scholarly journals Impacts of Windfarm Development Activities on Rocky Plateaus - Discussions on Chalkewadi plateau, Dist. Satara, Maharashtra

2015 ◽  
Vol 28 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Manasi Karandikar ◽  
Ketaki Ghate ◽  
Ketaki Kulkarni
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Wind Farm ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Land Use Changes ◽  
Wind Farms ◽  
Ground Level ◽  
Google Earth ◽  
Habitat Destruction ◽  
Major Activity ◽  
Reserve Forest

Rocky plateaus are ecologically very important as they harbor special diversity and are part of catchments of major rivers of Maharashtra. Detailed studies on the components and fragility of rocky plateau ecosystems are sparse. Recently, the instances of these plateaus being subjected to various land use changes without detailed assessments, have affected the balance of the complex ecosystem and the services offered by them. Windfarm development is one major activity on the rocky plateaus for which little data is available on ecosystem level impacts. Results of the present study describe the Chalkewadi plateau complex, Satara district and impacts on the plateau surface brought about by the development of a high-density windfarm. Broad observations were made on the changing land use, microhabitats and associated vegetation. Manual analysis of Google Earth images of the plateau was done to understand the nature and scale of the ground-level disturbance. Results show that even though the actual area under windmill establishment is relatively smaller compared to the total plateau area, its environmental footprint is relatively large. The network of temporary and permanent roads, created to erect and operate the windfarm, has dissected the habitat and corridors of wildlife movement. An increase in road kill incidences was observed. Roads have also initiated erosional features all along the plateau surface. Disturbance due to windfarms is widespread on the plateau with the only exception being in the Reserve Forest area and disconnected smaller plateaus. Our results complement conclusions from other studies regarding negative impacts of windfarms on birds and reptiles. Thus overall impact of windfarms, in terms of habitat destruction is significant and should be studied in depth before establishment of wind farms. Establishment of windfarms on ecologically sensitive areas should be avoided as far as possible. However, we recommend good ecological management practices that could reduce the impacts, if wind farm establishment is inevitable. The recommendations can be applied to other plateaus in Sahyadri where windfarms are already in place

scholarly journals Wealth of Wind and Visitors: Tourist Industry Attitudes towards Wind Energy Development in Iceland

Land ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (7) ◽  
pp. 693
Author(s):  
Anna Dóra Sæþórsdóttir ◽  
Margrét Wendt ◽  
Edita Tverijonaite
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Wind Energy ◽  
Wind Turbines ◽  
Wind Farm ◽  
Service Providers ◽  
Wind Farms ◽  
Energy Development ◽  
Tourism Industry ◽  
Land Use Conflicts ◽  
Wind Energy Development

The interest in harnessing wind energy keeps increasing globally. Iceland is considering building its first wind farms, but its landscape and nature are not only a resource for renewable energy production; they are also the main attraction for tourists. As wind turbines affect how the landscape is perceived and experienced, it is foreseeable that the construction of wind farms in Iceland will create land use conflicts between the energy sector and the tourism industry. This study sheds light on the impacts of wind farms on nature-based tourism as perceived by the tourism industry. Based on 47 semi-structured interviews with tourism service providers, it revealed that the impacts were perceived as mostly negative, since wind farms decrease the quality of the natural landscape. Furthermore, the study identified that the tourism industry considered the following as key factors for selecting suitable wind farm sites: the visibility of wind turbines, the number of tourists and tourist attractions in the area, the area’s degree of naturalness and the local need for energy. The research highlights the importance of analysing the various stakeholders’ opinions with the aim of mitigating land use conflicts and socioeconomic issues related to wind energy development.

scholarly journals Identification of sensitive indicators to assess the interrelationship between soil quality, management practices and human health

SOIL ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 173-185 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. Zornoza ◽  
J. A. Acosta ◽  
F. Bastida ◽  
S. G. Domínguez ◽  
D. M. Toledo ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Human Health ◽  
Soil Quality ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Land Use Changes ◽  
Aggregate Stability ◽  
Health Indicators ◽  
Nutrient Content ◽  
Sustainable Land Use ◽  
Soil Quality Index

Abstract. Soil quality (SQ) assessment has long been a challenging issue, since soils present high variability in properties and functions. This paper aims to increase the understanding of SQ through the review of SQ assessments in different scenarios providing evidence about the interrelationship between SQ, land use and human health. There is a general consensus that there is a need to develop methods to assess and monitor SQ for assuring sustainable land use with no prejudicial effects on human health. This review points out the importance of adopting indicators of different nature (physical, chemical and biological) to achieve a holistic image of SQ. Most authors use single indicators to assess SQ and its relationship with land uses – soil organic carbon and pH being the most used indicators. The use of nitrogen and nutrient content has resulted sensitive for agricultural and forest systems, together with physical properties such as texture, bulk density, available water and aggregate stability. These physical indicators have also been widely used to assess SQ after land use changes. The use of biological indicators is less generalized, with microbial biomass and enzyme activities being the most selected indicators. Although most authors assess SQ using independent indicators, it is preferable to combine some of them into models to create a soil quality index (SQI), since it provides integrated information about soil processes and functioning. The majority of revised articles used the same methodology to establish an SQI, based on scoring and weighting of different soil indicators, selected by means of multivariate analyses. The use of multiple linear regressions has been successfully used for forest land use. Urban soil quality has been poorly assessed, with a lack of adoption of SQIs. In addition, SQ assessments where human health indicators or exposure pathways are incorporated are practically inexistent. Thus, further efforts should be carried out to establish new methodologies to assess soil quality not only in terms of sustainability, productivity and ecosystem quality but also human health. Additionally, new challenges arise with the use and integration of stable isotopic, genomic, proteomic and spectroscopic data into SQIs.

scholarly journals Satellite Imaging and Long-Term Mosquito Surveillance Implicate the Influence of Rapid Urbanization on Culex Vector Populations

Insects ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (9) ◽  
pp. 269
Author(s):  
Eleanor N. Field ◽  
Ryan E. Tokarz ◽  
Ryan C. Smith
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Disease Transmission ◽  
Culex Pipiens ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Mosquito Species ◽  
Land Use Changes ◽  
Mosquito Vector ◽  
Rapid Urbanization ◽  
Mosquito Surveillance

The ecology and environmental conditions of a habitat have profound influences on mosquito population abundance. As a result, mosquito species vary in their associations with particular habitat types, yet long-term studies showing how mosquito populations shift in a changing ecological landscape are lacking. To better understand how land use changes influence mosquito populations, we examined mosquito surveillance data over a thirty-four-year period for two contrasting sites in central Iowa. One site displayed increasing levels of urbanization over time and a dramatic decline in Culex pipiens group (an informal grouping of Culex restuans, Culex pipiens, and Culex salinarius, referred to as CPG), the primary vectors of West Nile virus in central Iowa. Similar effects were also shown for other mosquito vector populations, yet the abundance of Aedes vexans remained constant during the study period. This is in contrast to a second site, which reflected an established urban landscape. At this location, there were no significant changes in land use and CPG populations remained constant. Climate data (temperature, total precipitation) were compiled for each location to see if these changes could account for altered population dynamics, but neither significantly influence CPG abundance at the respective site locations. Taken together, our data suggest that increased landscape development can have negative impacts on Culex vector populations, and we argue that long-term surveillance paired with satellite imagery analysis are useful methods for measuring the impacts of rapid human development on mosquito vector communities. As a result, we believe that land use changes can have important implications for mosquito management practices, population modeling, and disease transmission dynamics.

LUU CHECKER: A Web-based Tool to Incorporate Emerging LUs in the SWAT Model

2019 ◽  
Vol 35 (5) ◽  
pp. 723-731 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gurdeep Singh ◽  
Dharmendra Saraswat ◽  
Naresh Pai ◽  
Benjamin Hancock
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Assessment Tool ◽  
Urban Forest ◽  
Swat Model ◽  
Land Use Changes ◽  
Web Based ◽  
Large Size ◽  
Hydrologic Response Unit ◽  
User Friendly

Abstract. Standard practice of setting up Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) involves use of a single land use (LU) layer under the assumption that no change takes place in LU condition irrespective of the length of simulation period. This assumption leads to erroneous conclusions about efficacy of management practices in those watersheds where land use changes (LUCs) (e.g. agriculture to urban, forest to agriculture etc.) occur during the simulation period. To overcome this limitation, we have developed a user-friendly, web-based tool named LUU Checker that helps create a composite LU layer by integrating multiple years of LU layers available in watersheds of interest. The results show that the use of composite LU layer for hydrologic response unit (HRU) delineation in 2474-km2 L’Anguile River Watershed in Arkansas was able to capture changed LU at subbasin level by using LU data available in the year 1999 and 2006, respectively. The web-based tool is applicable for large size watersheds and is accessible to multiple users from anywhere in the world. Keywords: Land use, Web-based tool, SWAT, LUU Checker.

scholarly journals Mapping of Major Land-Use Changes in the Kolleru Lake Freshwater Ecosystem by Using Landsat Satellite Images in Google Earth Engine

Water ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (9) ◽  
pp. 2493 ◽  
Author(s):  
Meena Kumari Kolli ◽  
Christian Opp ◽  
Daniel Karthe ◽  
Michael Groll
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Land Cover ◽  
Land Use Changes ◽  
Google Earth ◽  
Nutrient Concentrations ◽  
Freshwater Ecosystem ◽  
Lake Ecosystem ◽  
Lake Basin ◽  
Lake Area ◽  
Google Earth Engine

India’s largest freshwater ecosystem of the Kolleru Lake has experienced severe threats by land-use changes, including the construction of illegal fishponds around the lake area over the past five decades. Despite efforts to protect and restore the lake and its riparian zones, environmental pressures have increased over time. The present study provides a synthesis of human activities through major land-use changes around Kolleru Lake both before and after restoration measures. For this purpose, archives of all Landsat imageries from the last three decades were used to detect land cover changes. Using the Google Earth Engine cloud platform, three different land-use scenarios were classified for the year before restoration (1999), for 2008 immediately after the restoration, and for 2018, i.e., the current situation of the lake one decade afterward. Additionally, the NDVI (Normalized Difference Vegetation Index) and NDWI (Normalized Difference Water Index) indices were used to identify land cover dynamics. The results show that the restoration was successful; consequently, after a decade, the lake was transformed into the previous state of restoration (i.e., 1999 situation). In 1999, 29.7% of the Kolleru Lake ecosystem was occupied by fishponds, and, after a decade of sustainable restoration, 27.7% of the area was fishponds, almost reaching the extent of the 1999 situation. On the one hand, aquaculture is one of the most promising sources of income, but there is also limited awareness of its negative environmental impacts among local residents. On the other hand, political commitment to protect the lake is weak, and integrated approaches considering all stakeholders are lacking. Nevertheless, alterations of land and water use, increasing nutrient concentrations, and sediment inputs from the lake basin have reached a level at which they threaten the biodiversity and functionality of India’s largest wetland ecosystem to the degree that immediate action is necessary to prevent irreversible degradation.

Soil organic carbon dynamics: Impact of land use changes and management practices: A review

2019 ◽  
pp. 1-107 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thangavel Ramesh ◽  
Nanthi S. Bolan ◽  
Mary Beth Kirkham ◽  
Hasintha Wijesekara ◽  
Manjaiah Kanchikerimath ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Organic Carbon ◽  
Soil Organic Carbon ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Land Use Changes ◽  
Carbon Dynamics ◽  
Soil Organic Carbon Dynamics

scholarly journals Multi-Objective Energy-Noise Wind Farm Layout Optimization Under Land Use Constraints

2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sami Yamani Douzi Sorkhabi ◽  
David A. Romero ◽  
Gary Kai Yan ◽  
Michelle Dao Gu ◽  
Joaquin Moran ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Transmission Lines ◽  
Wind Farm ◽  
Wind Farms ◽  
Continuous Variable ◽  
Layout Optimization ◽  
Variable Model ◽  
Nsga Ii ◽  
Multi Objective ◽  
Regulatory Constraints

Recently, the environmental impact of wind farms has been receiving increasing attention. As land is more extensively exploited for onshore wind farms, they are more likely to be in proximity with human dwellings, infrastructure (e.g. roads, transmission lines) and environmental features (e.g. rivers, lakes, forests). As a result of regulatory constraints, this proximity causes significant portions of the wind farm terrain to become unusable for turbine placement. In this work, we present a constrained, continuous-variable model for layout optimization that takes noise and energy as objective functions, based on Jensen’s wake model and ISO-9613-2 noise calculations. A multi-objective genetic algorithm (NSGA-II) is used to solve the optimization problem, considering a set of land use constraints, which are handled with static and dynamic penalty functions. A set of test cases with different number of turbines and percentages of land availability are solved. Results from this bi-objective optimization model illustrate how the severity of the land use constraints affects the trade-off between energy generation and noise production.

scholarly journals Floristic Response of Herbaceous Flora to Intensive Cropping Systems: A Case of Ajibode-sasa Arable Agroecosystem, Ibadan, Southwest Nigeria

2020 ◽  
pp. 25-37
Author(s):  
Olayanju, Folasayo Micheal ◽  
Olubode, Oluseun Sunday
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Invasive Species ◽  
Agricultural Landscape ◽  
Land Use Changes ◽  
Google Earth ◽  
Ecosystem Dynamics ◽  
Natural Ecosystem ◽  
Cumulative Number ◽  
Tridax Procumbens ◽  
Arable Farming

Agriculture a most significant land use types which alter natural ecosystem dynamics. Arable farming exerts much pressure on plant biodiversity, especially when practiced intensively in urban centers. There is dearth of information on floristic changes due to intensive arable farming in urban agroecosystems in developing countries. The study therefore assessed floristic changes resulting from and intensive farming practices at Ajibode-Sasa agricultural landscape. Ajibode-Sasa agroecosystem is a complex mix of arable cropping system between latitude N07°28′, E003°53′ and longitude N07°28′, E003°54. Comparative floristic surveys were conducted in 2016 and 2020 using quadrats (1 m2) systematically laid on 18 Transects ranging from 50 – 250 m long. A total of 224 and 184 quadrats were laid in 2016 and 2020 respectively. Reduction in numbers of quadrats laid resulted from physical anthropogenic development after the 2016 survey. Species identification followed standard procedures, and quantitative occurrence data were collected for determination of species composition and computation of relative importance values (RIV) and diversity indices. Land-use changes over four years period was determined using Google earth and QGIS. Herbacous plant composition with 123 cumulative number of species in both years reduced from 98 species in 2016 to 85 species in 2020 species RIV of species ranged from 0.038 – 14.803. Tridax procumbens had the highest RIV (14.803) in 2016, while it was Acmella brachyglossa (13.248) 2020. Species richness and floral diversity was high with Shannon-Weiner Index (3.081 and 3.088) and Dominance (0.09388 and 0.08746) in 2016 and 2020 respectively. Intensive cultivation favoured introduction and spread of invasive species like Tridax procumbens and Tithonia diversifolia. Eight introduced and invasive species were newly enumerated in 2020, with a total of 38 herbaceous species no longer encountered in 2020. Concerted efforts should be made to conserve native flora on the agroecosystem through sustainable practices like crop rotation and short fallow.

scholarly journals Aligned and Staggered Layouts: What is the Impact on Wind Farms Land-Use?

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rafael Valotta Rodrigues ◽  
Corinne Lengsfeld
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Output Power ◽  
Wind Farm ◽  
Wind Farms ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Continuous Increase ◽  
Onshore Wind ◽  
Wake Interaction ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Blade Element

The use of wind energy has been developing fast over the last years. The global cumulative wind power capacity increased by 10.5% in 2019, most of which comes from onshore wind farms. One of the consequences of this continuous increase is the use of land for onshore wind farms. There are already cases worldwide where lack of well-established plans and strategies have caused delays in projects. The need for efficiently using land for wind farms will be mandatory in the short term. In this work, we present a numerical analysis to evaluate wind farm land-use. By defining the ratio between mechanical output power over an area as a parameter called land-use ratio, this work focused on comparing several cases of aligned and staggered layouts. Mechanical output power was estimated using a validated code based on Blade Element Momentum code, and the wake velocities and wake interaction effects were estimated using a validated wind turbine CFD model. In terms of output power, staggered designs are more efficient than aligned designs. However, the results showed that even though staggered designs produced higher output power, aligned farms with tight lateral spacing could be as efficient as staggered ones in terms of land-use but using fewer turbines. In summary, tightly aligned designs should be a tendency in the future towards efficient use of land in wind farms.

scholarly journals FATE OF AGRICULTURAL AREAS OF KAILALI DISTRICT OF NEPAL: A TEMPORAL LAND USE LAND COVER CHANGE (LUCC) ANALYSIS

2020 ◽  
Vol XLIII-B3-2020 ◽  
pp. 1601-1606
Author(s):  
◽  
L. Thapa ◽  
D. P. Shukla
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Land Cover ◽  
Satellite Data ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Agricultural Land ◽  
Local Population ◽  
Google Earth ◽  
Series Data ◽  
Land Use Land Cover ◽  
Land Resources

Abstract. Changes of agricultural land into non-agricultural land is the main issue of increasing population and urbanization. The objective of this paper is to identify the various land resources and its changes into other Land Use Land Cover (LULC) type. LANDSAT satellite data for 1990, 2000, 2010 and 2018 years of Kailali district Nepal was acquired for supervised LULC mapping and change analysis using ENVI 5.4 software. Sentinel-2 and Google earth satellite data were used for the accuracy assessment of the LULC map. The time-series data analysis from 1990–2000–2010–2018 shows major changes in vegetation and agriculture. The changes in LULC show that settlement and bare land is continuously increasing throughout these years. The change in land use and land cover during the period of 1990–2018 shows that the settlement area is increased by 204%; and agriculture is decreased by 57%. The fluctuating behavior of vegetation, agriculture and water bodies in which the areas decrease and increase over the selected periods is due to natural calamities and migration of the local population. This shows that human influence on the land resources is accelerating and leading to a deterioration of agricultural land. Thus effective agricultural management practices and policies should be carried out at the government level for minimizing land resources degradation by the human-induced impact.

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