Assessing soil and land health across two landscapes in eastern Rwanda to inform restoration activities

Land degradation negatively impacts water, food, and nutrition security and is leading to increased competition for resources. While landscape restoration has the potential to restore ecosystem function, understanding the drivers of degradation is critical for prioritizing and tracking interventions. We sampled 300–1000 m2 plots using the Land Degradation Surveillance Framework across Nyagatare and Kayonza districts in Rwanda to assess key soil and land health indicators, including soil organic carbon (SOC), erosion prevalence, vegetation structure and infiltration capacity, and their interactions. SOC content decreased with increasing sand content across both sites and sampling depths and was lowest in croplands and grasslands compared to shrublands and woodlands. Stable carbon isotope values (δ13C) ranged from −15.35 ‰ to −21.34 ‰, indicating a wide range of historic and current plant communities with both C3 and C4 photosynthetic pathways. Field-saturated hydraulic conductivity (Kfs) was modeled, with a median of 76 mm h−1 in Kayonza and 62 mm h−1 in Nyagatare, respectively. Topsoil OC had a positive effect on Kfs, whereas pH, sand, and erosion had negative effects. Soil erosion was highest in plots classified as woodland and shrubland. Maps of soil erosion and SOC at 30 m resolution were produced with high accuracy and showed strong variability across the study landscapes. These data demonstrate the importance of assessing multiple biophysical properties in order to assess land degradation, including the spatial patterns of soil and land health indicators across the landscape. By understanding the dynamics of land degradation and interactions between biophysical indicators, we can better prioritize interventions that result in multiple benefits as well as assess the impacts of restoration options.

Evaluation of Melasma Treatment Effectiveness by Skin Biophysical Indices

This article presents an assessment of the effectiveness of treatment of melasma according to the biophysical indicators of skin 176 patients who applied to the DIVA EFFECT private cosmetology clinic in Bishkek (Kyrgyzstan) in 2018–2020. The control group included 85 women without facial skin pigmentation. Criteria for inclusion in the study of patients: age 20–60 years, skin pigmentation for 1–12 years, residence in Kyrgyzstan, informed consent and consent to procedures for diagnosis, treatment. Amounts of sebum on skin surface, level of skin moisture and pigmentation, acid-alkaline balance of skin are determined. Despite the lack of sebum in all types of melasma, greater fat content was detected at 20–29 years old, including in the control group. The treatment helped to increase skin humidity, but with different intensities. Treatment slightly increased skin humidity, but only dry skin was characteristic of patients, both in the experimental and control groups. In patients of the control group, skin pH was from 4.1±0.5 to 4.8±0.5. The acid-alkaline balance of the skin in patients was mainly lower than normal, with the exception of the age group of 20–29 years, 30–39 years with dermal melasma. After treatment, the melanin content was within normal range at all types of melasma compared to the control group. The treatment performed reduced skin greasiness in epidermal and dermal type, acid-alkaline skin balance in dermal and mixed type. Melanin levels decreased and skin humidity increased slightly with all types.

Engaging Transformation: Using Seasonal Rounds to Anticipate Climate Change

Seasonal rounds are deliberative articulations of a community’s sociocultural relations with their ecological system. The process of visualizing seasonal rounds informs transdisciplinary research. We present a methodological approach for communities of enquiry to engage communities of practice through context-specific sociocultural and ecological relations driven by seasonal change. We first discuss historical précis of the concept of seasonal rounds that we apply to assess the spatial and temporal communal migrations and then describe current international research among Indigenous and rural communities in North America and Central Asia by the creation of a common vocabulary through mutual respect for multiple ways of knowing, validation of co-generated knowledge, and insights into seasonal change. By investigating the relationship between specific biophysical indicators and livelihoods of local communities, we demonstrate that seasonal rounds are an inclusive and participatory methodology that brings together diverse Indigenous and rural voices to anticipate anthropogenic climate change.

Evaluating the Impact of Grazing Cessation and Reintroduction in Mixed Prairie Using Raster Time Series Analysis of Landsat Data

Great efforts have been made to manage and restore native prairies to protect native species, enrich biodiversity, protect ecological resilience, and maintain ecosystem services. Much of this has been focused on preventing degradation from overgrazing and crop conversion. Understanding the consequences of management polices is important to identify best practices. Previous research has compared restoration outcomes from variable intensity grazing, prescribed fire, and grazing removal. However, few studies have explored the optimal durations of management practices and variation in restoration outcomes among vegetation communities. This study evaluates whether the impact of grazing cessation and reintroduction varies among native vegetation communities and measures the effective time periods of grazing cessation and reintroduction. Restoration outcomes were evaluated using four biophysical indicators (fresh biomass, soil organic matter, green cover, and litter cover) and two vegetation indices (normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) and normalized difference water index (NDWI)) measured from Landsat images using seasonal Kalman filter and raster time series analysis. The results show that: (i) Grazing cessation increased soil organic matter and green cover while decreasing fresh biomass compared to moderate grazing management, while grazing reintroduction influences those indicators in an opposite direction; (ii) The effective time period for prairie conservation is about 11–14 years and varies among vegetation communities and biophysical indicators; (iii) The effective intensity of grazing cessation is highest in valley grassland, moderate in upland grassland, and mildest in sloped grassland; (iv) Grazing reintroduction returned the three native vegetation communities to the initial condition (i.e., the stage in 1985 before large grazers were removed), with less time than the time consumed for grazing cessation to restore the prairie ecosystem to the maximum changes; (v) Grazing reintroduction effectively influences upland and valley grasslands for 7 to 9 years, varying from different indicators, while it continuously affected sloped grassland with no clear time lag; (vi) The intensity of grazing reintroduction was strongest in sloped grassland, moderate in upland grassland, and mildest in valley grassland. The results of this study suggest expected time periods for prairie management methods to achieve results.

Construction of Biophysical Indicators for the Catalan Economy: Building a New Conceptual Framework

The main objective of this work is to create an environmental vision of the Catalan economy based on various indicators. To do this, we started from the fundamental idea of obtaining new metrics to measure impacts on the economy. The methodology used is focused on the systematization of descriptive statistics and econometric review. In this sense, GDP and GDP per capita are valued as chrematistic units, and biophysical variables are incorporated. For the period 2000–2016, the figures for energy consumption, CO2 emissions, energy intensity of the economy and water consumption were collected. In addition, demographic evolution and the Gini index were also ordered as factors that contribute to explaining not only population trajectory but also some of the social factors. Greater technological efficiency in regard to environmental aspects is intuited as sensitive to the economic cycle. The study is novel in the panorama of the regional economy of Spain, by incorporating biophysical variables to the applied economic analysis.

Aptitud turística de las playas certificadas de la Bahía de Banderas, México

An evaluation of the recreational suitability of the certified beaches in Banderas Bay, Mexico, was carried out based on biophysical indicators and perceived values. At the same time, the affinity between the beaches was analysed by common tourism‑adapted components. The results show that the indicatos mark two separate groups that share certain affinity with only three beaches substantially differing from the rest. This evaluation shows coincidences associated with the natural landscape and differences in the availability of infrastructure and services, as well as the level of cleanliness and general quality of hygiene. The present analysis may be used as a trustworthy guide to how to managed tourism activities on the coast, since the meth‑ odologies developed in this research may be extrapolated to all the beaches in Mexico.