Agriculturally Intensified Landscapes Are Associated With Reduced Body Condition of Lady Beetles

Context: Agricultural intensification is contributing to a global species decline. Underlying mechanisms include toxic effects of pesticides on non-target organisms and reductions in habitat and food availability. However, the effects of agricultural intensification on body condition, particularly of ecosystem service providing arthropods, are poorly understood.Objectives: Here, we investigated whether variations in the body condition of common lady beetle species (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae) can be explained by the composition and configuration of the surrounding landscape. Assuming strong seasonal variation in food availability in intensively farmed regions, we included the entire period of lady beetle activity in our study.Methods: Lady beetles were collected from April to September 2011 in 30 landscapes in southern Wisconsin, USA. We examined how body size, body density, and lipid content of the beetles responded to the percentage of intensive cropland, habitat diversity, and edge density in the surrounding landscape.Results: The strongest predictor of body condition was the percentage of intensive cropland. For every 10% increase in cropland, body density decreased by about 3.9% and fat content by 6.4%. Landscape diversity and edge density correlated with body condition of individual species.Conclusions: In agriculturally intensified landscapes, lady beetles with reduced body condition may produce fewer offspring, have lower survival rates, and exert less effective pest control. Thus, our results suggest a mechanistic link between landscape patterns and observed declines in lady beetle populations. Our results also show that the expansion of monocultures affects even common cropland-associated species such as Harmonia axyridis, suggesting a long-term decline in biocontrol services in simplified agricultural landscapes.

Effect of Lane Narrowing Implemented on an Urban Dual Carriageway on Speed Reduction and Acoustic Environment

The on-going growth in the use of motor vehicles leads to a number of traffic safety problems. Therefore, various traffic calming measures are applied to increase traffic safety in built-up areas. Lane narrowing is one of the techniques used to influence the perception of drivers and make them slow down. With this in mind, the authors conducted traffic volume and speed counts before and after installation of the lane narrowing treatment, covering 100 passing vehicles, at an intersection between an urban dual carriageway and an estate street where over a dozen fatal accidents occurred in the recent years. Traffic noise was also measured, both before and after lane narrowing. The traffic count data were analysed to show speed reduction by ca. 15 km/h, yet in all cases still above 50 km/h, which is the speed limit applicable to built-up areas in Poland. The analysis of the “before” and “after” noise maps showed only minor changes to the distribution of noise. The locations of these changes to the acoustic environment depended on the speed and volume of traffic and, much more importantly, on the topography of the surrounding area, the existing roadside layered landscape and the type of planted vegetation. The detailed analyses of the analysed parameters demonstrated that sustainable design of traffic calming measures on urban dual carriageways must consider not only the desired speed reduction but also the surrounding landscape and the local topography.

Grasslands And Forests In Nebraska Are Vulnerable To Tree Invasion From Roadsides

Roadsides can be vectors for tree invasion within grasslands by bisecting landscapes and facilitating propagule spread to interior habitat. Current invasive tree management in North America’s Great Plains focuses on reducing on-site (i.e., interior habitat) vulnerability through on-site prevention and eradication, but invasive tree management of surrounding areas known to serve as invasion vectors, such as roadsides and public rights-of-ways, is sporadic. We surveyed roadsides for invasive tree propagule sources in a southeastern Nebraska grassland landscape to determine how much of the surrounding landscape is potentially vulnerable to roadside invasion, and by which species, and thereby, provide insights into the locations and forms of future landcover change. Invasive tree species were widespread in roadsides. Given modest seed dispersal distances of 100-200 m, our results show that roadsides have potential to serve as major sources of grassland exposure to tree invasion, compromising up to 44% of grasslands in the Denton Hills. Under these dispersal distances, funds spent removing trees on grassland properties may have little impact on the landscape’s overall vulnerability, due to exposure driven by roadside propagule sources. A key implication from this study is that roadsides, while often neglected from management, represent an important component of integrated management strategies for reducing grassland vulnerability to tree invasion.

Space Redevelopment of Old Landfill Located in the Zone between Urban and Protected Areas: Case Study

Landfills are elements of the waste management system, without possibility of further reclaiming, according to the requirements of a closed-loop economy, but with the possibility of transforming the area into other functions. The research combined monitoring of plant species, suggesting the composition of vegetation cover for pro-ecological management, analysis of functional and infrastructural incorporation of the landfill in the surrounding landscape, and proposals for reclamation and social application. An assessment of geotechnical safety was also made. Modernization of the landfill suggests that the pressure placed on other untouched locations should decrease. The designed space allows reintroducing socio-ecological life into this degraded area. Taking advantage of the character of the area, including variable development and significant landscape potential on the outskirts of a large city in the vicinity of protected areas, there is the possibility of creating new spatial quality following the standards of modern architecture-urban planning. One of the innovative elements of the project is the implementation of energy from renewable sources, including landfill biogas, photovoltaic panels and heat pumps. The development design includes social expectations and adaptation of new techniques to functioning in times of increased sanitary threats. The proposed design direction may be considered as a recommended trend for the sustainable development of urban areas.

Reflections on Industrial Heritage Transformation in Slovakia (based on a Case Study)

In the paper, we have a look at one of the most popular and most used forms of protection of industrial heritage today: transformation. Central Slovakia is the region with the most industrial monuments and sites in Slovakia and many of them are more or less aesthetic elements of the local landscape since the Middle Ages. However, except of some popular destinations, Central Slovakia does not belong among the regions with high attendance of domestic and foreign tourists. Several industrial monuments are in poor condition and located in remote places where tourists rarely venture. In this article, we would like to point out transformation and adaptive reuse as an appropriate form of protection for industrial monuments and have a closer look at the potential of rural regions and small towns. As a positive example of a conversion, we analyze the Čiernohronská Forest Railway in Čierny Balog in more detail. We focus not only on its positive economic and aesthetic impact on the surrounding landscape and people’s lives, but also on building prestige and an important position of the rural and unattractive touristically region in comparison with popular and prestigious tourist destinations.

Temperature regime of the Daginsky thermal springs (Sakhalin Island) during their reconstruction in 2019-2021

The article presents the results of studies of the temperature regime of the Daginsky thermal springs. Daginsky thermal springs are the most famous and visited on Sakhalin Island (Russia). In the fall of 2019, their reconstruction and arrangement of the surrounding landscape began. As a result of the reconstruction of the main thermal springs, their hydrological and temperature regime was violated, the water temperature dropped. In 2020, in the springs most popular with visitors (Aleksandrovsky, Tsentralny, Mechta), the temperature became several degrees lower, which led to the termination of their use. In 2021, after the completion of the design of the spring bath and the surrounding area, the temperatures increased. In April 2021, the temperature of the Patriot spring was 40.5 °C, the Partizan spring 38–39 °C, the Central spring 36–39 °C, the Aleksandrovsky spring 34.6–36.0 °C, the Mechta spring 34.4 °C (at the bottom up to 45.5 °C), Molodost spring 35 °C (at the bottom up to 37–41.3 °C).

Differential local genetic adaptation to pesticide use in organic and conventional agriculture in an aquatic non-target species

Pesticide application is an important stressor to non-target species and can profoundly affect ecosystem functioning. Debates continue on the choice of agricultural practices regarding their environmental impact, and organic farming is considered less detrimental compared to conventional practices. Nevertheless, comparative studies on the impacts of both agricultural approaches on the genetic adaptation of non-target species are lacking. We assessed to what extent organic and conventional agriculture elicit local genetic adaptation of populations of a non-target aquatic species, Daphnia magna . We tested for genetic differences in sensitivity of different D. magna populations ( n = 7), originating from ponds surrounded by conventional and organic agriculture as well as nature reserves, to pesticides used either in conventional (chlorpyrifos) or organic agriculture (deltamethrin and copper sulfate). The results indicate that D. magna populations differentially adapt to local pesticide use. Populations show increased resistance to chlorpyrifos as the percentage of conventional agriculture in the surrounding landscape increases, whereas populations from organic agriculture sites are more resistant to deltamethrin. While organic agriculture is considered less harmful for non-target species than conventional, both types of agriculture shape the evolution of pesticide resistance in non-target species in a specific manner, reflecting the differences in selection pressure.

Tactics for Forsaken Territories: Infrastructural Catalysis Within Disturbed Residual Spaces

<p><b>The perceived dichotomy between the industrial and the ecological or amenity has led to a loss or misperception of identity and value of industrial landscapes. Conventional industrial precinct greening moves or the design of parks within these spaces fail to establish any sense of identity or contribute to the growth and development of these environments. Looking beyond the notion of a park as a respite from the urban condition, the challenge lies in developing parks that capitalise on what is perceived as negative and exploit it as amenity.</b></p> <p>In search of a strategy, the discourse on the relationship between landscape and infrastructure and the ensuing paradigm shift in the way we understand infrastructure, is examined. What has conventionally existed as a mono-programmatic object for the sake of managing a technical problem is being redefined into a multi-layered spatial field, performing over time as well as space. However care must be taken in how we go about redefining the notion of infrastructure; when we keep broadening its definition it begins to lose significance. If infrastructure is to be reinterpreted from a rigid object to a field that is able to engage with open and unpredictable systems, rather than defining what an infrastructural thing may be, it becomes more important to define how something might perform or develop ‘infrastructurally’. Much of the discourse surrounding landscape infrastructure focuses on the efficiency that is to be gained by the layering of multiple flexible systems or employing it as a means to remediate a site. While many contemporary landscape infrastructure projects seek to reintroduce the ecological histories that have been suppressed by urban development, their attempts to do so often erase much of what is too readily dismissed as negative, and with it meaningful social histories and qualities that may be exploited as opportunity.</p> <p>In focussing on the disturbed and residual spaces and the opportunities these territories offer, this thesis seeks to explore the potential of designing infrastructurally to not only reintegrate these forgotten spaces in the urban fabric of their industrial context but to coordinate their development and/or their deterioration in such a way that they become fundamental to the area’s identity and growth.</p> <p>Drawing on Stan Allen’s propositions for infrastructure and reinterpreting them through the lens of landscape as a catalytic infrastructure, an architectural strategy is proposed that capitalises upon the qualities found within the abandoned landscapes of the Seaview/Gracefield industrial precinct in Wellington, New Zealand, and recognises them as an opportunity to develop the concept of park in this context into something that reflects the important social histories of these sites while also presenting a proving ground for future operations. These spaces aim to question the way in which we assess infrastructural efficiency, their performance valued not just in quantitative output but also in qualitative terms.</p>

Assessment of the Potential Natural Status of Riparian Zones in the Czech Republic

Riparian zones represent an important ecosystem providing a range of functions and services important to humans—e.g., biodiversity support, a reduction in erosion risk, or the transport of pollutants from the surrounding landscape to watercourses. At the same time, it is, unfortunately, an environment that has been often subjected to significant pressure during the agricultural cultivation of the landscape or the development of industrial and residential activities of human society. Thus, a large number of riparian ecosystems have disappeared or degraded. The assessment of the overall ecological status of riparian habitats constitutes an important source of information for the needs of watercourse management and landscape planning in the riparian landscape, the aim of which should be to maintain good status or to improve the current unsatisfactory state of these habitats. However, in order to reliably evaluate the current ecological status of the landscape, it is necessary to have information on the reference status, i.e., a potentially natural status that would prevail without human influence. For this purpose, a methodology that can determine the potential natural status of riparian zones in Central European conditions was developed. In this study, it was found that approximately a quarter (26 %) of all river basins in the Czech Republic reach very low environmental values of the potential natural status of riparian zones and, conversely, approximately 29 % of river basins are expected to develop significantly above average riparian zone quality if we neglect human impact.