Analysis of Several Problems in the Construction of Sponge City

Sponge city refers to a new urban construction concept used to solve urban flood disasters and water ecological problems. It is important for the construction of ecological civilization. It plays an important role in the green development and livability of the city. In the construction of a sponge city, it is necessary to make special urban planning and improve the top-level design. In recent years, China has developed a number of sponge city pilot projects. The numerous experiments act as important references for the urban construction in China. This paper mainly analyzes the requirements for the construction of sponge city and discusses several problems as well as solutions in the construction.

Blame It on Sex

This chapter addresses the ultimate driver of competition—sexual selection, the root biological force generating inequality. Like other animals, humans must solve the ecological problems necessary for survival and reproduction. Everyone exists only because their ancestors were successful in doing just that. They were the most successfully competitive in using the resources available in their environments to survive and reproduce. As humans have culturally evolved, what has enabled humans to stand out in their competition for mates has varied according to the prevailing politically determined social institutions. These institutions set the incentive structure, providing guidance as to what kinds of behavior gain high status. High status is sexually attractive. Over history, the sources of status have varied. Individuals have achieved high status by being the best hunters and gatherers, the best warriors, the most cooperative, the most generous, and, since the rise of the state, the wealthiest and most politically powerful.

Conservation and Evolution of Marine and Coastal Ecosystems: Polar Factor

The paper presents an analysis of polar ecological policy actors. From this perspective, authors discuss in detail a role of state in conservation and development of marine and coastal ecosystems. Furthermore, they describe a green agenda for polar regions. At last, some ways for creating of ecological policies in the Arctic and the Antarctic regions, most especially on behalf of sea and marginal ecosystems conservation and evolution, are proposed. One of the most vital parts of such policies is staff training. The authors have attempted a comprehensive analysis of the Green Agenda at the global, national and local levels in terms of the effectiveness of its proposed mechanisms for the protection of biodiversity in polar areas. Researchers have also reviewed plans of Russia according to the new set of strategies for Arctic and Antarctic regions, which were adopted in 2020. The ideas proposed by the authors can be used in a real-case scenario both for strategies implementation and for public discussion on the global ecological problems.

Dynamics and Economics of Shallow Lakes: A Survey

We provide an overview of the results devoted to the analysis of the dynamics and economics of shallow lakes, spanning the period from 1999 until now. A shallow lake serves as a typical representative of an ecological system subject to (possibly irreversible) regime shifts. The dynamics of a shallow lake are described by a non-linear model with multiple steady states and multiple domains of attraction and is thus suitable to model the evolution of an ecosystem featuring both resilience within a domain of stability and an abrupt regime shift outside of it. Beyond this, the shallow lake model can also be viewed as a metaphor for many other ecological problems. Due to the broad applicability of this model, there is substantial interest in the management of shallow lakes and both their optimal regulation and competitive usage.

Leachability of Heavy Metals from Autoclaved Fly Ash-Lime Building Bricks

The fly ash as a byproduct of coal-fired power plants constitutes vital ecological problems. In Turkey, approximately 15 million tons ofashes are generated via the combustion of 40 million tons of lignite yearly. Worldwide, a number of investigation and applications wereundertaken to utilize fly ash in order to overcome the environmental problems. One of the application area of fly ashes is the production of building bricks. Characterization of fly ash samples from Seyitomer and Yatagan coal-firing power plants were conducted inthis study. TCLP 1311, ASTM3987-85 and EN 12457-2 leaching tests on the cylindrical fly ash/lime brick (FA/LB) samples which wereproduced from Seyitömer and Yatagan thermal power plant fly ash-lime mixtures were performed to determine the leachability ofsome chosen trace elements. The results show that the release of all trace elements was lower than the hazardous material limit valuesof waste acceptance. Thus, non- fired fly ash bricks are an advantageous way to solving environmental effect of disposal of fly ashes.

Non-Conventional Yeasts to Produce Aroma Compounds by Using Agri-Food Waste Materials

Nowadays, biotechnological applications are emphasized to ensure sustainable development by re-utilizing of waste materials to prevent ecological problems and to produce or recover compounds that may have positive effects on health. Yeasts are fascinating microorganisms that play a key role in several traditional and innovative processes. Although Saccharomyces is the most important genus of yeasts, and they are major producers of biotechnological products worldwide, a variety of other yeast genera and species than Saccharomyces, which called ‘non-Saccharomyces’ or ‘non-conventional’ yeasts also have important potential in order to use in biotechnological applications. Some of the non-conventional yeast strains offer a unique potential for biotechnological applications to produce valuable secondary metabolites due to their characteristics of surviving and growing in such extreme conditions, e.g. wide substrate range, rapid growth, thermotolerance, etc. In this review, we aimed to summarize potential biotechnological applications of some non-conventional yeasts (Kluyveromyces spp., Yarrowia spp., Pichia spp., Candida spp., etc.) to produce industrially important aroma compounds (phenylethyl alcohol, phenylethyl acetate, isobutyl acetate, diacetyl, etc.) by re-utilizing agri-food waste materials in order to prevent ecological problems and to produce or recover compounds that may have positive effects on health.

From Economizing to Ecologizing: Emerging an Integrated Perspective

The complex wickedness of many of today’s social and ecological problems calls for more integral thinking to bring better alignment between human activities, particularly economic and business activities, and ecological realities. This paper integrates emerging knowledge about the differences between right (holistic) and left (analytic) brain thinking, Indigenous wisdom, and the physics, biology, complexity, and chaos sciences into ideas for a new economic orthodoxy. Doing so offers the potential to shift away from today’s predominantly economizing mindsets towards integrated ecologizing mindsets that more holistically and realistically represent the world. Drawing on recent work that articulates six core values for a life-affirming economic orthodoxy, this paper explores that shift away from business as usual with today’s dominant neoliberal economics towards an integrated ecologizing socio-ecology. The need is to translate economizing mindsets associated with neoliberal economics into ecologizing ones through ideas that prioritize stewardship, collective value, cosmopolitan localism, regenerativity, relationality, and equitable markets.

Diagnosis of Key Ecological Problems and Layout of Ecological Restoration Projects- A Case Study of the Aksu River Basin, China

The sustainable development of ecological environments is the basis of the sustainable development of inland river basins in arid areas with fragile ecological environments. The aim of our study is to diagnose the ecological problems of the Aksu River basin (ARB) and explore the ecological security pattern (ESP) and the layout and implementation path of ecological protection projects for mountains, rivers, forests, farmland, lakes, grasslands and deserts (MRFFLGD) in arid areas under different security levels. The Aksu River, the largest source of the Tarim River, was selected as the case study. The equivalent factor evaluation method (EFEM) was used to estimate the ecological service value (ESV), and the InVEST model was employed to quantify the ecological function indicators. By constructing the richness index, the ESV of the study area was measured spatially, and the ecological problems in the ARB were identified and diagnosed. Using cold/hot spot detection analysis and the minimum cumulative resistance (MCR) model, the ESPs at three security levels were constructed. The layout of ecological protection measures and the implementation path for MRFFLGD were studied. The results showed that the ESV of ARB showed an upwards trend from 1990 to 2018, and the three services of water conservation, waste treatment and soil formation and retention grew fastest. The value of ecosystem services in the study area in 2018 ranged from 5,390 yuan to 131,080 yuan/hm2. The high-value areas were mainly located in the oasis and the northern mountainous area, and the low-value areas were mainly located in the desert area. The ecological source areas of high, medium and low safety levels were 1806.3 km2, 3416.8 km2 and 4804.32 km2, respectively. Based on the spatial distribution of ESV in the ARB and the preliminary diagnosis of the basic ecological problems in the study area, three kinds of ecological protection engineering models, namely, conservation, natural restoration and assisted regeneration, were proposed for the four types of ecological protection zones. To provide a decision-making basis for ecological environmental management and regional sustainable development in the ARB, the optimization patterns of points (6 key ecological protection projects), lines (ecological corridors) and polygons (ecological source areas) were constructed. The results of this study can also serve as a reference for ecological environmental protection in other arid inland river basins.