Search results for "Conservation"
showing 10 items of 2328 documents
A Multi-Criteria Decision Support System for Strategic Planning at the Swiss Forest Enterprise Level: Coping With Climate Change and Shifting Demands…
2021
Sustainable forest management plays a key role for forest biodiversity and the provisioning of ecosystem services (BES), including the important service of carbon sequestration for climate change mitigation. Forest managers, however, find themselves in the increasingly complex planning situation to balance the often conflicting demands in BES. To cope with this situation, a prototype of a decision support system (DSS) for strategic (long-term) planning at the forest enterprise level was developed in the present project. The DSS was applied at three case study enterprises (CSEs) in Northern Switzerland, two lowland and one higher-elevation enterprise, for a 50-year time horizon (2010 to 2060…
Measuring Rainfall Kinetic Power in Two Sicilian Experimental Areas by Drop-Size Distribution Data
2023
The rainfall kinetic energy, which affects soil erosion processes, can be calculated by the drop-size distribution (DSD) and falling velocity. This study presents the outcomes derived by the DSDs recorded with the same optical disdrometer in two experimental areas, located in Sicily (southern Italy). Specifically, the DSDs were recorded from March 2017 to December 2019 at Sparacia and from June 2006 to April 2014 at Palermo. The aims of this paper are both to compare the DSDs for the two sites and to evaluate the applicability of Gamma theoretical distribution. Moreover, the relations of rainfall kinetic power vs. rainfall intensity are assessed. Differences in DSDs, especially for rainfall…
Generalist invasion in a complex lake food web
2023
Invasive species constitute a threat not only to native populations but also to the structure and functioning of entire food webs. Despite being considered as a global problem, only a small number of studies have quantitatively predicted the food web-level consequences of invasions. Here, we use an allometric trophic network model parameterized using empirical data on species body masses and feeding interactions to predict the effects of a possible invasion of Amur sleeper (Perccottus glenii), on a well-studied lake ecosystem. We show that the modeled establishment of Amur sleeper decreased the biomasses o ftop predator fishes by about 10%–19%. These reductions were largely explained by inc…
Proposal of a Nomenclature for Hydrogeological Instability Risks and Case Studies of Conservative Soil Tillage for Environmental Protection
2022
In order to implement environmental protection, within the Soil Cadastre, previously proposed as a multipurpose inventory that aims to promote sustainable soil uses, the hydrogeological instability caused by human activities is the focus of this work. These activities can be aimed at sustainable agricultural soil use or the building of roads to allow the access to the fields. The soil’s hydrogeological instability causes the unsustainable use and management of a cadastral parcel. Therefore, the aim of this work is to propose a nomenclature for hydrogeological instability risks, as well as the best practices of conservative soil tillage in case studies, in order to reduce environmental impac…
Stem-injection of herbicide for control of Ailanthus altissima (Mill.) Swingle: a practical source of power for drilling holes in stems
2013
Abstract: Ailanthus altissima is a well-known invasive tree in many parts of the world showing an outstanding ability to establish within woodlands and other less-disturbed habitats. Previous studies have reported that control of this species is very difficult because of its strong resprouting. Indeed, effective control can be achieved only by mechanical treatment followed by the application of a systemic herbicide. Operating drills or saws and other mechanical equipment require electric power supply which is not readily available in many invaded sites, notably shrubslands and woodlands. In two study sites, we evaluated control obtained by glyphosate through a stem-injection technique and c…
Goethe e Ruskin e la conservazione dei monumenti e del paesaggio in Sicilia
2019
L'Italia per Johann W. Goethe e J. Ruskin rappresentava il paese dell'educazione culturale e della crescita umana. Per entrambi la conoscenza del territorio italiano ha avuto luogo, prima dell'esperienza diretta con i loro viaggi sognati, attraverso le pagine di numerosi volumi. Il saggio indaga sul contributo offerto dal poeta e scienziato di Francoforte e dall'artista e critico d'arte inglese del restauro, attraverso la lettura di relazioni di viaggio, le loro riflessioni e confronti, sul tema della conservazione dei monumenti e del paesaggio in Sicilia. Per Goethe la contemplazione del paesaggio e la conservazione dei monumenti hanno portato serenità e felicità agli uomini. Quasi cento a…
Improving marine protected area governance through collaboration and co-production.
2020
Marine protected areas (MPAs) socio-ecological effectiveness depends on a number of management and governance elements, among which stakeholder engagement and community support play key roles. Collaborative conservation initiatives that engage stakeholders in action research and knowledge co-production processes can enhance management and governance of MPAs. To design effective strategies aimed at reconciling biodiversity conservation and management of sustainable human uses, it is key to assess how local communities respond to such initiatives and identify the set of contextual factors, institutional, local and individual, potentially affecting these responses. This paper presents the appr…
Approche responsable pour le patrimoine : coopération, participation, documentation / Approccio responsabile al patrimonio architettonico: cooperazio…
2014
Nel quadro del Programma Italie Tunisie, l’esperienza del Progetto APER viene introdotta con riferimento ai diversi livelli e alle opportunità della cooperazione: tra realtà transfrontaliere, tra istituzioni dello stesso Paese e tra studiosi di diverse discipline. Passando ai contenuti scientifici, dopo aver illustrato il campo di applicazione e le potenziali ricadute, si pone l’accento sul tema dell’integrazione tra salvaguardia e valorizzazione, come sintesi teorica e operativa degli obiettivi del Progetto APER. Seguendo l’evoluzione dell’approccio al patrimonio architettonico, dall’origine dello stesso concetto allo sviluppo degli obiettivi della conservazione prima e della valorizzazion…
A higher incidence of moult–breeding overlap in great tits across time is linked to an increased frequency of second clutches: a possible effect of g…
2021
The rise of temperatures due to global warming is related to a lengthening of the breeding season in many bird species. This allows more pairs to attempt two clutches within the breeding season, thus finishing their breeding activity later in the season and therefore potentially overlapping these with post–breeding moult. We tested whether this occurred in two Spanish great tit Parus major populations. The proportion of pairs laying second clutches increased from 1 % to 32 % over the study period in one of the populations (Sagunto, 1995–2019), while it did not change in the other (Quintos, 2006–2019; mean 5 %). We did not find any temporal trend for moult start date of late–breeding birds i…
Landfill gas upgrading with countercurrent water wash.
2006
A pilot-scale countercurrent absorption process for upgrading landfill gas to produce vehicle fuel was studied using absorption and desorption units and water as absorbent. The height-to-diameter ratio of the absorption column used was 3:1 instead of the more conventionally used 20:1 ratio, and a higher pressure was used along with a lower water flow rate. The effects of pressure (10-30 bar) and water and gas flow-ratios on the upgrading process were studied. Methane content in the product gas increased to near or above 90% with both gas flows (50 and 100 l/min) used at over 20 bar pressure with 10 l/min water flow and at 30 bar pressure with 5l/min water flow. Carbon dioxide content with t…