Diversity of Family Myrtaceae Juss. 1789 in Ha Tinh Province

The study result of Myrtaceae family in Ha Tinh province reported, 61 species of 13 genera. In of them 36 species and 6 genera have been added to the list of Ha Tinh province (2021). The family myrtaceae in Ha Tinh province has many different uses: 61 species for essential oils, 46 species for timber plants, 30 species for medicinal plants, 24 species for edible, 11 species for ornamental plants, 7 species for different uses and 4 species for tannin plants. In the stems form, the large groups of trees with 10 species, followed by average groups of trees with 15 species; small of trees dominated with 26 species and groups of shrubs 10 species. There are 4 major habitats: forest with 35 species (57.38%), light forest with 35 species (57.38%), subforest with 50 species (81.97%), along streams and beside the road with 35 species (57.38%).

Influence of Different Light Spectrums on Behaviour and Welfare in Laying Hens

Artificial commercial lighting used in animal production facilities can have negative influences on visual abilities, behaviour and welfare of domestic fowl. This study examined the effects of natural-derived light spectrums on behaviour, production and welfare of laying hens reared from hatching into adulthood. Comparisons were made of frequency of a range of behaviours associated with activity, aggression and comfort in birds kept in control light (commercial standard), daylight (full spectrum, including ultraviolet (UV) wavelengths and forest light (forest understorey, including UV). In addition, bird preferences for different lights, feather damage and egg production were monitored. The results showed that the behavioural repertoire of birds changed with age, while the effects of light treatment were subtle. Some evidence was found that birds preferred either daylight or forest light to control light, suggesting that inclusion of UV contributed to the preference. Daylight and forest light were associated with more active behaviours, and daylight with better plumage and later start of lay. Thus natural-like light may have beneficial effects on domestic fowl, but the differences between broad-spectrum light sources are rather small.

The Influence of Relief on the Density of Light-Forest Trees within the Small-Dry-Valley Network of Uplands in the Forest-Steppe Zone of Eastern Europe

An active process of the invasion of woody vegetation, resulting in the formation of light forests, has been observed in predominantly herbaceous small dry valleys of the forest-steppe uplands of the East European Plain over the past two decades. This paper investigates the spatial features of the density of trees in such light forests and its relationship with relief parameters. The Belgorod Region, one of the administrative regions of European Russia, was chosen as a reference for the forest-steppe zone of the plain. The correlation between some relief characteristics (the height, slope, slope exposure cosine, topographic position index, morphometric protection index, terrain ruggedness index, and width and depth of small dry valleys) and the density of light-forest trees was estimated. The assessment was carried out at the local, subregional and regional levels of generalization. The relief influence on the density of trees in the small dry valley network is manifested both through the differentiation of moisture within the territory under study and the formation of various conditions for fixing tree seedlings in the soil. This influence on subregional and regional trends in the density is greater than on local trends. The results obtained are important for the management of herbaceous small-dry-valley ecosystems within the forest-steppe uplands in Eastern Europe.

Spatio-temporal analysis of urban sprawl and land use / land cover changes in a suburb of Lagos and Ogun metropolises, Nigeria (1986-2014)

Urban sprawl and land use / land cover changes in a suburb of Lagos, Nigeria were assessed using Landsat TM 1984 and 2000 and Landsat OLI of 2014. Five broad land use and land cover classes i.e. built-up area, bare ground, water body, thick forest and light forest were identified and mapped. Thick forest had the largest coverage of 8537.72 hectares (67.52%) of the land cover while built-up was just 1075.99 hectares (8.51 %).Between 1984 and 2014 built up areas gained 6423.38 hectares (59.31 % increase) compared to 8612.09 hectares loss by thick forest cover. A post-classification change analysis from 1984 to 2014 reveals that thick and light forest types had the highest net losses because of conversion to other uses, especially built-up. Urbanization and subsequent urban sprawl is a major factor of land degradation leading to rapid losses of non-urban land uses, especially in the urban fringes. Keywords: Land use/land cover change; change detection; remote sensing; GIS; urbanisation

Ecological and cenotic characteristics of communities involving the species of Prunella vulgaris L. and Prunella grandiflora L. in the Middle and Southern Urals

On the territory of the Middle and Southern Urals, P. vulgaris is found in pine, spruce-pine, birch forests, meadows and in artificial spruce-larch forest plantations; P. grandiflora − in birch forests, less often on meadows. P. vulgaris is confined to half-open places or light-forest with moistening from sub-forest-meadow to wet forest-meadow with not very rich or rather rich soils. P. grandiflora grows in semi-open spaces and in light forests with moistening from wet-steppe to dry-forest-meadow with rather poor soils. Both species are found on very poor soils and the ones that are poor in nitrogen, having a weak acidic and acidic soil medium. According to the soil acidity factor, the amplitude of the ecological space of P. grandiflora coenopopulations on studied territory goes beyond the ranges of the ecological range according to the scales of D.N. Tsyganov.

Land susceptibility to soil erosion in Orashi Catchment, Nnewi South, Anambra State, Nigeria

Soil erosion is one of the most critical environmental hazards that causes land degradation and water quality challenges. Specifically, this phenomenon has been linked, among other problems, to river sedimentation, groundwater pollution and flooding. This paper assesses the susceptibility of Orashi River Basin (ORB) to soil erosion for the purpose of erosion control measures. Located in the South Eastern part of Nigeria, the ORB which covers approximately 413.61 km2 is currently experiencing one of the fastest population growth rate in the region. Analysis of the soil erosion susceptibility of the basin was based on four factors including; rainfall, Land use/Land cover change (LULC), slope and soil erodibility factor (k). The rainfall was assumed to be a constant and independent variable, slope and soil types were categorised into ten (10) classes each while the landuse was categorised into five classes. Weight was assigned to the classes based on the degree of susceptibility to erosion. An overlay of the four variables in a GIS environment was used to produce the basin susceptibility to soil erosion. This was based on the weight index of each factors. The LULC analysis revealed that built-up land use increased from 26.49 km2 (6.4 %) in year 1980 to 79.24 km2 (19.16 %) in 2015 at an average growth rate of 1.51 km2 per annum while the light forest decreased from 336.41 km2 (81.33 %) in 1980 to 280.82 km2 (67.89 %) in 2015 at an average rate 1.59 km2 per annum. The light forest was adjudged to have the highest land cover soil erosion susceptibility. The steepest slope ranges between 70 and 82∘ (14.34 % of the total land area) and was adjudged to have the highest soil susceptibility to erosion. The total area covered of the loamy soil is 112.37 km2 (27.07 %) with erodibility of 0.7. In all, the overlay of all the variables revealed that 106.66 km2 (25.70 %) and 164.80 km2 (39.7 %) of the basin has a high and very high susceptibility to soil erosion. The over 50 % high susceptibility of catchment has serious negative implications on the surface water in terms of water quality and downstream siltation with great consequences on biodiversity and ecosystem services including domestic and industrial usage.

GIS – SUPPORTED ASSESSMENT OF LAND USE DYNAMICS OF ABEOKUTA METROPOLIS FROM 1960 T0 2005

The study identified and analyzed land use patterns between 1960 and 2005, and examined the forces underlying land use change and projects the future pattern of land use change in the study area. Both primary and secondary data collected were analyzed using descriptive statistics and geospatial techniques of GIS and Remote Sensing. The results showed that settlement land use which was 1253.12 hectares (3%) in 1972 increased by six fold to 7684.27 hectares (16%) in 1984 and by tenfold to 12842.11 hectares (27%) of the total land area in 2005. Farmlands reduced from 8751.21 hectares (19%) in 1972 to 7144.32 hectares (15%) in 1984 to 3824.80 (8%) in 2005. The result equally showed that between 1972 and 1984 the population grew by 75.16% while settlements increased by 513.21%. Also between 1972 and 2005 the population grew by 206.70 % and settlements increased by 924.81 %. The result of the predictive model developed for this study showed that settlement, bare surface, shrub and water body will increase by 60.30%, 57.68%, 53.79% and 8.03% respectively while non-forested, farmlands, forested wetlands and light forest will decrease by 9.5%, 28.55%, 12.35% and 26.76% respectively. There were continuous changes among the various land use classes identified.