Using Remote Sensing to Estimate Scales of Spatial Heterogeneity to Analyze Evapotranspiration Modeling in a Natural Ecosystem

Understanding the spatial variability in highly heterogeneous natural environments such as savannas and river corridors is an important issue in characterizing and modeling energy fluxes, particularly for evapotranspiration (ET) estimates. Currently, remote-sensing-based surface energy balance (SEB) models are applied widely and routinely in agricultural settings to obtain ET information on an operational basis for use in water resources management. However, the application of these models in natural environments is challenging due to spatial heterogeneity in vegetation cover and complexity in the number of vegetation species existing within a biome. In this research effort, small unmanned aerial systems (sUAS) data were used to study the influence of land surface spatial heterogeneity on the modeling of ET using the Two-Source Energy Balance (TSEB) model. The study area is the San Rafael River corridor in Utah, which is a part of the Upper Colorado River Basin that is characterized by arid conditions and variations in soil moisture status and the type and height of vegetation. First, a spatial variability analysis was performed using a discrete wavelet transform (DWT) to identify a representative spatial resolution/model grid size for adequately solving energy balance components to derive ET. The results indicated a maximum wavelet energy between 6.4 m and 12.8 m for the river corridor area, while the non-river corridor area, which is characterized by different surface types and random vegetation, does not show a peak value. Next, to evaluate the effect of spatial resolution on latent heat flux (LE) estimation using the TSEB model, spatial scales of 6 m and 15 m instead of 6.4 m and 12.8 m, respectively, were used to simplify the derivation of model inputs. The results indicated small differences in the LE values between 6 m and 15 m resolutions, with a slight decrease in detail at 15 m due to losses in spatial variability. Lastly, the instantaneous (hourly) LE was extrapolated/upscaled to daily ET values using the incoming solar radiation (Rs) method. The results indicated that willow and cottonwood have the highest ET rates, followed by grass/shrubs and treated tamarisk. Although most of the treated tamarisk vegetation is in dead/dry condition, the green vegetation growing underneath resulted in a magnitude value of ET.

Nature-Based Solutions Benefit the Economic–Ecological Coordination of Pastoral Areas: An Outstanding Herdsman’s Experience in Xilin Gol, China

Grassland has always had a difficult economic–ecological relationship, as coordination between its ecological conservation and the sustainable development of animal husbandry is required. Nature-based Solutions (NbS), who make full use of the natural ecosystem services, have successfully solved some economic–ecological issues, but still have unclear implementation prospects for grassland management. The Xilin Gol grassland is one of the most typical pastoral areas in China; there is a village chief named Bateer, who has already used NbS for grassland management. To confirm whether the solutions employed by Bateer have been effective for both increasing economic profits and protecting grassland ecosystem, we interviewed him, and many other herdsmen, using questionnaires about their livelihood. Based on these questionnaires, we calculated and compared their income–cost ratios. Meanwhile, we analyzed the NDVI variations inside their rangelands through high-resolution remote sensing images. The results showed that the herdsmen in Bateer’s village had a much higher disposable income and income–cost ratio than others, and their rangelands also had a higher value and a more obvious increasing trend of NDVI. Bateer’s success proves that the NbS can also play a positive role in grassland management, which can provide a valuable guidance for economic–ecological coordination in pastoral areas.

Regeneration Status and Role of Traditional Ecological Knowledge for Cloud Forest Ecosystem Restoration in Ecuador

The importance of forests for biodiversity conservation has been well recognized by the global community; as a result, conservation efforts have increased over the past two decades. In Ecuador, the lack of integrated information for defining and assessing the status of local ecosystems is a major challenge for designing conservation and restoration plans. Thus, the objectives of this study were (1) to examine the regeneration status of cloud forest remnants, some of which had experienced past human disturbance events, (2) to explore a local rural community’s traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) relevant for restoration and (3) to investigate the integration between TEK and ecological science-based approaches. A survey of regeneration status was conducted in four remnants of cloud forests (n = 16) in Cosanga, Napo Province, in the Andes of northeastern Ecuador. The species of young trees (0.5–5 m height) were identified over 0.16 ha. In-depth interviews of individuals from local communities (n = 48) were conducted to identify socio-ecologically important native species. The results showed significant differences (p < 0.001) in species richness and the stem density of seedlings and saplings in gaps. The stem density of Chusquea sp., a bamboo species, explained 63% of the variation in species richness and 48% of the variation in the abundance of seedlings and saplings between plots. Informants cited 32 socio-ecologically important species, of which 26 species were cited as sources of food and habitats for wildlife. The ranking of species based on a relative importance index and a cultural value index—taking into account both the spread of knowledge among local informants and the multiplicity of uses—revealed that Hyeromina duquei, Citharexylum montanum, Eugenia crassimarginata and Sapium contortum were traditionally the most valuable species for both humans and wildlife. Informants also recommended 27 species for future planting, of which 19 species were amongst the rarest species in the regeneration survey. In conclusion, the results demonstrate a synergy between TEK and ecological science-based approaches (regeneration survey) to natural ecosystem research. Thus, traditional ecological knowledge can provide insights into ecosystem–plant–animal interaction, and to identify native species useful for both humans and wildlife for forest restoration projects to reconnect isolated cloud forest fragments.

Entailing the Next-Generation Sequencing and Metabolome for Sustainable Agriculture by Improving Plant Tolerance

Crop production is a serious challenge to provide food for the 10 billion individuals forecasted to live across the globe in 2050. The scientists’ emphasize establishing an equilibrium among diversity and quality of crops by enhancing yield to fulfill the increasing demand for food supply sustainably. The exploitation of genetic resources using genomics and metabolomics strategies can help generate resilient plants against stressors in the future. The innovation of the next-generation sequencing (NGS) strategies laid the foundation to unveil various plants’ genetic potential and help us to understand the domestication process to unmask the genetic potential among wild-type plants to utilize for crop improvement. Nowadays, NGS is generating massive genomic resources using wild-type and domesticated plants grown under normal and harsh environments to explore the stress regulatory factors and determine the key metabolites. Improved food nutritional value is also the key to eradicating malnutrition problems around the globe, which could be attained by employing the knowledge gained through NGS and metabolomics to achieve suitability in crop yield. Advanced technologies can further enhance our understanding in defining the strategy to obtain a specific phenotype of a crop. Integration among bioinformatic tools and molecular techniques, such as marker-assisted, QTLs mapping, creation of reference genome, de novo genome assembly, pan- and/or super-pan-genomes, etc., will boost breeding programs. The current article provides sequential progress in NGS technologies, a broad application of NGS, enhancement of genetic manipulation resources, and understanding the crop response to stress by producing plant metabolites. The NGS and metabolomics utilization in generating stress-tolerant plants/crops without deteriorating a natural ecosystem is considered a sustainable way to improve agriculture production. This highlighted knowledge also provides useful research that explores the suitable resources for agriculture sustainability.

Units of Military Fortification Complex as Phenomenon Elements of the Czech Borderlands Landscape

This paper is focused on selected units of casemates with enhanced fortification in the military fortification complex of the Czech borderlands landscape as specific forms of brownfields. They represent a functional system that interacts with surrounding nature, landscape character, and human society. Four approaches were chosen to study the function and potential of selected individual abandoned casemates with enhanced fortification, where each of them corresponds to one of the four landscape layers: genius loci, socio-economic sphere, functional relationship (between human and the landscape), and natural conditions. There is a corresponding research method for each of the landscape layers (guided interview with respondents, data analysis on abandoned casemates with enhanced fortifications as brownfields, analysis of their landscape functions, and zoological survey of interior). The main results could show that abandoned casemates with enhanced fortifications can play important roles in all landscape layers: stories and genius loci, abandoned casemates with enhanced fortification as a special type of military brownfield but also as a semi-natural ecosystem, and the same time as a habitat for invertebrates. The analyses and surveys conducted clearly demonstrate that abandoned casemates with enhanced fortification as units of military fortification complex of the Czech borderlands landscape perform several hidden important functions in the landscape for which they cannot be viewed as brownfields. This hidden functional potential is most likely best described by the concept of hidden singularity, which offers itself for integration into basic approaches to brownfields.

Appraisal of water quality and ecological sensitivity with reference to riverfront development along the River Gomti, India

The conflict between the vitality of natural ecosystem versus artificially developed systems has existed since decades. The ecological sensitivity and socio-economic aspects associated with riverfront development along rivers have attracted the attention of environmentalists and ecologists across the globe. The present study evaluates the impacts of channelization and riverfront development on the water quality of river Gomti through Water Pollution Index (WPI) and other statistical tools. Of the total studied sites, 75% were found to be in the ‘highly polluted’ category even after the development of riverfront. An approximate increase of 274.5% and 171.76% was witnessed in the WPI values at the midstream sites of Kudiaghat and Daliganj, respectively. This increase in the WPI values clearly stated the deteriorated water quality of river Gomti after the channelization. The major issue of domestic sewage discharge with partial or no treatment into the river seems to be unresolved even after a considerable period of riverfront development. This study can provide a reference database toward development of such projects across the globe.

‘Back to the Future’—Oak wood-pasture for wildfire prevention in the Mediterranean

In the summer of 2021, enormous wildfires in the Mediterranean eliminated huge areas of mainly coniferous forest, destroyed adjacent settlements and claimed the lives of many people. The fires indicate effects of climate change and expose consequences of rural demographic changes, deficits in regional and touristic development planning and shortcomings in forest policy. This forum article highlights the dimensions of the problem, calls for a paradigm shift and shows solutions. Land abandonment, woody plant encroachment and non-reflective afforestation are leading to increasing amounts of combustible biomass. To prevent disastrous fires in future, fundamental changes in tree species composition, forest structure and management are essential. Plantations of reseeding pines are to be substituted by spacious or periodically open woodlands of long-lived trees with resprouting capacity such as Mediterranean oaks. Biomass-reducing practices including wood-pasture have to be revived in rural and peri-urban areas. Exemplary fire-resistant multifunctional oak woodlands occur throughout the Mediterranean. Urgent and medium-term measures in the burnt areas include promoting natural ecosystem regeneration, developing regionalized seed banks and nurseries to support native genetic resources, fostering vegetation mosaics of groves and multiple-use open and coppice woodland maintained by traditional practices, and in general forest management aiming at fuel biomass reduction and a policy counteracting land abandonment.

THEORETICAL AND PRACTICAL PROBLEMS OF AQUATIC BIORESOURCES USE AS AN OBJECT OF WILDLIFE IN THE CONDITIONS OF ENSURING OF SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT IN UKRAINE

Current trends for expansion of aquatic bioresources consumption by human, considering their importance for food security governance, maintenance of life and poverty alleviation inevitably lead to the urgency of balancing consumer interest with the ecological interest, which involve ensuring the rational use, proper protection and preservation condition of aquatic bioresources stock. Aquatic bioresources are an important economic resource, on the one hand, and on the other – an integrated component of wildlife as an object of environmental protection. It determines the regulation of the legal regime of aquatic bioresources use by norms of environmental, agriculture and business law. According to the Aquatic Animal Health Strategy 2021‑2025, approves by the World Organization for Animal Health, demand for aquatic animal products has been increasing and is predicted to rise by at least 32% by 2030, just as the increase of production of such products is wield major influence on achievement of many UN Sustainable Development Goals. In view of this, the position that the concept of fisheries development in a civilized society should be focused not only on meeting the economic needs of the state, but also aimed at ensuring the rational use of aquatic bioresources, their effective reproduction, appealing to those ecological functions they perform in the natural ecosystem, is substantiated in the article. Achieving this goal is seen in the ecologization of economic activity, reinforcement guarantees of unimpeded access of citizens to aquatic bioresources and improving the management component in the studied area. Moreover, the paper reflects issues related to the prospects of implementing of key provisions of the EU Common Fisheries Policy in national environmental legislation.

Characterization Of Interspecific Gene Flows at The Genome-wide Level in a Natural Ecosystem The Massane Forest Reveals New Insights Into Horizontal Transfer In plants.

Horizontal transfer (HT) refers to the exchange of genetic material between divergent species by mechanisms other than reproduction. In recent years, several studies have demonstrated HTs in plants, particularly in the context of parasitic relationships and in model species. However, very little is known about HT in natural ecosystems, especially those involving non-parasitic wild species, and the nature of the ecological relationships that promote these HTs. In this work, we conducted a pilot study investigating HTs by sequencing the genomes of 17 wild non-model species from a natural ecosystem, the Massane forest, located in southern France. To this end, we developed a new computational pipeline called INTERCHANGE that is able to characterize HTs at the whole genome level without prior annotation and directly in the raw sequencing reads. Using this pipeline, we identified 12 HT events, half of which occurred between lianas and trees. We found that only LTRs-retrotransposons and predominantly those from the Copia superfamily were transferred between these wild species. This study revealed a possible new route for HTs between non-parasitic plants and provides new insights into the genomic characteristics of horizontally transferred DNA in plant genomes.

Invasive exotic plant monitoring at Dinosaur National Monument: Results of the 2019 field season on the Green River, and the third completed monitoring rotation

Invasive exotic plant (IEP) species are a significant threat to natural ecosystem integrity and biodiversity, and controlling them is a high priority for the National Park Service. The Northern Colorado Plateau Network (NCPN) selected the early detection of IEPs as one of 11 monitoring protocols to be implemented as part of its long-term monitoring program. We also calculated a patch management index (PMI) to quantify the extent and density of invasive patches into a single value that helps identify the scale of the problem. Park managers can use this tool to help prioritize IEP treatment. At Dinosaur National Monument, the NCPN monitors IEPs in the Green and Yampa river corridors. This report summarizes data from monitoring on the Green River in 2019, and monitoring on the Yampa River in 2017, to represent the completion of the third monitoring rotation of the entire river corridor (2002–2005, 2010–2011, 2017–2019). During surveys conducted from June 26 to July 2, 2019, NCPN staff detected 12 priority IEP species and two non-priority species in a 84.6-hectare (209-acre) area along 74.4 kilometers of the Green River above (“upper”) and below (“low-er”) its confluence with the Yampa. A total of 2,535 IEP patches were detected. Of those patches, 24.2% and 15.6% were smaller than 40 m2 on the upper and lower Green River reaches, respectively. The patch management index (PMI) was low or very low for 95.7% of patches on the upper Green River and 90.9% of patches on the lower Green River. Tamarisk (Tamarix sp.), broad-leaf pepperwort (Lepidium latifolium), and yellow sweetclover (Meli-lotus officinalis) were the most widespread species. For the first time, NCPN monitoring detected teasel (Dipsacus sylvestris) on the upper Green River. Yellow sweetclover has increased on all three river reaches during the survey years. Musk thistle (Carduus nutans) was found at considerably lower levels than yellow sweetclover but has also increased on all three river reaches. Leafy spurge is increasing on the lower Green River and Yampa River. Cheatgrass was not monitored in the first rotation, but increased substantially in cover and percent frequency on all three river sections from 2010–2011 to 2017–2019. This increase may be due to a lack of recent high-flow scouring events. The highly regulated upper Green River generally has the highest number of IEPs, while the lower Green River has a moderate amount of IEPs. The largely unregulated flows of the Yampa River continue to result in a lower number of patches per kilometer, lower percent cover, and lower percent frequency than the upper or lower Green River. Network staff will return to the monument in 2022 to begin the fourth monitoring rotation.