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Ecological engineering
Elsevier Science B.V.
Ecological engineering

Elsevier Science B.V.

0925-8574

Ecological engineering/Journal Ecological engineeringSCIISTPEI
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    Carbon storage, mitigation and sequestration potential of Haldina cordifolia and Mitragyna parvifolia in tropical dry deciduous environment of Chhattisgarh, India

    Samal, BarshaSingh, LaljiJhariya, Manoj Kumar
    7页
    查看更多>>摘要：The current research explored the storage, mitigation, and sequestration of carbon in two age groups of Haldina cordifolia and Mitragyna parvifolia grown on entisols of tropical dry deciduous environment of Chhattisgarh, India. The random sampling technique was used for measuring the various ecological attributes of the stands. The average girth increment for both the species was more in site-I (6 year old plantation). H. cordifolia and M. parvifolia reflected increment of 2.3-5 cm yr- 1 and 2.5-5 cm yr-1, respectively. The NPP (net primary production) values for both the sites viz., site-I (6 year old plantation) and site-II (4 year old plantation) were 10.32 t ha-1 yr- 1 and 8.92 t ha-1 yr- 1, respectively for H. cordifolia plantation and 11.08 t ha- 1 yr- 1 and 9.63 t ha-1 yr-1 for M. parvifolia plantation. The carbon (C) storage, mitigation, and carbon sequestration (Cseq.) values for the two sites ranged from 19.22-24 t ha- 1, 70.54-88.08 t ha- 1, and 3.08-3.81 t ha-1 yr- 1, respectively. It is evident that site-I (6 year old plantation) and M. parvifolia perform better than site-II (4 year old plantation) and H. cordifolia, respectively. Both the species belong to family Rubiaceae and among both the species M. parvifolia reflected comparatively better growth traits over H. cordifolia. Thus, M. parvifolia can be effectively utilized for afforestation, reforestation, and other plantation programs in this region as well as other places with similar environmental conditions.
      原文链接:
    • NSTL
    • Elsevier

    Assessment of land degradation and restoration in coal mines of central India: A time series analysis

    Thakur, Tarun KumarDutta, JoystuUpadhyay, PrachiPatel, Digvesh Kumar...
    15页
    查看更多>>摘要：The current study analyses land use changes in Sohagpur and Bishrampur coal mines located in central India during the last 20 years (2001 to 2020). Remote sensing and GIS datasets were used to analyse the spatio-temporal and pedological changes in the studied sites. The observations reveal that forest shows maximum degradation and have decreased by 5.25 km(2) in Sohagpur and 6.02 km(2) in Bishrampur from 2001 to 2020 whereas mine/overburden dumps have increased by 10.30 km(2) in Sohagpur and 5.38 km(2) in Bishrampur. Similarly, water bodies have also decreased (0.51 km(2) in Sohagpur and 0.93 km(2) in Bishrampur) with an increase in settlements and conversion of forest lands into agricultural fields. The amount of nitrogen (659-725 kg/ha), phosphorous (248-312 kg/ha), potassium (375-456 kg/ha), and soil organic carbon (4946-6780 kg/ha) was found to be higher in Sohagpur compared to Bishrampur sites at 0-30 cm depth of soil. Although, pH (6.16-6.53) and bulk density (1.98-2.19 kg/cm(3)) showing reverse trend (higher at 30-60 cm and lower 0-30 cm) at both sites due to low water penetrability and high compaction of soil. Electrical conductivity (mu S/cm) was found to be highest in Bishrampur (87.12-91.86) and lowest in Sohagpur (75.96-86.26). The dependency of local people on forests has also increased with the socio-economic development surrounding areas. Further, a correlation is developed between NDVI and NDBI and it shows a weak linear relationship in 2001 for Sohagpur and moderate linear relationship in 2020, but for Bishrampur, it shows a weak linear relationship for the entire period. The eco-restoration techniques applied and further status of growth of major species was studied, result showed significant growth in span of 20 years. The comprehensive analysis would assist environmental managers to formulate sustainable eco-restoration strategies ensuring lesser soil loss and land degradation.
      原文链接:
    • NSTL
    • Elsevier

    The role of seasonal vegetation properties in determining the wave attenuation capacity of coastal marshes: Implications for building natural defenses

    Zhang, WeiGe, Zhen-MingLi, Shi-HuaTan, Li-Shan...
    13页
    查看更多>>摘要：Coastal marsh vegetation plays an important role in coastal protection by attenuating waves and mitigating shoreline erosion. However, the different vegetations show wide variability in biophysical properties on seasonal and spatial scales, and the effectiveness of coastal vegetation on wave attenuation remains uncertain. In the spring, summer, and autumn seasons of 2019, we investigated the spatiotemporal variability in vegetation properties and wave attenuating ability of two dominant marsh species, Scirpus mariqueter (short and flexible Cyperaceae) and Phragmites australis (tall and stiff Poaceae), in a coastal wetland in the Yangtze Estuary. The wave parameters and water depth were measured at the two marshes and ranged from 25 to 100 m landward of the low mudflat edge. The results indicated that the aboveground biomass and height of vegetation are crucial properties determining the ability of wave attenuation, and the pioneer vegetation belt has the highest wave dissipation efficiency. Phragmites, with greater biomass and stem structure, were more effective in reducing wave height than Scirpus. This study further revealed the importance of seasonal variability in vegetation growth in species-specific wave attenuation. Most Scirpus stems senesced and broke up from autumn onwards, losing their wave attenuation ability. Although Phragmites could not colonize the low-lying flats such as Scirpus, most Phragmites stems remained stiff and high biomass at the later growing stage, maintaining wave attenuation ability and wave decay values consistent with those observed in summer. Moreover, Phragmites has a great capacity to capture sediments and raise flat elevations, which might enhance the wave attenuation efficiency with vegetation-sediment interactions. Information from this study is helpful in evaluating the dynamic effectiveness of wave attenuation in coastal marshes. Therefore, we suggest that a hierarchical mixed community of Scirpus and Phragmites be established as an effective natural defense to offset their individual biological limitations due to seasonality and spatial niches.
      原文链接:
    • NSTL
    • Elsevier

    Experimental sediment addition in salt-marsh management: Plant-soil carbon dynamics in southern New England

    Puchkoff, Anna L.Lawrence, Beth A.
    10页
    查看更多>>摘要：Thin Layer Placement (TLP) is an increasingly used management technique to promote coastal resilience to accelerated sea level rise, but it is unclear how differential thickness of dredged sediment application alters plantsoil carbon dynamics in northeastern Atlantic coast salt marshes. We initiated a field experiment in a microtidal Spartina alterniflora (smooth cordgrass) dominated salt marsh in Connecticut (USA) to examine how a silt-loam dredge applied at different thicknesses (low: +5 cm, medium: +10 cm, and high: +15 cm) altered biological and biogeochemical responses. Over two growing seasons we monitored plant responses (above and belowground biomass, stem height, stem density, leaf area) and soil-biogeochemical parameters (EC, pH, redox, NH4+, sulfides, C:N, decomposition, bulk density, carbon fluxes). We found adding 5-7 cm of dredged sediment promoted rapid revegetation, alleviated phytotoxic sulfides, enhanced CO2 uptake, and reduced CH4 emissions. Low treatments reached similar vegetation cover to controls after one growing season, though sediment treatments greater than 10-cm thick showed delayed growth. Low levels of sediment addition stimulated the highest root biomass in the underlying soil, promoting CO2 efflux, but this was offset by aboveground biomass productivity, promoting net CO2 uptake. Phytotoxic sulfides were reduced in all sediment addition treatments, but our data indicate that coastal managers aiming to promote rapid vegetative recovery while increasing elevation in the short term should target conservative depths (< 10 cm) when using fine-grained dredged material. Collectively, our work will guide wetland managers as they develop restoration specifications for perpetuating coastal marshes in the face of rising seas.
      原文链接:
    • NSTL
    • Elsevier

    Initiating and upscaling mussel reef establishment with life cycle informed restoration: Successes and future challenges

    Temmink, Ralph J. M.Fivash, Gregory S.Govers, Laura L.Nauta, Janne...
    8页
    查看更多>>摘要：Worldwide, coastal ecosystems are rapidly degrading in quality and extent. While novel restoration designs include facilitation to enhance restoration success in stressful environments, they typically focus on a single lifestage, even though many organisms go through multiple life-stages accompanied by different bottlenecks. A new approach - life cycle informed restoration - was designed to ameliorate multiple bottlenecks throughout an organism's life cycle. It has successfully been tested on a small scale to facilitate intertidal bivalve reef formation in the Netherlands and Florida. Yet, it remains unknown whether this approach can be scaled to ecosystemrelevant scales. To test whether life cycle informed restoration is upscalable, we conducted a large-scale restoration experiment using blue mussel reefs as a model system. In our experiment, we used biodegradable structures to temporarily facilitate mussel reef formation by providing early-life settlement substrates, and subsequently, reduce post-settlement predation on an intertidal flat in the Wadden Sea, the Netherlands. The structures were placed in 10 x 20 m plots, mimicking bands found in natural mussel beds, spread out across 650 m, and were followed for two years. Our results show that the structures enhance mussel biomass (0.7 +/- 0.2 kg DW m-2), as mussels were absent in bare plots. However, biomass varied within plots; in intact structures it was 60 times higher (1.2 +/- 0.2 kg DW m-2) than in those that became buried (0.02 +/- 0.009 kg DW m-2). Next to burial, 18-46% of the structures were lost due to technical failure, especially during winters at this exposed site. We show that the life cycle informed restoration principle works, but we encountered technical challenges due to larger scale processes (e.g. sedimentation). Furthermore, environmental information is essential for site selection, and for restoration, the functioning of such structures should be tested under extreme conditions before upscaling.
      原文链接:
    • NSTL
    • Elsevier

    Forbs dominate plant nutrient resorption of plant community along a 34-year grazing exclusion gradient in a semiarid grassland

    Zhang, YiSu, JishuaiJing, GuanghuaCheng, Jimin...
    9页
    查看更多>>摘要：Grazing exclusion has been commonly used to restore degraded grasslands and has shown positive effects on plant community structure, productivity, and soil properties. Nutrient resorption affects key ecosystem processes such as nutrient uptake and carbon cycling, and plays a key role in plants' nutrient conservation in nutrient-poor environments. However, how plant nutrient resorption varying with grazing exclusion duration remains unclear. In this study, leaf nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) resorption efficiencies were examined at plant functional group and community levels in grasslands along a 34-year grazing exclusion gradient. Along the grazing exclusion gradient, N resorption efficiency (NRE) of plant community remained unchanged, while P resorption efficiency (PRE) increased, accompanied with increased community biomass, the proportion of grasses and soil fertility. Nutrient concentrations and resorption efficiencies, as well as their responses to grazing exclusion, varied among plant functional groups. Both NRE and PRE were higher in grasses than in sedges or forbs, while forbs had higher N and P concentrations in both green and senesced leaves. NRE and PRE of grasses and sedges changed little along the grazing exclusion gradient except the decreased NRE of grasses after 34 years of grazing exclusion, while both NRE and PRE of forbs increased with the duration of grazing exclusion. Variation in community nutrient resorption efficiencies was largely driven by forbs, and nutrient resorption efficiencies were negatively correlated with senesced leaf nutrient concentrations. Nutrient concentrations and resorption efficiencies of different plant functional groups and plant communities varied in their relationships with soil properties. Overall, our study highlights the importance of forbs in plant nutrient use pattern of grassland communities along the grazing exclusion gradient, and offer insights for grassland management to boost ecosystem nutrient cycling.
      原文链接:
    • NSTL
    • Elsevier

    Nitrate removal by watershed-scale hyporheic stream restoration: Modeling approach to estimate effects and patterns at the stream network scale

    Calfe, Michael L.Scott, Durelle T.Hester, Erich T.
    17页
    查看更多>>摘要：Excess nutrient pollution and eutrophication are widespread, and stream restoration is increasingly implemented as a solution. Yet few studies evaluate the cumulative effects of multiple individual restoration projects on watershed-scale nutrient loading. We developed a new modeling approach linking the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers Hydrologic Engineering Center's River Analysis System (HEC-RAS) to an auxiliary R script that simulates hyporheic exchange. We used the modeling approach to simulate hyporheic enhancement by in-stream restoration features (e.g., structures, pool-riffles, gravel bars) implemented throughout a generic 4th-order gaining watershed in the eastern USA. We assumed groundwater was widely impacted by nitrate, thus the primary pollutant source was baseflow gaining. Model results indicated that hyporheic restoration throughout all streams of our 4th-order watershed would reduce nitrate loading to downstream waterbodies by -83%. This percentage assumes removal of all nitrate that enters the hyporheic zone and is for a gravel/sand bed, so reductions would be smaller with finer sediments or incomplete removal. For example, when we reduced the hyporheic exchange rate by an order of magnitude, the maximum watershed nitrate load reduction decreased to -25%. The relationship between the percent of watershed stream channels that have been restored and percent nitrate load reduction at the watershed outlet was nonlinear. This relationship was exponential in smaller streams (1st- and 2nd-order) due to efficient removal of all incoming nitrate, but became linear in larger streams (3rd- and 4th-order) due to "recycling" of channel flow through the hyporheic zone more than once. Yet restoration was more effective at overall nitrate load reduction in larger (e.g., 3rd-4th order) streams because the majority of nitrate enters the watershed through groundwater gaining in those larger streams. Thus, the location of restoration projects within a watershed is important in determining their effect on nitrate loads at the watershed outlet. Overall, our results indicate hyporheic restoration can significantly reduce watershed nitrate loading to downstream waterbodies, yet watersheds must be viewed as a whole to understand the potential impacts of any particular project under consideration.
      原文链接:
    • NSTL
    • Elsevier

    Flow reduction effect on fish habitat below water diversion-A case study of the Central Yunnan Water Diversion Project

    Xiang, ChenguangHuang, WeiZhou, HuaidongXue, Lianqing...
    9页
    查看更多>>摘要：With the implementation of large-scale water diversion projects, the reduction of river flow in water diversion areas may impact the ecological environment of the river. In this study, we used integrated hydrodynamic, habitat, and risk modeling methods to produce an ecological risk time series based on the consequences of departures from the optimum environmental flow range of a river, quantifying the extent to which flow regulation affects fish habitats. Taking the water diversion project in central Yunnan as an example, we used this method to produce a risk time series of fish habitats. This time series shows that the ecological risk increases when the river flow deviates from the optimal range of environmental flow. The degree of risk is different in different periods: in wet years, the risk is negligible; in normal years, the risk is between acceptable and critical, and in dry years, the risk is above critical. The research results can provide a basis for the optimal allocation of water resources to meet environmental flow requirements.
      原文链接:
    • NSTL
    • Elsevier

    Application of first-order kinetic removal models on constructed wetlands under Mediterranean climatic conditions

    Ventura, D.Rapisarda, R.Sciuto, L.Milani, M....
    9页
    查看更多>>摘要：The objective of the study was to verify the applicability of P-k-C* model to evaluate the treatment response of horizontal CWs (H-CWs) and to assess key design parameters for the model optimization in Mediterranean climate conditions. The experimental study was carried out in 4H-CWs located in the province of Catania (Eastern Sicily, Italy). The parameters P, k(A20 )and theta were optimized to minimize the sum of the square of the errors (SSE) between observed and modeled outlet concentrations for COD, BOD5 and NO3- quality parameters. Once the minimization process was carried out by an iterative, nonlinear procedure, then data were divided into calibration and validation sets for each CW. The calibration was set by fixing a P value from the literature range and varying k(A20 )and theta and then by using the obtained values of k(A20 )and theta and by varying P. This procedure was repeated until two successive P calibrated values differed less than 2%. The performance of the model was very good in most of the cases, as also evaluated in terms of R2, NSE and RMSE. In particular, considering the three investigated pollutants, the calculated k(A20 )values were generally higher than those from CWs located in temperate climate zone (65-157.1 m year(-1)), while the theta values were slightly lower than 1 (0.88-0.91). This study can be considered a first contribute for P-k-C* model application in semi-arid regions characterized by Mediterranean weather conditions.
      原文链接:
    • NSTL
    • Elsevier

    Advancing the Sponge City Agenda: Evaluation of 22 plant species across a broad range of life forms for stormwater management

    Fowdar, HarshaPayne, EmilyDeletic, AnaZhang, Kefeng...
    11页
    查看更多>>摘要：In 2012, China introduced the Sponge City Agenda as a solution to challenges such as increasing urbanisation and population growth, leading to urban flooding and water pollution. The initiative requires new nature-based technologies tailored for Chinese conditions. Biofiltration or bioretention systems have proven to be promising technologies to mitigate stormwater pollution. Plant selection form a key component of system design. However, to date plant selection research has been limited, largely focusing on Australian native species monitored under a limited number of wetting and drying patterns. To address this gap, a large scale laboratory study was undertaken to test the hydraulic and treatment performance of 22 plant species, native to or common to Jiangsu Province, China, over a period of 15 months under varying frequency of inflows (corresponding to 3, 15 and 22 antecedent dry days). A wide variation in system infiltration capacity (up to 8-fold), nitrogen removal (up to 5fold during wet conditions and up to 10-fold during dry conditions, between 20% and 80%) and phosphorus removal (up to 2-fold, between 35% and 95%) was found across plant species. In regards to heavy metals, plantrelated contributions were observed for Cd, Ni and Zn removal (up to 90% removal overall). Overall, this study shows that while plants are not universally effective, a range of plant species, across a broad range of life forms, encompassing flowering herbs, reeds, shrubs, grasses, sedges, climbing plants and trees, can be used for effective stormwater treatment in China and elsewhere. It points to plant morphological and physiological characteristics being more important parameters and suggest future work investigate the relationship between plant evapotranspiration, water dynamics (incl. Antecedent drying), root traits and pollutant removal to advance the sustainable use of plants for stormwater treatment.
      原文链接:
    • NSTL
    • Elsevier