil and root and a non linear part in which an increase of E generates a huge decrease of leaf water potential. We show that this nonlinearity is mainly controlled by below ground hydraulic conductance. We hypothesize that plants should avoid this non linear zone by (1) adapting their short term stomatal regulation and (2) ensuring long term coordination between canopy and root hydraulics with growth. It implies that difference in soil hydraulics will lead to contrasted plant hydraulic and structural vegetation properties. Evidences exist at plant scales that this coordination exists. We further discuss how this might affect (agro-)ecosystem-water relations.    </p>

scholarly journals State of Split Birch Woods of the Southern Trans-Urals in the Zone of High Anthropogenic Load on Natural Ecosystems

2021 ◽  
pp. 427-441
Author(s):  
A. Yu. Kudryavtsev ◽  
М. L. Oparin ◽  
О. S. Oparina ◽  
A. В. Mamaev ◽  
D. V. Kovalev
Keyword(s):  
Forest Ecosystems ◽  
Forest Type ◽  
Ground Cover ◽  
Anthropogenic Factors ◽  
Forest Steppe ◽  
Forest Stands ◽  
Natural Ecosystems ◽  
Southern Siberia ◽  
Anthropogenic Transformation ◽  
Wide Range

The paper presents the results of our study of ecosystem diversity and the state of split-forest areas located in the Shchuchansky district of the Kurgan region. The species composition of forest stands, the productivity of tree species, the composition of underwood, brushwood and ground cover in plantations were analyzed. Data on the distribution of forest stands of various ages, composition, types of underwood and brushwood, as well as the main dominants of the ground cover are presented. Our studies have shown that forest communities are quite distinctly different in the nature of all storeys. A preliminary assessment of the economic impact on the territory of the site made it possible to identify significant changes in all the components of forest ecosystems, namely, ground cover, the composition and productivity of forest stands. The diversity of forest ecosystems in the study area is due to the ability of many plant species to inhabit a wide range of ecological conditions, as well as the composition, age and crowncontact, which, in turn, determines the nature of the storey of shrubs and ground cover. The volume of the forest type was taken quite large, it combined plantations of all age stages of forest stands development. Features of forest vegetation, typical for split forests of the Southern Trans-Urals, were revealed, namely: mosaic vegetation cover, low crown-contact and the presence of open spaces species in the lower storeys. The materials obtained showed that, despite the significant anthropogenic transformation, the forest ecosystems of the study area retained the main features characteristic of the peculiar vegetation of the forest-steppe of southern Siberia. The research results will make it possible to assess the diversity of forest ecosystems, to give a preliminary forecast of the dynamics of the site's vegetation and can be used in the development of a scientifically grounded strategy for forest management in the region under the conditions of the joint action of many natural and anthropogenic factors.

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