Planning considerations of green corridors for the improvement of biodiversity resilience in suburban areas

Abstract The world is experiencing a rapid loss in the biodiversity of pollinator insects. Habitat segmentation caused by infrastructures is one of the contributing factors. To improve the habitat connectivity of pollinator insects, it is proposed in this study to build green corridors for pollinators over linear infrastructures such as highways. In the context of suburban areas of a large city, this study examines differences in air parameters between natural environments and a roadside environment based on monitored and estimated data. Influences of different green corridor designs on floral scent dispersion are also investigated using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) modeling and simulation. It is found that, if flower plants are installed on highway overpasses, the floral scents would be better preserved as compared with those in a natural environment due to the lower concentration of oxidative radicals in the air over highways. The stronger floral scents and their wider dispersion may help attract pollinators. Conversely, highway air contains a variety of volatine organic components (VOCs) that are likely traced to highway operations and pavements. Hence, the overall profile of VOCs in a highway environment differs from that in a natural environment. Results from CFD modeling and simulation suggest that the use of green corridors planted with flowers on the highway overpass can greatly improve the connectivity of floral scents. Hence, with proper engineering design and right combination of plant species, green corridors built on highway overpasses have the potential to facilitate pollinators to cross the road, thereby improving their habitat connectivity and resilience against declining biodiversity.

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Planning considerations of green corridors for the improvement of biodiversity resilience in suburban areas

Journal of Infrastructure Preservation and Resilience ◽

10.1186/s43065-021-00023-4 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 2 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Yuhong Wang ◽

Siqi Jia ◽

Zhe Wang ◽

Yang Chen ◽

Shicong Mo ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Modeling And Simulation ◽

Natural Environment ◽

Floral Scent ◽

Large City ◽

Habitat Connectivity ◽

Cfd Modeling ◽

Natural Environments ◽

Floral Scents ◽

Suburban Areas ◽

Green Corridors

AbstractThe world is experiencing a rapid loss in the biodiversity of pollinator insects. Habitat segmentation caused by infrastructures is one of the contributing factors. To improve the habitat connectivity of pollinator insects, it is proposed in this study to build green corridors for pollinators over linear infrastructures such as highways. In the context of suburban areas of a large city, this study examines differences in air parameters between natural environments and a roadside environment based on monitored and estimated data. Influences of different green corridor designs on floral scent dispersion are also investigated using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) modeling and simulation. It is found that, if flower plants are installed on highway overpasses, the floral scents would be better preserved as compared with those in a natural environment due to the lower concentrations of oxidative radicals in the air above highways. The stronger floral scents and their wider dispersion may help attract pollinators. Conversely, highway air contains a variety of volatine organic compounds (VOCs) that are traced to highway operations and pavements. Hence, the overall profile of VOCs in a highway environment differs from that in a natural environment. Results from CFD modeling and simulation suggest that the use of green corridors planted with flowers on the highway overpass can greatly improve the connectivity of floral scents. Hence, with proper engineering design and right combination of plant species, green corridors built on highway overpasses have the potential to facilitate pollinators to cross the road, thereby improving their habitat connectivity and resilience against declining biodiversity.

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Floral Scent and Pollinators of Cypripedium calceolus L. at Different Latitudes

Diversity ◽

10.3390/d13010005 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 13 (1) ◽

pp. 5

Author(s):

Herbert Braunschmid ◽

Robin Guilhot ◽

Stefan Dötterl

Keyword(s):

Floral Scent ◽

Latitudinal Gradients ◽

Isolated Populations ◽

Floral Scents ◽

Selective Pressures ◽

Octyl Acetate ◽

Important Trait ◽

Cypripedium Calceolus ◽

Negative Frequency Dependent Selection ◽

Plant Pollinator

Floral scent is an important trait in plant–pollinator interactions. It not only varies among plant species but also among populations within species. Such variability might be caused by various non–selective factors, or, as has been shown in some instances, might be the result of divergent selective pressures exerted by variable pollinator climates. Cypripedium calceolus is a Eurasian deceptive orchid pollinated mainly by bees, which spans wide altitudinal and latitudinal gradients in mainly quite isolated populations. In the present study, we investigated whether pollinators and floral scents vary among different latitudes. Floral scents of three C. calceolus populations in the Southern Alps were collected by dynamic headspace and analyzed by gas chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry (GC/MS). These data were completed by previously published scent data of the Northern Alps and Scandinavia. The scent characteristics were compared with information on pollinators recorded for present study or available in the literature. More than 80 scent compounds were overall recorded from plants of the three regions, mainly aliphatics, terpenoids, and aromatics. Seven compounds were found in all samples, and most samples were dominated by linalool and octyl acetate. Although scents differed among regions and populations, the main compounds were similar among regions. Andrena and Lasioglossum species were the main pollinators in all three regions, with Andrena being relatively more abundant than Lasioglossum in Scandinavia. We discuss natural selection mediated by pollinators and negative frequency–dependent selection as possible reasons for the identified variation of floral scent within and among populations and regions.

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In-Situ Synthesis of TiO2@GO Nanosheets for Polymers Degradation in a Natural Environment

Polymers ◽

10.3390/polym13132158 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (13) ◽

pp. 2158

Author(s):

Yueqin Shi ◽

Zhanyang Yu ◽

Zhengjun Li ◽

Xiaodong Zhao ◽

Yongjun Yuan

Keyword(s):

Natural Environment ◽

New Technologies ◽

Separation Efficiency ◽

Basic Mechanism ◽

Chemical Degradation ◽

Natural Environments ◽

Additional Energy ◽

Photogenerated Electrons ◽

Main Components

Plastic photodegradation naturally takes 300–500 years, and their chemical degradation typically needs additional energy or causes secondary pollution. The main components of global plastic are polymers. Hence, new technologies are urgently required for the effective decomposition of the polymers in natural environments, which lays the foundation for this study on future plastic degradation. This study synthesizes the in-situ growth of TiO2 at graphene oxide (GO) matrix to form the TiO2@GO photocatalyst, and studies its application in conjugated polymers’ photodegradation. The photodegradation process could be probed by UV-vis absorption originating from the conjugated backbone of polymers. We have found that the complete decomposition of various polymers in a natural environment by employing the photocatalyst TiO2@GO within 12 days. It is obvious that the TiO2@GO shows a higher photocatalyst activity than the TiO2, due to the higher crystallinity morphology and smaller size of TiO2, and the faster transmission of photogenerated electrons from TiO2 to GO. The stronger fluorescence (FL) intensity of TiO2@GO compared to TiO2 at the terephthalic acid aqueous solution indicates that more hydroxyl radicals (•OH) are produced for TiO2@GO. This further confirms that the GO could effectively decrease the generation of recombination centers, enhance the separation efficiency of photoinduced electrons and holes, and increase the photocatalytic activity of TiO2@GO. This work establishes the underlying basic mechanism of polymers photodegradation, which might open new avenues for simultaneously addressing the white pollution crisis in a natural environment.

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CFD modeling and simulation of turbulent fluid flow and dust dispersion in the 20-L explosion vessel equipped with the perforated annular nozzle

Journal of Loss Prevention in the Process Industries ◽

10.1016/j.jlp.2015.09.015 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 38 ◽

pp. 204-213 ◽

Cited By ~ 19

Author(s):

Valeria Di Sarli ◽

Roberto Sanchirico ◽

Paola Russo ◽

Almerinda Di Benedetto

Keyword(s):

Fluid Flow ◽

Modeling And Simulation ◽

Cfd Modeling ◽

Annular Nozzle ◽

Turbulent Fluid Flow ◽

Turbulent Fluid ◽

Dust Dispersion

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Research on Landscape Architecture Design Based on Corporate Social Responsibilities

E3S Web of Conferences ◽

10.1051/e3sconf/202123704034 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 237 ◽

pp. 04034

Author(s):

Xinying Zhang ◽

Wenjie Chen

Keyword(s):

Environmental Protection ◽

Natural Environment ◽

Landscape Architecture ◽

Natural Environments ◽

Special Significance ◽

Social Responsibilities ◽

Common Concern ◽

Corporate Social ◽

The Relationship ◽

Corporate Social Responsibilities

As the natural environment becomes growingly deteriorated, environmental protection becomes a global common concern. Landscape architecture (LA) is concerned about the relationship among humans, the built, and natural environments, so it is of special significance to study corporate social responsibilities (CSR) of LA firms. This paper studied CSR of LA firms from the perspective of landscape architects, i.e., this paper explored LA design based on corporate social responsibilities. CSR of LA firms was classified into economic responsibilities and green responsibilities, so this paper studied LA design based on economic responsibilities and green responsibilities respectively. This paper contributes to the existing study of LA design by innovatively adding corporate social responsibilities into the LA design philosophies.

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