Search results for "Conservation"

Effectiveness of cover crops to reduce loss of soil organic matter in a rainfed vineyard

2020

Cover crops (CCs) minimize the loss of soil in permanent cropping systems where the soil is usually bare due to intense tillage or overuse of herbicides. The topsoil, the richer layer in soil organic carbon and organic matter (OM), is affected by water erosion. Nature-based solutions appear as a suitable option for sustainable farming. In this study, the effectiveness of two years of CC management to reduce the OM loss is evaluated in a rainfed vineyard in a rolling landscape (Huesca, NE Spain). Two sediment traps collected runoff over 15 months. Topsoil OM contents (1.64% and 1.60%) and sediment/soil OM enrichment ratio (2.61 and 3.07) were similar. However, the average annual rate of OM l…

The role of soils in regulation and provision of blue and green water

2021

The United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 6 aims for clean water and sanitation for all by 2030, through eight subgoals dealing with four themes: (i) water quantity and availability, (ii) water quality, (iii) finding sustainable solutions and (iv) policy and governance. In this opinion paper, we assess how soils and associated land and water management can help achieve this goal, considering soils at two scales: local soil health and healthy landscapes. The merging of these two viewpoints shows the interlinked importance of the two scales. Soil health reflects the capacity of a soil to provide ecosystem services at a specific location, taking into account local climate and soil condit…

Energy, water and environmental balance of a complex water supply system

2015

The present paper describes the analysis of water and energy balance in a complex urban water supply system. The analysis was carried out employing Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) methodologies. The LCA approach was integrated with the analysis of the system energy and water balance. For a real size water supply system, based on the results of the individual LCAs, the current baseline was constructed highlighting the water, energy and environmental (in terms of CO2eq emissions in the atmosphere) costs of supplied water. Then, three different mitigation measures have been evaluated: the first is based on energy production by installation of photovoltaic systems; the second is based on energy recov…

Long-term recovery of stream habitat structure and benthic invertebrate communities from in-stream restoration

2002

Headwater streams channelized for water transport of timber in Finland are being restored to their pre-channelization state. The primary motivation is the enhancement of sport fisheries, but restoration probably has profound impacts also on other stream organisms. We assessed how such ‘‘single-goal’’ restorations affect benthic macroinvertebrate communities. We revisited the streams sampled by Laasonen et al. [Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems 8 (1998)] in the early 1990s when the streams had been recently restored. In 1997, the recovery period of these streams ranged from 4 to 8 years. Habitat structure among the stream types represented a distinct recovery gradient, w…

Hydrological Analysis of Loess Plateau Highland Control Schemes in Dongzhi Plateau

2020

Gully Consolidation and Highland Protection (GCHP) Project is a major soil and water conservation and land remediation project implemented in the Chinese Loess Plateau (CLP). As the connection between the mechanisms of erosion and practical applications for addressing it is not clear, the implementation of engineering measures to combat the problem has been insufficient to date. This study used field investigation and descriptive statistics, together with hydrological analysis modeling to gain an understanding of the impact of the Loess Plateau Highland Control Schemes on the evolution of the Dongzhi Plateau as the largest, most well-preserved, and the thickest loess deposit region in China…

LA CICOGNA BIANCA CICONIA CICONIA (Aves Ciconiidae) IN SICILIA: AGGIORNAMENTO A TRENT'ANNI DALLA COLONIZZAZIONE

2020

Il presente lavoro sintetizza le conoscenze sulla Cicogna bianca nidificante in Sicilia negli ultimi 29 anni, dal 1991 (anno della prima nidificazione) al 2020. Per la raccolta dei dati sono state seguite le linee guida dell’International White Stork Census. Vengono presentate una cartina di distribuzione che illustra l’areale della specie attraverso un confronto temporale e alcune tabelle relative all’andamento annuale delle coppie nidificanti in Sicilia (sia HPa che HPm), al numero dei pulli involati e alla media (±SD) per nido. Dopo una crescita della popolazione nidificante, da una coppia fino a un massimo di 82 nel 2013, si è avuto un leggero calo e il numero di nidi si è stabilizzato …

Disentangling canid howls across multiple species and subspecies: Structure in a complex communication channel

2016

Wolves, coyotes, and other canids are members of a diverse genus of top predators of considerable conservation and management interest. Canid howls are long-range communication signals, used both for territorial defence and group cohesion. Previous studies have shown that howls can encode individual and group identity. However, no comprehensive study has investigated the nature of variation in canid howls across the wide range of species. We analysed a database of over 2000 howls recorded from 13 different canid species and subspecies. We applied a quantitative similarity measure to compare the modulation pattern in howls from different populations, and then applied an unsupervised clusteri…

Conservation of Ptilostemon greuteri (Asteraceae), an endemic climate relict from Sicily (Italy): state of knowledge after the discovery of a second …

2022

Ptilostemon greuteri is one of the most endangered and poorly studied woody vascular plant species of the Mediterranean Basin, endemic to Sicily (Italy). Several peculiar traits confer to P. greuteri a character of uniqueness and an enigmatic attractiveness. In fact, at first glimpse the largest individuals of this species remind the most remarkable and peculiar cases of herbaceous genera (e.g., Echium, Senecio) turned woody on insular or insular-like mountain ecosystems. Following the discovery of a second population of this rare species, a project aiming at the study and conservation of P. greuteri was set up. We present here updated information on the distribution, conservation status, b…

Quantitative studies of bird movement: a methodological review

1999

The past several years have seen the development of a number of statistical models and methods for drawing inferences about bird movement using data from marked individuals. It can be difficult to keep up with this rapid development of new methods, so our purpose here is to categorize and review methods for drawing inferences about avian movement. We also outline recommendations about future work, dealing both with methodological developments and with studies directed at hypotheses about bird movement of interest from conservation, management, or ecological perspectives.

2017

The volume of ordinary materials decreases in response to a pressure increase exerted by a surrounding gas or liquid, i.e., the material volume compressibility is positive. Recently, poroelastic metamaterial architectures have been suggested theoretically that allow for an unusual negative effective static volume compressibility—which appears to be forbidden for reasons of energy conservation at first sight. The challenge in the three-dimensional (3D) fabrication of these blueprints lies in the necessary many hollow 3D crosses sealed by thin membranes, which we realize in this work by using 3D laser microlithography combined with a serendipitous mechanism. By using optical-microscopy cross-…