GEO-TOURISM LAND SUITABILITY ANALYSIS OF CITATAH KARST AREA IN BANDUNG BASIN USING SPATIAL MULTI CRITERIA EVALUATION (SMCE)

The research goal is to evaluate land suitability for geo-tourism focuses on geology and landscape. Most of the Citatah karst area is natural-based industries or mining in particular. The ecological disturbance is an impetus for decision-makers to choose new use of land to deal with the conservation issues. SMCE techniques that apply geographic information systems (GIS) and analytical hierarchy processes. The use of land is formulated based on policy and stakeholder analysis. The research benefit is the possibility to change the area from mining to a geo-tourism area. There are two important results of research in spatial analysis, namely: intensive and extensive tourism areas, and the rest is for protective or no suitable area of tourism. In conclusion, the land suitability analysis is important for tourism industry development.

Idea paper: An envelope model of ecological disturbance

Disturbance is common in natural ecosystems, but increasingly defines them. While there are many descriptions for the dynamics of an ecosystem's response to disturbance, there are few descriptions for the dynamics of the disturbance itself. I describe a novel application of a model based on the production of amplitude envelopes in acoustics and electronic music synthesis, with varying parameters Attack, Decay, Sustain, and Release (ADSR). I show that varying the parameters of the ADSR model is sufficient to produce and vary the qualitative disturbance regimes described by previous authors, and is capable of producing dynamics not previously considered. I tested the utility of the ADSR model by applying it to a logistic growth model. I found that manipulating the attack and release parameters of the ADSR model changes the population dynamics estimated by these models. This implies that responses to disturbance are determined not only by the resilience and resistance of the ecological system, but also the dynamics of the disturbance itself. My hope is that the ADSR model will prove useful to researchers in either describing disturbances in long-term ecological data, or in producing disturbances for simulations or experiments.

Understanding Multiple Dimensions of Perceived Greenspace Accessibility and Their Effect on Subjective Well-Being During a Global Pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic has demonstrated how the accessibility of greenspace can shift in response to social-ecological disturbance, and generated questions as to how changing dimensions of accessibility affect the ecosystem services of greenspace, such as improved subjective well-being. Amidst the growing consensus of the important role of greenspace in improving and maintaining well-being through times of duress, we examine how access to greenspace is affecting subjective well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic. Both the relationship of greenspace to subjective well-being and the barriers to greenspace access are well-established for normal conditions. Much remains to be known, however, about how barriers to access and the effect of greenspace on subjective well-being shift in response to periods of social duress, such as the current COVID-19 pandemic. Using data from surveys and interviews conducted with 1,200 university students in the United States during the spring of 2020, we assess the effect of going outdoors on subjective well-being, commonly experienced barriers to going outside, and how these barriers in turn affected subjective well-being. We find that time spent outside, particularly in greenspace, correlates with higher levels of subjective well-being, and that concern over COVID-19 risk and transmission negatively affects this relationship both in reducing time spent outdoors and the subjective well-being benefits. We also find that type of greenspace (public vs. private) does not have a significant effect on subjective well-being, that while those in areas with lower population density have significantly higher subjective well-being when outdoors, all participants experience a statistically equal benefit to subjective well-being by going outside. Our findings suggest how understanding the ways dimensions of accessibility shift in response to times of social duress can aid public health messaging, the design and management of greenspace, and environmental justice efforts to support the use of greenspace in improving and maintaining subjective well-being during future crisis events.

Environmental indicators combined with risk analysis to evaluate potential wildfire incidence on the Dadu Plateau in Taiwan

Wildfire is a common disaster in the world, and it has a considerable impact on the safety of residents and ecological disturbance. Periodic wildfires are an urgent problem to be solved. This research uses big data from relevant departments to extract environmental indicators that affect wildfires, including satellite images, meteorological observations, and field surveys and establishes a risk model for the Spatio-temporal distribution of wildfires based on risk analysis. Previous studies using Differenced Normalized Burn Ratio (dNBR) to assess fire severity and distinguish wildfire ruins did not deal with the impact of atmospheric humidity on dNBR values. In this study, an adjustable fire threshold was developed to enable dNBR to improve the accuracy of identifying wildfire locations. Regarding the temporal distribution of wildfire risks, environmental vulnerability cannot specifically reflect the frequency of actual wildfires. If the hazard degree is introduced to calculate the wildfire risk, the coefficient of determination can be increased from 0.49 to 0.79. The verification of the village boundary zone depicts that the risk analysis can effectively show the temporal and spatial distribution of wildfire hotspots. On this basis, a village-level wildfire disaster prevention strategy can be formulated.

Secondary succession of woody plants following sand mining in the Soesdyke-Linden area, Guyana: A Chronosequence study

Sandy soils comprise a large proportion of low productivity areas of Guyana on the Soesdyke-Linden Highway, where there is ecological disturbance and evidence of secondary succession after sand mining activities. This study investigated secondary succession of woody plants on abandoned sand mining locations. Secondary succession was studied inferentially by comparing sites in a homogeneous zone that was abandoned at different times post disturbance due to sand mining. Species diversity and community composition at five (5) sites which included an undisturbed area and areas at 3, 5, 10, and 15 years after the disturbance of sand mining were studied. Fifteen 10m x 10m plots were sampled for woody plants with a DBH of more than 2.5cm, and 1m x 1m sub-plots were randomly selected and sampled for seedlings with a DBH less than 2.5cm. A total of 241 plants were recorded, encompassing 22 species across 16 Families. Tapiria marchandii of the family Anacardiaceae dominated the chronosequences of 5, 10, and 15 years and recorded the highest Importance Value Index (IVI) of 112.88, 154.51, and 215.42, respectively. Dimorphandra conjugata of the family Fabaceae also adapted well to conditions post sand mining in the latter chronosequences of 10 and 15 years with IVIs of 54.17 and 38.83, respectively. The youngest site of three years exhibited the highest species diversity post the disturbance of sand mining; however, the undisturbed site possessed the highest overall species diversity. Species diversity of chronosequences decreased with age as competition for limited resources increased and the dominant species proliferated.

Environmental Degradation of Satajaan Beel, Lakhimpur, Assam

Wetlands are most common but very important physical features present in Assam state. Lakhimpur is a administrative district situated on the northern river bank of the mighty Brahmaputra river, having a large number of wetland. Though Satajaan is a very small sized wetland situated on the flood plain area of Ranganadi River but plays a crucial role to the entire surrounding area. Climate change already become a threat to the wetland, at the same time different anthropogenic activities such as encroachment, picnic in the winter and other environmental unfriendly development project have become challenging that lead to affect in water quality and various ecological disturbance to the wetland. Satajaan is well known for hosting local as well as migratory birds, which was created by 1950’s devastating earthquake, but it is seem that the numbe of bird visiting to the wetland is decreasing past for few years. Keywords: Satajaan, Wetland of Lakhimpur, Wetland degradation.

Resilience strategies of West African pastoralists in response to scarce forage resources

Finding sufficient natural fodder resources to feed livestock has become a challenge for herders in the Sahel zone of Burkina Faso. Despite the existence of pastoral reserves, the issue of fodder shortage remains unsolved. This article highlights the changes in behaviour and the evolution of pastoral practices caused by the scarcity of forage resources. These changes are defined and classified as resilience strategies. Thus, this paper aims to analyse these strategies using new semantics that calls for other forms of perceptions or approach to the questions of pastoralists’ resilience strategies. Interviews (semi-structured and casual conversations), ethnographic observations and ethnobotanical surveys were used to collect data. In rangelands, such high value fodder species as Andropogon gayanus, Pennisetum pedicellatum and Dactyloctenium aegyptium that were abundant herbaceous plants during the last decades are disappearing. Concomitantly, species with lower forage value, such as Senna obtusifolia, which are more resilient to ecological disturbance factors, are colonizing rangelands. Faced with these ecological changes, pastoralists are trying to redefine and reconfigure their practices, and this implies a redefinition of their identity. They use resilience strategies such as mowing grasses, building up fodder bundles, conserving crop residues, exploiting Senna obtusifolia (a previously neglected species), using woody fodder and adapting the type of livestock and the size of the herds to the ability of pastoralists to feed them. Strategies that are older than these are the integration of agriculture with livestock and decollectivized transhumance. It is these resilience strategies that this article exposes and analyses as defence mechanisms of Sahelian pastoralists in the face of the depletion of forage resources in their environments.