scholarly journals Back to Ecology: Reference Conditions as a Basis for Assessment, Restoration and Sustainable Management of Large Rivers

Water ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (18) ◽  
pp. 2596
Author(s):  
Gorazd Urbanič ◽  
Zlatko Mihaljević ◽  
Vesna Petkovska ◽  
Maja Pavlin Urbanič
Keyword(s):  
Habitat Heterogeneity ◽  
Reference Conditions ◽  
Benthic Invertebrate ◽  
Large Rivers ◽  
Specific Reference ◽  
Southeast Europe ◽  
Natural Conditions ◽  
Holistic View ◽  
Invertebrate Assemblages ◽  
The Eu

Under the EU Water Framework Directive, ecological assessment and management are based on type-specific reference conditions. In the EU it may be difficult to find sites in large rivers with at least near-natural conditions, though this is not the case in southeast Europe, where stretches of large rivers still exist with at least near-natural conditions, meaning that there is little or no disturbance from hydromorphological alteration, water quality, land use in the catchment and alien species. We examined benthic invertebrate assemblages in 45 samples collected from near-natural sites of several large rivers: Sava, Drava, Mura, Kupa and Una. The near-natural benthic invertebrate assemblages of large rivers contained several rare or remarkable species, especially among stoneflies, e.g., Marthamea vitripennis, Xanthoperla apicalis. We compared benthic invertebrate communities in river sections with fine and coarse substrates and in three eco-hydromorphological (ECO-HM) types of large rivers, reflecting habitat heterogeneity: lowland-deep, lowland-braided and intermountain. Multivariate analysis of variance (PERMANOVA) was used to statistically evaluate similarities among assemblages. It was found that the composition of benthic invertebrate assemblages varied by both ECO-HM types and substrate category. Similarity percentage (SIMPER) analysis showed that the average dissimilarity of benthic invertebrate assemblages was high between all ECO-HM type pairs and between fine and coarse substrate. We found that habitat heterogeneity and substrate independently influenced benthic invertebrate assemblages. To achieve ecological goals in the management of large rivers, in addition to functionality, a holistic view with at least near-natural assemblages, including the names of the taxa present, should also be considered.

scholarly journals Disentangling the Effects of Multiple Stressors on Large Rivers Using Benthic Invertebrates—A Study of Southeastern European Large Rivers with Implications for Management

Water ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 621 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gorazd Urbanič ◽  
Zlatko Mihaljević ◽  
Vesna Petkovska ◽  
Maja Pavlin Urbanič
Keyword(s):  
Water Quality ◽  
Land Use ◽  
Multiple Stressors ◽  
Management Strategies ◽  
Specific Effect ◽  
Benthic Invertebrate ◽  
Large Rivers ◽  
Specific Effects ◽  
Land Use Effects ◽  
Invertebrate Assemblages

Predicting anthropogenic actions resulting in undesirable changes in aquatic systems is crucial for the development of effective and sustainable water management strategies. Due to the co-occurrence of stressors and a lack of appropriate data, the effects on large rivers are difficult to elucidate. To overcome this problem, we developed a partial canonical correspondence analyses (pCCA) model using 292 benthic invertebrate taxa from 104 sites that incorporated the effects of three stressors groups: hydromorphology, land use, and water quality. The data covered an environmental gradient from near-natural to heavily altered sites in five large rivers in Southeastern Europe. Prior to developing the multi-stressor model, we assessed the importance of natural characteristics on individual stressor groups. Stressors proved to be the dominant factors in shaping benthic invertebrate assemblages. The pCCA among stressor-groups showed that unique effects dominated over joint effects. Thus, benthic invertebrate assemblages were suitable for disentangling the specific effect of each of the three stressor groups. While the effects of hydromorphology were dominant, both water quality and land use effects were nearly equally important. Quantifying the specific effects of hydromorphological alterations, water quality, and land use will allow water managers to better understand how large rivers have changed and to better define expectations for ecosystem conditions in the future.

scholarly journals Robots for Elderly Care in the Home: A Landscape Analysis and Co-Design Toolkit

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gianluca Bardaro ◽  
Alessio Antonini ◽  
Enrico Motta
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Daily Life ◽  
Elderly Care ◽  
Real Life ◽  
Robotic Platform ◽  
Holistic View ◽  
Personal Assistants ◽  
Healthcare Interventions ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Eu

AbstractOver the last two decades, several deployments of robots for in-house assistance of older adults have been trialled. However, these solutions are mostly prototypes and remain unused in real-life scenarios. In this work, we review the historical and current landscape of the field, to try and understand why robots have yet to succeed as personal assistants in daily life. Our analysis focuses on two complementary aspects: the capabilities of the physical platform and the logic of the deployment. The former analysis shows regularities in hardware configurations and functionalities, leading to the definition of a set of six application-level capabilities (exploration, identification, remote control, communication, manipulation, and digital situatedness). The latter focuses on the impact of robots on the daily life of users and categorises the deployment of robots for healthcare interventions using three types of services: support, mitigation, and response. Our investigation reveals that the value of healthcare interventions is limited by a stagnation of functionalities and a disconnection between the robotic platform and the design of the intervention. To address this issue, we propose a novel co-design toolkit, which uses an ecological framework for robot interventions in the healthcare domain. Our approach connects robot capabilities with known geriatric factors, to create a holistic view encompassing both the physical platform and the logic of the deployment. As a case study-based validation, we discuss the use of the toolkit in the pre-design of the robotic platform for an pilot intervention, part of the EU large-scale pilot of the EU H2020 GATEKEEPER project.

scholarly journals Land-use and agriculture in Denmark around year 1900 and the quest for EU Water Framework Directive reference conditions in coastal waters

AMBIO ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bent T. Christensen ◽  
Birger F. Pedersen ◽  
Jørgen E. Olesen ◽  
Jørgen Eriksen
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Water Framework Directive ◽  
Coastal Waters ◽  
Root Zone ◽  
Reference Conditions ◽  
Ecological Status ◽  
Agricultural Activity ◽  
Eu Water Framework Directive ◽  
Alternative Approach ◽  
The Eu

AbstractThe EU Water Framework Directive (WFD) aims to protect the ecological status of coastal waters. To establish acceptable boundaries between good and moderate ecological status, the WFD calls for reference conditions practically undisturbed by human impact. For Denmark, the nitrogen (N) concentrations present around year 1900 have been suggested to represent reference conditions. As the N load of coastal waters relates closely to runoff from land, any reduction in load links to agricultural activity. We challenge the current use of historical N balances to establish WFD reference conditions and initiate an alternative approach based on parish-level land-use statistics collected 1896/1900 and N concentrations in root zone percolates from experiments with year 1900-relevant management. This approach may be more widely applicable for landscapes with detailed historic information on agricultural activity. Using this approach, we find an average N concentration in root zone percolates that is close to that of current agriculture. Thus, considering Danish coastal waters to be practically unaffected by human activity around year 1900 remains futile as 75% of the land area was subject to agricultural activity with a substantial potential for N loss to the environment. It appears unlikely that the ecological state of coastal waters around year 1900 may serve as WFD reference condition.

Type-specific reference conditions of fluvial landscapes: A search in the past by 3D-reconstruction

CATENA ◽  
2008 ◽  
Vol 75 (2) ◽  
pp. 200-215 ◽  
Author(s):  
Severin Hohensinner ◽  
Mathew Herrnegger ◽  
Alfred P. Blaschke ◽  
Christine Habereder ◽  
Gertrud Haidvogl ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
3D Reconstruction ◽  
Reference Conditions ◽  
Specific Reference ◽  
The Past

Neither here, not there: Bulgaria and Romania in current European politics☆

2004 ◽  
Vol 37 (4) ◽  
pp. 509-522 ◽  
Author(s):  
Victor D. Bojkov
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Regional Cooperation ◽  
Eu Enlargement ◽  
Political Transition ◽  
The Other ◽  
European Politics ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Southeast Europe ◽  
The Eu

The article analyses the process of EU enlargement with reference to the progress that Bulgaria and Romania have made within it. It is argued that leaving them out of the wave of accession finalised in May 2004 for ten of the candidate states, has placed them in a situation of double exclusion. Firstly, their geographical belonging to the region of Southeast Europe has been rendered non-essential by their advanced position within the EU enlargement process. Secondly, their achievement in economic and political transition has been removed from the progress of the ten states, which joined the EU in May 2004 by delaying the time of their accession. As a result, any efforts in regional cooperation and integration between Bulgaria and Romania on one hand, and other Southeast European states on the other, have been effectively cancelled. Moreover, in current European politics, the two countries have come to serve the unenviable role of exemplifying on the part of the European Union how progress is being awarded and hesitation punished.

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