scholarly journals Deforestation and Biomass Production in Miombo Forest in Huambo (Angola): A Balance between Local and Global Needs

Forests ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (11) ◽  
pp. 1557
Author(s):  
Luis M. Miapia ◽  
David Ariza-Mateos ◽  
Virgínia Lacerda-Quartín ◽  
Guillermo Palacios-Rodríguez
Keyword(s):  
Storage Capacity ◽  
Management Strategies ◽  
Woody Species ◽  
Total Biomass ◽  
Productive Capacity ◽  
Wood Volume ◽  
Deforestation Rates ◽  
Syzygium Guineense ◽  
Brachystegia Spiciformis ◽  
Cutting Volume

Miombo is one of the most widely distributed ecosystems in Angola, with a great social and environmental value. Thus, the rural population uses the biomass as fuel and miombo provides important ecosystem services, such as its carbon sequestration capacity. The objectives of this work were (i) to assess deforestation in miombo forest in Huambo province (Angola) during the last 20 years, (ii) to evaluate carbon storage capacity of miombo, and (iii) to calculate the charcoal productive capacity of those forests. From 2000 to 2019, 359,130 ha (12.96%) were deforested in Huambo province. Thirty-six woody species were identified as major components of miombo forest, the most frequent being Albizia anthunesiana, Brachystegia spiciformis, Julbernardia paniculata, Monote spp., Brachystegia boemii, Isoberlinea angolensis, Anisophyllea boehmii, Syzygium guineense, and Erythrophleum africanum. The total biomass estimated in miombo forest was 195.05 Mg ha−1 (55.02 Mg ha−1 radical and 140.04 Mg ha−1 area), with a total wood volume of 78.57 m3 ha−1. This represents values of 91.67 Mg ha−1 of accumulated carbon and 336.13 Mg ha−1 of CO2 equivalent. The potential charcoal productivity was 15,359.9 kg ha−1, corresponding to 24.78 trees ha−1. The Annual Allowable Cutting Volume was 10.77 m3 ha−1 year−1, 14.13 m3 ha−1 year−1, 21.17 m3 ha−1, and 32.85 m3 ha−1 year−1 for rotation lengths of 55, 40, 25, and 15 years, respectively, corresponding to a potential annual charcoal productivity of 2107.08 Kg ha−1 year−1, 2762.96 Kg ha−1 year−1, 4139.21 Kg ha−1, and 422.56 Kg ha−1 year−1. However, deforestation rates in the last 19 years and low charcoal productive capacity could compromise the sustainability of the Miombo ecosystem and its value as an ecosystem service provider in the province if appropriate management strategies are not developed.

scholarly journals Protective Role of Ice Barriers: How Reproductive Organs of Early Flowering and Mountain Plants Escape Frost Injuries

Plants ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (5) ◽  
pp. 1031
Author(s):  
Clara Bertel ◽  
Jürgen Hacker ◽  
Gilbert Neuner
Keyword(s):  
Management Strategies ◽  
Woody Species ◽  
Reproductive Organs ◽  
High Elevation ◽  
Protective Role ◽  
Early Spring ◽  
Early Flowering ◽  
Ice Formation ◽  
Species Vulnerability ◽  
Infrared Video

In the temperate zone of Europe, plants flowering in early spring or at high elevation risk that their reproductive organs are harmed by episodic frosts. Focusing on flowers of two mountain and three early-flowering colline to montane distributed species, vulnerability to ice formation and ice management strategies using infrared video thermography were investigated. Three species had ice susceptible flowers and structural ice barriers, between the vegetative and reproductive organs, that prevent ice entrance from the frozen stems. Structural ice barriers as found in Anemona nemorosa and Muscari sp. have not yet been described for herbaceous species that of Jasminum nudiflorum corroborates findings for woody species. Flowers of Galanthus nivalis and Scilla forbesii were ice tolerant. For all herbs, it became clear that the soil acts as a thermal insulator for frost susceptible below ground organs and as a thermal barrier against the spread of ice between individual flowers and leaves. Both ice barrier types presumably promote that the reproductive organs can remain supercooled, and can at least for a certain time-period escape from effects of ice formation. Both effects of ice barriers appear significant in the habitat of the tested species, where episodic freezing events potentially curtail the reproductive success.

scholarly journals Wood Volume Production and Use of 10 Woody Species in Semiarid Zones of Northeastern Mexico

2012 ◽  
Vol 2012 ◽  
pp. 1-7 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rahim Foroughbakhch ◽  
Artemio Carrillo Parra ◽  
Jorge Luis Hernández Piñero ◽  
Marco Antonio Alvarado Vázquez ◽  
Alejandra Rocha Estrada ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Native Species ◽  
Growth Parameters ◽  
Eucalyptus Camaldulensis ◽  
Woody Species ◽  
Research Strategy ◽  
Wood Volume ◽  
Rural Villages ◽  
Acacia Farnesiana ◽  
Volume Production ◽  
Northeastern Mexico

A research strategy was established to analyze the structure of timber trees in terms of forest productivity (volume and wood density) of 10 species. The native speciesAcacia farnesiana, Acacia schaffneri,Bumelia celastrina,Cercidium macrun,Condalia hookeri,Ebenopsis ebano,Helietta parvifolia, andProsopis laevigataand the exotic speciesEucalyptus camaldulensisandLeucaena leucocephalawere chosen due to their ecological and economic importance to the rural villages of northeastern Mexico. Measurements of different growth parameters and volume of trees were evaluated. The introduced speciesE. camaldulensisandL. leucocephalashowed the best performance in wood volume production per tree and per hectare when compared to the native species. Likewise, among the native species,E. ebano,P. laevigata,C. hookeri, andA. farnesianatended to show better characteristics in terms of wood volume production in comparison toH. parvifolia,A. schaffneri,C. macrum, andB. celastrina. Results showed a high diversity on the properties studied. The high biomass produced by most of the species considered in this study revealed their great energetic potential when used as wood and firewood or vegetal charcoal.

scholarly journals Conservation of food tree species in Niger: towards a participatory approach in rural communities

2016 ◽  
Vol 25 (3) ◽  
pp. e080 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dolores Agúndez Leal ◽  
Soumana Douma ◽  
Javier Madrigal ◽  
Almudena Gómez-Ramos ◽  
Barbara Vicenti ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Rural Communities ◽  
Conservation Status ◽  
Management Strategies ◽  
Species Conservation ◽  
Woody Species ◽  
Human Consumption ◽  
Factors Affecting ◽  
Ecological Regions ◽  
Food Species ◽  
And Gender

Aim of study: Indigenous woody species play an important role as a complement on the diet of rural populations in Niger, especially in periods of food scarcity. However, these species are nowadays overexploited and management programmes are necessary to conserve them. In order to design a conservation programme for edible woody species, this paper presents a sociological analysis about the use of edible woody species and their products during shortage periods in Niger.Area of study: Four villages in two distinct agro-ecological regions were selected to conduct structured enquiries based on focus group discussions and surveys with key informants.Material and Methods: Perceptions of the conservation status of these species were identified; as well the factors affecting food values, perceptions, management and collection practices.Main results: Results show that B. senegalensis was a staple food in the driest areas, and M. crassifolia was used for fodder and human consumption in the most critical situations. The local communities related the drivers of species conservation status specific to the agro-ecological regions, and gender and ethnic differences were also identified.Research highlights: Understanding these factors constitutes a first step towards adaptive management strategies for the conservation of woody food species in rural communities of Niger.Keywords: Africa; biodiversity; cultural preferences; food; NTFPs.

scholarly journals A survey of dairy farmers' practices and attitudes towards some aspects of arable-land management in the Darling Downs and South Burnett regions of Queensland

2003 ◽  
Vol 43 (5) ◽  
pp. 449 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. G. Chataway ◽  
V. J. Doogan ◽  
W. M. Strong
Keyword(s):  
Arable Land ◽  
Management Strategies ◽  
Productive Capacity ◽  
Forage Production ◽  
Resource Base ◽  
Dairy Farmers ◽  
Forage Crops ◽  
Double Cropping ◽  
Potential Benefits ◽  
Fertiliser Use

The Darling Downs and Southern Inland Burnett are important geographical subregions of the Queensland dairy industry. The system of dairy farming in these subregions is unique in Australia in that it is based on grazed annual forage crops rather than pastures. When these soils were first cultivated up to 110 years ago they were inherently fertile. However, erosion and fertility decline has reduced their productive capacity and there is a need for the adoption of farming practices that are less exploitative. In February 1997, a survey was conducted to determine dairy farmers' practices and attitudes toward management strategies that were being recommended to grain farmers in the subtropical cereal belt for sustaining the soil resource base. These strategies included greater use of ley pastures, opportunistic double-cropping, zero-till planting and higher fertiliser inputs. We found that dairy farmers were generally familiar with and understanding of the potential benefits of these approaches to their farming enterprises. However, farmers raised a number of issues that need consideration in the transfer of these practices to dairy forage production. These included concerns that an increased emphasis on pastures would result in lower and less-reliable forage production; that double-cropping is practiced more out of necessity than in the belief it is a better way to farm; that zero tillage may not be suitable on clay soils that have been trampled by cattle and that farmers rely primarily on their own observations of crop performance to determine fertiliser use. These findings have particular implications for research and extension activities conducted with dairy farmers and are also relevant to work conducted with other cropping enterprises that incorporate grazing animals in their farming program.

scholarly journals Woody Species Composition Analysis of Shawo Sacred Forest, Ethiopia

2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 12-21
Author(s):  
Alemayehu Haiemicael Mezgebe ◽  
Alemayehu Hailemicael Mezgebe
Keyword(s):  
Species Composition ◽  
Plant Species ◽  
Basal Area ◽  
Woody Species ◽  
Indigenous Communities ◽  
Forest Community ◽  
Systematic Sampling ◽  
Composition Analysis ◽  
Sacred Forest ◽  
Syzygium Guineense

In sacred forests of indigenous communities, landscapes are deemed sacred and are protected through social norms and spiritual values. The main objective of this study was to analyze the woody species composition of Shawo forest and explore the traditional governing systems that safeguard the sacred forest up to the present. Systematic sampling method was used to collect data. Accordingly, 42 quadrats each with 400 m2 (20 m X 20 m)  was laid along the 14 transect lines. All woody plant species were collected and identified in each of these quadrats. Vegetation parameters such as DBH an Height of each quadrat were recorded. Interview and group discussion were held with local community to gather socio-cultural information. From the result,  16 plant species were found. The average plant density was  499 individual ha-1 with  DBH and H value of  9.21 cm and 10.43 m respecitively.. The  maximum mean plant height was 39.43 m (Syzygium guineense).The total basal area of all plant species was found to be 56.1 m2.ha-1. From the total plant species of Shawo forest Syzygium guineense has the largest basal area 35.77 m2.ha-1 (63.77%) occurring in all 42 plots. The most important plant species of Shawo forest was Syzygium guineense with important value index (IVI) of 151.7 contributing to  50.57% of  total IVI. For future sustainability of Shawo forest, community traditional conservation practices should be appreciated and supported.

scholarly journals Weed Interference Effects on Leaves, Internode and Harvest Index of Dry Bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.)

2015 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 111-115
Author(s):  
Hossein GHAMARI
Keyword(s):  
Phaseolus Vulgaris ◽  
Weed Management ◽  
Harvest Index ◽  
Block Design ◽  
Management Strategies ◽  
Dry Weight ◽  
Total Biomass ◽  
Dry Bean ◽  
Weed Interference ◽  
Number Of Leaves

The development of appropriate weed management strategies and efficient use of herbicides relies upon understanding weed-crop interactions. A field study was carried out to assess the effect of weed interference on leaves, internode and harvest index of dry bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.). The experiment was established under a randomized complete block design with two types of weed interference treatments: plots with weeds and plots without weeds at different time intervals (0, 10, 20, 30, 40 and 50 days after crop emergence). The sigmoid Boltzmann model was used to quantify the crop traits as influenced by weed interference. Prolonged delays in weed removal reduced gradually the number of leaves of the crop. Weed interference decreased dry weight of leaves as well, so that the lowest value of it (33.49 g plant-1) was observed in full season during weed-infested treatment. Infestation of weeds affected the length of the crop internodes. While the weed interference duration increased, the length of the internodes decreased. Harvest index was also sensitive to weed competition. As the crop was kept weed-infested from the emergence for increasing periods of time, harvest index decreased to a value of 28.01%. A significant negative correlation between total biomass of weeds and dry bean traits (number of leaves, leaves dry weight, internode length and harvest index) was observed. Therefore, weeds are able to adversely affect dry bean growth through constraining environmental resources and impairing leaves as the photosynthetic areas.

scholarly journals Robust Reliability Assessment of Water Reservoir Under Uncertainty of Climate Change

10.29007/s5s1 ◽  
2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel Marton ◽  
Kateřina Knoppová
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Storage Capacity ◽  
Management Strategies ◽  
Reliability Assessment ◽  
Water Reservoir ◽  
Balance Model ◽  
Reservoir Modeling ◽  
Reservoir Storage ◽  
Climate Change Uncertainty ◽  
Reservoir Simulation Model

The aim of this paper is to introduce method of the robust reservoir performance evaluation under the climate change uncertainty. Water resources adaptation on climate change, drought management strategies as well as hydrological and reservoir modeling in the climate change uncertainty have been serious issues. Newly developed lumped water balance model and reservoir simulation model will be used. Based on these tools the approach of robust reservoir storage capacity reliability assessment will be introduced. The hydrological data under climate change will be constructed using the statistical downscaling tool LARS WG. Ensemble of 29 climate scenarios will be created. The hydrology analysis and the temporal reliability of reservoir storage capacity and its robustness assessment against the climate change uncertainty will be presented on the case study of the Vir I reservoir and Svratka river basin in the Czech Republic.

scholarly journals Role of Indigenous Dryland Agroforestry System for Biodiversity Conservation and Carbon Storage in Tigray, Northern Ethiopia

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ashenafi Manaye ◽  
Berihu Tesfamariam ◽  
Musse Tesfaye ◽  
Adefires Werku ◽  
Yirga Gufi
Keyword(s):  
Carbon Storage ◽  
Woody Species ◽  
Agroforestry System ◽  
Home Garden ◽  
Total Biomass ◽  
Northern Ethiopia ◽  
Dry Land ◽  
Shannon Diversity ◽  
C Stocks ◽  
Soc Stock

Abstract Background Agroforestry (AF) is an age-old practice in the farming system of Ethiopian dry lands. So far, several studies conducted in the field of AF focused on system design, soil fertility management and system interactions. Less emphasis has been given to the biodiversity and climate change mitigation aspects. The objective of this paper was to evaluate the woody species diversity, biomass carbon (C) and soil organic carbon (SOC) stock of the dry land indigenous AF practices. A total of 197 smallholder farmers representing four AF practices were systematically selected from lowland, midland and highland. Woody species inventory was done on the randomly established plot of each farm. Results A total of 59 species, belonging to 48 genera and 32 families were recorded. Shannon diversity index (H’) of highland agroecology was higher in-home garden AF while in the midland and lowland the higher H’ was recorded in parkland AF. Smallholding ecosystem C stocks (sum of total biomass C and SOC 0 –60 cm) ranged from 77 to 135 Mg ha −1 .The mean total biomass C stock of woodlot AF practice (31 Mg C ha -1 ) was significantly higher than the other three AF practices. SOC stocks (0–60 cm) were greater in boundary planting (113 Mg C ha -1 ) followed by the home garden (109 Mg C ha -1 ) and woodlot (97 Mg C ha -1 ) AF practices. Conclusions The higher species richness was recorded on the home garden and parkland small household agroforestry system as compared to woodlot agroforestry systems. Likewise, the higher Shannon diversity and evenness were found on the home garden agroforestry system.. As compared to other AF systems, our study revealed that rotational woodlot and boundary planting AF practice accounts higher biomass and SOC stock, respectively. We found that biodiversity is synergy with SOC stock but can be seen as an independent agro-ecosystem function that may not directly correlated to biomass and total agroforestry carbon storage. Finally, our work concluded that home garden and boundary agroforestry can strategically promote to maximize biodiversity and carbon storage of the dry land ecosystem.

scholarly journals Land productivity dynamics in and around protected areas globally from 1999 to 2013

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Begoña de la Fuente ◽  
Mélanie Weynants ◽  
Bastian Bertzky ◽  
Giacomo Delli ◽  
Andrea Mandrici ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Ecosystem Services ◽  
Protected Areas ◽  
Land Degradation ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Active Management ◽  
Total Biomass ◽  
Productive Capacity ◽  
Land Productivity ◽  
Productivity Dynamics

AbstractTracking changes in total biomass production or land productivity is an essential part of monitoring land transformations and long-term alterations of the health and productive capacity of land that are typically associated with land degradation. Persistent declines in land productivity impact many terrestrial ecosystem services that form the basis for sustainable livelihoods of human communities. Protected areas (PAs) are a key strategy in global efforts to conserve biodiversity and ecosystem services that are critical for human well-being, and cover about 15% of the land worldwide. Here we globally assess the trends in land productivity in PAs of at least 10 km2 and in their unprotected surroundings (10 km buffers) from 1999 to 2013. We quantify the percentage of the protected and unprotected land that shows stable, increasing or decreasing trends in land productivity, quantified as long-term (15 year) changes in above-ground biomass derived from satellite-based observations with a spatial resolution of 1 km. We find that 44% of the land in PAs globally has retained the productivity at stable levels from 1999 to 2013, compared to 42% of stable productivity in the unprotected land around PAs. Persistent increases in productivity are more common in the unprotected lands around PAs (32%) than within PAs (18%) globally, which may be related to more active management and vegetation cover changes in some of these unprotected lands. About 14% of the protected land and 12% of the unprotected land around PAs has experienced declines in land productivity from 1999 to 2013 globally. Oceania has the highest percentage of land with stable productivity in PAs (57%) followed by Asia (52%). Europe is the continent with the lowest percentage of land with stable productivity levels in PAs (38%) and with the largest share of protected land with increasing land productivity (32%), which may be related to the high population density and share of agricultural land within PAs as well as to rural land abandonment processes in many regions of Europe. In conclusion, we provide a relevant indicator and assessment of land productivity dynamics that contributes to characterise the state, pressures and changes in and around protected areas globally. Further research may focus on more detailed analyses to disentangle the relative contribution of specific drivers (from climate change to land use change) and their interaction with land productivity dynamics and potential land degradation in different regions of the world.

scholarly journals Programming Abstractions for Managing Workflows on Tiered Storage Systems

2021 ◽  
Vol 17 (4) ◽  
pp. 1-21
Author(s):  
Devarshi Ghoshal ◽  
Lavanya Ramakrishnan
Keyword(s):  
Data Management ◽  
High Performance ◽  
New Technologies ◽  
Storage Capacity ◽  
Storage Systems ◽  
Storage System ◽  
Management Strategies ◽  
Scientific Workflows ◽  
Programming Abstractions ◽  
Storage Hierarchy

Scientific workflows in High Performance Computing ( HPC ) environments are processing large amounts of data. The storage hierarchy on HPC systems is getting deeper, driven by new technologies (NVRAMs, SSDs, etc.) There is a need for new programming abstractions that allow users to seamlessly manage data at the workflow level on multi-tiered storage systems, and provide optimal workflow performance and use of storage resources. In previous work, we introduced a software architecture Managing Data on Tiered Storage for Scientific Workflows (MaDaTS ) that used a Virtual Data Space ( VDS ) abstraction to hide the complexities of the underlying storage system while allowing users to control data management strategies. In this article, we detail the data-centric programming abstractions that allow users to manage a workflow around its data on the storage layer. The programming abstractions simplify data management for scientific workflows on multi-tiered storage systems, without affecting workflow performance or storage capacity. We measure the overheads and effectiveness introduced by the programming abstractions of MaDaTS. Our results show that these abstractions can optimally use the storage capacity in lesser capacity storage tiers, and simplify data management without adding any performance overheads.

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