The Introduction, Evaluation, Escape from Cultivation, and Ongoing Range Expansion of Ligustrum spp. On and Around the Texas A&M University Campus

HortScience ◽  
1998 ◽  
Vol 33 (3) ◽  
pp. 493e-493
Author(s):  
Edward McWilliams ◽  
Gretchen Rector

For decades, the Texas A&M Univ. campus has been a center for USDA ornamental plant introductions. Historically, horticultural nurseries on the Texas A&M Univ. campus have served as foci from which exotic plants have dispersed and colonized surrounding areas. Pistachia chinensis, Ulmus parvifolia, Ligustrum quihoui, Ligustrum lucidum, and Sapium sebiferum have all established themselves on or near the campus and can be traced back to early introductions. Many Ligustrum taxa including selections of L. quihoui were screened at Texas A&M College in the 1930s. Clones of this species varied greatly in their ability to naturalize. The invasion lag phase and range of expansion varied with both clone and species. It is suggested that potential exotic ornamental plant introductions be carefully evaluated for their potential to become non-native invasive species as well as for their ornamental characteristics.

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohammad A. Hassanain ◽  
Muizz O. Sanni-Anibire ◽  
Abubakar Sadiq Mahmoud

PurposeThis study aims to present the design quality assessment of facilities on a university campus in Saudi Arabia.Design/methodology/approachForty-nine standardized design quality indicators (DQIs) have been adopted for the study. These were classified into relevant categories including: “Indoor Environment, Safety and Maintenance,” “Furniture, Utilities and Spaces” and “Privacy, Appearance and Surrounding Areas.” A web-based survey was used to obtain responses from 207 respondents. The survey was designed based on a Likert scale of satisfaction and was analyzed to obtain the satisfaction indices (SI) as well as Design Quality Scores (DQS).FindingsOccupants were dissatisfied the “level of noise generated from within the space,” “amount of natural light from daylighting systems” and “ease of control of air ventilation systems” among others. The DQS revealed that residential buildings had the highest design quality in terms of “Indoor Environment, Safety, and Maintenance” and “Privacy, Appearance and Surrounding Areas.” Administrative buildings had the best design quality in terms of “furniture, utilities and spaces.” Academic buildings had the lowest design quality in terms of “Indoor Environment, Safety and Maintenance” and “Privacy, Appearance and Surrounding Areas.”Originality/valueUltimately, the study demonstrated how the adoption of a standard set of DQIs could facilitate the standardization of design quality evaluation in the property sector as well as identify best practices through comparison and benchmarking.


Ecography ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 41 (8) ◽  
pp. 1283-1294 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Kołodziej-Sobocińska ◽  
M. Brzeziński ◽  
A. Niemczynowicz ◽  
A. Zalewski

2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 260-268 ◽  
Author(s):  
Essam Aboud ◽  
Faisal Alqahtani ◽  
Helmy Osman Aboelnaga

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (10) ◽  
pp. 2948 ◽  
Author(s):  
Manoela Sacchis Lopes ◽  
Bijeesh Kozhikkodan Veettil ◽  
Dejanira Luderitz Saldanha

The efficiency of the environmental management of a territory largely depends on previous surveys and systematic studies on the main elements and conditions of the physical environment. We applied remote sensing and digital image processing techniques (Principal Component Analysis and supervised classification) to Landsat imagery for analyzing the spatiotemporal land cover changes occurred in the Rio Canoas State Park in Brazil and its surrounding area from 1990 to 2016. Reforested areas around the park with exotic species is a part of the region’s economy and a number of industries depend on it for raw materials. However, it is a matter of concern to avoid contamination with such invasive species, due to the proximity of the Park. From 1990 to 2004, more than 95% of the study area was unchanged and showed minimal distinction in land cover over the 14 years. This was mainly due to the continuous presence of agricultural monocultures around the Park without significant increases (only 3.1% of land cover change during this period). Regarding the interior of the Rio Canoas State Park, from 1990 to 2004, there was no increase in the area of exposed soil. The analysis of the surrounding areas of the park from 2004 to 2016 showed that 5663.78 ha (12.2% of the area) of the land cover has been changed, in most areas, due to reforestation by Pinus sp. Notable changes occurred within the park (established in 2004) between 2004 and 2016—there was a partial regeneration of natural species diversity, a small number of invasive species (Pinus sp.) and removal of agricultural activities within the park, which contributed a 6.6% (75.45 ha) change in its land cover. We verified that 92.51% (1048.40 ha) of the areas inside the park were unchanged. The results demonstrated that actions were conducted to preserve the natural vegetation cover within the park and to reduce the impacts of anthropogenic activities, including the invasion of exotic species from the surrounding reforested areas into the natural habitat of the park. Given this, our study can aid the environmental management of the Park and its surrounding areas, enabling the monitoring of environmental legislation, the creation of a management plan, and can guide new action plans for the present study area and can be applied to other similar regions.


2019 ◽  
Vol 280 ◽  
pp. 04004
Author(s):  
Jarwa Prasetya Sih Handoko

Sustainability is the development concept that meets condition of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own requirements on social, environmental and economical aspect. Ecological architecture is the concept of sustainable development emphasizes on environmental aspect that emphasize harmony between the built environment and the natural conditions in the surrounding areas such as waste and recycling, energy efficiency, water resource, building design, carbon emission, and aims to eliminate negative environmental impact while continuing to be completely sustainable. The university campus is one of the buildings used by the public. In keeping with his character university campus used by many people that require large energy consumption. So that was included in the building that need to be controlled levels of energy consumption. The campus building should consider harmony with the natural conditions around the building. Therefore, it is necessary to have a study that evaluates the application of ecological architecture concept in university campus in Indonesia. This study is a comparative study conducted descriptive methods related to the characteristics of the application of the ecological architecture concept in the design of university campus in Indonesia. This study takes a case study three university campuses in Indonesia which is included in the green campus in Indonesia. With this paper is expected to provide a general description of the application of the ecological architecture concept in the university campus design in Indonesia. The conclusion from this study that the university campus in Indonesia have applied the concept of ecological architecture in several aspects. There are some similarities and differences in the application of some aspects. Recommendations from this study is that a university campus building design should be able to optimize the application of the concept of ecological architecture on all aspects of the design.


Author(s):  
Lauren M. Smith-Ramesh

Abstract Allelopathy, or the process by which plants influence the growth and performance of their neighbours through the release of chemicals, may play a key role in mediating the impacts of non-native invasive species on their neighbours. The Novel Weapons Hypothesis purports that non-native invasive species are in part successful because they produce harmful allelochemicals to which resident species are particularly susceptible because residents lack a shared evolutionary history with the invader. While allelopathic non-native invaders may reduce the growth and performance of neighbours through direct phytotoxicity, they may more often exert negative impacts through disruption of biotic interactions among resident species. Allelopathy by non-native plants may disrupt mutualisms between resident plants and microbes, plant-herbivore interactions or existing competitive and facilitative interactions among resident plants. For example, several non-native plants are known to disrupt the mutualism between resident plants and mycorrhizal fungi, reducing resident plant fitness to the benefit of the invader. Allelopathic non-natives may also disrupt interactions among resident plants and their herbivores when allelochemicals also influence herbivore behaviour or fitness. Alternatively, biotic interactions can also be protective for resident species, which may be less susceptible to the impacts of non-native species when their mutualisms are intact. As we advance our understanding of allelopathy and its role in mediating the impacts of invasive plant species, we may gain new insights by viewing invasions within a network context rather than focusing on pairwise interactions.


Oecologia ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 177 (1) ◽  
pp. 133-146 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Paz Esquivias ◽  
María Zunzunegui ◽  
Mari Cruz Díaz Barradas ◽  
Leonor Álvarez-Cansino

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