Restoring Natural Forests as the Most Efficient Way to Water Quality and Abundance: Case Study from Želivka River Basin

This article shows how to restore Central European natural capital effectively. Water in the landscape is primarily sustained by vegetation and soil, most effectively by natural forests and only secondarily by artificial reservoirs. The authors document these facts using a case study from the Želivka River basin (Švihov reservoir), which collects surface water for the metropolitan region of Prague and Central Bohemia. With the Energy-Water-Vegetation Method, the authors demonstrate that the cultural human-changed landscape of the Želivka river basin is able to utilize only about 60% of its solar energy potential. In 1.5% of the territory of the Czech Republic, society annually loses supporting ecosystem services at a level higher than 25% of the annual GDP of the CR 2015. Water retention in the landscape needs to be re-evaluated and addressed in accordance with the thermodynamic principles of life and ecosystem functioning in the biosphere. It is necessary to begin restoring the most efficient natural capital in the landscapes and to return the broad-leaved deciduous forests by intelligent forestation methods to the cultural landscape to the extent justified; this is especially true of the Želivka River basin, which is Czechia’s biggest surface drinking-water collecting area.

Dusts Control operations in Ririwai Mines, Kano State, Nigeria

Respirable dust is everywhere (in the surface and underground mine) operations and its environs. Ririwai Tin mine is laden with dust of metallic particles of Arsenic (As), Chromium (Cr), Lead (Pb) and Zinc (Zn). These particles are also found in the soil. Continuous inhalation of dust could lead to irreversible diseases. This paper addresses the control of dust, using previous review of prevailing metallic concentrates. This research answers questions like which are the dust control strategies to be adopted by Ririwai tin mine to obtain best practice? What challenges will Ririwai tin mine face when applying dust control methods in their operation? What is the impact of dust laden with metallic particles on soil, water, vegetation and man in Ririwai tin mine?

Dusts Control operations in Ririwai Mines, Kano State, Nigeria

Respirable dust is everywhere (in the surface and underground mine) operations and its environs. Ririwai Tin mine is laden with dust of metallic particles of Arsenic (As), Chromium (Cr), Lead (Pb) and Zinc (Zn). These particles are also found in the soil. Continuous inhalation of dust could lead to irreversible diseases. This paper addresses the control of dust, using previous review of prevailing metallic concentrates. This research answers questions like which are the dust control strategies to be adopted by Ririwai tin mine to obtain best practice? What challenges will Ririwai tin mine face when applying dust control methods in their operation? What is the impact of dust laden with metallic particles on soil, water, vegetation and man in Ririwai tin mine?

Rapid demographic growth may destabilise the Sahel

Significance However, the context is crucial. This region, where reserves of water, arable land and vegetation are vulnerable to climate change, also sees rates of population growth and human fertility that are among the highest in the world. These pressures jeopardise hopes of development progress and fuel instability, with serious potential knock-on consequences for West Africa as a whole. Impacts A fast-expanding population will strain the region's limited resources of water, vegetation, grazing and arable land. Governments do recognise the challenge presented by population trends, but they are struggling to respond. Improved living standards, health and education help to create the conditions for a slowdown in demographic growth.

Non-Binary Snow Index for Multi-Component Surfaces

A Non-Binary Snow Index for Multi-Component Surfaces (NBSI-MS) is proposed to map snow/ice cover. The NBSI-MS is based on the spectral characteristics of different Land Cover Types (LCTs), such as snow, water, vegetation, bare land, impervious, and shadow surfaces. This index can increase the separability between NBSI-MS values corresponding to snow from other LCTs and accurately delineate the snow/ice cover in non-binary maps. To test the robustness of the NBSI-MS, regions in Greenland and France–Italy where snow interacts with highly diversified geographical ecosystems were examined. Data recorded by Landsat 5 TM, Landsat 8 OLI, and Sentinel-2A MSI satellites were used. The NBSI-MS performance was also compared against the well-known Normalized Difference Snow Index (NDSI), NDSII-1, S3, and Snow Water Index (SWI) methods and evaluated based on Ground Reference Test Pixels (GRTPs) over non-binarized results. The results show that the NBSI-MS achieved an overall accuracy (OA) ranging from 0.99 to 1 with kappa coefficient values in the same range as the OA. The precision assessment confirmed the performance superiority of the proposed NBSI-MS method for removing water and shadow surfaces over the compared relevant indices.

Soluciones basadas en la Naturaleza: estrategias urbanas para la adaptación al cambio climático.

Cities will suffer the impacts of climate change in the next decades. These impacts will be different according to their geographical features, the distribution and number of green spaces, the characteristics of the exterior surfaces of their floors and the density of population, among other aspects. Given this situation, many cities have begun to adopt adaptation strategies to reduce their vulnerability to the adverse effects of the climate; among which Nature-Based Solutions (NBS) stand out, which respond to ecosystem services and climate challenges, and are classified from the main ecosystems in which they affect: water, vegetation and soil. Within this context, the interest of the SBN in the international field is analyzed and the adaptation measures included in urban strategies developed to respond to this task are reviewed. The review of interventions in cities of the Mediterranean area makes it possible to value the usefulness of the NBS for urban planning and design.

A preliminary information on spider fauna (Arachnida, Aranei) of the Fastiv district (Kyiv region)

In this article, an inventory of the spider fauna of the Fastov district of the Kiev region was carried out, an annotated list of spiders was compiled and includes 84 spider species of 67 genera from 20 families. The annotated list contains faunistic material, collection method and biotopic preferences of species. The most represented by the number of species in the fauna are the families Araneidae – 19 species (24 %), Thomisidae – 8 species (9 %) and Salticidae – 8 species (9 %). The dominance of species of the family Araneidae is due to the large proportion of the surveyed habitats and vegetation layers inhabited by orb weaving spiders. In general, widespread species of spiders with high ecological plasticity were prevail. Including 10 species: Clubiona caerulescens, Harpactea rubicunda, Haplodrassus silvestris, Zelotes electus, Diplostyla concolor, Tenuiphantes flavipes, Agroeca brunnea, Pardosa amentata, Pseudeuophrys erratica and Ozyptila praticola were recorded in the litter layer of a pine forest only. Three species: Cyclosa oculata, Oxyopes ramosus and Dolomedes plantarius are rare according to the literature data. Five species were found in near-water habitats: Larinioides cornutus, Clubiona phragmitis, D. plantarius, Tetragnatha extensa, and Marpissa radiata, and were not found in the other biotopes. Two species, Metellina segmentata and Tetragnatha montana, are found on near-water vegetation and forest edges. In buildings and in household plots, two synanthropic species were found – Tegenaria domestica and Parasteatoda tepidariorum. The zoogeographic and taxonomic compositions of the araneofauna of the region under study are presented. Arealogically, the basis is made up of the Palaearctic (35 %) and Holarctic (19 %) groups. West-Central-Palaearctic species – 14 %, European-Ancient Mediterranean – 12 %. European and more northern European-Siberian species account for 8 and 5 %, respectively. In comparison with the data for Polesie, the araneofauna of the Fastov region has certain characteristics, namely: a large participation in the composition of the araneofauna of Palaearctic and Holarctic species, a decrease in the proportion of EuropeanSiberian species and an increase in the proportion of European-Ancient Mediterranean groups of species.

Development of an extraction procedure and analysis of electrostatically stabilized silanates from aqueous solutions

The analyzed organosilicon derivatives of electrostatically stabilized silanates belong to a group of pentacoordinated compounds. These derivatives are: 1-(N-morpholiniomethyl)spirobi(1-sila-2,5-dioxacyclopentan-3-on)at, 1-(N-morpholiniomethyl)spirobi(1-sila-2,5-dioxa-4-methylcyclopentan-3-on)at, 1-(N-morpholiniomethyl) spirobi(1-sila-2,5-dioxa-4-(i-propyl)cyclopentan-3-on)at.In the course of the work, the extraction process and optimization of conditions for separation and determination of a mixture of electrostatically stabilized silanates were carried out using capillary isotachophoresis. Proper leading electrolytes were elaborated developed and the terminating electrolyte: 4,4’-bis[(1-morpholiniomethyl)spirobi(1-sila-2,5-dioxacyclopentan-3-on)at] was proposed. The extraction process involved the use of three stationary phases: octadecyl, octyl and phenylpropyl. The highest recovery values, approx. 94%, were obtained on the phenylpropyl column. The optimum time of analysis by the isotachophoretic technique did not exceed 12 min. The developed method of separation and determination of electrostatically stabilized silanates expands the possibility of research on biological activity of this group of compounds in aqueous solutions and surface water vegetation.