Anthropogenic Transformation of Some Properties and Composition of Gazh Gray-Brown Soils of the Ganja-Gazakh Plain

Gay gray-brown soils are distributed mainly in the foothills of the Lesser Caucasus, on the Ganja-Gazakh plain and in the lower reaches of the Araz basin. They are formed by changing volcanic rocks in hot and dry climates. In the process of erosion and soil formation, pyrite, alunitized and other sulfur-containing rocks turn into gazh, on which gray-brown gazh soils are formed. As a result of human activity, i. e. deep plowing and irrigation, these lands are being converted. It turned out that the transformation of these soils is clearly felt in the thickness of the humus layer, its distribution along the profile, quantity and composition. The thickness of the humus layer increases from 40–45 cm to 100 cm. As a result of the transformation, the length of the humus profile is constantly decreasing. Changes in the composition of humus led to an increase in the content of humic acids. Although the coefficient in the uncultivated area decreased from 1.36 to 0.80, in the irrigated area it changed from 1.70 to 0.93.

Attributing of global evapotranspiration trends based on the Budyko framework

Actual evapotranspiration (ET) is an essential variable in the hydrological process, linking the carbon, water, and energy cycles. Global ET has significantly changed in the warming climate. Although increasing vapour pressure deficit (VPD) due to global warming enhances atmospheric water demand, it remains unclear how the dynamics of ET are affected. In this study, using multiple datasets, we disentangled the relative contributions of precipitation, net radiation, air temperature (T1), VPD, and wind speed on affecting annual ET linear trend using an advanced separation method that considers the Budyko framework. It is found that the precipitation variability dominantly controls global ET in the dry climates, the net radiation has substantial control over ET in the tropical regions, and VPD is impacting ET trends in boreal mid-latitude climate. The critical role of VPD in controlling ET trends is particularly emphasized due to its influence in controlling the land-atmosphere interactions.

When social practices produce space and create passive cooling systems in hot arid region

Practice social of people is the key to produce space and give a possibility to maintain thermal comfort and energy efficiency. The main objective of this research is to adapt the traditional strategies in the architecture actual, to achieved a thermal comfort and improve on reducing cooling load through the using of vernacular gait. Today, it is necessary to practice these systems in the current or conventional architecture of household. The study is especially for arid cities namely the region of Saoura, in the hot and dry climatic zone in Algeria, considered for this study. Two main factors is considered such as design and urban where taken into account in order to select the appropriate and specific passive cooling strategy. The results show that the passive cooling strategy of courtyard would be appropriate for arid regions, however a high thermal mass would be suitable for construction. In conclusion, this work made it possible to choose a suitable passive cooling strategy for all types of construction in hot and dry climates. Finally, this paper puts forward a set of recommendations to improve the passive design of future buildings in hot and arid climates.

Analysis of Climate Parameters as Indicators of Climate Changes in Central and Eastern Iraq: Khanaqin Climate Conditions as A Case Study

The climate parameters of rainfall, and average of maximum and minimum temperature were investigated for the period of 2000-2019 in three stations in central and eastern Iraq (Baghdad, Diyala, and Kut provinces). Evidence of climate change was noticed from the results, reflected by decreased mean values of annual rainfall with increased mean of maximum and minimum temperature. In addition, the water balance and the climatic conditions were determined for Khanaqin station for the years 1981-2019. The analysis of Khanaqin climate parameters demonstrated total annual mean values of rainfall of 260.86mm and evaporation of 3119.59mm. The mean monthly relative humidity was 46.65%, sunshine was 8.39h/day, temperature was 23.36Co and wind speed was 1.86m/sec. Water surplus was recorded in Khanaqin area, with values of (24.00mm) (34.18mm) (40.31mm) (28.83mm) and (19.92mm) in November, December, January, February and March respectively. The climate classification of Khanaqin area indicated semi dry and dry climates. Moreover, the region has water deficit that reached up to 43.56 % of the total rainfall values.

Current Situation and Perspectives of Fruit Annonaceae in Mexico: Biological and Agronomic Importance and Bioactive Properties

The Annonaceae family is one of the oldest angiosperms. The genus Annona is the one with the most species and, together with Asimina, the only ones that contain edible fruits. In the last 10 years, interest in these fruit species has increased, mainly due to their nutritional properties and their application in the treatment of human diseases. Mexico is the center of origin for most of them. However, at present much of the basic agronomic information, postharvest handling of the fruits, and their potential as new crops for areas with poor soils in organic matter or semi-dry climates is unknown. It is considered that these custard apple species may be an option to change towards instead of crops that have lost profitability and sustainability. A review of the current state of knowledge in different areas of the species A. muricata, A. macroprophyllata, A. reticulata, A. squamosa, and A. cherimola was carried out and to focus research efforts on the topics of greatest interest and on those where is required to achieve a sustainable production and use of these resources in Mexico. However, knowledge about the cultivation and potential uses of these species is needed to increase their commercialization; the integration of interdisciplinary and interinstitutional groups is required.

Towards Nearly-Zero Energy in Heritage Residential Buildings Retrofitting in Hot, Dry Climates

Retrofitting “nearly-zero energy” heritage buildings has always been controversial, due to the usual association of the “nearly-zero energy” target with high energy performance and the utilization of renewable energy sources in highly regarded cultural values of heritage buildings. This paper aims to evaluate the potential of turning heritage building stock into a “nearly-zero energy” in hot, dry climates, which has been addressed in only a few studies. Therefore, a four-phase integrated energy retrofitting methodology was proposed and applied to a sample of heritage residential building stock in Egypt along with microscale analysis on buildings. Three reference buildings were selected, representing the most dominant building typologies. The study combines field measurements and observations with energy simulations. In addition, simulation models were created and calibrated based on monitored data in the reference buildings. The results show that the application of hybrid passive and active non-energy generating scenarios significantly impacts energy use in the reference buildings, e.g., where 66.4% of annual electricity use can be saved. Moreover, the application of solar energy sources approximately covers the energy demand in the reference buildings, e.g., where an annual self-consumption of electricity up to 78% and surplus electricity up to 20.4% can be achieved by using photo-voltaic modules. Furthermore, annual natural gas of up to 66.8% can be saved by using two unglazed solar collectors. Lastly, achieving “nearly-zero energy” was possible for the presented case study area. The originality of this work lies in developing and applying an informed retrofitting (nearly-zero energy) guide to be used as a benchmark energy model for buildings that belong to an important historical era. The findings contribute to fill a gap in existing studies of integrating renewable energy sources to achieve “nearly-zero energy” in heritage buildings in hot climates.

Can Estivation Preferences Be Used to Develop Novel Management Tools against Invasive Mediterranean Snails?

Terrestrial snails that live in hot and dry climates have developed strategies to cope with high summer temperatures. Several species estivate during the warmest months of the years by resting on vertical supports, typically in groups. Understanding how snails choose their estivation sites and aggregate may lead to the development of new management tools in areas where these snails are invasive. Here, we investigated the preferences of four snail species for vertical supports varying in widths and heights under laboratory and field conditions, and tested whether the presence of conspecifics or snails of other species affected these preferences. The results show that the snails strongly preferred wider supports in laboratory dual-choice tests, and one species (Theba pisana) showed a consistent preference for taller supports as well. These results were confirmed in the field, where more snails were found on wider and taller supports 24 h after being placed in test quadrats. The percentage of snails found in groups on a support was strongly density-dependent. The presence of conspecifics or their mucus did not affect the choices of the snails, nor did the presence of snails of other species or their mucus. Taken together, these results could lead to the development of attractive supports that could be used to mass-capture snails in the field.

Socio-Ecological Dimensions of Spontaneous Plants on Green Roofs

Green roofs have the potential to provide socio-ecological services in urban settings that lack vegetation and open space. However, implementation of green roofs is limited by high construction and maintenance costs. Consequently, green roof projects often disproportionately benefit wealthy communities and can further marginalise disadvantaged communities by increasing property values and housing costs. Vegetation cover on green roofs is crucial to their provisioning of socio-ecological services. Evidence suggests that green roof plantings change over time, especially with limited maintenance, and are replaced with spontaneous “weedy” species. This is often perceived as a failure of the original green roof design intent and spontaneous species are usually removed. However, where good coverage is achieved, spontaneous vegetation could provide beneficial services such as stormwater mitigation, habitat provision, and climate regulation. While social norms about “weediness” may limit the desirability of some spontaneous species, research suggests that their acceptability on green roofs increases with coverage. As spontaneous species can establish on green roofs without irrigation and fertiliser, reduced input costs could help facilitate adoption particularly in markets without an established green roof industry. Construction costs may also be reduced in hot and dry climates where deeper substrates are necessary to ensure plant survival, as many spontaneous species are able to colonise shallow substrates and can regenerate from seed. If implemented based on socio-ecological need, green roofs with spontaneous vegetation coverage may apply less pressure to property values and housing costs than conventionally planted green roofs, increasing the resilience of urban communities while limiting gentrification.

Iranian innovations in mosque lighting techniques: A historical survey

From the viewpoint of preserving the values of sustainable architecture, daylight in the interiors of mosques in hot and dry climates has always faced limitations. The need to use daylight to provide the required lighting and, in contrast, to prevent the scorching desert sun from entering the spaces led to innovative techniques in Iranian architecture. These techniques have gradually evolved along with the development of semantic concepts of space in different periods of Islamic architecture, which has resulted in slight differences in their application in mosque buildings. In this article, while analysing the place of light in mosque architecture, the standard techniques in lighting mosques located in Iran’s hot and dry climate are studied. The employed research method is a combination of qualitative and quantitative approaches. As the current historic-architectural research cannot be based solely on perception-based definitions, authors had to convert the conceptual features into a measurable index. To achieve this, a numerical index with the scale from 0 to 3 has been defined. The scoring was based on documents such as plans, images, etc. Although most case study objects were built over the centuries, they have general characteristics that distinguish them from a specific historical era. The authors studied the application of these techniques in some examples of selected mosques from four periods of Islamic architecture and present the results in the form of trend charts. Furthermore, they observed the principle of continuity in Iranian architecture from the historical period from the beginning of the Islamic period to the Qajar period, and, in accordance with the theoretical foundations of research, analysed the reasons for the ups and downs of each of the techniques.